I am finally getting down to chapter 10! This chapter is mostly musings on Vlad's return, as well as how the world views Danny now that everything has died down a bit. Thank you everyone for the reviews for the last chapter! I'm sorry this chapter is a little late, but I had computer issues and then I went back to school after I got my new computer, so I actually had to do my homework. Please review and let me know what you think, thank you!
Chapter 10: Musings and Celebration
"Earlier this week Vlad Masters was spotted near his retreat in the Colorado Rockies. This was the first sighting of our former mayor since he disappeared a year ago. We now turn to Lance Thunder, who is on location right now." The blonde anchorwoman smiled brightly as the screen switched over to an equally blonde man standing about a hundred yards away from a large mountain lodge.
"Thanks Tiffany. Earlier this week a reporter who came to this sight to film some shots of the retreat for a documentary saw through the windows an emaciated Masters pacing in his living room. Many people are concerned about the timing of this appearance, as it happened just a week before the anniversary of…"
"I can't believe this!" an annoyed Danny said as he turned off the television, "Vlad's been back for over two months, and their just finding this out about this now?" Danny, Ticker, Sam, and Katie were sitting in Danny's living room waiting for the rest of the Fenton clan to come down.
"Well, he has been pretty quiet," Katie pointed out. "He probably just wants to be left alone."
"Still, I'm surprised that there wasn't an attempt to try to throw him into jail as soon as they found him last Tuesday."
"Well, I'm not," Katie said. "To be honest I'm surprised you are, Tuck"
Everybody turned to Katie, surprised at what she said. It was Tucker that echoed everybody's thoughts. "Katie, what are you talking about? He cheated the whole world!"
"Actually, he didn't. Tucker, you are in the political game now. You have to have noticed that legally, Vlad did nothing wrong. He offered a service, for a price, mind you, and went to fully prepared to complete said service. He did not lie in what he said he could do. Unfortunately, what he promised to do did not work, rendering the agreement null and void. He did the right thing and didn't come back to claim 'payment' for what he was supposed to do. Therefore, he can't be put in jail because he didn't do anything wrong from legal standpoint. It's all business – business and politics." Katie did not flinch or even falter from the stare she was giving the three friends while she made this speech. She knew what she spoke was the truth. It was a painful truth, but the truth nonetheless.
Danny was dumbfounded. Two months ago Katie was felt hurt and betrayed by this man, and now she was defending him? "Katie, why are you defending him? Yes, maybe the law won't give him what he deserves for trying to take over the world, but what about all the other stuff? He is liable there." Danny was a bit bitter on this subject.
"First of all, I'm impressed that you know what liable means. Second, yes, he is liable for his actions but you can't prove it in a court of law. You have no evidence to prove that he did any of that stuff and Vlad is smart enough to know how to go through this undetected. Besides, in the end it's going to be your word versus Vlad's, and his is going to look better. Truth is, he told nobody but you about his activities, and anyone involved in them wouldn't be able to remember what happened." Katie defended her argument with a strange cynical passion that caused her friends to become concerned
"Wait, so he's going to go unpunished? You told me he would get what was coming to him! Whose side are you on?" Danny yelled angrily.
"Danny, calm down. I'm on your side, alright, but I'm being realistic. Vlad will get what's coming to him, but it won't be through ordinary means. His fall from grace is his earthly punishment. His name is in the mud. He has no power, no prestige, no allies, neither here nor in the Ghost Zone. He is the epitome of an outcast, shunned by the society that once held him to such admiration. For a guy like Vlad, that's worse than what any penal system could do to him.
"Look, I don't like Vlad either. He's done some horrible things. Still, that doesn't mean that I'm going to sit here and convince myself that our justice system works in this case. It's hard truth to accept, and believe me it's the truth, but deal with it. There are truths much harsher than this and if you can't accept it then you'll never survive in the real world." The trio stared in slight disbelief as Katie finished her little speech. They weren't surprised at what she said, they all knew it was true, but it was the way that she said it.
"Katie, since when did you become such a cynic? I thought that was Sam's job," Tucker asked half light-heartedly, half serious. He was voicing the thoughts of all three of listeners, as he seems to do quite often lately.
"Look, I had to grow up a lot in the past year." Katie answered quietly. Thankfully, before the mood could get any more serious and depressing, Danny's dad came with a big smile in with the rest of the family trailing behind him.
"Why is everybody so glum? It's a celebration today! Come on kids, let's go to City Hall! Danny can't be late for his own ceremony, now can he? Katie, your parents said they'd meet you there. Now let's go!" Jack's happy mien lifted everybody's mood. Soon they were all out the door, ready for the excitement of the day. You see, today happened to be the one year anniversary of Danny saving the world, so in honor of the occasion, the City of Amity Park was celebrating. All schools and businesses were closed and there was going to be a huge carnival. Well, Danny was making a speech in honor of the occasion first, but then there was going to be the carnival, and everybody was looking forward to the carnival.
"In the end, this past year has been nothing more than an ordinary year in most of our lives. But it is not this year in itself that was special, but rather that we were actually here to see it. It was thanks to the amazing men and women who helped out last year in our effort to save the world that we did get to experience another year. Thank you." The crowd applauded as Danny left the podium got off the stage set up in front of City Hall in order to go join his family and girlfriend in the plaza below. He had just finished his speech to commemorate the events of this day last year, and now he, like everybody else in the audience, was itching to go to the carnival.
Finally, Tucker went up to the podium to end the day's official ceremony and get the party started. "First of all, I would just like to thank everybody for being here. Now I know how much all of you want to listen to me speak, but I want to get to the carnival. So I officially declare today's ceremonies done. Now let's go pig out!" The crowd roared with applause as they ran toward the park where the carnival was being held.
