Author's Note
... Sorry this took a while. It was a pain in the backside to write. I think the amount I cut out whilst fiddling around is actually longer overall than the actual chapter! But I really hope I got it right in the end!
Once again thank you for all of the reviews! I got the most I've ever had for a single chapter last chapter so thank you! They're awesome and they really do make all the times I've torn my hair out in preparing this chapter worth it :L.
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.
A cold hand traced the rough stone floor, investigating the thin cracks between the rocks. Picking up a handful of grit, the hand caressed it gently until it left a labyrinth of shallow cuts decorating the skin. The grit was dropped carelessly to the floor before the other hand joined and pressed firmly against the ground, forcing the owner into an upright position.
A small groan left the man's lips as he opened his dark blue eyes which now darted across his surroundings. Blinking once, the eyes turned a distinctive red colour, illuminating the small area in which he found himself. Two metal tables protruded from the wall opposite, one on top of the other. To his left, a dingy toilet sat resonating a dripping sound at random intervals though apart from this, he could see no other furniture.
Rubbing his temples, he sifted through the various pictures that bombarded his mind as he tried to recall the last few hours. He remembered arguing... though after this, the rest was black.
A shallow breath from a few metres away alerted him to another's presence and as he looked under the metal bed, where the noise had come from, his eyes widened as he realised it came from a young teen. But not just any teen. Through his blurred vision, a pair of scuffed jeans and the back of a white t-shirt came into focus and he knew instantly who it was.
"Daniel..." He whispered carefully. He swallowed before trying again, "Danny?"
Still the boy did not move but remained curled up against the wall, facing away.
What happened? The man started to massage his temples to quell his looming headache. Sparing another glance towards the unfortunate teen, he cocked his head to the side and closed his eyes, trying to put together the pieces of the jigsaw. His jigsaw however had several pieces missing, making it near impossible to complete.
Focusing his energy on turning his hand intangible, he reached out towards the ominous green bars that replaced the wall to his right before jerking his hand away as it started to burned with the contact. He examined his blistering hand for a second before it healed and looked with disgust at the steel bars, keeping him imprisoned within these walls.
With a growl, he leant backwards in an attempt to rest his back against the wall only to sharply pull away as he felt a deep heat seer through his skin. Turning his head around and seeing a red smoke leak from his back, he narrowed his eyes as he established they must have been re enforced with blood blossom.
He snarled a predatory sound as his confused thoughts turned to anger, his eyes turning a deeper shade of crimson. Anger directed at whoever had put himself and the boy here. This place had been specifically designed to hold them... why? He had no idea. Through gritted teeth his mind conjured images of how he was going to destroy them, his lips turning upwards as he started to take a small amount of pleasure in these thoughts.
Once again, his eyes rested on the teen who looked so... peaceful, completely oblivious to the danger they were currently in. It was a welcome change from the last time he had seen the boy curled up in such a way. When there had been ectoplasm and blood matting the teen's shiny locks as he laid dead on the pavements of Amity Park.
His fist slammed down onto the rough floor causing blood to seep from where the stones lodged themselves in his skin. Everything that he had seen looked to be coming true as he suddenly released all too soon that it wasn't just some random malevolent spectre that had rendered him unconscious previously. It was him.
"Uuhh..."
The man's head flipped to where the moan had come from as he bit subconsciously down onto his bottom lip waiting for Daniel to wake and realise his situation. Their situation.
His teeth started to draw blood from where they were clamped down though he only noticed when he started to taste the metallic flavour mixing with his own saliva. This had no longer become about saving Daniel but about saving himself. The older hybrid had never hesitated to put himself first before, he had learnt to always look out for number one. But when it came down to putting Danny's welfare above his own... could he?
"Ow..."
Vlad heaved a huge sigh at seeing the teen grip his head in an attempt to wake up. He could guess the boy was harbouring a massive headache if his was anything to go by.
"Daniel?" Once again, he was greeted with an hardly audible moan before the teen shakily started to sit up and in doing so, whacking his already sore head against the metal bed which earned a small shriek of surprise from the young hybrid.
Vlad grimaced. Perhaps he should have moved the boy to the centre of the room.
"Daniel?" The man tried again. This time, he didn't hide the relieved look that washed over his face at seeing those bright neon eyes lock onto his, though this only lasted a millisecond before Danny wrenched his gaze away and shuffled backwards, straight into the electrified wall.
