Warning: Long chapter!
I don't own DP so On with the story!
Chapter 4:Vlad
Jazz had gone to sleep around midnight, confident that Danny wouldn't try sneaking out again. She'd quietly snuck into her room, because Dani was fast asleep on the floor in a sleeping bag. When she'd woken up around 6, Dani was still sleeping. Jazz decided that she wouldn't wake her until it was time for Danny, Sam, and Tucker to leave. She quietly snuck out to go across the hall to wake up the boys. When she opened the door, she nudged Tucker with her foot. He was right in front of the door.
"Wake up Tucker, big day today!" Jazz said with a hint of her normal pep. She watched Tucker slowly regain consciousness and greet her with a mumbled, "Morning." He yawned before asking, "What time is it?"
"6. C'mon, I might need help waking Da—" but before she could finish saying her little brother's name, she saw that the bed was empty and anxiously asked, "Tucker! Where's Danny?"
She was automatically thinking the worst, but Tucker said to her, "O.k., don't freak. Maybe he's up and went downstairs or something. Let's go see if Sam's up; she'll help." Jazz nodded before going next door to the guest bedroom and quietly opened the door. She froze in the doorway, allowing Tucker to catch up.
Before he could say anything, Jazz held her finger up to her lips, signaling for him not to talk while she pointed inside the room. She mouthed the words, "One sec," before quickly going to her room. When she came back, she held a camera in her hands. Tucker couldn't help but smile as Jazz snapped a few pictures of Danny with Sam wrapped in his arms. Tucker did the same with his PDA. After the pictures had been taken and the camera was set on top of the dresser, Jazz walked over to the two sleeping teens. She woke Danny first.
"Danny, time to wake up," Jazz softly said as she lightly nudged him in his back. He woke up with a startled look. Even though Jazz and Tucker were expecting this, they couldn't help but feel sad that they'd been right.
"Um, what's going on? Who are you? Who am I? And who is she?" Danny rapidly asked. At the last question, he glanced down at Sam, who was still soundly sleeping under his right arm.
"We'll explain everything more when we eat breakfast, but you have returning amnesia. That girl is very important to you, so when you wake her, be nice," Jazz said. She walked out the door and went to get changed.
"Wait, why do I have to wake her?" Danny asked a little louder this time. Sam was starting to stir, so Tucker quickly said, "Because dude!" before hurrying out the door, shutting it behind him.
Danny looked at the girl that he'd been sleeping up against earlier and nervously rocked her arm back and forth. "Um, wake up Sam…"
"Five more minutes," Sam said as she grabbed her pillow and hid her head underneath it. Danny looked embarrassed and nervous, but he didn't have time to consider trying again because Sam shot up moments later. She was smiling and staring at Danny.
"O my gosh! You remembered my name! Do you remember anything else?" Sam excitedly exclaimed. She normally wasn't a morning person, but this was worth getting up.
"Um no, not really. This girl with orange hair came and woke me up with this guy in a red beret and told me to wake you," Danny said before smiling. "I did remember your name, though. They hadn't told me. I don't know how I remembered, but when I looked at you while I was trying to wake you, the name came to me and it sounded right."
He was smiling even wider now, and was looking Sam up and down. After a minute of being looked at, Sam nervously and suspiciously asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?" Danny continued to look, that stupid grin on his face. When she saw that he wasn't going to answer, Sam impatiently snapped, "Danny! What is going on?"
"Nothing. It's just, you're only wearing a long t-shirt, and I'm guessing that since I'm only wearing pj pants and I woke up with you in my arms…" Danny trailed off. Sam didn't quite understand where he was going until it collided with her thoughts.
"No! We didn't do anything and you were suppose to sleep in the bed!" Sam said.
"Sure," Danny simply replied before grabbing her head and pressing his lips against hers. This caught Sam off guard, but she quickly recovered, wrapping her arms around Danny's neck and allowing her tongue to dance with his.
They stayed like this for a few minutes before they had to break apart to catch their breath. "Wow," they both said. Danny tried to kiss her again, but Sam held a hand up in front of her lips to block his before adding, "I think we should probably get up and meet with the others." Danny whined before sighing and getting up. He started for the door before turning around, an embarrassed look on his face.
