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voxvociscruorawriting · 7 years

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Online Dating For Pathetic Fruitloops: Chapter 2

(Read on FF.net, Read on Ao3)

-o-oOo-o-

The Count of Monte Cristo. That's the show she chose. He'd never heard of it before, nor did he bother to look anything up about it—why ruin the experience?

The tickets had been particularly tricky to get his hands on. The show only had a few weeks left in the theater and had been sold out for months. A small part of him suspected that Marilynn might have known that when she made the decision. Perhaps she didn't think he'd be able to obtain them and would thus have an excuse out of date. The idea was ridiculous and he understood it was only the blossoming anxiety talking, but still. Fortunately, he learned that it was quite easy to bribe two admissions into his possession, without the use of any ghostly “persuasion”. Turns out people liked an extra ten thousand in their pocket than seeing a musical.

When he told Marilynn he'd gotten tickets, she hadn't believed him at first. So he sent her pics.

Her response of “ahhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHH??!!” amused him to no end.

Three days later, he flew in his unmarked private jet to New York during the middle of the night. He'd admit, he was fond of media attention and the paparazzi (to an extent; they were fun to play tricks on), but he did not want it known he was in New York. People knowing meant they'd been looking for him, and he needed to keep his fame under wraps from Marilynn, at least for now. She did not seem to know who he was, if her messages were anything to go by.

His full name being Vladimir had been one of his best kept secrets. The public always knew him as Vlad Masters. Even Daniel had expressed surprised when he discovered it.

He did not want to trap Marilynn in the public eye. Her being seen with him could ruin her life irreparably, the harassment was horrible for those who didn't want, or couldn't handle, it. If he played things carefully, neither of them would be bothered tonight.

Currently, he was standing outside the theater at 7:24 pm, the pavement bustling with people entering and exiting. He scanned the sea of heads, the lights of the street casting shadows on heads. He couldn't stop digging his nails into the palm of his hand, a nervous tick from his childhood. When he noticed, he tried to rub away the angry red marks. To say he was anxious was an understatement.

Over the past few days, he'd been having....second thoughts. Sure, he still wanted to meet Marilynn, but he still wanted Maddie too. Daniel's words had dulled with time, lost their edge. The boy was wrong, and now he wanted nothing more than to prove it.

This bit of him was worried, because what....what if he started falling for Marilynn? What would he do then; he couldn't chase both of them. He'd have to choose.

His nail bit deeper into his skin. New York City seemed to be filled to the brim with black haired women tonight.

A blur of color from the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he turned. His breath absconded.

She stood out from the hoard of people around her. The bright pink dress she wore seemed to catch and toss light like a thousand stars. Her hair seemed longer than in her picture, but he couldn't tell for sure since it was tied up into a messy, yet oddly elegant, bun. In her hands she clasped a small handheld pocket purse, matching her dress. She was checking her watch and looking into the crowd, searching, obviously, for him. For a moment, it felt like his heart has stopped functioning.

'That's concerning. I don't want to die tonight.' a monotone thought slipped into his head, and left just as quickly.

Vlad inhaled a breath, and approached.

“Pardon. Marilynn?”

She jumped, swirling around. Her eyes were angry until she saw him, and recognition flashed across her face. Her expression softened and she smiled, placing a hand on her chest, “Yes, that's me. You startled me.”

Vlad offered his hand, “My deepest apologies; it wasn't intentional. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

Marilynn's smile grew, “Indeed it is, it's a pleasure to meet you too.” she replied, taking his hand. Her fingers were so small, but her grip was strong. And cold; it sent shivers right to his core. “I'm quite impressed that you managed to get tickets to a Broadway production so quickly. Normally you have to reserve months in advance.”

Vlad chuckled. “It wasn't any trouble at all. You just need to know which strings to pull.” He waved a hand nonchalantly, and Marilynn raised an eyebrow. He raised his arm to her, gesturing to the building, “Shall we, my dear??”

“We shall.” she shrugged and nodded, looping her arm through his.

Vlad led the way into the theater. After a brief exchange of trying to figure out just where they needed to go, they proceeded deeper into the theater. Marilynn's black stilettos made soft noises on the carpet, her free hand resting on his bicep. The contact felt odd, as he wasn't used to being touched. He was amused, mostly, because he had to take shorter steps than normal, due to Marilynn's small legs.

As they walked, he said, “You look absolutely gorgeous tonight, if I may say so.”

It was the truth. He felt like he couldn't take his eyes off her. Seeing her in person, he saw more subtle differences between her and Maddie: her cheeks were higher and her jaw was a different shape, more supple. Her eyes too, oh god those eyes. So many different hues of blue. They almost glittered, like the waters of the Caribbean if you wanted cliche metaphors. Magenta eye shadow and black eyeliner sharpened them, giving her an almost avian look. If he believed in angels, he'd be certain one was standing in front of him.

Then again, he thought the same of Madeline.

“Quick to the flattery, aren't you?” she questioned, but her lips pulled up into an amused smile.

“Simply making observations.” Her smile grew.

“Have you ever seen The Count of Monte Crisco before?”

He shook his head, “No, I fear I haven't. The title sounds familiar, though..... Was it a book?”

Marilynn hummed, “It was. Written by the same author of The Three Musketeers.”

“Well you learn something new every day.” Vlad mused. He looked down at her, curious, “Is there any particular reason you chose this production?”

She flashed a toothy smile, “It's been one of the ones I've always wanted to see live. It's one of my favorites.” She was quiet for a beat, before adding, “I think you'll enjoy it.”

“Oh? Why do you say that?”

“Hmm, I dunno. You've just got a way of speaking that gives off that impression. It's quite pompous.” Marilynn said, shrugging. He chuckled, holding the door to the seating area for her. She murmured her thanks.

“Well, I've heard less flattering ways of it being put. I just like to be proper.”

“Oh trust me, it's a welcome change from the guys who drag their pants at their knees.”

His eyes snapped to her, “What kind of men have you been dating? Petulant teenage gangster wannabes?”

She snorted, her eyes rolling. “It sometimes feels that way.”

“I admit that I can sometimes be a little....childish. Although not quite to that extent.” he admitted.

She chuckled. “Well at least you’re honest about it.”

They were seated by the usher near the isle, and not too many from their section had taken their seats yet. They waited until almost everyone else had arrived, and during this time, Marilynn had pointed out her favorite songs in the playwright they'd been given. When they did finally sit down, Vlad realized the seats were closer together than he had expected, both horizontally and vertically. RIP his long legs.

Marilynn touched his arm and told him to turn his phone off if he hadn't already and he noticed she was the doing the same. When doing so, Vlad noticed he had a missed call from Daniel. He ignored it and powered down the device, returning it to his pocket. He smiled at Marilynn and she returned it. Several minutes later, the curtains rose.

-o-oOo-o-

The Count of Monte Cristo, based on the book by Alexandre Dumas, follows the tale of Edmond Dantes, a young and innocent shipmate and fiance of the woman Mercedes. After being forced to land on the isle of Elba the isle on which Napoleon Bonaparte had been exiled to, because of his dying captain, Dantes returned home and been elevated to captain of his own ship—his dream. Most unfortunately, beings of greed locked their eyes upon him.

Danglars, the first mate of the ship and the person whom had attempted to rat out Dantes for the decision to land at Elba. His plan backfired, resulting in Dantes' new position, and his anger rose. He was supposed to be Captain, not Dantes. Whilst on Elba, Dantes had been given a letter from Napoleon, an act that was considered treason. Danglars knew this. He began to plot.

Mondego, whom Dantes believed to be a friend and cousin to Mercedes. Most unfortunately, Dantes did not realize his feelings of friendship were one-sided, nor did he know that Mondego had also set his eyes on Mercedes. Hate and contempt for Dantes brewed in Mondego.

The two spiteful men conspired, and Dantes, amiss his own wedding, was arrested.

Believing himself to be innocent, and sure that his arrest is a mere mistake, he goes willingly, to the chief magistrate, Gerard de Villefort. Interrogated, Dates claims his innocence, and Villefort believes him—until Dantes, oblivious, reveals the recipient of the letter to be Villefort's own father. Fear for the destruction of his reputation blooms within Villefort; he cannot let this information be known. He makes a choice. He sentences Dantes to life imprisonment in the Chateau d'If, an island prison.

Three selfish men, each responsible for locking an innocent man behind bars for life, to get what they wanted.

Years pass and Dantes remains locked away, slowly losing hope that he will ever return home. Mercedes, ever strong, awaits his return. Mondego, after so long attempting to win her over, realizes that she would never turn her gaze to him while she believed Dantes still lived. Thus he tells her that Dantes has died. She falls into heartbreak.

One day, Dantes encounters another prisoner whom had been attempted to tunnel to freedom, Abbe Faria. The two join each other, Faria offering to teach Dantes, whom is illiterate and unschooled, everything he knows in exchange for help digging. They become quick friends. Faria tells about who he was before being imprisoned, a priest and academic who served a wealthy Count. He was granted the knowledge of where the Count's wealth had been hidden away, on the remote isle of Monte Cristo. The two agree to share the treasure once they are free. Fate has other plans, and Faria is fatally wounded during a tunnel collapse. Dantes is granted the entire fortune, and despite Faria asking him to forget and forgive his desire for revenge, Dantes cannot bring himself to. He joins Faria's body by playing dead, and is thrown into the sea, escaping the prison.

Dantes made his way to Monte Cristo, discovering the treasure was indeed real. He rechristens himself as the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo, and returns to France with revenge burning in his heart.

Upon buying a huge mansion, Dantes attempts to settle into a lavish lifestyle while he gathers information about the three devils whom ruined him. Danglars has become a Baron, Villefort the chief prosecutor for Paris. He then discovers that Mondego and Mercedes had wed, and borne a son, Albert. Overcome with rage, Dantes vows to bring Hell upon all of them, Mercedes included for her betrayal.

-o-oOo-o-

By the time 'Hell to your Doorstep' faded away and Intermission began, Vlad had dug his fingernails into his skin hard enough to bleed.

He jumped when the lights turned back on, illuminating the theater. He tried to swallow, but his throat was tied into a knot and refused to budge. It felt like he was suffocating. Like every word of the show had kicked him in the chest. All of his muscles felt wound too tight and were about to snap at the slightest--

he flinched, eyes snapping to the soft fingers touching his arm. He looked back up at Marilynn. She was frowning, brows knitted together.

“Are you alright? You look a little pale.” she asked, her voice quiet. Vlad forced his throat to unlock, but it did little for the queasy feeling in his stomach. Made it feel worse, actually.

He smiled, and hoped—prayed—it looked convincing, “My apologies, I'm fine. I just need to use the restroom. Please excuse me.”

She nodded silently as he stood up and excused himself. He could feel her eyes on the back of his neck until he went through the doors. He slipped and wove between the handfuls of other people, can came across a men's bathroom. He pushed himself inside and practically collapsed onto a sink. His carefully woven control fell away in tatters. His hands gripped the porcelain so tight it hurt, and he welcomed the feeling. Anything to distract himself. He struggled for breath, his lungs heaving but his throat not permitting. All that squeezed out were shallow inhales. His arms shook, threatening to give out just as much as his legs were. His core felt like it was twisting, pressing against his heart and stabbing itself. His blood pounded in his ears. He screwed his eyes shut.

Daniel's argument returned like a tsunami and devastated his mind.

Marilynn just had to pick the one musical production in the world that constantly felt like a parade of his own life.

He had been Dantes. The idiotic fool who trusted too easily. Whom put his trust into the wrong people, and gotten stabbed in the back for it. Gotten locked away in isolation for it. Died a little each day because of it. The moron who hadn't had the gut to tell the woman he loved how he felt about her, and thus lost her forever. 'I love you, Madeline; please take care of her while I'm gone, Jack.' 'Sure, I'll take care of her very nicely, I'll marry her and have two goddamn children with her, one of whom will be the bane of your existence AT. THIS. VERY. MOMENT!'

He was the wealthy Count, using his money and power for reaping revenge, forever stuck shackled by the past. So blinded by what he thought was true, what he wanted to be true, that he was incapable to see what really was true. The one who hid behind 'an eye for an eye'. 'You hurt me, so now I will make you hurt just the same.'

the pathetic fool willing to destroy himself while trying to ruin everything else.

His hands tightened, the porcelain heating from the ectoplasm throbbing beneath his fingertips. His fangs were too big for his mouth, stabbing into his gums as his jaw remained clenched shut. 'And yet...'

He wasn't Dantes. His Mercedes never loved him. His accident hadn't be intentional, hadn't been a ploy or plot or murder attempt. He did not have any right to justice for his so called 'injustices'. He was just a man who couldn't move on, who fixated on his pain because it was easier to be angry and think himself right then it was to admit that it hadn't been anyone's fault; things went wrong, and he'd made mistakes.

Daniel was right. He had always been right. Annoying and insufferable about it, yes, but he knew what he was talking about.

He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. How the world loved to kick him in the face.

A knock sounded from the door, startling him.

“Vladimir?” Marilynn. Of course. She knocked again, “Are you in there? Are you okay?”

He smelt the tangy sweetness of ectoplasm and opened his eyes. Magenta energy faded from his palms, leaving a seared palm mark on the white sink. Thick lines of blood dribbled from his knuckles down his fingers. He exhaled, the tension slowly uncurling from within him. His muscles felt very sore as his senses came back to him. Why did existential crises have to be so exhausting?

“I'm fine. Please, forgive me.” he called.

He turned on the tap, fully cold, and washed the red from his hands. The crescent moon cuts stung and began to throb, but they'd be gone in an hour so he payed them no mind. He splashed his face, the water soothing his heated skin. He ran his hands over his hair, pressing down the small flyaway strands that had come loose. Looking back at himself in the mirror, he winced. He still looked quite haggard. The deep bags under his eyes from insomnia and stress, dull eyes, several small round scars that his doctor had been unable to fix due to the sensitive area they were located. Hands marked with nebulae from years of trying and failing and trying again to force ghostly powers to bend to his will, his control, despite his fleshy human body.

'My mom is not the same person she was in college! No one is! Not her, not Dad, and certainly not you!' his chest tightened.

This is who he'd become. This....stupid fool, who would be a complete stranger to the bright-eyed, clumsy, social reclusive 20 year old he had been. He distantly wished he could do things over again. But he couldn't. There was no returning to 1981.

He almost snorted. 43 was a hell of a time to try to start anew.

'But not too late. And not impossible.' The voice pointed out. He growled at his own thoughts, 'Shut up, Daniel.'

He stepped out of the bathroom. Marilynn was standing beside it, waiting for him. He offered her a smile, and apologized again. Her frown deepened. He started to walk back to the theater, assuming she'd come with him, but she stepped in front of him. Her hand pressed against his chest, just enough to stop him dead in his tracks. He blinked down at her, surprised.

“Vladimir? Talk to me, please, I'm worried. I can see that you're unsettled by something. Is something wrong?” Her brows furrowed as she stared up at him, her eyes searching him. All he could do was stare at her, shocked.

“It's....” he tried to speak, but he couldn't think of the right words. Something had been wrong, and still technically was, but he didn't really know how to explain. Marilynn seemed to become more concerned by this, and he cleared this throat, “I....admit, that the, ah, story is hitting....a little close to home.”

Marilynn nodded slowly. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-”

“Hush. It's fine. Don't blame yourself.” Vlad said. He placed a hand over hers, giving it a gentle squeeze before lifting it away. She looked unconvinced, but allowed him to put an arm around her. He motioned down the hall “Come, we should go back before intermission ends.”

-o-oOo-o-

Act II begins with Albert attending a carnival, and being quickly drawn away from it and captured. Dantes, pretending to be captured as well, helps Albert free himself and protects him from bandits after they are attacked. This was done intentionally, to gain the boys trust and to get closer to Mondego and Mercedes. Introducing himself as the Count of Monte Cristo, Dantes invites Albert to a ball being held at his mansion.

Gossip is rife among the attendees before Dantes arrives, dazzling everyone with his charm and wealth. One after another, Danglars, Villefort and Mondego are presented and promised rewards for being noble and just. None of them recognize the Count for Dantes, until Mercedes. She does, becoming shocked her deceased lover still lives. Dantes does not give her a chance to speak; he has nothing to say to her.

Dantes sets a trap for the three men. He uses an informant to give the three instructions to invest their money into a company, Llerrom International, which, unknown to them, Dantes owns. The men, none the wiser, fallow the suggestion, and profit substantially as a result, becoming quite rich themselves. Danglars plans to become the richest man in Paris, Villefort to bribe voters for his election campaign, and Mondego wants to bask in endless wine, women and gambling.

Upon having the three's livelihoods dangling from his fingertips, Dantes liquidates the company. The trio loose everything as it all comes crashing back down. Danglars shoots himself, unable to bear it. Villefort is exposed, and sent to Chateau d'If. Mondego, the last, reads the name Llerrom backwards; Morrell being the shipping company Dantes used to work for. Mondego, realizing the Count's true identity, is enraged.

Albert, however, is not pleased with the shame the Count has wrought upon his family. He challenges Dantes to a duel, despite Mercedes' attempts to talk him out of it. Valentine, Albert's fiancee and lover, attempts to change his mind, but fails to stop him as well.

Mercedes begs the Count to spare Albert's life, but Dantes has not forgive her. Mercedes accuses him of heartlessness, but he does not listen.

The duel between the Count and Albert is pathetic. Albert draws first, and misses, leaving Dantes the victor. As Dantes readies his gun to kill Albert, Valentine jumps between them, begging the Count to spare her love's life. She is pulled away, still begging and crying, and Albert prepares himself to die.

The Count shoots into the air, sparing him. The young lovers are reunited, like a reflection of the younger Dantes and Mercedes all those years ago. Shaken from his anger and spite by Valentines display of love, Dantes questions where his old self had gone, contemplating all of the agony and loss he suffered before finally, letting if fall away. His revenge completed, his ire extinguishes. He returns to Mercedes, and they forgive each other. Mondego, however, is not so keen to let Mercedes go. He engages Dantes in a sword fight, but is easily defeated. Yet Dantes cannot bring himself to kill Mondego.

Despite the offer to live and be free, Mondego is too angry, blinded by his own desire for revenge. He attempts to stab Dantes in the back, and Dantes is forced to kill Mondego to save himself. Dantes and Mercedes rekindle their love, and vow to never leave each other again.

-o-oOo-o-

Vlad attempted to not think about the ending. He downright ignored it. He pushed away the unsettling weight in his stomach, refusing to participate in the song and dance for a second time.

He stood, stretching, his back and legs popping from sitting so long. Beside him, Marilynn rolled her shoulders and neck, sharing his stiffness. She allowed him to take her arm again, staying close to him as they exit the theater back into the night, away from the suffocation of other people. The cool air of night bites their faces, feeling quite nice after being inside for nearly three hours. People still crowded around the outside, and they squeezed a way through until they get to an area of sidewalk that was fairly barren of others.

They walked down the street a bit, Vlad watching Marilynn's struggle to pluck away strands of hair that plastered themselves to her lipstick out of the corner of his eye.

“That was quite the enjoyable, all things considered. I hope I didn't ruin your experience.” he states eventually, casting a curious glance at her.

Her eyes go wide, “Oh no, I absolutely loved it! I can't thank you enough. I haven't had such a good first date in forever, I almost don't want it to end.” she said. Vlad raised a brow, humming.

“Well it doesn't have to.” he replied, the corner of his lip pulling up, “Anything else you'd be interesting in doing?”

Marilynn is surprised, but rolls with it, her head tilted as she thought. It was past ten at night, but that meant little in the City That Never Slept.

“Hmmm I'm feeling kinda hungry. Could you go for some pizza?” she said. He grinned.

“I'd love some. Pizza it is, then!”

Marilynn lead to way to a small, family owned pizzeria several blocks away, which was a good thing since Vlad got completely turned around the first right they made. He'd never been one for such huge cities; he liked living in the outskirts of both Madison and Amity. They'd decided to order a single pizza, half pepperoni and half ham and pineapple. This brought about his first true discovery about her; she liked fruit on her pizza. Blasphemy!

She also attempted to pay, which he intercepted. He had promised that everything tonight was on him, after all.

There were only three other people inside at such a late hour, but they decided to sit in the back anyway, away from them. While they ate, they made small talk, which turned into a short argument about pineapple on pizza and then about certain other dubious food combinations. Like mint and chocolate; she refused to believe he would ruin perfectly good chocolate like that.

Vlad could feel it, though. She wanted to say something, but she wouldn't. Eventually, she did.

Marilynn put her drink down after taking a sip, “May I ask you a question?”

Vlad waved a hand, “Shoot, my dear.”

She hesitated. She bit her lip, which had been stripped of her blood red lipstick before she started eating. “I'm...sorry if I'm overstepping, but....why was the play hitting close to home for you?”

Vlad opened his mouth, then closed it immediately after. He'd been expecting this, of course, but he still didn't know what to tell her. He'd never told anyone before. He sighed, “It's a long story.”

“I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon.” Marilynn said. He didn't respond, and she tilted her head, her scowl deep, “Did someone betray you?”

'Observant and logical. Impressive.' he thought. Reluctantly, he gave a nod. Sighing, he leaned forward, elbows on the table.

“I had...a crush on one of my friends, in college. I loved her, quite a lot. I never got to tell her. She and another friend, they believed in this....bizarre idea, about the existence of....another realm, of sorts.” Vlad began, motioning with his hands. Marilynn nodded, listening, “It was ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous. But, she was dedicated to it, and I went where she went, so I got dragged into things. Theories and experiments. And then they started working on a machine to open a sort of door to this alternate realm. They were so convinced that it would work, didn't listen to me or any kind of common sense.”

“One day, about halfway through my second year, this machine was completed and they decided to test it out. That was how it was, jump in with both feet, who cares about repercussions if it works. My best friend at the time didn't listen when he was told that some things weren't right, and it—” Vlad bobbed his head, searching for the words, “Malfunctioned right into my face.”

“I was rushed to the hospital. It was a rather....unpleasant experience. Five years later, I come out penniless, kicked out of college, drowning in debt and.....they're both happily married in a quaint little home. It was all quite....painful, to say in the least.”

His fingers itched towards several faint marks on his hands, some circles, other pinpoint dots. It felt like they throbbed at the memory of pain from years passed. The phantom feeling of rupturing blisters tingled across patches of his skin. He shuddered.

“Well that certainly explains things....” Marilynn said after a while. He didn't raise his eyes, and she looked away as well, “You still have feelings for this woman, don't you?”

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He didn't know what to say. Say 'yes, I do, I'd still love to pine after her but a teenager won't let me'? He's pretty sure that'd be the most surefire way to both end the night and earn a 'please never get within thirty feet of me ever again.' restraining order. But if he lied, he'd have to keep up the lie, which would be hard since he still couldn't completely let go. Madeline was part of his obsession, and obsessions weren't easily denied. He swallowed.

“I....I won't lie, I do. But I have begun to come to terms with the realization that I could never have her.” he said, deciding that it was best to be honest. The best way to not be caught in a tangled web of lies later was to not weave them, right? Despite this, it was still quite hard to actually say it himself, to hear it in his own voice. “I don't want to spend another twenty years chasing ghosts. I...need to try to move on.”

Marilynn nodded, a sad smile on her lips. Recognition and understanding flashed across her eyes. Vlad blinked, confused. Noticing this, she looked away again and began to pick at her nails. “I know how you feel. Well, sort of. I don't mean to say my pain's the same as yours, but....I know what it's like to feel betrayed. To feel forgotten. To feel worthless.”

His confusion deepened.“Who would be so cruel as to hurt someone like you?”

Marilynn snorted, “I met this guy in my AP class. He was tall, handsome and oh lord, was he sweet. To say I fell head over heels is an understatement. We started dating, and I felt like I'd found my soulmate. I wanted to marry him, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. He didn't particularly agree with my degree choice, he thought that 'pretty girls don't know anything about computers'. He tried to get me to drop out. And...” she heaved a sigh, “For him, I did.”

“I spent a year living with him. Got engaged and everything, but......my mother was ill. She'd always been rather frail, but it was still...still hard, to finally lose her. I'd rushed home, stayed for a couple of days for her funeral. When I went back to Penn State, everything was gone. The apartment was up for rent and he,” Her hands curled into white-knuckled fists, “He, the man of my dreams, the man I'd die for, the man I derailed my life for, had decided that he liked the swimmer he'd been dating behind my back better and that he belonged in Miami.”

“It turns out he'd been waiting for when I was out of the apartment to get up and leave, because he didn't like how 'dependent' I'd gotten. He took everything from me.”

Vlad could only stare, “I'm so sorry to hear that.”

She shrugged, smiling. “It was a long time ago.”

He could tell it was a fake smile, the 'It's fine' smile. It was familiar.

He scoffed, “Don't I know those words well. 'It was a long time ago, I'm fine. No, I'm not still angry. Yes, I've forgiven you.' Such tiresome lying, when you just want to say to opposite but can't. You just have to smile and pretend.”

Her face lit up, “Exactly. You have to dance the dance because everyone else will judge you if they know it still hurts you. 'C'mon, it was so long ago. How come you haven't let it go yet?' Like bitch, Brittney, it ain't that easy!”

He nodded, picking up his glass and swirling the water inside, “It appears that we are both quite similar. The broken and the betrayed. It's almost sickeningly Avant Garde.”

Marilynn snorted, but flashed a smile. “It's comforting, to know someone who can understand what it's like. I'm glad to have met you.”

“I would like to say the same about you, my dear.” he replied, then cocked his head, “Y'know, it's funny, I've never told anyone about my accident before, and yet I've told you tonight.”

She lifted her piece of pizza, but paused before taking a bite, “I'm glad that we both feel we can trust each other with our baggage, that's a good thing.” she said. “Don't worry, it's safe with me, I wouldn't dream of telling anyone. I trust you'd do the same for me?”

“I wouldn't ever dream of hurting you, my dear.”

She hummed her thanks, her mouth full. She finished chewing, then said,“You like to do that, don't you?”

He blinked “Do what?”

“Call people 'my dear' or 'my darling'. You've done it quite a few times now,” she said, stirring her drink with the straw and taking a sip. Realization hit him.

“Ahh, it's a bit of a habit. I often use it around some of the other women I know, so sometimes it just slips out. I don't mean to make you uncomfortable, if that's the case.” he explained. It was true. He called Maddie and Haley by simple pet names all the time. He recalled even doing it with Jazz once, much the young lady's disgust. Marilynn waved her hand, dismissive.

“Oh, no, I don't mind. It's just something I noticed. I think it's quite sweet, actually.”

“Do you? I haven't heard that before.”

“How come? I would expect that a man like you,” she gestured him up and down, though he didn't know if she meant his suit or the body in it, “wouldn't have any trouble at all dating. And yet here you are.”

He chuckled, leaning back on the seat, ignoring the noise the old thing made, “Ah, looks can be deceiving, Marilynn.” he admitted, “I'm fairly....romantically inept, so to speak. Lack of experience.”

“So that's why you chose online dating? You're too shy to go bar hopping?”

“I am not shy!” Vlad decided to ignore the little 'Mmhm' and the smug smile on pink lips, “But as to the reason why, that's a rather funny story, actually. Well, one part funny, two parts annoying.”

“Oh? Do tell.” Marilynn laced her fingers together, resting her chin on her knuckles.

“I didn't register myself. A bratty teenager who can't keep his nose out of my business took it upon himself to try to get me in a relationship. He signed me up on the site, and I caught him not too long before I first messaged you.” Vlad explained, “That's why my profile was blank, by the by.”

Marilynn laughed, trying to hide it behind her hands, “Okay that's the best thing I've ever heard. You needed a teenage wing man.”

“Well, when you put it like that...” Vlad muttered, and she laughed harder. He pouted, but found that he wasn't really all that angry or embarrassed about it. “As annoying as it was, I can't be too angry with the boy. After all, we wouldn't be here if it weren't for him.”

Marilynn wiped a tear away from her eye with her pinky, “Good point. You should thank him.”

Vlad snorted, picking up his glass, “He probably wouldn't believe me if I told him I actually went on a date already. He'd think I was making you up, and then he'd start to pity me.” he downed the rest of his water.

“Well at least he wouldn't be right. I'm real and I'm here. Somehow.”

“Sometimes crazy works, you know.” Vlad stated, raising his chin proudly. Marilynn rolled her eyes, and finished off her pizza, the faintest smile visible behind the crust.

“And if I may be so bold, I'd love for you to tell me more about yourself, since you are here.”

She rested a cheek in her hand, “What do you want to know?”

“A lot of things.” Vlad replied, a sly gleam creeping into his eyes, “All of your favorites. Your best stories and memories. Your hopes and dreams. Your laugh when you just can't stop. How you look when you're doing the things you love. How you look in the summer sun, and bundled in ugly Holiday sweaters, and when you wake up every morning. What your hair smells like. If you lips are as soft as they-”

“Okaaay, slow it down there, eager beaver. It's only the first date.” she waved her hand, cutting him off. He smirked, leaning back and observing the pink blush spreading across her cheeks to her ear tips, “There'll be other opportunities.”

His smirk grew wider, a brow raised, “Ahhh, so I have snared your interest then?

She hummed, “I wouldn't say that just yet. But I do like you.”

“I'll consider that a small victory.”

“How about this, I'll answer three questions every date.” Marilynn said, holding three fingers up, “But I get to ask three of my own back and we both have to be honest. Deal?”

Vlad shrugged once, nonchalant, “Deal.”

Marilynn gestured for him to go first. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, “Let's see.....You said that The Count was one of your favorite musicals. What's your absolute favorite?”

Her head fell back, “Ohhh, that's such a hard question right off the bat! I have so many that I love! Wicked, RENT, The Scarlet Pimpernel! But I'm gonna have to saaay....Chicago. It's got a special place in my heart.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“It's the first one I discovered, the one that started my love for musicals and theater. When I was younger, I actually wanted to be an actress because I liked it so much.” she explained, flashing an innocent smile, “That counted as two, by the way.”

He frowned, “I hadn't even thought before I asked, but fair is fair. What do you want to know?”

Marilynn tapped her bottom lip with her finger, humming. He could almost see the ways the gears turned in her skull, in the way her thin brows crinkled and her eyes wandered. For a moment, her eyes lingered on the white stripe parting his silver hair and he could practically feel her mind questioning it.. But she didn't voice any aloud, instead moving on and looking elsewhere.

Eventually, she made vague motions with her hand, “You know I'm learning German, right? But what about you, do you speak a second language or learning anything?”

Vlad hummed, “Ahhh, interesting. I speak a couple, actually. My first language is actually Romanian, English is my second. I'm fairly fluent in French as well.” her brows raised.

“Romanian? That's one you don't hear about any day. That's neat.” she leaned forward, table creaking lightly under her weight, “Can you say something in it? For me?”

Vlad chuckled, “Sigur. Cred că am îndrăgostit de tine.”

“That's awesome. What did you say?”

“Ahhh, but you've already asked your three questions tonight, my dear.” Vlad smirked, amused at her dumbfounded expression, which he found absolutely adorable, “I guess you'rer going to have to wait until next time to figure it out.”

“That's just mean.” Marilynn muttered, and he chuckled again.

“Go ahead, ask another; I won't count them, since one was technically a request.”

For a moment, she looked like she was going to protest. Instead, she asked, “Why me?”

Vlad frowned, “What do you mean?”

She shrugged, “Why did you decide to message me? What made you interested?”

Vlad stared at her. After a moment, he looked away, towards the tile of the wall, thinking. What, exactly, had made him interested in her? More interested than the other five? Her interests? Her profession? Her looks? He couldn't pinpoint it. Well, he could, but he attempted to ignore that particular reason right now. She was certainly beautiful, yes, and he did feel attracted to her, but there had been something else, something he couldn't figure out. Something he knew he saw, but couldn't identify. Or was he overthinking it? Thinking there was something else when all that was there was the physical attraction, and the similarities of Maddie? He...honestly, he didn't know. He was dumbfounded for a second time.

“Vladimir?” he looked back to Marilynn, broken from his musings.

“My apologies, I just hadn't thought about why you stood out to me before. It's a good question. I guess I....well, I don't want to paint myself as being shallow, but a substantial factor was your beauty. The other part was that I was reading your profile and I couldn't stop thinking that this was a woman I wanted know more about. I felt more magnetized the more I read, But I haven't any idea why.” he said.

Marilynn's face softened, her smile brightening, “I've asked every single previous guy that same question, and most of them tried to come up with some superficial vague crap; not one of them admitted it might have been because they thought I was attractive. Thank you for being honest.”

His face contorted in confusion, “You're quite welcome? I don't understand, why does that please you?”

In an instant, her face hardened. Eyes narrow, jaw tight, smile gone.

“I hate being lied to. I can't stand it. I don't appreciate when people, particularly men whom I go on dates with, attempt to pull wool over my eyes with fluffy words and a sickeningly sweet disposition. It's a game to them, they're focused on a goal rather than who I am. I'm not a possession, nor a trophy, to be won. I don't play the game.” she explained, and Vlad could only stare at the dull, nearly irritable tone, “They only get one chance. Either be honest with me or get out; I haven't time for the bullshit.”

'Seems like I'm not the only bitter one here still compensating for past grievances.' he thought, nodding. 'Daniel's goth friend would like this attitude.'

“Makes sense, but, still...Why?” he questioned, thought to be honest, he didn't really know how else to respond.

“I've been lied to enough in my life. I refuse to have my time wasted. Never again.” she replied, adding, “It's also easy for me, because I'm very well aware that I'm beautiful; there's no denying that.”

His brows shot up, “I wouldn't dare, I quite agree.” she laughed, and he relaxed a little.

“Since I've most likely used my third question, and fourth and fifth probably, it’s still your turn, my dear.”

“I've lost track, honestly.” she admitted and he chuckled, “Let's go with something easy since it's getting a little late. Any fears?”

'Too many.' he mentally kicked the thought in its nonexistent ass.

“Death.” he replied, “Hospitals. Being alone. Bees. A few superstitions, as well, thought not as badly. Your typical sorts of things. What time even is it?”

Marilynn checked her phone, “12:22. I think I should head home.”

Vlad nodded, his spirit deflating. He didn't realize they'd been here for so long; it was a good thing the pizzeria was a 24-hour one. He was quite sad that he'd have to say goodbye soon, and a tad surprised by that. It'd been a very enjoyable evening, one he didn't quite want to end yet. But it needed to, as he assumed she had work to do later and he himself needed to get back to Amity by 8 am for a meeting. Most likely because of Daniel's destructive heroics, the brat went out on a limb to make his work even harder.

They split the remaining few pieces of pizza into to-go boxes, and left together, a handsome tip left on the table while Marilynn's back was turned. Outside, she hailed a taxi, and he caught her hand before she got in.

“Allow me to pay for your cab. It's the least I can do-”

She shook her head, “You've paid for enough tonight. I appreciate it, though. I'll be fine.”

He nodded, and released her arm. “Very well, Marilynn, if you insist.”

she smiled up at him, “Thank you again for tonight. I couldn't have asked for a better night.”

“It was my pleasure, I'm glad that you enjoyed yourself. I'd love to take you out again sometime, if that's alright with you?” her sculpted brow raised.

“You're just full of surprises, aren't you?” she said, but her smile told him she didn't really mind. She pulled out a post-it pad from her purse and scribbled something down. He tried to look at it, but she hid it, and tucked it into his breast pocket with a playful pat. “Call me.”

Vlad was stunned, jaw slack for a second before he closed it, “I most certainly will. Have a goodnight, my darling.”

She smiled, a playful glint in her eyes. She took one quick step towards him, and placed her lips on his cheek, then stepped back again, “Goodnight, Vladimir.”

Vlad didn't respond, stunned. She chuckled as she entered the cab and waved as it pulled away. Dumbly, Vlad waved back, watching the vehicle disappear among the hundreds of others. His brain felt like a rug had been ripped out from under it, and it couldn't figure out how to get back up. He barely recalled calling his own chauffeur to come pick him up until he was actually in the back seat and on his way back to the airport. He raised his hand to his cheek, fingers brushing over the place where her lips had been for just a fraction of a second. It seemed to tingle a little at the memory, and he snapped from his daze. He hid his face in his hands, his cheeks burning.

'Oh my god!'

-O-

AN: Oh Vladdy. Getting all flustered at a cheek kiss.

#OnlineDatingforPatheticFruitloops #Danny Phantom #GetVladAGirlfriend2016 #chapter 2 #OldThings #vvcwriting

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voxvociscruorawriting · 8 years

Text

Online Dating for Pathetic Fruitloops

Summery:

Danny, completely and utterly fed up up with Vlad trying to steal his mom, takes a different approach to dealing with him. If the man wants love, Danny'll get him love.

By signing him up for online dating.

Vlad now faces the very daunting choice of moving on after twenty years of effort, or continuing to chase Maddie. For Danny, it's not clear exactly which he's doing.

FF.Net // Ao3

Danny was fed up.

With what, you ask? Well, with a little know problem known as Vladimir Putin Masters. The guy had shown up the previous day, completely uninvited, and tried to curl his evil coils round his mom like the slimy snake he truly was. Worse, his dad hadn't been home, so it'd been particularly infuriating. It was the seventh time this month. It was really starting to feel like Vlad had developed a sense to know exactly when his ex-best friend went AWOL.

Quite honestly, Danny wanted to shove something up Vlad's ass to make him go away and stay away.

But Vlad was stubborn. Infuriatingly stubborn. Both of the fights the teen had brought upon the older Halfa just resulting in a pretty embarrassing ass kicking and migraines the size of Russia. Every 'Leave my mom alone!' and 'Get out of my town!' Danny tried to say with his fists and ectoblasts went completely unacknowledged. Annoying, given that in one of those encounters, he'd literally grabbed Vlad by the elven ear and screamed exactly those two sentences into it, and still Vlad didn't listen.

So Danny was done trying to beat it into him. Instead, he opted for something with a little more....finesse. Or, with as much finesse as a 15 year old super hero teen who's first thought about invading ghosts was 'I'm gonna punch them.' could have.

See, young Danny had thought up a plan. An ingenious plot to get his arch enemy off his back. He was a little impressed with himself, really. Vlad had been constantly complaining and bemoaning about being lonely and just wanting love, so that's precisely the problem he was going to fix. Start at the root of the problem, and all that philosophical babble whatnot.

Which was why Danny was currently hunched over Vlad's laptop in the pitch dark at midnight, browsing for which online dating site would be best to put a sociopathic narcissist half ghost onto.

Operation #GetVladAGirlfriend2005 was full under way.

Well, after 2 hours. Finally.

Danny drug his hand down his face, groaning. The bright computer screen light was starting to make his eyes go funny. It turned out that answering a lot of romance-based questions about your arch enemy was a lot harder than he thought it'd be. Especially since he was discovering that he didn't really know anything about Vlad as, y'know, a person. Google and no less than seven calls to Jazz was his savior. His brain felt like it was starting to deflate. The fact that the unfinished math homework sitting at home wouldn't stop prodding the back of his mind didn't help. But at least it seemed like he might almost be done, since the questions were now about Vlad's personal information rather than how important a skilled partner was to him. That was a welcome change.

“Shit. What's Vlad's birthday?” Danny groaned. Back to Vlad's Wikipedia page. Again.

Another half and hour and much quiet metaphorical dying later, Vlad Masters was successfully a member of TruLove4U.com.

Good news: The site had already fund quite a number of matches.

Bad news: Danny would have to go through every one of them in order to find Vlad's, to quote the site, 'TruLove Soulmate.'

Honestly Danny was so tired that he found the idea inexplicably hilarious.

-o-oOo-o-

As the week crawled on, Danny returned every night to Vlad's profile to continue on his question. Much to his dismay, every day there were new matches he had to compare and contrast against the ones he already had. But the good thing was that he already had three front runners: Rebecca, Ellen, and his personal favorite, Kathy. Kathy certainly seemed like the best option and most likely to be able to deal with Vlad's insanity. Ellen was pretty nice too, she was sweet but stubborn.

Really, who'd have thought Danny would be going through dozens of middle aged women's profiles to try to get Vlad laid? Where did his life go so wrong?

Three days after starting the profile, Tucker discovered what he was doing. His friend took it upon himself to hijack it to send out messages, much to Danny's annoyance. Hilariously, even under the guise of renowned Vlad Masters, he was rejected by all of them. Sam learned about it not long after, and complained that it was cruel to the women to try to set them up with someone like Vlad. Bickering between the three ensued.

By the end of the week, Danny was just happy Vlad himself hadn't yet discovered him. There had been a few close calls, when he had lost track of time and didn't realize Vlad routinely got up at 5 in the morning. But Lady Luck finally seemed to be on his side for once. He was feeling good about his progress.

“Daniel?”

Annnnnnd there goes Lady Luck. Backstabbing him again, the wench.

Danny slammed the laptop closed, spinning around. Vlad took a few tentative steps into the room, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What are your doing in my private study?”

Danny swallowed. He tried to squeeze his brain for an excuse. Any excuse. Anything that Vlad would actually buy. The lights flipped on, illuminating the room and momentarily blinding him. He blinked rapidly to try to readjust his eyes, then cleared his throat.

“Just, uh, seeing if you were keeping any world domination plans in here.”

Vlad gave him a look, “Daniel I know you think I'm crazy, but I'm not that stupid. Why are you on my computer?”

Danny unconsciously shifted to block the laptop with his body, “I was looking for information.” he replied.

“You're lying to me.”

Danny remained defiant. “No I'm not.”

Vlad growled. His eyes flashed red and his lips pulled up to reveal the tips of his fangs, “Give me the laptop, Daniel. Now.” He extended his hand, expectant.

Danny looked towards Vlad's fingers, then back to his face. His fingers curled tighter around the computer. He of course knew that he'd eventually have to confront Vlad with what he'd been doing, but he hadn't expected to do it so soon. He thought he had time to actually think of a plan for doing that. His foresight is the worst. He tried to weigh the pros and cons, but Vlad's overbearing presence made it quite impossible. His resolve popped.

“Okay, you're right. I was lying.” Danny said, shirking away a bit when Vlad's eyes narrowed, “But in my defense, this is about something that you, uh, won't take kindly to. But I'm doing it in your best interest, so, really, I'm just trying to do you a favor.”

“The laptop, Daniel.”

Danny sighed. He handed over the machine, Vlad snatching it from his fingers and prying the lid open. The screen popped back to life, displaying in crisp high definition the matches page of TruLove4U.com. Vlad's anger melted into confused irritation as he attempted to figure out just what he was looking it.

“What is this stupidity?” Vlad demanded, and Danny grimaced. Here we go.

“It's, uh, a dating site.” he said, “I signed you up.”

Rage flooded Vlad, “You WHAT?!”

Danny held his hands up, as if that would even help anything, and gestured tot he screen, “Look, I've found you five women you've been matched with! And they're all available because they're single!”

His attempt to calm Vlad's anger worked about as well as throwing gasoline on a fire. The elder Halfa slammed the laptop onto a table, his eyes bleeding red and wisps of ectoplasm dancing round his arms. He advanced upon Danny, who took equal steps backwards.

“Daniel, I do not appreciate your idiotic assumptions that I am unable to pursue relationships myself, nor do I like the fact that you are attempting to set me up behind my back! I am perfectly capable of living my own life and doing what I want! If I have said it once, I have said it a thousand times: I love Madelyn and I will not give up on her!”

Danny growled, narrowing his eyes, “And I personally think that you're more in love with the memory of her than you are with her as a person.”

Vlad recoiled like he'd been struck, “How dare you....!”

“Face it Vlad! My mom is not the same person she was in college! No one is! Not her, not Dad, and certainly not you! Time changes people! You lost your chance before you even had it, and no matter how hard or how long you try to run after it, it's gone! You're chasing ghosts, Vlad, and you've wasted twenty years of your life doing it!” Danny yelled, stomping. Ice slithered across the carpet, the temperature dropping several degrees. His patience had officially run out, and he is 110% Done. Vlad's hands balled into fists, pink encasing them. Small streaks of smoke rising from him; he was not about to back down now.

“You are wrong, Daniel!” he snapped back, “I had dreams! I knew exactly the life I wanted to live! I could have had everything I wanted had that blasted—!”

“But you don't! You're alone and family-less with nothing but meaningless wealth and empty rooms to your name!” Danny jabbed a finger at the older Halfa, “And let me tell you, that is completely your own fault!”

Vlad opened his mouth, but Danny was having None Of It.

“You could have chosen to give up on your stupid grudge fifteen years ago and maybe you could have found someone who made your heart twist and year in a way my mother never could and spent every day since bickering like the old married couple you'd be! Maybe ten years ago you could have met someone you learned you never wanted to live without and who knows, if that had happened, maybe you'd be busy celebrating your child's birthday today! Or maybe five years ago you could have stumbled upon a great guy and discovered you were actually gay or something, I don't know!” Danny three his hands into the air, “Every year that you waste your time pining after my mom is one more year of missed opportunities and future regret!”

“How many more are you going to waste? Five? Ten? Another twenty? Let's put that into perspective, you'd be in your sixties, Vlad. Just as alone and bitterly miserable as you are today.” Danny snarled, glaring at the other Halfa, “There is no chance of my mom loving you. She never did to begin with. Is it honestly fucking worth it, Vlad?”

Silence. Danny inhaled, forcing his fingers to unclench. In and out he breathed, attempted to calm himself. Looking back up at Vlad, he was a little startled. Vlad was staring, wide-eyed and pale, looking quite taken aback by the outburst. Uncertainty traced the lines of his face, small and nearly undetectable, yet still there. Danny swallowed, feeling a slight twinge of guilt, yet not the least bit sorry. He knew that pulling off the scab that was Vlad's delusions would cause it to bleed once more, bringing the ugly and pain of the past with it. Danny also knew that sometimes you needed to pick scabs off because they got infected and you needed to clean the wound.

Vlad wallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing, then spoke, “You haven't any idea what you're talking about, Daniel. You don't understand—”

Danny shook his head, “I think I understand more than you realize. I've fought you for months, I know you better than anyone else.” Vlad said nothing, instead turning to glare at the wall. Danny heaved a sigh.

“Listen, I'm not trying to do this to shove your face into things you'd rather forget—okay, I kinda am—but I really am doing it to help you.”

“No you're not. You are only attempting to get me away from your family. You care about your mother, not me. Don't be so pretentious, you're not fooling me.”

Danny gave a halfhearted shrug, “You're right. That was the goal. But as hard as it is to believe, I really don't want to see you running around in circles for the rest of your life.” Vlad flinched, despite obvious attempts to smother it. Danny noticed, and his face softened, “You've always been right about one thing, and that was that your accident really did ruin your life. But it wasn't anyone else's fault but your own that was ruining it since. You've got to let it go.”

“It's not that easy!” Vlad hissed, eyes glaring red. Danny cocked his head, a brow raised.