"Ahh!" The teen cried out as he reflexively flung himself away from the wall and into the centre of the small room, skimming his head in the process. Looking upwards, he once again met Vlad's eyes and saw an emotion he couldn't quite distinguish. It almost looked like sympathy but that just looked too strange and foreign in those orbs. Shaking it off, the young hybrid arched his back upwards, wincing when the movement aggravated his freshly singed flesh.
Eventually, he managed to heave himself into a position that calmed his raw back, making sure to keep away from the perimeters.
All the while, Vlad's eyes had never left the teen. Up until now he had resisted the urge to help, knowing it would just aggravate the boy further. It was only now, seeing the boy dip his head into his knees and hearing quiet whimpers that he found he couldn't hold his tongue any longer. Honestly, it made the man angry that Danny was showing such weakness in front of him, him! The boy's supposed arch-enemy!
"Stop crying."
The reaction was instant. Danny stopped his sniffs though Vlad could tell the tears were still falling. Whatever ghost had had this much of an impact on his spirited young hybrid had a lot to answer for and Vlad was going to make sure he did.
Taking a big breath, Vlad braced himself as he leapt into the unknown realms of the boy's mind. "I need to know Daniel. Who is he?"
"Leave me alone, Vlad."
Vlad's eyes narrowed. Of all the times for him to be a stubborn, sulky little child, this was not it. "You listen to me boy. Wallowing in your own misery is going to get us no where at this present moment and I, for one, am not content with going no where."
"Then go." Danny muttered, not really listening to what the man was saying.
"Blast it Daniel, look around you! We're in a stinking cell capable of trapping both our human halves and ghost halves! You might be happy to rot here but I'm not!"
"Then go! Escape!"
"And how, pray tell, do you suggest I do that?"
"You're Vlad Plasmius. I'm sure you've already got something planned."
Vlad's eyebrows hitched at the faith the teen was showing in his abilities. Any other time he would have gloated this fact though at the moment, it pained him to admit that he had no idea how they were to escape. He kept his silence not wanting to confess this little fact in front of the boy. Danny's spirits were low enough as it was, worryingly low actually.
"How's your arm?"
"Huh?"
"Your arm. How's your arm?"
Danny's brow furrowed, looking as if he was genuinely considering how his arm was. For a moment, he had forgotton that he had broken it in his fight with the serpent. Plus, he didn't even realise Plasmius had noticed. After looking down towards the limb and moving it about a little, he shrugged. "S'alright." Ghost healing abilities certainly had their advantages.
"Good."
Danny's only response was to look away, back towards the wall that seemed so interesting to the teen. In reality, this action was just to hide the tears that were threatening to spill from his neon eyes. He couldn't believe it. Actually, he could believe it. He just didn't want to. His evil self was back, there was no disputing that voice. It had haunted him for so long, there was no confusing it for anyone else's. And to make matters worse, he was trapped here with Vlad. His arch-enemy. His arch-enemy who could never find out about that time stream though the more he thought about it, the more it seemed impossible for him not to.
He dared look up again almost jumped when he met the man's piercing red eyes still focusing on him. What was the man's problem? He was tempted to check he hadn't sprouted an extra head with the way Vlad kept looking at him. "What?" Danny shifted uncomfortably when the man didn't reply straight away.
"Nothing."
"Then stop looking at me."
"No."
Annoyed, Danny lit his hand with ectoplasm and fired it towards Vlad, though the man quickly caught it in his fists.
Vlad smiled at Danny's outburst, looking almost pleased with himself.
Realising the man had set him up to get that sort of reaction, Danny clenched his fists and muttered, "Fruit loop."
The older half ghost sighed dramatically and with great effort pushed himself up from the floor and started to pace the length of the cell.
"What're you..."
"Okay Daniel. Let me lay it out simply for your teenage brain to understand. We're both here, against our wills and whether you like it or not, that means we're in this together. Now, get up." When Danny made no move to get up, Vlad marched over to the glowing bars and being careful not to touch them, looked up and down the seemingly never ending hallway. He paused as if considering whether his next move really was a good idea before shouting in mock surprise, "Ahh, he's back!"
As Vlad expected, this jolted the boy out of his stupor though what Vlad didn't expect was even though the child instinctively put up a defensive stance like he normally would, Danny virtually shook with the force of an earthquake as he almost started to hyperventilate. "Danny! Daniel calm down, he's not really coming back! Oh... for the love of..."
