You all know the drill by now. Just another Danny and Vlad one-shot. You can think of this as just a continuation of "Too Close For Comfort." Looks like Vlad wasn't joking about the whole, "I'm gonna kidnap you so we can spend more quality time together" bit.
Let's see what happens!
P.S. This chapter was inspired by Kvalificatsia's art work on . It's called "Let's play a game." It's an amazing picture of Danny and Vlad and I just had to write about it! Please feel free to check it out for yourself!
Chapter 2: Let's Play a Game
Danny struggled against the spectral bonds that held his arms behind his back. His legs remained unbound, (thank goodness) but did him little good seeing as he wouldn't have made it far before being captured once more.
"If I could just 'go ghost' then I could get outta here…" Danny whispered as he squirmed in the large almost throne like red chair. He fought with the ropes a bit more trying to will his ghost half to the surface but only felt an elusive cold feeling that made him shiver.
The raven haired teen felt another shudder run down his spine as a haunting chuckle broke through the silence.
"It's no use little badger." Vlad's deep teasing voice come from somewhere behind the teen but Danny couldn't see where. "Those ropes could keep your ghost half restrained all night if I allow them. So you might as well stop struggling and relax." The older halfa's voice was as smooth as silk as if the boy should completely ignore the fact that he was being held against his will and just get cozy.
"Where are you Plasmius? ! Come out where I can see you!" Danny called out swallowing his fear as the vampiric specter remained out of sight.
"There's no need to shout dear boy." Vlad's voice came from above him. Danny snapped his head up to find a smirking Plasmius looking down at him. The vampire like hybrid was leaning against the side of the chair completely at ease, his pearl white fangs gleaming in the darkness as the flickering light from the glowing fireplace made his blood red eyes smolder with intense delight forever burning the image into the teen's mind.
"I'm right here." Plasmius' eyes became half lidded as he reached his hand down to the boy. Danny's heart leapt into his throat as the black gloved hand descended upon his face nearly blacking out his vision until he quickly turned his face away, body tensing up for whatever attack the man had planned.
But the threatening hand merely rested atop his head gently ruffling the soft black strands, an action that made the ghost boy tense up even more as his cheeks turned dark pink.
Danny listened to Plasmius chuckle low and sinister before feeling the halfa remove his hand and watched the man move till he was standing in front of him. The younger halfa glared at the man with all his might refusing to let his fear show.
Was he scared? Oh. Yeah.
The teen couldn't remember a time when the older halfa had seemed so dangerous, so menacing…
Plasmius was now standing before the giant fireplace, shadows dancing across his face making his sharp features look sinister as the shadow of his form stretched across the room laying a blanket of darkness over the ghost boy.
Danny sat in the man's shadow wishing more than anything that his eyes would start to glow. Anything to make him seem more intimidating than the cornered animal he felt like.
"What do you want Plasmius?" The little hybrid demanded after a moment of silence.
"What do I want?" Plasmius echoed in an innocent voice arching one eyebrow knowing it would make the boy's blood boil. "I would think that answer should be obvious to you by now Daniel."
"Right, because everything you do makes complete sense." Danny replied sarcastically, leaning back in the soft chair. Vlad merely smirked knowing exactly where the boy's attitude was coming from. It probably didn't make much sense to Daniel why the man had suddenly snuck into his room in the dead of night and had blatantly kidnapped him for no apparent reason.
But there was a reason. It was however a very simple reason mind you, and simple reasons, obvious as they are, tend to go unnoticed.
"Put some thought into it my boy." Plasmius said calmly, smirk still in place. "I'm sure you'll come to find that all of my actions do make complete sense. Everything I do is for a reason."
"Yeah, selfish reasons." Danny snapped back. "I don't want to know what goes on in that blue head of yours Plasmius, I just wanna go home!"
"And do what? Play some more of those mind numbing video games you teenagers love so much?" The scarlet eyed ghost drawled.
Danny was suddenly glad it was dark in the room as he felt his face heat up. Seeing as luck was never on his side the teen just so happened to be playing "Space Crafter 2" right at the moment of Plasmius' unwelcomed visit.
Of course he's going to throw that in my face.
"That's just one of the many problems with your generation I suppose." Plasmius continued with a sigh. "Wasting all your time playing games when you should be studying or perhaps even more importantly, sleeping."
"I bet you would've loved that." Danny stated with a glare, all embarrassment gone. "It wouldn't have been too hard to kidnap me if I had been asleep after all." The teen said with venom.
"Daniel," Plasmius chided in a gentle teasing voice. "It wasn't hard to kidnap you while you were awake." The ghost boy growled but the vampiric ghost only smiled. "I suppose it's all for the best though. You see, I just going to bring you here while you were asleep,"
"Kidnap me while I was asleep." The teen corrected but Vlad easily ignored it.
