Chapter 8: Be careful what you wish for

Vlad felt a bit better after a shower and freshening up. He was glad it was the weekend because his days weren't as hectic as they were any other day. Being, a billionaire and the major of a town was a lot of work. Vlad walked back into the lounge where Danny was, only to find him asleep…on his back.

"Ugh, that's appealing." Vlad said sarcastically, before flicking him on his nose. "Wake up, Daniel"

Danny made a few noises as he turned to his side and curled up. Vlad rolled his eyes. He grabbed the teen by the tail and yanked him from his curled position. That brought forth a yelp from the badger. "You don't really think I'm going to let you sleep, do you?"

"Ow! What's your problem?! That hurt!" Danny exclaimed angrily, soothing his tail with his paws.

"Oh? Did that hurt, little badger?" Vlad cooed mockingly. "Well I'm glad; now I know how to punish you if you misbehave, hmm"

Danny growled, wishing the man would get a little closer so that he could hurt him. He didn't just want to use his claws on him, he also want to bite him hard and not let go. If he wasn't so angry at the moment, he would have questioned his urge severely.

"I'm going to make pancakes, would you like that?" Vlad asked with a calm smile.

"He's going to make what?" Danny thought perplexed.

"I'll take that as a yes." Vlad said airily, turning to leave.

Danny's eyes widen. "Vlad! Wait! Don't go!"

"Don't worry, Daniel; I'll make sure Maddie doesn't come in here while I'm gone." Vlad shot back at hearing the teen calling him.

"Darn it, I have to get him to let me out!" he said urgently, wracking his mind for an idea.

Vlad halted and turned back to Danny with a raised eyebrow. He was purring.

Danny stood on his hind legs and stared at Vlad with big, blue eyes. "Uncle Vlad, I want to go with you." Danny "said" in the nicest voice he could muster. He had to get out and if he had to suck up to Vlad to do it, then so be it.

"You want me to take you out?" Vlad asked, crossing his arms.

Danny nodded, his purrs still present. "And why should I? Is it because you have been so respectful to me? Or is it because you have not, misbehaved, destroyed my house, nor kept me up the entire night?" Vlad retorted sarcastically.

Danny forced himself to stay calm although he wanted to insult the man at his words. "Please. I'm bored!" Danny inwardly smiled. "I'll be good"

Vlad rolled his eyes at the teen's louder purrs and innocent look. "I suppose if I leave him alone he'll fall asleep. And That is something I am not letting him do." He thought, glaring at the teen at his last sentence.

Vlad walked back to Danny and extended his hand into the cage, but then stopped. "You're not trying to bite me, are you?" Vlad inquired suspiciously.

Laughter like noises left Danny, before he purred again. "I want to, but I need you to take me out so I can get to Jazz, so no, uncle Vlad, I'm not going to bite you."

The older half ghost rolled his eyes once more, before lifting Danny by the scruff of his neck. "I'm not taking any chances." he said with a smirk.

"Oh come on! Don't pick me up like….this." Danny's protest quickly melted and he sighed.

Arriving at the kitchen, Danny suddenly felt a weird tingle pass through his relaxed body. "I can't watch you and cook at the same time, so this will keep you safe and behaved." Vlad said calmly, placing the teen down on the kitchen table.

The teen badger groggily observed his surroundings and slowly realized he was in a blue ectoplasmic ball. Regaining his senses, Danny glared at Vlad. "What? No! Let me out!" he demanded, trying to break through the ball.

"Now, Now" Vlad said, quickly grabbing the rolling ball that was heading towards the table's edge. "I strongly recommend you stay still; you do not want to fall from this height." he assured.

Danny angrily watched the man walked away from him. "Darn it! I wasn't expecting him to do this! How the heck am I supposed to escape now?"

The blue eyed badger carefully walked towards the table's edge to see how high up he really was. "Whoa, that's a painfully long, way down."

Danny sat on his romp and glowered at Vlad while he pulled things out from his fridge. It was then that Danny's nose wiggled. "Hey, what is that?" he asked, sniffing the air. The smell was making his mouth water and stomach grumble. He stood to his full height, attempting to find out what that wonderful smell was; to the teen's displeasure Vlad's form blocked his line of sight.

"Crack"

Danny's ears perked at the sound; quickly, the awesome smell got ten times stronger. "Man, whatever he's making, it smells really good!" he said excitedly.

