Author's Note
Hello again! Thank you so much to everyone who read my first prologue and to those who left me a review! Seriously, I was so happy when I logged on and saw my first ever reviews and that they were positive! It does mean a lot to me :').
You might work out from this first proper chapter that I'm a big fan of the fruit loop that is Vlad Masters and I love the fanfics that delve into the recesses of his complicated noggin and explore father/son relationships regarding himself and Danny. There is just so much more to Vlad than the evil villain he is portrayed to be in season 3. That's why I've set this fanfiction at the end of season 2, before any of his 'take over the world' things kicked in :).
Anyway, enough rambling from me... for now!
Enjoy :)!
As the population of Wisconsin turned their thoughts to sleep, one individual realised a peaceful slumber was something that was not going to come to him willingly that night. Waking up for the fifth time, his mind was plagued with memories of one particular teenage boy. How he had let this boy into his life to such an extent that he could not go a day without thinking about him was beyond him. For a man who had various companies to run and had to worry about leading a double life, he really did not have room for these thoughts in his cluttered mind.
Deciding he no longer cared for looking at the ceiling, he tied a red robe around his waist and made his way over to his dresser. The sight, although a familiar one, was not one he welcomed. The wrinkles that framed his face seemed to grow each and every day from failed attempt after failed attempt at gaining what was rightfully his. Sure his methods were a bit unorthodox by anybody's standards but didn't he deserve a little bit of happiness? Happiness that he knew came in the form of a young boy and his mother.
A sigh escaped his lips as he turned and wandered towards the window. Looking out over the serene countryside, a single thought echoed through his mind. What would his life be like if he had never met the Fentons? A whole lot easier that's for sure! But he wouldn't be special. He wouldn't be a billionaire. And he certainly wouldn't be one of the most feared creatures both here and in the Ghost Zone. As much as he hated to admit it, the Fentons had given his life a purpose. A set of goals he wouldn't be content until he achieved. Kill the father, marry the mother, gain a son. It all seemed so simple when he put it like that. So why hadn't he come close to achieving at least one of them yet?
Transforming into his alter ego, he phased through the window until he was steadily flying over the trees, swaying peacefully in a cool breeze. Of course he knew exactly why. The boy. That boy he desired so much to be his, to have at his side for eternity was he recognised as his weakness. Honestly, the amount of power the boy held over him was scary, even for an all powerful ghost mastermind like himself. Thankfully, the boy didn't know this... yet.
A pained yell escaped his throat as one his hands glowed with ectoplasmic energy before he sent it catapulting down into the unsuspecting countryside below. Living so far away from civilisation, no-one was disturbed, perhaps except for the wildlife that once called this selection of trees their home, but honestly, who was going to miss a couple of woodlice?
He quickly collected his thoughts before mentally scalding himself for letting his emotions get the better of him like that. Being an evil mastermind, he never did have time for emotions. They made him weak and weaknesses could be exploited. He just hoped his one recognised weakness would never be so.
Why couldn't he just get rid of this pathetic thorn in his side? He wouldn't have a problem disposing of a few other obstacles here and there, so why not that teenage boy? His mind settled on one particular obstacle that he certainly wouldn't have a problem disposing of. Danielle. Fortunately for her, he had no idea where she was. Or whether she was even alive any more. For all he knew, she could have melted a long time ago. If she hadn't however, the billionaire certainly wouldn't have a problem helping the process along. Whilst alive, she was a constant reminder of his failure to obtain the perfect half ghost son. However desperate his attempt at cloning his arch nemesis was, it was justified. After coming to the conclusion that Daniel would never forsake his father willingly and join him, the only other option left was to attempt to duplicate him, wasn't it?
Now those plans had been thwarted however, he did not know what else to do. It troubled him. He always had had a back up plan, so where was it now?