"And let you sleep through the night. But seeing as you're wide awake," Plasmius' grin widened, his tone setting off alarms in Danny's head. "Why don't we play a game?"
"A game?" Danny asked mentally slapping himself as his fear slipped out in his voice.
"Yes, just a harmless game, or a deal if you will. I'm sure you already know where you are, right little badger?"
Danny blinked at the sudden question but nodded. "Your cabin in the Rockies." It wasn't hard to figure out what with all the familiar animal pelts lining the walls and Plasmius setting him down in the same chair he had sat in the first time he had been tricked to come here with his mom.
"Correct, and just outside is a small section of forest about 10 miles long. It's a rather long distance if you're walking but for someone like us, well, it would only take a few minutes to fly through it."
"So…"
"So we have a race."
"A race?" Danny smirked. "A race between you and me?"
"Who else my boy?"
Danny couldn't believe his luck! When it came to ghost powers Vlad always had the upper hand, but flying. The ghost boy knew he had the older halfa beat there. Last time he was here with Uncy Vlad he could reach a speed of 112 miles per hour. But NOW, now he could fly a little over 200 miles per hour!
There was NO WAY the old man could beat him in a race!
Maybe I will get outta here by tonight!
"Deal!" Danny said instantly, smiling from ear to ear.
"Deal?" Plasmius repeated clearly shocked the boy would agree so quickly and without hassle.
"Yup, you're on Plasmius. And if I win this race I get to go home. TONIGHT."
"Fair enough." The man shrugged. "However, should the odds not be in your favor and you lose…" The older halfa's voice drifted off as he stepped closer to the bound teen leaning down until they were face to face. Plasmius grabbed Danny's chin in a tight grip forcing the boy to hold his gaze as his eyes poured into soft blue ones.
"Then you stay here with me for one week. A full seven days and nights. Agreed?"
Danny gulped, more than a little nervous. Those were some pretty high stakes…
But does it really matter? It's not like he's going to win right?
Feeling a little more confident Danny smirked even as Vlad held his face. "Agreed. Get ready to lose fruitloop."
A feral grin spread across Plasmius' face making him look more dangerous than ever. Danny almost wished he hadn't added the whole, 'Get ready to lose' thing but he forced himself to stay confident.
Ah, the defiance in those eyes. That cocky attitude. Vlad loved it all. The older hybrid knew all too well how fast Danny could fly and in a fair race knew he couldn't beat the boy.
But who said anything about the race being fair? Tonight Vlad's little badger was about to learn a very important lesson, and that was:
Now matter how hard the boy might try, no matter how sure Danny was of himself,
He would always be one step ahead.
He would always come out on top.
And the boy, naïve as he was, had already agreed to the game without even hearing the rules first! Foolish boy!
"Very well then," Plasmius released the boy and stood up proud and tall as if he had already won the game. "Allow me to go over the rules and then we can go outside and begin."
"Rules?" Danny asked his eyes becoming as big as saucers.
Darn it! I knew there had to be a catch! There always is with Vlad!
"Of course my boy, every game has rules, even races. You didn't really believe there wouldn't be any in our case, did you?" Plasmius sneered down at the teen.
Too panicked to be angry Danny started to stutter, "B-But that's,"
"Rule number 1:" The ghost began cutting off the boy's stammer. "Since we will be using our ghost powers to fly through the forest it only seems natural that we should also be allowed to use our other powers to hinder each or get ahead."
"WHAT? ! But that's not-"
"Secondly," The more experienced halfa said sharply cutting the teen off once more. "The only way either of us wins this race is if we reach the end of the forest before the other does. Do you understand Daniel?" Plasmius leaned down again, his face suddenly serious. "The only way you win this game is if you get to the end of the forest before me, if you don't, you lose. No exceptions."
"I understand." Danny replied in a quiet whisper the other ghost's serious demeanor worrying him slightly.
"Excellent." Plasmius said happily clapping his gloved hands together, all traces of sternness gone. "Let's go outside and start then, shall we?" The ghost grinned as he easily reached behind the boy and undid the ropes.
XXXX Line Break XXXX
Phantom took in a deep breath of cool night air, a gentle wind blowing around him and running through his snow white hair like soothing fingers. Floating at the edge of the forest Danny's glowing green eyes looked deeply into the woods trying to map out a clear route through the thick trees.
Now that he was here everything suddenly felt surreal. The clear starry night, the echo of an owl in the distance, Plasmius floating just a few feet to the left of him.
Just stay clam Fenton. Plasmius might be able to use his ghost powers but you're still faster. Just stay ahead of him and keep flying no matter what he throws at you. You can do this.