"What?" Sam asked, trying to hide the chuckle in her throat.
"Um, where's my room? I don't remember," Danny said. Sam stood up and grabbed his hand to lead him to his room. She grabbed a pair of jeans and his usual shirt from his closet and threw them at him.
"Wear these with a red pair of shoes. When you're done, go downstairs and I will meet you in the kitchen," Sam said as she walked out the door and across the hall. She quietly opened the door to find Jazz writing in a book on her bed and Dani sleeping on the floor. "Do you have any clothes I can borrow?" Sam whispered.
"I figured you'd ask, so I set out a few outfits you might like on the bed in the guest bedroom when you were with Danny a minute ago," Jazz whispered back. Sam said a quiet thanks before returning to the guest room and checking out the clothes Jazz was loaning her. She decided on a black short-sleeve tee and a pair of dark blue jeans with holes in the knees. She styled her hair like usual and put her signature combat boots on. She quickly applied her make-up, using her emergency bag that she kept at the Fenton's for nights she spent at Fenton Works, before she hurried down to the kitchen to find that Danny was already watching the video on Tucker's PDA.
Sam sat down next to him and began preparing a bowl of cereal. Nobody was talking or doing much of anything besides eating their breakfasts. Even Danny's parents sat quietly, watching their son watch the film.
Sam nearly jumped out of her chair when Danny reached for her hand. Tucker chuckled a little, but she gratefully inner twined her fingers with Danny's. She didn't know why Danny was being so assertive today when it came to her, but she figured it was just the teenage boy hormones flowing. Five minutes later, Danny took the headphones off and set the PDA on the table.
He looked at Sam before saying, "So that's why you were surprised when I kissed you this morning." Sam's face flushed a deep crimson as she froze in place. Tucker collapsed on the floor laughing his brains out. Maddie and Jack's mouths hung open. Jazz smirked and rolled her eyes.
"That's not something that you should announce to the table Danny," Jazz teasingly said. Danny shrugged his shoulders before returning his attention to his own breakfast. His hand was still holding Sam's and he had no intention of letting go any time soon.
Sam was still frozen in embarrassment with her face growing redder by the second when Danny had finished his breakfast. He looked at her with one eyebrow raised before asking Tucker, "Is she o.k.?"
Tucker couldn't help it. He burst back into laughter, but this time when he fell to the floor, his dishes came with him. There was a loud crash that rang through the room. When this had happened, Jazz couldn't hold on to her composure and joined Tucker in his laughing fit. Soon, Jack's loud bellow joined the two teens as Maddie cleaned up the mess, chuckling along with them. Danny just gave confused looks at everyone until a small voice came from above him.
"Why's everyone laughing?" Dani asked as she held herself, hovering above the kitchen table. She'd phased through the ceiling and still looked tired.
"I'm guessing you're Danielle?" Danny asked. Dani nodded before floating down to his lap, changing forms back to human, and closing her eyes as she leaned her head against his chest. Danny looked slightly confused before Dani said, "I'm your daughter. Well, technically, your clone, but we decided last night that I was your daughter. Sam's my Mom." Dani snuggled deeper into Danny before nodding off again.
Danny's mouth was gaping open, which only made everyone else laugh longer. Finally, Sam snapped out of her trance and told Danny, "We'll explain later, but right now we have to start you on your training."
Sam got up and Danny wrapped his right arm around the sleeping little girl in his lap. He didn't want to let go of Sam's hand, but he didn't want to wake the girl who was apparently his daughter, so he brought the young girl with them. Tucker and Jazz finally gained control of themselves and followed closely behind. They walked down to the lab and moved Danny to stand in front of the portal, looking at the wall across the room. There were several targets set up. Danny's parents soon joined the teens, and Jack took the sleeping girl from Danny's arms.
"O.k., do you know how to transform?" Sam asked Danny. When he shook his head Sam said, "Close your eyes and concentrate on what you look like in your ghost form. Think ghostly thoughts and say the phrase, 'I'm Going Ghost'." Danny nodded and did just that.
