*Kicks down door* … *Puts it back up* Vandalism is wrong.

My excuse for that four month break is I'm allowed to do stuff like that because of all the quick updates I did originally. Best excuse, right? Right? No? Okay. I'm sorry, a lot of stuff just happened.

On the bright side, this is a really good chapter and you'll all probably enjoy it. ^^


Chapter 7;

Three days after Danny's first encounter with the mysterious voice from above, Vlad had made him breakfast.

The hybrid stared longingly at the stack of pancakes with syrup and fruit decorating them, licking his lips. He wanted to eat it, he really did. But he couldn't.

The voice hadn't been back last night, not even after Danny had refused to eat for the entire day. Danny had come to the conclusion that the voice had to be the result of some sort of toxin or something in the food, so he decided he wouldn't eat. Vlad had probably noticed, but Danny didn't care. He wasn't falling into another of the man's traps. He'd heard the voice twice so far, and last time it actually had sung him a lullaby. Danny was ashamed to admit he'd actually fallen asleep to it. Maddie Cat had woken him up by meowing loudly and attracting Vlad, who pretended to be concerned again.

Said cat was now rubbing her face against the side of Danny's laptop, interrupting his second attempt at finding information about the Disasteroid. Danny pushed her away, but she just came back. "I still hate you."

Maddie Cat meowed, brushing her head against Danny's arm. Rolling his eyes, Danny gave into the urge to pet her. Maddie Cat started purring, and Danny rolled his eyes.

A notification from his computer distracted Danny before he could insult the cat, and he brought up his Skype window. Danny quickly moved to the group chat he shared with Sam and Tucker.

Tucker: Dude

Tucker: Danny dude

Tucker: Are you dead?

Danny almost started cheering when he saw Tucker's messages. Pulling his hand away from the cat and ignoring her meow of protest, Danny quickly typed out a reply.

Danny: This place is fancy and it scares me

Tucker: Does he have a butler?

Danny: idk probably. He has a cat

There was a long pause before Tucker sent another message.

Tucker: I fell off my chair

Danny: Hahahahaha

Tucker: What's the cat's name?

Danny: Take a guess

Tucker: ...

Tucker: Dude no

Danny: ye

Tucker: STOP SAYING THAT

Danny: YOU STARTED IT

Tucker: I DEMAND TO SPEAK TO MY LAWYER

Danny: DO YOU EVEN KNOW ANY LAWYERS?

Tucker: …

Tucker: You win this round

A wide smile crossed Danny's face. If he just focused on his conversation and nothing else, he could trick himself into thinking that everything was okay, that the world wasn't completely wrong.

Tucker: I've got a question and the fate of the world could depend on your answer

Danny: I'm not thinking up more bad pickup lines for you

Tucker: More?

Danny: …nvm

Tucker: Okay?

Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair. The two had spent a few weeks back in March and April thinking up as many ridiculous pickup lines as possible. Tucker had actually used them on some girls, much to Danny's embarrassment. Caught up in his thoughts that apparently hadn't happened, Danny missed when Sam joined the chat.

Sam: We need your phone password.

Tucker: The fate of the world depends on it

Danny: ?

Sam: Seriously, we need it

Danny: Why?

Sam: Do you want to get away from Vlad or not?

Frowning now, Danny stared at his screen before slowly typing up a reply.

Danny: What does my phone have to do with that?

Sam: Jazz said Vlad gave it to you the night before this started…?

Danny: …

Danny: what

Sam: What?

Danny: I don't remember that

Danny left out the fact that the night before all this had happened, the world had been right.

Tucker: oh. You okay?

Danny: No. gtg.

Danny: The password's SAMF

Danny quickly closed his computer, looking back as the doorknob turned. Vlad looked in, glancing at the pancakes. Danny put on an annoyed face, trying to hide his relief that he'd heard Vlad coming.

"You didn't eat," Vlad said, looking at the pancakes. Maddie rushed over to him, meowing until she was picked up.

"I wasn't hungry." Danny replied, "Is that a problem?"

"Daniel," Vlad sighed, petting his cat. "You need to eat."

"Well I'm not hungry, so I'm not going to." Danny opened his computer back up, trying to stay calm. "Now, go away."

"Daniel- Danny," Vlad corrected himself. "I'm not in the mood for this. Eat the pancakes unless dying sounds appealing to you."

Danny raised an eyebrow, "Murder threats Vlad? Really? I thought you were classier than that."

"I won't be the one who kills you- the Ecto Acne would do that for me." Vlad replied, "I am trying to save your life, Danny. The least you could do is quit being difficult."

Danny leaned back in his chair, examining his fingers with a bored expression. Go. Away. "Give me one good reason why I should."

Vlad stared at Danny for a few moments before setting his cat down and taking a step forwards. "I will make this as clear as I can," He said. "You are here because I pity your situation. I could have simply left you with Jack and watched as you made a fool of yourself before he killed you. Then, I could have stepped in to comfort Maddie, but I pitied you. I could still change my mind- I could call your parents and tell them there is no hope for you. I could send you home and leave you to die. And unless you listen to me, I will."

Danny raised his eyebrows, "Good to see you've finally shown your true colours. Go ahead Vlad, send me to my death." Danny turned back to his computer, a huge smile spreading across his face. "I don't care."

"I will do it, Daniel."