“Why isn't it? Why are you able to just say 'I've done this long enough, it's not worth it anymore, I'm done'? Why is it so hard to decide that you've given enough of your life to something, and walk away from it? What's fueling you, Vlad? What's tied you to it?”

“I....”

Danny furrowed his brows, “Do you even know anymore?”

“.....” Vlad shut his mouth, lips pressed into a thin line. Danny waited, patient, but Vlad turned away, motioning to the door, “I'd like for you to leave now, Daniel. I need to get ready for work.”

Danny visibly deflated. He sighed, but nodded and walked away. Nothing more he could do, he supposed. He paused at the table where the laptop lay askew on, the screen still displaying the dating site. He picked it up, and approached Vlad again. Vlad frowned at him.

“Just.....give it a try, okay? Humor me.” Danny pushed the laptop into his hands, “I recommend Kathy, she seems pretty cool.”

He stepped back and walked away again, phasing through the wall and out into the crisp air of dawn. He looked back at Vlad's Polterheist Mansion, frowning deeply. With a shake of his head, he flew off. He should probably do his homework.

-o-oOo-o-

For a rare time in his life, Vlad Masters didn't know what to think.

He stared at the open laptop in his hands, his mind a monsoon of clashing thoughts. Part of his throat felt stuck. His lungs felt too tight. A deeper part of him ached, like it'd been cut with a dull blade. Half of him was angry, unfathomably angry, at Daniel. How dare that teen, that child, have the audacity to come into his home, to interfere with his life, to attack and insult his very being. Vlad wanted to throw the brat into a wall, strap him down and send a thousand volts into him. The other half knew Danny was right, and it hurt. He'd been trying for so long and had nothing to show for it. Indecisiveness and self doubt swelled, hiding the fear nestled close to his heart. Fear, and the soft whispers of regret. The tiny mumbles of 'I told you so' freckled through the repeating sentences echoing in his mind like a record that wouldn't stop skipping.

Vlad Masters did not fear, and he did not regret. Regret mean he'd made a mistake, that everything he's done had been in vain. It was unacceptable.

'But it kind of has been fruitless, hasn't it?' The small voice breathed in his mind.

He refused to believe it. Daniel didn't know what he was talking about. Daniel didn't understand. If he could get more, perhaps Maddie would turn her eyes towards him.

'In disgust, of just plain pity? I think she'd feel sad for how desperate you've become.’

His fingers tightened, the plastic case creaking. Before him, the sleek design of the dating site stared back at him.

Would more be worth it? Maybe if he could give Maddie more, more wealth, more luxury, more prestige. More knowledge, more skill, more fame. Were those even the kinds of things that could sway her? Did she even care about those kinds of things? Had he ever even considered that before?

'How many more years are you going to waste? Five? Ten? Twenty? Will you be forty years from now, 82 and dying alone, only to ask yourself the same questions? Or maybe you'd ask 'Why did I ever even think I could have made her love me?''

He shuddered. He didn't want that. That was his biggest fear. He had already half died alone, he refused to do it again. Being alone when the rest of him withered away too was too horrible to even try to imagine. For there to be so many people, yet to have no one care.....he wouldn't be able to bear it.

'Humor me.' The voice utters, 'What have you even got to loose?'

Vlad placed the computer on the desk, slowly sinking into the chair. Six names stared back at him. But Daniel had said five earlier. Just five? Or had Daniel been combing through his potential partners, and if so, why? To weed out those he felt didn't fit him well? They do say that no one knows you quite like your enemy does. Part of him feels indignant that he hadn't been allowed to make his choices himself, but another part, puzzlingly, trusted Daniel's judgment.

Six names. Six women. Kathy, Ellen, Rebecca, Zoe, Marilynn, and Christine.

Vlad hovered over Kathy's name, but hesitated. Daniel did recommend her, but....he wasn't so sure.

He clicked, and Kathy's profile displayed. She was 38, and she owned her own business. He looked to her picture, which displayed a fair attractive blond dressed formally. It seemed to be a professionally taken picture, perhaps for some event. He scanned her about section, discovering she was interested in botany, dolphins, and fully supposed Eco activists. He frowned. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with her, but there wasn't anything that tickled his fancy either. She just felt like an okay person. There wasn't a spark.

Backing out and continuing to the others, Vlad learned that his relative disinterest in anything any of them had on their profiles was the norm. Zoe came the closest, given that she was an archaeologist and had a rather morbid sense of humor. But he still wouldn't say he was particularly....interested. His curiosity and eyes often wandered to Marilynn's name. He couldn't help it. It was so similar, of course he was drawn to it. She was the last one, specifically because he kept putting her off.

He opened her profile. His breath caught in this throat, his eyes glued instantly to her picture.

She wasn't Maddie, but damn if she couldn't be. She could easily pass as a doppelganger. Similar face, similar eye shape, similar smile, even her hair style was nearly the same. Blue eyes highlighted with light makeup and complimented with a soft, sweet smile. Freckles speckled her skin, her hair a shiny ebony trimmed into a floofy bob. She appeared younger, yet still incredibly beautiful. She was the kind of woman who could catch anyone she wanted in a bar or club, which begged the question of why she'd pick a dating site instead.

He tore his eyes away from her picture, to her information. Her younger age was confirmed by her birth date, Halloween '71. she was currently 33, 9 years younger than him. She lived in New York, worked as a programmer, and had attended Penn State. She didn't have any previous marriages, and was currently child-less. At a height of 5'3, she was quite short; especially compared to his 6'2 height. He ran his eyes over her interests.

'Tell About Yourself: I am from Cattawissa PA, and I attended Penn State to pursue my desire to design and develop software. I have a number of hobbies, including baking, quilling, gardening, and rock climbing. My biggest interest is Theatrical Musicals, and I'm also quite fond of movies, my favorite of which are the Kill Bill series. I have recently taken up learning German, and I sometimes teach a small programming class in my local rec center. I value cleanliness and respectfulness. I have a bit of a soft spot for cartoons.”

Vlad inhaled, lacing his fingers together. He stared at the screen, skimming the words again. And again. And again. He was interested. Very interested. But he felt like he shouldn't be. That it was wrong. Part of him still didn't want to give up on Maddie, another felt uneasy due tot he similarities between the two, and a third couldn't help but feel like Danny would be very upset.

Yet a surprising amount of him was still interested despite his doubts.

He bit his lip. He was forced to wonder if he just drawn to her because she was similar to Maddie. Was he was just perpetuating his inability to move on by wanting to see about her? Was he unconsciously making her a surrogate? But then again, she wouldn't actually be Maddie, so that had to count for something. Right?

Daniel had told him to give it a try. It wasn't Vlad's fault a woman unfathomably similar Maddie appeared in his matches.

“You know what? Fuck it.” Vlad lowered his hands to the keyboard. He clicked on the message button, and began to type. Only to quickly backspace and repeat several times because he had no idea what to say. Something flirty? Something charming? A formal request? A pick up line??! A quick trip to Google told him no, pick up lines were almost unanimously horrible. Good to know. He eventually opted to keep it quick and simple:

“Hello, my dear. I've noticed we've been matched, and I must say, I'm quite interested in you. I love love an opportunity to get to know you better.”

Message sent, he closed the computer. And tried not to think about what he just did. He looked at the clock, remembering that he was supposed to be getting ready for work. 6:42. He cursed profoundly. He'd be late, which was pretty much the gross cherry on this train-wreck of a morning.

At least his fight with Daniel negated his need for coffee today. Victory in the little things.

-o-oOo-o-

Six hours later, Vlad took his lunch and escaped into his office at City Hall to try to break into his own dating account. There was no way in hell he was actually going to ask Daniel to tell him the password. That would just be embarrassing. Once into the account, a bright pink heart next to the messages tab on his page pulsed. Vlad rose a brow. He was a little shocked, and a tab hopeful as well. He'd been wondering if he'd even get a response to his message.

He opened the tab, and sure enough, the single new message was a reply from Marilynn. He poked it.

“I'm sorry, but your profile is empty. I must decline, I don't trust that.”

Vlad growled, fists clenching, “Curse you Daniel. Typical of you to half-ass things.”

He soon discovered that whatever Danny could get away with leaving blank, he had. The only things actually on his profile were his name, what he was searching for, and his birth date. Daniel hadn't even attempted to put a picture up. Though, Vlad supposed that this was a bit of a blessing in disguise. The less people made the connections between him and the account, the better.

As shallow as it would seem, he was not about to risk accidentally snaring a gold digger. If he was really going to try to this seriously, then he wanted someone who was interested in him, not his money. If that, perhaps, meant lying through his teeth, then so be it. He was billionaire, and that made him a rather large target.

This brought about a unique challenge: giving out just enough information to satisfy and intrigue possible partners, while also keeping as much as possible a secret.

He was rather annoyed that Daniel used his real name. If he'd used an alias, it would be easier to keep the account a secret.

Vlad filled out his profile, as thorough yet as vague as he could. It was an odd dance. He decided against putting his interest in football and the Packers on it. He also only listed his current Mayoral role as his occupation, given it was the lesser known of the two positions he held. He did not particularly want a picture of himself on it, but he came to the conclusion that he didn't have a choice, really. Who gets interested in someone who doesn't put a picture on their page?

Profile officially complete, Vlad navigated back to Marilynn's message. He had the option of replying back to her, and he was torn on actually doing it. He wanted to, but he didn't want to paint himself as a possible threat. Or desperate. He couldn't figure out which would be worse to come off as.

He opted to reply, once more rationalize that, really, he had nothing to loose in the long run.

“Ah, my apologies. I did not mean to send up any red flags. I am quite new to this kind of thing, please forgive my ignorance. Might I ask, since I have completed my profile, is there any possibility you'd be willing to give him a second chance?”

At least he was being half honest.

Vlad flopped back, running his fingers through his hair. He pulled the tie from it, rolling it through his fingers as he thought. Was he really doing this? Was he really taking the advice of a 15 year old vigilante? Sure, he'd gotten a cat, which was originally Daniel's semi-suggestion mostly-insult, but still. This was different. This was.....life altering. Which, he supposed, was the point. It didn't make him feel any less conflicted. He was putting all of his trust into the idea that Danny was correct and that Danny had the right idea. He didn't know what to think about that. Daniel frequently made mistakes, sometimes huge ones. The boy was inexperienced at life. But he was also good at fixing the ones he made. It was what made him such an infuriating enemy.

So either Danny was either inadvertently leading him to disaster or to a better life. It was a blind gamble either way.

His computer dinged, shattering his thoughts. Vlad looked back to the screen. A pop-up blinked at the bottom right corner, a small message within. Leaning forward, he confirmed the IM was indeed from Marilynn. He hummed, “That was fast. She must be online.”

“Normally I'd deny, but I'll bite and give you the benefit of the doubt since I'm interested. Dazzle me.”

Vlad couldn't resist the temptation. He replied.

The conversation stalled. Marilynn frequently started to type, then stopped, then resumed. Vlad twisted his hair tie into knots waiting, wondering if he'd perhaps overstepped a little too far. Finally, Marilynn replied. The disbelief was palpable on her letters. Vlad steeled his resolve. If you're going to jump, you might as well leap.

Vlad smiled. Maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as the thought it'd be.

-o-oOo-o-

AN: ~First chapter!~ This is the beginning of my new somewhat AU, which I've dubbed #GetVladAGirlfriend2016. Or the MarilynnMastersAU. Whichever. For those of you curious, this idea started with wondering if the prototype design of Maddie (which can be found on Butch Hartman's tumblr and twitter) might exist in the DP world, which then led me to combine both it and the “Vlad actually joins online dating” ideas. And for those of you wondering, yes, I named her Marilynn specifically because it was similar to Madeline.

#OnlineDatingforPatheticFruitloops #Danny Phantom #GetVladAGirlfriend2016 #vvcwriting #chapter 1 #ContainsOCs #OldThings

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voxvociscruorawriting · 8 years

Text

Dear Daniel

(Read on FF.net; Read on A03)

"He looked it all over, looking for anything funny or weird on any of its sides. But it was just a plain envelope. Normal cream paper, his name on the front in Vlad's looping cursive, the fold sealed with a pink wax seal engraved with a decorative VM. As far as the outside was concerned, it was just a normal, if a little testimonial to Vlad's ego, letter."

AN: Oneshot fallowing the events of Phantom Planet, all S3 canon. Slight AU via headcanon. Vlad-centric.

The air was uncomfortably tight, and all of the Fenton family couldn't help but fidget. 9 O'clock sharp, they were told. They'd been here ten minutes early, and it was now 9:08; the coo-coo clock on the wall reminded them of that with every quiet tick. Maddie's hands, for once barren of gloves, held onto Danny's shoulders like a vice. Jazz simply sat with her hands in her lap, legs crossed, occasionally glancing towards her family to see if they were just as uncomfortable with the room as she was. Jack preoccupied himself with looking around the room. Danny alternated between picking at the hem of his shirt and looking around, sighing. It was too quiet, the walls too dull. None of them wanted to be here, not like this.

The door shut, causing the family to jump. All eyes turned towards it, the middle-aged woman in front of it frozen in their gazes. After a moment, she offered an apologetic smile, and made her way behind the desk at the fore of the room. She set her papers down, then took in the people before her. The second smile she flashed them was just a little too tense.

“I'm for the delay, I really didn't expect to be held up so long. Thankfully, this should go by rather quickly; Mr. Masters was very thorough in his preparations and his decree is rather simple. It shouldn't take longer than an hour.” she said, her hands entwining together, “I am Hailey Whitmon, the executor of his will.”

“It's fine.” Maddie replied, however her grip on her son remained tight. She gave a curt nod towards the papers, “We'd really like to just get this over with, if you wouldn't mind.”

Hailey nodded, “Sir Vladimir Masters' will is simple, however the situation around him is....not. The state has decided to distribute his estate due to the belief that he will not survive to return to Earth. As of today, he has been declared legally dead. Naturally, due to the....situation that has led to these events, his history and his dealings are being investigated.” she continued, explaining. Her voice strained as she spoke. Weather it was because Vlad was dead or because of his catastrophic manipulation of the entire world, they family didn't know, nor care.

“Vladimir left behind a large number of assets and a phenomenal amount of wealth. I have already begun to take care of everything not concerning your family as decreed by his testament, however you're all involved with it, in part. Once everything has been cleared, and all that hasn't been seized in the possible revelation of foul play, will be released to his beneficiaries—err, beneficiary.”

Jazz tilted her head, a knit between her brows, “There's only one?”

“Yes, there is. Which is why I said you were all involved in part, ” Hailey replied. She looked down at her papers, “Vladimir's will states that in the case of his passing or otherwise prolonged absence of ten years, all of his estate should be passed onto Daniel Fenton.”

Danny recoiled like he'd been struck, gaping, “Huh?! Me?!”

Haily's lips twitched upwards at him, “Yes, you.” She returned her eyes to the papers, reading it off, “In further detail, Vladimir has arranged that his various properties, both commercial and privatized, scattered across the globe remain maintained but unavailable until Daniel Fenton's eighteenth birthday. In addition, while ownership of all eight of Masters' companies and corporations will be in Daniel's name, he cannot take control of them until he is twenty-one. Until that date, I, his former assistant and co-CEO, will act in his stead. In the event Daniel wishes to refuse ownership of any or all of Master's businesses, he may permanently hand it over to me, and I will be free to do with it as I pleases.

“Vladimir's wealth, totaling approximately eighty-five billion dollars, excluding value of his other assets, is to be completely opened up to Daniel on his eighteenth birthday. Until that date he will receive only $1,00,000 yearly. Masters' salary will continue to be gathered and deposited in what will become Daniel's bank account, given he now technically holds that position.” She raised her head and cast glances at the stunned look each Fenton wore. Jazz held her hand over her mouth and Jack's jaw hung slack.

“Oh my god.” Maddie deftly looked down at her son, part of her feeling rather numbed at this revelation. Danny didn't react, he simply continued to stare dumbly.

They all startled when Jack jumped up, laughing loud and giddy.

“Holy fudge, we're rich!” he boomed, a toothy smile stretching from ear to ear. He clapped a heavy hand on Danny's back, nearly knocking the air from his lungs, “You're gonna be worth more than eighty-five billion dollars, Danny-o! Think of all the ghost studying that could be done with that kinda cash! We could fortify the entirety of Amity Park from ghosts! You wouldn't have to work so hard to hunt them anymore, and there'd still be billions left over!”

“I'm afraid that won't be happening for a few years.” Hailey stated, drawing everyone's attention back to her. Her lips pressed into a thin line, “Vladimir has left specific instructions to forbid the senior Fentons from any of his estate until Daniel's twenty first birthday, after which there are no stipulations as everything legally become Daniel's. In other words, Daniel cannot give any of you any of his money until he is twenty one. And that's if he gets it in the first place; it could be seized.

Jack visibly deflated, slumping back into his chair, “Well, that's a bit of a punch to the face....”

“Can you blame him?” Jazz asked, “In Vlad's mind, you wronged him, repeatedly, and he's a very bitter person. So this is really just his final way of keeping everything he built and made for himself out of your hands as much as he can.”

“But we didn't do anything-”

“It doesn't matter what you did or didn't do, all that matters about it was what Vlad thought was true. What someone thinks is their motivation for what they do and the choices they make. Vlad felt wronged, so he gave you nothing. He feels you're unworthy to what he had,” Jazz replied. She looked towards her brother, biting her lip, “But for him to leave absolutely everything to Danny.....”

Hailey cleared her throat, “Vladimir has also requested that a letter be given to Daniel Fenton in the event of the execution of this will, however he states that this letter should be read in private and is thus for Daniel's eyes only.” she picked up an envelope from her papers, and held it out to Danny.

Danny was still much too stunned to say anything as he took the envelope. Elegant golden lettering glimmered up at him, forming his full name on the slightly bubbled front. It was a little heavy for a letter, indicating multiple pages were possibly held within. But as to what those pages could contain, Danny had no clue. Maybe it was secretly a bomb designed to wipe him out—he wouldn't put that past Vlad. The man's vindictiveness knew no bounds.

Jazz looked over his shoulder, “A letter? Why?”

“Not a clue, Miss Jasmine.” Hailey shrugged, then nodded to the side of the room, at a door. “There's a small room through there. It's not being used, if you're interested.”

Danny glanced at the door, nibbling his lip. He didn't really care about reading it privately, it didn't really make a difference when he told his friends and family everything nowadays. Nor did he really even care about reading it in the first place; whatever Vlad had to say wasn't important to him. However, he was unable to resist his suspicions. Unable to resist the idea that Vlad had planed all of this--the satellite, the asteroid, the 'failure', this will-- and that the envelope could contain useful information. Legally dead or not, Vlad was still Vlad. Looking back at his family, who were watching him with mixed expressions, he sighed and stood up. He really didn't have a choice about it.

“Thanks. I'll be back.”

Danny pulled the door shut after him, enclosing the tiny room into silence. It was just as stuff as the other one, only smaller. Danny's nose crinkled, the air smelled stale. He flopped unceremoniously into one of the faux leather chairs, holding the envelope up. He looked it all over, looking for anything funny or weird on any of its sides. But it was just a plain envelope. Normal cream paper, his name on the front in Vlad's looping cursive, the fold sealed with a pink wax seal engraved with a decorative VM. As far as the outside was concerned, it was just a normal, if a little testimonial to Vlad's ego, letter.

Huffing, Danny flipped it over and pried his finger under the seal, tearing it open. Inside was nothing but a bulk of neatly folded pages, about seven or eight. Pulling them out and straightening them, Danny's brows momentarily furrowed at the sight of Vlad's handwriting.

He huffed, “Alright, Fruitloop, let's see what the heck you're up to with this.”

-o-oOo-o-

Dear Daniel,

If you are reading this, then I am gone, most likely by an untimely demise or disappearance. I've left you this letter in the event of my--probably--permanent absence in order to tell you a lot things I was unable to, most of which will be hard for you to take in. I've kept this information to myself because I never wanted you to know the truth. It's easier for you that way. But even so, part of me always wanted to tell you. That is why this letter exists, to tell you what I cannot bring myself to in life.

It is a secret I've kept for a while now, out of fear, and out of pain. I knew that you would never take it well. That is one of the reasons why I'm only telling you after I'm gone. Perhaps that makes me a coward, but that really isn't anything new. I've been a coward all my life, despite my best attempts to convince everyone, and myself, otherwise. Fear is a powerful force, as I know you are well aware.

That's the thing about memoirs, Daniel; you're not supposed to be around to answer for them.

You may take what I've to say in any way you desire, be it with vehemence, disgust, sorrow or just plain rage. You are free to hate me as much as you want; it is not like I'll be there to argue with you over it.

There is no easy way to say what I have to tell, so I'm just going to say it.

I'm your biological father, Daniel.

I have all of the paperwork and research locked in my lab, in my mansion, if you are interested in the proof. There are some preserved DNA samples there as well, in case you need a word other than mine. I know that my track record for telling the truth has been....rather lacking. But I have nothing left to hide, and no reason to continue to deceive you. There's no benefit to it when I'm dead, yes?

The fallowing is what information I've managed to put together. There are parts to the story that even I don't know, details that I couldn't ever hope to pry from your mother. I could not ask her, as that would reveal that I knew and I'm not even certain she does. It would have just made an incredibly uncomfortable mess for everyone involved, and despite my hunger to know, for answers, I kept quiet. If you want to attempt to figure out the rest, that's your choice. You would most likely fare better than I.

As I know you are aware of, your parents and I attended college together for two years prior to my accident. During that time, there had been a few “flings” between myself and Madeline. These were mostly stupid party incidents and could barely even be called flings, and mayhaps I looked too far into something that hadn't been there inadvertently, but meh, details. After the accident, I was completely and utterly alone, and that hurt in so many ways, as I'm sure you already know.

I did not see or hear from either of them until 1989, when I ran into Maddie quite unexpectedly and accidentally in a club I frequented. She looked absolutely gorgeous in her dress that night. She looks stunning in quite literally anything, but I will defend to the death my opinion that pink will always be her color, but I digress. I vaguely recall being surprised that she was drinking, I think, I hadn't known she did. At least I don't recall her ever drinking before. She was surprised to see me, at first, then happy, but our first attempt at conversation went....poorly. She wanted to talk about what happened, and I did not; it was still much too soon for me. It'd only been two years after my escape from that hell-hole of a hospital, and it still felt very raw. Perhaps your mother saw that and that's why she attempted to persist the topic, I don't know. Most of what I recall was my own irritation, so it's very possible that my emotions blinded me to any comfort or aid she might have been trying to offer. Perhaps, if I hadn't been, things would be different. 'What if' games are always so painful.

The disagreement and tension of the topic caused us to both walk away from the other. But as the night went on, I continually kicked myself. I felt stupid. I had a chance to try to woo her, and I wasted it. At the time, I was not aware she had married Jack. She wasn't wearing her rings, and she was alone in Madison. She said nothing about it. For all intents and purposes, and for a severe lack of a better way to word it, I thought she was free game. That made my perceived blunder feel even worse, and I sought her back out to try to rectify my mistake.

Things went better the second try, though I feel I owe that to the alcohol. Naturally, this is where my memories become....unreliable. I can't even remember how many drinks I had, let alone how many she did. For the life of me, I can't recall what we'd even talked about before we left well past midnight. What I do--sort of--remember was that she wasn't in any condition to drive; she stumbled and at one point she leaned against me so she wouldn't fall. I don't think I particularly was well off either, but at least my ghost-enhanced system helped. Maddie had driven there, I think I recall her mentioning a motel, and she attempted to convince me that she was okay enough to leave herself. She wasn't, and she knew it, because she accepted my offer to drive her back without a second argument.

The flirting started in the car. For all the vague and blurred recollections of that night I have, that is the one thing I am certain of. Well, mostly.

I'm not sure if I might have accidentally started it—keeping one's tongue under control in front of a woman they love while inhibited is quite difficult. The rest happened so quickly, I can bare remember any of it. I am extremely remissed about that. But I feel I don't need to remember the rest for the purpose of this piece. It's obvious what happened.

I woke up alone with a murderous hangover and a sluggish core. All I wanted to do was crawl into a quiet dark place and sleep. I didn't know where Maddie had gone, and at the time I couldn't bring myself to really care, so I left a note and some money in case she needed it, and I left. We'd exchanged numbers the previous night, so I waited a few days for her to contact me first, but she didn't. I called her, and while the conversation teetered on being awkward, I ventured to ask if she'd want to go out again sometime. She politely declined. I accepted this. I tried again a couple of weeks later, but again she denied. I....was perhaps a little upset at this, and I admit that I tried to push, but she still denied. In hindsight, I realize she was uncomfortable during both calls, which aids in the explanation of why she reacted like she did the third time. She didn't take it too kindly. When she said no the third time, I was a little angry, and I might have said a few things I shouldn't have. She snapped, and yelled at me to leave her alone, that it had been a stupid drunken mistake. I didn't understand what her problem was, not yet at least. So I snapped back, not the best choice of action, and that is when she saw it fit to inform me of her marriage and your sister. It was like she wielded that revelation like a blade, and it certainly hurt me deeply.

Truly, what a wonderful way to learn what had kept your dear friends busy while pieces of your skin necrotized right off your body in a hospital.

And, that was that until the reunion. I admit I was angry at Maddie for what she'd done, but that anger just made the ache in my heart worse. That bitter anger was the reason I never tried to call again, instead attempting to prove to her I was better for her. It fueled my obsession. She was the reason I poured so much effort into building my financial empire, my image, my reputation. If only she could see how much better I was, what she was missing out on, what I could give her, surely, surely, she'd come back to me. That she'd realize I was superior. It was a foolproof plan....until it wasn't and it backfired spectacularly. I still don't understand why. What does Jack have that I don't, what can he do that I can't? I have--had--everything and more. I would have, and could have, given her anything she desired. I don't understand how it wasn't enough.

It's been a double whammy, too, given that I faced the exact same problem with you.

I did not think anything of you, when we first met. You were simply there, like your sister. Even after learning of our shared condition, I didn't really think much of you. Nothing seemed off about you, no possible clue to inspire doubt or curiosity or questioning. You were the typical naive teenager using his paranatural status to act out a fantasy or game about being a hero. The black and white perspective you held was ridiculous to me, too simplistic. And make no mistake, Daniel, that is still my biggest issue with you. You sort things into easy categories of good and bad, virtue and vice, and that is how you make your choices. It will have to fall to someone else to teach you things aren't nearly so clean or easy; with any luck it will not be a lesson learned the hard way. But I'm getting off topic.

Make no mistake, if I had thought about it harder, made the connection of the dates or something--anything--I would never have acted against you like I had.

I first noticed things didn't add up about you when I learned, ironically enough, about your accident. At first I brushed it off, due to not knowing exactly what happened. I'm by no means an expert in how to make a halfa, there is still much I haven't figure out even after years of studying myself and, in turn, you. But the more I learned about your incident, the more it didn't make sense. You were electrocuted by a very powerful machine. The rush of power in the initial start up, the force needed to first tear that hole to the Zone, should have torn you apart. The ectoplasm that came second should have caught your essence and manifested you instantly in a pure ghost, a process that normally takes weeks to months to occur. I thought perhaps my theory might have been wrong, so I did calculations, and when they led to a dead end, I programmed and ran simulations. Every simulation I ran of your accident resulted in my first theory being correct: you should have died. I couldn't figure out why you didn't. I tried every factor I could think of, poked at the variables. It bothered me. The only thing that I found that could have saved you was if you already had ectoplasm in your system. This wasn't a viable possibility, however. Your parents had no ectoplasm to work with until you turned on that portal. In hindsight, all of this makes perfect sense.

I discovered our relation when I started working on cloning. Miss Grey obtained many samples of your DNA after I imparted her with her hunting equipment. When I acquired the data and samples gathered from her numerous battles with you, they were put into my archive and automatically cataloged. A process my system does is to make connections between ghost's ectosignatures; child ghosts often share similar peaks to their parents, much like human alleles. The way it works is that an ectosgniture is a specific frequency of energy on repeat. It's integral to a ghost, equivalent to DNA. Signatures can be measured, like recording sound waves. Each signature has a unique set of peaks and valleys; match the pattern, identify the ghost. I use this to keep track of a very large number of ghosts and it was originally a pet project to make a signature map before it got out of hand. Regardless, the process remained, and it ran your signature. I didn't really pay much attention to it, I knew it wouldn't make any connections. Halfa signatures are blank, created from 'data' from our human DNA.

But to my absolute surprise, it did make a connection. To mine.

I thought that the system had glitched, at first. It'd only ever dealt with my data, in regards to processing halfas, so I thought it might have defaulted somehow. But it hadn't, it accurately matched our signatures in a parent-child connection. I went over the data myself after the second match, and it was still correct. It didn't make any sense to me. I hadn't ever been in contact with you prior to meeting you after your hybridization, how could we have developed signature similarities, let alone enough for the system to match us?

Sometimes it's as they say: the answer to a problem is sometimes the simplest.

It was hard to not think about that possibility. I tried, but I failed. Once it slipped into my mind, it made itself so glaringly obvious that I couldn't help but want to see if it was true. It pointed out things that I hadn't given a second glance to, brought up memories I tried to quell, the things about you that refused to make sense. Pieces fell into place far too uncomfortably well. It made me feel sick to my stomach.

I needed to know. I couldn't not. It was physically impossible for me. So I analyzed our human DNA against each other, and prayed to a God I don't believe in I was wrong.

The universe takes pleasure from my suffering, I've come to realize.

Our alleles matched verbatim. I outsourced to a third party company, had them run it too, but it came back the same. I was forced to accept the fact that we were genetically connected, biologically parent and child. Even now as I write this, it feels.....odd. A little disconnected, foreign, if that makes any sense.

I suppose that you might think this should have been a gleeful revelation for me, given your side of things. But you'll be content to know that it was not. It tormented me, made me feel ill. Made me hate myself.

The implication that I've been hurting my own son was not an easy one to swallow. It hurt, more than anything else ever has. Well, at first. The fact that you hated me, despised every part of me, and that that was entirely my fault, quickly became worse than it.

I felt disgusting. Horrible. Inhuman. The guilt, the self loathing, made me want to claw parts of myself off. I wanting to jump into a pit and burn. I felt like I'd crossed a line that can never be uncrossed, that I was the most horrible thing that existed.

I regretted everything instantly, and there was nothing I could have done to fix any of it.

I wanted nothing more than to seal myself away, but I'd already painted myself as a villain to you. I couldn't have stopped. It would have been suspicious of me to have stopped dead and heel-face-turned. I was stuck in my role, I couldn't back down. I felt I didn't have a choice. I was trapped between what I wanted but could never have, what I had to do but didn't want. I didn't know what else to do.

So I continued.

I swallowed my tongue, throttled my voice of reason, and pretended I didn't care. Pretended that my heart didn't clench when I saw the bruises on your neck in the shape of my fingers. That it didn't make me feel so sick hearing you bones break against the stones, the street. That the flecks of red sprinkling the ectoplasm seeping from your wounds wasn't mine. That none of it mattered. That blood meant nothing to me. Lie after lie, it became a mantra that I couldn't stop repeating in my head and drove me to my wits end. Perhaps I've truly gone crazy from it.

Eventually, I resorted to hate and anger to bury my conscious, to make fighting against you easier. I blamed your mother, for never telling me and keeping you from me. I forced myself to believe that she knew, she did it to spite me, to hide her shame and preserve her perfect family life. I blamed Jack, for stealing you from me. For taking my role and doing what I should have had the chance to do. For being able to raise you, to know you. To love you. The hate and anger rose and boiled day after day like an inferno that devoured everything yet still left hungry.

But it wasn't enough.

So I started blaming you too.

I blamed you for being a stupid child, getting in over you heard. Blamed you for being too stupid to do what was good for you. For fighting for, for believing in, something pointless. For refusing me, despite all that I could have, would have, given you. For forcing me to make hasty choices that ruined everything, for forcing me to need to hurt you because it was the only way I could have any semblance of a connection with you. It was your fault, always your fault, you made me do this, you caused this. If only you weren't so naive, if only you weren't so stubborn, if only had accepted me, if only you weren't so much like me.

If only you gave me an opportunity, an excuse , to step back and tap out, because I just want to stop hurting you.

Anger, and hate, is kind of like lightening. It will strike, and it will be powerful, intense, dangerous. It can sustain you for a moment. But then it's gone, and all you feel is numb and exhausted. I don't know how much longer I can last. I don't want to do this anymore.

I did not mean to ramble in this. I did not mean to loose control. But I made an oath that I would not erase anything I wrote here and now. This is my truth, my only chance to tell my side of the story. But my personal self loathing and pain are of no importance to you; I know that you don't care for me and I don't want your pity. I've made my choices and I cannot undo them, no matter how much I wish I could.

I've done a great deal wrong against you, and I cannot fix that. I cannot repent for it, there's just too much. I've become someone I can't stand, and something worse in your eyes. But this is my memoir, my legacy, and while I can never hope to atone, the least I can do is give you everything I can. This is why you are the sole beneficiary to all I own. This is why I bequeath every ghostly artifact and all the splendor I've amassed to you. My reputation and my title. Everything is yours to do with it what you wish. Keep it, sell it, destroy it; it doesn't matter to me anymore, I'm gone. It is the only thing I have left to give you, everything you deserve and more. You are my heir, weather you like it or not. My legacy begins, and ends, with you.

There are just two things left I've to impart to you. The first is advice and a request at the same time:

Never give in to hate. It will destroy you, in every way. You are good and you are just, but I know that you are also easily tempted. Sometimes our desires get the better of us, our urge to strike back too much to resist. But I know you've learned that lesson about power and how you use it already, and I pray you never forget it. Stay true to yourself, keep your friends tight in each hand, and you won't stray. You have done so much for so many, even when you didn't have to. You're selfless and kind. Never let your morality corrode, and never ever let anyone take away your pride. You are a half ghost, you are strong, and you will change this world for the better. I know you will be okay.

The day that you loose yourself is the day that I will pry myself from death's crooked fingers and kick your ass because dammit, Daniel, you never listen to me.

And lastly, for what little it's worth to you, I'm sorry.

Goodbye, Daniel. May life treat you well, and grant you every happiness.

Sincerely,

Vladimir Masters.

-o-oOo-o-

Danny stared at the last page of the letter, not absorbing anything it said anymore. His throat was clenched so tightly it hurt, and he couldn't swallow. His mind was frozen; numb. It struggled to catch up, to comprehend. The words ceased making sense yet they made all the sense in the world. He didn't notice how his hands shook, nor how his nails creased the paper. He felt like he couldn't breathe.

Hot prickles of tears formed in the corners of his eyes, and they snapped him out of it. He sucked in a strangled gasp, screwing his eyelids shut so tight he saw stars. He shoved the letter on the desk, pushing it as far away from him as he could. He couldn't stomach to look at it any longer, couldn't stand touching it. The bile burned as it tried to cleave through his constricted throat. He would not shed tears for Vlad.

The man deserved what happened to him. He got what was coming to him. Nothing he could have said or done would have made Danny want to forgive him; not now, not ever. Actions needed consequences, that was how the world worked. Vlad chose to do what he did. He made his choices and they were the wrong ones. This was the way things were supposed to be. Vlad deserved to be cast out, and Danny would not sympathize for him.

Vlad was evil. A monster. A villain. That's what happened to villains; they don't get happy endings. They fail, they loose, they die.

Danny would not cry for him.

This was karma. This was justice. This was right.

#DearDaniel #Danny Phantom #chapter 1 #vvcwriting #OldThings

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voxvociscruorawriting · 9 years

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Play Hide and Seek Chapter 1

Warning: This chapter contains details of things that might disturb, disgust, or make you uncomfortable, and revolves around the topic of sex and reproduction. Please be careful if you have problems with those things! A lot of research has gone into this.

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Chapter 1: Madness

For all intents and purposes, Vladimir Masters was a genius. He did not take kindly to his intelligence being insulted. He hated stupidity, and despised being made to look like a fool even more so. His extensive planning failed more often than not, not because they were badly constructed, but because he'd been impatient or overly cocky. Two of his bitterly acknowledged flaws, he'll admit, though he'd swear he's learned from the numerous failures he's endured. He'd be lying, of coarse, stubbornness and the inability to see past his own wants at any given moment were two more flaws that went unacknowledged. It was the reason why his failures still totaled triple that of his successes, and was closing in on quadruple.

He couldn't stand it.

Time and time again, Vlad was close enough to smell his victory when some asinine trump card would pull the rug from under his feet. Most of the time, the one yanking was Daniel. The child was a variable that Vlad could just never account for. It was like trying to grasp smoke and shove it into a bottle; it didn't work. Among the more embarrassing of losses were ones caused by Valerie, Madeline, and Jack. Those rare instances hurt his pride more than anything else ever could. They made him want to rend long gashes through something that could feel every ounce of hurt. He never did, but the desire persisted. He often briefly wondered if he'd snap enough someday to actually fallow through.

Desperation is maddening, they say. And oh, how very desperate he was.

There was a very real physical ache deep inside his chest. It'd always been there, for years, but normally he could push it away, ignore it. It had been small enough. Ever since the Reunion, however, it'd steadily grown. Nurtured on hate, loneliness and pain, it consumed him. It kept constricting and twisting, yanking hard on strings inside him that hurt in no way any physical pain could. It'd wrap around his lungs and refuse to let go. It would make him so shakily ill he couldn't write. Some days he wouldn't even get out of bed, the ringing in his head it hurt too much. This was the agony of wanting something he couldn't have with every fiber of his being. These were the wounds that sang as they hemorrhaged and wouldn't ever stop. He built up his walls so as to put the flood out of sight, out of mind, but the nails popped out one by one and now he was drowning before the splintered wood even broke.

He was tired of the ache, tired of feeling ill, tired of of the humiliation, tired of being tired. He just wanted it all to stop.

And yet he was far too stubborn, consumed far too deep into his delusions, to simply let go.

Desperation is maddening, and unfortunately for poor stubborn Vlad Masters, genius-level intellect just prolongs the wick of the pyre he's set himself ablaze on.

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It's taken over a year, but Vlad's finally come to the conclusion that he will never be successful in obtaining his dream happiness. Daniel hated him, Maddie couldn't stand him, and he hadn't any way to continue his clone projects. Every attempt to do anything the past few months had been thoroughly blocked by Daniel before he could even get a single foothold into his plans. His mere presence in anything was enough to cause suspicion and if those suspicions persisted for too long, a thorough investigation of all his properties was inevitable. He learned the hard way he couldn't even keep a cabin in the middle of the Russian wilderness without Daniel, somehow, learning of it and tearing through it. It was infuriating. It forced him to keep his distance if he wanted any sort of peace and privacy, which just in turn made the ache throb harder. It was a pointless dance where they'd run around in circles, clash occasionally, then he'd be dropped on his ass until he got up and started circling again. Daniel would wait patiently for him to make the first move. Always waiting, he never started anything anymore. But oh god, did the boy finish things.

That wasn't even touching the agony that was Maddie's glares and disgusted sneers towards him. If Daniel was a diamond out of his reach, Maddie was the crane holding him up. He hadn't a shot in hell at gaining her favor, much less her love. Not anymore. The knot in his chest writhed deeper as he thought about it.

The rain fell hard outside, hitting his roof and windows like the beatings of a war drum. The walls of the library did little to muffle both it and the restless winds. He couldn't even garner enough energy to get up to go close the blinds to keep out the flashes of lightening that made his sore eyes ache more. Everything ached now, it seemed. From his eyes to his toes, his body wouldn't stop feeling heavy. Another flash, another series of growls from outside. Vlad grumbled, throwing his arm over his eyes, enjoying the brief reverie he had. The fingers of his other hand circled the rim of the wineglass teetering on the carpet.

His watch beeped. He ignored it for the seventh time.

It was 2:45 in the morning. He'd taken to setting the alarm in his watch to try to keep his routines intact, at least. It failed. Normally on a Tuesday he'd be in bed by eleven so he could get up by five the next morning. Not tonight, it seemed. He wasn't getting any sleep tonight. He briefly contemplated calling in sick to work later. The longer he lingered on the thought, the more appealing it became. He wouldn't have to get up, he wouldn't have to shower, he wouldn't have to deal with idiots all day, nor the paperwork or too loud phone calls. No meetings, no heckling, no anything. It was tempting, in more ways than one.

Maybe if he actually took a day to rest, he could stop feeling like he was a rickety old car running out of gas.

Wisps of red slipped from his lips without any resistance on Vlad's part and he sighed. He recognized the ghost's ectosignature as it drew closer. Small points of pressure were on his legs suddenly, shifting as they trotted up his thighs and stomach. A weight settled onto his diaphragm and the ghost's boiling core heated his skin. The weight shifted and he felt a hot nose on his palm. A meow broke the relative silence. Grunting, he lifted his arm from his eyes, peeking at the cat staring intently back at him. A small smile creased his lips, and he buried his fingers into her too-white fur. She mewed, tilting her head and pushing into the scritches, her bright red eyes slipping closed. Her body sunk lower and lower to his chest before she finally plopped over on her side, rubbing against his hand. Her loud purrs vibrated deep into him, a pleasant numbness fallowing it. He sighed, feeling a little better for the moment.

He'd never admit it to Daniel for fear of giving him ammunition to humiliate him, but Maddie had truly been one of best decisions he'd ever went through with. Even back from beyond an untimely death, she was his saving grace.

“Thank you, girl.” Vlad muttered aloud, and the cat mrowed in response, her purrs never stopping. He stared up at the pitched ceiling, a crease forming on his forehead.

“What ever am I going to do, Maddie? I'm so tired of feeling like.....” he sighed, “Like this. I hate this. I can't stand it. I just want it to stop.

“What happened to me? What happened to the simpler times? The simpler dreams? I never wanted to be like this, not for so long. It was supposed to be easy. Humiliate Jack, Kill him, take Maddie, have Daniel as my son, rule the ghost zone, be happy.” Vlad breathed, closing his eyes, “It was supposed to be easy, before it all changed, too. It was supposed to be perfect. Marry Maddie, have a family, grow old together, die content. When did it all get so complicated? When did it all go so wrong?”

Maddie mrrred softly, he paws pressing into his chest as her toes prodded him. His fingers trailed lines through her fur, down the fiery tail that didn't burn him. “Maddie can't stand me, Daniel hates everything I am. Hell, even Jasmine looks at me with disdain. I feel like everything for the past twenty years has been worthless. I just want something, anything, any small part of my dream.”

“I feel like giving up, but I can't. I can't, it would all have been in vain, every second of it all. I just....I just can't---What am I going to do?” he whispered.

Maddie shifted, pressing her nose against his jaw, meowing loudly. Vlad sighed, “Sorry, girl. It's late, I'm rambling. I guess we should try to get some sleep, huh?”

Laying on the couch for several hours had been a bad decision. His joints were stiff and his back hurt as he pushed himself up. His shoulders popped as he stretched. Maddie hopped onto the table, her tail swishing as she kept an eye on him. Vlad leaned down and grabbed the discarded wine glass, setting it on the table and writing a mental note to put it in the sink tomorrow—he didn't feel like doing it right now. Maddie mewed and trotted off the table and across the floor, Vlad's heavy footsteps fallowing her.

Lightening flashed and the outside roared. The sky seemed to scream, a deafening series of crashes filled the air. With a blaring shriek, the window shattered, giving in to the several dozen pound tree branch skewering it's way inside. Vlad jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the splintering branches. He landed on his toes and bracing defensively, heightened senses and years of fighting experience taking over his instincts before he even realized he'd moved. Maddie hissed, her fur alighting with green ghost flame, the muscles rippling under her shifting coat. Long neon green spikes tore out of her back, her tail elongating into a whip of flaming spikes as her claws became razors. She jumped away, leaping onto a shelf in a blur of smoking and blaze. Books and movie cases were shoved out of her way as her claws digging into the wood, her ears pressed flat against her head. She yowled at the source of the noise, her spines quivering and a bright white flame gathering at the back of her throat. Vlad's attention snapped towards her, his gaze catching the last few items free falling to the floor. He relaxed from his stance, walking over to her. She hissed at his approach, backing against the hard wood of the bookshelf. Her saber tooth-like fangs glinted in the spectral light of her coat. Vlad raised his hands, whispering a soft shush that was barely heard of the gusts of winds tearing at the curtains.

“Hush, Maddie, its fine, it's just me. No need to be frightened.” He called, and she stopped her angry growling. Her ears perked up, swiveling towards him. A growl linger in her throat. “Come on, hope down from there and put your spikes away. We're fine.”

The cat grumbled irritably, but scurried out of the shelf she'd buried herself in. Her claws caught the wood as she let herself down, leaving deep rends in it. Vlad shook his head at this, but otherwise ignored her as he stooped to pick up the displaced items. He barely payed attention to what he picked up, he'd sort it later, after he called off and got his window fixed. Rising to put the things back on the shelf, Vlad paused, looking down at the top of the small stack he'd gathered. His brows shot up as he took the thick tape in his hand.

“Tomorrow's Child? Dear lord, it's been a while since I've seen this....” he muttered, flipping the VHS over and examining the back.

His eyes paused on the writing, blinking at it, “'Tomorrow's child will be born in a lab.'....?”

He read it again, over and over. A smirk slowly slipped onto Vlad's lips.

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As it turned out, figuring out how to make a function artificial uterus was harder than he thought it'd be.

After rewatching the movie Tomorrow's Child, he'd taken to researching other science fiction methods that had been used for the process. Many of them were useless, as he expected them to be. Most were from settings in a 'far flung future' and the process wasn't touched upon to the depth he needed because of that. The few that weren't posed methods scientifically and medically impossible. Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel Brave New World had seemed promising at first, however it too fell under the category of realistically impossible. After a disproportionately large amount of disappointment, Vlad stopped looking into the genre and turned to real world research. The material available was mediocre, at best. No one was looking into the topic, which he supposed made sense. Moral wrongness, and whatnot.

After meeting several dead ends, Vlad decided to pursue a different route, one where he knew information would be available.

Multiple labs over the country were already researching into the idea of keeping an organ alive outside of the body, primarily for transplants. It was a novel thought, and made much more sense than the current method of 'toss organ into an ice box and run like hell'. Several prototypes available to the scientific community seemed to do a decent job, but had significant flaws that rendered them useless to him in their current state—a common one being the limited amount of time they could work. The oxygenation system was the main cause of that issue, but battery life fallowed not far behind.

Fewer labs were researching growing artificial organs. The ones that were were using a method he couldn't apply to his own goals. There wasn't any way he could use molds and stem cells to develop an entire child. It was ludicrous.

He could, however, use it to develop an entire uterus, in which he could possibly implant an embryo.

It was so ridiculously simple, to be honest. Why try to use machines to do what nature already did so perfectly?