"You jerk!" Danny cut him off. "I bet this is some sick way of you getting your kicks, isn't it? In fact, I bet you're probably working with him!" The young hybrid panted between words as he flung around accusations in his panic. "I'm not him! They were innocent! They were all innocent!" The teen dropped to the floor after his outburst, leaving the other hybrid completely dumbfounded. "They're innocent..." He whispered over and over again.
"What?! Do you honestly think me that stupid that I would trap myself in here without any means of escape?! For once in your deluded little life think about what you're saying!" Opening his eyes and settling his hands back at his sides, he looked over in Danny's direction but got no response. It seemed the kid was too consumed in his own thoughts... fears? … To pay him any heed at all. It was only then Plasmius realised exactly what else the boy had said.. and was still saying. It almost sounded like whoever 'they' were had been killed even though they had been innocent but that didn't quite add up. There had been no big disasters recently that Vlad was aware of to affect innocent people and everyone Danny cared about was still alive... So what the hell had got the boy so worked up?
Running a hand through his silver hair, a small smirk crept onto his lips, a half formulated plan already presenting itself in his mind. "You know Daniel, hypothetically if I was working with him, how would you stop me?" He paused as he realised Danny had stopped muttering to himself, pleased he had at least gained a little of his attention. "I mean, honestly, I'm more powerful that you could ever be and so is he... So quite frankly, what would you, a child, even be able to do?" Risking his assumption that people had in fact been killed and Danny was powerless to stop it, he continued, "You couldn't stop them from dying before, could you? So what's changed?"
"Shut up! Just shut up..."
Well that just confirmed his assumption. Dramatically stroking his chin as if seriously considering Danny's 'suggestion' Vlad smiled, "Hm, no, I don't think I will. They all died because of you, didn't they Daniel? Every last one of the-."
"SHUT UP!" Danny exploded, closing the gap between them in a millisecond. Vlad actually considered whether the boy had finally teleported. "You have no idea what you're even talking about! I didn't kill them! He did! I'm not evil and I never will be!" By the end of his outburst, his hands cackled with raw ectoplasmic power that Vlad's neck had started to burn where Danny's hands were gripped tightly around it.
Forcing the teen backwards with an ectoplasmic blast to the stomach, Vlad clutched his neck and winced not only from the heat but at seeing how far he was pushing the boy's emotions... though he couldn't stop now. He was so close to working out exactly what was going on! Just a little farther... what was it Daniel had said earlier... 'I'm not him?'
Looking at Danny who was now sprawled on the floor, he continued his onslaught "You're deluded Daniel. No matter how hard you try you and he are one and the same. You're as much to blame as he is. You can run but you'll never escape the fact that you still turn into him."
Danny blanched as he heard those words. "NO!" He cried.
Vlad's breathing accelerated, realising just how close he was to the truth. Finally his puzzle would be complete! Finally all the ifs would be confirmed! Fina-
In a flash of light, Danny transformed into his ghost half and commenced to pelt the man with multiple ecto blasts so that the billionaire could only put up a shield to defend himself. The young hybrid was giving him virtually no opening to attack, so he had to settle for defence. Vlad gritted his teeth and waited for the bombardment to end whilst scolding himself for pushing the teen this far. He was sure Danny was shouting something at him but could hardly make out the broken sentences between the sobs and blasts.
For a while he was considering whether he was going to be able to hold his shield for much longer against the teen's assault. Daniel had most certainly got stronger since their first fights and when his attack was fuelled by his emotions, well... Vlad didn't like to say how much longer Danny was going to be able to continue.
As a bead of sweat hit the ground, Danny's attacks began to slow, his blasts becoming more and more haphazard, occasionally missing their target until more than most went completely off centre and started to ricochet off the blossomed walls.
Taking his opening, Vlad quickly dropped his shield and aimed a particularly powerful and well aimed ecto blast towards his young counterpart. The cry of pain and cease of Danny's attacks were harmonious when the teen grasped his stomach and dropped to the floor before starting to take a few deep breaths, hands leant forward on his knees.
At that moment, the tension in the small room could have been cut with a knife though it was instead cut with Vlad's mouth.
"Are you quite finished, Little Badger?"
A swift punch to the face and a glare served as his answer.
"I'll never be him." Danny venomously hissed between breaths.
The two hybrids held each other's glares.
"Oh I wouldn't say never Danny."
Danny froze, his whole body going completely rigid with a misplaced fear though before either hybrid got a chance to properly react, the room was overcome with a sickly red light, rendering them both to let out an excruciatingly painful scream as their bodies became alight with electricity. Instantaneously, they both dropped to the ground, Danny changing back to his human half as he did so and at that same moment, the torture ceased. Exhausted, Vlad turned his head towards Daniel who by the looks of him had suffered worse though this was no surprise considering Danny didn't have an affinity for electricity like he did.
