Again, sorry for the late update. Stuff came up, send all the hate or love. And sorry for the short chapter, but I promise I'm making the next one as you read. Enjoy! And feel free to leave suggestions as to how the fight will turn out!

The Dark Prince II

Chapter 9: The Ambush Part II

Dorathea whimpers as she felt nausea hit her. Gazing around the wormhole as she and her captors teleport to their destination has left her dizzy and anxious. Almost as soon as they jumped in the portal did they reach their final destination. The sudden flash of light hit her and she had to shield her eyes as the nausea worsened.

"What in the-" She hears a voice say before a startled yelp makes her snap into reality. She slowly blinks as she hears the man call out to others before more voices fill the area. When her vision comes to, she sees at least twenty humans huddled around in a small metallic room murmuring amongst themselves as they stare at her. Several attempted to touch her and this made Vasilisa and Vlad's hold on her tighten. Seeing the critical looks and feeling pressure made Dorathea feel as if she would vomit at any second.

"This isn't the Ghost Prince or the King!" A voice suddenly shouts. Everyone turned silent and turns to see an angry scientist storming up to the trio. Dorathea shivers as Vlad pulls her behind him while the man stops in front of them, his face flushed from anger. "What is the meaning of this, Plasmius? You said you'd get one of the monarchs!"

Stoic as ever, Vlad responds calmly. "We simply ran out of time. It was unfortunate for us that we were misinformed; neither Daniel Phantom nor Pariah Dark is there."

"So you kidnapped one of their servants?" Mr. Spencer still didn't look too thrilled as he crosses his arms. "She is of no value!"

Dorathea couldn't help but feel a bit offended at that. She hugs her stomach as she begins to tremble. Vasilisa notices and gives her a careful look. She doesn't know much about pregnancy, but she has heard that stress upon a mother could disturb the little one inside of her. The same study apparently applied to ghosts.

Vlad remains calm before he gives the other curious bystanders a look. "Leave us."

The scientists look at each other in confusion while others glare back. "You do not make the orders here, ghost!" One defiantly shouts. Several nods or murmurs of agreement go around and Vlad narrows his eyes warningly. He gives the lead scientist an unwavering stare as he crosses his own arms. The shouting protests continue as Vlad and Mr. Spencer share a staring contest.

"Enough!" A loud commanding voice demands. Everyone instantly falls silent as they turn to gape at the newcomer. Before them was a tall man with two buff bodyguards in either side of him. Immediately everyone parted ways and saluted or acknowledged him.

"Mr. President, sir!"

"At ease." The man holds a hand out before he turns his full attention to Vlad. They stare at each other intently before the president turns his eyes to the ghost behind him. Dora becomes anxious and backs away a bit while holding her stomach and lowering her eyes. This action does not go unnoticed by the president. His eyes widen before his expression quickly softens.

"What is your name?"

Dora looks up at him with surprise, as does everyone else. The scientists held expressions that seemed to wonder why the president would expect an intelligent response from such a creature. Vlad only raises an eyebrow while Vasilisa tilts her head and looks at Dora expectantly. Dora glances between Vlad and Vasilisa before she sighs. "Dorathea."

This response almost makes every scientist exclaim in wonder and surprise. Dorathea flinches as they begin to bombard each other with comments or talk about her as if she was an object (though in this situation with her soon becoming a lab experiment it wasn't a real surprise). Vlad and Vasilisa roll their eyes at the commotion while Dora merely moves closer to Vasilisa as if she would protect her.

The response didn't seem to surprise the man. In fact, he remains stoic and nods before he turns to the scientists. "Leave us."

If his question from before didn't surprise everyone, this command certainly did. Many scientists begin to protest as did his bodyguards, and the president had to shake his head before he repeated himself firmly. "I will not say it again; leave the four of us NOW."

Dora and even Vasilisa flinched at his harsh tone. Vlad only raises his eyebrows in curiosity and suspicion while the men reluctantly leave the room (and had to pull away the bodyguards, to who in Vlad's opinion were pathetic excuses of pitiful cowards who got the job through excessive use of steroids). Once the door was shut tightly, the president turns back to the ghost with an unusually tender expression on his face.

"Now that that's done, let's talk."

Dora, Vlad, and Vasilisa blink as the president offers a hand to the ghost. Dorathea did nothing as she stares between the hand and back up at the president and takes a step back, distrusting.

"You have nothing to fear, my dear." The aged man smiles kindly. "No one will bring any potential harm to you or your child as long as I am around."

Dorathea jumped before she gapes at him. Vlad and Vasilisa look just as surprised. "How did you-?"

"Many years ago a woman was taken prisoner in another country. She was with child at the time." The president spoke of this incident so casually it was as if he was speaking business. "Whenever her captors sent the family videos of her, she would always be holding her stomach so protectively. It grew bigger during the pregnancy of course, but it still was a traumatic experience for her and the family at the time."

"What happened to her?" Vasilisa was so horrified by the idea that she had to know if there was closure for the poor woman.

The president attempts to smile but everyone noticed that it was more of a grimace than anything. "She was released sometime before the birth. My granddaughter is now a healthy little girl."

"Your granddaughter…?" Dorathea couldn't help but gasp, holding a hand over her mouth and the other over her stomach.

The president closed his eyes and lowers his head before sighing deeply. "I won't allow such horror to befall upon any mother or child, even if they are ghosts." He gives Dorathea a firm stare. "Of course, I can't simply release you as it may revoke my place as president. However, I will do everything in my power to make sure that you are comfortable here. Collaborate on some things my scientists ask you, and you will be treated as well as Plasmius is and you and your child will be perfectly fine."

"But sir!" Vasilisa couldn't help but protest. "We failed in our mission! She isn't any use to us!" She ignores the glare that Dorathea sends in her direction as she continues. "What point would it be to keep her here?"

"Plenty of reasons." The president says calmly. "For one, this is technically the first ghost we have caught that is pregnant. This opportunity would give our scientists a breakthrough of studies." He notices Dorathea's horrified stare and smiles reassuringly. "But there will be no experiment that would pose a threat to either you or the child, you have my word on that."

"AND," Vlad says as he flashes a grin full of contempt and sadistic glee. "She is the Lady in Waiting of Prince Phantom. The prince values her too much as a friend to leave her in the hands of human scientists, ESPECIALLY since we know that she is pregnant…"

When Vasilisa notices Dorathea swallowing hard at this, she feels a wave of uncertainty hit her. She knows what Vlad said must be true to get a reaction out of the ghost, yet that isn't what bothers her.

She is actually going to come face to face with the Prince of all Ghosts. The monarch to all things dead. The very ghost that has a long history with her grandmother. And after hearing recent stories about him from other ghost hunters, she knows that he will be a challenge to defeat. If he was capable of stopping Vlad AND Pariah Dark (according to her grandmother's diary), he will have no reason to hold back from striking her down as well.

Coming face to face with Danny Phantom will either be her end or the beginning of a new adventure…

Foreshadow, yes... Vasilisa will have a role in this story as much as Vlad will.

Leave comments, and again sorry for the late update. I haven't given up on the story, I promise. I just need to think of ideas and throw them to add up to the plot process. Feel free to review or leave suggestions for the next chapter.

Give credit to TOG for allowing this story to exist!