Obtaining the blueprints for the organ support systems had been child's play for his half ghost fingers. Vlad spent weeks leaning over the sketches, designing and redesigning. Things kept popping up that he needed to account for, needed to figure out how to get it to work, the deeper he looked into how the creation of life actually worked. It was a complex blend of chemicals, hormones, nutrients, signals, processes and supports. It wasn't so simple as just growing a womb, tossing in an embryo and waiting ten months. The human body was all interconnected, a mess of systems that functioned as one. Childbearing was just the same. Things from the brain, things from the digestive system, things from the circulatory system, influences from the outside world even. Vlad delved so far deep into the science of reproduction that he couldn't tell science from conjecture anymore. He felt like his brain was fizzling away into mush, and often he took to hours of just bouncing his pencil on the table staring down at his designs.

A crude prototype was developed out of spare parts Vlad had around his lab. He used mice, and ran into another roadblock before he'd even gotten to using it. He hadn't any idea how to actually extract an ovum and fertilize it. He'd studied mathematics in college, for apple fritter's sake.

With a sigh and growing headache, he'd delved back into research once again.

A few crash courses and a rebuilt prototype later, several mice fetuses were stable and alive. Vlad took diligent notes on what didn't seem to work, what struggled to work, and what worked wonderfully. He felt hopeful about the results he was getting, it was a good change of taste. He felt his luck was finally turning.

Several months after first starting the project, Vlad felt he was ready to start the real thing.

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Vlad knelt, invisible, on the streetlamp, the Fentonworks neon sign far too bright for the time of night it was. It was a half an hour from midnight, and the living room light was just turned off. He had no doubt this was because someone had been waiting for Daniel to come home, just like he hadn't any doubt that Daniel was still incredibly busy with tonight's hunt. He looked to his watch, then returned his eyes to the building. He'd wait twenty minutes. Going in now would just prompt a before-bedtime ghost fight for the two hunters he needed asleep. The needle and vial attached to his belt reminded him he couldn't afford to get caught.

Within the vial was a medication containing FSHs, or Follical Stimulating Hormones. FSHs were typically used for the process of hyperstimulation, where ovulation was induced for multiple follicles in the ovaries. In layman's terms, multiple eggs were prompted to mature. In typical ovulation, only one egg matures at a time. The process was common in In Vitro Fertilization treatments, where it was used to gather a multitude of eggs. In the end, his goal was similar.

On the horizon, ectoblasts flew and collided. His proverbial hourglass.

Twenty minutes up, Vlad rushed into the house. He forced an uncomfortable pressure onto his core, his power source shrinking away. The sensors and alerts the Fenton house was installed with did nothing at his presence. Relaxing a little, he continued to suppress his signature and floated through the wall. Pink met his eyes and he left. Wrong room. The next was blue, and the ungodly amount of NASA posters told him it was Daniel's. Shaking his head, he continued. Third time was the charm, a fact that was broadcast by Jack's deafening snores. Vlad flinched, the sudden onslaught of noise unexpected. He'd forgotten how loud the man could be even when asleep. He assumed the walls were soundproofed, and quite well at that. He was actually a little impressed by that. Beside Jack, Maddie was snuggled in a little bundle of her own blankets. Vlad drifted closer.

A lump lodged itself into his throat as he hovered there, fingers tight around the vial and needle. He stared down at her, her face tense as she slept, betraying her worry for her son. Her auburn hair was in her face and he tentatively brushed it back behind her ear, his gloved fingers barely caressing her skin. His hand lingered too long before he pulled away again. This was wrong. This was wrong on so many levels. He'd never stopped enough in his rush to get his idea working to realize it before, but now, here, when he was seconds away from actually doing something.....There were just things one should not mess with. And yet here he was, about to completely tear down the innocence that was motherhood and stomp it into the dirt as he metaphorically butchered all that it stood for. He was perverting the primal beauty with his foul, sin-tainted hands for his own desperately selfish desires.

It was wrong. It was horrible. It was crossing lines that shouldn't ever be crossed. Vlad knew that.

He was doing it anyway.

He unwrapped the needle from it's sterile wrapping. He slipped the point into the vial, drawing the liquid up into it. Both the trash and the vial was returned to the pouch on his belt. Barely touching a hand to her shoulder, he made the cover intangible, the needle biting into the skin of Maddie's arm. She flinched, and he tensed, ready to flee if she awoke. But she didn't, she just pulled the cover tighter around herself and scooted a little closer to her husband. At the feeling of her movement, Jack rolled over and wrapped an arm around her, snuggling her tight. Maddie's face relaxed with a sigh of content. Vlad scrunched up his nose in disgust, and darted out of the room. Bile crawled up the back of his throat. He needed to get out of here before his stomach decided to oblige the urge to vomit.

Outside, he disposed of the needle and plastic in a dumpster, black rings slipping him back into his human form. He walked down the darkened street, hands in his pockets and face void of emotion. The contented smile on Maddie's face after that disgusting display was burning into his mind. Vlad snarled, forcing the memory away. He no longer felt any guilt about what he was doing.

The next night, he left his portal open. The ghosts that would brave coming through his portal would find no resistance as they slipped out into the world, problems for Daniel to solve. It was a lackluster plan, but he needed to be guaranteed Danny was out of the house long enough for him to slip in for the few minutes he needed. He was walking a very fine line, and he didn't like it one bit.

He returned to Fentonworks, a new needle and vial in hand. He was in an out in two minutes. He didn't hesitate this time, nor for the next five nights.

The sixth night, Vlad brought a different vial than the FSH one. This one contained HGC, which causes the completion of the maturation of the eggs. It was the last one he needed to do, the second to final step. This was the last time he needed to invade the Fenton household, and his nerves were thoroughly frayed because of it. He suspected it was because of the anxiety of trying not to get caught in combination with the mounting excitement of having something tangible to reward his efforts coming closer and closer. It was a very stressful blend of emotions. The last night was the most important of all, and by far the most risky. He needed to perform the medical procedure uncomfortably named Transvaginal Oocyte Retrieval during this final instance. This technique was the most commonly one used for the retrieval of the eggs for IVF. The success rates of ova retrieval for the process was what he was banking on for his attempts, but that didn't make it any less uncomfortable to actually do. This was the first night that he actually had to do something to Madeline besides a simple injection. He was also concerned about Daniel, worried that the boy might think that the sudden influx of ghosts attacking this past week would have something to do with him.

Tonight, Vlad had payed skulker handsomely to keep the boy occupied for as long as he could. He didn't know how much time he needed, so he'd take as much time as he could get. The ghost was incredibly pleased at his request, given he'd lost a previous fight with the boy, badly. The desire for the opportunity to beat Danny to a pulp was palpable in the aura around Skulker. The only stipulations Vlad had set for the hunter was the could not, no matter what happened, reveal it was him who had put him up to this. The ghost had demanded what he would do about it if he did reveal such information. Vlad's eyes had flared red, and the threat of annihilating the ghost fell from his tongue quicker than he realized. Skulker had looked shocked and uncertain, and Vlad had been forced to reign in his temper enough to 'politely' request that he do him this one favor out of the goodness of his core. He hoped the unintended threat worked, however. If skulker revealed the connect to him to Daniel, his experiment would be over before they began.

He was definitely treading on the thinnest of egg shells, and he did not like it.

Despite all of his worries, Vlad pushed himself out of the limo parked in the alleyway and walked towards the back door. He wasn't stopping now. He was already too invested. He slipped into the house intangibly, and unlocked the door. A pleasant smell greeted him for the few moments he lingered in the kitchen before he jumped up and phased through the floor. He kept to his human form, and kept his core suppressed as much as he could. Slipping into the master bedroom he'd become familiar with over the past week, he went straight to the bed. Just like the other times, Maddie slept next to her husband, who was surely trying to break the nicknacks in the room with his ungodly volume. Vlad paused before the bed, taking a deep breath to relax himself. Then he allowed tangibility to fall away from him as he slipped into Maddie's body like a hand in a glove. Her consciousness pushed a little against his, but it was weak. He suppressed it easily, she was not aware enough to fight his influence. He took control of her nerves and opened her eyes. They shone red as he pushed the covers off and got up, searching the floor for anything he might trip over. Maddie's limbs were reluctant to comply at first, but the tense jerkiness melted away as he kept a steady control over her mind.

The stairs creaked under her feet, and Vlad could feel the banister through her palm. The house was silent save for the buzz of the sign through the walls and the portal siphoning electricity. He walked quietly through the darkened kitchen, using his ghost sight to avoid running into the large panels of metal the family had left in the middle of the floor. A brief look through Maddie's recent memories revealed they were building a new locking system to the Fenton portal. It also revealed she had baked banana bread the previous evening, which explained the nice smell in the house. He continued out through the back door, the chill of the night seeping in through Maddie's nightgown. The feel of goosebumps and an unconscious shiver was bizarre for Vlad, given his years with his heat core. The headlights of the limo glowed dimly from the alley it was parked in, and he pushed forward towards it. He opened the door and slid himself in, carefully scooting around the various medical equipment he had stuffed inside the tiny space. Monitors were set on the seats with wires crisscrossing the lining and a small mattress was placed down the center. Needles and devices were lined up on a metal tray sat on the seats to the side.

Vlad poked at Maddie's mind, and found that she had begun to stir from sleep during the short trip outside. Leaving her now would only allow her to wake up. He'd expected this. After a quick shuffle through the tools, he held up a small IV needle to the ceiling light. The tiny tip pressed into the crook of her arm, and slid neatly into her skin. He was glad for learning how to hook up his own IVs during his years in the hospital, for once. The general anesthesia solution was injected from it's own needle into the injection port, making its way slowly into her body. Vlad pulled his essence from her nerves, prying himself out of her to materialize beside the tray. All that was left to do was wait.

Maddie's eyelids twitched, and she opened her eyes. They gleamed with the glassy daze of sleep, her violet irises unfocused. Her brows knitted as she blinked, confusion setting in. Her eyes searched over the walls of the limo before coming to rest on Vlad. Her confusion deepened, her lips pulling down into a frown.

“--lad....?” she slurred, and he could see as she struggled to focus on him. Struggled to stay awake. Her eyelids drooped, rebelling against her efforts, before finally slipping closed.

Vlad made quick work of hooking up the remaining equipment, heart monitors and blood pressure. He moved back to the end of the mattress, towards Maddie's feet. There was one last thing he needed to do before he could actually start, and it was both something he'd always wanted to do and something he was reluctant to do in these circumstances. He pushed the hem of her nightgown up, out of the way, revealing her nether regions. Her skin was smooth under his fingertips. He was severely disappointed in learning her choice of underwear, having expected and imagined for years that she wore something a little more frilly and feminine. Plain boring white was all he was treated to, and it just made him uncomfortable. Despite his opinions and feelings, Vlad couldn't help looking as he phased them off and tossed them aside. He had to turn away, his cheeks flaring pink. He certainly wasn't disappointed in that. He perhaps enjoyed it a little too much.

But he didn't have time to oogle. Tearing his eyes away, Vlad pulled the Plasmius Maximus from his pocket, turning it over in his fingers. He did not like to feel vulnerable, and the deactivation of his ghost powers was one of the worst ways he would be. He'd be relinquishing his control over how things could go. He didn't like it. But at the same time, the sensors were still active in the house, and Daniel was out still. The procedure he was about to do would take all of his concentration if he wanted to do it right, and “right” meant not puncturing any of Maddie's internal organs. This concentration left no room for him to keep his core suppressed, leaving him open to be sensed and discovered. It was a risk he didn't want to take. So it came down to relinquishing control and silently begging things went fine or keeping control and preying nothing went wrong. It was a bet on hope either way. He did not gamble on uncertainties. Relying on questionable things has often gotten him into trouble in the past.

Vlad brushed his nail over the plated metal, the glowing prongs emitting an ethereal light. Screwing his eyes shut, he jammed the prongs into his thigh. He bit the sleeve of his other arm as the electricity burned through his nerves, stripping him of the inferno in his chest he'd grown accustomed to for two decades. As the feeling of the cold night seeped into his skin, he dropped the device, reopening his eyes. If anything went wrong now, anything at all, he hadn't a chance in hell at getting away.

Vlad rechecked that Maddie was still okay under the anesthetic. The readings were fine, and he nodded. He slowly spread her legs, draping them on either side of his knees. He grabbed a device from the tray, an ultrasound probe. He aligned it with Maddie's entrance, he pushed it steadily into her, careful to not hurt her. Her body tensed at the intrusion, but there was nothing he could do about that. So long as he didn't hurt her, she could deal with the minor soreness she may have in the morning. He powered the device on, his eyes shifting to the monitor to his side. It flickered before a grainy monochrome feedback displayed, showing the inner areas of Maddie's lower body. He shifted the probe and the view shifted with it. Content that the device was functioning as it should be, he shifted the probe until he found what he was looking for: the ovaries. The dark splotches did not show much, just enough for Vlad to note that the hormones had done their part. Multiple follicles were at their peak and about to rupture, to release the ova into the Fallopian tubes. He held the probe still, taking hold of the rear part of the needle attached to the device. He pushed the needle slowly up, wincing as it pierced through the vaginal wall to get to the ovaries. it's tip embedding into the follicle far too quickly despite his careful movements. At the press of a button, the follicle was cleared of it contents, viscal fluid, surrounding cells and ovum alike. The tubes extending from the back of the needle deposited the contents into a small tube. Vlad shifted the probe, bringing the next follicle into view, and repeated the process. Four ova in total had been matured on whichever side ovary he was working on (he really couldn't tell.) After double checking there hadn't been one more he'd missed he shifted to the other side, retracting the needle until he located it. Seven had matured on this side, resulting in a grand total of eleven ova to work with. Not the best results, but still a decent amount and most likely more than Vlad'd need.

He removed the probe, detaching the container from the tubing. He screwed a cap onto the top, the preservation liquid inside jostling with his movements. He paused, and held the tube up to the light of the monitor. Tiny flecks and bits floated in the liquid, barely visible through the gleaming glass. His lips parted into a grin, an intense wave of triumph washing over him. He had it. After so much time, so much careful planning, Vlad had a huge piece of the puzzle that was his goal. He'd been successful at obtaining the hardest thing he needed. He held one half of his future child in his fingertips. It was somewhere in that little glass vial, floating around aimlessly. It was the best feeling of accomplishment he'd ever experienced.

Vlad slipped the container into the inner pocket of suit, tucking his handkerchief over it to keep it in place. While buttoning the front of his jacket again, he looked towards Maddie. With a sigh, he began to untangle her from the web of wires and tubing. While his choice to deactivate his powers had been the better choice, it did not make cleaning up easy. He had to pull and yank Maddie to a position in which he could pick her up. She was heavier than he had thought she was, virtually dead weight in his arms. He stumbled outside of the limo, readjusting his hold. He'd gotten used to using ghost strength willy-nilly over the years, he'd forgotten how weak being fully human truly was. Grunting and shifting his hold a third time, Vlad began back towards the house. He struggled with the doorknob to the back door, fumbling with it until he managed to shift Maddie just enough that he was able to turn it. He paused for breath by the kitchen table, the moonlight casting shadows through the open door. His original intent was to return Maddie all the way upstairs, but the more he thought about it, the less he wanted to try to tackle the stairs. He stared into the dark living room, sighing before heaving Maddie back up again. He deposited her unceremoniously onto the couch, all but toppling over himself. His hand rested on the back of the couch, having caught his balance, and he looked her over as he tried to catch his breath again. Her face was contorted, her brows knit tight together, punctuated by a deep grimace on her lips. She was clearly uncomfortable, perhaps even in pain. He shook his head as he straightened. Nothing he could do about that. Blankets were draped over a nearby chair and he grabbed one. He threw it over her, soothing down her ruffled hair with a few halfhearted comforting pets. He sighed, this wasn't what he thought he'd be doing with her, back in college. This was the complete opposite of his hopes and dreams. Standing, he sealed his resolve, and pushed the thoughts from his mind.

The ends justified the means. Completely.

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Forty six minutes was all the time it took for Vlad to steal his future child, that much had been true, but it had taken him much longer to actually get something he could use out of it.

Starring into a microscope for hours and trying to isolate ovum cells from what he'd decidedly labeled “not ovum” cells was no easy task. Attempting to isolate good spermatozoa from damaged and dysfunctional ones was also a pain and had taken him longer to do than he'd like to have admitted. Granted, it probably would have been easier if he'd actually studied this kind of thing in college, but he had not. He was starting to develop a new found respect for the scientists that did this kind of work every day.

It had taken two weeks after he'd taken the ova from Maddie, and Vlad had cleared most of the ova of “not ova” debris. He could have proceeded with fertilization in one of two ways: co-incubation or injection. The former was most certainly the easier, consisting of just incubating the egg in together with a large count of sperm on a growth culture for a few hours for natural fertilization to take place. He had also not wanted to play with cells any more than he already had to, his needlework was awful.

His first attempt had been a failure, as the ovum remained spitefully unfertilized after the couple hour long incubation period. Puzzled by this, he'd taken it out and placed it on a slide. This lead to the discovery that halfa DNA did not merge well with others. It was typical of hybrids to have fertility issues, that much was basic science. Halfa hybridism was not like natural hybridism, however. The base human DNA was still very much intact and whole. It was just mutated by the addition of the third stem to the double helix that manifested their ghost biology. Vlad had thought that since all of his human DNA was still very much there, the triple helix wouldn't be an issue. However, the bizarre state of the ovum left him with second thoughts. He'd been both right and wrong about fertilization occurring, in some ways. The ovum had indeed been pierced. Mitosis had simply not been happening. They tried to, that much had been obvious, as both the male and female protonuclui had formed with each set of chromosomes. However, the spindle apparatus would not connect to them to pull them apart for cell division and zygote formation. It was bizarre, and flew in the face of all of biology. His assumption had been that his chromosomes weren't being recognized because of his ghost DNA. It was foreign from human biology, and its affect on many things were still unknown even to him.

With uncertainty clouding his mind, Vlad had disposed of the failed attempt. It was clear that the stalemate between the genetic material was not going to resolve itself before the ovum died. Instead, he decided to try again with a series of five ova. The first of the five would be exactly like the first attempt, in case it had simply been a fluke. The fourth and onward would remove a consecutively growing fraction of his ghost DNA from his human, the last of which would have it completely removed. If fertilization still failed, he would have been forced to look for answers elsewhere. He could not afford to wast all of the eggs.

Most unfortunately, this change in plans had completely removed co-incubation as an option. He was forced to do the injection method with each attempt.

As it turned out, Vlad got lucky with the third of the five. Slightly over three fourths of his ghost DNA was gone, but it was a sacrifice he was prepared to make. Even if his untouched DNA had merged, the resulting zygote would still only be getting half anyway, resulting in a quarterling, in theory. It was unlikely that even that much ghost DNA would have done anything, much less the little bit the zygote now had.

He'd fallowed the same steps for a couple more, taking into account the risk for both loss of life and disappearing fetii. The newly formed zygotes had been kept on the culture until they reached the blastocyst stage, about five days after fertilization. It had been fascinating, being able to watch the cells split and multiply over the hours. As the blastocyst stage came along, Vlad transferred them to the womb, cutting off his contact with them. The days after had been horrible, not knowing it anything had happened. If any of the blastocysts had implanted properly, if the cells had somehow died. It had nearly drove him mad, not knowing. During this time, he'd kept a close eye on the machines and womb. He did not want to have to redo everything if something went wrong and caused problems.

After two weeks, he'd managed to confirm that implantation had occurred, thanks to detecting the tiny little flutterings that was a heartbeat.

It was now eight weeks, the end of two months, since implantation, and things were still fine, though his nerves had not settled. He was certain they'd begun to fray worse, if he was being honest.

Vlad lifted his hand, pressing his fingertips to the cool surface of the machine. He was constantly worried. His original setup had grown seven fold as he kept adding sensors and monitors for all sorts of things. Compared to the clone machines, this was massive, much like an old antique computer. Wires and tubing crisscrossed over pumps, regulators, monitors and floor alike, weaving like lithe endless hydra necks. It was the world's worst game of “which tangled string connects to what” from old childrens puzzle books. Everything around him hummed, buzzed or beeped depending on what function it was performing. Standing stark in the middle of it all, of all the towering computers and filters, was the tiny heart of the device.

The bright white bubble didn't look like much, that's for sure, but it was a huge feat of engineering. Made of woven of carbon fibers pressed into sheets and molded around a titanium frame, it was slightly faceted despite being rounded. The bubble was strong yet flexible if it needed to be, able to withstand an unexpected topple while protecting it's precious contents. The slightly textured outside skin shined due to the thin layer of sterilization gel coating it. From every and all sides, wires and tubes fed into the device, some leading in while others lead out. Most of the tubing was for blood supply, while nearly all of the wires were connected to nerves. The computers scattered around the room mimicked the brain, sending just the right pulses to the right areas to keep everything functioning. A heart monitor was tangled within the mess. Within the bubble, living tissue clung to the hooked sides designed just to give the organ a stable foothold so it would not collapse. The womb, tediously grown for weeks, was not exactly the correct shape though it served its purpose well enough. A little lopsidedness wouldn't hurt, and he was in no position to be picky.

As the womb continued it's Frankenstein existence as an organ without a body, the fetus inside it slept on, oblivious to all of Vlad's anxiety and paranoia.

The steady throb of the heart monitor keeping track of the tiny little beats temporarily calmed Vlad's nerves, at least for the moment. He knows he will be unable to resist checking again in five minutes time.

Those beats fascinated him, in a weird inexpiable way.. It was a heartbeat he'd made, no matter how perverse the way. It was his, through and through. He'd considered the clones of Daniel his children, yes, but not like this. This was so much different. This was a much more intense feeling deep within his chest. This was the sound of a heart made from his own DNA. His own child. It was terrifying and exciting at the same time.

Vlad cast his eyes to the monitor again. No changes. Still stable. Still alive.

He pulled the metal lab chair closer to the machines, sitting down as his eyes glanced between screens. The heartbeat was fine, tiny yet strong. Blood to and from the uterus continued. Hormone balances remained in check, and feedback tests continually completed and rechecked everything after finding nothing to trip any warnings. The room buzzed as his electric bill skyrocketed. Nothing was amiss, everything was okay. Briefly, he stared at the white bubble. He couldn't see anything inside it, so he hadn't any idea what the child looked like at present. What sex it was. If it was grossly deformed as karmic punishment for his attempts at trying to play god with biology. If his monitors and sensors were lying or not programmed correctly and it was actually dead and decaying. He looked away. He was being a fool. He knew these thoughts were stupid, merely intrusive thoughts kicked up by his paranoia and anxiety. He attempted to ignore them, but they remained. They always remained. He doubted they would stop until he had a bundle of perfectly healthy giggling baby in his arms.

Oh, how Vlad couldn't wait for that moment.

He dug his fingernails into the palm of his hands. Eight long months to go.

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He spent his time keeping an eye on Daniel. Danny was his number one threat right now. If the blasted teen barged into his lab unannounced and discovered all his machines, he'd blast them to pieces without a second thought. Danny took to the bad habit of assuming, and paired with his 'shoot first ask questions later' philosophy in regards to Vlad, it painted a potential picture of horrible feticide. It was a worst case scenario, one Vlad sought to avoid at all costs.

So he decided to dance a little dance.

He needed to make sure Danny wasn't going to interfere, and the best way to do that was to distract him. Anything to make it look like he was too busy to be up to no good. Too overwhelmed.

It was not hard to sway Technus into doing what he wanted. The ghost was shockingly obedient when promised new technology he could tinker and fiddle with in his lair. Also shocking was how easily he had penetrated the severs and systems of his companies. Vlad had invested quite a pretty penny into making them the most secure from both human and ghostly fingers, however Technus had managed to slip into the entire thing without tripping any alarms in a matter of hours. It would have been quite impressive, if it wasn't so alarming to Vlad. A slight sweetening of the deal already on the table loosened the ghost tongue on where and how he had gaping holes in his security. He'd fix them after his plan was done.

Technus completed his task in mere minutes. Data was corrupted at an alarming rate, records deleted, reports misplaced. Banking trails were tangled and the company hemorrhaged money to random sources. Programs stalled, operating systems failed, scripts refused to run, codes were jumbled. Everything was thrown into total chaos. Had he not been in control of the mess, it would have been a large nail in his employment coffin. As it were, however, everything done was able to be undone as per a simple word with Technus. The more severe damage would be fixed using that method while the lesser would be fixed manually. Bad for his company, but the distraction needed to be real and it needed to last.

Panic had been the first response from Vlad's employees and his stockholders. While he couldn't do much about the later, the former was dealt with quickly by setting everyone to work fixing things.

Daniel hadn't any idea how, exactly, his work actually worked, however one of the few things he had realized years ago was that Vlad's business work was actually, well, work. So as long as Vlad was actually tied up in his day job, Daniel seemed to mostly leave him alone. He was counting on that. He was also counting on looking too tired to be capable of duplicating—something he thought he pulled of rather well because he really wasn't able to.

Ten in the morning two days after the 'crash', Vlad stepped up to the podium in front of a sea of newscasters and journalists eager to get the first word on what was happening. He readjusted the mic that was set too low to catch his voice, a practice motion he'd learned over the years of public speaking. Cameras flashed and voices began to spill questions from their lips, blending together with every other question into an incomprehensible chatter. He ignored the droning noise and simply cleared his throat. The flashes continued, but silence returned.

“As much as I would like to begin this with pleasantries, my life's work is in the staples of crisis at the moment. I would like to wrap this up quickly, so that I may return to continue overseeing the damage control and cleanup, as it were.” he said, his hands resting on the podium. “First questions please.”

A chorus of 'Mr. Masters!' rang out, and once more questions tumbled over each other. He gestured to a journalist in the front, the rest falling silent. The journalist puffed out her chest, and he refrained from rolling his eyes at the small display or pride, “Mr. Masters, speculation has been swirling that this was an attack from the inside, either by a singular individual or an organized group. Is this true?”

“It is not impossible, however the cause of the devastation has not been found yet. This is mostly due to the nature of what happened. A lot of things were lost that we are still struggling to recover from our backup servers.” Vlad replied evenly, “However, an attack by a singular party is very unlikely given how high security had been."

Another voice boomed out before the others could. the man was standing on his toes with his arm completely outstretch to get his microphone closer, “Mr. Masters! What all was lost? Will you be able to recover, or will Vladco. And it's children branches have to close down?”

“We are doing everything we can to ensure that we get back on our feet. This is a very unstable time for us, however I have faith that we will make a rapid comeback. Personally, shutting down is not an option for me.” Vlad shook his head, “I cannot release information on what was lost, as it is all sensitive data."

As he scanned the crowd, Vlad caught sight of glowing green eyes narrowed in a glare aimed at him. The rest of Daniel remained invisible, just enough of him there to tell Vlad that he was watching. That was good, very good. He lingered on Daniel's eyes for just a moment longer before turning his attention elsewhere, a silent 'I know you're there but I've got more important things to to do.' It was not enough to tell Daniel that his suspicions were invalid and nothing was going on, but it was a start.

“Are the rumors of an embezzler being found true?” Another shouted.

Vlad nodded, “Yes, they are, much to my shame. I cannot release any specific details, however I do confirm that there have been at least two confirmed cases of siphoned funds.”

“At least two? Are you implying there may be more?” The same voice questioned again, clearly interested that she'd struck gold.

“We are investing everything, quite honestly. It is part of the recovery efforts, to start back at ground zero and work out way through everything.” Vlad droned. The vague half truths spilled easily from his tongue from years of practice. He sensed that the questioner was not satisfied with that answer, but turned his attention elsewhere. He had warned he was going to be brief, and he had little care about what the media was actually going to say about this crisis.

“Mr. Masters, the branch that was most affected was the branch that resides here, in Amity Park. Is it possible that this was the result of a ghost attack?” mutterings and eye rolls went out through the crowd, despite the fact that such a question was completely expected by everyone. Vlad chuckled due to the irony, aware it would be interpreted as a response to the question rather than his own thoughts.

“Highly unlikely, I possess the most ghost-proof companies on earth. I doubt that a ghost would have been able to get through the systems without tripping any of the alarms. We suspect that all of the alarms were disabled by a human hand for a human attack.” he said, but as per usual when it came to ghostly subjects in Amity Park, some looked convinced while others did not. He did not pay Daniel any attention, and thus did not catch his reaction.

A softer voice piped up, and he turned towards it, “Will you have to let any employees go?”

“I sincerely hope not, it would be very tragic and very detrimental if that needed to happen. However, as things are still uncertain, I cannot promise that it will not become a needed sacrifice.”

The questions continued, prying and thirsty for something concrete and valuable. Vlad's patience slowly began to wane over the two hours he answered their curious little noses. Daniel remained the entire time, his ectosignature never moving. The crowd protested when he ended the session, but he ignored them as he left the podium. He felt Daniel fallow him as he made his way to his limo parked by the side of the building, and in turn all the way to his Vladco. office. He wondered if the boy actually thought he was being stealthy, keeping completely invisible a few yards back. It didn't matter if he was invisible, his core signature was like a bright beacon and thus defeated the purpose. He was disappointed, if that was the case, as Daniel should know how to mask his signature by now. Although a large part of him was grateful that Daniel didn't seem to, as it made keeping track of him loads easier.

Back at his office, the true show was about to begin, and he wasn't even the main actor. The hundreds of panicked, stressing employees were.

Vlad trailed through the chaotic floor, sliding between the bodies like a snake. Some cowered before his appearance, while others attempted to grovel. He ignored both kinds. He called over the overseer of this floor, and their assistants, once they'd pointed them out.

“We're working on trying to get Minx back up an running, but none of the techs have been able to fix the corrupted operating system yet. Half of us are at a standstill while the other half is being slammed with failing job runs and overburdened libraries.” The overseer said, gesturing broadly with her arms. Her thickly curled hair was frazzled, stands falling loose of the beret on the top of her head. The skinny man to her left looked up from the stack of papers in his hands.

“Mastersoft's processes are stalled, they aren't even running anymore.” he said, flipping through the reports, “We don't know what to do.”

“Shut the system down, and reset it. Have those who can't do anything start calling to the other branches so they can start picking up these loose ends. There are sources that haven't been damaged, they can handle running a few extra jobs for a while.” Vlad replied, jabbing a thumb towards the other assignment, “You, you go down to tech and find out what's going on. They need to start getting these OS's back.”

He pulled away from the remaining two, disappearing into the crowd again. The manager's voice rang out above the commotion, relaying the orders. All semblance of organization was lost as people were instructed to contact whichever outside source they could reach. Irritation blossomed in Vlad as he tried to quell the chaos, barking orders and assessing damage. His growing headache at dealing with so many people going about things all wrong was getting worse, and his frustration slipped into his voice on more than one occasion. It did nothing for the already skittish employees, but perhaps it would help Daniel see that this really was a disaster that was consuming all of his time and effort. He ended up dividing the floor into several sections, divided between the outside locations they were outsourcing to. Some time into his efforts at getting this area set on the right tracks, the manager slipped in front of him again.

“Info management heard you were back, they need you.” She reported, adjusting her glasses.

Vlad grumbled, “And so does literally everyone else. What's so important?”

The manager shrugged, “They said they've got leaked stuff.”

Vlad clenched his tongue to keep from growling out loud, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Finally sighing, he turned away and made his way towards the stairs, “Keep me informed of what happening here, and let me know immediately if the OS comes back.”

He felt Daniel fallow him as he took the stairs two at a time, but then paused as the familiar cold light disappeared through the wall. It grew weaker as Daniel got farther away, disappearing completely in a few moments. He waited a little more for it to come back, but he felt no signs of it doing so. He turned and continued up the stairs, the feeling of success easing his headache a little. The knot in his skull was well worth it, Daniel had gotten a good enough show to be convinced this was just normal boring business stuff, not worth his attention He stopped before going up the last flight of stairs, leaning on the railing as he pulled out his phone. He checked his properties, and none of the sensors he'd installed months ago detected Daniel's signature. He was in the clear, at least for now. Tapping out of the security report, he launched another app. He was greeted with a live video feed from his lab along with the most current status update from the computers.

Stable. No problems detected. Alive.

Vlad breathed a sigh of relief. Those words had become the most important ones in his life. He needed to see them every day, every hour. He knew it was obsessive, unhealthily so. But it was a need he couldn't ignore. He couldn't work without checking it first, couldn't sleep without seeing the machines. It was the same weird blend or anxiety and excitement as hearing the heartbeat that fueled him, kept him glancing at his phone when he wasn't home, kept him scaling three staircases to his secondary lab below his primary at one in the morning. Even now, he was tempted to leave and go home. He forced himself not to. He needed to sort through this mess he'd caused and get it set right now that it's purpose was fulfilled. He still had seven different sectors that were flailing from the disaster. He pushed himself off the railing and jogged up the steps, his phone slipping back into his pocket.

Six hours later, Vlad returned to his office, his headache a fully matured migraine. The lights hurt, and even the smell of coffee was revolting. Stacks of reports were piled high on his desk and he ignored them in favor of rubbing his head. He fell heavily into his chair, wondering if he'd overdone it too much. His eyes flickered to the mountain of inquiries and assessment reports from the areas he hadn't gotten to in person today. Sighing, he pulled his phone out and set down on the desk with a single peek at the screen. His spare hand flicked, and the largest stack of reports was enveloped in a pink aura, moving itself closer towards him. He despised paperwork with a burning passion, but it needed done.

Eleven thirty rolled around, and Vlad knew most of the building was empty. Nearly everyone left by seven, he'd insisted on it earlier in his rounds. He put his pen down, rubbing the knots from his hands. He pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes to make them feel better, the dazed blurriness he had from starring at bland text for hours dissipating. His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. Eating was an infrequent thing for him these last few months. He just didn't feel hungry when he was busy, and he was busy constantly in one way or another now. Speaking of, he picked up his phone and taped his password. The application displayed a summarized report of what he'd missed since his last check in. Nothing had changed. He put the device to sleep again, and rose from his seat. His muscles ached and the vague spider legs of tiredness creeped along the inside of his skull. Vlad didn't bother to put any of his work away, he was too tired to. It was time to go home, to the warm buzz of his lab and the soft purrs of his cat. A quick call to his driver brought his limo to the front of the office, and a few minutes later he was dozing in the back seats.

His driver had to wake him when he got home. He unlocked the door, his keys jingling. Glowing ears perked as the sound. The sound of the door fully awoke Maddie from where she slept on the railing. She was in front of his feet in seconds, rubbing against his ankles and purring loud. Vlad gave a tired smile, dropping his keys on the entry stand. She meowed as he knelt on his knees and sat back on his ankles, his fingers burrowing into her white fur. She pressed into his scratches, climbing onto his thighs and rubbing against any part of him she could. Her whiskers tickled his cheek and neck when she loved him on the face and he chuckled. The affection she gave made him feel better, just as he was sure he enjoyed the attention and belly scratches. He'd been terrible distracted for months, and felt awful about not giving her the attention she deserved. Maddie's purrs and kneading toes combined with her strong presses against him convinced him that she didn't harbor anything against him. When he rose, she resumed pressing against his legs, and she trailed after him as he walked deeper into the house. Her purrs never stopped.

He paused for a few minutes in the kitchen to grab a small snack, simply to satiate the uncomfortable growling in his abdomen. Maddie resolved to jump onto the counter and sniff at his food, before starring at him with a quiet meow. He gave a small laugh, and held it out to her. She sniffed again, then snooted it, his laughs increasing.

Vlad continued down to the lab after he was finished in the kitchen, peeling his suit jacket off and loosening his bow. The quiet clinging of metal tags fallowed his footsteps. The dull lighting of the lab greeted his tired eyes first, the dim red a pleasant change from the bright fluorescent everywhere else. Second was the endless hum and groans of the machines. He walked over to the white bubble, the tension in his muscles slowly unwinding as he saw it was as it was when he'd left. He placed his hand against the side, over a metal rib, and felt the hum of the device through his fingertips. nothing else, however, just the machine. He'd never feel anything else, no matter how far along the child was. The walls of the device were too thick and sturdy. A frown creased his lips, just one of many things he'd never experience.

He pulled his hand back, tossing his jacket onto one of the many cluttered tables sitting around the room. Most of them were covered in papers and books. Vlad slumped into a chair, pulling a stack of folded paper towards him. It fell into his lap and then to the floor, a long graphed sheet with tiny multicolored jagged lines carving patterns across it. It measured the output of the device, something that needed to be gone over by a human eye. He pulled the paper taunt, starting from where he'd left off last. Progress was slow, and was measured by the beeping in the room. Maddie jumped onto the table beside him, laying down. He continued, pushing well on past midnight. The general quietness of the room was peaceful, and despite his focus on his task, Vlad's eyes slipped closed. His breathing slowed, his chin falling onto his chest. Maddie took note of this change, and gently climbed into his lap, curling into a tight ball. The paper slipping from his limps fingers to the floor. Soft snores joined in with the murmurings of the machines.

Vibrating against his leg jostled Vlad awake. His eyes opened, the ceiling of the lab meeting them. He blinked in confusion, the vibration continuing in his pocket. His arms felt numb and distant as he tried to move them, his fingers fumbling as he fished out his phone. He lifted his head from where it'd fell back over the back of the chair, wincing as it cracked loudly. A few tilts to either side gained the same result, and relief flooded his muscles. Vlad shook his free hand to wake it up as he checked his phone with the other. The call was missed, and it was the fourth that had done so. Pins and needles started down his fingers. He checked the number of the caller, all four calls coming from the same one, and recognized it as his personal assistant's. He didn't need to listen to any of the voice mails she'd left, he knew why she was calling just as a look at the time. He was four hours late to work. Groaning, he let his head fall back again. Running his fingers through his hair, he pulled the tie from his hair, the tangled silver locks falling free. He finally realize the warm feeling in his lap and looked down, finding Maddie still nestled on his legs like a tiny glowing doughnut. He gave her a few scratched before picking her up. She grumbled in protest as the rude awakening, and glared after being set on the table. Vlad gathered the paper from the floor, tossing it beside Maddie, before checking on everything again. Stable, no problems, alive. He cast the white device a sad smile.

“I guess I went a little overboard with attempting to guarantee your safety, little one. I can't be here with you as much as I would like.” He said, not quite sure why he was speaking to it. He was sure it couldn't hear him.

Vlad turned towards Maddie, motioning for her to fallow him. She jumped down from the table and trotted up the stairs with him. The entrance to the lab was locked and the security enabled once she was out. She continued to fallow him as he went up to his room, into the bathroom. He stripped himself of his clothes, the stink from all of yesterdays runarounds pungent in the clean room. He showered quickly, the steaming hot water energizing his core. He thoroughly washed and rinsed his hair, it needed it after so many skipped days. Once it dried it'd be back to it's soft, fluffy texture, a welcome comfort. His phone buzzed on the counter as he was drying off. He looked at the caller ID; it was his assistant again. He ignored the call in favor of dressing. Maddie fallowing him back into the bedroom hopping onto the bed. His appearance was not nearly as smooth or neat as it normally was, and he tried to smooth the crinkles from his suit jacket. His hair was combed and tied back as he went down the stairs to the front door, his phone in his teeth and Maddie on his heels.

He plucked his keys from the table they'd been dropped last night, turning towards his cat, “Guard the house while I'm gone. If you feel any ghost enter the territory, do not hesitate to send them away. If it's Daniel, come get me. Got it, girl?”

Maddie meowed, the tips of her spines poking out from her back. Vlad smiled at the display, then turned, leaving. Who said he needed a dog to guard their home when he had a ghost cat?

Several weeks later, while dealing with some of the server repairs, a thought returned to him. He excused himself, and wove through the tangles of people, looking for the person he wanted. He founder her by the back, talking to a group of interns. She jumped slightly as he snuck up behind her. He whispered his request for her to fallow him. She pulled herself away from them, into a conference room, much to her confusion.

“Can I ask you a bizarre non-work related question, Hailey?” Vlad asked, turning towards her.

Hailey, his personal assistant, furrowed her brows, “Sure? About what?”

“Children.” he replied, then elaborated, “More specifically unborn infants.”

Hailey's confusion deepened, “Vlad, I don't have children. I'm not sure i'll be able to give you an answer. What is it?”

“Do you know when they begin to hear? You're the only woman I know whom I could ask, so my apologies for assuming you would know.” He said.

“I think partway through the second trimester? Maybe? My sister would chat non-stop to her bump during her second and third trimester, anyway. I'm not sure if babies can hear before birth, though, it might just be a weird thing parents do.” Hailey answered, waving her hand. Vlad nodded, slightly dismayed. She tilted her head, readjusting the folders in her arms, “Why were you thinking about children? I wouldn't have thought that something like that would be something that would ever cross your mind.”

His eyebrow raised, “Well, I've been wanting a family for a while now.” he admitted. “A while ago, I was contemplating hiring a surrogate mother. And I did. I've been keeping it a secret because the press would blow it out of proportion and harass the poor woman if they discovered this.”

Hailey blinked, “You......have a baby on the way?”

Vlad nodded, a spark of pride igniting in his chest. It was fact now. He did feel a little guilty lying to Hailey, but it wasn't a complete lie. A general fabrication. Hailey's eyes went wide and a smile split her face. She tried to hide it behind her fingers, “Oh my god! You're gonna be a dad!”

Vlad felt a wide smile of his own creasing his lips. Hailey bit her crimson nails, giggling like a schoolgirl. She could barely contain her excitement. Both Vlad's core and heart swelled from the joy that seemed to infect him from Hailey. She blurted her apologies, but couldn't stop smiling. He chuckled and waved them off.

“You better keep me in your secret loop from now on! You know I can keep my lips sealed.” she demanded, jabbing a finger at his nose. He held his hands up in mock innocence. Her eyes softened, “And don't be so hard on the little pumpkin like you are here."

Vlad rose a brow, “'Little pumpkin'?”

Hailey shrugged, “Just a small nickname. You didn't mention a sex, so I didn't know what to call them.”

“Only nine weeks in, Hailey, I don't know anything yet.” Vlad laughed as she pouted, “I'll keep you posted, I assure you. Thank you for your input. I need to get back to things, and I'm sure you do as well. Call if anything happens.”

She nodded and lead the way out of the conference room. A few people outside of the door gave them strangle glances. He caught a few stares as he walked away. Pausing, he met their gazes.

“What?” He asked and all of them suddenly found their work much more interesting. He rolled his eyes and continued, returning to work.

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Six months in, Vlad found himself developing a habit of humming to the bubble. It slowly became a sort of routine. Every morning when he woke up, he would go down and hum as he checked on the machines. Hum as went over the readouts, speak aloud about what he was doing and how he was looking forward to the fallowing months. All of his excitement, and all of his fears. His worries, his doubts, his self perceived inadequacies. It helped to keep his stress down, he found. He hadn't had such an outlet in over two decades, not since Jack. It was refreshing, in a way. He was sure it was what was keeping him sane as he waited, day after day. He still wasn't even sure if the infant could hear him, but he kept talking anyway. Kept humming. Maddie would often meow along, between her purrs. It helped to pass the months along.

It still felt like forever before the time neared its end, however.

Early in the afternoon, Vlad returned to his office, exhausted. But it was finally done, everything was fixed and resolved. The last little thing had just been tied off several hours ago, and for the first time in months he could relax about his work. He grabbed his keys from his desk, heading right back out the door. He just wanted to go home and never use Technus to further his plans again, ever. Outside his office, Hailey hip bumped him, falling into step beside him, “How far along is your surrogate? Isn't she close to being due?”

“Yeah, she is. I was thinking of taking a leave of absence, actually, now that that disaster is over. For about a year.” Vlad replied, stepping into the elevator after her.

Hailey smiled, “That would be a very good idea. Newborns need a lot of care. You should be there for them.”

“Would you be able to handle things here?” Vlad said after a while, looking down at her, “I could still work from home if--”

“Nonsense! I can run everything with my eyes shut and one hand tied behind my back.” She scoffed, giving him a pointed glare. The elevator sounded and the doors opened to the main lobby. She pushed him out before her, “You go take your leave and be a dad. I've got you covered.”

His heels slipped on the polished tiles, stumbling from his PA's insistent pushing. He caught himself before he lost his balance, shaking his head as he got the clue and kept walking to the door on his own, “Thank you, Hailey. What would I be without you?”

“A starving beggar still sporting a terrible 80s mullet.” She smirked, a finger pressed to her cheek, “As opposed to a suave cocky billionaire with a terrible 80s mullet."

“Hey! I do not have a mullet anymore! My hair is all the same length!” Vlad snapped, glaring.

Hailey waved her hand, “Calm your ponytail, Vlad. You can defend your hair choices later. Go home. I've got things here.” She continued shooing him until he was getting into his limo. As the window rolled down and the vehicle began to pull away, she slapped it's trunk, “And text me pictures of the little pumpkin! No excuses! I want pictures!”

Vlad rolled his eyes as her voice became distant, but couldn't help from smiling. She was as enthusiastic as she was an excellent assistant. Both were the reasons why she'd held the position for so many years. He didn't know why he even had to ask if she could handle everything for him while he was gone, she had always been more than capable of it. He let his head fall back against the seat, deftly unbuttoning his jacket. He's needed a vacation for a while now.

The first thing Vlad did when he got home was something he hadn't done in years: change into a t-shirt and pajama pants. He normally saved this attire for when he didn't have anything else to wear to bed or he was feeling particularly lazy. This was one of the latter times. Everything formal was stripped off, and all of his personal items from his pockets were dumped into a drawer. He didn't even keep his socks on, unusual for him, but oh did it feel so good to just let himself unravel. He pulled his hair from it's tie, and shook the silver locks with both hands. Immediately it jumped back to it's natural waves, poofing in the cold October air. He trailed down to the lab, the metal floor freezing on his feet.

“I've finally got all the time in the world for you, little one. No more work for me for a while.” He stated as he went over the machines, “And in two days' time, you'll finally meet the world.”

After he'd made sure everything was okay and gone over some of the readouts, Vlad retired to his living room. Piling the pillows high and a huge bowl of popcorn in hand, he settled onto the couch to watch the Packers game he'd recorded after missing it. Maddie joined him after a while, settling into the folds of the fluffy green and gold comforter. The rest of the night was spent complaining about invalid passes, bad game shows and murder mysteries, with a moderate amount of checking in on the child sprinkled in.

The next day he shut down his ghost portal and cleaned up nearly the entire mansion.

Finally, the second day arrived, leaving Vlad a bag of mixed emotions as he finished laying out the tools he needed. A knife, several plastic mats on the floor and covering the machines, all kinds of medical supplies just in case, and no short amount of towels.

To say he didn't know what he was doing was an understatement.