After seeing Danny slowly open his eyes, confirming he was still conscious, the billionaire allowed himself to look upwards and squint at the two bloody ovals of light that were gradually advancing down the hallway until the owner came into sharp focus, leaning his hand against the wall outside the 'cell.' The older half-ghost paled as he got his first proper look at the ominous ghost, outside of a vision and he was exactly how he remembered if not a little more... scary? No, Vlad Masters was not scared but everything about this ghost seemed more ragged and unpredictable. The black and white jumpsuit was not pristine like Danny's but torn and decorated with speckles of ectoplasm and blood. On the right side of his face there was a jagged scar that ran the length, finishing just under the chin but what was most alarming was the insignia was not white like Danny's but a dark red. Vlad shivered thinking about what could have caused this tincture in colour.
Vlad's pale face instantly regained colour the moment the ghost turned towards him and tilted it's flaming head to the side as if examining him.
"You know, it's quite nostalgic looking upon a face I haven't seen in a long time." The ghosts lips curled upwards, looking the man up and down.
"Do not pretend you know me." Vlad reflexively spat. "You and I have never met."
"Hm, no. I suppose we haven't. Danny here made sure of that." He said, pinning his terrifying gaze on his younger self.
Danny shivered and started looking everywhere except at Vlad which the man made note of before walking as close to the bars as possible and squaring himself level. "I demand to know what makes you think you can get away with this."
The mystery ghost smiled a teethy smile, revealing his split tongue. "This."
Pressing a concealed button on the wall next to the bars, the quiet hybrid suddenly became alight with screams which bounced of the perimeters and made the area shudder under the raw sound.
Vlad's eyes widened seeing the boy in pain and having no idea what was causing it. He lurched himself next to the boy, only to quickly yank his hands backwards as they received a shock on contact with Danny's skin. "What are you doing to him? Stop it this instant!"
Dan chuckled and pressed the button again, leaving Danny to collapse to the floor, breathing heavily."Oh spare me your theatrics old man. It is a bit hypocritical don't you think to get angry over Danny's condition when he is no worse of now than at the end of one of your petty squabbles."
Vlad was careful to hide the guilt that swelled within him as the ghost continued, "in fact, didn't you torture him quite recently just to get a DNA sample for one of your stupid experiments?"
The billionaire's eyes shot upwards at this accusation, "How do you know about that?"
Dan's lips curled. "I have my... sources."
By this point, Vlad was starting to get infuriated with the ghost who seemed to know a lot more about him than he could say the other way round. He risked a glance over at Daniel, though unfortunately, the malevolent spectre saw.
"You know, one of the saddest things about you Plasmius is how much the boy dragged you down. You could have destroyed him easily and yet you wouldn't. Why? Because you're delusional enough to think that he would eventually see you as a father. Ha! Even after the amount of times you pushed him away with your idiotic schemes you still believed he would forget and forgive? You give him more credit than he deserves Plasmius. You're pathetic. Or at least, your human half is. Tell me, did you ever once consider removing your human emotions that dragged you down?"
Vlad found himself thinking about the unfinished device he had back home. He had, on more than one occasion but then he found logic outweighed the urge. He had no idea what would happen if he separated his two forms. Would one survive without the other? He didn't plan on finding out first hand.
"But then, I already know you did."
"I don't know who you are and how you seem to think you know me," Vlad snarled, "but you don't."
Ignoring Vlad's fists which now crackled with pink energy, Dan chuckled. "Oh, if only you knew the irony of that statement."
"Enlighten me then."
Dan took a couple of seconds as if generally considering Vlad's request. "No. I don't think I will. I think I'll let Danny do that for me."
"Lazy as well as arrogant. You should be villain of the year."
"You should know," the evil ghost countered.
The two titans glared at each other with such venom that if looks could kill, they would both be reduce to a pile of ectoplasm by now. Danny almost went invisible to avoid being caught in the middle of them.
"But then, you were never really evil were you, Vlad Masters? Just a lonely and bitter man who was in a bit over his head with his powers. Your human half made you weak Plasmius and always will."
Restraining the urge to charge the bars, Vlad swallowed the amount of fury bubbling inside of him. "Release me. Then I can show you just how weak I really am."
"Oh you've already done quite a good job of showing me that. The last time I saw you Masters, you were trembling in my presence! Your ghost powers may give you misplaced courage but underneath I've seen that cowardly little man who couldn't even get the girl because your fat and useless friend got in there first!"