"Ready Daniel?" Plasmius said lightly drawing the ghost boy back to reality. "Or do you need another minute to collect yourself?" He added mockingly.
"You wish." Phantom snapped back. "I'm ready whenever you are." The ghost teen said straightening his back and crossing his arms. "But are you sure you don't need another minute Plasmius?" The ghost boy smirked cockily. "Might be hard for a guy your age to catch his breath during a race, and I don't plan on giving you a head start."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about me if I were you little badger." Plasmius smirked right back. "I'm not the one who's going to need to 'catch his breath' and I don't plan on giving you a head start either. Now, if you're really ready…" Plasmius leaned down looking ready to strike.
Danny leaned down as well, all the muscles in his body tensing up, getting ready to dart into the trees.
"On the count of three. One,"
Phantom could feel his heart hammering against his ribcage as he held his breath.
"Two,"
Whatever you do, DON'T. LET. HIM. WIN! A voice shouted in his head just before Plasmius said-
"Three!"
With a sudden burst of wind the little hybrid took of like a shot not daring to look behind him! A mantra of, "FASTER! FASTER!" screaming in his head.
For the first 60 seconds there was nothing. Nothing but the sound of rushing wind all around him and for one fleeting moment the little Phantom chuckled.
I knew the fruitloop couldn't keep up.
"AHH!" Danny cried out in shock, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest as a blast of ecto-energy came crashing down from the sky missing him by inches and hitting a tree sending splinters flying.
The ghost boy looked up still flying at full speed and through the leaves saw the unmistakable form of Plasmius flying just above the tree tops. Phantom growled under his breath willing himself to go faster.
Of course he would take the easy way out and fly above the trees!
Danny cried out in surprise as more blasts came down but managed to dodge each one darting and winding through the trees. Flipping his body around till he was flying on his back and facing the sky Phantom sent some of his own ecto-blasts up to the older halfa and smiled when he heard the ghost cry out.
Direct hit! And he thinks I'm wasting my time playing video games!
"You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that Plasmius!" The younger hybrid shouted up mockingly. The teen was about to shout something else when a blast of energy hit him in the side making him collide with a tree.
"Uhhh," Phantom groaned getting on his knees. The ghost boy looked up in shock to see a smug Plasmius fly up to him and stop merely to gloat.
"You really need to stop being so naïve little badger." The vampiric ghost tsked shaking his head. "That was merely a duplicate I used to slow you down until I caught up to you. I'm impressed at how quick you were in the beginning Daniel but seeing you be hindered so easily is a bit disappointing." Plasmius sighed laying it on thick. "I suppose defense will be the first thing we focus on this week."
Feeling his cheeks heat up in anger Phantom jumped to his feet and shouted, "Shut up Plasmius! I'm not doing this to impress you! And in case you haven't noticed the race isn't over yet!"
"No, but it will be soon enough." The man grinned wickedly, fangs sharp as needles. "Ta!" The older halfa took off speedily as Phantom followed right behind him in a flash.
I should've seen that coming! The ghost boy scolded himself. I need to think of something that will keep Plasmius busy or he'll just keep using his powers to slow me down! I can't duplicate like him, that'll take too much energy. And there's too many trees to get a clear shot at him now that he's in front of me.
Arg! Think! What can I use? !
"Still back there, Daniel?" Plasmius called back mockingly, turning to fly on his back while folding his arms beneath his head as if he were relaxing. Phantom glared heatedly, his eyes glowing brightly as he watched the older hybrid turn intangible and simply fly through the trees rather than dart around them.
I'm such an idiot! Plasmius said we could use all our powers and I've been flying around the trees for the past five minutes when I could've been flying through them!
Phantom's rage flew now feeling angrier with himself than with Plasmius. He could feel his eyes burning to the point of shooting lasers from them until a burst of freezing energy sprung from his chest, an icy vapor pouring out of his lips.
His eyes were no longer growing an electric green but an icy blue.
Oh right! Ice powers, duh!
Using both hands Phantom shot out his ice energy freezing at least seven trees before hitting his target. It was worth it though to hear Plasmius yell out in pain and watch him fall to the ground, his body frozen from the waist down.
"What's the matter Plasmius?" Phantom asked cheekily floating above the half frozen ghost. "Not getting cold feet are you?"
"You little rat." Plasmius hissed obviously not happy at losing his first place position.
"You're resorting to name calling now?" The ghost boy asked sounding hurt. "That's not very nice. You did say we could use all our powers, didn't you Uncy Vlad?" He asked innocently.
Plasmius suddenly became eerily calm, smiling as if he were half impressed. "Yes, I did say that. You can use all your powers, and I can use all of mine."