The overwhelming tingling sensation washed through his body and when he opened his eyes, he was floating a few inches off the ground. He looked at Tucker who was saying, "Now, you have a lot of powers, but the most basic one is your Ecto-ray. This is a green beam that comes from your hands. I want you to hit the target on the far left side of the group of targets set up."
Danny did as he was told. He hit it, but not in the middle. "Way to go little brother! Now, try hitting the middle of the one next to it," Jazz said with an encouraging smile. Danny tried again, this time hitting the target directly in the center. He smiled.
Training went on for three hours. Since Sam, Tucker, and Jazz had already been helping Danny train before the memory loss, they had many courses set up. They helped him with his speed, intangibility, invisibility, and his shield after perfecting his Ecto-ray. All the while Maddie continually said, "I can't believe we never noticed this before!" while Jack repeatedly said, "Man, that's cool!"
When training was over, Danny looked exhausted. He lowered himself to the ground, but didn't say anything. He would train until told otherwise, even though he was wiped. Lucky for him, Tucker said, "Alright dude, change back and we can get on the road."
Danny nodded and concentrated. He quickly changed back to his human form before asking, "Where are we going?"
"We'll explain it on the way there," Sam said as she walked over to Dani and kissed her on her forehead. Dani had woken up an hour ago to watch Danny train. She had told everyone there was no way she was going to miss watching her dad re-learn everything he'd basically taught her. She'd even helped him with his speed (they'd played tag).
"Bye Mommy! Bye Daddy! Bye Uncle Tuck! Be careful so when you get back you can take me out for ice cream!" Dani said with a mischievous grin on her face.
"You're definitely Danny and Sam's daughter," Tucker said with a chuckle as he hugged Dani good-bye. He walked over to the Specter Speeder and pulled his seat belt on. Sam grabbed Danny's arm and pushed him next to Tucker.
"Later everyone!" Sam said as she buckled herself into the driver's seat and hit a switch. Above them, several doors opened, showing a path to the sky. Sam quickly drove up and outside into the air before entering their location on the GPS. Everyone on the ground waved their good-byes before heading back inside Fenton Works. Dani was begging to try the course, so Jazz and Jack took her back down to the basement to help her. Maddie started to prepare lunch before joining, bringing the video camera with her.
A few minutes after flying, Danny asked what the plan was.
"Don't look at me," Tucker said, hands up in the surrender position. "You and Sam are usually the ones who come up with the plans."
Danny shifted his gaze to Sam who said, "We're going to fly through his house and when we find him we'll exchange witty banter and ask him what he wants and if there's a cure. He already knows we're coming so it's not like we could do a surprise attack."
Tucker and Danny gave her incredulous looks before they both screamed, "What do you mean he knows we're coming?!"
"Good grief," Sam silently mumbled as she shook her head before adding, "Tucker, don't you remember what his hologram said before Danny was blasted into the ground? He's been spying on the Fenton's; watching Danny's dad make 'idiotic inventions'. I'm positive he watched us train Danny earlier and heard us say our good-byes. He's not stupid, just crazy."
"O," both boys said. Tucker shrugged his shoulders, but Danny continued asking questions. "So, we have a daughter?"
"Yes," Sam said focusing on the directions. She practically chocked on her own saliva at what Danny then asked.
"Then why did you freak this morning when I inferred about the pjs?" Tucker, who'd just started playing a video game, looked up with eyes bugging out.
"What? What did you infer? Dude, give me the details!" Tucker exclaimed at Danny. Danny opened his mouth to explain what had happened this morning, but Sam elbowed him in his gut, causing him to get the wind knocked out.
"Don't you dare say anything or so help me Daniel Matthew Fenton!" Sam yelled. Danny nodded, because he was still having trouble catching his breath. Sam turned her focus back to the directions, so she didn't see Danny wink at Tucker and mouth to him the word 'later'. "Now, to the question of our daughter, she's your clone. Vlad, the guy we're going to see, is obsessed with wanting you as his son. He's half-ghost too, but unlike you he's evil. He finally got fed up with your refusals and tried to clone you, but he made a mistake. When he got your DNA, he took hair from one of your shirts. He must not have realized that he took some of my hair too until it was too late."
