I find this chapter title ironic. I also find myself with homework. And that is why we don't let me write during school hours.
On the bright side, my quick updates are continuing. Why can't I update my other fics this fast?
Onwards!
Chapter 4;
Danny awoke buried under a mound of blankets. Throwing them off of himself, he found that he was no longer handcuffed to anything and was in a large plush bed. …It's not Jazz's, not the one from the guest bedroom, not Mom's or Dad's…
"Vlad!" Danny shouted, jumping out of bed. A pins-and-needles feeling coved his leg, and Danny let out an annoyed sound as he fell back onto the bed. "Stupid leg, couldn't you have picked a better time to fall asleep?" He shook it, waiting for the feeling to come back.
Slowly, Danny looked over the room. There was a duffle bag with his clothes in it, and his laptop sat on a desk. The room was large and appeared homey, but to Danny it was a cell that he had to break out of.
Just as soon as his leg woke up.
Danny groaned softly, cursing under his breath. As much as he was tempted to, he couldn't bring himself to blame his family for this. They were under Vlad's control- whatever said control was. And as he'd discovered last night, no longer knew his dual identity. That was by far the worst part.
Whatever Vlad had done it looked like one part of it had been to isolate him. Taking out my support system, Danny mused, clever. But it'll just make me more determined to get it back. The feeling in his leg came back, and Danny jumped to his feet once again. He was about to take his ghost form when the turning of his- of the doorknob startled him. Danny was more surprised than he should've been when Vlad stood on the other side, apparently concerned.
Yeah, right.
"Are you alright, Daniel?" He asked, and Danny called upon his acting skills. He slid down to the ground, grabbing a blanket and wrapping it around him.
"Why… why am I here?" He made his voice shake. He had to appear slightly pathetic, if anything so that Vlad would come over to his side. "What did you do?!"
"Daniel, I haven't done anything. I'm only trying to help." He took a step forward, and Danny did his best to hide the smirk which tugged on the corners of his lips. "What do you remember about yesterday?"
Danny faked thinking for a moment, shifting his position into a crouch. "Uh… a disaster-causing asteroid? Disasteroid! It was a thing like that."
"Still stuck on that, are you?" Vlad sighed, taking another few steps forward. A few more and he'd be close enough for Danny's plan to work. "What else do you remember?"
"Not much," Danny muttered. It wasn't a lie, but was likely more so influenced by the fact that he'd managed to sleep most of the day away.
"…Daniel, are you dating your friend Samantha?"
Stay out of my love life, you creep. "You do know she'll kill you for using her full name, right?" Danny sighed, doing his best not to overact. "No, I'm not." Yes, I am. And I'll kill you for taking that away from me. "Why would I? She's just my friend." She's so much more than that.
Vlad sighed with what Danny assumed would be relief. Oh acting, how I love you. "Daniel, what I am about to tell you is the absolute truth. It is not in any shape or form, a lie. I have reason to believe you've contacted Ecto Acne. Yesterday you were caught up in a delusion and your ghost core malfunctioned, both of which are likely symptoms of the disease. The acne part, as it has been put, will likely begin at a later date. Your mother gave me her permission to bring you here; I've been studying the disease, and I know how to make sure you survive this experience."
"And come out of it as the perfect evil apprentice," Danny mumbled, not quite loud enough for Vlad to hear.
"What was that?" He asked, moving a few steps closer. "My apologies, Daniel, I didn't hear."
Huh, that got him close enough. I should've mumbled insults in the first place. "I said…" He lashed out with an ectoplasm coated hand, smashing the energy into Vlad's shins. The older hybrid collapsed to his knees as Danny sprung up, throwing the blanket over him. "I want my life back." He turned intangible, falling through the floor. "Bye-bye now!"
Danny took his ghost form before he hit the floor, floating invisibly just above it. First order of business would be to find a portal, second to get to Clockwork. He'd know what was going on.
At least, Danny hoped he would.
