Two chapters in one day! Power-housing it over here! This is what I do when I'm given the day off work. This and eat.
This is a fairly uneventful chapter so not much happens. It offers a lot of explanations though. I got a review asking me to be more specific about Danny and Vlad's fights so there's that. There was also a review asking what happened to Danny's throat and that is answered too.
Later in the chapter their working on something to suppress their energy so they don't have to waste power when trying to hide from any type of power-sensing ghost or device so they'll be virtually non-existent. They are doing this so they can deem it safe to leave the resistance sooner with something that can keep them hidden. Just in case you're wondering where the idea came from and why it's mentioned now as opposed to later.
I own nothing…bla bla bla…the characters aren't mine, but the story is.
Read, review, and enjoy chapter 10!
The next morning came faster than the two halfas had hoped. Neither wanted to interact with their hosts, yet they knew their time in the building would increase if they did not get to work soon. Readying themselves for the worst, they rose early and entered the empty lab. Finding supplies was easier said than done, but they managed to gather enough to begin.
Vlad wanted to assess the damage to Danny's throat before setting off to unnecessary solutions. Needing more convincing than usual, the boy hesitantly lay on the large metal table so it would be easier for the man to find the problem. It just so happened to be the moment Vlad reached for Danny that Maddie, Jack, and Jazmine entered the room looking for them. Needless to say, they froze at the sight that met them.
They all but demanded that Vlad tell them what was going on.
When understanding was met, they attempted an offer of assistance, but Vlad did not hesitate to turn them down with a quick, "Daniel does not feel comfortable with this as it is."
With the enthusiastic humans breathing down his neck, the older-halfa focused on the boy in front of him. Turning Danny's throat invisible, he searched for the problem. What he found left him shaking with anger and hatred for the ghost responsible.
Sensing the man's emotions, Danny poked into his mind, What's wrong?
Shaking his head, he moved out of the way so the young-halfa could get up, though he remained sitting.
Casting a cautious glance at the humans, Danny let his blue eyes meet Vlad's hateful gaze. Though he knew it wasn't aimed at him, he couldn't help but cringe slightly; a move that didn't go unnoticed by anyone in the room.
Vlad sighed and laid a gentle hand on the boy's leg, "Daniel…I…I cannot undo the damage done. There is nothing left to fix. That…ghost" the word was spat like venom earning another cringe from the boy, "removed pieces of your vocal chords. Those that remain are too damaged to repair. I'm so sorry, little badger."
The young-halfa felt a weight in his stomach. He would never speak again. It was a strange realization, but he pushed it aside in favor of a small smile. Danny lifted his shaking hands and covered the hand that rested on his leg. Vlad lifted his gaze to meet Danny's finding the buried turmoil warring in his eyes, yet the boy was attempting to comfort him.
There was a moment of pause before a smile lit the older-halfa's face to match the younger's. "I will truly never understand your sacrifices, my boy." The man pulled Danny into a hug that was returned hesitantly.
From their place at the side of the room, the growing group of humans watched with a mixture of emotions, but none to match the pure jealousy that could be seen in Maddie and Jack's eyes as Vlad interacted with their long-lost son. He was their little boy to comfort, not Vlad's. At the older-halfa's proclamation of "his boy" the parents could not stand aside any longer, but at their first step towards the pair, the embrace was broken by Danny who was instantly standing- stone faced -prepared for anything.
"Daniel, it's alright." Vlad offered carefully, "Here, let's start on our next objective rather than entertain the audience." He said, blatantly responding his annoyance with the multiplying crowd of humans
After a glance of hesitant disbelief towards the humans, Danny stood straight, though obviously tense and watched the humans attentively as he followed his mentor to one of the tables they had readied.
The humans soon found themselves in awe of the halfa's knowledge. It seemed as if the two used each other's information to add to their own and build even farther. From Vlad's part of the conversation, they understood that the halfas were developing a device to mask their energies so they could completely disappear if needed.
Parts were soon scattered across the table and tools were being passed back and forth as each halfa created different pieces needed. Before long, a fully-functional prototype lay on the table.
"Shall we try it out?" Vlad asked.
Danny smiled and nodded.
Whatever Danny had said was lost to the humans, though it left the man shaking his head; laughing, Vlad clasped the device on his wrist and turned it on; so far so good.
A strange glance was passed towards the boy, "What say you to a dual before our trials?"
Light brightened up the young-halfa's face as he nodded excitedly, one could almost see a hint of his old self in his eyes. Forgetting his company for a moment, the boy bowed formally to his mentor with a glint in the blue orbs.
Vlad chuckled, "Chivalry before battle, I see. Is this you wishing me luck or offering a quick loss?"
There was no answer, Danny just smirked.
"How are your defenses?" Vlad asked the humans.
