Summary: In a confrontation with his archenemy, Danny passes some harsh judgment on Vlad that the older hybrid cannot accept, and Danny finds out that there is much more to Vlad than he could have ever imagined. Because nobody is ever born the villain; Vlad Masters is no exception. This is his story.

A/N: Originally I started writing this story on the side as a kind of personal creative outlet, but I decided recently that perhaps I would share it here with you all! I have a section of this story written; I am approaching the end of the first arc (I have three planned). Granted, I had an outline, but as it always goes with writing, things are being added and it looks like this story may be longer than I had originally anticipated. I have an ending in mind, but I've given myself quite a bit of liberty with how the story gets there. I'll see how it goes, I suppose! If the first few chapters are received well enough, I will certainly be more motivated to continue writing, so please feel free to leave a review after reading. I welcome any feedback and constructive criticism!

I hope you enjoy!

A side note: This story takes place sometime during the second season of the show, before Kindred Spirits (so no Danielle, no cloning, and nothing from season three).

Also, this story does have a T rating. Not so much for the first arc of the story, but more for some events that will occur during the second and the third (and final) arcs. So I decided to mark the story as T to be safe.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of its characters.

Chapter 1: The Whole Truth

Tap… Tap… Tap..

Dark.

Tap… Tap…. Tap…

Cold.

Tap… Tap… Tap…

Empty.

His black, polished shoes make sharp, distinct clicks as he walked across the shiny, marbled floors of the foyer of his mansion. The sounds echoed loudly, making the house seem bigger all while making him feel smaller.

Now, Vlad Masters was not a man who could easily be made to feel small. To the world, he was a man larger than life. His homes were large, his riches were enormous, and his pride was even more so. His parents had long written him off, but he had risen above them all and built himself an empire from the ashes. The name Masters was synonymous with success and fortune; it was the name that everybody in the business world knew and the name that every business owner dreamed of being associated with. Vlad had started from nothing but had quickly climbed the rungs of the business ladder and now he stood at the top. He had succeeded where so many had failed.

Success? How can you call what you did success? Your companies are founded on lies and manipulation! Your riches stem from theft! If that's the kind of success you're trying to offer me, then forget it, I don't want it!

Vlad growled and stopped suddenly, clenching his fists as Daniel's words from earlier that day suddenly reverberated through his mind.

The street was a mess. Dirt and rumble was strewn all around and dust clung to the air, so much that Vlad could barely make out Danny on the ground, struggling to rise from the small crater that he had created when Vlad had thrown him viciously from the sky.

Vlad flew down to where Danny knelt, a devilish grin on his face. "Had enough, Daniel?" Vlad asked mockingly. "Have I beaten some sense into you yet? Perhaps now you will listen to my proposition calmly and quietly, like a good boy?"

Danny looked up from the ground, his glowing, green eyes glaring up at his arch enemy. "Listen to you? Why should I listen to you? What you want is sick and twisted!" Danny stood up to face Vlad. His arm held his injured side, but that didn't prevent him from giving his adversary a disgusted look. "Look Plasmius, I've said it a billion times, but I'll say it again because maybe your old age has made you deaf."

Vlad's eyes narrowed dangerously at the insult, but Danny continued, "You'll never get my mom, I'll never let you hurt my dad, and I can personally guarantee that you'll never get me to come on to your side either! Your lies and schemes may have gotten you rich and famous, but it sure as hell won't get you anything more than that!"

Vlad scoffed. "Oh please, Daniel, you speak with such naiveté, even for a boy your age. You think lies and manipulation to be bad, but believe me — because I speak from experience — honesty gets you absolutely nowhere. If you want to succeed in life, boy, then I best suggest you take up my offer and join me."