"O," Danny said in a soft undertone.
"What?" Sam asked. She didn't understand why Danny looked so sad.
"Well, I thought—" Danny began, but Sam caught up to his immature mind and cut him off by saying, "Wait, never mind. I don't want to know. Ask more questions." Danny grinned, obviously seeing that she was thinking the same thing he had been. He continued asking questions until a giant castle came into view. It was now close to three in the afternoon.
Sam slowed her speed and flipped a switch, allowing the Specter Speeder to phase through the walls of the castle. They went through three rooms before coming to the library and finding a patiently waiting Vlad. Sam parked the Specter Speeder and turned the mic on. "So Vlad, where's the lonely guy cat?"
"Hello Samantha," Vlad said with composure. "Tucker, and Daniel! Welcome to my humble abode. May I ask what you're doing here?"
"You know why we're here dude," Tucker said, taking the mic from Sam. "How do we return Danny's memory? What do you want?"
Vlad let out an evil chuckle as he said, "There is no cure. Only time could heal young Daniel's mind. As for what I want, I want what I've always wanted: Daniel as my son." With that, a duplicate of Vlad in his ghost form flew into the Specter Speeder and grabbed Danny. He brought him over to the chair next to where Vlad was sitting, and instantly ghost-proof cuffs appeared over Danny's wrists and ankles.
"What the heck!" Danny exclaimed while trying to free himself from the restraints. "I can't Go Ghost guys!"
"Danny! Vlad let him go! You said so yourself: time will heal Danny. Even if you trick him into thinking he's your son, it won't last forever! He'll remember and defeat you, so let him go!" Sam angrily ranted at the billionaire through the speakers.
"See, that's where you're wrong Samantha. Yes, time could heal Daniel's mind, but I have a spell that will stop that from happening. He'll only remember what I want him to, and all I have to do is wait for him to fall asleep and wake up, which shouldn't be too long," Vlad explained. He smirked at the two teens in the Specter Speeder before saying, "However, the two of you constantly intruding on us would not be helpful. I suppose I'll just have to brain wash you and make you my servants."
Sam and Tucker gasped. Tucker quickly grabbed his PDA and started typing at lightning speed while Sam readied the weapons. Both teens hadn't expected this and Sam was upset at herself for not considering that something like this might happen. They'd brought Danny right into Vlad's clutches, and she didn't like it.
Vlad transformed into his ghost half and produced a third duplicate. Two of him headed straight for Sam and Tucker. Sam fired and managed to hold off both duplicates for a while, but soon Sam was captured. Tucker had just managed to send his message before he too was captured. While up in the air, Tucker 'accidentally' dropped his PDA, which crashed down on the floor and broke into small pieces. He screamed for his PDA while Vlad continued to laugh.
"No! Not them! Please!" Danny was shouting as he watched his friends get caught and tied up to land in front of him. "Let them go and I'll do whatever you want!" Danny continued to plead. Even though he didn't remember much about his friends or himself, but he knew that he didn't like the feeling that was beginning to wash over him: complete dread and despair.
"I'm sorry Daniel, but if I let them go, I have no doubt they'll return. And with your track record, there is a high possibility they will free you. I'm not going to risk that," Vlad said before absorbing his duplicates back and turning human. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go ready the spell. See you in the morning young badgers!"
With that said, Vlad left the library, leaving the trio staring in disbelief.
Back at Fenton Works, Jazz; her parents; and Dani were crowded on the couch watching a Disney movie. Jack and Dani were locked in, but at the sound of Jazz's ring tone, everyone's head snapped towards the source. Jazz had played the ring tones she'd had set for Danny's cell, Sam's cell, Tucker's cell, and Tucker's PDA earlier for everyone to memorize. They all recognized the sound as Tucker's PDA's ring tone.