He'd never been present for a normal birth. He had an inkling of what to do from the multitude of video he'd studied over the months, but his situation wasn't anywhere close to a real birth. The closest thing to it was a Cesarean, but it was still worlds different. His task was made harder by the fact that he hadn't the forethought of how to get the fetus out of the bubble device he'd built. Sure, the machine had a sealed hole in the bottom that he'd used to release the blastocyst into the uterus, which had been hung inside before the bubble had been completed. But it was no wider than a dollar coin. There was no way to use that hole as an exit.

He was going to have to wing it, and hope that all goes well. Again.

Vlad stepped up to the small bubble for what felt like the thousandth time. His pulled on the gloves, completing the preparation much to quickly for his liking. The apron tied over his clothes was uncomfortable.

“Well, little one, the day of revelation is here. We're going to find out once and for all if all of the trouble has been worth it.” Vlad murmurs to the device, tracing his hand over one of the ribs. He sighed, “I'm terrified. I'm scared that....that I've failed. That you're not really alive, or your hurt in some way. That you're not......all together. Perhaps....damaged is a better word. Damaged, deformed, brain dead, or worse.”

“Even if you are perfectly healthy, I'm starting to doubt if I've made the right description. I've done so much harm to bring you to life. How can someone who has so much dirt on his hands be a good father? I don't think I will be, I don't know the first thing about rearing children. I didn't have a very good role model myself, My father was a terrible man. I hated him.” Vlad froze, realizing his owns words as a whole new door of worry was opened, “Oh god, what if you hate me? Oh god, I couldn't bear it.....I'm scared, little one, so very scared.”

He buried his head in his hands, trying to quell the shaking. He'd never even thought about that before. Never thought that far ahead. It hurt to think about worse than that cursed ache ever had. He couldn't handle it. If his own blood grew to despise him, it would absolutely break him. He regretting it. Regretted it all, the blasted idea, the experiments, the sacrifices, everything. He didn't have any control over what would happen now. He could control the machines, control the growing of a child. He couldn't control what his child thought. How it acted. Who it would be. What it would do. It was a variable more unpredictable than Daniel had ever been. He wanted to stop, to hit the pause button. He couldn't. He was already in over his head and drowning quick.

This was happening, and it was happening now.

It took him several moments to gather his composure. Vlad inhaled long and hard, shoving away his fear and worry into the back closest of my mind. He needed to do this.

“So, little one, this is it. It's time for us to finally meet. For better, “ he breathed deep, picking up the gleaming knife from the table, “Or for worse.”

Vlad pressed the knife to the top of the bubble, allowing his heat powers to flow into the blade. It glowed as it heated, the carbon fiber singeing. He carved the tip downward just shy inward of a metal rib. The casing cut easily from the searing heat. At the bottom, he returned to the top, and cut down the side of the rib immediately to the left of the previous cut. He dug his fingernails into the tip of the elongated triangular piece, prying the tip from the crown of the device. The material fought, refusing to bend and move. His heat loosened it, made it more pliable as he slowly bent it backwards, peeling it like a banana. Inside, the hooks pulled chunks free from the sides of the womb, and it began to bleed. The farther he pulled the side from the organ, the more the hooks refuses to relinquish their holds and instead tugged it along. The steady beeping of the heart monitor behind him picked up pace. Vlad ignored it. Only halfway down, Vlad could no longer pulled the side free without the organ tearing with it. He again brought his knife to the top of the device, and the smooth blade slipping into the wall of the uterus. Slowly, and as gently as he could muster, he trailed the knife back down. Blood seeped from the cut, moistening his grip on the knife. He repeated the action on the over side, pulling the slice of flesh outward before it could collapse. The machines warned him that the uterus was loosing too much blood to keep itself alive. He ignored it, he didn't need to keep the organ alive any longer. With a swift motion, he cut it off, tossing it to the floor. He continued to pull and cut a larger, wider, hole. The more he cut, the more he could see that a second fleshy layer, almost like a bubble, made up most of the inside of the womb. It was transparent yet oddly opaque, small veins and patches of yellow coloring it's surface. When he could no longer pull the side apart any farther, he poked the fleshy wall. It felt like poking an overly filled water balloon, the surface warm and rubbery. He figured this was the amniotic sac, and ever so carefully poked a hole into it.

Much like a water balloon, the sac quickly split and spilled it's liquid contents. He had just enough time to turn his face away before his clothes were soaked, from ear to ankles. The fluid poured from the bubble onto the table and down onto the mats where it pooled. Vlad shook his arms to try to get as much of it off as he could. His ponytail was soaked and it clung to the back of his neck like a wet spider. His nose crinkled in disgust, a gross odor radiating from the fluid. He did not take that as a good sign. He removed the limp folds of the ruptured sac and tossed them to the floor. Everything on the inside looked to be the same, pink moist shuddering flesh.

Vlad set the knife down, tentatively reaching into the cavern. His fingers brushed something, and he flinched as he felt it twitch. He reached out again, feeling with his fingers for a hold and curling his fingers around it. He gently tugged on it, slowly easing it from it's curled position. Slowly pulling it from the bubble, he finally realized it was a leg and adjusted his tugs so as not to hurt the child. The other leg fallowed the first without complication, jerkily kicking in the air. Vlad slid his hand under the back until he found the shoulders and slowing lifted it up and out, using his other hand for more support under the head. He tightly tied the umbilical cord, cutting through it with the knife. Blood and fluid slicked the purple tinted skin of the infant, it's hands and feet blue. Patches of a whitish yellow substance clung to the skin. It did not cry, and Vlad's heart nearly stopped.

“No....Nononononono oh god. What did I do wrong?!” His eyes scanned the child's face, horrified. His thumb caressed it's cheek. Little dribbles of fluid ran from it's nose, tinged red with blood.

Something clicked in his mind, “Fluid....amniotic fluid, submerged in fluid which means fluid in the lungs oh god I'm stupid!”

Clutching his child to his chest Vlad bolted up the stairs two at a time. Once in his normal lab, he looked around frantically for something, anything, he could use. His eyes fell on the ectoductor, a machine he typically used to vacuum up ectoplasm residue. His eyes lit up and he rushed towards it. He set his child down on a table, grabbing and yanking the long vacuum tube from it's confines. He narrowed the nozzle to the smallest it would go, kicking the device on to it's lower power setting. The end of the nozzle was still much too large, and the belly of the device was far too loud.

“Oh god do I hope this isn't too powerful.....” he muttered, holding the nozzle to the tiny scrunched up nose. The tip easily fit over both nostrils, even when he partially blocked the tip with his fingers in the hopes that it would lessen the force. The vacuum's angry grumbles gurgled slightly as fluid was pulled from the respiratory tract. After a few seconds, he pulled back, clinging to the hose as if for dear life.

A sharp cry broke from the tiny throat. It cried and cried and didn't stop. He'd never been so grateful to hear such a sound in his entire life.

Vlad released his shaky breath, dropping the nozzle. He carefully picked up the child in shaky hands, and felt like he was holding a fragile piece of glass artwork. The blue tint began to fade from it's skin as it breathed, it's little nose a little red.

“That certainly wasn't the way I wanted that to go, little one, but it certainly wasn't the worst possible. So let's count that as a success, shall we?” he said, chuckling to himself. His heart still beat wildly from his panic.

Vlad drew a finger over the child's cheek, wiping away spots of blood. The tiny arms jerked as the little fingers groped and it's toes curled. It's eyes were squinted tightly shut. Skin was starting to turn into a healthy pink, the blue hands and feet lightening to a purple-red as bloodflow got better. Dark hair dusted it's slightly oblong head.

The realization hit him, and hit him hard.

He was holding his child. His child. His tiny little brand new child. He had a child.

He did it. He succeeded. He had a little part of his dream in his arms, warm soft and alive. He was a father.

He pulled the—his—child closer, against his chest, and he took out his handkerchief from his pocket. Dazedly, almost like he was in a trance, he cleaned it's face.

He paused, unable to stop from starring. It squirmed a little. He smiled, “I suppose I should get you cleaned up more properly than this, shouldn't I? Let's see what you are first, then we'll go do that.”

It wasn't hard to decipher the child's sex, given it splayed it's plump legs wide in his arms. One little look was all he need to figure out that he'd had a boy. A son. His son.

He held his son close as he climbed the stairs to his home. He rubbed little circles on the boys skin, trying to calm the small cries that still spilled from the toothless mouth. Maddie perked her head up and stared after him as he made his way to his bedroom, into the bathroom. In the room, he laid a towel down on the counter and gently placed his son on it. Another towel was moistened with water he warmed a little in his hands. He cleaned the arms first, gently working off the little whitish yellow waxy patches still stuck to the rosy pink skin. Slowly he worked his way down, then went back with a fresh part of the towel to the face to get what he'd already done with his handkerchief. Once done, he wrapped his son in a clean towel and just held him, starring.

“You're alive. You're fine. You're my son.” Vlad said. It felt surreal, to actually be holding his son in his arms after so many long longs of planning and waiting. Like he was in a dream and any minute he'd wake up back at square one.

Deftly, he pinched himself hard on the leg. He remained as he was, soaked with disgusting birth fluids and holding a tiny little baby. He wasn't dreaming. This was real.

“I'm a father. Oh bread sticks, I'm a father.” he breathed, completely in awe, overwhelming amounts of inexplicable emotions slamming into his brain all at once. He couldn't even figure out what he was feeling, it was all too much.

His son whimpered and he returned to holding him with both hands.

“You're here. Oh god, you're here. You're finally here, and I'm never letting you go. I'm never going to let anything happen to you. I will protect you until my dying breath.” he whispered, resting his nose onto the soft skin of his son's forehead. The infant fidgeted in his arms, fingers and toes splaying and curling over and over.

“What am I going to name you?” Vlad wondered aloud, cracking his eyes open to peek down at him, “I hadn't thought about it before now. I guess I didn't think I'd get to this point. Never have before with anything. But you're different. You're the one that actually mattered, and you're here now.”

“It would be confusing to call you Daniel.” He tilted his head, thinking, “I was always fond of the name Victor, but I don't think that quite fits. Not regal enough. Alexander is a grand name, but it's overused. Mikhail, perhaps? No, I don't think so, too foreign for Wisconsin.” he looked down as his little son, thinking hard. Finally, Vlad's lips stretched into a smile.

“Gabriel.” he said, “Gabriel King Masters.”

-o-oOo-o-

I hope that disturbed you all reading it as much as it did me writing it. Oh god I was so squicked. I am so sorry Maddie honESTLY I FEEL SO BAD HOW COULD I DO THAT TO HER

This is honestly gonna be the worst chapter in the entire thing in regards to graphic/uncomfortable things. The rest should be fluff.

#PlayHideandSeek #Danny Phantom #chapter 1 #vvcwriting #OldThings

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voxvociscruorawriting · 9 years

Note

(Concerning your fic "Bruised") Does this mean that Jazz is Vlad's child too? (just curious, it was really great btw like SO MANY EMOTIONS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

AhhhHHHHH I’M GLAD YOU LIKED IT :D

To answer your question, nope, not in this story. The way I have my timeline set up is that she was born before the first time Maddie went to Vlad’s, aka Danny’s conception, so she’s all Jacks. I never really thought about Jazz being Vlad’s daughter, but that would be a neat little AU!

Putting this under a read more because I kinda babbled and got carried away

One of my headcanons is that halfas are able to pass down their ghost genes, due to the fact that the theme animation implies that a ghost or ectoplasm joined to Danny’s DNA. Thus, quarter ghosts (or Quarts, as Blacknovelist came up with). This headcanon doesn’t really come into play with “Bruised” (the most it would be is an explanation as to how Danny survived the portal accident it it were to be implied to have been deadly otherwise), but it would be interesting for a Jazz Daughter AU.

Especially if it fallows the idea that that mostly-human Quarts need to have their powers “triggered” to actually be able to be used. The main aspect of this headcanon is that Quarts wouldn’t have enough ghost DNA or ectoplasm to actually manifest a core as a source of their powers. so while they would have the potential, they’d need an outside source of energy or ectoplasm in order to actually form a core, stabilize the ghost DNA, and thus be able to tap into it all. A source like, saaaaaayyyyyyyyy, an overly large door to another dimension that’s entirely made up of said energy and ectoplasm.

So, if we imagine that Jazz is Vlad’s daughter, she would be 3/4 human, 1/4 ghost (give or take if you fell that Vlad is either more or less ghostly), and if we adopt the above as a thing that exists, then she wouldn’t have enough ghost in her to have anything abnormal happen in the first 16 years of her life. But then things start to change. Really tiny instances, like a finger flickering out of view for a fraction of a second, patches of intangibility over her body, not big enough to even notice. Maybe feeling a slight discomfort in her chest when he needs to pass through ghost shields. Small things she could explain away as being weird side effects of being tired or even some ectocontamination in dinner. But then it gradually gets worse. Falling through her bed, turning invisible while blow drying her hair, the ghost gabber picking up on her sentences and repeating them, ectoenergy randomly escaping from her hands when she’s frustrated and burning her homework. The feeling of something weird inside her chest, like an orb the size of a tennis ball that feels solid, like its there in between her flesh yet....not. Fleeting, its alive, it pulses and thrums and constricts and its so similar to a heart but its not.

And while Jazz would realize she was becoming part ghost, she wouldn’t understand why.

Her first theory would be that this is the side effect of having the portal on all the time. That that much ecto-stuff flowing out of it is slowly turning everyone close to it into halfas. After all, if the stuff mutated Danny’s DNA into that of a halfa, why couldn’t it do that to anyone? She frequents the lab just as much as him, either to sabotage her parents new weapons or to return ghosts to the Zone from the Fenton thermos.

But her parents never show the signs of becoming part ghost, and they’re the ones who are in the lab, right next to the source, the most. She can’t explain why this is happening to her. She tries to ask Danny if he knows why, but he knows nothing about Halfas either. He doesn’t have a scientific mind, so he kinda just rolled with it. She’s left absolutely nothing, no secondary theories, no possible explanations. And it terrifies her.

She has possibly one last person who could figure out this mystery, the only question is: is she really desperate enough to go to Vlad?

I personally feel like Vlad would be oblivious to the fact that she’s his daughter, just because i like the idea of Vlad completely ruining everything with his children before he figures out the truth. In Jazz’s case, his actions towards Danny in canon as well as the entirety of Secret Weapons definitely sour her opinions of him. Where this entire idea gets interesting is when he starts to put together the pieces. The notion that he knows what’s happening to her is impossible, he’s researched it, it shouldn’t be happening, and yet it is, its going against everything he knows about who and what Halfas are, and he doesn’t know why. And when the truth starts to come to light he denies it because he knows that’s impossible too, but every time he tries to explain it away, his resolve steadily gets shaken down until he’s forced to actually consider it. And then accept that its the truth.

And then all hell breaks loose for him.

I’ve been sitting here for the past ten minutes trying to think up a clever name for this AU but i’m srsly drawing a blank so i’m just going to call it the Jazz Masters AU.

I’m seriously liking the idea now, it’s too awesome. I’ve always been a fan of the various cast turning into halfas, and this idea just works so well for Jazz. Of coarse, this one is mostly fallowing canon, so there’s other variations like if Jazz had ghost abilities from birth, if Vlad actually knew, if Jazz herself knew, if Jazz’s powers were triggered by a portal accident like Danny’s, if it was Jazz instead of Danny who got the ghost powers, etc. etc. There’s just so many possibilities with this idea its ridiculous.

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voxvociscruorawriting · 9 years

Text

Bruised (Original Version)

Read On Fanfiction.net

Theme: Free Day- Everything Changes

-o-oOo-o-

"Dark hearts don't break; they bruise.”

-Let Go, Hollywood Undead

-o-oOo-o-

“And then the darn thing just went off, right in my face—! Oh! Sorry, Vladdy!”

Vlad's eye twitched. He grumbled at the careless remark. Too bad it didn't take off your face, he thought.

“It's quite alright,” he bit out, only being tolerable because Maddie was actually sitting between him and Jack for once, on the couch. He was perched on the chair in their living room, legs crossed, deftly listening into the rabble falling from Jack's mouth.

“Anyway, we've almost got that trapper done, it just needs a few more tweaks,” Jack said, and Vlad didn't have any idea what trap device he was talking about. He hadn't been paying attention. Jack's eyes lit up, “Hey, why don't you join us?! It'd be just like old times, us three working on something together! It'll be fun! Well, not for Maddie, she probably wouldn't take kindly to you telling her her math is wrong like you used to.”

Vlad shook his head, “I'm not interested right now, sorry—”

BANG!

All three jumped. Their eyes locked onto the front door, which was slammed closed with enough force to shake the pictures hanging on the wall. Danny stalked into the living room, throwing his bag to the floor. Jack stared after him and Vlad rose a brow at him. It seems like things just got interesting. Danny completely ignored them in favor of stomping towards the kitchen. Maddie got up, fallowing him.

“Danny, you know better than to slam the door and to throw your things everywhere....” she scolded, but he seemed to ignore her. She frowned, looking him over. His hands were clenched so tightly he was trembling, “Danny, are you okay? You're shaking”

Vlad's voice fluttered overhead as he walked over, Jack fallowing, “I'm sure it's nothing, Maddie, after all, teenagers are supposed to be rebellious and ungrateful-”

“Vlad, shut the hell up and go away—Permanently.” Danny slammed his drink onto the counter. Vlad's amused smirk fell off his face, “I'm not in the mood for your crap right now.”

Maddie gaped at him, “Danny! This isn't like you, what's happened?”

He shook his head, walking over and yanking the door to the fridge open, “It's nothing. I'm fine.”

“I don't think you are-”

“I am,” he interrupted, “It's no big deal. I shouldn't be so upset over it anyway, it wasn't even likely I would've won anyway. I should have expected it.”

Maddie's brows knit together, placing her hand on her collarbone. Danny shuffled around the kitchen, grabbing several pieces of bread, a package of lunch meat and a bag of chips, all of which he stacked onto a paper plate. She tried to think about what he was talking about, but she couldn't think of anything. A quick glace back at Jack didn't help, he shrugged and nodded to Danny.

She turned back to him, “Won? What are you talking about?”

Danny gave her an incredulous look, “That contest that NASA was holding, the one where the winner would be able to go up to the space station! Remember? I sent in a thing for it? The winner was picked today, and I lost. I really wanted to win because you both know how much I love astronomy. I really wanted to go but I can't and I don't know why it upsets me so much because it was like a one in a billion chance and I didn't even have a shot and I should have expected this but I didn't,” he rambled, the words falling off his tongue. He realized he was speaking too fast and he stopped. He watched their faces go from realization to sadness and he turned away. He didn't want to deal with their pity right now.

“I'm sorry, I'll clean up my stuff. It's no big deal, I'm fine. I have homework, so, excuse me...” he said, grabbing his plate and slipping around them. He scooped up his battered bag, sprinted up the stairs two at a time.

Maddie jogged after him, “Danny....”

Vlad silently begged for her to come back in his mind as he was left alone with Jack. The silence pressed in on the two men, and Vlad was uncomfortable with it. He wondered across the living room, towards the foot of the stairs, dragging his feet a little. His arms clasped behind his back as he tried not to look at any of the pictures—he didn't need to see their smiling, happy faces at the moment. The clock on the TV stand read 5:34 and it seemed to take forever for the minute to flip. Jack looked up the stairs, his lips turns down in a sad frown, “I've never seen him so bothered like that before......”

Vlad pressed his tongue against his teeth, humming, “A contest?”

Jack nodded, looking at him, “Yeah, he talked about it a lot for weeks a while ago. He literally got on his knees and begged when he asked if he could apply. He didn't mention it in a while, thought, so I thought that it was over. Guess it is now.”

Vlad nodded slowly. He could hear Maddie's voice drifting down the stairs, but couldn't understand what she was saying. Winning the contest would have been like the jackpot for Daniel, he understood that perfectly well. Space was to Danny what Danny was the Vlad, the ultimate victory; the grand prize. If Daniel's small meltdown was any insight into how much he was upset, then he'd misgudged just how much value the teen put into his interests.

He didn't take his eyes off the stairs, “...He was really looking forward to it, wasn't he?”

“More than I think any of us realize.”

Vlad nodded, looking up the stairs.

After a while, Maddie came back down the stairs. The air of defeat around her was thick. She stopped on the last stair, leaning on the railing, “Danny won't let me in, he won't talk to me. He just keeps saying that he wants to work on his work.”

“A coping mechanism, he's burying himself into something to distract him from his hurt,” Vlad stated, and Maddie nodded. She stared at the floor, deep in thought over what she could do. Vlad shoved his hands into his pockets, “May I see if I can talk to him?”

Maddie looked up, biting her lip, “I don't think that's a good idea.....”

Jack shrugged, “Couldn't hurt to try, worst he'd do is yell at you some more.”

“I don't think you'll have any better luck than I did,” Maddie muttered, but motioned upstairs anyway.

Vlad nodded at the silent display of defeat, and he climbed the stairs. He stopped before the painted white door, a large banner spread across it labeling it as the boy's room. That amused him greatly, nearly as much as the random paper cutouts also decorating it. He raised his hand and rapped his knuckles against the wood. He received no answer.

He knocked again, “Daniel?”

“Go away, Vlad!” Danny screamed from inside, his voice muffled, “I'm not in the mood to deal with you!”

Vlad ignored the hostile response, “Daniel, trying to be apathetic towards this is not going to help you.”

“Go away, you don't understand what I'm feeling!”

“Oh yes, knowing that something you want exists yet being unable to actually have it. I can't possibly fathom what that feels like.”

Danny growled, “Don't patronize me.”

Vlad snorted, leaning on the door frame, “I stand by what I said before, apathy will only make this worse.”

“I don't care, now leave!” Something heavy slammed against the door, making it rattle. Vlad jolted a little, snarling at the poster.

“Okay, you little rat, do you want to go to space or not?” he hissed

Another thing hit the door, “Don't mock me!”

“I'm not, it was a serious question. Do you want to go or not?” Vlad snapped. He got no response. He rapped his knuckles on the door again, “Daniel? Daniel, it's in my—Hey!”

Intangible arms shot out of the wood and an ectoblast embedded itself into his gut. He shot back into the wall on the other side of the hall, his skull cracking against the drywall. He slunk down, his legs folding under him and he snarled, gritting his teeth. Stars danced across his vision and the back of his head began to throb. He raised his eyes, irises burning red as he glared at the door. His nails dug into the paint, and he let out a deep, low growl as he pushed himself up. Green smoke rose from the soldering holes in his suit's dark fabric and he brushed over them with his hand. He glared one last time at the door before turning and heading back downstairs. Jack and Maddie gave him worried looks. Maddie opened her mouth to, but he shrugged the incoming questions off.

“He pushed me out. I had no luck. I think I'm going to take my leave, it's getting late in the evening anyway. I hope Daniel feels better soon, it breaks my heart to see him so upset.” Vlad supplied. They nodded, and muttered a few goodbyes.

The front door closed behind him and he stepped down the front stairs, pulling his phone from the inside breast pocket of his suit. He fished his keys from his belt loops, incredibly thankful he hadn't slammed into them when he'd hit the wall. His thumbnail jammed into the unlock button on his key fob, the airbrushed sunset orange Saleen S7 Twin Turbo parked at the curb chirping in response. Several key presses later, Vlad held his phone to the ear.

“Hailey, I have a bizarre request, and you're going to think I've lost my mind....”

-o-oOo-o-

Maddie wiped her hands clean of meatloaf batter, the loud knocking at the door echoing in the unusually quiet house. She called that she coming, half jogging the final few feet to the door. She flipped the lock and opened the door. Vlad shoved his hands into his pockets, nodding at her. She pursed her lips, still not quite sure what to think of him. She held her hand out to her home and stepped aside. He gave a halfhearted thanks before turning back to her again.

“Hello, Madeline, is Daniel here?” he questioned. His eyes trailed over the living room.

She nodded, though the amount of times Vlad had come over asking specifically for Danny was starting to alarm her. Five times in the current month alone was far too many. His gaze rested on her her, and he tilted his head, waiting for her to exaggerate. She sighed through her nose, hanging her forearm over the stairs railing, “Yeah, but he's still pretty upset about you-know-what, so I don't think it's best you're here.”

“I just wanted to ask him a question, but seeing as he's irritable, perhaps it would be best if you ask him,” Vlad said, “I'd like to know if he'd like to go up to my private space station.”

Maddie blinked, “You have a space station?”

“I do now.”

The way he said it so casually shut her up of any other questions. She just rolled with it. She supposed when you had so much money, there wasn't anything you couldn't have—save for a community-owned sports team, she thought a little smugly. A far cry from the frugal penny-pincher she'd known him to be in college. Or perhaps he was more frugal than how he was in college and that was his secret to his fortune, she didn't really know. She gestured for him to fallow and she climbed the stairs. Vlad's shoes clicked on the steps behind her. She didn't stop at Danny's door, instead twisting and knob and letting herself in. Vlad stopped at the frame, crossing his arms as he leaned against it. Maddie continued over to Danny's prone form on the bed, his laptop unsuccessfully 'hidden' under his pillow; if you called hap hazardously shoving it there hiding. Her fingers pressed lightly into the teen's shoulders, and she leaned over him.

She called out gently, “Danny? Vlad wants to know if you want to go up to his private space station. I know it wouldn't be the same as the international one you wanted, but it's still kind of what you wanted?”

The muscles of Danny's back tensed under the baggy shirt. Maddie rubbed oblong circles over his spine, though Vlad hadn't any idea why. His first guess would be an injury he was trying to hide, though he couldn't rule out that it was the mention of him that caused it. Actually yes, he definitely thought that was it. After a while, Danny raised his head from the well used pillow, turning to look at his mother.

“No, I want nothing to do with him right now. And he's prolly just offering because he pities me,” he bit out, muttering the last part. Maddie nodded and stood. Vlad rubbed the inside of his teeth with his tongue.

“You can take your friends, if you would like. You could do anything you wanted, stay up there as long as you want, both within reason, whatever. It's your choice,” he offered, crossing his legs at the ankle. Really, the first one didn't need to be said, there was a very low chance that Daniel wouldn't take his friends along if he could. They were pretty much attached at the hip, the three of them.

Daniel snarled, pushing himself up, “Why in the heck do you even care?”

“I don't like to see you so upset, especially over something you take so close to heart,” Vlad admitted, not skipping a beat, “I know that contest meant something to you, but I can't get you onto the International station—I tried—so I'm offering the next best thing.”

Daniel growled, his fingers digging into the blankets bunched around his waist. His eyes flashed green at Vlad, but didn't cease to stop glowing even in the presence of his mother. He glared, but Vlad waited patiently, unfazed by the gaze. Maddie sat down on the edge of the bed, looking between the two.

Finally, she broke the silence, “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Danny, at least give it some thought?”

Vlad shrugged, “It's really not, so long as I'm still around.”

“Are there gonna be any tricks?” Danny asked suddenly.

“No, no tricks.”

“Any plots?”

“No plots.”

Danny's eyes narrowed, “Any 'issues' and 'stuff'?”

“No issues or incidents.” Vlad waved a hand, nonchalant.

“......You promise?”

Vlad blinked, but went with it anyway, nodding, “I promise.”

Danny nodded back, “Alright. I want to go up for a week.” Maddie looked at him, her jaw slack. Vlad simply pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“Very well, you should start packing while I call the hanger,” he said, tapping a few keys as he spoke, “We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning.”

Danny froze, “Wait, what?”

“Absolutely not, he's got school!” Maddie snapped.

Vlad shrugged, “He can do his makeup work while he's up there, so long as he's got it by this evening. Besides, its close to the end of the year anyway.”

“Thats.....” she opened her mouth to argue, but found no real reason why that wouldn't work. Danny's eyes locked onto her, his teeth nibbling on his bottom lip. She didn't want to ruin this for him again, not after they'd just reached a consensus. She gave in, and nodded, “Alright, tomorrow it is then.”

“Wonderful!” Vlad pushed himself off the frame, his eyes glued to his phone. He looked up a little, as if having a thought, and turned back to Danny.

“Are Samantha and Tucker joining you?” he asked.

Danny shrugged, “I don't know, I'll have to give them a call and then their parents are gonna have to argue and stuff.”

Vlad nodded, returning to his phone, “If either set of parents wants the parameters of either machine, let me know, I can send them over immediately.”

-o-oOo-o-

Morning came in the form of a phone alarm going off on the coffee table. Vlad grumbled, fighting to get off the arm he was laying on. He rolled, nearly falling off the couch with a sharp swear. His fingers danced on the screen, unlocking the device and shutting the noise up before he went to work untangling himself from the blanket cocoon around his legs. Several minutes and one pastry curse at the fact that he forgot that intangibility was a thing later, he was free and slinking quietly up the stairs. They creaked underneath, worn from years of heavy feet and stomping children. He phased into Daniel's room, not even bothering to turn invisible beforehand—no one else was going to be up yet and the bathroom was on the other side of the house. He snorted at the sight he was greeted with. Daniel was sprawled out as much as he could have been, arms hanging off the sides and his legs barely covered by the blue sheets. Vlad stepped beside the bed, looking down at the other.

“Daniel,” he called, firm yet soft enough to not disturb Jasmine in the next room over, “Daniel, wake up.”

Danny shivered, a sliver of blue mist slipping from his drooling lips, “Gnnnrrr....Go 'way, Box G'ost.”

“I take offense to that, Daniel,” Vlad grumbled, glaring at the teen. He reached out and gently shook his shoulder, “Come on, get up.”

Danny's hand swung so fast Vlad didn't even see it before it smacked him. He stumbled, catching himself on the nightstand as he held his stinging cheek. He grit his teeth, thankful that it hadn't been a fist, at least. He didn't need any black eyes today. Danny shifted, turning onto his side and burying his head deeper into the pillow. Vlad stood up straight again, huffing.

“Fine. We'll do it this way,” he muttered.

He shoved his hands onto the mattress, his hands tingling with a distant pins and needle kind of numbness. They faded into a slight transparency, tinting blue. The state of intangibility spread throughout the bed. Air replaced solid material under Danny, and he fell.

“AHHH!” his cry was cut off when he thumped onto the floor, his body jolting awake. Burning green eyes locked on Vlad, his chest heaving from the scare, “The hell, Vlad?!”

“Good, you're awake,” Vlad chirped.

Danny rolled out form under his intangible bed, and it resolidified as Vlad removed his hands from it. Danny sat back o his heels, pressing the heel of his hand to his eye, “What are you doing in my house at...” he squinted towards the clock on his nightstand, “4 O'clock?! In the morning?! Why so early?!”

Vlad shrugged, “I stayed the night last night, I'll have you know. It was a waste of time for me to leave then to come back this early, after all. Get up, we need to get moving. We've got a lot of things we need to do in a very short amount of time.”

“It's 4 In the morning, I'm not getting up this early, I'm freakin tired as hell!” Danny protested, staring after Vlad as the older man stalked towards the door.

“I suggested you go to sleep early last night, but you ignored me.” Vlad gave him a pointed look, one that read 'I told you so' and Danny bit his tongue. Vlad motioned towards the dresser, “Go get a shower, you'll have plenty of time to sleep again later.”

Danny grumbled and complained the entire time he got up and dug out clean clothes. Vlad watched for a bit, amused, before slipping out of the room to give Daniel his privacy. He sat at the top of the stairs, making about a dozen last minute phone calls. He reassessed that everything for the trip was ready, asking for last minute maintenance double checks be performed before he got there. He nearly forgot to call his secretary to ask her to take care of Maddie while he was away, and his thumb tapped out her familiar number.

It rang once, twice, three times before she finally picked up, her voice sharp, “You do realize that I do need sleep, right? I can't run on five hours for several days like you can.”

“My apologies, Hailey, if I would have remembered to call yesterday I would have,” he replied, keeping his voice low, “Would you have any qualms with stopping by my manor a few times while I'm on leave? I own a cat and I don't have anyone else to ask so last-minute.”

“Sure, I'll just go ahead and rename myself Vlad Masters since I'm basically living your life for a week,” she mused, sarcastic. He opened his mouth to reply, but she continued, “Oh, what am I saying, you never do your paperwork to begin with, so I guess I'm not.”

He snorted, “Haha, very funny. So will you do it?”

She chuckled, “Yes, I'll stop by twice every day. I assume that's how often you feed it?”

“Indeed. Thank you, Hailey.” She hummed in response and he lowered his voice even further, “The passcode for the gate is DanielMasters, and the code for the security system is 21490.”

He heard the light scratching of a pen over paper, and he made a mental note to change both codes when he got back home. It wasn't that he didn't trust his secretary, it was that he preferred to be safe than sorry most times. He heard the phone shift on her shoulder as she put her hand back on it

“Speaking of Daniel.....?” she trailed off, the questioning tone hanging in the air.

His fingers tensed on the phone, and he bit out the words through his teeth, “Not now, if you would please.”

“Very well,” she relented, her tone going from personal back to professional in the flip of a coin, though Vlad knew from experience that she was still very curious about the answer. Her ability to be curious yet to also put it aside was one of the many things he admired in her, “Enjoy your trip.”

He muttered his thanks and hung up the call. A door clicked softly shut and he head Danny's steps behind him. Vlad pushed himself off the step, descending them with Daniel behind him.

“You know, Vlad, just because I've accepted your offer doesn't mean I trust you,” Danny said at the bottom, picking up his packed bag that were set by the door the previous night.

Vlad just chuckled, earning a toxic green glare.

The front door clicked shut and Danny locked it, sprinting after Vlad. They walked around the corner to where a small, black limo was parked beside the house. Danny scoffed at the transportation. He walked over and got inside, a suited man he assumed as the driver held the door open for him. Vlad took his bag, the trunk popping open for him to place it inside. The inside was lined with seats on both sides, a silver crisscross pattern designing the soft black velvet. Danny scooted down to the seat he wanted, beside a window. He propped his chin up on his palm, the limo shuddering a little when the trunk was slammed. It smelled like a new car, with a hint of lemon for some reason. Vlad said a few words to the suited chauffeur before sliding into the back, on the opposite side of Danny. The vehicle twitched again as a muffled door clicked shut, the engine purring to life shortly after.

The floor vibrated under Danny's body, the feeling lulling his mind into drowsiness again. He stared out the window, the buildings and streets passing outside without him really seeing them. The dark sky taunted him, the slight chill in the air comforting his slow core. He didn't know he'd closed his eyes and drifted off until the door slammed loudly, jolting him awake. He blinked, groggy, as he searched the dark compartment of the vehicle. His entire arm was arm from being his makeshift pillow and he shook his hand. He caught side of someone else sliding down to sit beside him, the irritable groan telling him it was Sam. He muttered a slurred hello, and she turned, glaring at him.

“Fuckin' Vlad Fruitloop Masters waking up my parents this early in the morning to tell 'em to go get me,” She mumbled, “A little warning would've been nice, y'know.”

Danny snorted, smirking, “Would've been nice for me too, I didn't know we would be leaving so early. He phased the bed out form under me to wake me up.”

She frowned, “Try having 'Sama'tha, why is the mayor here for you at this hour” being screamed at you via my mother.”

“Harsh.” Danny nodded slowly, pressing his forehead to the back of the seat, his arm stretched out behind Sam. He heard her shift and felt her head fall back onto his arm, her hair tickling it. He stared at the dark shapes on the luxurious seat.

“Should I call Tuck? Give him any warnin'?” he muttered. He felt Sam shake her head.

“Nah, leave him get a rude awakenin' to, no fair if all three of us don't.”

He snickered, falling silent when the doors slammed closed again. Several hushed pastry curses drifted down to their ears, entwined with a soft rant about the Mansons. A wide smile split Danny's face and he heard the sharp broken giggles as Sam tried to muffle her laughter. The wonderful feeling of the engine returned, drumming against Danny's forehead into his chest and he reveled in it, allowing sleep to envelope him again. He was distantly aware of the limo stopping for Tucker, and of hearing Sam mumble a greeting to their third amiko. Besides that, time was lost to him in the form of sweet, sweet rest.

-o-oOo-o-

Getting three sleepy teenagers out of a limo and into a jet proved incredibly difficult for Vlad.

They grumbled and complained and whined, and it ate away at nearly all of his patience. He squashed the temptation to light fires under their asses to wake them up and get them moving quicker. Doing so would not only anger all three of them, Daniel most of all, but he would most likely be slammed with child endangerment charges if they went to their parents about it. He didn't need that, so he settled for venting his frustrations under his breath in Russian. They walked across the tarmac of Amity Park's smaller airport, loud wide yawns sounding every few minutes. A large sleek jet a few feet away, and he navigated them towards it. Ivory colored it's top, black on the underside, large maroon script spelling out “Masters” down the side. The engine of the jet was already running, the boarding stairs already pulled down. Vlad ushered the three up into the plane, the driver of the limo gathering the bags from the trunk and climbing into a different part of the craft. The reaction of the teens to being on a million dollar jet was lackluster, save for the stares of Tucker and the rolled eyes of Daniel. Samantha seemed unfazed, as if flying on this kind of plane was normal for her. The jet was prepped and taking off in minutes, the teens staying away just long enough to get airborne. Samantha stared at her phone, occasionally tapping something with her thumb while Daniel slunk into a seat, laying down. Tucker seemed intent to try to poke his nose into anything he could, before he too passed out on a chair.

Vlad leaned against the side of the compartment, staring out the window at the miles falling away underneath them. After awhile, soft snores drew his attention back to the trio, all three sleeping again. Danny's arm hung off the side of the seat, his knuckles on the carpeted floor. Tuckers arms were folder under his head, and he somehow managed to curl into a ball, his barrette over his face. Samantha was still sitting up, her legs crossed and her phone still in her hand. He turned away, eyes downcast, and he couldn't help but compare them all to his own former group. It was nearly a repeat scenario. He sighed, his secretary's questions in his head. His thoughts only drew yet more similarities. He could only hope that their friendship wouldn't break apart like his had. But the world was cruel, and loved to tear good things apart.

Hope meant nothing, it did nothing, as he'd learned a long time ago. But for Daniel's sake, he hoped.

-o-oOo-o-

Things were moving, shaking, around him and Danny groaned. He didn't want to be woken up again. He felt someone touch his hand and shake it. He pulled it away to try to stop them, but they moved to their wrist, shaking a little more vigorously.

“Daniel, Samantha, Tucker; wake up. We need to get off the jet.” Danny swatted towards the voice, two other whines joining his. He heard Vlad swore and considered it a small victory. A pressure on his arm disappeared, leaving a lingering warmness that tingled in the cold air, and something shifted next to him.

“Oh, good, Samantha has her senses about her. Thank you.”

Slurred mumbles drifted into the air, “St'p callin' me S'mantha, 's Sam.”

Vlad scoffed, and the touches to his arm returned, “Daniel, Tucker. Get up. I'm not saying it again, so this is your last chance.”

Danny ignored him, trying to block out his voice. He was so very comfy.

He felt a hand press on his chest, and every never in his body was set aflame with an intense heat. He yelped, jerking back and trying to get away from it. His core shrank away from the heat, pulling in on itself into a little ball inside his chest, small and painfully tight. His skin tingled and everything was much too hot. He heard Tucker cry out as he fell into something, the dark world spinning as he fell off the seat. Stars danced in his vision, Tucker groaning out in pain under his legs. Sam yelled, her voice amplified by the small space. When Danny's vision cleared, Vlad was looking down at him, his arms crossed.

“The hell was that for?!” Danny demanded, trying to get his breath back after his lungs had felt like he'd inhaled fire.

Vlad shrugged, “You weren't getting up. I fixed that.”

“Gee, thanks for the third degree burns,” Danny spit, carefully navigating off his best friend. They both helped each other up, sliding out of the jet and down the stairs with Sam. The cold outside air was like heaven to Danny, and he breathed in deeply.

Vlad crawled out after them, giving Danny a pointed glare, “I didn't burn you, I would never be so careless with my powers.”

Danny scoffed, crossing his arms. Sam pulled her knit sweater jacket tighter around herself, her hair tangling in the soft breeze. It was definitely a few hours later, they realized, due tot he lightened sky. They Fallowed flad over to where their bags had been pulled off the jet, Sam looking around at the vast empty area.

“Oh my god....!” Her jaw fell open as she froze, and the other two looked at her confused before fallowing her line of sight. Both stopped dead, gaping.

The massive burgundy space shuttle was nearly all wing, perfectly curved contours and sleek, faceted metal faces forming crisp edges. It sat low to the ground, the wide, straight wings tilted backwards with no separate body segment to be seen, likening it to a stealth aircraft. The wings ran right up to the rounded point of the nose, but had a massive triangle cut from the rear, where the propulsion system was located. Silver stripes traced the front edge on both top and bottom of each wing, as well as the belly. From the center of the top, long tilted silver dorsal fins steadily grew longer as the trailed from nose to tail, pointing outwards towards the wing tips. Bright orange tanks were attached to top of the craft, spanning its entire width. The entire thing glistened in the early morning sunlight, positively shining. The Vladco company name and logo branded the rightmost dorsal, a strange name etched in silver near the nose.

“It's gorgeous.....” Sam muttered, and Danny found himself agreeing.

Vlad circled around back of them, “Indeed, she is. She was designed to be.”

“What's her name?” Sam turned to him, and the other two sets of eyes fallowed.

Vlad took the bags one by one and handed them to their respective owner, “The Prizrak,” he answered.

Sam nodded, looking back at the ship. Her eyes fell on the silver name, “Sounds Russian.”

“That's because it is,” Vlad said, finally picking up his own bag and throwing it over his shoulder. Danny noticed, and stared at it. Vlad tilted his head at the young halfa, waiting for the incoming complaints.

“....Why do you have a bag too?” Danny asked, shifting his eyes to stare at Vlad from under his bangs.

“Did you honestly expect me to send three teenagers up onto multi-billion dollar space structures alone? For an entire week? I honestly don't trust you three and your predilection for causing trouble enough to do that,” he stated matter-of-factly, slamming the trunk closed, “So yes, I'm coming along.”

Danny rolled his eyes, muttering, “Wonderful....”

Vlad glared at him, urging the three teenagers towards the awaiting vehicle, “Don't act like that. Come on.”

-o-oOo-o-

The Prizrak slowly slid over the massive metal structure floating in micro gravity several thousand miles above the earth. The hatches lined up, the two locking together with thick metallic thunks. The pressure seals activated, large arms reaching from the station up to grab the shuttle and further secure it in place. Danny stared at the massive solar panels lining the station out of the window. The hatch at the bottom of the Prizrak clicked, and Vlad knelt beside it, pulling it open. All three teens tensed, but the joining seals held. Vlad motioned to the hatch.

“After you,” he said. Danny rolled his eyes and floated over to the entrance.

He held his hands out to his friends, helping them slowly navigate their way down into the station. They struggled to find their center of balance, but they eventually made it down. He fallowed with ease, Vlad fallowing him. The older halfa paused to lock the hatch while Danny explored what would be his temporary home for the week. Out of the small circular room the hatch dropped them into was a large, spacious room with an arched ceiling. Poles and beams ran across the dark airbrushed metal walls like weird ladders, wires that were bolted to the walls running all over the place. Neon lights lining the ceiling lit the room, several colored lights from various machines reflecting off the metal. Large machines and devices like some of the walls, their loose parts tied down. Five other exits lead out of the oval area. He felt a hand on his ankle, and turned to see Sam pulling herself up to his side via the walls. Tucker fallowed on his other side.

“This is really weird,” she stated, pushing her skirt down as momentum tried to slowly lift it up her abdomen, “Glad I packed shorts.”

“Microgravity at it's finest.” Danny flashed a smile and pushed himself further into the room.

“Before you all go running off to do god knows what to my property, listen up.” Vlad called coming up behind them. They turned their attention to him, and he waved a hand around the room, “This is, obviously, the main area, the center of the station. The door on the far end is the engine and control rooms, of which none of you are allowed in.”

He gestured towards the various offshoots, “Sleeping is off to the right, first entrance, while food and other necessities is on the left, first entrance. My lab is down the left rear, please don't mess with anything in there.” He gave the teens a burning glare, “Don't break anything, or your asses will be grass.”

Danny raised a brow, “Oh yeah, because I totally wanna trash the only things keeping my friends alive in the horrible vacuum of nothingness.”

Vlad narrowed his eyes, “I mean it, Daniel. Just because I'm doing this for you doesn't mean that you have the freedom to trash anything,” he growled.

Danny sighed, then nodded. Satisfied, Vlad turned and left the room. Danny rolled his eyes and ventured further inside. The lack of a gravitational force as default was kind of odd, but it didn't really bother him. His core quelled any kind of vertigo he thought he'd get, since he thought it would be different than floating and flying as a ghost. It wasn't, it was nearly the exact same sensation. The only difference was that he had to move his body a little more physically to move than when flying, whereas his ghost abilities would help with that.

“Dude, how are you moving so easily?!” Tucker called out, indignant. Danny turned and blinked at them.

Sam nodded, “Yeah, I have no idea how to control my body, It's like I'm going every which way.”

Danny flash a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his head, “Half ghost thing. Floating and flying or microgravity; its the same feeling.”

Sam tried again to float freely, but lost control and wobbled, “Yeah, well, teach us, please?”

-o-oOo-o-

“Okay, watch this....”

Vlad floated into the room, his hand circling around one of the many support bars. Danny was sitting with a small container of water and a long piece of small metal. Sam and tucker watched, interested but amused, as Danny rubbed the metal with a piece of paper. He held it horizontally, grabbing the container of water. A thin straw stuck out of is and he removed it, a tiny bubble of water on the end. He stuck the dry end in his mouth and light blew, sending the droplets towards the metal. Sam's eyebrows furrowed deeper, and her mouth fell open when the little droplets began to orbit the metal in an oblong swirling figure eight formation. Danny gathered some more water and did it again, and upwards of a dozen tiny little droplets wove around the metal like little moons. They got faster as they got closer to the rod before finally sticking to it.

“That's so weird....” Sam muttered, leaning a little closer.

“You can also blow pure water bubbles up here if your really careful, no soap or bubble solution needed,” Danny replied, making a small bubble of water in the weightless area in front of him. He poked the straw into it and slowly blew into it. The bubble expanded and undulated across the surface.

“Dude, I didn't even know that was possible!” Tucker exclaimed, “What happens if it pops?”

Danny hummed then gave a quick puff of air. The bubble burst, most of the water remaining connected like disfigured floppy balloon animals. It sloshed in the air, eventually settling back down into a sphere. Sam caught one of the bubbles that had shot off in her hand, using it to moisturize them.

“It's better with actually balloons, but basically the same,” Danny stated, shrugging.

“Still, that was pretty cool!” Tucker said excitedly, “We should try that salt thing! And isn't it true that fire can't burn up here?”

“Actually, it can! It just acts weird,” Danny said, “like it's more of a bubble and burns at lower temperatures and sometimes it combusts but doesn't do anything, and like no one can figure out why. Sam you wouldn't happen to have any matches on you, would you?”