Danny shifted his position as Vlad fell ungracefully through the floor after him. Black rings brought Vlad into his ghost form as he phased the blanket off of himself. "Daniel, I know you're in here." No you don't. "I just want to talk you. That's all. I know you don't believe me, but let me help."
Danny ignored him, floating towards the door. Okay, find a portal. Where would Vlad have his portal? If only the Guys in White had actually told me where the stupid thing was when they took over his house…
"Please, Daniel I assure you I only have your best intentions at heart." Danny. It's Danny. Not Daniel; Danny. How is that so hard to grasp? "There are symptoms that you need to know about. It makes you violent and rash, Daniel." Again, Danny. "You'll have- and had- violent episodes you can't fully remember. Assorted pains, nausea, memory loss- Daniel, let me help you. I refuse to let you go through this alone, not when I'm-"
"Oh would you just shut up!" Danny shouted, blasting Vlad with a ghost ray. He returned to visibility and tangibility, coating his hands with more ectoplasm. "I know you don't actually care, so just stop pretending!"
"Daniel," Vlad said calmly. "Just sit down for a moment, okay? I will not hurt you."
"Uh-huh, sure Vlad, whatever you say." Danny retorted before shooting another ray. Vlad threw up a shield just in time to block the blast. "Now, I'll make this easy for us both; where's your portal?"
"You intend to enter the Ghost Zone?!" Man, Vlad really had a thing for acting. He's almost as good as me. Almost; I'm better.
"Well what else would I need a portal for? Knitting?" Why hasn't he attacked me yet? There's nobody here to stop you Vlad, just attack so I'll feel less bad about breaking all your fancy stuff.
"Daniel, listen to me," Vlad took a small step forwards, stopping when Danny moved far enough back that he bumped into the wall. "Going into the Ghost Zone in your current condition would be suicide."
"Why? Does whatever you did not effect it or something?" At Vlad's look, Danny continued. "That's it, isn't it? The ghosts still know I'm me! That's why I'm not affected, it's- they can help me fix this! Hah, I win!"
With an overly dramatic- and in Danny's opinion very unnecessary- groan, Vlad stepped back. "That's not it. That's not even remotely close to the truth, Daniel."
"You can't fool me, Plasmius!" Danny turned himself intangible, "You may have everyone else here stuck in your lie but I'm not them!"
"Daniel, you don't-" Danny didn't hear the rest, phasing through the wall then the floor. He flew out of the room and into the hallway before it occurred to him that he had no idea where he was going. He took a moment, trying to think exactly where the portal would be.
Well, I officially have no idea what I'm supposed to do. Laughing nervously, he looked around, "Wait, I'm lost. How'd I get myself lost? I haven't even gone that far from the stupid room!"
"Daniel," And that children is why we don't wait in hallways while visible. Darn it, Vlad. Danny coated his hands with ice this time, watching as Vlad floated a little ways away. "We have no need to fight each other. Just sit down, quit being so stubborn, and listen."
"Hm, no, I don't think so." Danny said, "Being stubborn is like half of my personality. The other half is bad jokes. Now, freeze!" He lifted his hands, creating a wall of ice between them. Danny shot down the hallway, looking for anything that resembled stairs.
Vlad would have his portal underground, right? What if he doesn't… where would he put it…
Oh. Oh crud, I have no idea what I'm doing.
Danny wasn't stupid; he knew running couldn't keep him safe for much longer. At this rate, Vlad would probably be putting a ghost shield up around that room. He needed a plan; he couldn't get out of this just by punching his problems away.
So, as Vlad caught up to him, Danny did what the little voice in the back of his mind was telling to do; act.
After all, getting away would be so much easier if Vlad thought he wasn't fighting back, right?
"Have you finished running, Daniel?"
"Seriously, it's Danny. Say it with me Vlad, Danny." He put as much empathises on the word as he could manage.
