Broken Phantom

-???-

The night was suffocatingly silent, the only sound was the faint hum of security drones patrolling the perimeter of the massive, sterile complex. The building had no name, no official records—just an ominous, windowless structure deep within a restricted military zone. To most, it was just another government facility, but to those who knew the truth, it was something far worse.

A prison. A research lab. And in this case a treasure trove of needed information.

Moving in the shadows, unseen by the floodlights that scanned the yard. Covered by the veil of the night, Clad in a black cloak laced with dark ectoplasm, they blended perfectly with the night. Their presence was barely a whisper in the air, a faint ripple in the fabric of reality itself.

They had come here for one reason, and they would get what they came for.

Slipping past the first layer of defenses was almost too easy. The GIW had reinforced its security over the past two years, but their methods were predictable, and too reliant on human technology. He phased effortlessly through the outer wall, emerging into a cold, dimly lit corridor. Red warning lights flickered along the ceiling, illuminating the sterile white walls with an eerie glow.

Moving swiftly, their form flickering in and out of sight as they navigated the maze of halls. Security cameras scanned the area, but none of them detected the shadow passing through their blind spots. They had studied this place for weeks, memorized every shift change, every hidden vent, every weak point in the system.

The objective was close. A restricted vault deep within the facility held what they needed—classified data on Project Revenant, the GIW's latest and most sinister experiment. Their goal was clear as they moved to uncover every single thing they could find. He came here to find weaknesses and ensure the destruction of this facility and everything it stood for. The agency had pushed too far, and now, they would pay the price.

While the GIW may think they had everything well in hand, it was far from the truth.

Phantom had been surprised by the sudden invasion into his home but that had only been because the upper echelon of the GIW had surprised even Their members with the news but everything that had been happening was all within Danny's expectation.

He didn't ever think the Kid had it in him. The plan the kid made was something that everyone who had sided with the GIW would suffer for.

His fingers twitched as they reached the final security door. A reinforced steel vault with multiple layers of encryption. The air shimmered around them as they raised a hand, dark energy pulsing at their fingertips. With a whisper of power, the locks cracked open, the door sliding aside with a hiss.

Inside, glowing screens displayed streams of data, schematics, and containment logs. And in the center of the room—a containment pod. Something was inside.

Stepping forward, gaze narrowing as they scanned the data. It didn't take long to make sense of it.

Now he knew why Danny sent him here.

This was the product of the countless research by the GIW and the hopeful goal of the upper assholes.

'But'. hmmmmm

The readings were too high and too unstable. 'Did they really think it would be this easy' fools, the lot of them.

These old fools really are testing the limits of reality with their dumbassery.

Moving through the computers he got everything he needed before turning to the containment pod again.

He was tempted to destroy it but Danny already said to leave it be for now.

BUT

'The GIW really don't know what's about to happen. But they don't have to have The intruder smirked. 'Not for long anyways.'

Turning around he left as he came with none the wiser.

-Vlad-

Far from the infiltration, in the heart of another secret location, Vlad Masters clenched his jaw as he stared at the holographic screens in front of him. His office, a lavishly decorated space lined with bookshelves and expensive artifacts, felt more like a prison than a place of power.

For two years, he had been locked out of the Ghost Zone. Two miserable, infuriating years.

It made no sense. No one—not even the GIW—had the technology to completely seal the realm away. He had tried everything: high-powered ectoplasmic generators, experimental portal stabilizers, even ancient spectral artifacts. Nothing worked.

He had tried the natural portals but by the time he had noticed what was happening it was already too late, They had stopped opening for some reason.

Ghost stopped coming. He had tried to use the Fenton's portal discreetly but he couldn't enter the zone no matter how much he tried, and he was left on the outside.

It felt insulting.

He was Vlad Masters—Vlad Plasmius—one of the most powerful ectoplasmic entities to ever walk between worlds. He had built an entire empire on deception and control. He had bent lesser minds to his will and had crushed obstacles that dared stand in his way. And yet, for all his power, the Ghost Zone had denied him. Barred him from the kingdom he was destined to rule.

The portals refused to open. The Ghost Zone had become a locked fortress, and he had been cast out like an outsider.

He clenched his fists, his nails biting into his palms.

His fingers tapped impatiently against the polished mahogany desk, his frustration mounting as he listened to the latest reports from his operatives within the GIW. They had made significant progress, all thanks to his guidance. The weapons they were developing, the ghost-containment technology, the research on spectral energy manipulation—it was all his work. The fools in the GIW and those that they worked for believed they were the masterminds, but they were nothing more than tools.

His tools.

And yet, it wasn't enough. He wanted more.

He needed more.

He had assumed it was some unknown shift in ectoplasmic energy, perhaps an anomaly caused by a power vacuum after Daniel's death. But nothing explained the complete severance of the realm from his reach. His spies he couldn't get in touch with and, his technology—none of it could breach the barrier.

And that made him furious.

Vlad's lips curled in a snarl. If no force on Earth had sealed the Ghost Zone, then something on the other side had done it. Something beyond his control.

And that could not be allowed.

He leaned back, exhaling slowly as he restructured his plans. He had long since abandoned the foolish notion of merely reclaiming his old ambitions. No—he needed more. If he could not enter the Ghost Zone, then he would own everything else.

He would control the human world, its leaders, its technology, and its very perception of reality. If he could not reign in the Ghost Zone, then he would reshape the world of the living until it bent to his will.

The GIW had been useful tools, but they were shortsighted. Blunt instruments that could barely grasp the true scale of what they were building. Vlad had been guiding them, of course, feeding them knowledge in increments, making them believe that they were at the cutting edge of ghost research. In reality, they were merely the foundation of something far greater—his empire.

But it wasn't enough. Not yet.

He needed control. Of everything.

If he could not step into the Ghost Zone, he would force the Ghost Zone to step into his world. He would bring the realms together by any means necessary, whether the ghosts wanted it or not. If he had to rip reality apart at the seams, then so be it.

He was Vlad Plasmius, He would not be stopped by anything.

It would have been lovely to have had both the Littler badger and his beloved Maddie by his side. But things had changed.

Daniel had died due to his fault, he had not expected the badger to escape like that and end up dying while the GIW had him in their care. But he had gotten the research information from their studies and while not completely what he needed it was enough.

And Maddie was no longer the woman he loved, she had changed and Vlad was not going to put a stop to his plans at this moment for anything.

The future was his and he would not allow anything to stand in his way.