Meanwhile, way in the back of the crowd, far removed from all other people, three sixteen year-old girls were talking quietly among themselves.
"I can't believe it's been a year since we found out," the blonde girl commented.
"Yeah, I know. It seems weird though, doesn't it? Knowing all this responsibility now rests on our shoulders? It's kind of cool and kind of scary at the same time," said the raven-haired girl.
"Yeah," replied the third girl, a brunette. She surveyed the raven-haired girl for a minute before finally voicing the thought that had been pestering her for the past hour: "You haven't told him yet, about last year, have you?"
The girl with the raven hair looked taken back at being so directly interrogated. "What are you talking about?" she asked nervously.
"Katie, don't play dumb with me. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Now answer the question." The brunette sounded annoyed. She had warned Katie repeatedly, but to no avail.
"Not that it's any of your business, Jess, but no, I haven't told him yet, and if I have any say in the matter I never will. He doesn't need to know that about me, at least not yet." Katie was defiant in her answer.
Jess sighed in frustration. "Katie," she said much more sympathetically, "I know it's hard, but you have to tell him. He's going to find out eventually, and you know I'm right. Trust me when I say the whole thing will go down a lot easier if you tell him before he finds out through… other means."
"Look, I appreciate the advice, but I'll handle it my way. Anyway, I have to go. I promised my cousin that I'd meet up with him, well, now, so I really need to catch up with him. See you later!" With that Katie ran off toward the carnival, leaving the other two girls behind.
"Does she realize that the longer she waits, the harder he'll take it?" the blonde girl asked worriedly.
"I don't know, Molly, but I hope she gets the courage to say something soon."
"Tuck, remind me again, why we are having a carnival to celebrate Danny saving the world?" Sam was definitely amused by this idea.
"Well, it is a celebration and Danny didn't want a parade, and carnivals are just awesome so I decided to throw a carnival instead. Everybody loves carnivals!"
"Hey, sorry I'm late!" Katie said as she ran to them, "So, what did I miss?"
The four friends spent hours enjoying the celebration. They rode all the cheesy rides, ate as much carnival food as they could stomach, and picked up a fifth member of their group, Valerie, along the way. By the time evening rolled around, the five friends had tried everything they possibly could at least twice, and they were now heading over to the Ferris Wheel for one last view of the city lit up before heading home.
They were on line, about to get on the ride when Katie noticed something in the shadows out of the corner of her eye. "You know what you guys, you go ahead. I'll catch up with you later, alright?"
"Katie, are you alright? You seem kind of distracted," Danny asked out of concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to do something. I'll meet up with you when you get off." Katie walked away from the group toward the shadow of a popcorn stand that had shut down for the night. There was a shadowy figure waiting for her there, casually leaning against the flimsy wall of the stand.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed angrily at the figure.
"Well, Katherine, if you must know I had some business to attend to here. Unfortunately, no one told me about the celebration." The figure stepped out if the shadow of the tent. Katie glared at the calm face Vlad Masters. "How are you doing? The last time I saw you we got off on the wrong foot."
"You are very cocky for someone in hiding. You better leave before somebody spots you. The people here will kill you on sight and I will not hesitate to give you to them." The gravity in Katie's voice showed that she wasn't playing games with him.
"Ah, I see, you're still bitter about the last time we met. Fine, I never used your family to get to Jack; if I had it would have made the process much faster."
"Then why pay my way through school? Why go through the trouble?"
"Because, Katherine, you have a brilliant mind. I noticed from the moment I met you that you were sharp as a tack and clever as a fox, and quite frankly, my dear, I knew that I would benefit from someone of your intelligence on my side. That and your status piqued my interest. Of course, any one of the Parcae would."
At first Katie was mildly surprised at how bold Vlad was. But soon that surprise became turned into anger. "Tell anyone about that I will make the little of what is left of your life a living hell!" Katie pinned Vlad to the wall, holding him there with the sickle blade of her long-handled weapon. Her now gray eyes glared murderously at the man, showing that she meant business. The older man, however, still kept his calm demeanor.
"The scythe, not the staff? That is a surprise, now isn't it? Well, I should have known from your proficiency at languages that you would receive the scythe. Still, the staff seemed to suit your personality better. I guess we don't always get what we expect, do we?"
"No we don't." Katie's tone was bitter. Still, she never removed her eyes from the man standing in front of her. "And if you dare to utter a word more on the subject I will shove something you don't expect up your…"
"I get the picture, Katherine, there's no need to elaborate. I will not tell young Daniel anything about you."
Katie lowered her scythe in surprise. "I never said anything about…"
"You didn't need to. He's the only one who would even give it any thought. Though, of course I would be a bit less obvious about it." With that Vlad walked away, leaving an angry and annoyed Katie behind.
After Katie spent a few minutes calming down, she went to go catch up with her friends. They all walked home together, laughing and joking. Katie didn't mention her conversation with Vlad to anybody that night, and if everything worked out as planned she was going to bring it with her to the grave. Of course, very few things ever go as planned. Too bad Katie forgot to take that into account.
So, what do you think? And yes, I do love carnivals (I haven't been to one in ages! I miss the food!). I know this chapter was a little slow, but it needed to get done. If you want to know what exactly Vlad was referring to, I suggest you pick up a Latin-English dictionary. In case you haven't noticed, one of those would be very helpful at figuring things out. But, if you're too lazy to find one, all will be revealed eventually, I promise! BTW, I'm sorry this was up so late, but I had computer issues, so I couldn't write until I got my new computer for my birthday, and then I went back to school so, yeah. Sorry again! Anyway, please review, thank you!