"I don't particularly care at the moment," Vlad moved forwards, and Danny moved back. "Daniel, I just need you to sit down, and to-"
"You'll have to catch me first!" Danny cut him off, turning around like he was about to dart off in the opposite direction. He'd been right about assuming Vlad would try to stop him, though that didn't makes the ectoplasmic bonds which wrapped around his body any less uncomfortable. Danny crashed to the floor, turning human as he did so.
Ow.
"Now, will you just sit still and listen to me?!" Vlad snapped, and Danny winced. Okay, this might not have been my best idea... "Daniel, sit up. I can't take you seriously when you're lying on your side like that."
"My… side?" Danny muttered, blinking furiously. He did as Vlad had instructed, looking up at him as he squirmed. "Wow, okay. This really seems like a bad dream." Okay, not my best. I need more practice.
Vlad raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"
"Well, I'm tied up for one thing." Danny muttered, trying to sound convincing. "You're in your ghost form and we're in… some hallway. Lovely." He looked back up at Vlad, who just seemed shocked. "Where am I?" Wow, okay, that was bad. I'm blaming the fact I hurt.
"Daniel… do you not remember what just happened?" Vlad said, turning back to his human form as he crouched down. "And be honest this time, would you?"
"Why would I lie? I'm tied up in your hallway!" Crud. "At least… I think it's your hallway. Otherwise this just got a heck of a lot weirder."
Vlad hesitated, moving a hand forward. "Do you honestly not remember?"
Danny rolled his eyes, "No Vlad, I'm faking this." I'm hilarious. "Just tell me why I'm tied up! What did you do?!"
"I haven't done anything," Vlad said calmly, placing a hand on Danny's bonds. "Daniel, you… did this to yourself."
Danny's jaw dropped as he stared at the man, dumbfounded beyond belief. He barely noticed when the ectoplasm melted off of him. He lied to me! I can't believe he just lied to me- wait, this is Vlad. Of course he lied to me. "Uh, yeah. Somehow I doubt that."
"No, you did. I tried to stop you, but you're awfully slippery." Vlad paused for a moment, "Daniel, what's the last thing you do remember?"
"Smashing my head on the floor of my room," Danny muttered, watching as Vlad began to appear confused. It wasn't a lie; it was the last thing he remembered from when the world had been right. "And then I heard talking, I think? Who knows?" The both of them stood, and Danny crossed his arms. "Seriously Vlad, why am I in your hallway? If you did something I swear to, uh, Clockwork or somebody that I-"
"Daniel, stop. I highly doubt you know the Master of Time." Vlad cut him off, "You're yourself, I'm assuming?"
"No Vlad, I'm a carbon copy created by Spectra."
"…I'll take that as a yes," He took a step back, staring down at Danny. "Daniel, I have some… extremely bad news for you."
And here comes that Ecto Acne bullcrap again. "What could be worse than being stuck with you? In fact, I'm going home now, see-"
"Daniel," Vlad caught his arm as Danny went to walk past him, "First of all, the door is in the other direction. Secondly, I'm trying to help you."
"Sure you are," This conversation is literally going in circles now. I should've just kept running. Why did I think this was a good idea? Forcing a sigh, Danny pulled his arm away. "Fine, okay. What's this bad news?"
Vlad stepped back, opening the door to one of the rooms. "Sit down, Daniel." He said, "If you have half as many questions as your family did, this may take a while to explain."
Well Vlad, that wasn't incriminating at all. Definite proof of your innocence there!
So, going by last chapter, the theories are three for Vlad breaking the world, one for Clockwork doing a thing, one for Ghostwriter doing a thing, one for Danny being sick, and I believe one for Nocturne.
I love seeing your theories for what's going on here guys. Keep 'em coming! ^^
Votes for which theory you currently believe, title suggestions, and reviews are all loved! But if any reviews turn into flames they'll be used for uh, um… *enter something clever here.*
Now if you'll all excuse me I should probably do my homework. Moles are not furry rodents, they are evil.