WHAM!!

Vlad was thrown backwards into the wall of his lab with a sickening thud. His vision blurred for a moment before flickering back to normal. He wished it hadn’t. Danny screamed out in agony as his ghost form merged with Vlad’s. It was a painful thing to hear; the cry of an innocent child as they broke. Danny’s human half weakly nodded awake, still strapped into the table and breathing apparatus. Their expression turned horrified as they watched the newly merged phantom writhe on the tile floor before shaking it off and locking onto its target. The human boy. Vlad couldn’t just sit there… but.. no. He couldn’t move at all. The man cursed under his breath about how much of a coward he was. He hated it, but without his ghost powers, he COULDN’T do anything. The phantom charged, rocketing towards his other half and ripping him out of his bindings. The human half struggled in the monsters’ grasp, albeit still weak from the surgery ordeal. The two halves locked eyes once again before Phantom chucked him into the wall. Danny screamed out as he hit the metal surface and crumbling to the ground; coughing. Resilient as ever, the boy sat himself up, but something changed immediately after the ghost hovered closer. Fear. Shear horror washed over Danny. Trembling, he caught his phantoms gaze. At first, it appeared hesitant, like it recognized his human half and was regretting it's plan. Unfortunately though, that wasn’t the case. It hissed viciously, then lunged. Vlad couldn’t move. He wanted so bad to look away… but he was frozen. And it was too late to do anything. The Phantom charged up an energy blast and fired, sending Daniel flying back into a machine. While down, Phantom pinned him to the floor and raised its hand. Green energy formed wolverine-like claws around the small fist, and they came crashing down into Danny’s chest. Vlad REALLY wanted to close his eyes, run, turn away, do SOMETHING- but he couldn’t. DAMN IT HE COULDN’T LOOK AWAY. Vlad had thought the scream the Phantom let out while merging was horrible, but it sounded like mere birdsong compared to the sound that erupted from Danny’s human half as the ghost tore into him. Slashes and plasma blasts one after another while being tossed around like a bloody rag doll. By the time the Phantom finally let up, Daniel had long since stopped struggling. The boy was unmoving, half-closed eyes staring blankly into the void. A pool of crimson pooled beneath him, flowing from practically everywhere. The ghost floated back, as if admiring its work, then turned it’s attention to Vlad. The man felt sick. He felt what was left of the color in his face drain away completely. Still frozen. Vlad couldn’t breathe. The phantom approached slowly, drenched and dripping in blood; its fangs revealed in a nasty snarl. It looked like it wanted to speak up, to say something, but it just simply growled. It got to a certain point near Vlad, but then stopped like it refused to go further. Almost as if it was scared to get too close?... Suddenly, it’s demeanor shifted and the ghost hissed. Charging up energy, Phantom rocketed up, then disbursed the blast through a massive shockwave. Vlad’s vision immediately cut out and his ears rung in a high-pitched tone he could barely hear. It was incredibly painful for a brief second, but his body turned to a numb static relatively quickly.

The wind whipped by as the hovercraft sliced through the sky, soaring impressively over Wisconsin. Regardless of how easy it appeared to fall off of at those high speeds, the rider expertly kept balance through it all. Valerie peered through her helmets visor with a determined look, eyes locked onto the grand castle in the distance. She’d known about Danny Fenton going to live with Vlad after the accident, and figured a meeting with him could double as an excuse to visit her old classmate. She felt awful for him- the moment she heard the news about the fatal explosion, she’d rushed to the hospital where Danny was being held to check on him. Seeing the young boy asleep in the bed, bandaged up and alone broke her heart. While never previously the nicest to the trio, it hurt her to know Sam and Tucker hadn’t made it. Last time Valerie saw Danny was when her and the rest of Casper High gave him a warm farewell the day he moved. Her heart swelled a little at the thought of seeing Daniel again. Hopefully he was feeling better. Just then, the castle exploded, sending out a shock wave that alerted Valerie’s ecto-sensor and knocked her off the craft. The board detected it’s missing rider and dove down, catching her. The teen stared bewildered as a small phantom flew out of the rubble and ripped through the sky. Instinct told her to go after it, but then her attention returned to where it came from. With a sudden adrenaline rush, Valerie rocketed towards Vlad’s castle. “Oh Danny, Mr. Masters… please be alright.”

The charred rubble crunched under the ghost hunters’ boots as she landed, echoing against the remaining structures. “Mr. Masters!?” she called frantically. “Danny!!?” But there was no response. She searched for a few minutes, continuing to shout out for them, until she reached a massive hole in the floor. It dropped down substantially far, being dark by the time its bottom was reached. Frayed wires sparked and twisted rebar lined the collapsing tunnel. Carefully, Valerie positioned her hover board vertically and hung on as she descended into the darkness. When she reached the bottom, she held out her wrist, turning on a flashlight device that resembled a fancy watch. The light broke through the black and illuminated the decrepit lab. Unidentifiable gadgets lay smashed on the ground, and torn wires posed a massive fire hazard at any given moment. With the exception of a few sparks and rubble settling, the laboratory was silent. Valerie assumed it futile, but called out again, much quieter this time though, in fear of the slightest thing bringing everything around her down. Silence remained the only answer for a moment until finally, a noise broke it. A weak, raspy cough. Valerie frantically shown the flashlight around, attempting to locate the source. Eventually, she saw it- Vlad. Half buried in rubble, the man lay unconscious, but gasping for air. The young girl raced over, beginning to try to dig him out. “Hold tight Mr. Masters! I’ll get you out of here!”

The sound of the girl’s voice speared him like an arrow; sharply waking him up. Vlad’s vision was blurred and tinted red, but even through that and delirium he could make out the rescuer. “V- Valerie…?” He whispered.

She’d just finished clearing off his body when he spoke up, letting her see the full extent of the damage. Cautiously, the teen reached out and brushed the hair back, away from his face. His silver hair, as well as his face, was covered in dust and slowly wetting crimson. Valerie frantically looked around then back at Vlad. “Where’s Danny?”

The man slumped further, as if his muscles were relaxing in surrender. His foggy eyes drifted to a back corner, so the girl followed his gaze. The flashlight lit up the area, revealing a bloody mess along the walls and floor, even covering the pile of rubble near it. “No…” She dashed over, only to immediately regret looking behind the debris. Valerie jumped back, trembling and turning away, looking back at Vlad. The man remained unmoving, half conscious and defeated. She slowly knelt down beside him and rolled over a small ball-like device. It glowed magenta and formed an energy box around Vlad. “It’s typically used for trapping ghosts, but in your case, it’s so I don’t need to move you around. Your bodies already injured, moving might make it worse. Now, let’s get you out of here."

“Th-.. the pha- phantom….” Vlad mumbled almost silently.

The hovercraft latched onto the glowing pink ghost trap as Valerie stepped on. “Don’t try to talk.” She hushed. “I’m getting you somewhere safe.” The ghost hunter sped off back up through the hole, towing Vlad’s box behind it. “And don’t worry. The ghost that did this to you and Danny is gonna pay…”