He had failed over and over again, and it was not something that sat well with the half-ghost. In his darker times, like this, he thought about eliminating the problem altogether. Eliminating the Fentons. But that meant eliminating Maddie... and Daniel. Why shouldn't he though? All that boy had done was cause him grief and pain beyond imagining, demolishing his every attempt to be happy. Disposing of him would also mean getting rid of his one weakness. So why couldn't he bring himself to do this? He was more powerful than the boy so it was perfectly possible. It would also cause that bumbling idiot Jack pain beyond all imagining... So why couldn't he... kill Daniel? Injure him, sure. Traumatise, why not? But kill? That thought made the billionaire slightly uncomfortable.
He slowly let gravity take hold again before landing on a fallen tree in the middle of a misty clearing. Amongst the dense ground foliage, his acute eyesight spied a lone ant carrying a sizeable stick above it's pitiful mass. Funny how he could draw so many parallels between himself and this measly insect. Coordinating their every activity with intricate precision, being able to lift several times their own body weight, a determined streak. He always felt the weight of the world on his shoulders but like the ant, didn't seem to mind and he never gave in. He knew he would never give up until he achieved his life's goals. Yet, when all is said and done, he wasn't just an ant. He was Vlad Masters and he had work to do.
"Time Out."
With the turn of a clock hand, the Time Master appeared in front of the temporarily frozen billionaire, a glowing orb, pulsing in his hand. He looked the man up and down before placing the orb in the hollow of the tree Vlad was standing on.
Clockwork stopped for a minute before going back to his isolated part of the ghost zone. The man before him had always fascinated the Time Master, more so than the other hybrid sometimes. Yes, he could see this creature's possible futures but what he couldn't see was the billionaire's thoughts and it genuinely frightened him. The man was notoriously impossible to predict and although he could prompt him towards one future and one course of action, he couldn't be sure whether he would take the bait, so to speak.
His employers were right about one thing. He was playing a risky game with this hybrid. After all, even after his interference with Daniel's future, he had to 'cheat' to ensure it remained an alternative and not the reality. Whose to say he wouldn't have to cheat again, lest his employers succumb to their blood lust.
Deep down, he was 99% his plan would work. Being the Master of Time, it was easy to work out the Billionaire's weakness and exploit it. He just hoped that 1% wouldn't come back to bite him.
"Time In," and with another turn of a clock, Clockwork was gone, as if he had never been there.
Vlad Masters finished his out breath just as Clockwork disappeared, completely unaware of the pulsing orb now resting underneath his feet.
"Oh the life of a billionaire, hmm? The amount of paperwork one must keep on top of really does put a downer on the pound signs," Vlad mused out loud just as he completed his metamorphosis into his ghostly alter ego before he flew back to his Wisconsin mansion to complete said paperwork.
Just after he ascended however, he heard, or rather felt a deep thudding sound, and it was close. The hybrid unwillingly succumbed to his human curiosity as he turned his head in the direction of the strange pulsing. Straight down. He may have had a mind of which the complexity rivalled that of Einstein's but he was still half human and although his brain was telling him to leave, his human heart was telling him to stay and find out what this strange pulsing was. Ultimately, his heart won for a change.
Deciding not to get too close to the area from which he figured the thumping came from, he landed again amongst some dense foliage on the edge of the clearing, about 20 metres from the log he was just standing on. Experience had taught the older hybrid to never be too cautious and as such, he sent a duplicate forward to investigate.
The sound, frequency or pitch of the thudding never changed with the duplicate's proximity. It just remained a constant pulsing. After getting as close to the noise as Vlad deemed safe, the copy found itself peering down and into the hollow log but what he saw, he did not expect.
An orb. A small, fragile, clear, pulsing orb.
Strange the billionaire thought to himself. He could have been certain that had not been there when he had been standing just above it only moments ago. Or at least the strange thumping hadn't, or he would have surely felt it, wouldn't he? So how did it get there? Or how was it suddenly activated, for want of a better word? He could be certain there had been no other ghost around this clearing. He would have sensed it's presence. So how in the world was it now there?! It honestly frustrated the hybrid that he, for once, did not have an answer to these questions. He was always one step ahead of the game, so why was he not now?