"Don't you get tired of making so much noise?" Vlad asked annoyed without turning away from what he was doing.

"Don't you get tired of being a self-absorbed and bitter old man?" Danny retorted hotly.

Vlad rolled his eyes. "What am I expecting? Even as himself, he couldn't keep his mouth closed" he thought dryly

Danny observed his arch enemy head back to the fridge and pull out a weird looking bottle with white liquid in it. It smelled somewhat appetizing, but not as much as the other smell already in the air.

A gasp and a thump pushed the teen away from his thoughts. "What…" Vlad stared wide eyed at his transparent hand, ignoring the gallon of milk on the floor. He willed his hand to solidifying once more.

Danny gazed at the man with curiosity as he inspected his hand in bewilderment. Abruptly, the man's eyes went to him. Vlad quickly approached him, lifted up the ball and began studying it intently. "What are you doing?" the young badger asked quizzically.

Vlad placed him down and summoned blue energy in his hand. He studied it with a frown, willing it on and off. "Odd" he mumbled.

Danny stood in alarm when Vlad switched into Plasmius. "His ghost form…" Danny thought absently. He searched his mind for the reason why he felt more wary of the man in this form, but he drew up blank. He remembered Vlad turned him into a badger, but why and how was now a blur. "His ghost form has a name; I know that much, but what is it? ...I knew before." He thought worriedly, watching the half-ghost will pink energy in his hand. Vlad picked him up once more, the ball instantly becoming green, then pink, then red, and finally purple. Turning human, Vlad placed him down, and mumbled something as he walked off. He picked up the bottle of milk on the floor and resumed what he was doing.

"What the heck was he doing?" Danny wondered, tilting his head. His attention quickly went to the purple ecto-ball as it faded into a red hue. The teen rolled his eyes at this. "Oh, I get it; the pretty colors are supposed to keep me entertained." He stated sarcastically.

Danny headed back to the table's edge at hearing Maddie walk in. He watched her keenly as she strolled over to Vlad and meowed at him for attention. "Not now Maddie, I'm busy." Vlad said, briefly looking down at his cat before turning his attention to the stove.

"That's right cat, get lost." Danny growled. He didn't know why, but he felt happy that Vlad rejected the cat. "I might not remember, but I'm pretty sure that I wasn't a cat person." The teen thought, his eyes going to the ball once more as it changed to a pink color. "Now that I think about it, that cat isn't so scary."

Ten minutes later, Vlad finished and placed a plate of pancakes on the table. Danny backed away from the plate. "This isn't what I smelled and it's…hot."

Vlad sat down after getting everything he needed. He studied the green ecto ball with perplexity, while pouring orange juice in a small bowl for the teen. "I must be coming down with something" he concluded, watching the ball turn blue. With a tap of his finger, the ball of energy dissipated. "Here" he said, putting the bowl of orange juice in front of the confused badger.

Danny stared at the orange liquid for a moment, before his eyes went to the bowl of brown and spongy squares. "Ew" he thought as Vlad added a light brown liquid above it.

"Let me know if you want more honey" he told him absently as he poured himself a glass of orange juice.

Danny warily sniffed the orange juice before giving it a quick lick. He jumped back at the unexpected taste.

Vlad raised an eyebrow at the teen's odd behavior. "It's not poisoned, if that's what you're thinking."

Danny ignored him; he was more interested in figuring out what these odd things were. "It tastes like an orange, but it looks like colored water." He turned to the now soggy, pieces of pancake. He licked the honey and found it tasted …alright, but when he took a bite of the pancake he spitted it back out and shook his head. "Oh gross! What are you feeding me?!" Danny shouted angrily.

"What? Is my cooking not good enough for you, Daniel? I'll have you know your parents enjoyed my cuisine when we were in college." He informed irritably, before turning his attention back to his breakfast.

Danny sighed; this was definitely not what he smelled. "Give me more honey, maybe if I drown this stuff in it, I can keep it in my mouth long enough to swallow." He grumbled, nudging the bowl of honey.

Vlad grabbed the serving spoon and applied more honey to the teen's breakfast. "What? More?" he asked, seeing Danny staring at him expectantly after he added two large spoonfuls of honey. Danny nodded.