Danny scoffed. "Success? How can you call what you did success? Your companies are founded on lies and manipulation! Your riches stem from theft! If that's the kind of success you're trying to offer me, then forget it, I don't want it!" Vlad open his mouth angrily, but Danny kept going. "Plasmius, you are so absolutely messed up, I don't know why I even bother!" Danny turned around and waved his hand dismissively in Vlad's direction. "Look, if we're done here, I'm already late for school. In the mean time, maybe get your head checked, I think the accident that gave you your ghost powers might have also messed up your brai—"

Before Danny could even blink, a black-gloved hand whipped him across the face and he was thrown back several metres before he smashing into the brick wall of a nearby apartment. He gasped as his head struck the wall behind him, and his vision swam. Coughing, he grabbed his aching head, trying to clear the stars he was seeing.

Crunch. Crunch.

Danny looked up suddenly at the sound of footsteps, a painful twinge shooting through his skull, and he saw a shadow coming closer through the dust. Then suddenly Vlad was in front of him, grabbing the neck of his suit and slamming Danny up against the wall.

Vlad's eyes burned a bloody red. Danny realized with slight apprehension that he may have crossed some sort of line.

"How dare you talk to me like that, you impudent little brat!" Vlad growled viciously, ignoring Daniel's gasp as he pushed him harder into the wall. "You toss around your words so carelessly! How DARE you make a joke out of the accident that ruined my life!?" Vlad forcibly threw Danny aside and Danny once again hit the ground hard, groaning.

Danny pushed himself onto all fours as Vlad walked over. He knelt down and grabbed Danny's chin, forcing the boy to look up at him. "Now boy, if you know what's good for you, you'll watch your mouth around me, because next time I won't be nearly as lenient." With a finally shove and an ectoblast to the chest of the younger hybrid for good measure, Vlad stood up and began to walk away.

But Danny was sick of Vlad.

Sick of his big talk and pompous attitude.

Sick of always being beat on and looked down upon.

Sick of Vlad always stamping on his morals and calling him naive, weak and pathetic for trying to do the right thing.

Danny rose to his feet, and pointed an accusing finger at Vlad. "Oh, so you're just going to walk away then, Plasmius?! Figures! You've lived dishonestly your whole life, of course even the way you fight is dirty! Come back here, Plasmius, we're not done!"

Vlad snorted derisively as he continued to walk away. "I have no desire to continue fighting someone in such a pathetic state as yourself."

Danny whipped his arm through the air in frustration and continued to shout: "I'm pathetic!? Look at you! We've both been through the same thing, Vlad! We've both experienced the same accident that flipped our lives completely upside down! But you know what the difference between you and me is? I had the strength and chose to take the high road! Lies, manipulation, dishonesty — that's the easy way out!"

Vlad stopped dead in his tracks. A moment passed, the only sound being Danny's heavy breathing. Then Vlad whispered, his voice so quiet that even with his enhanced hearing, Danny strained to catch his words, "You think you can just compare yourself to me, Daniel? You think that what happened to you even comes close to what I experienced after your idiot of a father caused the accident that gave me these abilities?" His tone was even but his words trembled with anger.

Danny's eyes flashed green and he clenched his fists. "My father isn't an idiot, Plasmius! That's all you." Danny growled angrily.

Vlad continued as if he hadn't heard the younger hybrid. "You can't even fathom how lucky you are, Daniel. You had friends who supported you. Later, once your sister found out about your ghost powers, you had her support. You had a home. You had everything provided to you. You weren't alone, like I was."

Danny let out a growl, running his hands through his white hair in frustration. "You know what Vlad? You piss me off whenever you talk about how you were 'all alone'. You weren't alone! You had my parents, but your bitter attitude pushed them away! Hell, you probably had other friends and a family, but based on your history, you probably pushed them all away too, seeing as all you ever seem to do is PUSH PEOPLE AWAY!"

Vlad whipped around and opened his mouth angrily, but Danny cut him off. "Here's an idea Vlad!" Danny yelled sarcastically. "I know this may sound absolutely crazy to you, but maybe, just maybe, you should try taking responsibility for your actions and the way you turned out instead of pinning the blame on everybody else!"