"How the hell do you kno-"
"Good question. How the hell do I know? The ghost abruptly turned his gaze on Danny who hadn't said a thing this whole time and still seemed to be recovering from earlier. "Perhaps you could shed some light on the situation Danny?"
This caused Vlad to turn his angry glare towards his younger counterpart who now sat stunned under the gazes of the two people he feared most in the world.
"Pathetic." Dan cut of before Danny even had the chance to speak. "You know, I am almost embarrassed to say you two contributed in my creation."
"What?!" Vlad exploded. "I think I'd remember creating you!"
Dan threw his head back in mock exasperation. "Honestly! I thought I got my intelligence from you!"
"You and I share nothing." Vlad hissed, completely repulsed at this thought.
"You and I share everything Masters. In fact all three of us do. Or will do."
"Stop your incessant prattling. Tell me what is going on or leave unless you want to be used for target practice."
The ghost genuinely laughed, flinging his head backwards in his amusement. "Please." He sneered having regained his composure. "Use your brain you seem to love so much! I unfortunately share a resemblance with both of you... One of the sacrifices of my creation. Danny practically wets his pants each time my name is mentioned. He's terrified of turning into me and does everything in his power to stop you from finding out about me. Figured it out yet?"
Plasmius' eyes widened in understanding. Suddenly everything snapped into place, everything the Danny had said. The reason why they looked so alike. Clockwork's involvement. Danny being worried about turning into him... it was because... Oh butter muffins. "You're us."
"No!" Danny yelled. The first thing he'd said since Dan's entrance. "He's not!"
Dan cackled, the evil and twisted sound echoing of the walls.
"But that's not..."
"Possible? No. Just not probable. Believe me or not, for Danny knows it's true. It is thanks to you that I exist and therefore the blame for the boy's demise will sit squarely on your shoulders... and his. And mine I suppose."
Vlad's fists clenched though just as he was about to shout obscenities, the evil spectre disappeared on the spot. Checking for an ecto-signature that did not belong to Danny, he found none and concluded the ghost must have teleported. He growled a raw and deep sound, which made Danny shiver as the man turned his penetrating glare on him. "You had better tell me everything right now. And don't even think about lying."
"He's the one whose lying!"
"Stop wasting my time! I've had enough of all these guessing games!"
"Please Vlad..." Danny looked upwards to find Vlad glaring at him with such venom that he couldn't help but feel a little terrified. "You don't want to know..."
"Oh believe me, Daniel... I really do."
"But I don't even know what he was talking about!" Danny shouted defensively, desperately trying to weasel himself out of this conversation.
"STOP LYING! You knew exactly what he was talking about! Everything he said, you reacted to as if it brought up a different memory. Believe me, you're as easy to read as a child's blasted picture book!" Vlad roared.
Danny looked down in defeat, finding comfort in the silence that stretched between them. Holding in a whimper, he scoured his brain for a suitable response and found himself uttering the same words the man had said in that alternate time line, "Some things... are better left unsaid."
Vlad's eyes widened at Danny's response. It was spoken with the wisdom and experience of someone far older than the teen opposite him that Vlad couldn't help but think who he had heard it from, if anyone. He calmed his voice at seeing how much of an affect this conversation was having on the boy and muttered, "Maybe they are." Sighing dramatically, he retreated and sat down in the same spot he had woken up in before looking across to see two green orbs still staring straight at him. "But I'm not the villain this time Daniel. When you finally see that we might be able to get out of here."
The billionaire turned away and looked towards the stone wall, placed an intangible hand on it and attempted to phase through. As expected his hand started to burn with the contact. He closed his eyes as he lay down and surrendered himself to his thoughts. It was true. All the time they fought, they didn't stand a chance of escaping and finally, the man realised Danny would never tell him what he needed to know if the boy didn't trust him. He shook his head and looked slightly upwards. Maybe this whole experience could be a good thing then. If Danny didn't get murdered that is.
Unbeknown to Vlad, the two green globes had never left him. Danny was still staring with such confusion and surprise that he didn't actually know where else to look. It was just another example of how he could never understand this man, which was frustrating when Vlad seemed to have no trouble vice versa. He just didn't get who could go from angry and threatening one minute to cool and collected the next. Maybe Plasmius was right. Maybe he wasn't the villain but how could he see him as anything else? All the man had caused for him was hardship and suffering, not to mention the billionaire had been crazy and deluded enough to try to clone him. If that wasn't a villain then what was?