"Mm-hm." Phantom hummed with a nod of his head. "And for as much as I'd like to stick around and watch you thaw out Plasmius, I have a race to win." The ghost boy flew off leaving the older halfa behind his sights set on the finish line.
"I'm almost sorry it had to come to this. Well, almost…" Vlad whispered to himself with a sly grin as he easily blasted off the ice from his lower half.
Danny smiled letting out a sigh of relief. He was only three miles away from winning the race and Plasmius was nowhere in sight.
"Maybe next time Plasmius will think twice before-" Phantom's sentence was stopped short as he felt something strange pulling him back into the forest forcing him to a stop. The young hybrid tried to pull away from the magnetic force but it was as unyielding as gravity, demanding that the little ghost come back into the woods.
"Ahhhh!" Danny flew forward with all his might only to be stuck in mid air like a fly caught in a spider's web. Glancing over his shoulder to see what possible force could be so strong the teen gasped.
There in the center of the forest was a 30 foot high tornado spinning wildly, pulling up whole trees by the roots with ease. Oddly enough the tornado looked somewhat purple giving it a ghost like quality.
It was Vlad, naturally. The more experienced ghost was now using the full extent of his power to win even if it meant tearing up the entire forest in the process. And it was working.
With an almost inaudible gasp Phantom was whipped back like a rubber band and in the blink of an eye found himself swirling around in the powerful winds like a rage doll. Thankfully though the older halfa's goal wasn't to tear him apart and the strong winds quickly died down to nothing leaving the ghost boy on the forest floor gasping for breath.
With his limbs shaking and feeling like jelly the ghost boy changed back into Danny Fenton unwillingly.
"So Daniel," An all too familiar voice broke the silence as Plasmius stood over the gasping boy with a smug smile. "What was that you were saying about having a race to win?"
"You dirty rotten," Danny rasped angrily still unable to pull himself to his feet.
"Ah, now you're resorting to name calling." Plasmius chided getting down on his knees as he spoke. "I understand how you feel my boy but I think you were right, it is a bit childish isn't it? Just accept your defeat with dignity and maturity Daniel, it'll be much easier for the both of us."
"No." Danny grunted as he pushed himself up on his elbows ignoring the pain and the fact that his face was now inches away from Vlad's. "The race isn't over yet. You still h-haven't won."
At this Plasmius threw back his head and laughed, he honestly laughed as if this whole game had been one big joke.
"You still haven't figured it out yet have you little badger?" Plasmius laughed ruffling the boy's hair despite the murderous glare Danny gave him.
"W-What're you talking about?" The ghost boy demanded struggling to even stay on his elbows.
"I'm saying that this was never about me winning, just you losing." Plasmius smiled at the confusion on the teen's face before saying, "You should have paid closer attention to the rules Daniel, I practically spelled it out for you. The deal was that in order for you to go home you had to reach the end of the forest before I did and if you didn't you lost and you had to stay here as we agreed? Don't you see?"
Plasmius paused hovering over the already wide eyed boy. "I never had to win the race to get you to stay here. I didn't even have to finish the race. The deal was that you could only go home if you won, but I didn't have to win in order for you to stay. I just had to make sure you didn't reach the end before me, which honestly, with my powers wasn't hard at all. Your speed had nothing to do with it, you merely thought it did."
"B-B-But that's not fair!" Danny cried his head practically spinning with shock and fatigue. "That means there was no way I could win at all!"
"Exactly." Seeing the boy near fainting Plasmius scooped up the exhausted teen in his arms and said, "I'm sure you must be devastated right now and quite possibly very angry but there was a lesson behind all of this." Danny's head began to tilt back, being too tired to even hold his head up and so Vlad pulled him closer to his chest letting the boy rest his head in the crook of his neck.
Danny could feel sleep overtaking him even as the man continued speaking but just before passing out he heard Plasmius say in a surprisingly gentle voice, "But I suppose we can talk about all that in the morning. For now get some sleep, you did very well."
Soooooo, what do you think? Not quite what you were expecting huh? Oh and if you're wondering why Vlad is a little more on the evil side you can blame my friend.
She was reading my other Danny Phantom stories and she was all like, "Why do you keep making Vlad so nice all the time? ! He's the villain and he's creepy! You need to make him more sinister! It makes the story more believable!"
Then I was like, "You're just saying that cause you like rich, creepy villains!"
Then she was like, "No I don't! I like mean, creepy, vampire like villains! You need to make Vlad more like that! It makes the story more fun to read!"
SO long story short after we ranted like that for awhile I decided to take her advice and make Vlad a little scarier. And for her sake it better get me some good reviews!
And naturally this has become a story so please feel free to give me suggestions and all that. Thank you~!