Dead silence was Danny's clue that this time he had definitely crossed a line.

The expression on Vlad's face was murderous. Any remaining composure drained away from his face leaving it completely puce, his eyes darkening maddeningly. Danny took a step back at the look in Vlad's eyes. Danny had seen Vlad angry before — of course he had, they fought on a weekly basis — but he had never seen that look in Vlad's eyes directed at him. A look of pure hatred.

"H-hey Vlad, look," Danny started nervously, taking a few steps back with his hands in front of him, trying to distance himself from Vlad. "I didn't mean that, I was ju— whoa!" Danny cried as a hot blast nearly scorched him.

Danny made to take flight, but then Vlad, having teleported over, was suddenly there, grabbing onto this arm and slamming Danny viciously into the ground. Vlad kicked at Danny's chest, but the younger hybrid went intangible and sank through the pavement. Vlad whipped around, snarling as he looked around for the boy. His internal ghost sense warned him just in time and Vlad spun around to block a punch from Danny, who had materialized behind him.

"Vlad, calm down, I said I'm sor—" Danny started but was cut off by an ectoplasmic blast to the shoulder. Danny cried out, the blast burning painfully, and dodged a second and third attack aimed this time for his head. In defence, Danny formed a shield, but Vlad's fourth blast shattered it. The young hybrid gasped in shock; Vlad was angry beyond reason, something clear in his enemy's bright, wild red eyes.

Danny knew that he couldn't take down an enraged Vlad in his current injured state. His only way out of this was to go intangible and fly away as fast as possible. Unfortunately for him, Vlad also realized this.

"Oh no you don't, brat, I'm not done with you!" Vlad snarled and teleported in front of Daniel, grabbed his throat and lifted him high in the air.

Danny gasped, desperately trying to pry away the fingers at his throat, but Vlad held him with an iron grip. "Let g-go, Vlad" Danny grunted, squeezing his eyes shut against the pain.

But Vlad ignored him, and with a savage laugh, very much unlike any sound Danny had ever heard him make, Vlad let a torrent of electricity tear down his arm into Danny's throat. Danny let out a strangled scream, but Vlad only relentlessly increased the energy he was driving into the young ghost boy.

After what seemed like hours for the young hybrid, Vlad threw Danny to the ground. Danny clutched at his throat, gasping in pain while trying to push away the black that was creeping around the edges of his vision. Danny knew he couldn't pass out now, not with Vlad in such a rage. Vlad would kill him.

Danny froze suddenly, eyes widening in horror at his realization.

At this rate, Vlad would actually kill him.

The young hybrid looked up at his adversary just in time to see Vlad pull back his fist as wild, dark magenta energy gathered in his hand. With a cry of rage, he swung his hand down at the younger hybrid lying on the ground before him. Danny raised both arms, palms out, in a desperate attempt to form a shield. He braced for impact.

But the impact never came.

Danny looked up incredulously at Vlad, an expression of confusion etched on his face. Vlad stood before him, energy still crackling menacingly in a fist frozen in mid-swing. Danny held his breath, waiting for Vlad to unfreeze and come at him again… but he didn't.

Vlad lowered his arm, cursing under his breath. He couldn't do it. Why couldn't he do it? The little rat had asked for it! He deserved everything he was getting. So why couldn't he do it?!

Vlad turned his back on Danny, breathing hard, fists still clenched in anger. The two hybrids stayed in their respective positions in complete silence.

One minute passed. Five minutes passed. Yet neither of the two dared to move.

It was Vlad who broke the silence. "You say you know me, Daniel. You think you know who I am and you dare insinuate that you understand me," Vlad whispered, his words laced with anger and something else that Danny couldn't quite place. "What you have is tidbits. Little facts about me that you have twisted and strung haphazardly together in an attempt to create this— this villainous image of me. So you can justify your actions against me. By creating this image of me that I am irredeemable and immoral and a monster of a human being, you then compare yourself to that image and you can therefore call yourself the hero."