Sam nodded, reaching into the pocket of her plaid skirt. Danny looked surprised to see that she actually did and Tucker stifled a laugh. Vlad rose an eyebrow, but didn't question it. He'd met women who hid stranger things in stranger places over the years, including Hailey. The trio went quiet for a moment, and he chose it as his opportunity to speak up.

“What are you even doing?” he called, drawing all three sets of eyes. Sam seemed to send him a glare that dared him to say anything.

Danny shrugged, replying, “Neat science tricks I've always wanted to do. They're the coolest.”

Vlad crossed his arms, leaning his shoulder against the side of the room, “I bet I can show you something cooler.”

Danny looked up towards Vlad from under his hair, “Bring it, fruitloop, I don't think you can.”

Vlad smirked, and just reached out an arm, pressing a button near the temperature control panel for the room. Daniel's eyes went from confusion to terror in seconds flat when the station shuddered, the sound of metal scraping on metal and pistons hissings seeping through the walls. In seconds he was dashing for the button, but Vlad positioned himself over it, blocking the teen's scrambling hands. The other two were tensed, looking around and waiting for something to happen. They weren't disappointed as the ceiling jerked and began to part. Daniel swung around, his eyes glowing green and wide as he stared at it before he dug his fingers into Vlad's dress shirt

“What are you doing?!” he snapped, yanking on the soft silk, “You said there wasn't going to be any—!!”

“Daniel, calm down. Look. Nothing's happening; no one's dying.” Vlad replied smoothly. The teen snarled at him, his eyes searching Vlad's face. He turned back towards the ceiling, watching it with worry.

The thick metal panels that had looked to be the ceiling slid off to the side, pulled by massive spidery arms on the outside of the station. In their place, a massive plane of crystal clear glass, revealing the great wide void of the cosmos. The entire metal structure hummed and vibrated around them all from the movement before there was the sound of releasing gas and it all stopped. Danny stared at the glass, not really seeing anything beyond it for a moment as he waited with a feeling of dread in his gut for it to shatter. Such a large piece of glass couldn't resist the pressure of space, it wasn't strong enough, not thick enough—but it held. No dents, no cracks, no shattering and imminent death. He blinked at it, and his fingers fell limp from their grip on Vlad's shirt as he finally truly saw what was revealed.

“Oh my god.”

Artistic renditions and telescope pictures were nothing compared to the real thing. The sky was the most vibrant color he'd ever seen, a watercolor wash of blacks and blues, millions upon millions of stars freckling it. There were more stars than he'd ever seen before in his life. Not with a telescope, not from flying as high as he could, never. There were so many, the sky looked like it had the texture of granite, like a huge lense made of the rarest goergeous gemstone. Some areas even looked dark purple and indigo, lighter clouded areas revealing galaxies. He saw several planets and a few stars he recognized, and they all slowly creep along. The sky felt alive, like it breathed, it was so real. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and he couldn't stop staring.

“Wow.....” the whisper slipped out of his mouth, so quiet it could have just been a breath.

Vlad floated out from behind Danny, a smug grin on his lips, “Have I won?”

Danny didn't answer. His eyes remained glued to the sky, shifting rapidly as he tried to drink in ever single inch. Sam noticed, and tore her own gaze from the sight.

“Danny?” She floated over to his side, poking him in the arm, “I think you have, since he's pretty much gone into Space-Overload mode.” She waved her hand in front of his face.

Danny jumped when the fingers entered his vision, “Huh? What?”

Tucker raised his arm pointing, “Hey look! Is that the big dipper?! It's so huge!”

Danny twisted his head, recognition flashing across his face, “Yeah, it is! And it you look over here, there's Draco, Leo, and....I think that's Lynx? Kinda? It's really faint and tiny, but it's totally there too!”

“Lynx?” Sam's brows knot and she turned towards Danny. He pointed up at a pattern of stars. Vlad didn't recognize them, and he was just as confused as Sam was.

“A constellation defined in like the 17th century, to fill the open gap between the constellations Ursa Major, which is what the Big Dipper's apart of, and Auriga. It was supposedly named Lynx because of its faintness: only the 'lynx-eyed', or those who could see pretty good, would be able to recognize it,” Danny explained.

Sam chuckled, “Danny's space nerdieness is showing.”

“I'm not a nerd!” Danny defended, offended, “I just really like space!”

Sam ignored him, “You are too a nerd.”

Danny threw up his hands, exasperated but clearly giving up the loosing argument. The goth burst out laughing and Danny stuck his tongue out at her.

-o-oOo-o-

Several hours later, Vlad returned to the main center. He was surprised to find Danny still up, floating cross legged and staring up at the stars shining overhead. He floated over, his arms crossed. Danny turned towards him a fraction, but turned his attention back to the sky. Vlad stopped next to the boy, casting his eyes up to the sight above as well. He didn't think Danny had ever seen the sky like this before, given how light polluted Amity was. Hell, Vlad himself hadn't ever seen it this clearly before either, despite living in an area away from bright lights. The sky gazed back, proudly displaying it's awe inspiring beauty. He knew that some of the bright dots were planets, though he wouldn't have been able to point them out—he knew a little about astrology but not that much. Daniel probably could, he was certain of that. The boy had pointed out the zodiac constellations easily. They floated in silence, their eyes scanning the celestial paint before them. While Vlad reveled in Danny's company, he knew the other wouldn't say the same of him. Eventually, the silence grew a tad too uncomfortable, and he shifted his gaze to the teen.

“So, are you still upset about the contest?” he asked. Danny startled, having forgotten he was there.

“Yeah, I still kinda am,” Danny replied, shrugging, “but I couldn't have had an experience like this on the space station, so that's something. I never thought I'd ever get to see the universe like this.”

Vlad couldn't help the way the corner of his mouth twitched up and he turned away so Daniel wouldn't see it. That was probably as close to a 'thanks' as he was going to get. He'd take what he could get.

He nodded towards the wall of the station, “Ghosts are impervious to the extreme environment of space, if you wanted to go flying. I would suggest you tie a cable to yourself, though. Wouldn't do to loose you up here.”

Danny looked to the wall. He seemed to hesitate before shaking his head. He looked back up, “Nah, maybe later. I just wanna relax and enjoy the view right now.”

Vlad nodded, quiet. He felt his hair brush the back of his neck as it floated in weird tangles. He traced patterns in the stars with his eyes. Danny shifted and leaned back, balancing a laid back pose midair. The minutes passed in silence, the world revolving miles beneath them and the universe breathing in front. He caught sight of something, and a thought struck him.

“You know some pretty obscure constellations,” he spoke up.

Danny shrugged, “Yeah, I like to look up new ones, but most of them I can never see. The Zodiac and a few other ones are the only ones I know where they are by memory.”

Vlad nodded. “Have you ever heard of the Heavenly Waters or Cosmic Waters constellation family?

Danny looked at him, his brows knit. He thought for a moment before replying, “No, never heard of it. What are they?”

“A small constellation family that can go by either name,” Vlad stated. He raised his arm and pointed to several stars. Danny fallowed the directions of his finger, the crease between his eyebrows deepening, “Eridanus. It's the sixth largest modern constellation. Achernar's it's brightest star.”

“What's the name mean, it sounds Latin-ish,” Danny asked, fallowing the winding trail of starts. He wondered how Vlad knew about constellations he hadn't even heard of before, but pushed the thoughts away.

Vlad chuckled, “It is Latin, Its the Latin name of the Po River. It's a river in northern Italy.”

Danny nodded, enraptured and curious, “Is there any mythology attached to it?”

“Well, in one theory, the constellation takes its name from the Babylonian constellation known as the Star of Eridu. Eridu was supposedly an ancient city in the extreme south of Babylonia; Located in the marshy regions, it was held sacred to the god Enki-Ea who ruled the cosmic domain of the Abyss—a mythical fresh-water reservoir below the Earth's surface,” Vlad explained, “But as far as mythology goes, Delphinius and Colmba are better.”

“What are those?”

“Delphinius, the dolphin, and Columba, the dove.” Vlad pointed out two other sets of stars, fairly tiny compared to Eridanus, “One of Delphinius' stories tells of the Greek poet Arion of Lesbos who was saved by a dolphin. He was a court musician at the palace of Periander, ruler of Corinth. Arion had amassed a fortune during his travels to Sicily and Italy. On his way home, his wealth caused the crew of his ship to conspire against him. Threatened with death, Arion asked to be granted a last wish which the crew granted: he wanted to sing a dirge. He did, and while doing so, flung himself into the sea. There, he was rescued by a dolphin which had been charmed by Arion's music. The dolphin carried Arion to the coast of Greece and left.”

Danny blinked, then snorted, “...Wow, kinda weird, like, 'Hey I just saved your life, kay, bye!'”

Vlad chuckled, “Columba is named after the dove in the story of Noah's Ark. In the myth, Noah’s dove is sent from the Ark to see if there is any dry land left after the Great Flood. The bird returns holding an olive branch in its beak, signaling that the flood is receding. The dove was said to be immortalized in the sky to forever be able to watch over the Earth in times of disaster. Some believe that when the constellation can be seen clearly, its a sign of good fortune to come.”

“Are those the only ones in that family?” Danny asked, looking over the tiny little dove pattern of dots.

Vlad's brows rose towards his hairline, “Not at all. There are a few others. There's Equuleus, Piscis Austrinus, Pyxis, Carina, Puppis, and Vela. The last three used to make up the Argo Navis, the ship, before they were split. I personally prefer to keep them combined.”

Danny nodded, “Will we be able to see any of those while we're up here?”

“We should. Or at least there's a very good chance of it,” Vlad replied, tilting his head, “why?”

“I'd like to see as many of them as I can, they sound neat,” Danny answered, shrugging lazily. Vlad chuckled lightly, returning his gaze to the stars at he let the conversation die. He assumed that Daniel was done talking to him now, given that there wasn't really anything else to say. The new silence wasn't as uncomfortable as the first, so he was content to share it.

“Why are you being nice to me, recently?” Daniel asked suddenly, looking towards him. Vlad blinked at the intensity of the teen's icy eyes, the glare quite clear, “I find it really super suspicious, and I don't know if you lied to me when you said this wasn't a trick or a distraction from something your doing or what. It bothers me 'cause I want to enjoy this time, bu I can't stop the little feelings that I'm walking blindly into a trap. You don't do nice things for me without wanting something in return.”

Vlad stared at the teen, shocked. Though, the confrontation did make sense, the more he thought about it. He regained his composure, replying, “Daniel, I assure you, there is nothing going on behind the scenes. You have nothing to worry about.”

Danny's eyes narrowed, “So then if your not trying to do something, why are you being so nice-y nice?”

Vlad looked away. He knew Daniel wouldn't drop the topic. The teen wasn't so easily distracted. He felt the knot slowly form in his throat. He couldn't answer it. Not now, not ever.

“....Please, Daniel, believe me, you don't want to know. It would deeply upset you,” he said quietly. “It would be best if you let it go.”

Danny glared, a paranormal light glowing behind his pupils, “Well that doesn't really soothe my worries. It's really hard for me to try to trust your word when you keep everything hidden, you know. Tell me stuff and maybe I'll trust you every once in a while.”

Vlad sighed, “It's not that simple, Daniel....It's....complicated.”

The cold glare didn't waver, and it only made his throat constrict tighter. He wanted to tell him, but he knew that he was right in his fears. But Daniel also had a point. Trust wasn't given, it was earned. He sighed through his nose, swallowing through the knot, “I'll tell you on the last day. Is that acceptable?”

“Why? Why are you so reluctant to do something so simple as telling me something?” Danny challenged.

“I know that telling you what you want to know will ruin this week for you if I told you now. I refuse to do that. This way you'll only be angry at me on the last day. I stand by what I said and my promise, there's nothing going on that you need to worry about. Nothing bad is going to happen. You can relax,” Vlad said. Danny continued to glare, his jaw working. Finally, he sighed and turned away.

“I still don't trust that.”

Vlad shoved his hand into the inside pocket of his suit, pulling out his phone. Danny eyed him, and he handed the device out to him, “Here, want to call your parents? I assure you they're fine, and they'll continue to be. Call them every night if you want.”

Danny looked at the phone, his fingers pressing into his arm. Vlad wouldn't offer to do this if he was telling the truth or unless he planned for it. The latter would require more work, and Danny didn't think his compliance or ease of mind would be worth it. The odds were in favor of Vlad being genuine. He jammed his tongue in between two of his teeth and shook his head.

Vlad raised an eyebrow, and he elaborated, “No, I'll hold you to your word about the last day. I hope I don't regret this.”

Vlad returned his phone to his pocket. The thinly veiled warning in the teens voice was not lost on him.

-o-oOo-o-

The second night found him returning to the main area after he heard the other two go to bed. Daniel lounged in the air, his arms tucked under his head and his legs crossed at the ankles. Vlad floated over to his side, crossing his legs. The spotted sky winked at him, the side of the moon clipping into view while the rest was hidden by the metal edge of the ceiling. It was cold in the room tonight, most likely due to the fact that he saw Daniel doing things with his ice powers here earlier. The cold was uncomfortable for his own heat core, but he ignored it.

“Hey.” Danny said.

Vlad nodded in greeting, “Hello, Daniel.”

“D'you know about the bizarre kinds of stars? Hypergiants, black dwarfs, pulsars, magnetars, quarks, stellar black holes, those kinds of things?” Danny asked, not taking his eyes off the universe. Vlad raised his brows.

“I've heard of pulsars before, but not the others, no,” he admitted.

Danny nodded, “Magnetars are my favorite. They've got extremely powerful magnetic fields. The magnetic field decays, and powers the release of high-energy electromagnetic radiation stuff, like X-rays and gamma rays,” he explained. He waved a hand in front of him in emphasis as he spoke, “Hypergiants are just super big normal stars, like between 62 and 1,500 times the size of the sun. It's crazy to think thank something that large exists.”

“With all that size, they're mass must be through the roof.” Vlad mused.

Danny nodded in agreement, “Yeah, it is. But not as bad as the stellar black holes, for obvious reasons.”

Vlad looked towards him, “What about black dwarfs?”

“They're white dwarfs that no long emit light or heat. So they're kinda just dead stars.”

“Stars that just fade away instead of combusting Interesting...” Vlad trailed off, deftly wondering how many of those starts were in the small swatch that was above him.

“Yeah. In terms of star death, everyone likes supernovas, but I prefer gamma ray bursts. They're a lot more violent and terrifying. A true testament to the power of the universe,” Danny commented, shrugging. His foot bounced to a rhythm in his head, his long bangs flying away from his forehead like a mohawk.

Vlad hummed, “Those occur when a high mass star collapses, correct?”

Danny turned to him, a look of amusement on his face, “Yeah, that's right. I didn't think you'd know that. I guess I should have, since you pointed out those other constellations last night.”

Vlad chuckled, leaning back and shifting his center of gravity, “I picked up some facts about astronomy while in college. There were quite a few enthusiasts in the physics classes who would often share the science building with the rest of the science students.”

“Cool!”

“Though they quickly became very begrudging of your parents and myself after we pretty much set a bomb off in that building,” he admitted, a little guiltily. Danny's eyes went wide and he shot upright, staring at him.

“You set off a bomb in your college?!”

“Technically it was the small-scale Proto Portal. To this day I still wonder how on earth they roped me into helping with that. We were supposed to be cleaning up a burn mark your parents made at the time.”

Danny looked away, shaking his head in disbelief. A thought came to his mind as he traced out the constellations with his eyes.

“I'm surprised your talking about your college days,” he remarked softly, a little hesitant to voice his thoughts, “I would've thought that you'd try to ignore they existed.”

Vlad eyes fell to the floor, “Sometimes, I wish it was that easy to do.”

Danny turned his head, looking over Vlad's downcast expression, “....Maybe if its so hard, it's your mind trying to tell you shouldn't try to do it.”

Vlad was silent for a while before he nodded, “....Maybe.”

-o-oOo-o-

“Do you believe in aliens, Daniel?”

Danny blinked, turning to watch Vlad float over, “Well that's a question out of nowhere.”

Vlad shrugged, his hands folded over his waist, “I was just having drifting thoughts, was all.”

Danny turned back to stargazing, “Yeah, I do. I kinda have to since, you know, ghosts exist and all. And if ghosts exist, there's absolutely no reason why aliens wouldn't. The Ghost Zone is kinda endless like space too, now that I think about it, and completely different from the normal world. So ghosts are like aliens. I'm half alien, fuck yeah!” A wide smile split his face, which he tried to cover with his fingertips.

Vlad chuckled, “Amusing logic, to say in the least.”

“Yeah, but in all seriousness, the probability that we're lone in the universe is hilariously tiny. Like, nonexistent tiny. There's so much stuff out there, so much that can't even be comprehended, and yet we have enough ego to dare to think that we're hot stuff just because we've got life on this tiny little pebble.” Danny rambled, waving his had towards the glass, as if the gesture could capture the sheer amount of everything in front of them.

“I've never heard you speak so condescendingly—well, about things that aren't your enemies,” Vlad commented, amused.

“People who don't believe in aliens get on my nerves,” Danny mumbled, “It's like.....how.”

“Fear. Uncertainty. Spirituality. The desire to remain blissfully ignorant. It's human nature.”

“Yeah. I guess that makes sense,” he admitted, agreeing. The moons pale face shone down upon them, not really any clearer than on earth. Danny tilted his head, “If I ever become a full ghost, I hope my obsession's with the universe. So I can just go out and explore without a care in the world, to reach what I can't reach now. I want to see Saturn, I want to visit the Curiosity and Spirit rovers on Mars, I want to try to land on Pluto just to see if I can. I want to touch a rouge planet, I want to swim in the oceans hidden under the ice of frozen planets, I want to see a pulsar. Man, that'd be so cool....”

Vlad looked towards Danny, the distant, thoughtful look in the teens eyes unfamiliar to him. He turned the thought of being a wandering in the vastness of pure existence over in his mind. Alone for eternity with nothing but the beauty he was staring at now all around him. He couldn't fathom it. He couldn't fathom just leaving and being out there forever, even if he didn't have any connections to anyone or his previous self. It terrified him, to a certain degree. To be so alone, so lost. Perhaps Daniel was simply more ambitious than him, or perhaps he wasn't so shackled by fear that he would deny himself the experiences. Perhaps death made no difference to him. The notion sent static down his spine and he shivered. He looked up at the stars, trying to ignore the feeling of emptiness he inadvertently associated them with.

“I hope I never come back as a full ghost, to be honest,” he said.

Danny's brows furrowed and he rolled his head towards him, “Wait, what? Why?”

Vlad tilted his head, refusing to meet Danny's eyes, “I don't want to be stuck with an eternal existence having forgotten who I was, nothing but a husk of my name. I don't want the scrambled memories, the obsession, the mundane attempts at fulfilling what can never be fulfilled. I've had enough of that, I would be content with just ceasing to exist.”

They sat in silence, the words hanging in the air. Danny stared at Vlad, taking note of the hallow cheeks, the dark bags under his eyes, the tired look in his eyes that he knew had nothing to do with lack of sleep. He saw the faint rounded scars from the ecto-acne on his skin, the marks on the tops of his hands from so many IVs and needles. The calloused fingers worked to roughness in desperation, in determination, in pain, in the need for distraction, in forcing ectoplasm and energy to bend to his will over and over and over again. And suddenly, Vlad never seemed so old, so worn, than he had then.

“....You want peace,” Danny whispered. It wasn't a question.

Vlad nodded, “Yeah. I do.”

-o-oOo-o-

Danny twisted through the large halls of the station, his fingers brushing over equipment and poles alike. He pulled himself into a tunnel he hasn't been down, shifting his gravity to remained balanced, he paused at the entrance of the domed circular room looking around it. Dozens upon dozens of ghost zone plants were held to the wall, their loose leaves and tendrils bobbing casually. A few zone creatures lounged in glass containers, not looking very comfortable but not agitated either. Vlad was sitting crossed legged in the center of the room above a table, precariously holding an eyedropper near a floating blob of jade-hued liquid. A few drops bubbled into the weightlessness of the station, and Vlad nudged them into the blob. The eyedropper was returned to the table, sticking there with magnetism, Danny assumed. Vlad pried a container of silvery liquid off the table, grabbing a syringe. He caught sight of Danny and raised a brow at him.

Danny pulled himself against the wall, “I'm going out for a space flight, I can't resist the temptation anymore.”

“I was wondering when you're reach your limit with that,” Vlad stated, jabbing the tip of the syringe into the container. He drew out a small amount of the material, carefully trying to stab the blob in front of him that was looking more and more like a giant amoeba to Danny. It kept moving and shying away from the point.

He floated a little closer, “What are you doing?”

“Seeing what Zone flora and fauna might be able to survive up here. I'm getting unexpected results, which surprises me. I assumed that they'd be far less hardy than full blown ghosts,” Vlad explained, injecting the silver into the liquid, “It's also incredibly hard to do this kind of science without any gravity—Oh, chocolate eclair!”

Danny snicked and watched Vlad try to nudge all of the split bubbles back together again. Vlad grumbled, and Danny trailed his eyes over the plants on the walls, “Well, ghosts and the flora stuff are from the same place, so they've got a common origin.”

Vlad looked at him from under his brows, “That's like saying that a mouse could survive what a human could simply because both are land dwelling mammals.”

Danny shrugged, “Hey, I'm failing my classes, remember; its hit or miss with my thinking.”

“Quite,” Vlad mused, putting his tools down on the table, “Do you care if I join you?”

“Nope. Maybe I'll get lucky and you'll fall back down to earth so I can hijack this place and do loop-de-loops in the shuttle,” Danny replied, transforming. His core prickled with energy, the sensation running down his limbs.

Vlad picked up a container, jabbing it at him, “Don't you even think about it. I'd be coming right back up here to kick you if you did anything of the sort. Both this station and the Prizrak are more expensive than you could ever hope to comprehend.”

“Hey, I can dream, can't I?”

“Settle for doing loop-de-loops on your own.”

Vlad caught his experiment in the cup, snapping the lid closed over the top. Black rings extended around his waist and split, Plasmius replacing Masters. Vlad gestured to the wall, and Danny phased through it. His legs merged into a spectral tail, and he released all of the air in his lungs he could. The extreme pressure of the vacuum hit him full force, the cold oddly refreshing despite the feeling of being sat on by a car. What air he didn't release was sapped from his lungs, his core taking over and using ectoplasm to keep his human side alive while it was dormant. The first thing he did was try to smell the emptiness, and he crinkled his nose at the stench. Space smelled like an inferno overcooking meat and burning metal. He forced his respiratory system inactive, he didn't need to smell that more than once nd there was no air anyway. He felt Vlad beside him, and looking at the look on his face, he also smelled the last frontier and found it distasteful. Danny pushed away from the station, starting a wide circle around it. Vlad trailed after him, though he seemed to unconsciously drift closer to the station than Danny.

Everything was gorgeous. The darkness, the stars, the sun in the distance and the moon so tiny like a little nickle. He could see the faint dots of the planets, the outline of other galaxies all around. He looked up and down and to the left and to the right and behind him and in front of him in every direction he could and each one he found was a brand new sight of sheer endlessness. He could pick a direction and just fly as fast as he could and he'd never, ever need to stop because the universe was nearly endless. And if he did reach the end, he could always push on it and try to see what was beyond it. Transcending existence, answering science's greatest question. Maybe it was the ghost zone beyond where his universe ended. Maybe it was where the ghost's began. The other side of the fabric of reality, or another facet of a multiplaned something that were all sown together at the edges. Or maybe it never really ended and he'd just loop back around to this exact point in space. Maybe it led to all of the other universes, all of the alternate time lines and different lives of everyone that had ever lived. The possibilities were endless, and he found a new thing he wanted to do if he became a full ghost.

“Hey Vlad?” he said, not sure if he'd even be able to be heard.

He looked back towards Vlad, slowing so that he floated by the other's side. Vlad turned towards him, having been staring at the cloudy blue sphere beneath them that looks so huge now but was smaller than a speck of dust in comparison to everything else.

“Hmmm?”

Danny bit his lip, “Do...you ever think about how things would be, if neither of us became halfas?”

Vlad remained quiet for a long time as they continued flying before answering.

“Everything would be different. I would be a lot better off, perhaps not financially, but mentally. Socially. Emotionally. Things would've been better, Things wouldn't have changed,” he droned, voice oddly emotionless given the topic, “You and your sister might not have existed, however, if things had gone differently. That's the fickle thing about thinking about 'what if's. Changing even a few of the variables changes everything. The domino effect. It's hard to tell.”

Danny nodded, “What did you want to do, before.... y'know. That?”

Vlad paused again, “.....Your parents and I had everything figured out down to the dotted I's and crossed T's. We'd planned to study Parascience together, using our individual talents to make it efficient. I guess I could liken it to your little group. Samantha is knowledgeable about dark and occult subjects. Tucker is talented with his hacking and his devices. You're logical and strong, every bit the leader you've slowly become.”

He continued, “It was the same with us. If Jack could design it, he could build it and make it work, no matter how outrageous. Maddie was the one to figure out the limitations, being a physicist at the time. How something could work, how to manipulate the primal processes and the mysteries of matter. I was the mathematician, though I was studying Biochemistry. Science relies heavily on math, math can predict things, can be used to figure out obscure patterns. It was the plan that Maddie would study the Ghost Zone, how it works, while Jack designed things to affect ghosts, to hunt them, so I would have the other half of the things to study: the actual ghosts. It was designed to be a never ending loop of information and feedback, working like a well oiled machine. It clicked together so well. We wouldn't have needed anyone else working with us when we could figure everything out ourselves.”

“It was like the golden dream. I never even considered the possibility that that wasn't how things were going to turn out.” Vlad's eyes dulled and he took a deep breath, “Foolish of me, am I right?”

“.....You sound like you miss it,” Danny commented.

“Everyone misses their missed and stolen opportunities.” Vlad said, looking at Danny, “That's what makes the 'what ifs' so painful.”

Danny blinked, swearing he saw an odd, forlorn look of pain in Vlad's eyes when he'd looked at him, but it was gone as soon as it came. He looked sadly down towards the world. He sounded so distant. Aloof. But not bitter, like Danny had expected. Just.....hurt and somber.

“You could always try to get it back, you know,” he suggested, “It's not too late to make amends.”

“Yes. It is. It's twenty years too late. Some things can't be forgiven, nor fixed.” Vlad shook his head, turning his gaze away from the planet, “No matter how much we want to.”

-o-oOo-o-

Vlad was early the last night. He'd honestly thought that Daniel had maybe gone to bed with his friends because the teen wasn't in the middle like normal. But he took his place anyway, sitting cross legged holding onto a pole to keep himself in place. This had become habit, one he was content with. He traced the stars with his eyes, reconsigning the planets that Daniel had pointed out a previous day. He could probably draw the stars from memory by now, he'd seen them so many times over the week. He felt the room coll few degrees, and he heard metal being touched to his side. He turned, watching Danny slowly float to his side. The teen nodded towards him, grinning a little.

“Hey.”

He nodded back, “Hello, Danny.”

Danny's brows shot up, “That's the first time you've called me Danny. Ever.”

“That's because Daniel is much more mature.” Vlad reasoned. He'd always preferred the true name to the nickname. The nickname clouded the amount of maturity Danny had, nurtured by his responsibilities to the city.

Danny nodded. He remained silent, staring at the ceiling. It didn't hold his attention for long, and he looked back down at Vlad again, “It's technically the last day. Or close to it,” he said.

Vlad stiffened, and kept staring at the sky. The air between them is uncomfortable for him now, the silence awkward.

“Can you tell me now?” Danny tilted his head, waiting.

Vlad ground his teeth, he didn't want to tell him. He inhaled deeply, “You won't take the reason very easily, and you'll hate me forever. Not that that's any different than now, but it'll make it worse. So much worse....”

Danny shook his head, “I don't think so. We've been civil this week, at least. That's gotta count for something, making it at least a little better,” he said and Vlad felt a little hope spark to life, “I don't believe that any reason could be that bad.”

Vlad remained silent for a moment before speaking again, “....I'll ask you one last time. Do you really, truly want to know?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Vlad nodded, “Do you remember when....I tried to clone you?”

“I do....” Danny replied, and he was instantly on guard. He eyed Vlad, wary, “But why are you bringing that up, what does that have to do with this?”

“It's important. While I was...working on all of that, I'd accidentally done something wrong. It wasn't a very large mistake, quit harmless in the grand scheme of things. But it was enough to rip every rug out from under my feet,” Vlad said.

Danny's eye narrowed, and he felt uncomfortable with this conversation. He wrapped his arms around himself, his fingers tapping on his hip. Vlad wouldn't meet his gaze.

“I'd accidentally run your DNA data through my database I keep on various ghosts and a few people or worth.” Vlad shook his head, chuckling humorlessly, “Funny, how one mistake can change so much.”

“I don't understand.....” Danny muttered, “What....does this have to do with you being nicer towards me?

“The computer found three other matches, which is not at all uncommon given that that particular program looks for family connections as well.”

Danny blinked, staring at Vlad, “....So your computer found my family's DNA when it ran mine. Which means that you had my family in your database. Is that what you think I'd be so upset over? Yeah, that's kinda creepy, but I kinda expect nothing less from you, to be honest.”

“No, that's not it,” Vlad interrupted,trying to swallow the knot in his throat, “Two of the three results were expected. It was the third that caught me off guard.”

“What d'you mean....?”

Vlad inhaled deeply, “The first two were your mother's and your sister's,” he paused.

“The third....was mine.”

Danny stared, and blinked.

“I ran it again, as at the time I was certain it was a mistake. A glitch in the system. But it came back exactly the same—seven times,” Vlad explained quickly, never looking towards Danny, “I tore out the entire system twice, replaced the computer entirely when that hadn't worked. I reset all the samples with newer ones. Recoded the program on how it looked for matches. Nothing ever changed.”

Vlad finally turned to him, “Do you understand now why I though you would hate me?”

“You're-” Danny's voice cracked and he tried to swallow. The tightness in his throat made it painful, “You're implying that you're my biological father.”

The words were monotone. Emotionless. Numb. They slid so easily off Danny's tongue, he just barely registered the sound of his own voice in his ears. In front of him, looking every bit as guilty as he should never, ever be able to look, Vlad nodded. His face forcibly blank. He was trying not to react, to remain impassive. The crease between his brows betrayed his pain. The cloudy, conflicted worry, and dare he say, the tiny spark of hope, in his eyes revealed his fear. The way his fingernails dug into his sleeves, worrying the fabric, revealed his anxiousness.

Danny blinked again. He just felt so numb.

He shook his head, “Not possible. You probably just didn't find the right source of the mistake.”

Vlad slumped, “Danny, the same mistake doesn't happen seven times, three on entirely new computers.”

“No, I said it's not possible.” Danny snapped. This wasn't right. This was impossible. This entire trip had been a lie. Vlad lied to him. He snarled, his eyes burning green, “You tried to lull me into a false sense of security with all this, didn't you? You did all of this just to try to meticulously fake building my trust in you up just so you could try to pull this stunt. You did everything you could to trick me. You gave me what I wanted, accepted my terms and conditions, presented me with things you knew I couldn't be able to resist. You played me like a puppet on strings. This is a low blow, even for you.”

“Daniel—”

“I don't know what hurts the most, the fact that you'd use my own heart to manipulate me or the fact that you actually lied through your teeth when you promised me I could trust you for this week.” Danny continued, sneering as he pulled himself up straight, “I should have fucking known better. I should have known better than to trust you. Are you proud of yourself? Do you feel accomplished at how far you got? How badly were you laughing every time I turned my back to you? I didn't think you could've sunk any lower than your cloning stuff, but you managed to prove me wrong.”

“You know, just yesterday I actually thought that you were starting to change. That somewhere, you got a wake up call and realized how much of an asshole you've become. It was actually kinda nice, I was going to try to help you get your 'golden dream' back, you want to know why? Because I like to believe that people deserve second chances, even people like you.” His fingers curled so tightly into fist his arms began to shake, “But I was wrong. Oh god, I was so damn wrong. You've suck to new lows and you will never, ever change. You'll always be a deranged, creepy, miserable fruit loop who won't ever give up poking his fingers into things that he doesn't need to be poking in.”

“What the fuck happened to you? Was it the hospital or the ecto-acne that fried any semblance of human morality in your brain? Or was it the Proto Portal blast, maybe such high doses of contaminated ectoenergy rewired your brain? Or was it entirely your own selfish, angry delusions that broke you so bad? Maybe my parents had a good reason cutting you away for twenty years, after all. I felt sorry for you, when you talked about your 'what if's,” he spat, “But now I realize that my parents splitting from you was the best decision they ever made, and they don't even know it.”

Danny jabbed a finger at Vlad, the wavering green ectoplasm barely contained in his anger, “You deserve every single drop of pain you've ever experienced, and ever will experience. I hope you feel so fucking giddy about leading me on for so long, because that's the last time you'll ever feel that way. I refuse to be used anymore,” he hissed, “I'm done playing this game. Start anything with me again, and I will end it permanently. Your choice.”

Danny let his hands drop, his chest heaving. The silent in the air was broken only by his breathing. Vlad just stared at him. His face was voice of any emotion besides a little shock. Danny expected it to twist into an angry snarl, for Vlad to scream back at him, to punch him into the wall. That's how it always went. They fought, and they always would. His blood boiled, and he felt his core wait with baited breath. He wanted to fight, he wanted to punch Vlad in the face, to show him exactly what he thought of this horrible, ridiculous plot. He felt the ectoenergy crackle throughout his body. But Vlad just stared, then nodded, turning away.

“I knew this would happen. I knew you'd explode like that. That's why I didn't ever want to tell you. I shouldn't have told you the truth. I should have tried to lie, to use an excuse, anything. I knew, and yet I still took the risk,” he responded, his voice void of emotion, “I had thought....that after this week, that maybe I had been wrong, in my assumptions on how you'd react. That maybe you wouldn't blow up. That maybe you wouldn't hate me as much. I allowed myself to hope, a little. I shouldn't have.”

Danny snarled, bristling. Vlad seemed to ignore him.

“The time spent with you was nice while it lasted. That will have to be enough for my lifetime,” he said quietly, “For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for ruining it all, for upsetting you, for everything. Please, excuse me.”

Vlad faded from view, and Danny felt his ectosignature jump to a different area; he'd turn tail and run via teleport. Danny glared in the direction Vlad went to, and tore himself from the room. He climbed through the station into the sleeping room Sam and Tucker had retired to earlier. His core was over energized from his emotions, and he was far too angry to sleep, but he needed to try to rest anyway. He needed to calm himself. He floated past his friends, slipping into his own weird little space bed. He tried to restrain his ice core, for their comfort. He huddled inside the soft fabric, uncaring of the straps that held him in place, and he tucked his head down.

He felt fingers tap his arm, “Danny?”

“Huh?” He jumped, turning towards his friends. Sam looked back at him, her face painted with worry. He swallowed, “I thought you guys were sleeping. Sorry if I woke you.”

Sam and tucker shared a look, “Are you okay, Danny?” Tucker asked hesitantly.

Sam nodded, “We....heard everything.”

Danny clenched his teeth, “I'm fine.”

“Are you sure? Do you, you know, need to talk or anything?” Sam tilted her head, laying her hand on his arm.

“Yeah, we're here if you need to get anything off your chest, we're here for you.”

Danny shook his head, “I'm okay, really. Just tired. Sorry for bothering you when you were trying to sleep.”

He snuggled back up in his bag, and tried to force himself to go to sleep. He felt his friends stare at him for a moment. The feeling of theirs eyes disappeared and he slowly forced the tension from his body and tried to forget about everything that happened this week. Behind him, the two looked at each other, exchanging silent, worried glances.

The fact that they did not hear Vlad protest to the verbal beating Danny gave him was not lost on them.

-o-oOo-o-

Maddie heard the door close, heavy bags falling to the floor. She flicked the water off her fingers, yanking a paper towel to dry her hands. She walked into the living room, smiling at Danny. He was kneeling, looking through his bags for something. He pulled the zipper of the main compartment closed, moving to side pocket and shoving his hand into it.

“Hey, sweetie, welcome home! How was the trip?” she asked.

“Fine,” he replied bluntly. Her smile fell at his frown. he continued digging through his bags like she wasn't even there.

She stopped, and a bad feeling settled into her gut, “Oh no, what's wrong? Did something happen?”

“Yeah, Vlad's what fuckin' happened. I never want to see him again, I never want him to step foot within twenty feet of this house, I never want to hear his name ever again,” Danny sneered. He stood and turned towards her, gesturing wildly with his hands, “He's a prick. An asshole. A manipulative little lying snake of a bastard. I don't care how much dad likes him or how he still thinks they're friends when they're very clearly not, I can't stand him. I refuse to deal with him ever again. He's not welcome in any of our lives anymore, not that he was in the first place.”

“Danny, I don't understand.....” She stepped up to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. A thought cut it's way into her brain and her eyes widened, “Did he hurt you?”

He snorted, “He lied to me and tricked me, enough said.”

She nodded, her face falling as she relented. It hurt her to no end that he didn't seem to have enjoyed himself, and endless questions bombarded her mind. But as she looked Danny over, she knew that he was in no mood to play twenty questions.

She gave him a small, sad smile, “Okay....go try to calm down, you're home now. Dinner's gonna be ready in about an hour.”

He muttered his thanks and pulled away, climbing up the stairs. She looked after him, a terrible sense of de ja vu overcoming her from the memory of him coming home upset about the contest to begin with. His door clicked shut, and she sighed. She placed her hand over her mouth and wondered what Danny meant. Her wondering eyes fall onto the phone on the coffee table and she walked over to it. She picked up the receiver, her fingers hovering over the numbers. She bit her lip, hesitating. The lab door thunked onto the door stopper, and she looked into the kitchen. Jack washed his hands in the sink and she put the phone back.

He turned to her when she walked back into the kitchen, “You okay?”

“Yeah, Danny's home. He's in a bad mood,” she replied, returning to the sauce she was mixing up. Jack waved a hand in the air, shrugging.

“He's probably upset he had to leave. You know he'd probably live up in space if he could.” The joking remark would normally make her chuckle, but this time it didn't really make her feel any better.

-o-oOo-o-

Weeks passed, yet still Danny remained irritable. Maddie noticed, and tried to get him to tell her more about what went on up in the station, but he said nothing. Jack just thought he needed some space and that it would pass eventually. Jazz thought differently. She saw how strained his time with his friends was. Sure, they hung out like normal and generally behaved the same, but there were times when a wedge seemed to be between Danny and the other two. A wedge that Jazz couldn't explain. She noticed that he was working more on his homework than other things recently. Distracting behavior at its finest. She was worried for him, worried that he was bottling things inside. She tried to be an available outlet for him, but he didn't come to her yet.

Her eyes strayed from the print on the page as she heard the back door slam. She wet her lips, staring at the bottom corner of her book. Normally light steps stomped across the tile, bottles and cartons jolting noisily as the door of the fridge was yanked open. She nibbled on a lose piece of skin on her top lip before she quietly closed her book. She unfolded her legs and got up, peeking through the window into the kitchen. Danny stood on his tiptoes, trying to reach the top shelf of the cabinet. She went to his side, reaching and grabbing the box he was fingering with ease. He muttered his thanks and accepted the box as she held it out to him. If he wouldn't come to her, she'd go to him.

“Hey Danny?” she called when he began to walk away.

His shoulders slumped, “Jazz, I really don't want to be psychoanalyzed right now.”

She placed her hands on his shoulders and squeezed them, “I was just going to ask if you're okay. You've been really irritable ever since you came back. Did anything happen up there?”

“He lied, Jazz. I really should've expected it, honestly, but he played me like a fiddle for an entire week before he tried to pull a stunt when he'd promised he wouldn't. I forgot that promises mean nothing when you're Vlad fuckin' Masters,” Danny hissed, his fingers curling into the cardboard of the box.

“What did he do?”

“He used my heart against me. Everything he did was to put me into a false sense of security, to get me to trust him, all according to his plan. He used my love of space to get close to me. Every day, after Sam and Tuck went to sleep, I'd sit in the main area of the station, okay? It had a huge glass ceiling so you could see so many stars and things. It became habit for him to join and we'd talk. At first it was okay, being civil was a breath of fresh air and I actually thought that he was keeping true to his promise. I began to think that maybe he was changing and maybe he deserved a second chance.” Danny paused, turning and looking up at his sister, “But then the final night came around. And he told me why he was being so nice. He said that he'd apparently 'accidentally' ran my DNA that he had against his database and the results came back with you, mom, and him. He seriously tried to tell me, to my actual face, that dad wasn't my dad. It was stupid, it was pathetic. He seriously expected me to buy it too. I honestly can't fathom how delusional he's become.”

She frowned, a crease forming on her forehead, “He admitted it was a ploy after you called him out on it?”

Danny scoffed, “Hell no, you expect too much from him. He kept with the attempt, it was ridiculous. He said, 'The time spent with you was nice and it will have to be enough for a lifetime.' or something like that when he bailed. I'm so upset with him, it's not even funny.”

“That doesn't sound like something someone would say if they were trying to take advantage of you in some way, though,” she remarked, her frown deepening. Danny gave her a look.

“Vlad's an ace actor, Jazz, he fakes stuff all the time,” he deflected, “but no amount of acting can hide the fact that he's a prick.”

He walked away from her, and she stared after his back, “Is there any chance he wasn't doing what you think he was?”

He paused and gave her a disbelieving look, “You actually think that mom would cheat on dad with a creep like Vlad?!”

“I think that time changes people,” Jazz replied. “They were all friends in college, there had to be a reason why. It's possible that Vlad wasn't like he is now back then, and it took a lot of time for Vlad to fall so far. There are a lot of things that can kill someone's psyche, that can break them, Danny.”

“I don't care, I just want him to stay the hell away from me,” Danny snapped, continuing into the living room, “If he ever steps foot in this house again, I'm going to send him on a vacation in the Ghost Zone—In a thermos with the cap super glued on.”

-o-oOo-o-

Low thunks and the sound of heavy things being slid across the floor down the stairs of the lab. Jazz paused at the top, fidgeting with her fingers as she watched the shadows on the steel floor. She didn't really want to do this, but she didn't really have a choice. Her conversation with Danny earlier in the evening felt weird and she couldn't stop thinking about it. Everything she knew about psychology pointed to Danny's behavior being defensive, which wasn't all that unusual if he thought that Vlad was making attacks on him. But even for Vlad, the possibility of this being all a trick was just too far-fetched. It wasn't logical. And that wasn't even touching what Danny said Vlad said.

She took a deep breath and held her head up, steeling her resolve. She trudged down the stairs, looking around the lab. Her mother was reorganizing some of the storage, pieces or weapons and wires scatter over the tables. Her father was out to Elmerton to pick up some supplies that were far too expensive to ship. Maddie was presently trapped in a small circle, surrounded by the boxes she was resorting.

Jazz knocked on the wall of the lab. Maddie spun around, her gaze landing on her daughter, “Oh, hi Jazz.” She wave a bent piece of metal around at the boxes, “Sorry for the mess, doesn't feel like I'm making any progress with this.”

Jazz nodded, looking around the room, “Hey, mom, can I talk to you? About Danny?”

Maddie paused. She gave a small sad smile, placing the odds and ends she was holding into a box at her feet, “I wish I knew what happened up there to make him so angry. I just don't know what to do, I wish he'd talk to me.”

“That's what I anted to talk to you about, actually. Danny talked to me.” Jazz gave a long sigh through her nose.

Maddied looked up at her, opened her mouth bu Jazz continued, “Now, don't get me wrong, I feel really horrible about going behind his back with this, but I really feel like this isn't something he should be keeping quiet about. Danny's secrets are his own. But his needs to be resolved, and I don't know what else to do.”

Maddie frowned, “What'd he tell you?”

Jazz bit her lip, picking at her fingernails, “Danny....said that Vlad tried to tell him that he's his biological father. Danny thinks he was doing it to be malicious, and that's why he's angry at Vlad, but...I'm not so sure.” Jazz paused, watching her mother raise her hand to cover her mouth, “Mom, is it....possible that Vlad was telling the truth?”

Maddie slowly sat down on a box, her eyes wide. Jazz watched her, the toe of her shoe bouncing in the floor.

“I...I don't know,” Maddie admitted, shaking her head, “I never even thought about that before....”

“Thinking back, Danny was incredibly small when he was born, but I just thought that that was how he was. But....if he was conceived latter than I thought, that would have made him early....” she thought aloud, her hands dropping to her knees, “I stayed with Vlad twice, after we hadn't heard from him since college.....I never thought of it being a possibility, it hadn't even crossed my mind, I was so certain......”

She trailed off, then looked back up at Jazz, “Yes, it's entirely possible.”

Maddie stood and stepped over the boxes between them. Jazz held out her hand, which Maddie took to help stay balanced. She walked over to one of the tables, leaning over to shuffle through some of the papers left on it.

Jazz fallowed nervously, “What are you going to do?”

“I want to know the truth.” Maddie admitted, shrugging “Now that I'm thinking about it, I can't stop. I know that probably seems childish, but I'm a scientist. I need the answer.”

“So you're going to do a DNA test? I don't think Danny will be too happy to participate, you accepting that it's a possibility might rattle his mental stability. He's dead-set on believing what he wants, and he might see his family trying to break that down as an attack and withdraw more,” Jazz warned, biting her nail.

“That's why I'm not going to tell him I'm doing it,” Maddie said, “Danny can believe what he wants, I just want the truth.”

“Are you going to tell dad?” Jazz called after her. She paused, thinking.

“That depends on the result. If Vlad was wrong, there's no reason to tell him about the drama. But if Vlad was right....He has a right to know. I don't keep secrets from Jack, not important ones. Did Danny say how Vlad found out?”

“He didn't.”

“Well, I guess I'm going to have to try to figure that out myself.”

“Just promise me you won't pry too much, mom? Danny needs his space just as much as he needs help through this.”

-o-oOo-o-

“Hey.” Jazz smiled at her mom. Maddie gave a small smile back, then returned to looking at the papers in her hand. “Is that what I think it is?”

Maddie nodded, “It is.”

Jazz turned back tot he coffee pot, pouring herself a cup of tea, “What does it say.”

“Vlad was right. Danny and Jack have no matching DNA points,” Maddie said simply. Jazz paused in her movements, but nodded and continued, silent. It didn't surprise her, not after what Danny told her. Maddie looked towards her daughter, “Is Danny still awake?”

“I don't know, I haven't really seen him at all today. He's been up in his room,” Jazz admitted, shrugging as she sipped her tea, “But I did talk with Sam and Tucker about it earlier this morning, when I found them in the hall without Danny around. It didn't really take anything to make them talk about what happens.”

Maddie frowned, “They knew?”

