Vlad was reading a book in one of his many lounges. He brushed back a lock of silver hair after finishing another paragraph, and settled back into his armchair. The lounge was a cozy one, with a wall lined end to end with books on one end of the room and a fireplace on the other side of the room. A few feet away from the fireplace was an end table made of hazelnut wood, and the leather armchair and ottoman in which Vlad was happily reading.

"What a relief to have some time to myself," Vlad thought to himself as he turned another page, "Moments like these are so rare nowadays."

"Hey, Vladdy!" a loud, excited voice hollered, interfering with the half ghost, half human's much needed down time.

"Vladdy" groaned, setting down his book and turning in the direction on the voice. He saw a large man in a bright orange hazmat suit, with black decals, grinning eagerly and looking somewhat transparent: the image of his old friend from his days at the University of Wisconsin, Jack Fenton.

At least, the image of what Jack Fenton would look like, if he were a holographic visual of a computer program.

"Yes…Jack…" Vlad replied through gritted teeth, "What do you want?"

"Wanna hit me with an ectoblast?" the holographic Jack Fenton asked, as if he were inviting his old college friend to a guy's night out.

"No, Jack," Vlad said, returning to his book, "I'm actually not in the mood to cause you physical pain today."

"Aw," the Jack hologram moaned, "But I like getting hurt…"

"Of course you do, Jack," Vlad replied, rolling his eyes, "I programmed you to like it. If you didn't, you'd probably turn everything computerized in my house against me."

"I wouldn't do that, V-man!" the Jack hologram said, wrapping an arm around the frustrated man, "You're my best friend from college! I'd never do anything to hurt you!"

"Are you naturally this annoying," Vlad groaned, "Or are you doing this just so I can hurt you?"

"Uhh…can it be both?"

"Alright! If it'll get you to leave me alone, I'll blast you!"

With that, a black ring of light appeared at Vlad's waist, splitting into two rings, each one traveling in a different direction, one up and one down Vlad's body. His black dress suit was replaced by a white tunic and pants, with black gloves, boots, a belt, and a triangle on his upper torso. A white cape with a red lining now lay on the man's proud shoulders. His silver ponytail, fair skin, and cobalt blue eyes were replaced by wild, crescent shaped black-hair, mint colored skin that made him resemble a corpse, and piercing red eyes that bore into one's soul.

This abomination lifted up one of his hands, which radiated with magenta colored ectoplasmic energy, and pointed it at the Jack hologram. With an unearthly growl, he let loose a frightening blast of energy, enough to burn through the hall in his lounge, and into several other rooms. His armchair was now ashes, as was his book and end table, and his carpet had caught fire. Even through that, however, the Jack hologram was still floating, as if the ectoblast was nothing more than a gentle gust of wind.

"Yeah, that was a pretty good blast," the hologram began, "But here's how you could have improved it."

As the Jack hologram explained how one could dodge an ectoplasmic blast, proper firing technique, and other such variables that would have made Vlad's attack unsuccessful, Vlad changed back into his human mode, slunk down to the ground, buried his head in his hands, and groaned.