Pompus Pep – Shameless NSFW smut. You have been warned.
CHAPTER 1. Into the Rabbit Hole.
/\(o-o)/\ ~ !
Danny had been hearing the oddest rumors of late. Vlad gathering allies in the ghost zone...making "Deals."
It probably didn't help that he was, for the most part, disconnected from the goings-on of the ghost zone lately. After his parents (finally) developed a functional barrier between the portal and the ghost zone, the amount of spirits that could sneak through and pick a fight were few and far between. The amount that were willing to spread the latest in ghost gossip was even fewer.
Still, after the shield went up and the fighting went down, even his encounters with old enemies became less aggressive than he was used to. Something about 'territory' and 'lairs' had been mentioned, but the teen hadn't really paid attention.
With his the end of school recently passed, and his 18th birthday swiftly approaching, the lack of ghosts had made a conspicuous difference in his grades. Namely, his ability to turn in papers on time meant a sudden and well-deserved boost to his GPA. From the looks on his parents faces at that last report card, they were as relieved at the bounce up as he was.
Still, lowered ghost attacks plus higher grades meant college might actually be a viable option for him.
Danny stretched out on the roof of FentonWorks, dangling his feet over the edge and spreading his arms out to feel the cool nighttime wind. From the few snippets he had been able to glean from the mumbling snarls of an ectopuss, his old enemy had been the source of speculation. Danny wrinkled his nose at the thought of Vlad starting some new dumb plan.
Giving up being the mayor had probably been the best idea he'd ever heard from the man. One Halloween the guy had just announced his resignation and packed his bags, heading off to Wisconsin. Of course Danny had seen the Vulture trio around since then, and Skulker occasionally mentioned the other halfa during his random appearances. It had been nearly a year, Danny realized.
He pushed himself upright, kicking his feet up to counterbalance the move.
That was a long time to go without hearing from the guy. For a while back in Sophomore year, the guy had practically been obsessed with him. For that obsession to suddenly drop? Danny hummed, glancing around for observers before letting the rings scatter light and transform his body with a burst of sweeping cold static.
That deserved investigating.
He slid down through the floors of his house, passing his parents and hearing a few snippets of some conversation involving the words "Lasagna" and "Evolution." (He probably didn't want to know the context.)
The portal's energy was just as delighted as ever to see him, a vague tickle on the back of his neck letting him know that everything was fine. Purified ectoplasm levels were good, no contaminants, no blockages on the other side. Perfect.
Danny tugged off his glove, pressing it to the biometric scanner and holding back the grin as it still read him as 'Daniel Fenton'. A little fiddling and he had been able to register both versions of himself.
The blast doors slid open, shimmering green with the cool fog hissing out from behind it. The cloud swirled up to greet him, but Danny stepped into the liquid horizon without any fuss or fanfare. The blast doors would close after 30 seconds, he didn't have time to waste.
He opened his eyes in another world, the pupils taking a moment to adjust to the new color spectrum, lungs catching for a moment as they switched from earth's atmosphere to the heavy gaseous ectoplasm that saturated this environment. He cleared his throat and glided onward into the Zone.
An ectopuss growled at him as he passed it, but sank away into a cloud instead of rising up when he shot it a glare. He dodged around the dangling, reaching roots of a drifting island, skirting the sudden stab toward his stronger 'life' signature. He could see a knot of roots deeper in, where some slower prey had already been dragged in.
Such is 'Life'.
Danny reached his goal, noting that the path had been a bit more straightforward than last time. Skulker's island must have drifted more toward Dora's kingdom, he usually had to weave around it.
The purple football struck him as obnoxious as ever, sliding to the side with ease, but quickly trying to dart back into position to guard the open portal it hid. He shot inside, slithering out the other portal with a little shudder. Fenton designed or not, Vlad's portal felt nothing like his own.
He ruffled his hair, a faint cloud of green mist releasing its clinging hold and sucking back toward the green swirl behind him. Vlad really had to put up a door or something on his portal, anyone could just waltz right in. He took a breath, sucking his energy in closer to his 'core' and hoping that Vlad wasn't paying particular attention to his ghost sense.
The lab was as neat and coldly sterile as always, lacking the cluttered 'in use' feel that his parents' had. Danny frowned at the pieces of cloning tubes sitting in the corner, nodding after he double-checked that they were still wrecked, and not being rebuilt.