Quickly pulling himself out of his spiralling thoughts before it became too late, he decided to complete his investigations. His duplicate formed a ball of ecto energy in one of it's palms before it fired it right at the centre of the orb. What happened next however, he did not predict. The orb rebounded the blast... and shot it straight back towards it's owner! Not prepared for such an assault, the copy took the full force of it, before being wiped from existence. Clearly, this orb did not want to be destroyed.
Grunting in irritation, Vlad's mind processed all possible courses of actions regarding this orb. Proximity didn't affect it, and he was not about to attack it again. Maybe he could test some of his other powers on it. Intangibility perhaps... but that would mean making physical contact... and if the person who put it there wished him harm that could only be a bad thing. His mind even contemplated leaving it and flying back to his Wisconsin home, that this orb might not even be anything to do with him. But something told him this orb was meant for him. Why he didn't know but he did know he wasn't about to leave.
So what was he going to do now? He found his thoughts drifting back to his younger rival and his reckless streak. Though he condemned it and always preferred his intricate planning to the boy's rash impulses, even he had to admit that Daniel always seemed to come out on top in their quarrels. It was almost comical, like someone had written his character to be the villain and Daniel's, the hero.
Taking a leaf from his nemesis' book, he took a deep breath as he advanced, crouched down and reached out his hand towards the pulsing orb.
Upon making contact with the foreign object, the forest he was standing in suddenly dissolved around him. Panicked didn't even cut it. He was terrified. Vlad Masters was terrified. Why the hell did he touch that blasted orb? Why didn't he just leave it be? Now he was being sucked downwards, almost like being dragged through the gates of hell. Except there were no flames or a kaleidoscope of colours. It was pitch black.
It was then that he realised something else. He couldn't breathe. He was suffocating in a black vacuum. I guess now he knew how spiders felt like when they were sucked down the plughole. But would anyone even find him if he died here? In this airless void? … Would anyone even care?
He pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind. They wouldn't do him much good at the moment. Rather, all they would do is depress him. So, he concentrated on one of the most basic and yet most complicated bodily functions. His breathing. But no matter how much he tried to pull precious air into his lungs, all that would greet him was a rasping sound as his throat constricted without a drop of oxygen passing through.
But wait. Wasn't he in ghost form when he touched the orb? He was sure he could survive without oxygen for a while... but not forever. Well that was it then. If he couldn't come up with a plan of action, he was going to die here. He was going to die alone, with no one around him. He was going to die as a result of his own foolishness. The notion of your life flashing before your eyes before you die couldn't be more accurate for the billionaire at this current moment as he thought about everyone that ever did him wrong. Jack. Maddie... Daniel.
Suddenly, he was wrenched from his thoughts by lashings of rain whipping against his skin, and the hustle and bustle of people below him as they struggled not to get wet. As he opened his eyes, he realised something. He was in Amity Park. But wasn't he in Wisconsin just a couple of seconds ago? Was it possible that orb was some sort of teleporting device? It was perfectly plausible, but then who would want to bring him here?
Before he could spiral into the recesses of his own mind yet again, he was distracted by a piercing scream that flooded the air around him. A scream so pained, it was spine tingling. A blood curdling scream he recognised could only have come from one person.
Daniel.
Without a second thought, he took off in the direction of the scream, ignoring the horrified citizens below him. In that moment, his fatherly instincts towards the boy kicked in as he couldn't think about anything else apart from getting to Daniel. The intensity of his scream was one that meant the young halfa was clearly close to his limits. True, he had caused the boy unimaginable pain in the past but that was when he was in control and he knew he would always stop before his desire to do away with the boy took over. But it was clear that whoever or whatever was causing Daniel this much agony had no intention of stopping any time soon. The younger hybrid was more than likely going to be murdered if he didn't get to him, and fast.