After the sixth spoonful, Vlad picked up the bowl of honey instead. He slowly poured the honey into Danny's bowl, a look of disbelief and curiosity present the entire time in his expression. It wasn't until the teen's bowl was to the brim with honey that he finally looked away from the man and began eating his breakfast.

Vlad cringed as Danny calmly licked away at the honey. "How can you eat that?" he asked in disgust.

Danny looked up at him; whiskers, nose, and mouth covered with honey, before he licked it away with his tongue. "The same way you can, besides it's not like I have a choice!" he said annoyed

Vlad pushed away his own plate, feeling what little appetite he had vanish. Danny turned his attention back his arch enemy at his actions, but still continued to eat his breakfast. It was until now that he noticed how ill Vlad looked. "Vlad's been acting weird; maybe his age is starting to catch up to him, but that doesn't explain how pale he looks."

Vlad placed his elbows on the table, before covering his face with his hands and murmured something.

Momentarily and to his confusion, Danny actually felt concerned for him. He didn't know how, but he could sense something was wrong with him…and it was serious. The teen badger sighed softly; he needed to focus on getting out of here and Vlad's current inattentive demeanor was the leverage he needed to succeed.

Danny slowly edged away from his bowl and Vlad. Now that he wasn't trapped in an ecto-ball, he could use his claws to climb down. Stealthily and agilely, the badger leapt on a chair's armrest, before jumping down on the seat's cushion. He climbed down the rest of the chair and made it to the floor without Vlad noticing. Unfortunately Maddie did and meowed.

"Daniel?" Vlad asked confused as he looked around for the teen.

Danny stayed calm to avoid making any noises that might give away his hiding place under the table.

"Oh, Sugar Canes! Where did you go, you little rat; I am in no mood for this!" Vlad shouted angrily, standing up.

Danny took off the second Vlad noticed him under the table. "Daniel, I am not chasing you around! Either you come willingly or I'll have Maddie drag you back here with her claws" he heard the man shout.

Danny ignored the billionaire's threat and continued to run down a hallway. "I have to find a way out of this rat maze!" he thought frantically. Unfortunately, he didn't plan what he was going to do once he got away from Vlad. The teen had no clue how he was going to get outside!

Danny panted as his eyes darted around the multiple hallways. "Darn it! Which one do I take?" It was then an idea struck him. "I want to go outside…and outside has its own smells and noises." Danny sniffed the air, quickly finding the smell of flora and moisture coming strongest from a hallway on his left. He sprinted towards it and his ears perked up at the sound of birds. "Yes!" he thought, seeing the front door ahead of him. Danny clawed at the side of the door, trying desperately to open it. "There's no way I can open this; I have to phase through it, it's the only way I can get out of here! Come on Danny, think! There has to be something that will trigger my intangibility power; If I did it once and I can do it again!"

The teen thought back to what had occurred with Vlad's cat. How did he manage to turn intangible? He remembered being scared and then… it just happened …Were his powers triggered by fear? Fear of being harmed? He remembered wishing with all his might that he wasn't eaten…. Danny's eyes widen, "That's it! My ghost powers are tied to my instincts! I didn't want to be hurt, so I instinctually did the only thing I could to avoid that…I phased through the glass!"

Danny's fur hitched and he whirled around just as Plasmius materialized in front of him. "I don't know what you are trying to do, but I'm not letting you do it." He said menacingly before changing back into Masters. Danny yelped as Vlad formed blue energy in his hand and threw it at him. He jumped away, avoiding the energy that turned into a ball to capture him.

"Are you trying to get out? Foolish rat, where will you go? Do you really think you'll survive out there long enough to get to them?" Vlad asked, forming more blue energy in his hand.

Danny growled. "I'll take my chances. I'm not being anyone's pet for the rest of my life, especially yours!" The half-ghost fired the energy in his hand, but this time, he didn't aim for Danny; he aimed in front of him. The teen stared at the pulsing, ecto-line in front of him with confusion.

With an upward movement of Vlad's hand, the energy raised and became a wall of energy. "No!" Danny shouted, finding himself boxed in by the door, two walls, and Vlad's shield.

Danny turned towards the door and scratched at it. "My powers are tied to my instincts, but I can't trigger those either; their just there!"

Vlad walked through the barrier; it turned into a blue mist as he did so before solidifying once more. He watched Danny in amusement as he scratched at the door. "You really need to learn to think ahead." Vlad said shaking his head.