Aside from a rather ominous-looking tent in the corner, everything else looked normal. Danny lifted one of the flaps, blinking at the clear plastic behind it and peeking inside.
Holyfuckingshit.
He dropped the flap like it had bitten him, zipping back a dozen feet and flinching intangible.
Nothing jumped out at him, but the sight of those black-purple vines sent a shiver down his spine. Nothing good could come of those things being cultivated.
He looked around, genuinely expecting Vlad to glide out of the shadows saying some corny "You can't escape me now, my boy" kind of line.
Nothing.
He hummed again, glancing suspiciously at the tent and shooting upward into Vlad's mansion proper.
Most of the lights were out, nothing was out of place… Ah, someone had left a bathroom light on, and the shower door was still cocked open. No sounds from inside, and a quick glance showed some steam still clinging to the edges of the mirror, but no one inside.
He continued exploring, slightly entertained that the bedroom he had stayed in the first time he had met Vlad had been turned into some sort of entertainment room, with a poker table. Did he even have friends to play with?
Well, the guy was hella rich, and probably threw business parties.
He gave the poker table a doubtful glance, then carried on. If the guy was anywhere, it would probably be the master suite. Maybe sleeping.
Maybe he could scare the shit out of him for kicks and giggles.
With that opportunity lighting his face up in a grin, Danny quickened his glide, heading toward the sliver of golden light spilling out from the cracked open doorway. He could hear faint noises from within, assuming it to be part of some TV show.
In hindsight, he probably should have paid more attention. Vlad wasn't the type to watch TV.
Danny shivered into invisibility, peeking through the crack and spotting the guy's foot on the floor, like he was laying on his belly.
He pushed open the door, ready to spring forward and deliver either a startling shove or a zapping ectoblast (depending on how fast the man reacted to his presence, maybe both), when the reality of what he was seeing suddenly crashed around his ears.
Heavy breathing through someone's nose. (Vlad's)
A closed-eyed look of bliss. (ghostwriter)
Tense shoulders and broad hands grabbing pale blue hips.
Danny paused, his brain screaming to a halt. The gears seemed locked into place, clicking uselessly as the rest of his senses continued to absorb the input.
Vlad's hair was in a higher ponytail than usual, his bare, pale shoulders dusted with pink. He had made a quiet noise, something that a mouth could only make if it was being stuffed with something else. His head bobbed down, tilting slightly before he withdrew with a slick sound.
The man coughed, red smoke puffing out between his lips, and an annoyed look passing over the sliver of face that Danny could see.
"Really? Now?"
The teen realized he had dropped the tight control over his core, his invisibility falling with it.
Of course, he only realized that after Vlad's pink-laced eyes met his own, the look of surprise morphing into horror, then acute embarrassment.
The remaining, functioning part of Danny's brain went:
"Nope."
He spun around, diving through the floor and darting back toward the portal.
The hot puff of teleportation warned him of the approaching halfa, and Danny lunged to the side, avoiding the grabbing hand and getting an eyeful of a panicked, very naked Vladimir Masters before diving into the portal and streaking back toward his own like the hounds of hell were snapping at his tail.
The portal's welcoming embrace did nothing to comfort him, but he felt a bit of gratitude for the sliding of space that let him emerge from the wall of the lab, instead of trying to wrestle through the blast doors. He had the sense to prod back some appreciation before fleeing to his bedroom.
Hell no.
Hell.
No.
That didn't just happen.
Holy shit, what? No.
NO No no.
He scrubbed at his face, throwing himself on the bed and quickly getting off of it, transforming back to human and letting the warm weight of blood pump through his heart.
Danny could feel his brain slowly starting to catch up to speed, re-processing exactly what angle Ghostwriter had been leaning back, and how his pants had been undone, and how concentrated Vlad's face had been when-
AGH NO.
He stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him and running the sink.
Cold water on his face didn't really do anything except let the scene replay on the back of his eyelids while he reached for a towel.
The idea of stripping down to take a hot shower sent a 'YIKES NO' feedback into the quietly screaming part of his hindbrain. It was especially potent, considering the replay of that sound had sent a flicker of arousal into his stupid body that he definitely did not want to acknowledge.
Fuck.
No.