Jazz jumped towards her cell phone and opened it before happily announcing, "It's a message!" But her happy smile quickly faded to a horror filled 'o' as she read the message. Dani flew over to her and read the message too before anyone could tell her to leave the room. When she'd finished reading, her face had been drained and she fell to her knees.
Jazz looked at her parents and said, "They've been captured by Plasmius and need saving now! Everyone to the RV and I'll explain on the way to Wisconsin about what the message says!" Jazz rushed out the door, followed by Maddie. Jack picked up Dani and closed the door to their house. He handed Dani off to Jazz, who she sat her on her lap. Maddie got in the driver's seat and floored it.
"The message says that they are at Vlad's mansion and the evil ghost is going to brain wash him and Sam and put a spell on Danny," Jazz said as her Mom turned the sirens on and drove through red light after red light. Although the part about the message saying where they were hadn't actually been part of the message, she couldn't tell them she knew where to go without confessing Vlad's secret, so she pushed the guilt she was feeling about lying to them down and out of her system.
"Why would they be at Vlad's mansion?" Maddie innocently asked.
Jazz and Dani gave each other side ways glances unsure what to say, but were saved when Jack said, "Don't you remember at that reunion Maddie? He haunts Vlad's castle because he's a huge Packer's fan!"
"O, that's right!" Maddie said before adding, "I hope Vlad's o.k. too. I wouldn't want him getting hurt trying to save Danny, Sam, and Tucker on his own."
"Mom, he's a billionaire. I'm sure he has more than one house. He might not even be there at all," Jazz quickly said, trying to direct the conversation away from Vlad. It was a miracle that they hadn't realized how closely both Vlad's names were. She almost smiled when she remembered pointing out how similar both Danny's names were earlier.
"I suppose you're probably right. Should we call him and tell him what's going on?" Maddie then asked.
"No!" Jazz and Dani shouted together. "We don't want to involve him and risk his life too! We can tell him afterwards, when everyone is safe," Jazz hurried to add.
"She's right Maddie. V-man's been out of the ghost game for years now. He'd be rusty and easy for the evil ghost to take advantage of!" Jack said. The two adults nodded at each other before turning their focus back to the road.
If only they knew, the two teens thought as Dani wrapped her arms around Jazz, who did the same in return to Dani.
And then it hit her. "Wait! We need to make a stop!" Jazz yelled.
Back at Vlad's library, the trio sat staring at each other with panicked expressions. Well, Danny stared in panic, but Tucker and Sam exchanged glances. Since they'd been friends since forever, they developed a secret language using only facial expressions. It was much easier and safer than passing notes in class. Danny had learned too, but due to the memory loss, he had no idea what was being said.
Did you send the message? Sam 'said' to Tucker.
Yup. They should be here around 11 tonight. Do you think Danny will make it through the night?
He has too. He's got a high pain tolerance, so why can't he have a high sleep intolerance too?
You're right. Besides, he went on night patrols all the time, Tucker 'said' back to Sam.
Finally Danny seemed to see what was happening right in front of his eyes, because he asked, "What are you two doing?"
"Talking. Trying to think of ways to help keep you up tonight," Sam smoothly lied. She and Tucker didn't like that they hadn't brought Danny into their plan B, but it was better this way. In order for Vlad to lower his guard, he had to see that Danny had no plan and was truly panicking.
"Well, we'll have a long while until we'll need to worry. I took a few energy drinks from the fridge in the Speeder, so I won't be tired anytime soon," Danny stated.
"Nice thinking dude," Tucker said. "So, what should we do to pass the time?"
Danny shrugged, but Sam said, "We could try and figure out the little thing the doctor had told us about. You know, the 'small shock' that would bring Danny's memories back to him. It can't hurt to try."
"How are we going to do that?" Tucker asked.
"We'll just have to tell him a bunch of stories about our everyday lives. We can start with Dash," Sam said.
"Who's Dash? And why did I shiver when you said his name?" Danny asked, already dreading the story about to be told.
Wow, a lot of stuff happened in that chapter! And poor Danny didn't even get to use his Ghost Powers after practicing for hours! ;D Next update within the next 24 hours!