“They heard,” Jazz corrected. “They'd gone to bed early, but couldn't sleep. After a while, they heard Vlad and Danny chat. When Vlad got done speaking, Danny was really quiet and then he just, in their own words, 'started ripping Vlad apart' verbally. Like, they said that Danny was being so brutal and nasty when he was tearing Vlad down. Making personal jabs and whatnot.”

Jazz looked at the tiled floor sadly, “They didn't say any specifics, I think they were afraid that I'd scold Danny if they told me any more details.”

Maddie rubbed her face with her hands, sighing. She held her hands in front of her mouth, her eyes trailing over the pictures on the fridge.

“I knew that Danny didn't like Vlad before, but I didn't know it was bad enough for him to act like that.....” she said softly. Jazz nodded, staring into her tea. Maddie inhaled deeply and pushed herself out of the chair, the results in her hand, “Well, wish me luck.”

Jazz muttered good wishes after her as she left the room. Maddie didn't think that the time it took to climb the stairs had ever taken so long before for her. She knew the reasons why, that her perception of time was muddled because her mind was confused and conflicted, that what she knew to be her world was being shaken and she didn't know how to confront it. It was easy for her to explain her experiences away with science. But what didn't make sense was Danny, and Vlad. The hostility didn't make sense, and not just from Danny's side. Vlad's overly hurtful behavior towards Jack didn't make sense to her. She knew that Vlad had always been upset and angry because of the accident. But twenty years later, over eighty five billion dollars and eight highly successful companies later, the animosity would have lessened. But it didn't seem to. What confused her was why, if Vlad never forgave them, would he invite them to the reunion? To keep appearances? That didn't sit right with her.

And then there was the frequency in which Vlad began to want to see Danny. Was that when he found out? Maddie's heart tightened, was he trying to drive a wedge between Danny and Jack? The theory fit with Vlad's past behavior and Vlad's opinions towards Jack. If Vlad hated Jack that much, there wasn't any doubt he'd try to cut Danny off from him and vice versa. To try to take Jack's place, because he thought he was owed it. But Danny had made it clear even before Vlad's change in behavior that he didn't like the man, and that disdain was at an all-time high now. Vlad had pretty much destroyed his chances with Danny, and Maddie didn't know how Vlad would react to that. She knew from experience Vlad held grudges, and threw tantrums. Would he go so far as to try to just take Danny? From her too?Legally, she stood no chance against him. In nearly every way, in the eyes of a court,Vlad would be the better home for Danny. He had more money, most stability, it was safer, he had more resources...and that was all without the fact that he was charismatic and well known. The only thing he wouldn't have was Danny's agreement, which he didn't need.

She froze at the top of the stairs, staring at her feet. If Vlad wanted Danny, there was absolutely nothing stopping him from just taking him. Her heart hurt at the thought.

She pushed her thoughts out of her mind. She needed to wait until she had all the pieces to the puzzle, or at least more than she already had, to begin trying to put the puzzle together. She stepped up to Danny's door, rapping her knuckles on the door.

“Danny? Danny, sweetie, can I come in?” Maddie called, pressing her ear to the door. A muffled 'sure' floated through the door and she quietly stepped into the room.

It was immaculate, for the first time ever. Dirty clothes were in the basket and not the floor, the closet was closed without a mountain of things poking out of it, his desk neat and organized. All of his schoolwork was set out on his dresser, homework laying on the given subjects textbook. She'd actually forgotten that he had a rug in his room, it'd been buried for so long. Danny himself was laying on top of the covers, his arms under his pillow and his face shoved into it. She stepped over to his bed, slowly sitting down on the edge. If he protested the movement, he didn't say.

“Danny, I have something I'd like to ask, but I'm going to ask that you please not get angry at Jazz. She told me what you told her. About Vlad,” she began, trying to be as gentle as she could. If what Sam and Tuck had heard was true, then she hadn't any idea how he'd react. She didn't want him angry a his sister, Jazz was just trying to help him, after all.

“I kinda expected her to do that, to be honest.” Danny just shrugged, and shifted, turning his face towards her, “What did you want to know?”

Maddie blinked, surprised. She hadn't expected him to be so nonchalant, but she wasn't going to complain. She tucked her hair behind her ear, “I'd like to know how Vlad figured it out.”

Danny went quiet, looking away from her. She bit her lip, worried that she might have pushed her luck but asking about that first. But she needed to know, she couldn't think of any way Vlad would have just stumbled across that kind of information.

“Did you know he's tried to kill dad before?” he said, looking back at her.

Her blood ran cold and she stared at him, “W-what?”

Danny shrugged, “Lots of times. At the reunion, when he pulled that science symposium plot, when all those ghost hunters come to try to get the bounty on Phantom's head, during the Ghost King's invasion. Vlad's angry at dad for causing the accident and for 'stealing' you, if you remember from the chalet. That entire thing was Vlad's fault, by the way, DALV is Vlad backwards.”

Her heart sunk lower and lower with each word, and he felt like her stomach was too. How had she miss that?

Danny looked her right in the eye, and said, “The Proto-Portal accident made him half ghost too. Remember the Wisconsin Ghost?”

“Y-yes?” She felt like she could barely breathe.

Danny nodded, “That's Vlad's ghost half, he calls himself Plasmius. Vlad's a liar, a cheater, and thief. He's robbed banks using his ghost powers to get so much money. He's overshadowed people and made them just give him their companies. He has ghost minions to help carry out his dirty work. He's also about ten hundred times more creepy than you know, since he's obsessed with trying to make you love him and he's willing to do anything to make that happen. He tried to make me disown dad one of the first times we'd met, and he's been trying to make me his 'son' ever since. That's why only you and I were invited on his Colorado mountain adventure, while dad and Jazz stayed here; so his animal experiments could murder them. Remember when I said that he was my arch enemy before correcting myself? He's my arch enemy. Those animals that were chasing me were his creations, by the way. He'd kidnapped me in the middle of the night just so we could have a five minute spat and he could sic wild animals on me.”

“The Ghost King incident was also all his fault. He stole the ring that the King wanted back. He used me and Valerie as pawns in order to get the crown too. He tripped dad behind your back in the lab once. He was the one who stole the Ecto-Suit, and he probably stole other things while he was here too. Also, when Jazz 'ran away' to him, she was going to try to get information from him. She knows who he is. She was trying to prove me wrong when I called her a bother when she poked her nose into our conflicts. He made us fight, because he wanted to 'test her loyalty' to him.” Danny explained.

“Oh, and then there was the time with the Ecto-Acne! There wasn't an outbreak, Vlad infected my friends to give me incentive. Basically, he forced me to help his sorry ass. Because, you know, actually asking for help is beneath Vlad Master's pride. He could have killed them, he had no reason to think that any of us would've figured out the cure.” The absolute hate in Danny's voice was astounding, she'd never heard him talk so vehemently.

“You'd thin that was the worst thing he'd ever done, right?” Danny actually sneered in disgust, a snide, hissing edge to his voice, “But it's not. He tried to clone me. Clone me. Using ectoplasm, he tried to make a perfect clone of me so then he could dispose of the real me and have what he wanted. That's all you really need to know about Vlad, he'll do anything to get what he wants and if you stand in his way, he has no qualms blowing you out of it. Anyway, there were five clones, and three of them were horrible disfigured. They all melted. I feel like that technically counts as murder. So Vlad's a murderer. He needed some part of my DNA to finish his perfect clone. He didn't get it. He said that when he was working with what DNA he had from me, he accidentally ran it through his database and the results were you, Jazz and him. I don't buy it, but whatever. That's how he 'found out'.”

“So there you go, that's all you need to know about Vlad. I figured it was about time that you know, since he's prolly concocting another plot as I speak. He doesn't know when to stop. Hell, he doesn't even know the definition of no,” he finished and she was left reeling from absolutely everything he'd just said. If her world was shifting before, now it was upside down and the polar negative of what it had been. She looked at him, her mouth agape and he tilted his head at her.

“Did you have any other questions?” he asked. Completely normal. As it everything he just explained was no big deal, perfectly mundane and as common information as snow being cold.

“N-no, I didn't.” She shook her head, closing her mouth. She swallowed, still trying to absorb everything, “Thank you, for telling me all of that. I...didn't know.”

Danny shrugged, the nodded to her hand, “What's that?”

She jumped and looked at the paper. She'd forgotten she had it. She stared at it in horror and moved it away from him. There was absolutely no way she could actually tell him Vlad was right, not after all that. She gave him a small smile.

“Oh? Oh, that's just a bill. I was getting some checking account information from my bedroom when I wanted to check in on you, see if you were okay,” she replied, and she hated how easily the lie fell off her tongue. She always scolded him for lying and keeping his secrets, yet here she was. Was it the same situation? She didn't know. She trailed her fingers through some of his hair, “You are okay, right?”

He smiled back at her, nodding, “Yeah, I'm fine. I feel better now, actually, now that I'm not the only one who knows what a huge crazy Vlad is.”

“That's good....” she said, pushing off the bed, “I'm going to go back downstairs, you get some rest. If you need anything, though, don't hesitate to give me a call.”

“Alright. Thanks, a lot,” he called as she moved tot he door. She was just about to pull the door shut when he called, “Hey, mom?”

She turned, “Hmmm?”

“I love you, and I really appreciate it when your concerned for me, even if I might now show it,” he admitted, flashing a smile at her again, “I'm also glad you hate Vlad too.”

All she could do was nod in response, because there wasn't any way she could explain how wrong that felt.

-o-oOo-o-

She fell into the chair in the lab, leaning against its back. She knew she should be horrified. She should be angry, and hate Vlad with all her soul. But it felt like the cogs of her brain had been jammed with a stick, and she couldn't make heads of tails anything. Her questions were answered, but in their place grew new ones. Vlad had tried to kill Jack. Actually kill. In some twisted kind of way, it made sense. Vlad was robbed of half his life and several years of his youth. But to try something so drastic, to still be so angry.....

And then there was the matter than Vlad was apparently obsessed with her. She'd had her assumption, given his actions at the reunion which were then confirmed in the chalet. But to actually try to kidnap her? To trick her, to try to ruin her life? She remembered the moments of the portal accident like the back of her hand, she'd never been able to figure out what happened until Danny explained the anomalies—she didn't know how he did that, it didn't make sense that he'd know that—and she'd replayed those moments for hours. She'd always wondered what he'd wanted to tell her, what he never got the chance to say. Her chest constricted; she knew now. She'd bet her entire career that he was going to try to tell her how he had felt. And she'd told him to wait.

It took only thirteen seconds for him to loose everything he'd ever cared for.

She'd never really thought of it before. Didn't have any need to. He didn't have anyone else before her and Jack, he'd disowned himself from his family for reasons that she was never able to pry from Vlad or Jack. The former said 'it doesn't matter', the latter 'you don't want to know.'. They'd always been together, from the moment they all clicked liked the gears of a clock. And then he was alone, for twenty years. Alone and angry, heartbroken and betrayed. He chose murder over forgiveness because he wanted to make them hurt just as much as he had, he wanted to quell his own pain. But something changed for him, she realized. Danny had said that he'd been trying to get Danny to his side before the biological connection was even bright to light. Why? Did Vlad feel drawn to Danny, an unexplainable connection? Or did he simply just wish to tear away what Jack cared about, like how he thought Jack had taken her? Or were there other reasons Danny wasn't telling her? He had no doubt he was telling half truths. It didn't make any sense to her. And then there was the entire deal with the cloning. Was Vlad that desperate to have something? And why ectoplasm? Ectoplasm couldn't replicate human physiology, and it especially couldn't bind to DNA it would be too unstable. Or would it? If Vlad really was half ghost, he was proof that the two things could coexist in the same being. How? Was Vlad trying to make a clone of Danny that was more like him? Another half ghost? The thought alone was terrifying, if Vlad ever actually managed to do it.

It didn't make any sense. Nothing did. The fact that Vlad was willing to stoop to horrible lows when he thought Danny was Jack's son, but done nothing yet when he actually had a greater motive. Nothing except build a space station just to be able to take Danny to space, because Danny was upset. Was it suddenly not at all okay in his mind to do things like cloning to get what he wanted just because Danny was actually his child? What's more, she'd heard nor seen hide or hair of Vlad since Danny came home. He didn't come over, didn't call, hasn't sent over custody requests, absolutely nothing.

It didn't make any sense.

She knew should should be disgusted with him. That he's done horrible things that can't ever be forgiven. He was broken, in ways that couldn't be fixed, in ways no one could ever know. But she couldn't be. He used to be one of her best friends, and no matter how mean, how creepy, how terrible he would become, she would care about him. Always. She remembered who he was, who they all used to be. Inseparable, bound at the hip and so in tune that they could finish each others lines of thought. Those things were impossible for her to forget.

She refused to stop believing that her friend was still in there. Perhaps he was buried and twisted and damaged. Corrupt and blinded by the anger and pain. But he had to be there.

She'd promised, as he'd been taken away by the paramedics after his accident, that she'd figure out what what was wrong with him and that they'd fix it.

It was time for her to keep that promise.

Her fingers hooked under the receiver of the phone and she held it to her ear. She dialed his number, her fingers crossed as it rung. Once. Twice. Three times. It clicked, and she heard a distant sigh from the other end.

“Hello, Vladimir Master's residency, this is him. I apologize but I can't help you at the moment, and if you are attempting to sell anything, I don't want it,” he spoke, and Maddie knew it was a practiced response. What caught her off guard was the slur in his normally sharp, precise voice.

“Vlad, are you drunk?” she questioned before she could stop herself, her mouth hanging open. He was silent for a moment.

“....Not drunk enough,” he answered dully, “Is there something you needed, Maddie?”

She was unnerved. She didn't recall Vlad ever drinking, but even if he had, certainly never enough for it to actually affect him. Vlad was one to always keep his head on his shoulders, to be in control of his body. She closed her mouth, forcing her composure back into place, “Vlad, Danny told me everything.”

He was silent again, save for the soft sharp intake of breath. She waited patiently, and he eventually spoke again, “I'm sorry. I had a glitch in my computer system. You have nothing to worry about, I was wrong. Jack's Danny's father, and I apologize—”

“No he isn't, and you know it,” she interrupted, a crease forming between her brows, “Why are you trying to play it off like that?”

“It hurts less that way.”

Her shoulders slumped, “Vlad....”

“Y'know....it's funny, at least a little bit,” he slurred, and she heard him shift, “I got a little taste of heaven, while I was up in that station. It was the best moment in my life. But then I ruined it, like I ruin everything. I thought....I thought that I could deal with what I got, that I could be content with it. I haven't been able to. Because, now, now that I know what I'm missing, what I can't have, it hurts worse than not knowing and not having it. It hurts so much more worse. I think, I think that what they say is true, 'They don't just send you to hell, they give you a tour of heaven first'. I'm certainly feeling like I've been dropped into hell.”

Maddie felt her heart tighten as he spoke. The way he tried to sound like he was fine but the hurt still managed to slip into his words. She knew Jazz's theory was correct now, and she knew what happened. Vlad was being genuine, and Danny thought it had all been a ploy to hurt him like everything else Vlad had done. That's what he'd meant when he'd said Vlad had lied and tricked him. The knowledge burned her very heart, made so much worse by one of the things she knew would never change about Vlad, no matter what would happen: he'd always wanted a family.

She opened her mouth, but didn't know how to respond. What do you say after something like that? she didn't know. She swallowed instead, and changed topics.

“Why didn't you ever tell us that your accident gave you ghost powers?” she asked, nearly whispering even though there was no one else around to hear.

“Oh.....oh.” She heard his vice harden instantly, a sobriety returning to it in the form of heavily veiled alarm. When he spoke again, it was a breath of a whisper, more or a statement for himself than something directed at her, “Daniel told you everything.....”

She heard the realization, and stumbled over her words to try to get him to listen to her, “Vlad, it's okay, please, I'm not angry, I just—”

Click. The line erupted into an obnoxious loud beep.

She pulled the receiver from her ear, staring at it disbelievingly. He'd hung up on her. She reached out and slammed the button on the holder, her fingers redialing his number. The beep stopped, pausing for a quiet moment before it rang again. Once. Twice. Thrice. The line went dead again. She stared at the phone, a creeping feeling of fear sliding over her. She didn't know what Vlad would do. What he could do. She swallowed, replacing the receive with sluggish movements, her mind running a mile a minute.

“Oh, what on earth am I going to do.....”

-o-oOo-o-

AN: Well this was a trip, writing this. This was originally for the theme of “Stories”, but it drifted away from it and I didn't get it done in time for it to be that. So it became the thing for the free day, the last huzzah before Phanniemay ends! This was a wonderful adventure and I had so much fun! I can't wait for next year!

Oh, hey, look, one of my favorite headcanons ever. I strongly support it, even thought there's very little canon evidence. I just like the concept. As well, Danny turned out super angsty, and I really didn't try that. Hopefully that'll be fixed in the second chapter. The....second....chapter -begins sobbing uncontrollably bc this thing was 38 pages long and the second parts prolly gonna be longer-

EDIT: The reason why this says “original version” is because I plan to rewrite this entire story at some point.

#Bruised #Danny Phantom #vvcwriting #phanniemay15 #VVCPhanniemay2015 #OldThings

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voxvociscruorawriting · 9 years

Text

IOM TAGOJ Chapter 2: Stitch The Wound

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Phanniemay15 Theme: End

-o-oOo-o-

"Wakin' up, I don't feel alive,

How fucked up are we inside?

Breaking up in your empty eyes,

Where's the truth to all the lies?”

-Let Go, Hollywood Undead

-o-oOo-o-

The word swam in front of him, and his fingers dug into the upholstery of the chair. Colors blurred, and he felt a sickening sense of vertigo as the lights brightened and dimmed seemingly at random. He bit his tongue to try to stop the feeling of rocking, but it did little to help. He kind of saw two faces turn towards him, and he focused on trying to see them clearly.

“You okay, Vladdy?” the concerned tone in Jack's voice was genuine, and it did nothing to help kick Vlad's urge to puke. Maddie's face, however, was a welcome sight when his world became crisp again, her brows knit as she looked at him with worry.

“I'm sorry, I just don't feel very good.” Vlad said, “I think I might be coming down with something.”

Jack smiled, and Vlad internally kicked himself, “We've got some meds if you wanna take anything. It's best to catch it before it gets too bad, after all.”

Vlad shook his head, “No, that's quiet alright. I'll be fine on my own.”

“If you say so.” Jack shrugged, “Anyway, we started these new plans for a gun against Phantom. He's always oddly resistant to our other weapons, they never seem to affect him as much as they should. But we got a lot of information from the last time we took readings of him. This new gun has to pack a good punch—maybe even enough to disrupt his signature enough to destabilize him!”

Vlad felt a pang of irritation, an unwelcome feeling of worry coming along with it. He knew Daniel could take care of himself, but the idea of such a weapon existing that could do so much damage to him was not one he was comfortable with. He didn't know what would happen to a halfa if their ghost half was destabilize. Daniel could very well be killed. At best, Vlad assumed he'd be severely injured and disabled for the rest of his life. He'd have to keep an eye on this weapon.

“How interesting. I think that such a weapon would be unnecessary, since there's really nothing physically abnormal with him.” he mused. Maybe he'd get lucky and the latent lie would confuse them enough to be distracted from the gun.

Jack wasn't so easily swayed, “Oh, but he is! He's different from every other ghost we've ever known about!”

Maddie nodded, folding her arms over he knees as she leaned forward in the chair, “We don't know why, either. It's odd, Phantom shouldn't be as powerful as he is, given his age.”

“Perhaps he's older than you think.” Vlad supplied. His heel bounced off the floor, the familiar uncomfortable tension returning to his muscles. He ignored the way everything blurred a little again.

“We thought about that, but there hasn't been any reports about him before the portal opened. He doesn't have a history in the human world.” Maddie argued. Jack nodded beside her and Vlad cursed their observations. The one time they actually pay attention.

He shrugged, folding his hands over his stomach as he lounged, “Just because he doesn't have a history here doesn't mean he's as old as the portal opening. He might have just been one fo the first ghosts to come through the portal, not formed around the same time. Correlation doesn't prove causation.”

Maddie hummed, “True.....”

Jack watched as she held her chin in thought, they turned his attention back to Vlad, “Hey Vlad, d'you have any ideas about why Phantom's different? We can't really think of anything.”

The heat he was used to having was getting uncomfortable as it increased in temperature. The vertigo worsened, and he clenched his teeth together. He swore he felt his stomach back flip. He didn't dare shake his head, he feared it would make the sudden onslaught of symptoms worse.

“I'm sorry, I don't. I haven't studied anything ghost-related since college. I admit my knowledge on the subject is.....degraded.” he said, unable to keep from slurring his words. His lungs clenched while he was talking, refusing to relax. He only just barely managed to force out the last word.

It felt like his core was burning a hole in his chest. He tried to focus on breathing normally, but he could hear his own breath. He tried to find something to stare at, to pretend to be captivated by, but he couldn't find anything in the shifting world. The chair against his back was a pleasant source of stability. He felt his core pop once, twice, and it took all of his restraint to not curl up from the pain. He'd felt worse before, he tried to tell himself. It didn't really help. He rubbed the spot on his chest, knuckles pressing into his flesh as the tried to knead the soreness out of it. He was certain that sweat was gathering under his suit collar and at the back of his neck. He'd forgotten how uncomfortable sweating actually was, given he never overheated anymore. He could feel their eyes burrowing into him, and he wanted nothing more than to just get to the safety of his own home.

Maddie noticed his discomfort, and for once, Vlad was not alright with her attention. She looked him over, “Vlad, are you sure you're okay?”

He waved a hand, “I'm fine.” He felt like he couldn't breathe, his lungs were so tight.

She frowned,“If your having chest pains, we should really take you to the hospital—”

His core twisted.

“No!” burning heat racing across his nerves in panic. Memories of the isolation and the pain and the terrible treatments flashed across his mind. Both Maddie and Jack flinched back, and Vlad swallowed thickly, “I mean, that won't be necessary. I'm not having chest pains.”

Jack stared at him, but eventually nodded, “Alright.”

“I do think I should go home, though. I wouldn't want to get anyone else sick.” Vlad admitted. A few of his words slurred despite his best efforts to keep his voice even.

He wasn't going to waste the opportunity to get away. This wasn't normal, something was wrong with him. He was not one to have power issues, and having them now in front of ghost hunters was not the best thing to do. He didn't even wait for the responses, it wasn't up for debate. He was leaving. He pushed himself out of the chair, and his world went white. He felt everything jolt, his hands lashing out to grab something to keep himself from falling. His legs nearly buckled underneath him, it was only by sheer luck he managed to catch himself. He waited a few moments, trying to bring the world back so he could see. Everything still felt like it was moving, and he regretted, not for the first time during the evening, coming over when Jack had asked him to.

“You shouldn't be driving if you're stumbling, let us take you home.” Maddie said quietly, sounding closer than before. Vlad felt nimble fingers hook under his elbow and he flinched away from the contact.

Vlad shook his head slightly, but even the small movement made colors dance between his eyes, “I'm fine. I can see perfectly well and my reaction time isn't hindered. I just stood too fast.” When clear sight came back to him, he saw that both of them were way too close to him for comfort. He took a step back.

“Please, Vlad, I insist. I'd rather be safe than sorry, it only takes a second for someone to T-bone you.” Jack pleaded, and Vlad bit his tongue to keep the remark that came to mind to himself. It was his damn fault he was even having this problem right now.

“I'm aware. But I'm being serious, I don't need any help. I can drive myself.” Vlad protested.

He took the moment to sidestep around both hunters, and he tried to walk as fast as he could towards the door. The movement made him feel sick, and he was completely aware that he wasn't even walking straight. He hissed when he felt Jack's hand on his shoulder. The gesture gave him no stability and he staggered a little mid-step. he knew his body was hotter than what could be humanly possible, he could already feel the tendrils of smoke tickling the back of his throat. He needed to leave, he couldn't have a power meltdown here. It would be game over for him.

Jack's hands pulled him straighter, Vlad didn't have the energy to keep his shoulders from slouching, “You can barely stay on your feet! You're not driving.”

Vlad shrugged off his fingers, “It's nothing! I'm fine!”

He glared at Jack, but was shocked when Jack returned it in full, “You either let me drive you home, or you can stay the night. You're choice. We're not letting you get behind the wheel.”

“I said I'm fine! I'm just....running a little fever.” He bit out, his breath hot. He smelled smoke. He swayed, and everything felt light. He felt the wonderful coldness of the wall solid under his fingers.

“He's lightheaded. I'll get a chair, he's going to pass out.” Maddie's voice floated through the haze clouding his mind. He grit his teeth, snarling.

He slammed his palms onto the wall, “I SAID I'M FI—!!!”

His core popped again, his left arm set on fire. He felt a wavering sense of numbness pass over his flesh for a moment, and something was around the limb. As quick as it came, the sensation left, and pain exploded into his mind like a bomb. He screamed, his muscles tightening despite the fact that it worsened his agony. He barely heard Jack call his name as he fell against the wall, eyes shut tight. His fingers clung to the part of his arm that wasn't in the wall, as if holding it would make it hurt any less. He forced his eyes open, hissing through his teeth. His arm was phased into the drywall, stuck inside it. He pulled on it. it didn't budge. He tried to reach out to his core, flinching back when it flared with pain. He was stuck in the wall, and had no way to get out.

He hissed, faint pink trails rising from his breath, “No....oh god, no....”

He heard footsteps on the carpet, “V-Vlad....? D-did you just....?”

“D-don't....dammit.....not now....” He muttered, tugging on his arm. Pain shot up into his shoulder, but he ignored it. More footsteps, and his eyes went wide.

Panic consumed his mind.

He swung around, “Stay away! Don't come closer to me!”

Jack froze, staring wide-eyed at him—more specifically his arm. Maddie had her hand over her mouth, standing near the doorway of the kitchen. Jack slowly swallowed, “Vlad, a-are you...?”

Vlad tensed, pressing fully against the wall. A pressure bloomed in the center of his skull, a painful drumming extending like claws over his brain. His chest felt tight, like everything inside it was collapsing in on itself. White spots danced in his vision. His eyes darted between the two hunters, raw fear filling every inch of him.

“Stay back! I'm fine! Just stay away!” He barked, voice raspy and thick. He yanked hard on his arm. If he could just get it out, he could run. He could hide. He had the money and the resources to make himself disappear in more ways than one. The wall refused to release him and he pulled as hard as he could, “Dammit, let go--!!”

He saw Maddie move to Jack's side out of the corner of his eye, “Vlad, you're breathing really badly, and your smoking.....” She took a few steps towards him, “Please, let us help yo--”

“Get away from me!GET AWAY! I REFUSE TO BECOME YOUR EXPERIMENT! KEEP AWAY FROM ME!” Vlad pressed himself so tightly against the wall, his shoulder blade hurt, shrieking.

“We're not going to hurt you, we just want to help—”

Something snapped in his mind, and his eyes went red.

“Like you said you'd help me with my thesis?! Like you said you'd help me with my fear?! Like you promised you'd help me after the accident?!” He snapped, his burning eyes turning to glare at them. His irises glowed brightly, smoke trailing from them, “That's the thing when you two say you're going to help—you never do! It's always empty promises and disappointments!”

Jack gaped, “We don't underst—”

Vlad snarled, large pointed fangs bared. The glowing red spot on his chest grew larger, the smoke rising from it like it was a fire. Pink energy crackled around him, a faint aura outlining him, “That blasted Proto-Portal destroyed my life! You half killed me, Jack Fenton, I'm half ghost! Five years I spent locked away in an isolation room of that damn hospital! Five years I slowly died from Ecto-Acne from your careless mistake! I endured years of my body revolting against ectopoisoning, of being torn apart until my ghost half saved my life!”

“And both of you did NOTHING!” He screamed, “NOT A GODDAMN WORD, NO CARDS, NO CALLS! NOTHING! I HALF DIED AND YOU DIDN'T CARE!”

Jack was taken aback, his eyes wide and horrified. He searched Vlad's face, but found very little resemblance to the friend that had been sitting in his living room just twenty minutes prior. He didn't look like he was lying either, but Jack knew that that couldn't be true.

He shook his head, “W-what do you mean, we sent you a letter every week but you never responded....”

“LIAR!”

Jack opened his mouth to respond, but Maddie held her hand up to him. She slowly moved her hands in front of her, holding her empty hands up. Vlad glared at her, and she took a small step towards him anyway. His arms were shaking, his body pressed firmly against the wall like he was trying to hide against it. She should see the light of his core through the dark suit he wore, the veins on his neck glowing. Red haze escaped his throat every time he heaved a raspy breath, the flyaway strands of his hair plastered to his shining skin. The sweet scent of ectoplasm blended with the smell of something burning. Jack took a step forward to stay at her side, and Vlad glared at him.

Jack hold his hands up too, trying to show Vlad he meant no harm, “Please, Vlad, calm down. You're not okay, look at yourself. Your chest is glowing and your shaking and you're smoking all over.” He risked taking another step, slowly reaching out to his old friend.

“DON'T TOUCH ME! GET AWAY!” Vlad screeched, flinching away like a cat avoiding boiling water, “I WILL DESTROY YOU, I WILL BURN THIS HOUSE TO THE GROUND IF YOU TOUCH ME! I HATE YOU, I HATE WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME, I HATE YOU FOR TAKING AND HAVING EVERYTHING I'VE EVER WANTED! I HATE EVER KNOWING YOU! I HATE THE WAY YOU LOOK AT ME LIKE I'M SOMETHING THAT NEEDS FIGUREING OUT BECAUSE I! AM! FINE! I'M FINE I'M FINE I'MFINEI'MFINEI'MFINEI'MFINE!!”

He felt his core lurch and the numbness seeped down his arm in patches. He didn't even wait for it to fully envelope him before he yanked, pulling his sore limb from the wall. Something sliced his flesh as he freed himself, but he didn't care, “Gah! God dammit, finally!”

He held his arm close, his eyes darting to the Fentons. They were too close, too close, too close. His mind raced, his instincts kicking in. Fight or flight, kill or be killed.

Live or die.

He shifted, his muscles tightening. His core burned, too hot.

Too hot.

His heart raced, he couldn't breathe, everything hurt. He saw their fingers.

Too close.

He couldn't fight.

He darted to the side, sheer panic filling his veins.

Run.

Run!

Get away.

Save yourself.

Self preservation.

They'll hurt you.

They'll tear you apart.

They hate you.

You're not safe.

Get away.

He heard them call after him, but he didn't stop. His feet hit tile, he'd run the wrong way.

Didn't matter, there was a back door.

Back door

Back door.

Run

Run.

Can't breathe.

Chest hurts.

Everything smelled like fire, everything felt like fire.

Something was burning.

Back door.

He saw the brass knob, and he raced for it. His fingers grazed it before he felt the arms around him.

TOO CLOSE

He tensed, his fingers hooking and his nails scratching down slipper spandex.

FIGHT

NOT SAFE

THIS IS DEATH

He fought, writhing, as the arms pulled him away from his exit.

Escape.

He needed to escape

His blood pounded so loud in his ears, and he chest hurt so, so much.

Too much.

He couldn't breathe.

Too much pain.

It hurt.

“GET OFF ME! GET OFF! LET GO! STOP TOUCHING ME!” He shrieked, pushing and writhing and kicking. Fight fight fight. They wouldn't let go. Too close. “GET OFF!”

Fingers and arms laced around him, “Oh my god, Vlad, we are so sorry. We're so sorry.....”

Too close.

Trapped.

Trapped meant pain.

His eyes darted across cabinet doors, vision blurring, “Let me go!”

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.....we never knew, we never......” Maddie whispered, her voice so close to his ear. Her voice was cold on his skin, “W-we thought you were angry with us, we thought you needed space, we thought you hated us.....We didn't know how hurt you were, how much we were still hurting you....I'm sorry, I'm sorry...”

“I'm sorry, please, Vlad, I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you so bad—you were my best friend, I would never—I didn't—I couldn't—Oh god everything makes so much more sense now.” Jack breathed, trying and failing to say so much as once.

They were holding him close. Maddie's arms tightened around his neck, her eyes shut so tight it hurt. It didn't stop the tears that clung to her eyelashes, they prickled her skin. Unevenly cut nails tangled in the ragged tangles of his ponytail, clinking to hair and dress shirt collar alike. Larger arms encircled his waist, thick fingers fisted into the expensive woven black fabric. Vlad was so tense, he was shaking. He was sandwiched between them. His heart beat so fast and so hard he thought it was going to give out, it hurt so bad. He couldn't do anything, his own hands digging in like claws to the bodies around him. They didn't seem to care how hot he was, how he was burning. He screwed his eyes shut, tried to turn his hearing off. He didn't want to hear this. He couldn't—

“We're so sorry, please, we're sorry....”

—It hurt—

—Everything hurt.

He swallowed, his throat raw “I need to leave, let me go....” he whispered.

They squeezed tighter.

“We're so sorry for everything. For leaving you behind, for the hurt, the pain, for not knowing—We should've known better—We were your best friends, oh god should we have known better—We should have seen that something was so very wrong but we didn't and we're so-so-sorry!” One of them pleaded, and for his life, Vlad couldn't figure out which one. “Please....can you ever forgive us?”

“I don't know...I don't know.....” He shook his head, his voice so quiet. He tried to ignore the hotness that wet his eyelashes, “Oh god—Not here—Not now—”

He heard Maddie sniffle as she loosened her grip and pulled away. He refused to meet her eyes, he couldn't he felt her fingers ghost over his arm, pulling the drenched fabric away from the cut on his arm. He winced when she brushed the torn flesh.

“You're bleeding really bad...” Jack muttered.

Vlad cracked his eyes open. White blotches danced around the edges of his vision. He cast a glance down at his arm. Skin and muscle alike was fileted open like a fish. Thick blood congealed in the slice, glowing chunks of bright neon ectoplasm tainting it. The veins around the wound glowed, the light trailing down into his palm.

He swallowed thickly, turning his eyes away, “I'm fine....”

Maddie raised her eyes to his face, “No, you're not. You're not and it's all our fault....wait here....”

She pushed herself to her feet. Her heard her jog across the room and down into the lab. He swallowed again, closing his mouth as he tried to breathe out of his nose. He felt horrible, the pain returning to his skull slowly. With it came the vertigo, and he bit his tongue. He dug his finger into his chest, hissing as his core twisted again. Loud footsteps sounded from the lab door, and Maddie took the stairs two at a time. She dropped back onto the floor beside him. He rolled his gaze towards her hands, watching her put a first aid kit beside her but keep the scissors. She gently slid the blade of the scissors under his sleeve cuff, cutting it down to the tear. She moved up above the wound, cutting off the entire lower arm of both the suit jacket and the dress shirt underneath. She opened the kit, removing a soaked cloth that had been hap hazardously tossed inside. She reached out towards his arm and he pulled away.

He held his good hand out for the cloth, “I can take care of it myself, I know how to--”

“Hush.” Maddie shoved his hand away.

She gently took hold of his wrist. Jack's hand moved to grip his elbow, helping to hold the limb still.

“Let us help you....We owe it to you. Please, Vlad.”

He tensed, his throat knotted into a lump, “I...I don't.....”

He didn't pull away when Maddie began to lightly dab the wound clean. She worked slowly, trying not to hurt him further. She grazed over several painful spots, muttering an apology when he flinched. The bloodstained rag was traded for a needle and thread, the silence filling with sharp hisses and quick sorries. She ran the needle through his skin, Jack holding the wound closed as she sutured it closed, slowly but surely. It wasn't the best job in the world, the edges of the wound jagged and ugly and the stitches uneven. Maddie and Jack laid their hands over his, hooking their fingers through his.

They squeezed, “We promise, we're never leaving you alone again.”

Vlad's fingers twitched, and he squeezed back. The wound pulled, stinging and still quite painful.

But it was closed, and it would heal.

-o-oOo-o-

AN: Sometimes, things must break before they can get better.

#Iom Tagoj #Danny Phantom #VVCOneshots #phanniemay15 #VVCPhanniemay2015 #vvcwriting #OldThings #chapter 2

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voxvociscruorawriting · 9 years

Text

Best Friend

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Phanniemay15 Theme: Stories

-o-oOo-o-

"I'm at a payphone trying to call home, all of my change I spent on you. Where have the times gone? Baby, it's all wrong, where are the plans we made for three?” -Payphone, Maroon 5

-o-oOo-o-

Danny was used to coming home to seeing strange things in his living room. There was almost always a new invention scattered in pieces across the carpeted floor, or hundreds of pages of research his mother was sorting. At one time, there had even been sheets and sheets of metal when the portal was being constructed. But what he was confronted with right now was most certainly the most bizarre thing he could remember the room being cluttered by.

Boxes. Boxes and boxes of old, dusty stuff. He was secretly releived the Box Ghost was trapped within the thermos in his backpack. Boxes weren't unusual, but his dad sitting on the couch, surrounded by thick, three-ring binders was. Jack was slowly flipping through the plastic pages within, a small smile gracing his lips. Danny dropped his bag by the coffee table, trudging over.

“Hey dad,” he said, his eyes tracing over the boxes, “What're you doing?”

“Oh, hey Danny!” Jack seemed to startle a little, but flashed his son a wide smile. Danny frowned a little, it didn't seem to be as enthusiastic as it normally was, “Just remembering the good ol' times.”

“What....are these?” Danny gestured to the binders, tilting his head to read the cover of one, “'Awesome Prankitude'?”

Jack chuckled, and nodded, “Yeah. Vladdy and I used to have some wicked awesome pranks we'd do. Sometimes we'd have month-long prank wars between each other. Maddie would join sometimes, but mostly, it was just me and Vlad.”

“I didn't know you had photo albums of your college days.” Danny replied. Jack motioned for him to sit and Danny took the only free spot still left on the couch. He reached into his pocket for a moment, shifting his phones, then took his hand back out.

“I didn't know I did either. I thought we'd lost them when we moved into his house. I just found them in the garage.” Jack said, and Danny nodded. The garage had always been a mess. Jack looked sadly at the page the album in his hands was open to, “Man, I forgot what Vlad looked like when he wasn't angry all the time...”

“Dad?”

“Here, look at this--” Jack perked up and grabbed another binder, setting the previous on the table. He flipped to the front, and pointed at one of the pictures. Danny leaned closer, fallowing the direction of the gloved finger, “This was the first day of college. I was going to go to Penn State, but I decided to go to Wisconsin University instead because Vlad was going there. We'd gone to high school together, so why should college have been any different? This was the first and last time I ever got him into a tanktop.”

Danny's brows shot towards his hairline. For good reason, he thought, since Vlad did not at all look good in a tank. He was much too skinny for the loose fabric, his shoulder nearly pointed. The two of them were somewhere in Wisconsin University, sitting on some steps. His dads trademark face-splitting grin was in place, but what shocked Danny was that Vlad was also smiling quite wide. His hair was braided into thick braids, longer than he remembered seeing it when he'd gone back in time. There was a light in Vlad's eyes that Danny had never seen before, and it looks so very foreign being there.

Jack shifted and turned a couple of pages before making a noise and pointing to a new picture. It depicted his mother trying to stop a large, tall test tube from overflowing with thick steaming, bubbling liquid. She seemed to be laughing about it, despite the fact that newspaper and tongs in her hands were doing nothing to help the situation. Jack was trying to knock the entire thing over, the mischievous smirk all the proof needed of that. Vlad, on the other had, was trying to hold Jack back from doing that, while also unsuccessfully trying to stay away from the erupting tube.

“This was the first experiment the three of us did—we met Mads in our science class. This pretty much set the record for how well things would go with our work—the two of us somehow making it go wrong and Vlad just trying to figure out how he got roped into it.” Jack explained, a slight amused tone lighting his voice that betrayed that he knew exactly how things 'somehow' went wrong.

Danny stared at the picture, pushing on his teeth with his tongue, “Seems to me that Vlad getting hurt was just a matter of time, if that was the case.”

The amusement vanished from Jack's eyes instantly, and Danny regretted saying anything. He flipped to a new page, “Yeah.....Doesn't change the fact that it shouldn't have happened, though.”

Maddie was stood, her arms threw out to the side in a 'ta da' fashion, towards the horrifyingly large mountain of ice creme on the counter. Piled into a cake pan and topped with more toppings that Danny had ever seen on anything before, the desert was about a foot and a half tall. Jack was putting three cherries on every ice creme scoop. Vlad was nowhere to be seen, but Danny assume that was because he was taking the picture.

“This is what you get when you give college students about two hundred bucks during a weekend—the ultimate ice creme sundae. I kid you not, this thing was Vlad's idea. He and Mads couldn't stop arguing over how to put the syrup on.” Jack chuckled, pointing to the picture below the first, “And this is what happened when Vlad lost. He took the cap off the bottle and dumped it over her head. She retaliated by shoving the remaining ice creme we couldn't fit in the bowl into his face. I wasn't spared from that assault either, I kept finding sprinkles and almonds in my hair for weeks! It was absolute hell to try to comb Vlad and Maddie's hair, even after they took three showers. We ended up having to cut both a little.”

The second picture backed up on that. All three of them were covered in ice creme, syrup and toppings. Vlad's hair stuck up in odd ways, defying gravity like a tree. Gummy worms stuck our from his head, stuck in the desert, one catching a ride on a piece of ice creme that was falling towards his eye. Maddie's was clumped with chocolate and strawberry goop, sprinkles glued to her face with the sweet liquid. Jack was giving a double thumbs up to the camera, a bizarre blend of all of the materials sticking to his face and shoulders. Maddie was trying to not laugh, while Vlad seemed to have been caught mid snicker. The counters and everything around them did not survive the mess untouched, syrupy and creamy hand prints ripping down the ugly yellow paint.

Danny nodded, replying, “I bet mom was upset about that.”

“She was fairly chill, actually. Vlad, not so much.” Jack explained, turning a page again, “He took a lot of pride in his hair. He wasn't very happy when the bleach and dye we used to make the stripes in our hair for our band lightened the rest of his. I've always wanted to ask him if he was upset when the Proto Portal bleached his hair.”

Danny held out a hand, stopping his dad from turning the page, “Jesus Christ is that fire?!” He pointed at one of the picture, gaped at it.

Jack nodded, “Vlad was almost as good as Maddie at causing flammable reactions. The only difference was that his were controlled and intentional. This was one of his class experiments, called the fire vortex. I have no idea what he mixed to make it, but it was awesome.”

Fire vortex was right. Vlad stood in the center of a lab room, his gloved hand holding a test tube that was spouting a huge twisting column of fire. Danny knew that Vlad could probably do the same thing now without need for any chemical reactions, due to his heat core, but the fact that Vlad could make something like that in college was impressive. He appeared to be in complete control of the experiment, handling with a grace his parents lacked whenever they worked. His eyes were hard and focus, spiked hair illuminated orange. Several other people were eying the display with worry or awe.

Danny allowed Jack to continue flipping. He caught glaces of several pictures as the pages went by. Jack suddenly stopped and pointed to another picture. Vlad was writing on a blackboard, almost half of it being covered in very scratchy hand writing. He squinted, frowning, as he leaned forward to look closer. Some things he could make out, but others didn't seem to be words, instead just weird series of odd symbols. Equations and small graphs dotted the writing, but nothing seemed linked to the odd writing. He felt his dad chuckle beside him.

“Oh this—this is funny. Vladdy's bilingual, he can speak Russian, and whenever he'd get really angry with us, he'd just stop communicating in English completely. He'd take notes, write down calculations, and transcribe thesisi all in Russian. Neither of us could speak any amount of the language, so it was his little way at getting back at us. Until it would backfire hilariously and he'd get stuck speaking both English and Russian at the same time when he stopped throwing the tantrum. He once turned in an entire essay completely in Russian by accident and he had to spend a couple of hours translating his own paper for the professor. When Mads took this picture, he didn't know he was switching back and forth until he got done and looked it over. His head just fell back and he groaned really loudly when he realized.”

“That's Russian?” Danny's brows knit.

“Yep, Cyrillic alphabet and all!”

Danny nodded, muttering, “I didn't know Vlad knew a second language.”

Jack continued, pausing every once in a while to make a few sentence remarks on lesser pictures, like pointing out when Vlad was throwing a tantrum, or about Maddie's hairstyle a few of the remarks were humorous, and Danny found himself chuckling at a few of the more outrageous ones. Like one of Vlad's hairstyles, in which the short spikes on the top of his head were pulled into a shot Mohawk while the longer was pulled into a french braid in the back. Jack paused on one page, chuckling. Danny looked at him, confused, and he pointed out the picture that caught his attention. Danny tilted his head at it.

All three of the college trio seemed to be frozen in weird poses. Vlad had his arms above his head, one leg lifted like a flamingo. His hair fanned around his head, a bright white stripe down the middle. Jack had his hands out in front of him, nose crinkled in laughter. Maddie appeared to be pretending to rock out on an invisible guitar. The lime green of her tank top was an odd color Danny wouldn't have been able to picture on his mother. But for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what they were doing.

“What in the world are you doing there?” he asked.

Jack smiled wide, “Dancing! Vlad was an awesome dancer, believe it or not. I didn't know the first thing about dancing. We wanted to go to a club one time, but we kept putting it off because neither me or Maddie could dance. Vlad eventually go tired of the excuse and tried to teach us. I feel on my rear so many times, and he'd just snicker his skinny little ass off. It worked though, He taught me how to dance. Not very good, mind you, but he still did it.” he smiled fondly across the room at a picture on a small stand, “There was one dance he taught me and your mother that we did at our wedding....”

Danny fallowed his gaze to the picture of his parents' wedding.

“I wish he could have been there.....” Jack said, a forlorn look in his eyes, “Then again, he would have probably been really angry at me. Well, angrier.”

“Why do you say that?” Danny asked.

“Because he'd told me that he had a crush of mads. I have no doubts that he would have felt betrayed. Maybe he'd even think that I sabotaged the experiment to get him out of the picture or something, I don't know. Maybe he actually does think that right now. I don't know.” Danny shifted a little at the unnatural quietness of his dads voice, uncomfortable with it. Those were tones that didn't belong there, “Either way, he would have been upset. But he was friend, and it would have meant the world if he had been there. Even if only to punch me in the teeth.”

Jack gave a small chuckle, but it died when Danny remained silent. He reached beside him, grabbing a different binder.

“Here, lemme show you a few of our best pranks.” he said, flipping open 'Awesome Prankitudes', “This one was mine. Vlad had just gotten done with his finals, and he's literally just collapsed into the suite the three of us shared. Just plop, and he was out like a light. This was every single dish we owned, it took me so long to build it around him. A couple times he shifted a little and I thought he was going to bring it down early. But he didn't. The next morning he did when he woke up. The sound of all the pots and pans falling to the tiled floor was only outdone by his screaming and swearing.”