Danny lowered his front paws back to the floor at his words. He was so angry that his hair prickled; he wanted to escape, but Vlad kept trapping him every time. He felt cornered and he couldn't take feeling that way any longer. "I've had it" he growled, unaware that his eyes flashed brown. Danny whirled around and with a snarl, lounged at Vlad's leg.

Vlad stumbled backwards in surprise. The shield that was raised dissipated. "What the blazes are you doing?! Let go!" He shouted, trying to shake the badger of his leg.

Danny growled, his jaws steel tight around the pant material in his mouth. Using all four paws, he clawed at Vlad, quickly shredding the man's pants like paper.

"AH!" Vlad yelled, grabbing Danny around the stomach and trying pulled him off. He stumbled some more, only to collide with a small decorative table in the hallway and fall backwards.

Danny let go as Vlad slammed into the table, breaking it in the process. "I don't care how much bigger you are then me; I'm going to kick your butt!"

Vlad sat up and rubbed his head before glaring at the teen. "Why you little- AH!" the billionaire shouted again as the teen attacked his arm; this time he grabbed more then just clothing with his teeth. "Daniel, let go this instant!" Vlad hissed, trying to pry the teen's jaws from his arm.

Despite that the man's hold around his head made it difficult for him to breath, Danny refused to let go. Vlad quickly got enough sense to turn his arm intangible, causing the badger to fall to the floor.

Danny shook his haze before turning his angry eyes back to Vlad; they flashed brown again. The older half-ghost gasped as the teen quickly climbed back on him and headed straight for his neck. Through his own instincts, Vlad managed to turn intangible before Danny's teeth could make contact; in turn causing the teen to go through him. "Are you mad?" Vlad yelled in disbelief, grasping his throat and quickly standing up.

Danny jumped away as his now furious enemy attempted to capture him. Unfortunately, he didn't move far enough and Vlad managed to grab his tail. The young badger yelped loudly and tried to bite the man's hand, but Vlad yanked him backwards, preventing it. "You are just asking for punishment" he growled, not letting go of the teen's tail.

Danny refused to get captured again; he was going to get out of here if it was the last thing he did.

Vlad gasped as he suddenly lost grip of the teen…in a way he never expected. "You have your ghost powers?" he asked, still not believing the teen had phased out of his hold.

Danny ignored him and ran away from the man. Vlad quickly followed after. "So that's how you got out of the enclosure last night. If you have had your powers all this time, why haven't you escaped already?" he asked perplexed, although he knew he was not going to get an answer.

Danny hid, observing Vlad's every movement from behind a large vase. "Okay, so I just have to trigger my instincts to get my powers to respond; I'll run at the door so that the only way to avoid getting hurt is to phase through…I hope it works, but first, I have distract Vlad." As the billionaire approached, the teenage badger crouched into a pouncing position, his eyes narrowing in a predatory-like fashion.

The minute the man's back was to him, Danny pounced. He climbed up Vlad's leg to reach his back. "You made a mistake in turning me into a badger, Vlad and I'm going to prove it." With a snarl, he bit down on the man's shoulder blade and dug his claws in his back. Vlad yelped in pain. Luckily, his thick suit kept the teen from causing major damage, but if he didn't get him off, there wasn't going to be a suit.

Vlad whirled around, attempting to get a hold of the teen. He forced himself not to slam against the wall, because despite everything, he didn't want to cause the teen permanent harm. The moment Vlad attempted to turn intangible he felt a wave of weakness wash over him, collapsing him to his knees.

Danny let go of Vlad and ran towards the door, only to find three pair of feet standing in his path. Danny froze as his eyes went upwards. Right away he saw several images flash through his mind. When they were over his head pounded but he knew who the three people were.

"Jazz? Sam? Tucker?" he chirped.


Cliff hanger, I know. But I decided to end it here, not to be evil, but to be less evil, because if I ended it where I first planned…well…let's just say it would have been worse. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter; I'll read and reply to everyone's response when I return. If you haven't read my one-shot, I recently wrote, please do and let me know what you think; I'm going to be writing another one, but I think it will be a two shot, so look out for that one later today. Thanks for the support guys; it really motivates me to work hard on these stories….and with that I bid you all a fond farewell!