Danny wrenched his gaze away as he stared at the spot which he had once occupied not too long ago. Out of the two...
He gripped his forehead as his thoughts started to become to painful to muddle through. Yes. Dan was much more dangerous wasn't he? But that didn't change who Vlad was and always had been... However, was Vlad the lesser of two evils? He was pretty sure from watching the two argue that he wasn't working with Dan so maybe they were actually in the same situation and it would be foolish not to work together... but that meant trusting... Vlad. He could never do that, could he? Especially not with something he didn't even speak to his two best friends or sister about.
Gah. What was he thinking?! Dan had already made it pretty clear that he was going to kill him, though he didn't quite know how without killing himself in the process... He quickly shook this thought off. He was going to die. Plain and simple and he was pretty sure that trusting Vlad wouldn't get him out of it so what would it matter if he told him everything or not?
Danny sat down on the harsh floor and took up a position similar to Plasmius.
But then again... if there was even a small chance they'd be able to get out of here... wouldn't he be a fool not to take it?
Taking a big gulp, his mouth started to run away with itself, almost without his brain's approval."I saw them die Vlad." The words were out so quickly, Danny almost thought he'd imagined saying them... Maybe Vlad hadn't even heard him, that would be ideal.
But Vlad did hear. His ears had perked up at hearing the boy's voice, though he didn't move to look at him. "Who?"
Damn it. Danny bit his lip as painful memories started to resurface. He almost felt like not answering but he knew Vlad wouldn't let this go now.
"Mum... Dad... Jazz..." Danny swallowed as he forced the words out. "Sam... Tuck... Even Mr Lancer. He... They..." The teen stopped, trying to collect himself.
"I don't understand Daniel... they're still alive?" Vlad prodded.
"Thanks to Clockwork... not me."
"Clockwork?!"
"The Master of Time."
Vlad calmed himself. "Daniel... I think this Clockwork character might be the real reason we're in here at the moment." The man braced himself for a reaction, any reaction but got none. Instead the boy just lay there, looking at the ceiling as if he hadn't even heard his words. "Daniel?"
Finally, the younger hybrid scoffed. "Probably," he said with a hint of a smile in his voice, though it was anything but happy.
"You... you know him don't you Danny? You trust him?"
"In order: Yes. I have no idea. I thought he would have showed up by now... before... he..." Cutting himself off again, Danny sniffled quietly.
"Stop crying. It just shows weakness."
After a while, the boy's sobs began to soften until they were hardly audible, as was his next comment, "Why am I even talking to you? You don't understand."
Vlad raised an eyebrow in the way that would have really ticked off the young half-ghost had he been able to see it. "Tell me how I don't understand then Daniel."
"How could you? You've only ever cared about yourself. You don't know what it's like to feel like you've lost someone you care about."
Vlad drew a deep breath, careful to hide how much Danny's words had just cut him. Dan really was right. Danny would never know how much he cared. Resigned in this knowledge, he sighed. "I have a good imagination." He screwed his eyes shut as the images of Danny, dead, swam through his mind.
For a moment, Danny lifted his head to look at the man opposite. For a moment, he thought he'd heard something in his voice that said he did understand... For a moment he'd thought he'd heard a sort of sadness... emptiness or was it a longing? Or a regret? He wasn't sure but whatever it was, it just made the billionaire seem human. Mentally, he slapped himself. Of course it did. Vlad was half human, same as him.
The young hybrid found himself thinking about the future Vlad. The Vlad which was so... human. The Vlad he almost felt he could trust. Suddenly, it wasn't so hard to believe they were the same man. That man had tried to understand. Even before his future self had ripped the ghost out of him, he had tried to understand. He had respected his wishes... He had cared?
Oh, why couldn't he just tell Vlad what had happened? Was he really that traumatised by the experience that he couldn't speak of it or was he now just trying to protect... Vlad?
Betraying his emotions, his mouth opened, "When they died... were murdered... I was... You were... You became my legal guardian." Why was he suddenly deciding to tell Vlad this?! Nonetheless, he continued retelling the tale future Vlad had given him after receiving no response from the unusually quiet man next to him. "But I couldn't function without them. When they died, they took a part of me with them. They took any happiness I had ever felt and tore it into tiny little pieces. So I um... I asked for your help... I didn't want to feel at all any more... Not if all I could feel was hurt. No more painful human emotions to hold me down... You respected my wishes and used this device which split my two halves." He shivered, even thinking of this was painful. "I don't quite know why but my ghost half was evil... all I can think was that it was fuelled by my anger and grief? I don't know. But it then ripped your two halves apart and fused with your ghost half.. and apparently your evil ghost half overwhelmed me... Combined, we turned into him."
