Danny's Eidetic
Chapter Seven
No one spoke. Danny's screams echoed in the small hospital room. They were agonising to listen to. Maddie looked sideways at her sons face, processing his expression, anxious as to his reaction.
Long, half-healed scars stretched up Danny's wrists, a chilling reminder of his latest brush with death. The doctors had staunched his blood, and given him a transfusion, but it had been a few days until the Fenton's had known whether or not he would pull through. His withdrawal from whatever Vlad had been giving him had had drastic effects on his body. He experienced the usual shaking and excessive sweating that accompanies drug withdrawal but also his body's ability to heal was slowed down greatly.
While the medical team attempted to placate his family by telling them it was lucky that these symptoms had not appeared until after he had healed from his initial torment, but it was little comfort when Danny's position was so precarious.
Thankfully, the next morning, the doctors had removed the bandages to find that the wounds from the melted hospital bed had closed, and were well on their way to healing.
Danny had come to in a different bed, this time surrounded by his entire family and his two best friends. He recognised them all. A tentative grin broke his face as they all smiled warmly down upon him. His memories of his family and friends had returned, with very few gaps evident. What was missing from his mind however, were the events that had taken place in Vlad's cave. Danny recalled his capture, but from there onwards, a hazy mist covered the memories, which only vague feelings of pain and fear and the occasional flash of Vlad's face penetrated.
Danny himself had no idea what exactly had happened to him, or the circumstances of his escape. What exactly had happened to Vlad?
The only way to find out it seemed, was to recover the memories that eluded him, and to do that he had to watch the tapes.
And so it was that Danny was lying, propped up on pillows, watching himself be tortured. For everyone else, it was worse than the first time they had seen them. They would have excused themselves, but they needed to be there for Danny to help him comes to terms with what he was watching.
Gone was the Danny who had found difficulty in expressing emotions. His pleasant, boyish countenance aged as it was contorted by his emotions. Rage, pain, anger, fear, sadness… his fists clenched and unclenched, nails digging into his palms until he drew blood. He wept in his mothers arms as the tapes were changed over, but when Jack hesitated while putting in the next tape, he yelled that he needed to see them all.
When at last, hours later, static replaced Danny's tortured body on the screen, Danny rose from his bed his face a cold mask of hatred.
Even Sam took a step back at this.
"Vlad is still alive," said Danny. "I tricked him into my cell and phased through the roof. It's right below where Sam found me."
Horrible, and yet strangely pleasurable images filled the mind of all in the room. Just exactly what they would do when they came face-to-face with Vlad.
Danny stood up, and with a flash of light transformed into Danny Phantom. He flexed his arms, luxuriating in the lack of pain the movement inspired. Understanding dawned in the others. He was going to get Vlad. Now.
"Danny, wait-" Maddie started. "We'll get the GAV and we can all go together."
But Danny was already shaking his head.
"This ends now. Follow me if you want. Sam and Tucker can come with me."
He reached out his hands, taking Sam's and Tucker's and they floated out of the room.
Maddie, Jack and Jazz just stood there for a moment, brains struggling to process all that had happened in the last few minutes.
Jazz was the first to come to her senses. "To the GAV!" she yelled, in a reasonable impression of Jack. They raced through the hospital, and threw themselves in the vehicle.
"Just wait till I get my hands on you Vladimir…" muttered Jack darkly.
Danny's eyes tightened as the remains of Vlad's mansion crept into view. The muggy darkness that surrounded it was all too familiar to Sam, in whom the feeling of déjà vu was growing.
"This is it." Said Danny, floating them down to the ground. Indeed, upon closer inspection, Sam could see the tire marks her car had left when she had screeched to a halt.
"You guys stay here- it's too dangerous for you to come." What he didn't say was who would endanger them… Danny himself didn't know what he would do when he saw Vlad. There was no chance in having his friends so close to him in case he flew into a rage.
He cut their protests short, phasing through their grasping hands.
"I'll be back soon."
