Ghost's Don't Wear Converse 1
Danny wasn't sure what exactly he was meant to say. It was the first day of summer break and there was Vlad. Outside his school. In a limousine. And proclaiming that he was there to pick Danny up. Now this was strange for multiple reasons. One; getting in a car with his arch nemesis was probably a bad idea. Two; what in the world would the obsessive fruit loop possibly want with him bad enough he would go to Danny's school even. And three; Sam looked about ready to make Vlad into a ghost for good if he so much as blinked at Danny wrong. On one hand Danny didn't want one of his best friends to go to jail. On the other hand he wouldn't actually miss Vlad attempting to kill his Dad, or hitting on his Mom and trying to kill him for standing in the way of any of his evil plans.
"I just want to talk Daniel. Privately. Why don't you call off your watch dogs?" Vlad smiled holding his hands up innocently and gesturing towards Sam and Tucker.
"Excuse you!" Sam demanded taking a step towards the car.
"Down girl." Vlad interrupted sounding more bored then anything. Not even mildly impressed that such a small girl would dare oppose him. He's used to these three being stupidly brave by now. Although even if they tried the only one who actually stood a chance was Danny.
"Sam, knock it off everyone's looking." Danny pointed out. Not that they were being inconspicuous. Vlad, the richest and most influential person around, was outside Casper High in a limousine and claiming that he was there to pick up Danny. Everyone's eyes were at that moment on Danny Fenton and one wrong move could put them both on the cover of a newspaper. The last thing Danny needed was to have the media following him around. Ghost hunting would become impossible. "Just hang back guys. I can take care of the fruit loop." Danny added with a cocky smirk.
"Please, you act as though I am up to no good." Vlad smirked back. "I assure you I only intend to have a long conversation with Daniel."
"Can you shorten it a bit? I really don't want to have to spend the better half of my evening listening to you go on and on. It is my summer break you know. And I think I'd rather spend it fighting the box ghost."
"In that case..." he opened the car door and gestured for Danny to slide in first. "Shall we?"
"Sure but you should know. I never kiss a guy on the first date." He replied getting into Vlad's limo at least glad there was a driver there to bear witness if Vlad tried anything funny.
Vlad slid in behind him and shut the door, rolling the window up in Sam and Tucker's faces as they told Danny to call if he needed any help. For the most part Danny wasn't worried. He could hold his own against Vlad and even when he couldn't he would manage to find some way around it. Recently, he'd become much stronger. At seventeen he'd almost fully mastered his powers. Clockwork had a lot to do with that. He'd been a huge help in Danny mastering certain powers.
"So you're about to be a senior, isn't that right?"
"What's it matter to you?" Danny asked raising an eyebrow.
"Just an innocent question. Got any plans for over the summer?" He asked.
"Save the town. Thoroughly annoy you by thwarting your evil plans. And having as normal a social life as a teenage freak can possibly have." Danny answered voice dripping with sarcasm.
"My, Little Badger. You certainty don't seem excited to be around me." Vlad commented with a light smile as though he knew something Danny didn't.
The rest of the car ride to Vlad's second mansion in Amity Park was spent in silence. Neither halfas really wanted to invite more trouble onto themselves. As they pulled up in front of the impressive mansion Danny was starting to lose a bit of his confidence. Good things never happened at Vlad's house and he was certain that this time would be no different.
The mansion itself was absolutely breathtaking. At four stories tall it stretched out further then his school. The mansion grounds probably could've swallowed his who campus and the surrounding block. The road wrapped around a large fountain in front of the "home" creating a tear-drop effect that reminded him of a fairytale castle. Well maybe more like a haunted mansion, Danny thought after seeing the vines wrapping up the sides of the building. Not that it was too far off from the truth. Vlad himself was a haunting. Although he guessed if that were the case Danny was too. They were both a result of Jack Fenton's inventions.
"Like the new place?" Vlad commented getting out of the limo and holding the door open for the younger halfa.
"It has a certain Haunted Mansion vibe to it. Is Eddie Murphy here?" Danny asked lazily pointing at the building. "I guess you can say it has a: spiders on the walls, dusty, and ghosts riddled charm to it?"