Finally Danny stopped and caught his breath. He thought it would have been extremely difficult to be telling Vlad this but the words seemingly rolled of his tongue. Why was he finding it easier to tell Vlad than his own family? He shook his head. He didn't want to dwell on the possibility that perhaps Vlad really could understand.
Meanwhile, Vlad remained silent from across the small room, for the first time in a long time... not having a clue what to say. He split Daniel's two halves?! What could he have been thinking?! And then his two halves were split shortly afterwards? Similar to Danny, he shivered. That was such a disturbing thought. Even after sifting through this torrent of information though, there was still one thing that he didn't quite get. "What happened to our human halves Danny?"
The young hybrid tensed. "I... umm... I don't know how but you got out."
Vlad quashed the pit in his stomach and pushed forwards. "That's not what I asked... What happened to our human halves?"
Danny looked up with pleading eyes that locked with Vlad's. In that moment, Vlad understood and realised he didn't actually need to hear what the teen said next.
"I murdered myself." The child forced out, squinting his eyes shut. Upon opening them and seeing Vlad still looking at him, he forced a chuckle to lighten the mood. "It brings a whole new meaning to suicide, right?"
Vlad didn't respond, his horrified stare clearly saying that he didn't find Danny's little quip funny.
Danny swallowed. The silence was excruciatingly painful. "Say something."
"What do you want me to say?"
Danny threw his hands up. "I don't know! Anything!"
The billionaire sighed. "Well I guess we can't change what happened. He exists and that's that. I suppose we'll just have to start figuring out a way to get out of here."
"You're not angry?"
"About what?"
"Well... I kept all of that from you. I thought you'd... I don't know... at least kick my butt or something."
Exasperated, Vlad ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not going to kick your butt Daniel." He sighed, quoting what the teen had said.
"Oh.." Danny uttered, a little pathetically. Seriously, that's all he could think of to say?!
"But I do need you to tell me one more thing. How do you know all of that?"
"What... what do you mean?"
"Well, you said that Clockwork saved everyone you loved from dying. So theoretically that future should never have happened. So how do you know of it? How does he even exist?"
Looking like a rabbit in headlights, Danny froze.
"What aren't you telling me?"
Scratching his back nervously, Danny looked upwards. "Well... I sorta... Me, Sam and Tuck... we managed to travel to the future..."
"You what?!"
"Not intentionally but let's just say we had to escape from... someone and there was no where else to go." Hoping that would be enough to quell the man's curiosity, he looked at the man who still seemed to be waiting for the whole story. Danny sighed. "Figures you'd want to know the whole story."
"If it could get us out of here then yes. I do."
"Well... that's where we learnt it all. That everyone I loved had died after I had cheated on some stupid test. That it was my fault. Of course Dan did everything in his power to keep me from preventing this future... his future. He trapped me in that future whilst he travelled back to our time to make sure I cheated causing everyone I love to die."
"So what stopped him?"
"I... did." Danny stuttered, dawning upon a sudden revelation. "I did. With the help of... a friend, I managed to get back to our own time and stop him." Realising he was going to have to elaborate, he continued, "In all this... I learnt my ghostly wail. The ghostly wail he didn't get until the future. He underestimated me, not expecting me to have that power yet so I managed to get one up and defeated him by trapping him in the Thermos. I think having trapped him in there makes him exist outside of time or something...the end?" Danny paused. "I thought I'd stopped him."
"It sounds like you did. You just have to do it again."
The two hybrids shared a look lasting for a few seconds before Vlad broke Danny's gaze and twiddled his fingers as his brain started ticking. He put a lot of this new information under the 'figure out later' file and latched onto one specific thing. "Danny... did it ever occur to you that the timing of you losing your ghostly wail and his reappearance aren't coincidence? If it was the cause of his defeat last time."
Danny's eyes widened in understanding but before he got the chance to respond, the whole room was engulfed in a white light that both hybrids knew very well. With a shout of protest from both, Danny was pulled backwards and into a very familiar looking container, leaving Vlad to stare shocked at the spot once occupied by the young half-ghost.
Startled and alarmed, Vlad bore daggers as he turned towards a smug Dan standing exactly where he was a few minutes ago.
Quickly putting two and two together Vlad seethed, "You never left, did you?"