He found the source of the scream at the top of a ten story office building, in the centre of Amity. A crowd was gathering below, some wanting to see what was causing their hero Danny Phantom to let out such a scream, others waiting with recording equipment, hoping to catch live footage of his imminent death. Honestly, it was sickening. What was more sickening though was the sight that greeted him at the top of that building. Daniel. But not the Daniel he knew. Not that Daniel who would never give up no matter what. Nor the boy who would laugh in the face of danger. Nor the hero who would sacrifice anything and everything for his home town and those that lived there. This Daniel was pitiful as his ragged body lay ungracefully atop the edge of the building, ectoplasm oozing from the deep gashes that decorated his unsightly body. His quivering being, intensified by his laboured breaths reflected only one emotion. The younger hybrid was scared. Not a big surprise when one considered he was probably about to be killed but from the older hybrid's perspective he was petrified of the being that had actually done this to him.
His gaze finally rested on the creature behind him. The ghost's light blue skin tone contrasted greatly with it's piercing red eyes, filled with a loathing so deep which Vlad could only assume originated from the need for revenge. Yes, he was very familiar with that particular emotion. Fiery hair framed the spectre's face, cascading down his neck and falling to rest upon his cape, very similar to the billionaire's own he noted, which rippled in the unrelenting wind. His muscular physique, which towered threateningly over the teenager completed the whole intimidating super villain look Vlad guessed he must have been going for. But what caught the older hybrid's attention the most was the black and white jumpsuit framing said muscles. It was too similar to Danny's own to be pure coincidence. It even had Danny's signature icon plastered proudly on the front. In that moment the thoughts and explanations going through his brain were too numerous to count.
Daniel let out another blood-curdling scream as the ominous being seemed to electrify the helpless hybrid to the point that the white transformation rings appeared around his middle and travelled up and down the length of his body, replacing his mutilated black and white jumpsuit with a blood stained white tee and blue jeans.
The next part all happened too quickly for the billionaire to recollect. One minute the creature seemed to be talking to the young hybrid and the next, he had thrown him careening off the top of the building, heading straight towards the scattered crowds below and his ultimate doom.
Acting on impulse, the older hybrid shot forward to swipe the younger out of the air, ultimately saving him from the harsh concrete below. If he could save the young half ghost now, he might come round to seeing him as something more than an arch enemy. He might finally recognise him as the father the billionaire so desired to be. Well it was worth a shot. Telling himself this was the reason for his, what some might call heroic, actions, he reached out his arms underneath Daniel's tumbling mass only for the boy to fall straight through them. Impossible! Daniel was far to weak to phase and even if he wasn't he doubted the boy was even aware of his presence!
Just as Vlad let gravity overwhelm him as he shot downwards in another attempt to catch the doomed halfa, he was submerged once again in a suffocating darkness before he found himself in the clearing he had been so rudely taken from only minutes beforehand.
He tried to slow his accelerated breathing as he attempted to come to terms with what had just happened. Had he just seen Daniel die? Or worse, did he just witness Daniel's murder? And was he... powerless to stop it from happening?
All logical thinking told him that someone messing with him. Using his weakness against him. But who knew his weakness? He was pretty sure not even Daniel himself knew of it. Even he wasn't aware of it until the Pariah Dark incident. So what the hell was that he just saw?
Priorities first. He resolved to know if the inconceivable event he just witnessed was real as he took off to the skies and towards Amity Park.
Author's Note
So that's that then! Hope I didn't do Vlad's character too much injustice hehe :P. If it is not already clear, I will try not portray Vlad as a two dimensional villain in this fic!
Yep, I managed to get this chapter up pretty quickly because I had already mostly written it when I posted the prologue but I haven't written anything for the next one yet, so it might be a few days longer. Plus I work Wednesday - Sunday so may not be able to work on it as much as I've managed to in the past couple of days lol. That being said, I will try to update weekly, and failing that, every 2 weekly :).
Oh and we might see our favourite teenage half ghost properly in the next chapter, hopefully without him getting murdered. Naw, wasn't I cruel to him in this chapter?
Love to my reviewers and readers *virtual hugs* See you all next time!