Danny's eye widened at the hap hazardous metal pyramid balanced above Vlad's unresponsive form. Jack was crouched next to it, giving a thumbs up and smiling at the camera. Vlad was sprawled out like a lanky bear rug, a bag partially under his back and a few papers around him. Other pictures on the page showed the structure from different angles, and Danny was quite honestly surprised it even stood in the first place. The page flipped, both sides filled with pictures of bright dotted stickers covering nearly every inch of multiple rooms. One was clearly his dads room, given by the fact that there were orange jumpsuits on the floor. Another was his mother's since there was makeup on the desk, on top of ghost and physics books. The third didn't look like a bedroom.

“This was on of his retaliations. This was my room. It was completely covered, myself included, in stickers. This was your mother's room. And this was the main part of the suit. He did all of this in just one night. To this day I haven't figured out how. Prank level Vlad Masters, that is.” Jack;s finger moved at he pointed to each of the pictures. The last one showed Vlad smiling while lounging on a couch, a cup of soda in his hand.

He flipped through the other pages, stopping when something white fell out from between two. He picked it up and flipped it over, his face falling as he recognized what it was.

“Oh no, this picture.....” he muttered then lowered it, showing Danny. Danny's chest tightened when he recognized the picture too. It was the same one he'd found in Vlad's lab at the reunion, whole and intact, “I remember this one. This was taken during out second year, a couple of weeks before the portal accident. We loved this picture, it was one of the best ones ever taken of us three.”

Danny slowly reached out and took the picture from his dads hands, looking over the time frozen faces of all three of them. He'd never really noticed how different younger Vlad was from the current before, even through all those other pictures. But his dad had been right, he looked completely different when he wasn't angry. There was an entirely different air about younger Vlad. It was like seeing the other side of a coin, the yin to the yang, the white versus the black.

“I really miss these days. I wish things could be like this again.” Jack muttered suddenly, quietly.

Danny look up at him and found him staring at the picture, “Dad?”

“I know that Vladdy's still really angry with me. That he never really forgave me. I just.....” he paused taking a deep breath. Danny could have sworn he heard his dads voice almost crack and it hurt his heart, “I didn't realize how bad it was until I started looking back. I didn't realize how different he's become. How bitter. How angry. I really screwed everything up between us....”

Danny shook his head, “None of that's your fault. Vlad's bitterness is his own.”

“Oh, but it is. It's all my fault. I was the one who didn't do the calculations right, I was the one who put soda into the filtrator, I was the one who got him trapped in the hospital for so many years. I pushed the buttons. I wasn't there for him when he needed me the most.” he paused, taking a breath, “I regret it.”

“I regret not being there for him while he was in the hospital, when he was in pain, when he was alone, for every year we didn't talk. I've betrayed him. I've betrayed him so many times, and I don't even know what I can to to try to make it up to him. I've tried, but he's still so angry.” Jack shook his head, running his hands through his hair, “I don't know what else to do to.”

“I'd do anything, anything, to fix things. I'd do anything to have these times back. To have my best friend again. The one who would joke, and laugh, and dance. The one who would smile.”

The raw pain in his dads voice was almost too much for Danny to bear. It hurt him to listen to, it hurt him to know what Vlad really thought of Jack. How Jack wanted nothing more than to try to fix things, compared to how Vlad wanted nothing more than to see Jack burn. Danny didn't even have the heart to be angry at Vlad for making his dad like this, he was just complicated and remorseful. Vlad didn't realize all that he was casting away. Jacks hand snaked around his back and rubbed his shoulder suddenly, and Danny leaned closer into the one armed semi-hug.

“Sorry, Dan, didn't mean to get like that.” he said.

“It's okay. I understand. I would feel the same if I ever lost Sam or Tucker in that way.” Danny flashed him a smile, and his dad gave one back. He shifted, pulling away and standing from the couch, “Is it okay if I head over to Sam's, by the way?”

Jack nodded, then jabbed a binder at his chest, “Sure, just try to be back before curfew or there's going to be trouble, mister!”

“Got it.” Danny nodded, then jogged around the coffee table and out the front door.

One alley way and a ten minute flight late, Danny landed heavily onto the luxurious carpet of the Mayoral house. Toxic green eyes scanned the main hall, but it was empty. He stood from his crouch, taking a few steps forward. He didn't feel Vlad's ectosignature, but that didn't mean anything recently. He'd somehow found the ability to be able to hide it, something Danny was incredibly jealous of given his parent's invention's predilection for target his own. He grumbled, grinding his teeth.

“Hey fruitloop, get your ass out here!” he called, raising his voice loud enough so that it bounced off the walls. He felt the searing familiar heat of Vlad's signature incredibly close by, and he swung around, glaring at the top of the massive curved stairs.

“Language, Daniel, you're fourteen you have no business to be saying such words.” Vlad chided, his fingers trailing over the dark wood of the stairs railing. His eyes narrowed, and he raised his chin defiantly, “You also have no business being in my home. Unless, of coarse, you're asking for a fight?”

Danny's eye twitched at the cocky attitude in Vlad's voice. His fingers twitched, but he held in the ectoenergy from forming. Instead, he leapt into the air and bolt up the stairs, landing in front of Vlad. The man took a few steps back, raising his arms in defense. Danny glared, the other halfa eying him. He sighed through his nose and shoved his hand into his pocket, pulling out one of his phones. His hand darted out and grabbed hold of Vlad's wrist before the older halfa could pull away, yanking it back towards him. He shoved the sleek black device into calloused fingers, then shoved the hand back towards Vlad.

“You need to listen to this.” Danny said, glaring, “All of it. All twenty eight minutes of it.”

Vlad's eyes flickered from Danny's glaring face to the phone in his hand and back. He shot his own glare back, “Why should I?”

“Because you have a lot of thinking you need to do. And then you need to make a choice. I don't really care which way or the other. But you need to know the other side of the story.” Danny stated. He turned on his heel, walking down the stairs while Vlad just stared after him. He paused at the bottom, turning a little back but not turning all the way around, “Because honestly? What I just went through was the most depressing thing I've ever had to endure.”

Le leapt into the air and shot out of the room, phasing through the wall. Vlad reached towards the retreating teen.

“What do you mean, what happened? Daniel!” he was too late, Danny was already gone. He let his arm drop, swearing, “Blasted child....”

His attention fell onto the phone in his hand. It was cold in his hand, chilled by Danny's unnaturally cold body. His fingertip ghosted over a raised Phantom insignia on the back, and he studied the glowing screen. A large green play button was situated in the center of the screen, a bar below it. The file name was generic, simply being 'sound_5-26-05_000124'. I betrayed nothing about what this could all be about. He didn't understand what he meant, and he didn't know what he was talking about. His thumb hovered over the button, and he hesitated, entirely confused and a little uncomfortable with Daniel's brash behavior. The little circle stared up at him, almost mockingly.

He sighed, and pressed play.

-o-oOo-o-

AN: I just want them to be best friends again -gross sobbing on the floor in a puddle of my own tears-

#Danny Phantom #phanniemay15 #VVCOneshots #VVCPhanniemay2015 #vvcwriting #OldThings

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voxvociscruorawriting · 9 years

Text

IOM TAGOJ Chapter 1: Pyromaniacs

Read On Fanfiction.net

Theme: Favorite

A series of oneshots

-o-oOo-o-

Title: Pyromaniacs Genre: Humor, Friendship Rating: T Characters: Jack, Maddie, Vlad; College Trio Summery: Never underestimate the capacity of which three science students can cause chaos. Warnings: Swearing, fire.

-o-oOo-o-

“Mr. Fenton, Mr. Masters! In here now!”

Vlad froze, turning to glance at his friend beside him. Jack winced, and Vlad inwardly groaned. In unison they turned around and walked into the administrators office, Vlad readjusting the books in his arms. The door slammed behind them, the two students trying not to flinch. They took the two seats set out before the desk.

Vlad leaned closer to his friend, “Jack-”

Hands slammed down on the desk and Vlad nearly bit his tongue shutting his mouth so fast. Before them, the administrator was red in the face, his eyes glaring at them with a vehemence that Vlad forced himself not to shy away from.

“You two should be expelled for this, you know! The amount of shit you two've caused this year has been past what would be tolerated from any normal student! If it wasn't the fact that you were working on a unique subject and actually getting results from it, you'd both be tasting the dirt road, scholarships and grades be damned!” the man bellowed. Jack shifted nervously, but Vlad stared in disbelief.

“What've I done?!” he squawked.

The administrator jabbed a finger towards Vlad, “Don't play dumb, Masters! You know very well why you're in here!”

Vlad shook his head, protesting, “No, I'm being serious, I haven't done—”

“Silence!” the man slammed his fist on the desk, and the two flinched, going silent, “You will both be spending the entire week cleaning up that building! You're lucky that I'm not calling the police for this, all of your incidents have surely added up to a criminal offense!”

“But I haven't--”

“Silence, Masters! Your punishment starts today! Five O'clock sharp, you had both best be in the science building!” he barked. The two quickly nodded their heads, for fear of the man blowing a gasket if they even tried to fight the sentence. He administrator huffed, then say down in his chair, “Now out!”

They didn't need telling twice.

Jack was up and bolting through the door, Vlad trailing behind due to being over cumbered by his books. They continued down the hall, turning into another, before they even tried to slow down form heir near jogging pace. Despite jack still keeping a fairly brisk speed, Vlad matched it in full, weaving about the other few students occupying the hall.

“Jack......Would you care to enlighten me on what I've supposedly done to deserve a weeks worth of what's basically detention?” he finally asked.

Jack looked at him, and blinked. Then he shrugged, “Well, you see, Mads and I--”

Vlad stopped, his bulky companion advancing a few steps ahead.

“Why didn't you SAY it was Maddie who was with you?!”

Jack turned around and waving his arms above his head, “Cuz she's got that big report and presentation this Thursday! She needs all the time she can get to get to done!”

“And I don't need all my time to get my thesis and calculations done?!” Vlad bit back. To be fair, his didn't require much work to get done. But still. Jack shrugged again.

“You work on them, I'll clean the science building up.”

“What'd you do to the science building?!”

Jack scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, “Uhh......We, uh....kinda set it on fire?”

Vlad blinked.

“You set. The science building. On fire.”

“Yeah.” Jack nodded, “Room 107.”

“Wait—YOU SET THE INSIDE ON FIRE?!”

Jack threw his arms into the air again, “It was Maddie's fault! She added too much reactant! It was supposed to simmer until all that was left were the purities, but she dumped an entire beakers worth into it! Thing went up like a fiery tornado and belched on the ceiling!”

Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose, “Oh my god.”

“Although it was a little my fault cuz I forgot to remove the oxide from the mixture before giving it to her....”

“Oh my god.”

Jack smiled wide, “Well, y'know what they say! Live and learn!”

Vlad gave him a pointed loot, “Or, in your case, set shit on fire until you learn or die wondering.”

“Hey, it works.” Jack shrugged and Vlad stepped back up to his friends side. They continued down the hall, Vlad perpetually shaking his head.

“In the odd, unknowable ways that only Jack Fenton Logic works.” the sarcasm was lost on Jack, but the subject wasn't pushed. They began to swing back towards the dorms, exiting the school building, “C'mon, lets go see if we can find some cheap cleaning supplies from the dollar store during our last few hours of freedom today.”

“Eh, it's only a few hours per day, we'll still have the evening in the suit.” Jack countered.

Vlad gave him another look, “Yeah, for you. I have a night class at seven.”

“Whoops.”

Vlad rolled his eyes, shifting his books and trying to readjust the shoulder bag digging into his collarbone. Jack walked with his hands in his lab coat pockets, having had no need to bring any class suplies earlier. After a few minutes, he gave up watching Vlad try to deal with all of his things alone and took the textbooks right out of the shorter's hands. Vlad grumbled for a while, but eventually accepted it and wrapped his fingers around his shoulder bag's strap. Once at the dorm, Vlad tossed his stuff into his room, and the two set back out again.

“You think the school's gonna make us pay for the damages?” Jack asked, catching Vlad's wandering attention from the cars passing by on the street.

“Jack, they're making us clean it up, I wouldn't be surprised if they made us rebuild it too.” Vlad snorted, brushing his hair back behind his ear despite the fact that wind just yanked it back out again, “But yes, we're probably going to have to pay for the damages.” Jack was silent for a while before looking towards Vlad out of the corner of his eye.

“I don't supposed you could—”

“No. I'm not calling my mother to try to get her to smuggle some funds to me.”

Jack shrugged, accepting the answer, “Was worth the ask.”

“You do know that if my mother would ever try that she could be seriously hurt, right?” Vlad glared, his eyes narrowing.

“I know, but she's clever.” Jack stated.

Vlad snorted, tightening his arms crossed in front of his chest, “Not clever enough to hide several thousand missing dollars from my father.” he muttered.

Jack caught sight of the store they were headed to, and nodded towards it. He was thankful for the opportunity to change the subject, and Vlad was thankful his friend didn't push the touchy subject any further.

“What would you say we'd need to clean up burn marks?”

Vlad groaned, running his fingers through his hair, “Fuck, I don't know.......”

“When you said you 'kinda' set room 107on fire, I thought you meant a little bit.” Vlad stopped dead, gaping at the room, “Not this much!”

“It was a large scale experiment.”

The entire front left corner of the room was scorched. Ceiling tiles were eaten away, revealing the innards of the world. Linoleum was painted with soot and debris, a burnt table pushed next to the door. Bright yellow string was tied from chairs and a anatomical display around the area, blocking it off. Vlad wandered closer, dropping the bucket in his hand onto a lab table. Jack sidestepped around him, setting the other supplies by the wall.

Vlad looked at him, incredulous, “To do what?!”

“We were trying to nail down the solution for the theoretical filter the Proto might need.” Jack untied the string and moved the blockade away.

Vlad joined him, shifting the chairs away from the mess, “Maddie and I have just barely nailed down what might need filtering, why are you two trying to do that already?”

“To be prepared.” Jack smiled, “It was her idea.”

“Wonderful....” Vlad rolled his eyes, sneezing into his elbow from the kicked up soot. The air smelled like something foul was thrown into a campfire.

Jack began to mix the bleach with the water, carefully measuring it so as not to further damage the room. Vlad pulled over a table and started climbing on top of it, “Help me up.”

Jack lent Vlad his shoulder, holding the other stead as he go to his feet on the desk. Vlad gestured for the supplies and jack relocated them to Vlad's desk, handing him a pair of gloves and a scrub sponge. Jack eyed him, “You're gonna fall and break your neck.”

“Well at least you and Maddie would get compensation as my suitmates.” Vlad joked, pulling on the gloves, “Get to work on the upper walls, we'll work from top to bottom to get the more difficult sections done faster.”

“Got it!”

Vlad soaked his sponge in the solution then set to work scrubbing the ceiling tiles. The soot blackened the sponge before he was even done with one section. The solution ran down his gloves and he had to keep drying it off so it wouldn't fall onto his skin. The progress was slow and painful for the both of them, both needing to constantly reach up. Vlad back began to hurt from leaning backwards a bit. He paused after a while, wiping his forehead with his free hand. The clock above the door read only 5:43, and he exhaled loudly. He was going to be beat before he even packed up to go to his evening class, let alone sitting through it. Shaking his head and soaking his sponge, he went back to work.

“Hey losers!”

Vlad startled, and swung around. Jack looked to the door, beaming.

“Maddie!”

Maddie walked into the room, her hands on her hips. She raised a brow at them, “Figures Fenton roped you into helping him with this, Masters. You look like a nanny right now.”

Vlad flushed, “Actually, I'm serving your punishment because they thought that I helped do this. Jack said nothing about you being there the entire time Dickwad chewed us out big time.”

“Dicksen.”

“Same thing.”

Jack nodded towards her, “What are you doing here, Mads, I thought you have work to do for Thursday?”

Maddie shrugged, twirling her sunglasses in her fingers, “I was feeling guilty that Jack got punished and I didn't, so I swung by to lend a hand. But seeing as your both here by school order, I don't have to do a thing.”

Vlad gave her a glare as he knelt down, “We could use your help if your just gonna sit there for two hours, you know.” he wet his sponge and wrung it. She waved a hand towards him, and set her tote bag on a clear table.

“Nope, I'm gonna work on this.” she chirped, taking out bottles, beakers, a strange blocky device, and thick packets of papers. She set the palm-sized machine on the table, curling it's wires around it.

Jack's face lit up as he saw everything, “The solution thesis!”

Vlad furrowed his brows, “Wait what?”

“I think I figured out what we need to do for the filtrator to work. It both overheats and fails to supply the engine with what it needs to form Untrihexium. So I was thinking we need a coolant that won't interfere with the pressurized reactants.” Maddie explained, flipping through the papers. She bit the side of her sunglasses, a crease forming on her forehead as she skimmed over the tiny font.

“Water. It's the easiest thing to use.” Jack suggested. He walked over to her side and looked over her shoulder.

Vlad shook his head, “Easy doesn't necessarily mean a good option. Water turns to steam, and the engine may actually split it back into hydrogen and oxygen. And personally, I don't want hydrogen anywhere near superheated polarity coils.” he stated, “Helium wouldn't react to the heat if it got too hot, perhaps we could chill it?”

Maddie frowned, “I'm not too sure about that. Besides, pure helium would run us a huge tab—one none of us can afford.”

Jack's eyes lit up, “Liquid nitrogen?”

Vlad rolled his eyes, “We don't want to freeze the entire engine.” he retorted.

“No, hear me out. Instead of a coolant we add after the fact, why don't we just alter the framework for a chamber inside it? Surround the coils and the charger with the nitrogen, that way the rest of the machine wont be melted. The coils'll get pretty hot anyway, so the nitrogen won't stay at freezing temperature for long.” Jack explained. His hands gestured excitedly around, vaguely illustrating what he was talking about.

“But if the rest of the machine gets too cold, it won't work. The parts will freeze together and the electrical currents'll go haywire.” Maddie countered, resting her chin on her hand as she leaned over the table.

“So we need something cold but no too cold. And nonreactive.”

“Argon, perhaps? Argon is the gold of the noble gases, it doesn't react with anything. The chamber idea may actually work, just not with nitrogen. We'd just have to figure out how to chill the argon, as the gas tends to not be stored at low temperatures.” Vlad said. Maddie shook her head, a conflicted grimace spreading across her face.

“I don't know....I like that, but I don't think we could chill argon.” she said after a bit.

“Okay, lets do a test.” Jack spoke up again, “Let's try some water on the smallscale test build engine, I can alter it easy for the chamber, and see if it splits. If it does, we'll invest into argon. If it doesn't, we'll try it with the fullscale. Sound good?”

Vlad jammed his tongue into a crack between his teeth, humming. He stared at the leg of a desk as he thought, mentally weighing the options. Maddie kept biting on her glasses, the toe of her shoe bouncing on the titled floor.

Vlad nodded, “Alright, fine. Lets go with that. I still stand by my assumptions, however.”

Jack chuckled, “V-man, you're too paranoid. I don't think the Proto is strong enough to rip atoms apart.” he poked Vlad in the leg with a scrub brush.

Vlad snorted, “Oh, my mistake, it's just strong enough to slam them together.”

“Settle your little butt down, Mr. Sarcasm.” Maddie chided, looking at him pointedly. She grabbed a large beaker and scooted over to him, “Masters, you fill this with water and put it in the cooler.”

Vlad frowned, pausing in his decent from the table, “Wait, why can't you do that?”

She waved her hand in the air as she walked back over to the table, “Because Jack and I need to set up the smallscale.”

“Fine, I need a break from this bending and stretching anyway.” Vlad hopped down, grabbing the beaker. Jack began to pry the dented, welded casing off the machine on the table.

“I'll try to get a chamber made up real quick, Mads, you set up the power source.”

Vlad peeked by Jack's arm, “How's that makeshift chamber?”

The bulky man snorted, placing his hands on his hips, “Not pretty, we can't put the cover on, but it's functional.”

Maddie perked at the exchange, turning and looking around Vlad at the machine. The framework was bare tot he world, wires and connections spilling out in all directions. A newly formed oblong ring was around the heart of the device, partially buried by gears and pistons. Tubing and bolts littered the table, thick cords extending from the tiny device to the wall sockets. Vlad bent, inspecting the connections and joints. Maddie nodded, and she walked tot he cooler, chestnut curls bouncing with her steps. She retrieved the glass beaker from the top shelf, breaking up the ice that formed inside with a screwdriver.

“Good enough. Let's test this!”

Vlad watched as the other two filled the cooling chamber with the ice water mixture. He eyed it, uncertain. All of the previous attempts to fix the overheating issue have failed. The smallscale never had an issue with overheating, but the largescale—the final product—did, so the smallscale had to be modified to do so. The duo finished and moved back, taking the remote control from the table. Vlad joined them, his arm crossed and his chin in his hand.

“Maddie, normally I only disagree with your genius when I have valid reason for why I don't think something'll work, but right now, I just have a really bad feeling this isn't going to work.” he muttered.

Maddie turned and gave him a small smile, “It'll be fine, most of the beaker was ice when I got it out. That's plenty cold enough, and the waters separated from the coils anyway, even if it did split.”

Vlad hummed, “I guess you're right.....”

Jack pushed between them, a wide smile splitting his face, “Ready?!”

“As ready as I'll ever be.” Vlad steeled his resolve and crossed his fingers behind his back—all ten of them.

“Flip it!” Maddie clapped her hands together, staring intently at the machine.

“Flipping it!”

The switches were pushed forward, and electricity rushed to the portal. The machines began to move, coming alive as they worked to perform their designed task. It began to buzz, and the sound got louder and louder until a soft hissing screech joined in. Vlad tensed, the uncomfortable feeling in his gut returning full force despite Maddie's reassurance. The machine wailed, but despite the cacophony of noises, it held fast. Minutes passed and all seemed well. Nothing was smoking or melting yet.

And then it was. Hot steam screamed as it poured out of a hole somewhere in the cooling chamber. The smell of burning metal wafted into the air. Metal popped as it distorted from the heat.

Jack blinked at the machine, “Uh oh.”

“BAIL, HIT THE FLOOR!” Vlad yelled. His fingers fisted into the lab coats of his friends, pulling them as he lunched himself backwards onto the floor.

The machine exploded, bursting apart and spilling is white-hot intestines all across the room. The large ball of flame expanded into the room, dissipating as it ran out of fuel to consume. Smoke rolled over the trio, the hairs on the backs of their necks tingling from the heat above them. Vlad hissed, his elbow throbbing from being slammed against hard tile. Jack slowly uncovered his head, coughing in the hazy, sulfur-smelling air hanging around them.

“Vladdie, Mads, you okay?!”

Vlad slowly pushed himself up, coughing, “I told you both. I told you and you said it was good!” he snapped, looking back towards the smoldering table, “We just basically set of a bomb.”

Maddie waved her hand in front of her face, “I'm fine, and so is Vlad if he's complaining”

Vlad flopped over to glare at her, “My complaints are valid! Do you two—”

Jack's hand twisted into the collar of his lab coat, “Fire!”

Maddie furrowed her brows, “What?”

“The room is on fire again!” Jack jabbed a finger towards the ceiling. The other two fallowed the gestured, eyes locking onto the licking flames slowly eating away at the ceiling. The far wall matched it, papers and drywall charring and crumbling. Vlad's jaw fell open.

“YOU SET THE ROOM ON FIRE AGAIN!”

Maddie slapped him, “WE SET THE ROOM ON FIRE AGAIN, YOU HELPED THIS TIME!” she scrambled to her feet, stumbling over both men's legs as she darted towards the door, “We need water!”

Vlad raced after her, trying to look through the building smoke, “Screw water, we need an extinguisher!”

“We used the extinguisher last time, it's not here anymore!” Jack called, grabbing the portal notes and tote bag from against the scarred table.

Maddie rushed in, heaving a bucket full of water after her. She threw it at the fires climbing up the wall, only partially dousing them. The flames crackled and hissed, and she swore. Vlad's eyes suddenly widened.

“Oh no, the—”

Loud alarm beeps blared to life, and Vlad had to shove his hands to his ears to muffle it. The sprinklers spritzed and began to spraying water all over the room. It did very little for the flames creeping across the ceiling.

“Fire alarm.......” he finished lamely.

“Ignore it, just put it out!” Jack snapped.

Vlad threw his arms out, incredulous, “With what, my face?!”

Maddie grabbed him by the sleeve of his arm and yanked him out of the room. The cleaner air filled his lungs and he coughed for a moment, not realizing how much smoke he'd been breathing. Jack muffled his own coughs from somewhere beside him. A bucket was shoved into his chest and he winced, fumbling as he grabbed it. Loud footsteps sounded from down the hall, and he turned just in time to see the vary angry red face of the school administrator fallowed by several firefighters.

“YOU THREE GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE! TO MY OFFICE, NOW!” the man roared, jabbing a ringer down the hall.

The trio remained frozen for a few seconds. Snapping out of their daze, they threw their buckets to the ground and took off down the hall, running as fast as they could.they all slid to a stop at a stairwell, Vlad leaning on the handrail as he tried to catch his breath. He looked between his friends, shakeing his head slowly as he registered what they'd just done in full.

“We are so dead.” Maddie said through her panting breath.

Vlad snorted, “Gee, I wonder why.”

Jack laughed, nudging Vlad in the ribs, “Oh come on, you enjoyed that.”

“I did not!”

“Liar, that was awesome. And we learned what not to do for the Proto.”

“....Okay, it was kinda rad, since it was kinda a bomb.” Vlad admitted, leaning his head back against the wall. Jack's smile grew and he punched his smaller friend in the arm lightly. Vlad just grinned and shook his head disbelievingly.

Maddie chuckled, “Don't worry, I'll bail you two out, Mr. Dicksen listens to me.”

“We're still gonna be skinned.” Vlad pointed out, pushing off the wall and walking with the other two as the slowly climbed the stairs.

Jack smirked at him, “Yeah, but do you even feel bad about it?”

“Not a god damned bit.”

“Would you want to do it again?”

“Absolutely.”

-o-oOo-o-

AN: The college trio is forever my favorite. Just gimme all of their misadventures. Also, I have no idea how the heck college works. I realize that this prolly isn't realistic at all, but fuck it, I wanted to write some college trio blowing stuff up and dammit I did it.

#Iom Tagoj #Danny Phantom #phanniemay15 #VVCOneshots #vvcwriting #VVCPhanniemay2015 #OldThings

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voxvociscruorawriting · 9 years

Text

The Worst Question

Read On Fanfiction.net

Theme: Time

-o-oOo-o-

"Life is nothing but a serious of compromises and disappointments." -Ja'Far, Twisted

-o-oOo-o-

“C'mon, old man, hit me with your best shot!”

Burning pink blasts shot past him, grazing his body. The teen twisted and shifted, dodging the attacks by the skin of his teeth. It wasn't that Vlad had bad aim, it was that Danny was incredibly quick to the dodge. White and red flared before him, and he threw himself backwards, his tail splitting into legs as his gravity and momentum shifted. Inside his chest, his core thrummed. The excitement of the battle filled it with a sensation of euphoria, only a little doused by the caution of danger taking the shotgun seat. Vlad's heat rolled over him like a tidal wave, the man's outstretched fingers splayed like claws as the ectoenergy swirled about them. A fanged snarl glistened in the street lights, the rough winds yanking his cape open with loud whooshes. Danny back flipped, aiming his foot where he recalled his enemy's face being. His boot hit nothing, and he forced the movement to completion, vaulting full head over heels and bracing himself in mid air, right side up again. Fingers laced around his ankle, and he tried to spin around, yelping in surprise. The arm pulled, and he was dragged along, as Vlad threw him down the street. He slammed into the cracked pavement of the road, bouncing and rolling before skidding to a stop. Stars danced in his eyes and he shook his head, a motion his neck protested. A heavy landing to his left, footsteps fallowing.

“You might want to rethink wanting that, Daniel. You can't handle my best shot. I barely use half my strength against you,” Vlad mused. He kneeled down to the teen's level, wrapping his fingers around the back of Danny's neck. He tightened the grip and Danny drew in a hissing breath, his shoulders hiking to his ears as his entire body tensed.

“You're a liar. Though that should be kinda obvious, your entire life is a lie,” Danny managed to spat, trying to weasel out of Vlad's grip. The older halfa just snorted.

“I tire of your petty jabs. They're anno-OWW!”

Danny's fist collided with his collarbone, the other locking onto Vlads wrist as he bent himself backwards. The resulting pop wasn't as satisfying as the crack he'd wanted, but he'd take what he could get. Vlad yanked away from him, and he rolled to his feet.

“HA! You really are an old man if you got hit with that! You're losing your touch!” Danny pretended to hide a snicker, which turned real as he watched Vlad's teeth grind into themselves. The older halfa cracked his fingers, twisting his dislocated arm and pulling. The elbow clicked back into place, Vlad never once taking his eyes off Danny. Danny suppressed a wince, snuffing out the slight envy at how easily Vlad could do what he still screamed doing. Vlad stalked forward, rolling his sore arm and flexing his fingers.

“How quaint,” he droned. Danny stood his ground, legs tensing in preparation of launching away from any incoming attack. Vlad sneered, setting his hands on fire, “Allow me to show you how wrong you are!”

He lunged, Danny darted to the side. Flames licked the air as an inferno rose in the teen's path, the asphalt crackling and popping. Alarm flashed over Danny's face, his core shying away and trying to hide from the heat. Vlad's however, drummed with frustration and satisfaction all at once.

“Time—OUT.”

Everything stopped. The floating dust in the air and the rolling flames, captured like glass sculptures. Danny's eyes wide as he awaited the incoming pain courtesy of Vlad's fist. The elder was inches away from him, an obstical the teen couldn't get away from. Stuck between fire and enemy, danger no matter which way he tried to throw himself. Vlad's eyes were ablaze with a vibrant neon red, fangs bared in a sneer. The clock hands formed beside them, turning and connecting one place to another. It disappeared without a trace and the Master of Time lowered his staff. With it, his eyes narrowed.

He floated forward, his hand unhooking a medallion from his belt. The thick silken band fell over crested hair, dangling from Vlad's neck. His eyes cleared of the frozen fog, his muscles faltering as he regained control of himself. His battle cry ended sharply, weakly, as he stumbled midair, gravity resuming its pull. Blinking, his eyes darted from Danny to the fire, to the street. Finally, they landed on Clockwork, staring.

“What.....?” Vlad slowly straightened, the absolute stillness around him uncomfortable.

Clockwork nodded once at him, “Vladimir Masters.”

The voice of the ghost sent a tight chill down his spin and he eyed it, wary. He didn't trust this unknown ghost. He ran his tongue over his teeth, asking, “Who are you? What have you done to Daniel?”

The ghost hummed deeply, “Very well. I am Clockwork, Master of Time. Daniel is fine, merely frozen temporarily. You are exempt because I wish to converse with you,” crimson eyes narrowed, and his voice hardened, “Immediately.”

Vlad crossed his arms, “What could you possible want with me?”

“You are important to the time line. Most of it has been shaped, directly or indirectly, by your actions and choices. You are the deciding factor,” Clockwork explained, floating slowing around behind the fire, “So I need to ask you a question.”

Vlad's eyes fallowed him, “Ask, then, I'm busy.”

“What do you regret?”

Vlad froze, “.....Excuse me?”

“What do you regret?” the ghost repeated.

“How ridiculous, I regret nothing,” The words spilled from his mouth before he even realized he was speaking. He held himself higher, throwing confidence and conviction behind his answer. It was true, he knew it to be. He didn't understand why the ghost would ask that, why the 'Master of Time' would even care about such a thing.

Clockwork tilted his head, “You don't regret not talking with your friends about your feelings for Madeline? You don't regret telling Jack alone about it and learning that he shared the same feelings for the same woman?”

“No,” Vlad snapped quickly. Clockwork ignored him.

“You don't regret working with them on the Proto-Portal, you don't regret standing in the way, you don't regret doubting it all? You don't regret being friends with them? You don't regret trusting the hospital? You don't regret not going to the baby showers, both of them? You don't regret resorting to thievery, to trickery, to cheating, to get to the top, not because you needed to, but because it was easy? You don't regret waiting ten years, fifteen, twenty, before you decided to do something, because every time you thought about trying, you decided you didn't have enough? You don't regret letting your anger boil and burn and tear apart the morals you once held steadfast and iron tight? You don't regret hurting Daniel over and over again, trying to teach him lessons you know he'll never learn because he's not you, his heart and mind don't work that way? You don't regret keeping your anger and frustrations inside, turning yourself into a silent ticking time bomb that has been cracking for years, waiting to go off at the slightest mishandling touch? You don't regret putting everyone in danger, for becoming what you have--”

“Enough!” his fist slammed into a lamp post, denting it. The metal glowed dull red when he removed his hand, shaking the sting out of it. He glared at the Master of Time.

Clockwork just nodded, “So you do, then?”

Vlad snarled, “My choices and my past have nothing to do with anything, I do what I want!”

“If you could, would you change any of it?” Clockwork turned away, looking at the empty street. Vlad grumbled, forcing himself to straighten and regain his composure.

“Ridiculous, I would not. This is all a means to the end. The prices are worth the gain,” he answered.

“What end? What gain?”

Vlad snarled, fingers clenching into a fist, “MY happiness! My family, my love, what I'm owed and what Jack Fenton took from me!”

“You don't have a happy ending, Vladimir. You don't win. You never can.”

“Not possible. I just haven't found a way that works,” he snapped.

“And you never will. I've seen every possible ending to every possible path that could happen from this moment onwards. None of them end they way you want. Some are better than others, some are worse than others. It all dwindles down to you. What you do. You can try as hard as you can, do terrible, horrible things, sacrifice everything and anything. But you don't get your happy end. It doesn't exist.”

“I don't believe you. You're bluffing. You can't have seen every possible time line's end. There will always be a variable that you've missed, a trigger for a new one to grow. I'll find one of those that you missed, and I will have everything I've ever wanted,” Vlad shook his head. He didn't believe that, he couldn't. The ghost knew nothing.

Clockwork tilted his head, “So you plan to continue to try?”

“I must! Failure isn't an option, I've put too much into it all,” Vlad snapped, “And you trying to scare me away from doing so has failed.”

“Very well,” Clockwork nods, and turns. He pauses for a moment, then turns an eye back towards Vlad, “Just one more question,”

Vlad glared, trying to burn holes into the ghost's back. Coincidentally, he felt like Clockwork's eye was burrowing deep into him, imploring something from him. He tried to push the feeling away. This was all nonsense.

“Will you regret it?”

#Danny Phantom #phanniemay15 #vvcwriting #VVCOneshots #VVCPhanniemay2015 #OldThings

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voxvociscruorawriting · 9 years

Text

Tick Tock

Read On Fanfiction.net

Theme: Time

-o-oOo-o-

"Fact is, people are quick to compromise their morals to achieve their desires." -Erasii

-o-oOo-o-

It was a scene he knew well. He'd watched it many times. Two people, two ghosts. One before the other, one the starkest black the other purist of whites. This was the beginning, the time when the metaphorical pan was set on the burner that was just turned on. This was where it started.

And with it's beginning, the clock began to tick.

“Daniel, stop! Think of the things I could show you! The things you could learn!”

Toxic green eyes narrowed, the snarl punctuating the clear answer.

He waited. He didn't bother to hold his breath. He already knew what was likely to happen. But he did hope. This was a choice for the elder. To continue, or bow down. There was a less than one percent chance the elder would stop. But it was that miniscule chance than had him hoping.

It was in vain.

The fight wasn't very elegant, it was rather quite sloppy. One kidnapping, the other playing hero. A few shots from an assault vehicle, a blackmail, and a truce that was doomed to be forgotten. It was all drama for the elder. A joke. He hadn't truly lost, he'd just made a slightly miscalculation. The younger made it clear he didn't want to see him ever again. It wouldn't last. The elder was greedy and stubborn. He didn't take it seriously. The younger tried to forget about it all.

With choices came consequences. The clock ticked as he pointed his staff at the screen.

The elder, under the visage of his human half, did little to hide his loathing of the one he once called his friend. If the Ghost of Time had cared, he would have found the act deplorable. As it stood, that's not what he cared for. Instead, he watched as the man admitted his heart for the woman of his dreams, twenty years late. The reaction was expected: she was married, happily so, and hadn't felt anything for her previous friend to begin with. She denied him, quite vehemently, given she stormed back out into the cold wilderness.

The elder stood in the doorway for a few moments.

Again, the hope. Would he accept this, or would he feel damned?

Again, it was in vain.

“Mark my words, Maddie, nobody says no to Vlad Masters! You will rue the day you spurned my affections!”

The Time Master sighed, as sound that was overridden by the moving gears of the clock.

Tick....

Another scene, another choice. The glowing dome protected the whole of the city from the invasion at the hands of the Ghost King. Neon green skeletons remained frozen on the streets, awaiting the signal. Several hours prior, the elder halfa had made a mistake, a very large one. He dared to steal the ring, and awoke the King. He was recovering from the rebuttal of the monarch and his rough landing into the Fenton's lab, but he was by no means lacking in strength at this point.

The younger confronted him, about the plot. Vlad just snickered with sarcasm, and the fight was on.

There was no hesitance. No second thoughts. It was beneath him to think such things, that he had messed up. Not until the teenager gripped the sword.

But even then, he refused to even think that this was his fault. This was a game of chess to him. Use the pawns, get the knight, topple a king, get the prizes. The Master of Time didn't even know if the man saw those around him as flesh and blood anymore. That they could be killed. It was counteractive, the ghost thought, how much the elder seemed to proclaim he wanted to be the younger's father figure yet he always used the child like a puppet. Manipulated him, twisted him, made him dance and bend and break.

The hate in the younger grew spiteful.

The ignorance of the elder grew blind.

He could have accepted this wasn't what he'd intended. That this situation was dangerous. But it was clear he didn't care.

He never did.

The ebony hand clicked to another notch.

Tock

The elder was ill. Perhaps it was karma, the Time Master thought. Karma for all the injures, the destruction, the hurt.

Vlad Masters saw it as yet another unjust way the world was kicking him while he was down.

In his eyes, he was owed. He was the victim. He wanted his dues and he wanted them exactly as he demanded. He was stolen from, he was ridiculed. Not money nor power nor ghost half could change that mindset. Yes, defiantly karma, the Master of Time decided. He had this coming. The price for the wrong choices before.

But I was innocent, the man would have proclaimed at such a suggestion, I've had things taken from me. I was hurt, I was wronged.

Funny, how quick he is to rattle off his excuse yet quicker to shove his fingers in his ears when they're challenged.

The halfa stood outside the teenage hotspot. He watched his old friends enter and exit in their ridiculous retro garb. He looked like he might've puked if he had any weaker a stomach. And then he saw Daniel the other direction. The others hadn't yet left the premises. They knew of his unique condition, knew how it worked and perhaps how to cure it. Despite the spite between the woman and the halfa, neither of the ghost hunters would have denied him help if he'd ask for it.

But that was beneath Vlad Masters pride.

Thus he went towards Daniel, and forced the boy's hand in his aid. It was terrible, it was heinous. But it worked, in the end.

The Master of Time didn't understand the halfa's logic, and found himself wondering.

Did the ends justify the means? Was the price worth it?

The gears turned. And he decided that the answers were no.

Tick...

Tock...

Creating life out of ectoplasm for Vlad was easy. Cloning wasn't difficult when you used the substance as a base and added the humanity onto it. But just because the process of bringing things alive was easy doesn't mean that his efforts bore fruit or lasted. Several thousand Daniels devolved into puddles by the time he'd worked out all the bugs to get to his prime. Several thousand living things died at his hands as he trial and error-ed his way through genetics and ectobiology.

Mass murders has less numbers on their records.

Six clones remained at this point. The prime, a failure not yet released, a female, and three mutants. The mutants were used like minions, sent to get the final piece the prime needed. It was like giving a bleeding man a shovel and asking him to dig his own grave. They all failed, melting into death. The female was clever, and became conflicted on who to trust. Her father, or the one her entire self came from.

Desperation pushed Vlad to this point. Desperation, delusion, and loneliness. The former was crippling. The latter was fatal. He was a bird spiraling towards the concrete with a broken wing, his limbs desperately flailing for some kind of salvation. He found none.

“I'm doing this for you, my child,” Her father promised, “I need Daniel's DNA to stabilize you.”

It wasn't necessarily a lie, all things considered. But it was.

“He's using you!” Daniel cried, “He's not planning on fixing you! He doesn't care for you!”

She was so very conflicted.

Perhaps if Vlad had payed attention to the little things rather than his grand schemes, he would have realized that he already made a successful clone. Complete with Daniel's sarcasm, tenacity, and stubbornness. Perhaps if Vlad had tried to care, he would have grown to accept her as a daughter. Perhaps if he'd tried to reason with Daniel, this entire mes might've been avoided.

So many choices. So many options. Just pick one, the Master of Time thought.

So Vlad did. He chose to loose his patience. He chose to not care.

Another Daniel died, and Vlad finally lost the final strands of his humanity.

He broke.

And no one cared to fix him.

The clock ticked closer to midnight. The gears didn't even bother to try to pause between scenes anymore. There wasn't any point.

Tick.......

Tock....

Tick...

Viscous clouds swirled above the city. Vlad phased into the basement of the Fenton household. Daniel argues with his father about the storm raging outside, about how it was the elder halfa's fault. Vlad ignored him, and reached through the floorboards to pull the teen down. Once again, the situation at hand was all Vlad's fault. Once again, he refused to accept responsibility.

“Plasmius! Nice weather we're having!”

“Ahh, the obligatory weather pun. How original,” The halfa paused, then looked back down at the teen, “But I have no time to take exceptions, I must resort to humiliatingly desperate measures.”

The Master of Time leaned forward.

“Daniel, I need your help.”

This was good. This was very good. Finally, Vladimir was bending his pride. Finally, a choice he chose well on. The two half ghosts left the home, bolting towards the newly constructed lair in the sky. They argued on the way, but that didn't matter. They arrived before the skull, the tongue lolling out with the weather ghost upon it. It boasted, but the teen didn't seem to care. The other, however, faltered.

“Do not be stupid, Masters.....” the Time ghost whispered. Of all the ways he saw this going, he knew only two had any chance of doing anything.

“Uhhh....No, I just wanted to introduce you to a friend. Daniel, Vortex, Vortex, Danny. Well, gotta fly, ta!”

And that was not one of them.

The elder fled, leading Daniel to have to deal with the weather ghost by himself. The Master of Time sighed, and pressed the button on his staff.

The hand clicked to the last notch before midnight. The second hands jumped to life, and continued to click as they began their way around the face, like the drums of a war song.

Tick...

Tock..

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.....

Vlad's fist cracked the stone next to Daniel head, the teen just barely dogging the hit. Before him, he man snarled, his sharp fangs bare and his eyes glowing red with an intensity he'd rarely seen. Danny kicked, catching Vlad in the ribs and cartwheeling out of the trapped space he'd found himself in. Vlad hit the bricks between the windows, but rolled, lunching off the building. Daniel rolled to the side, but Vlad was quick to adjust, and caught the teenager between his shoulder blades. He fell, and bounced to the sidewalk. Vlad charged after, swinging a kick towards the boy's sternum. Danny dodged, left, right, up, left, down, roll. Caught off guard from the avoidance of his attacks, Plasmius made to spin back around with a punch. Daniel grabbed his cape and yanked, sending the other bounding across the road.

The teen paused, panting for breath. His shoulder blades hurt, and he could feel sticky ectoplasm leaking from several wounds all over his body. Part of his hair was stained green from a skull fracture that he just didn't pay attention to. Vlad pushed himself to his feet, looking worse for the wear as well. Fuchsia dotted his suit, tears and ectoblast burns here and there. He snarled, and stalked towards Daniel. The teen stumbled backwards, unsteady on his sore leg. He was sure the bone was cracked

“Vlad, you need to stop,” He growled, “This is all getting out of hand.”

“I'm not stopping till I get what I want! What the world owes me!”

“The world owes you nothing! You've done nothing but play the 'woe is me' card for twenty years! I'm sick of it! It's ridiculous!” Danny snapped, standing his ground, “When are you gonna learn that nothing you do ever works and your just wasting your time absolutely ruining everything for no reason?!”

“You're a child, Daniel, stupidly naive and simple minded! I don't expect you to understand, because you can't! You don't know my pain!”

“Your pain is twenty years dead! If I'm a child, then you are too, because at least I know when to let go of stupid grudges!”

“You'll change your mind when someone betrays you in the worst possible ways!”

“I'll change my mind when you learn to let shit go! Which will be fucking never!” The air around Daniel crackled with frost and ectoplasmic energy. Cold haze formed around him, contrasting the rising steam around Vlad. The two halfa's glared at each other.

“Listen to me, Vlad, for once! Stop all of this!”

The ghost waited, and all of time seemed to hold it's breath.

Tick

Tock..

Tick...

“I don't need to listen to some asinine teenager failing all of his classes because of a foolish hero's complex!”

Tock

The hand struck midnight.

Vlad charged, and Danny dodged. Vlad skidded to a stop on the road, a pink ectoblast forming in his clawed hands.

The truck laid on its horn several seconds too late, the brake peddle even later. Vlad only had time to turn, shocked, before several tons of vehicle slammed into his chest. Metal brakes screamed as they tried and failed to stop before the road turned. It crash into the building, the stone cracking by not giving.

Danny could only stare.

An alarm beep droned out from the truck, much too loud yet eerily silent in the still moment. The vehicle lurched, then pushed backwards, the smoke billowing from the ruined engine. Vlad stumbled out from around the machine, hands outstretched in an attempt find something to balance himself. He found nothing but the side of the truck and slumped against it.

His chest was completely crushed, ribs jutting our from his suit and skin. Ectoplasm flowed freely from the wounds, thick in some places in an attempt to clot yet way too liquidy in others. Vlad gasped for breath, his hand pressing against his chest as he heaved for air. His lungs fought the attempts. The imprint of the grill of the truck could be seen clearly indented into Vlad's body, patches of chrome transfers onto his suit. Vlad coughed, violently, and nearly fell to his knees. His fingers dug into his skin. He hissed in pain, eyes oddly cloudy.

A bright glowing patch of red began to spread under Vlad's fingers, thick red tendrils of smoke rising from his chest.

Vlad tried to force himself forward. He failed with a sharp cry of pain and collapsed fully against the truck. He kept clutching at the glowing spot, his breath quickening to raspy gasps spaced between coughs. Various parts of his body began to flick from invisibility and intangibility, ectoenergy forming then dissipating around a few fingers occasionally.

Danny could see the panic seep into Vlad's eyes as they widened.

“N-no....n-o n-no -o-h god-d n-no....” he whimpered, horror filling every inch of his being. He looked down at his chest, and clenches the spot tighter despite the pain. Bits of jagged glass-like ectoplasm poked from the brightened spot, ectoplasmic sparks jolting off them.

And suddenly Danny realized too. That was Vlad's core.

Smashed to pieces.