"Wait until you see the rest of it." Vlad smiled leading the way inside. Danny followed not really caring right now about Vlad attacking him. The driver was still watching and inside the mansion he could easily just "go ghost" and kick ass.
The inside of the mansion didn't disappoint. At least it was well lit and clean. It seemed much nicer on the inside, but being indoors did nothing to take away from it's daunting size. From the entrance there was a large staircase leading up to the second floor but he could see the landings for the third and fourth floor from where he was. The floor plan was obviously rather open and only served to add to the creepy factor. He guessed some people would find this to be impressive, but it only gave him the chills. Losing a little bit more of his bravery from earlier, he followed Vlad deeper into the house. Towards the back of the hall, there was a smaller hallway with a few doors in it. Vlad led the younger halfa into a room. It looked simple enough, actually it looked more like a principal's office rather than a private study. The walls were an ugly green color with a dark brown boarder. It wasn't a color scheme anyone would really want in their home.
"Why don't you take a seat Daniel?" Vlad offered casually sitting down in one of the chairs facing each other. Danny didn't quite trust Vlad enough. He wouldn't be at all surprised if metal straps came out of the seat and clamped around his joints with some new ghost suppressing technology. Holding Danny still long enough for Vlad's newest evil plan to occur. Instead he crossed his arms and remained standing. "Do you want something to drink?"
"Why don't you just cut to the chase?" Danny frowned wanting to get this over with as fast as possible.
"Very well, Little Badger. Now as I'm sure you are aware I have had a crush on Maddie for quite a length of time in my life."
"I couldn't tell." Danny snipped.
"Hm. Lately, I've been thinking more and more about something else entirely. Before I would say that Maddie took up about eighty percent of my thoughts. Now something else, or I suppose I should say someone else hast taken up almost all of my thoughts."
"Good! That's great. You can move on and quit trying to kill my Dad." Danny suggested coolly. "Is that all? Can I go?"
"At first, I thought it was nothing more then hatred. Common loathing between two rivals. But my thoughts were consumed by them. Always trying to best them, to see them defeated by me and I wasn't sure why."
Danny was sure that Vlad could feel how awkward this situation was. Why was he telling this to Danny of all people? Wouldn't Skulker be better, they kind of seemed to get along. Although he supposed Vlad didn't exactly have any friends. But he wasn't sure why that meant he had to be the one to listen to this. Maybe because he was the only one aware of Vlad's crush on his Mom and his secret identity.
"Slowly, after years of agonizing over it I began to realize it was less loathing and more of a love deal. I was in love with my most hated enemy."
That threw Danny for a loop there. There was someone Vlad hated more than Danny? Walker? Or maybe Clockwork? Danny shuddered at the idea of Clockwork and Vlad acting like a couple. The idea of it being his father was there for a millisecond before be forced that out of head. Fighting with Vlad over Maddie was hard enough. He would have no idea what to do if Jack got involved.
"I then decided that instead of waiting for it to be too late. This time I won't let someone else take my beloved from me. Tell me, you and that watch dog, Samantha are the two of you still going out?" Vlad looked curiously at the younger.
Danny frowned. Vlad and Sam didn't exactly have a happy history. Enemy could be a good word to use. "Sam? You're joking right? We broke up two years ago. But she's dating an older scene kid now. You wouldn't stand a chance with her."
"Oh Heavens no. I am not interested in dating Samantha Manson of all people. That girl is far too...green for me." He supposed green sounded better then calling her annoying as she was one of Danny's best friends. "I was talking about you, Little Badger."
Danny wasn't sure what to be more concerned about. The fact that Vlad was still calling him by that stupid pet name, or that fact that he called him that stupid pet name while also mistakenly announcing that he was interested (romantically mind you) in Danny Fenton.
"I'm sorry I think I heard you wrong. I mean there is absolutely no way you just said what I think you said. Please repeat that."
"I was talking about you, Little Badger?"
"Try rephrasing it."
Vlad smirked coolly. Vlad can look cool? "Daniel Fenton, I am in love with you."
Danny choked on air. Not one of his most graceful moments.