Vlad turned around and Danny flinched, expecting another brutal assault. But that was no longer on Vlad's mind.

"But you don't know me Daniel. Don't presume that you know anything about me, because most of what you think is true is just a convenient lie you, your family and your friends have fabricated." Vlad finished, and once again there was quiet, until:

"So why haven't you ever told me the truth?"

Vlad scoffed bitterly. "Because you never bothered to ask."

"I'm asking now."

Vlad sighed, and looked up at the sky as he said sombrely,"No, Daniel. If I told you now, I fear you'd only hate me even more."

And then quite suddenly, the older hybrid disappeared, leaving the young hybrid sitting in the rubble.

Vlad shook his head as he walked, trying to clear the memories of earlier that day. But no matter how hard he tried to think of something else, the memories kept coming back.

Vlad entered his bedroom and walked over to his large mahogany desk. The older hybrid walked down its length, fingers trailing along the polished wood. The desk was mostly unused by Vlad, seeing as he preferred to work in his study, but his fingers picked up no dust. His hand stopped at a set of drawers built into the end of the desk. He opened the second drawer from the top. Inside were some pens and highlighters, along with a few pads of legal paper, but Vlad paid no attention to them. He slipped his hand into the drawer and felt along the sides. Then he found it, a small nub right by the back top corner. He pressed it, and heard a distinct click as a hidden side compartment opened. Vlad reached inside and grabbed hold of the object of his search.

A book.

Once a shiny, black leather, an old gift from one of his former relatives, the book was now faded, its corners worn and frayed. Holding it tightly, as one would a lifeline, Vlad sat in the armchair in front of the desk. He placed the book gently on his desk, and hunched over it slightly, suddenly very weary. Because this wasn't any old book. This was his journal.

His life story, every important event that had built him into the person he was today, was contained in this faded, leather journal. From his later childhood, to his college days, to his accident, to all those years spent in and out of the hospital. Ever happiness, every sadness, every love and every betrayal was held in the pages of this book.

Since he had received this journal at the young age of fourteen, it had been an outlet for Vlad. Even when computers became popular and everything became documented on a hard drive, Vlad always went back to his journal. Perhaps it was the because of the old-fashioned influence from his former parents; perhaps it was because he considered other forms of recording his memories to be too impersonal. Perhaps it was a mix of both.

Vlad opened it carefully, the pages crinkling softly under his delicate touch as he skimmed the thick journal. He skipped through the beginning, skipping through the entries dating back to his years of private tutoring and boarding school during his adolescence.

The last entry in the journal dated back to the day he had left the hospital for the last time. Since that day, he had never opened the journal in an attempt to bury the hurtful memories of the past. But as much as he had wished to destroy it, he was never able to bring himself to do it. Because, as much as he didn't want to admit it to himself, this journal was a physical reminder of who he was. It was a reminder of what he had been through. It was an anchor to his sanity, a justification of how he had turned out.

Suddenly, Vlad stopped skimming. The date in the right-hand corner of the page was still clear, written in black ink, referring to a day twenty-five years in the past. The day his fate was sealed and his life was changed forever.

His first day at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

With a burdened sigh, Vlad gave in to the memories.

He opened the book.

And he began to read.

A/N: I've always found Vlad to be a fascinating character, but the show never went into much detail regarding his past asides from, of course, the accident during his college days. I really wanted to give Vlad more of a backstory that would add to his character, further explain some of his motives and reasoning, and provide a more in-depth explanation as to why he became the way he is in the show. The goal isn't to justify his actions, by any means... but rather to give more insight on what exactly happened in his life that twisted his morals so much. This first chapter is an introduction that includes both of our favourite hybrids, but the majority of the story does focus on Vlad's past!

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for updates!