"Okay." Danny opened his computer back up, staring at the login screen. "Go do it then." He started to type his password in, but was interrupted as Maddie Cat jumped up beside his computer and placed a paw on the enter key. "Hey!" Danny shoved her off the desk, not paying any attention as the cat crashed to the floor.

"Daniel!" Vlad snapped as Maddie rushed out of the room. "Don't hit her!"

"She shouldn't have gotten between me and my laptop!" Danny protested, and Vlad came up behind him. He closed the laptop, glaring at Danny. "What are you doing?"

"Punishing you," Vlad said, picking up the laptop.

"Hey!" Vlad started to leave, and Danny jumped to his feet. "Give that back!"

"I will," Vlad said, reaching the door. "Once you learn to listen."

The door slammed, and Danny screamed with frustration.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Maddie picked up the phone when it rang. "Hello?"

"Maddie, its Vlad."

"Oh," She ignored how tired he sounded. "How are you?"

"Exhausted," Vlad sighed, "I have to play the villain around Daniel. It's the only way he'll even pretend to listen to what I say, and even then, he's stopped eating."

Maddie's heart skipped a beat. Oh, Danny… "Is… is lack of appetite a symptom?"

"From what I've researched, no," Vlad replied. "It seems like he's simply stopped to annoy me."

Maddie sighed, setting down the model rocket she'd been disinfecting. "Would you like me to talk to him?"

"That may work; hold on for a moment, my dear."

Sitting down, Maddie rolled her eyes. She still wasn't fond of Vlad- what had happened in the woods when Danny was fourteen had left a bad taste in her mouth which never truly left.

On the other end, Maddie could almost swear she heard scratching, and Vlad faintly say her name. She definitely heard a cat meow, loudly at that. "Vlad? Was that a cat?"

"No, it was nothing, no need to worry," Vlad said. "Daniel just locked his door. Hold on- ah, there. Daniel!" Maddie smiled, ready to hear her son's voice. "I have-" Vlad's voice cut off, and Maddie could hear only shallow breathing on the other end. "Maddie, I am so, so very sorry but I'm going to have to call you back."

"What?" Every single mothering instinct rose up in her chest, and Maddie was on her feet in moments. "Vlad, what happened? Is Danny okay?!"

"I really do have to-"

"Vlad please-" He hung up, and Maddie was left staring at the phone.

Chewing on her lip, Maddie tried to find any comforting thought she could. Vlad had been studying Ecto Acne, and if anyone had a chance of saving her son, it was him. He knew what he was doing; Danny would fine. Then, he wouldn't have that ridiculous idea that he was the ghost boy anymore! He'd be okay. Everything would be fine.

It had to be.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Well, Danny thought, this is awkward

Not even ten minutes after Vlad had left and Danny had thrown Maddie cat from his room, Danny had started to feel odd. The voice hadn't been there or anything; he just didn't feel good and was starting to get painful hunger pangs. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened next, but the fact that he'd been unconscious and his head currently felt like it'd been hit by a truck filled in most of the blanks.

Vlad sat beside him, holding an ice pack to where Danny had hit his head. Maddie cat was there too, curled up against his leg and purring softly. There was no noise from either hybrid, neither of them knowing exactly what to say.

Eventually, Danny pushed Vlad's hand away and replaced it with his own. "I can hold the stupid thing myself, Vlad."

Vlad nodded, "If you're sure, Daniel." He set his hands in his lap, not moving from his spot. "You should have eaten."

"Yeah, I'm starting to get that." That had to be why he'd passed out- nothing ghostly or Ecto Acne-y about it. Just a lack of food. Just something so normal and human he'd forgotten about it. "Can I have something to eat now?"

"Of course," Vlad stood, holding out a hand to help him up. Danny ignored it, instead using the chair to help push himself up. "Would you like me to walk with you?"

No. "Do I have a choice? You're going to anyway." Desperate for another few minutes of privacy, Danny pointed to the room's attached bathroom. "I'm just going to, uh, use that first."

Danny splashed water on his face, trying to ignore how absolutely starving he was.

Alright, here's the plan; get my computer back, and look up the Disasteroid- just in case Sam and Tucker need convincing it's real. After that, head to the Ghost Zone. Hopefully, through Vlad's portal. I'll find Johnny, see if our truce still applies, and decide how to interact with everyone from there. After that, to Clockwork. He can at the very least give me a hint on how to reverse this. Danny smiled, looking up at the mirror. I'll be home free in-

Danny stopped, frozen. In that moment he was only human and experiencing the purely human feeling of something being very, very wrong.

He could see someone standing behind him in the mirror.


AHAHAHAHAHAHA I'M NOT SORRY AHAHAHAHAHA

Ahem, anyway, updates should pick up again! I've had my break, and now I'm back to being in love with this plot. We're going to hit a lot of important plot points in the next few chapters, so be on the lookout for evidence for your theories! ^^

Speaking of theories, last chapter's involved the voice being Dan, Vlad putting a device on Maddie which allows her to speak, Danny's losing his mind on a very The Fenton Menace-esque way, Nocturne did it, Danny was hypnotized, Freakshow did a thing, someone got their hands on the Reality Gauntlet, and finally the mysterious voice is the Disasteroid.

That's such a glorious theory. But of course, now you all have something new to wonder about- what did Danny see in the mirror? Was it Nocturne? Was it Vlad? Was it another cat? Was it… himself?

That joke was funnier in my head.

Theories and any other reviews are greatly loved! Any flames however will be squashed under the door I kicked down at the beginning of this chapter.