“N-no-n-onono, p-please—ohgod—please—n-nono-nono—t-this c-can't—no please god—no—“ Vlad cried, begging as he curled in on himself. He slid to the ground, smoke escaping his lips. His leg turned intangible and he fell, landing with a pained screech on the heated asphalt.

Never before had Danny seen Vlad in such utter fear. Never before has he seen Vlad cry.

“S-somone p-please hel-lp I don't w-want t-to die,” he whimpered, trying to drag himself across the ground in sheer desperation. A trail of dark pink fallowed his slow inched forward, spreading outward as the ectoplasm seemed to just give up on trying to stop it's escape, “I don't w-want t-to die Idon'tw-wantt-todieIdon'twanttodieplease—it h-hurts—pleaseIdon'twanttodie—!”

Danny heard another moan amidst Vlad's, and looked back towards the truck. The drivers side door was open, the driver attempting to remove himself from the vehicle. Danny looked back at Vlad, then swallowed the painful lump in his throat.

He jogged towards the driver.

Vlad looked up as he noticed the teenager flying away, his vision blurry.

“D-Daniel? D-Daniel pl-please, d-don't leave m-me here, ple-ease I ne-eed h-help—it hurts,” Danny seemed to ignore him until he was out of hearing range. Vlad clenched his eyes shut, resisting the urge to wail, “P-please, Dan-niel, I d-don't want t-to d-die....I d-don't want t-to feel th-that a-again—please pleasepleaseplease Daniel c-come bac-ck.....”

Danny never went back. A fractured core couldn't be repaired, let alone a completely shattered one. There wasn't anything he could do for Vlad.

His time was up.

AN: Whoops my hand slipped.

I guess I need to cross “I never killed Vlad” off my list of things I've never done. Tbh it was gonna happen eventually.

This was inspired by something Pokeshadow said while we chatted, about how many opportunities Vlad had to just stop. But he never did. Vlad's very being prevented him from doing so. Actions befit consequences. You push something too far and it will snap backwards.

I fully believe that Vlad is Thanatophobic, which means that he fears death. Vlad, in my headcanon, experienced a very long, drawn out death due to Ecto-Acne in his time in the hospital, leading to him becoming a halfa (you can read about this in Nullify, Vilify Chapter 4). I full believe that during this time Vlad thought it was literally dying and there was nothing he could do to stop it. The sensation of death is a horrible one, made worse when you can't fight it. Thus, Thanatophobia. Vlad seems to harbor a very strong desire to stay alive, placing a lot of value of the half of him that still lives (might be why he hates Jack so much, that he's frustrated he's stuck permanently defending what half-life he still has.). Vlad will bite his pride and accept help from Danny if his survival is threatened, and even run away if he feels he is outmatched. In a sense, Vlad is almost permanently stuck flicking between fight and flight, typical of anxiety disorders, which he absolutely has due to isolation and his overcompensation methods. I also think that Vlad is Isolophobic, which is fear of solitude or being alone, often presented in a very extreme desire to cling to other people, to “keep” them.

-pats Vlad bby- You've got lots of issues, and every single one of them came from the accident or the hospitalization. But your issues don't give you an excuse to be a dick.

#VVCOneshots #Danny Phantom #phanniemay15 #VVCPhanniemay2015 #OldThings #vvcwriting

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voxvociscruorawriting · 9 years

Text

You Taste Like Poison: Chapter 1

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Theme: Girl Power (kinda)

Chapter 1: Sticks and Stones

-o-oOo-o-

He snarled, the crackling blast tearing through the laytex of his arm. Searing stinging fallowed the gash, and he hissed. His ruby eyes blazed, the ectoenergy in his fingers building. The thorny shade zigzagging around him snickered, her undamaged hide mocking him with the fact he'd yet to actually hit her.

“What's the matter, Plasmius, getting too old for this?” She sang, turning and charging at him only to shoot of the side when he attacked.

“I will remind you, woman, that you are older than me by several centuries!” He snapped, his fangs bared.

Vlad's patience with her was thin. He didn't have time for her mind games or her terrible excuse for a fight. He hated dealing with her on his good days, but on his bad, Penelope Spectra was just the absolute worst cherry on a sundae of crap. She always seemed to know when he was having a bad day. She'd never missed one. Ever.

She dashed around, never staying still or in a straight line for any reasonable amount of time. If she had, she'd already be running off to lick the hole in her body he'd have made. He shot to the side, hoping to catch her off guard but she just turned tail and began carving new patterns in the sky. He wanted to punch her—in the face.

She chuckled, her red eyes glowing with unbridled glee, “Ahhh, but I don't actually look it. You, on the other hand? Well, lets just say that people may be betting on when you might be keeling over.”

He bristled, “I am forty three!”

“Honey you don't look a day under seventy!”

“At least I'm not a horrendous old crone under all that stolen youth!”

“How dare you!”

The only thing he liked about the fights was beating her at her own games. It made it moderately more worthwhile. She charged him, eyes narrows and sharp claws outstretched. He tensed, then dodged. She swung to the left,trying to dig her fingers into his eyes. She didn't get the chance as a swift kick to her ribs sent her flying into a brick wall. She screeched, slumping to the ground several hundred feet below. He dove after her, landing on the neck of a lamppost as he watched her carefully.

Her spectral body twitched and her human guise washed over her. It was her protective measure, to block her real body from further damage. Vlad never understood the mechanic. His eye twitched, the irritability at seeing her hair still style into a knock-off version of his returning full force. She shifted, pushing herself up on her hands, turning to glare at him. He flashed a smile down at her.

“What's the matter, piyavka, loosing your touch?” He mocked, “That's no surprise to me, since you are just an ugly old lady.”

Her olive eyes flashed red. He didn't have time to blink before Spectra launched herself at him, knocking him down from his perch. His spine hit the roof of the car, the hard metal denting into the shape of his body. He grunted, kicking her off. She rolled across the grass of the park they had drifted closer to during their battle, dirt and leaves clinging to her cardinal dress suit. He pried himself from the vehicle, dashing after her and sending his fist towards her chest. His knuckles met the ground, and he vaulted, landing back on his feet as he scanned for her. Flashes of red and he turned gathering the energy blast in his palm.

Razor sharp nails slashed into his cheek, tearing it open.

“Gah!” He stumbled away from the affront, loosing his focus on his gathered attack.

“Could an old lady do that?!” Her petite weight pressed down onto his shoulders, her snarling smirk overflowing with delight.

Realization hit him, he knew this attack. She arched over him, intending to send him slamming into the ground after she flipped over him and landed. He twisted, grabbing her wrists and ripping her grip from him. She shrieked with indignity, but silenced when he tossed her onto the ground again. Their eyes met, glares matching point for point. Vlad, however, panted, pink ectoplasm dribbling from his cheek. the core drumming inside his chest was seething hot. It thirsted for energy, his reserves dwindling by the minute. Slowly, Spectra rose back to her feet.

“I tire of this, woman, I've got more important things to be doing!” He snapped, raising his gloved hand to wipe his cheek. Spectra's eyes flashed, her smirk growing.

“Oh? Like day dreaming of your precious Madeline? It's not like you could be doing any more than that, since, oh right, she forgot you existed for twenty years!” She sang,

Pink encased his hand, his eye twitching, “I will end you!”

She burst out laughing, covering her mouth, unable to withhold it any longer, “Hahaha, oh it's so easy to stroke your sore spots! I bet you wish Maddie was stroking something else!”

“Don't speak of her like that!” Vlad roared, the air around him hazy with steam.

“So it's true?!”

“SILENCE!”

Spectra ignored him, “You dream of her, don't you? You must, your unconscious is the only realistic place that you could actually have her. But then that's not true is it? You don't have her even in your most perfect of dreams! Even in a world when you control things, you can't get what you want! Not Maddie, not little Danny, not any inkling of happiness! It's hillar—AHHH!”

His hand tightened like a vice around her neck as he lifted her off her petite feet. She kicked, her nails digging into the laytex of his glove. He snarled, his muscles twitching as he struggled to remain in control and not discover if ghost could, in fact, be killed.

“I said enough.”

Her eyes flashed, “And she said no; you expect others to listen to when you refuse to listen to them,” She snapped, hooking her fingers between his grip and her neck. The edges of her clothes flickering black. He bared his fangs, but she raised her chin, looking down at him, “You're a wreck, Masters, pure and simple. I've seen broken, I've made broken, but nothing I've ever known has come close to what you are. And the best part is that that's all you're doing, Vladdie. You can't blame anyone else. But we both know you're trying so hard to do just that. That's where your anger comes from. Not from a twenty year old grudge, but your own inability to deal with your inadequacies-”

“BE QUIET!”

Pink slammed into her ribs, sending her reeling backwards through a park bench into the lake behind it. The water wasn't very deep, bug she dug a trench into the gravel and mud as she skidded to a stop. The world spun for her, cold water forcing its way down her throat. She ignored the sensation, not truly needing to breathe, pushing herself up and out of the surface. The side of her dress suit was brunt straight through, the edges of her faux flesh crusted with black charred ectoplasm. The shadowy blackness within writhed from the pain, twitching and pulsating. She grimaced as she stood, the water pooling around her waist. As much as it pained her to show such weakness, her hand clamped over the wound. The sting of the wetness from her hand forced her to flinch no matter how she tried to suppress it. Vlad landed in front of her, his hand still encased in energy. He stared down at her from the embankment.

“Ugh! Look what you've done to my clothes! No wonder people don't like you! Thankfully, no one will ever loose enough of their sense to actually change that!” She snarled.

She combed her hand through her drenched hair, coming back with several dozen more dead leaves than she would have liked. Black ectoplasm dripped down her hip to her leg, mud seeping into the darkened water sodden fabric on her back. She walked out of the lake water, her heels slipping on the stones beneath the murky water. Still, Vlad did nothing, stuck gaping at her. She shot him a viscous glare, her mascara dripping down her cheek.

“What are you staring at?! Taking pride in your 'masterpiece'?!” Vlad startled at her harsh tone, his hand empty of energy. Yet still his eyes remained locked on her, and it was pissing the shade off. She clenched her hand into a fist, stepping closer to the older halfa, intent on breaking his jaw as payment for her own wound. He didn't move, just blinked as she approached.

“You.........” He muttered, the rest of whatever he was going to say lost to the dawn air.

Her hair hung in a tangled, soggy mess down the sides of her face, the orange highlights in her way-too-red hair scattered in the mess. He cheeks for hallow, emerald eyes glaring, yet he couldn't bring himself to care about her anger.

His fingers were twisted into her dress collar, his lips slamming onto hers. He hadn't even realized he'd taken the two steps needed to enclose the distance between them, his nails digging into the think fabric as he pulled her close. Cologne and the sickly sweet stench of ectoplasm assaulted her nose. Every muscle in her body went ridged, her hands curling into curved claws as the sheer heat of his waning core washed over her chilled body. Even strained for energy, his touch nearly burnt, a fire that she'd never encountered the likes of before so close to every nerve of her face. His chapped lips were uncomfortable, the dominating pressure they placed on her own increasing her discomfort tenfold. He was a horribly bad kisser, obvious in the fact that he didn't seem to even know what to do. It was an almost laughable attempt had she been witnessing the poor display, though being on the receiving end sucked all the humor from the situation and just left her with a burning desire to rip his face off. She was about to kick him in the groin when his eyes snapped open and he practically threw her away from him as if she burnt him.

“Oh god, what am I doing?!”

She took the first moments of freedom to wipe her mouth on her sleeve, because even gross park water was better than the lingering taste of fruity red wine. The expensive good kind, a cheery little voice in the back of her head sang. Her stomach twisted.

“Ich, I could ask the same question! That was horrible!” She stuck her tongue out childishly, face contorted. Vlad, on the other hand, was trying, and failing, to remove her bright fuchsia lipstick from his lips. He only managed to smudge it, his face souring in a grimace. Spectra glared back at him, her eyes alight as she realized just what, exactly, had happened. If there was anything she was good at, it was turning any situation to her delight. Might as well have a bit of fun with this.

Her lips curled up into a devilish smirk, “Although, we both know what that was. That was your first kiss, the one you were saving for pretty little Madeline, wasn't it?”

He turned to her, confusion etched onto his face, which gave way to horrified realization after a few blank moments.

“N-no—! I-i mean....!!” He stuttered, and she barked in laughter, doubling over as her side hurt.

“Oh you're about as inept at lying as you are at romance! It's so obvious! Poor Vladdie never kissed anyone until he was forty three!” She had to wipe away an actual tear from her eye, she was laughing so hard. The blazing hatred returned to his eyes, but it was marred by the creeping pink on his cheekbones.

“I was saving it!” He insisted. She just burst out laughing again.

“Well not anymore, you just wasted it!”

“You little wench—!!”

“Hey, don't blame me! That was all you! You kissed me! Rather desperately, at that!” She threw her head back, cackling.

He snarled, and launched at her. She dove to the side, her side protesting, but he missed her by miles, his fist slamming into a tree. He twisted, sending a kick towards her face which she ducked under easily. He swung around, trying to hit her with a punch, but she dashed away from his range. He seethed at himself, he was fighting sloppy. He didn't have the energy to waste on being sloppy. He tossed his cape behind him, searching the park for the damnable specter. She stood a few meters away, a wide, cruel smile pasted onto her stained lips. The color was smudged off her lips, and he forced himself to ignore that little detail as well as the burn poking at his cheeks. The smile that Vlad has come to absolutely hate cracked her face, and he seethed more. He supposed his embarrassment was futile, given that they were both already quite acutely aware of it. But it was more the fact of keeping any little tidbit she could possibly twist with her grimy little fingers away from her.

Spectra tilted her head, “Be honest with me, Vladdy, you enjoyed that kiss didn't you? What was it for you? The frustration of being a petty lonely guy no one likes? The agony of not being able to get the woman you actually want and knowing it? Desperation?”

Vlad snarled, “None of your concern.”

She raised a brow, “Oh I think it is my concern, given it was my mouth you were sucking.”

His knuckles cracked as he clenched his fist. He wanted to shoot at her, to catch her off guard, but he didn't think he had the energy left. He couldn't exactly argue with her either, as her knack for finding the truth rang through yet again with this, but he didn't want to downright admit it. His patience was long worn thin, and he really just wanted some damn sleep. So he just pined her with a glare, hoping that she'd get the clue and actually go away.

“I've had enough of you. Go away, lick your wounds in whatever wretched lair you crawled out of.” he bite out. His hopes were in vain.

She snorted, “I don't believe you. Come on, tell me. You enjoyed it, and you want more. Something in that deluded little head of yours flipped a switch, and-”

“You looked like Maddie, okay?! Now bugger off, parasite!”

The words hung in the air like an awkward neon sign. Spectra could hardly believe that she'd heard just as much as Vlad regretted saying them. Blinking, she just raised a hand to her hair, pulling a clump of it in front of her face and stare at it. True enough, it hung in a straight-albeit ragged- arch cut slightly past her jawline. It was almost the same cut she'd seen Fenton's mother support she she'd seen the motherly woman. The sheer ridiculousness of Vlad's reasoning hit her full for and she cackled, snorting loudly.

“Oh my god, this just got waaaaaaay more pathetic! You've reached a new low, I didn't even think that was possible! I'll name if after you, so maybe you can feel proud of your twisted accomplish—”

Vlad didn't know when to give up, and running on fumes was one of those times to tap out. No sooner did his fist miss her face and her fingers lock around his wrist, twisting and tossing him into a tree, did the dark rings snap outward of his waist. With their parting residual heat, they took all of his chances to actually send her bleeding and whimpering back to the Ghost Zone. Exhaustion washed over his human form, his body protesting nearly every move as the soreness from his ghost form seeped into it as well. The specter kneeled over him, and he could just feel her smirk on him. He tried to push himself up, sheer determination overruling common sense, but she placed a hand on his collarbones and pushed him back. He grunted, his back hitting the hard bark and sending jolts of pain through his muscles. He sneered up at her, and she flashed her perfect white teeth at him.

“See, you are too old for this anymore. How embarrassing!” She mocked. He tried again to shove her off and stand, but her hand remained firmly on his breastbone, her thumb digging into the spot at the base of his neck, “I am capable of some mercy, and right now, your laughable ass needs some. See you later, Plasmius. I look forward to it. But before I go....”

Her fingers locked around his jaw, and she learned down. Their lips locked again, roles reversed as Vlad stiffened. Her lips moved against his, and like before, he did nothing. His heart sped in his chest, his parched core thrumming along in tune, a very weird sensation on top of the kiss. He wanted to be disgusted, with the gross taste of stale water mixed with spit, with the touches that shouldn't be happening, with the way he felt himself responding. But what horrified him the most was the fact that he wasn't disgusted at all, quite the opposite. He was enjoying this, again, and it was that realization that doused all of the electric sparks that seemed to race all over his body with ice water. He knew he'd liked the first kiss, as he thought he'd been kissing Maddie, but this wasn't Maddie at all. This wasn't even a human, nor someone he even liked. He was frozen, too shocked and too overwhelmed to do anything, and he tried to tell himself it was because he didn't want to do anything in return.

Spectra pulled away from him, and he stared dumbly up at her. She closed his jaw, though he didn't realize it'd been hanging open.

“You absolutely suck at kissing,” She said, smileing, as she patted his cheek.

She faded from view, her ectosignature weakened, but for the life of him, Vlad couldn't make himself get up. It was only after a long time and the realization that he looked like shit in the middle of a public park, that he forced himself to his feet. He just felt cold and numb, dazed and confused. Several early morning joggers looked his way as he walked out of the park, eying the tears on his suit and the grim clinging to the material. He forced himself to ignore the possibility that they might actually be looking at his face, which was still painted with lipstick.

He pretended it was the rubbing as he attempted to clean the makeup off that made his lips raw and sore. He also pretended he couldn't still taste the sweetness of ectoplasm on them either.

-o-oOo-o-

I'm fukcing laughing omfg this is so bad I can't even.....what is this. What. Is this. This is a monstrosity. I couldn't be bothered to research how to write kissing better because the fact that I was writing Vlad and Spectra kissing was way to ridiculous. The idea sounded good in my head and when talking with Pokeshadow, but writing it out and actually trying to imagine it happening......i don't know weather to be horrified or amused that my imagination conjured up such things so easily. This prolly would have been smoother if I actually kept with my imagination instead of stopping every few seconds to go “omfg what am I doing this feels so wrong but I kinda like it”.

Uhhhh, have some Misery Motivated? I guess? This is one of my guilty pleasures. It started as a crackship that quickly evolved into not-a-crackship. This is defiantly going to be something that I come back and completely redo in the future, since I plan on continuing it into a multichaptered fic, but right now, I don't care. Also, Vlad is totes a terrible kisser, you cannot tell me otherwise.

#YouTasteLikePoison #Danny Phantom #phanniemay15 #vvcwriting #VVCPhanniemay2015 #Chapter 1 #OldThings

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voxvociscruorawriting · 9 years

Text

In Over Your Head Chapter 2: Danny Party

Read On Fanfiction.net

Phanniemay15 Theme: Alternate Universe

Chapter 2: Danny Party

-o-oOo-o-

"If you tell me not to do something, you can bet your ass I'm gonna go it. And stare at you the entire time.” -Mreo, OC

-o-oOo-o-

There were very few things Danny hadn't seen out on patrol.

He'd seen ghosts kissing other ghosts, ghosts eating other ghosts (sometimes after they just got done kissing, much to his distress), humans whacking ghosts over the head with news papers, ghosts stealing baby socks, Vlad's vultures randomly flying in circles at midnight every third Tuesday of every month, and a weird pink substance that dripped upside down from several roofs every other week. From ghost cats walking upside down in the air to cars being displaced to balconies.

To put it bluntly, Danny's seen some shit.

But never, and he meant never, had he ever seen some so strange as he did tonight.

And that was the lights of Vlad's Master's mansion being turned on and off and loud pop music blaring so loud Danny could hear it several hundred feet into the air.

“He's prolly wasting his electricity on some crazy experiment of his...” He muttered, and dove towards the building. He kinda wished he had some Fenton earplugs, but alas, he did not.

He half expected a ghost shield to surround the building, but it didn't. He was able to swoop right down into the house, where he stumbled around in the flickering lights. He didn't know the way out of Vlad's mansion very well, not as well as his Wisconsin home, so he didn't have any idea where he was even going. He fallowed the music, however, as it got slightly louder the more he got closer. The door he come to was locked, and that confused Danny. This room was on the first floor, at the middle of the house. Why would Vlad be experimenting in here? He rolled his eyes, and phased through the door. The insults died on his tongue.

Ten sets of his eyes turned to focus on him. Whoever had been playing with the lights stopped. Bowls upon bowls worth of popcorn were strewn about the room, not that any of the snack actually remained in any of the containers. Twenty boxes of soda lined a table, next to three cakes and about thirty kinds of chips. Pillows and beanbags and blankets galore were everywhere, a huge TV playing some romcom while another was being used for a racing game. The stereo system clicked off. Still, ten Dannys stared at him. He almost gained his composure before he spoke. Almost.

“WHY ARE THERE TEN OF ME?!” He shrieked, falling back against the door.

“Excuse you.”

“There's ten of us, not ten of you.”

“Someone's a little self centered.”

One glared, “Come on, guys, don't be rude. Knock it off.”

“W-wha....” Danny was dumbstruck. Terrified, yet absolutely enraged. He knew what this was—he just wasn't understanding it. Vlad had cloned him, again. They all had his face, his eyes, his voice. A few looked a little different, and they were all wearing different things, but it still didn't change the fact that they were him. And they didn't seem unstable, which mean that they must have been stabilized....somehow. He spun around, nearly walking face first into the door as he screamed, “VLADIMIR!”

“He's not here,” One of the Dannys said.

Danny spun back around, “What do you mean, you're all here alone?!”

“Of coarse not, we're here with each other,” Another joked, and high-fived the one next to him. The two both had white hair despite being human, the silent wearing thick headphones and the other had an arm in a sling.

Danny shriveled, “Oh my god.”

“Stop picking on him, it's not funny.”

A Danny with black and white hair split right down the middle grinned, “Yeah, how would you feel if you woke up and found out there's numerous others who look almost exactly like you—oh wait!” He laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.

A Danny from the side, silent thus far, raised his hands and began twisting them in strange ways. The others unexpectedly quieted down and watched them. They all looked to Danny when he finished, as if expecting an answer. Danny blinked.

“I have no idea what you just did.”

A Danny snorted while another rolled their eyes. One of the closer ones shook his head.

“He asked, 'You called dad by his name, this implies you know him. Is that why you are here?'”

“Oh...” Danny said dumbly. Now that the thought about it, he should have recognized the sign language, “No. I'm here because I saw the disturbance that is this...whatever the hell this is,” He gestured around with a hand.

All the Dannys glared, “Hey, we don't dis your parties!”

“It's two AM, what are you doing having a party?!”

One waved his hand in the air, “Not often we get the chance to have one, let alone at night.”

“Yeah, chill, let us have our fun,” Said the split-haired Danny.

Danny glared, jabbing a finger towards the stereo system, “I could hear the music from several hundred feet away! You're gonna get the cops called on you if you don't keep it at a decent volume,” Most of them just shrugged.

“Wouldn't be the first time.”

“They'll just assume the house is haunted.”

“They wouldn't be wrong.”

Danny stared, “What do-You've had the police called here before?!”

A Danny engrossed in a handheld game tilted his head a bit, “To our credit, none of the times were intentional.”

“So you're here to crash our party. Man, aren't you a bummer.”

Danny crossed his arms, “If letting your neighbors actually get some sleep tonight means crashing this party, then yes, I suppose I am.”

The white haired Danny with the arm sling raised his brows, amused, “You....do know that dad owns every property on this street, don't you?”

Danny paused. He didn't know that. There wasn't any reason he should have even thought that was a thing. The other Danny's slowly began to smile and two chuckled. Danny curled his hands into a first.

“.....Still. The music was too loud,” They all snickered and he felt his face flush with embarrassment.

“Let's face it, you were upset you weren't invited, weren't you?” The split haired Danny leaned back on his hands, smiling wide.

“Actually, no, I didn't know any of you existed,” Danny denied.

“Mmhmmm,” One of them turned to a table and began riffling through the piles of stuff. He pulled out something and tossed it to Danny, “Catch!”

Danny caught it, his hands fumbling, “What's this?” He turned it over, and realized it was a party hat. His eyes flickered back up to the others in disbelief.

The split-haired Danny pumped his fist into the air, “Welcome to the party, now setting destinations to funky-town and groove-ville.”

“That was so bad, Darrow,” Said one of the Dannys with black hair, who was perched in a beanie bag focusing on the racing game he was playing, “Or should I say Dork-o.”

The split haired—Darrow, apparently—glared, “You wanna fight, dude? Cuz I'll do it. I'll fight you. I'm pumped tonight.”

The sign language Danny snapped his fingers, then began to sign when he got some attentions. The same one who translated last time turned to Danny, “He's asking your name.”

Danny's stomach plummeted. He really hoped he was wrong about how these ten were named, but since he was dealing with Vlad, his hopes were probably in vain.

He rubbed the back of his head, “Erm...it's....Danny.....”

3....2....1....Almost every face lit up.

“Oh good, you fit,” The translator remarked.

Danny groaned, “That's what I was afraid of.....”

A Danny, the one who was wearing the bulky headphones, hopped off the pile of blankets. His hair was streaked with both black and white, and as he grabbed Danny's arm, Danny could see his eyes were both blue and green. Danny tensed at the contact, not really wanting to be touched by any of them, but he allowed himself to be pulled across the room.

The clone pulled his headphones off, “Come on, It's not that bad. Want anything to drink? We have pretty much literally all kinds of soda.”

He stopped in front of the table, and it really did look like it had all known kinds of soda on it. Danny looked them over, uncomfortable under the clone's expectant gaze.

“Uhhh, diet Pepsi, if you have it?” He answered weakly.

The clone looked at him chidingly, “Now what did I just say about having all kinds of soda, of coarse we have that,” He drifted down a few boxes and fish a can out, offering it to Danny.

Danny nodded, taking it, “Thanks...”

He popped the tab of the soda, taking a small sip as he looked around. Most of the others went back to doing what they had been doing before, loud chatter filling the room. It was odd, hearing his own voice disembodied and saying things he wasn't saying. There were slight differences in pitch and tone, but overall, it was still his. Most even had his hairstyle too. He didn't know what to think, all he knew was that he certainly wasn't comfortable being around them. They were all technically him, yet....not. It bothered him.

A some point, the music came back. The clone next to Danny had put his headphones back on. Danny wasn't really paying attention to anything in particular, as he was focused on trying to find a way to slip out and go home—and maybe report Vlad to the police to get his ass thrown into a mental institution. He debated on excusing himself to go to the bathroom and just phase out, but that required asking one of them where on was. It was one thing for them to talk to him, another to talk to them.

The door slammed open, the door lock ripped from the wood.

“SOMEONE HAD BEST HAVE A GOOD EXCUSE FOR WHY I WAS CALLED BY POLICE THREE TIMES FOR MY LIGHTS BEING FLICKERED ON AND OFF FOR HOURS ON END!” Vlad Masters stalked into the room, brushing off his suit. The air around him cracked and popped with ectoenergy, his eyes trailing red steam. The Clones all tensed as his eyes swept over the abnormally huge mess of the room.

A clone jumped to his feet, “Scatter!”

Vlad snarled, his eyes glazing red. His fingers curled into a fist as several other clones tried to join in the escape attempt. Danny, to his credit, had only ever seen Vlad angrier than he was now once. Vlad raised his hand and thew a blast at the floor, scorching right through the carpet and some of the hard tile underneath.

“DON'T ANY OF YOU EVEN DARE!” He roared and every Danny froze instantly. Vlad shook his hand, dispersing it of the pink, and jabbed a finger at the floor in front of him, “Get back here, line up!”

The clones obeyed. The ones who had tried to run came walking back with an attitude that reminded him of dogs with their tails between their legs. The few that had remained got up and walked over as well. Danny was about to turn invisible once all of their backs were to him, but a hand wrapped around his upper arm, pulling him over as well.

“H-hey!” He tried to pull away, but the clone forced him into the line up anyway.

Vlad began to scan over every clone. Danny bit bit his lip, knowing that he'd stick out. All of the clones were in their human form—if they even had a ghost form—and he wasn't. Vlad's eyes trailed over all over them, lingering to glare at the few who couldn't withhold their snickers. One jabbed another in the ribs while another gestured to a third down the line behind their backs. Vlad was unimpressed.

“What in the hell were all of you—wait...why are they're elven of you?!” He hissed, eyes locking onto Danny.

The irritable anger was thick enough Danny could have licked it. The clones become abnormally silent, all of them looking his way through the corners of their eyes and a little leaning. Danny felt a knot form in his throat, waiting several agonizing seconds for Vlad to realize it was him, the real Danny. The clone next to him pinched his arm, a silent demand to answer. Danny swallowed, trying to think of an excuse Vlad would buy.

“Uhh....um..I'm.......a...duplicate?”

Good job, Fenton. You're an A+ liar.

Vlad stared, and Danny shrunk a little under his gaze. This was it, Vlad was gonna know it was him. Nothing good could come out of Vlad knowing he knew about the clones, let alone being caught with them. Especially when all of the clones seemed loyal to Vlad; if the elder halfa deemed him an enemy that needed disposing of, there wasn't anything Danny could do. Fighting himself was hard enough when it was just one on one, even if he'd only fought the previous clones and his future self. He wouldn't last against ten, seemingly perfectly stable clones. Danny tense so much that his muscles began to hurt, yet he didn't dare loosen. He needed to be prepared when Vlad snarled and sent a fist into his gut, sending him careening across the room any minute now—

Vlad blinked. Then turned away, shaking his head, “I don't even care right now. You're all grounded. Get to your rooms.”

Danny could only gape, dumbfounded.

“Joint or individual?” One of the clones asked. Vlad waved his hand in the air, massaging the bridge of his nose.

“I don't care. I'm tired and not at all in a good mood, so whichever you want, just get there quickly and quietly!”

The clones didn't need telling twice.

They bolted past Vlad, Danny inevitably being dragged along with them. As they ran up the stairs, several clones phased through the walls, effectively answering Danny's question on if they had ghost powers. The clone who had a hold of his arm pulled him into a room at the top of the stairs. Danny stumbled a little, blinking at the new room that was illuminated by the lights being turned on. The floor was white and the walls looked like they used to be before every color of the rainbow was splattered onto it. From floor to ceiling,the walls were streaked and dotted and freckled. Hand prints of every color used were scattered about, far too small to be Vlad's, meaning the clones had done that. The middle of the room was indented downwards, plush mattresses filling where the floor should have been. It was trimmed by pillows, little else besides about seven laptops, four iPods, and nine dressers decorating the vast room.

The rest of the clones returned through the walls, all of them carrying multiple pillows and blankets. They just tossed their bounties into the middle, and flopped in themselves, only the occasional ouch and shove indicating they hit each other.

Danny could only stare, but not for long as the clone holding him 'captive' yanked him off his feet into the mess as well.

He curled against the other shifting bodies around him, scooting into a corner when they all pretty much settled down. The lights shut off suddenly, startling Danny but the clones seemed to have anticipated it. A quiet hum vibrated throughout the room, low yet calming. A clone with white hair formed a little light orb in his hands, bright enough for them all to see the others yet not enough to be overbearing. It was pleasant and soft, and Danny found it didn't hurt to look straight into at all.

All the clones turned to him, and he fidgeted with his fingers to ease his discomfort. One of them just snorted and began shaking in silent laughter.

“A duplicate, really?! I can't believe he bought that it was soooo bad!”

Danny shifted his gaze nervously, “It was all I could think of. I'm really surprised he bought it, I wonder why.....”

“Don't question it,” Said a clone, then offered him an apologetic smile, “Although, you won't be able to leave now, so sorry.”

Danny's head snapped up, “Wait, what?!”

Another clone shrugged, Danny recognized him as Darrow, “He's turned the ghost shield on to this room, so we can't escape. It's his way of grounding us.”

“Oh my god my mom's gonna freak when she sees I'm not there later,” Danny dropped his head into his hands, dragging them down his face.

“Could be worse, y'know,” Darrow remarked, shrugging.

“How?!”

“You could actually be in danger and/or dying?”

Danny went silent and the others waited for him to speak again. One shifted their pillow under their head, the ones beside him shifting to try to get their comfort back. The way they all seemed so interconnected, it weirded Danny out. Dani hadn't been like this. She didn't have any connection to the others clones she knew about. Then again, the ones she knew about were failures, barely humanoid and not at all sentient. So why did these ones seem to treat each other like siblings, not caring how rude they were to each other or how close they got? It boggled Danny's mind, and upset him more than it probably should have. They were parts of him for crying out loud.

“Okay, I've had enough. I want to know who all of you are, and why you exist,” Danny said suddenly and ten pairs of shocked eyes focused on him. His resolve quickly died when he realized how horrible that sounded, “Well that sounded.....better....in my head.”

Thankfully, their gazes softened and a few chuckled. One shrugged, propping his head up on a hand.

“Accident,” They responded.

Danny blinked, “An accident. You all....exist...because of an accident.”

“Yeah,” The clone who made the light nodded, waving his hand, “Short story short? Poly mares 3 wasn't supposed to be used on nine of us. It was a fluke error of the computer system that negated the command to disconnect those tanks.”

Danny blinked again, “....Polymerases 3?”

This time the clone just shrugged, “No idea.”

Most of the others did as well. The streaked hair clone spoke up, “Ask dad. We don't pay attention to the science babble.”

Danny nodded, and found himself not blaming them. He hardly payed attention to his parents when they talked science babble too. His question about how they existed was only kinda answered, but he didn't know what to think about the fact that Vlad had apparently not intended on making ten of him. He waved his hand, “Okay, I got that part a little. Now who are you all.”

The clones groaned, their attitudes deflating. The sign language clone began speaking, and the others grumbled, but seemed to agree with whatever he had said. Everyone looked to the streak-haired clone, clearly expecting him to speak.

“Let's make this as easy as we can. We'll go in alphabetical order,” He said, then pointed to the sign language clone, “That's Dai, since you can't understand him. He's mute, no one knows why. He just can't speak. So he speaks with sign language, and he's one of the more sensible of us. Though he's not exactly all sugar cookies and fluff either; he likes to say sarcastic things to people who can't read what he's saying.”

Danny raised his brows, “Oh how nice.”

He studied the mute clone, Dai. His hair was white and slightly longer than the rest of his 'siblings'. He shared Danny's toxic green eyes, the only differences in his face being the slight crooked nose and thinner cheeks. A light pink crystal bracelet hung loosely around his wrist, and he was dressed in stripped silk pajamas. He offered a small smile and waved once at Danny. Danny nodded in response, raising a few fingers to greet him back.

“He hasn't done that to you though. Yet.” The speaker continued, then gestured to himself, “I'm Damir, and I would ask that you not scream into my ears as I'm very sensitive to sounds. That's why I was wearing the headphones earlier. It's my....mutation, you could say.”

Damir was certainly odd looking. Besides the streaked zebra hair and dual colored eyes, he had pointed ears, similar to Vlad's ghost half. He had minimal other differences, the largest of which being that he had no freckles. His sleepwear seemed to be just an old t-shirt and shorts, though that was also what he'd been wearing during the party. Damir gestured to another clone, one Danny didn't remember ever speaking up before—he thought. They all looked nearly identical.

The other clone seemed reluctant to speak. He refused to meet Danny's gazed, instead picking at the edge of a blanket with his fingers. With him in particular Danny felt like he was looking in a mirror. Black hair, blue eyes, same exact height, same exact build, seemingly no physical mutations. He was pretty much Danny exactly.

“I'm...Daneil, and I was supposed to be only one to be alive,” The clone said shortly, “Enough said.”

Well, that explained it. He'd been the 'perfect' one.

Damir furrowed his brows, “That's not like you to be so astute.”

Daneil looked up through his bangs, glaring, “I'm not very comfortable right now, okay?”

“Got it,” Said another, and Danny decided to let Daneil have his space; he was uncomfortable with him too.

He turned his attention to the new speaker, “Dannon, and I'm all sorts of colorblind. I don't sugar coat things, and they all call me rude. I'm pretty much the voice of reason for these people.”

“Self entitled voice of reason,” Snapped the clone with the sling, “He also reads braille, if you ever need someone who can.”

Dannon shrugged. He was taller than the others, and slightly more muscled. Like Dai, he had white hair, though it was cut short and his eyes were blue. His eyes unnerved Danny, as they lacked pupils and glowed even in the soft light of the bobbing orb above their heads. He seemed rather bored of the conversation, given he was already laying his head down, turned away from the light.

“He's always like that,” Damir muttered and Dai nodded in agreement.

The clone with the sling arm raised his good hand, “I'm Danre. And before you ask, yeah, I have a bad arm. I can't feel it, can't move it, nothing. It's a bit of a sore spot. But just because I can't use it doesn't mean I'm any less able. I've stolen a lot of dad's sports stuff because I like it, if you wanted a random fact about me.”

“No one mentioned the arm and he's already testy, geez,” The split-haired clone rolled his eyes.

Danre, like Dai, had white hair and green eyes, though his eyes lacked a spectral glow to them. His hair was also undercut on the sides, the remaining hair flopping over to the right. It was the right arm that was in the sling, a snug red beaded bracelet on his left. He had shallow bags under his eyes, and his pajamas were a mismatch of patterns. He didn't notice Danny staring at him, to busy with the other clone.

Danre glared at the split-hair, “Don't think I won't hit you.”

“Go ahead, I dare you,” The split hair turned to Danny, smiling wide, “Name's Darrow, I'm the weird one.”

“Understatement,” Muttered Dannon.

Darrow snorted, “Yep. I'm the weird one in terms of personality and in appearance, given this hair is all natural. I love dares, and I love doing stupid things more. My downside is that I...uh...kinda have issues controlling my powers. Only sometimes now, though, used to be way worse....”

He rubbed the back of his neck. Darrow had dual colored eyes as well, Danny noticed, though different from Damir in that they were both solid colors. Blue was on the left, green on the right, and they glinted with barely hidden mischievousness. His hair was messily styled into points that mimicked Plasmius', the possible attempt to look cool ending up looking more like a cheep Cruella De Ville re-imagine. He wore a loose tank top and stripped pajama bottoms, and they seemed to have been cut down the center and sown to an inverse other side.

An unnamed clone leaned closer to Danny, whispering, “That's his way of trying to warn you that you may wake up encased in ice.”

“Wonderful....” Danny muttered, not at all enjoying that prospect. He'd already done that last week, after he learned of core powers.

The clone who made the light waved a little, “I'm Daumier, and I think I got Dannon's missing visual stuff. I...well, just have a look.”

Danny furrowed his brows as the clone began to untie the bandana that covered his forehead. The dark fabric came off, revealing three more eyes. Danny stared as they blinked and focused on him, “I can't stand bright light, I always have to wear sunglasses during the day—even inside. I also prefer the use of they/them pronouns, if you wouldn't mind?”

“I'll....try to remember that,” Danny nodded, not quite able to pick his jaw off the floor yet.

He couldn't help it, he stared and the eyes stared back. Daumier was obviously uncomfortable with that, as they averted all of their gaze to their fingers. The eyes were ocean blue, all of them, and held a spectral light in their depths. Their hair was the longest of all the clones, reaching just past their shoulders. It appeared to be layered choppily, creating natural gray tones in the whiteness. Like Dannon, they also seemed to be taller, though they was thinner, more meek. Their pajamas were simple silk and just a dark solid color. Danny quickly muttered his apologies, which Daumier quietly waved off.

Another clone shifted, “Davien, and I have mood problems. Like, not even kidding when I say I'll be laughing one minute then sobbing three minutes later. I don't know why, it's just a thing. I don't like that I do it any more than others do. I also bruise really easily, which sucks since I'm super flexible and like to see how I can twist myself.”

Danny looked at the clone, recognising him as the one who spoke earlier. Looking at Davien was like looking at Daneil all over again, and Danny assumed that Davien might've been the second after the prime. He was slightly shorter, though, and had a weird reddened patch over his left cheek. Odd for the clones who had black hair, his eyelashes were white. He confused Danny, though.

“What d you mean by 'super' flexible?” He questioned and all the other clones made 'no' gestures as soon as he started to speak.

Davien smiled and proceeded to bend his elbow in the completely wrong way. The bone pops that sounded from it made it so much worse and Danny felt a little ill as he watched the clone almost lay the lower arm on the forearm completely. He returned his arm to its natural alignment, then bent his wrist back in the same way—only this time he was absolutely able to touch the entire back of his hand onto his arm. Danny had to look away, it was too gross. He noticed a lot of the other clones were doing the same, Dai grimacing. Davien just snickered, resting his chin in his palm.

“That's why people shouldn't ask.” Daumier stated, “Daziel, your turn.”

“I'm the cripple,” All of the clones looked at him, shocked. The clone, Daziel, just raised his brows, “What? It's true. I can't use my legs, mainly cuz my ghost half can't form them. I'm also the midget. But I've got a temper and trust me, my lack of legs don't mean anything if I want hit something.”

Dai began to sign and Damir translated, “He likes to pick fights.”

Daziel puffed his chest out, indignant, “I do not. I just have no problem ending them once they begin.”

“Oh what are you gonna do, run people over with your wheelchair?” Darrow snorted. The reaction was like throwing Caesium into water. Daziel was pushing himself up, his eyes glowing a burning yellow as he snarled at the troublemaker.

“You wanna test that theory?!” He hissed, aggressive. Darrow snickered, snorting loudly.

Danny held his hand up, trying to negate the situation, “No need for any of that....”

Daziel glared at him, but settled back down after a few moments, huffing. His eyes faded to green, his hand carding through his dark tangled, spiked hair. His cheeks and nose were covered in freckles, more so than Danny's were. The tank top he wore was formfitting, which was also true for the pants. A faint spectral aura surrounded his legs, and Danny assumed that that was because he was always prepared to turn them ghostly to move them. True to his word, Daziel was incredibly short, easily just being four foot six. Darrow had mentioned a wheelchair, though Danny hadn't seen one nor did the house appear to be catered to that particular disability. And then Danny kicked himself because duh, flying ghost power.

“Only one more, thank god,” Davien remarked, then admitted at Danny's confused look, “We don't really like doing this.”

The final clone looked around, his 'siblings' nodding, “My turn? I'm Dmitri, the only one who not have a 'DA' name.”

“Dad ran out,” Daumier informed.

Danre snorted, “I think he ran out at Daziel's name, what kind of name is that even.”

“I will fight you, go ahead, keep dissing my name.”

“Anyway, getting back to me, I have....obsessive compulsions, and they make me anxious for seemingly no reason. I can't help it. I take care of the plants and wear these jewelry pieces to try to soothe it all, but it doesn't really help much. Tight spaces bother me, really badly, too,” Dmitri said quietly, holding up his hand to show a multiple banded ring before going back to playing with it.

“He's a master at Uno,” Darrow added. Dmitri gave him a look.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Darrow just shrugged.

Dmitri, like Daziel, had black hair and green eyes thought Danny just barely saw the latter given how much Dmitri avoided looking at him. His hair was the same length as Danny's, but it was pulled back into a tiny shaggy ponytail. The ends of his long sleeves were picked to threads, and Danny saw why when he went from the ring to the ends, pulling the fibers apart. Daumier gently laid their hands over Dmitri's, and his fingers stilled. Danny looked away, unwilling to make him any more uncomfortable than he already was.

Dai raised his hands and began signing. Daziel was the one who translated, “He says, 'we've told you a bit about ourselves, it's only fair you tell us about yourself.' Quite frankly, I agree.”

Danny tensed, an awkward pressure settling into his chest at being the center of attention. A few of the clones noticed and thankfully looked away. Daziel crossed his arms behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. Danny swallowed, finding himself agreeing with the clones on how much this sucked.

“W-well....I'm Danny, and...I don't really know what else to say. Uh.....I turned on the ghost portal from the inside and I don't like large machines anymore. I protect the town from the ghosts, and the ghosts from the ghost hunters. I'm failing every class I'm in, my sister tries to psychoanalyze me every night, and Vlad and I are arch enemies,” He explained, his voice wavering as several surprised eyes turned towards him. He was never good at public speaking, and he very much considered ten people to be 'public'.

Daziel waved his hand, “Waitwaitwait, back up, you fight ghosts? With what, your bare hands?”

Danny blinked, “....Well, yeah? I mean, sometimes I'll use an ectogun, but only when I have access to one and can't transform. Why, you say that like it's weird.”

“It IS weird, and pretty stupid of you,” Dannon said.

Danny shrugged, “If I don't fight them, no one will. People would die.”

“That's not your responsibility,” Danre countered.

“It is. I've made it mine.”

Daziel hissed, “You're a child.”

“I'm willing and I'm able. That's all that matters.”

The clones went silent. The quiet was tense and uneasy, and Danny found himself wanting to hear one of them talk, even if he still found it odd to listen to. None of them did however, they just laid there. The deep breathing of sleep was soon peppering silence from Dannon.

Darrow laid down after a while, “Well, I'm going to sleep. I'm crashing from the soda.”

“I am too, these pillows are way too comfy to deny any longer.” Daneil agreed, sitting up just long enough to grab a blanket forgotten on the hard floor. The others muttered their quiet goodnights.

Danny looked between the three, “So you all sleep together.....in a big pile?”

Dmitri nodded, “Mostly. Sometimes we sleep in our individual rooms. We sleep better together, though.”

“What, that gross to you? We've all got identical DNA anyway,” Daziel muttered. He turned away from Danny, presumably to go to sleep as well.

Danny shook his head, “Just...never heard of that being a thing,” Daumier hummed, while the others remained silent.

Danny could feel the exhaustion from his long day weighing his body down, its claws grabbing for his mind too. The bruises from that nights ghost fights throbbed as he remembered them. Sleep would help them heal at least a little before he had to wake up in a few hours. He cast uneasy glances at the clones around him, and decided he'd try to sleep as far away from them as he could. They might like to sleep with each other, but he was only comfortable with his friends in a shared bed. Completely disregarding the fact that he was in his ghost form, he shifted farther back into the corner. He felt several eyes on his back as he turned away from them, curling up into a tight ball.

“Night, all of you,” he whispered, letting his head rest on the soft mattress.

“Night, Danny.”

For the life of him, he couldn't tell which one had spoke before his drifted off.

-o-o-o-

AN: Goodbye friends this chapter killed me. Writing ten different characters at once is incredibly difficult, especially before they're names were revealed. But I did it. I got this fucker done. Now I just have......

….over fifteen more chapters to go RIP THIS KILLED THE VOX

#InOverYourHead #Danny Phantom #10Clones #phanniemay15 #vvcwriting #VVCPhanniemay2015 #Chapter 2 #OldThings

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