With that, he sunk through the ground, returning to the scene of his waking nightmare.
Danny went deeper and deeper, growing more incredulous as he went. Had he really managed to phase through so much dirt during his escape? It was little wonder the special ops teams had been unable to find Vlad's lair.
The lights still shone brightly in the light room. The silver instruments that littered the metal benches and stands were coated in the same dark red substance as the floor and gurney. Bile rose in his throat as Danny realised it was his own blood, layer upon layer dried and hardened. Vlad had never cleaned it up.
Staying in the air, he hovered over the remains of his suffering until he reached the dense metal door of his cell. His thoughts whirled wildly as he drew ever nearer to his tormentor. What would he do to Vlad? What was a suitable punishment? Surely not prison, for with his ghostly abilities it would be too easy to escape. And besides, Vlad deserved worse. Danny clenched his fists as he thought of every moment of torture the monster had put him through. But could Danny kill a man? He isn't even fully human… I don't think he has a shred of humanity left…
Steeling himself, he pulled on the handle, and the door swung open on oiled hinges.
It was truly a dark room. It absorbed the light that should have poured in from the light room, sucking it in until Danny couldn't make out any of its details. He couldn't see Vlad. Summoning an ecto-ball, he held it aloft to penetrate the darkness of the cell.
He saw something in the corner twitch.
Then a dark shape threw itself at him, and instinctively he threw up a shield. The force of the blow knocked him back out the door.
Danny waited in the brightly lit lab for Vlad to come out, shield still up. After an eternity, a figure limped out of the doorway.
It was Vlad. But not the Vlad Danny knew. This Vlad was as emaciated as Danny had been; skin barely stretching over his bones. His eyes were dark beetles deeply sunk into his face. His hair had completely fallen out. Rough burns – probably from the ectoranium coating of the cell door coated his body.
Seeing Danny, he lurched forward, creases forming in his face as he glared malevolently. He pointed a withered hand at Danny, and a pink aura surrounded it. Danny braced himself behind his shield. A thin, pink beam shot at him, but it seemed the effort to create it had been too much for Vlad, and he toppled forward to lie unconscious, on the blood of his enemy.
Danny just floated for a moment. His enemy was beaten, and he, Danny was triumphant. He picked up Vlad by his collared and hauled his face nearer to his. He raised a green glowing fist, poised to pass it through Vlad's heart. He hovered there, arms shaking as he contemplated what he was about to do. Go on, a voice urged, Do it. Kill him. He deserves this and worse. This is justice. But he couldn't help but notice how... old Vlad looked. And sick. Danny recalled the madness he had often seen swirling in the half-ghost's eyes. Was it justice to kill a man for his insanity?
"No." Said Danny aloud. To no-one. To himself. "I won't be a murderer. There is another solution."
He took Vlad with him into the main entrance of the cave, eyes scanning the many luminous buttons that covered the walls. He finally found the one he was looking for. Self destruct. He pushed it and phased himself and Vlad upwards as the monotonic computer voice began a countdown. 10… 9… 8…
Tucker and Sam looked up in surprise as Danny appeared before them, clutching a bald and extremely thin old man, who looked like he'd also been tortured. Sam was about to ask what this poor old man had done to invoke the wrath of Vlad Masters when she realised the tatty, worn and bloodstained remains the man wore were the same as the suit Vlad wore. It was Vlad.
Her eyes popped, and she quickly looked to Danny to assess his mood, and to see if he'd been hurt in any way. He appeared fine, his expression calm and determined.
"What are you going to do, Danny?" She asked.
Danny opened his mouth to answer, when the GAV came screaming over the hill and skidded to a halt inches from the group. The other Fenton's jumped out.
"I'm taking him to the Fenton portal. We're going to remove his ghost powers."
Dun dun dun… Sorry for taking so long to update… I really have no excuse… I did make this one longer than normal, so hopefully you can all forgive me. Review please! Did anyone feel sorry for Vlad? Or did you all think he got his just desserts?
Blondine