A sinister smile answered his question.
"How? I couldn't even sense you."
"Oh let me think. Maybe because my ecto signature is the same as yours you pathetic man! And his." He answered, shaking the container for emphasis. "So tell me, how does it feel to know you killed him in the future?"
Vlad glared, infuriated. "I never killed him. That was all you."
"But I am you. Remember?"
Just to reap even more sick enjoyment out of his victory, Dan touched the bottom of the Thermos causing the teen inside to emit a blood curdling scream.
In his panic, Vlad flung himself against the burning bars in an attempt to reach the young hybrid, screaming murder as his front started to sizzle red and blister within seconds. "Stop! I'm going to rip you apart and scatter your remains across the ghost zone! Stop right now or..!"
"Or what Masters? What are you going to do hmm?" Their older self smiled as he caught Vlad looking between the container and himself furiously looking for a way of stopping the boy's suffering. "I thought you'd be enjoying this! Don't you secretly enjoy causing him pain? Wouldn't you like to watch him die? I could kill him right now! Wouldn't that be nice?"
"NO!"
Smiling for a second, Dan bore into Vlad's eyes before looking downwards at the Thermos. Within a few seconds the boy stopped screaming and a look of relief flooded the older man's face which the malicious ghost certainly didn't miss.
"You won't get away with this."
"I already have. All humans have a weakness Masters and I believe I've already found your greatest one."
Carelessly dropping the device to the ground, Dan turned and started to walk away.
"Wait! You can't just leave him in there!"
The malevolent spectre turned slightly and smiled. "Oh, I'm only repaying a favour." Taking his leave, he swept back up the corridor where he came from, leaving Plasmius to look in horror at the cannister containing... Danny. It rolled slightly and as it turned, Vlad couldn't suppress a gasp at seeing the imprint of a face he hadn't noticed before which seemed to smile and taunt him as the metal eyes locked with his own.
Author's Note
... Any good?! Yeah.. big chapter. Vlad knows, Dan's mental and Danny's in a thermos. What next?! I really really hope it didn't disappoint! Meeting your expectations with Dan was one thing I was very conscious of whilst writing this so if nothing else, I hope I did that! ... Plus I hope you enjoyed the bit of Vlad/Danny Father/Son bonding :').
With Dan I thought that if I had spent a period of time in a thermos... I'd be a little unhinged rather than cool and collected so the times he seems a bit loopy and psycho... this is why!
Also, I realise I tortured Danny physically and emotionally multiple times in this chapter. For that, I can only apologise.
Reviews:
Jaddis: Hehe... Okay I didn't really answer exactly where he took them... But telling you that would be major spoilers. Aw, I'm glad the emotional cores and Karoboj made sense and all. It's one thing I'm very conscious of when adding my own head cannon. Haha, I'm still not sure about Dani but I won't add her unless there's a reason for her to be there!
Kasena: Vlad's going to find out? Danny's going to be scared? Dan's going to be smug? *Looks upwards* You just read my mind ^.^. Hehehe, your review really made me smile :') ... even if you do hate me :P.
SailorSea: Things just got serious alright! Yep. Vlad was certainly confused... though I don't think Dan gave him too much time to think on it :P.
Ruby 1334: Ever?! Cheers! I have a huge smile on my face right now! Thank you so much! Hmm... Clockwork will be back. Just not for a while. You know how he likes to take his time over things ;-). As for how Dan's back... again with the waiting ;p.
Lilly98: Glad you like it! Hopefully the wait wasn't too long :)
History101: Oh wow! Thank you so very much! You've just made me so happy! It was quite hard to keep all three in character this time but I hope I did okay :)
Lioness Deity: Hehe, no worries, I won't leave ya hanging! Um... *scrolls upwards* There he is ^.^
Guest:Updated! Tada! I'm so glad you like it and the bonding! Writing the bonding is my favourite part :')... Hm. Sorry about that :P
Lana: Aw, thank you! So pleased you like (love) it! This makes me so happy!
Spatterson: Oh he's here alright. And he's here to stay. Yeah.. He's a character I love to hate really :L
Ghost Guest: Don't worry, I'll keep updating when I can! Erm... A month is my longest! But I try to update between 2 - 4 weeks :D... Yeah sorry about the cliffhangers.. They just manage to creep in there.
JooJooBrother: Sorry about that! Look! Another chapter! At least you didn't have to wait too long this time :P. Aww, I'm glad! Badger Cereal is the best thing in the DP universe in my opinion :P.
Until next time!