After a moment of confused expressions, Jazmine rolled her eyes and came up to a console that looked miniature compared to Vlad's own. Pressing a few buttons, shields covered anything and everything important in the large room; including the humans. Stepping behind the shield's barrier, she gave a 'thumbs up'.
Vlad nodded his thanks before turning his full attention on his apprentice. "I will warn you that, even with the technical advantage, I will not go easy on you."
Danny tilted his head slightly, as if taunting.
With that, the battle began.
Vlad was forced to make the first move to prevent Danny from using the shield to his advantage. The older-halfa darted towards the younger who danced out of the way and retaliated with a barrage of hand-to-hand attacks that Vlad quickly blocked. When given an opening, Vlad made ready to catch Danny's oncoming fist, but as if the boy could read his movements, he shifted his aim and nimbly dodged the man's hands as they danced around each other. The first hit was landed by Danny who caught Vlad in the chest with a resounding thud. Revenge was met when the boy failed to pull away fast enough and had his wrist captured by the older-halfa. Before Danny could do anything in return, Vlad had shited his weight against the boy and tossed him clear across the room where he landed deftly on his feet just in front of the humans behind the shield.
Not allowing them to distract him, Danny bent low to the ground as Vlad got closer to him. In less than a second, the boy dodged the older-halfa's fists by darting between the man's legs, pulling one along with him until the man was on his knees. Vlad flipped himself back to his feet with a quick kick towards the boy who continued his momentum out of the way.
Both halfas paused, facing each other.
This time, it was Danny who made the first move. Bright rings circled his small form and shifted opposite directions, leaving the ever familiar hero in their place. Taking the cue, Vlad smirked as he let his own transformation occur. The air of the lab dropped full degrees before either being moved, but the battle was soon continued by Danny igniting his fists and sending multiple blasts as the older-halfa who dodged them as he followed the flying boy around the room.
Moving faster than the humans were able to follow, the two halfas danced through the air as if they could read each other's movements and plan for their own within that instant. Vlad caught up to Danny as he flew and an in-air combat began as the two threw punched and kicks paired with ecto-blasts while defying gravity. The fight continued in close proximity until Danny teleported himself behind Vlad and blasted the man before he could turn around.
With more space between them, the two halfas began to attack with their personalized abilities. Vlad fused electricity within his ecto-blasts as he threw them at the boy who was freezing them and forcing them back to their owner.
Shots were fired, dodges, punches, kicks, even more than the humans believed possible of the two. Ice cooled the room while electricity melted it almost instantly, but put out by more cold. Ecto-energy burst into the shields, both red and green countering attacks leaving scorch marks behind. The shield was soon beginning to show cracks where the halfas' energies were proving to be too much.
Combined attack-counters phased into play as Danny attacked Vlad who countered by throwing the boy a fair distance. Danny would land in the process of another attack, forcing the man to lash out his own attacks that could defend as well as maim. It was an amazingly terrifying sight to behold for the humans. All eyes were wide.
After about two hours, there was a standoff. Vlad had been forced to the floor where Danny had pounced on top of him, frozen him still, and held a blade of ice at the man's neck. His victory, however, had been thwarted by his mentor's unseen hand lit with crackling, electric energy and ready to blast point-blank at the boy's stomach. The humans were silent with anticipation as the halfa's stared at each other.
In moments smiles lit their faces. Danny dissolved his blade, unfroze Vlad, helped him up and fought against Vlad's now-empty-hand that had taken to messing up his hair. Both were breathless, panting, and spent as the two went over the battle's events.
"Well done, Daniel! You have come a long way. In all fairness, that last attack was your victory."
Danny beamed, I've had a great mentor. Though it was a telepathic response, it could be heard by everyone as if the boy had spoken. His current lack of power required Danny to use as little energy as possible to communicate and projecting his thoughts did just that.
The teens quickly explained this to the confused humans as the halfa's continued their recap. Vlad reprimanded his apprentice for his mistakes and Danny asked questions, gave response, and offered his own notice of Vlad's shortcomings.
When there was nothing more to say, they decided to further test their invention.
"I am going to attempt to attack you, Daniel. Your job is to create a shield to block me."
Danny nodded.
Vlad went invisible and traversed the room to confuse the boy. He activated the device on his wrist, pairing it with his own suppression of energy. Working quickly, he readied a small ecto-blast that shot out towards the boy's back.
Keeping his eyes straight ahead, Danny focused on his senses. He could feel Vlad circling the air above him before the man's signature began to fade. Only a hint remained, but it was enough for Danny to dodge the blast and return one of his own without looking. It hit its target dead-on, not powerful enough to do any damage aside from a shrunken ego.
A few more attempts were thwarted before Vlad gave in and offered Danny his victory. Then it was his turn.
Knowing that Vlad would still be able to sense a small part of him, Danny suppressed his signature before using the device as a type of cap for what he couldn't hide by himself. Using invisibility, the boy stayed grounded for the first attack which almost hit its mark if not for the quick reflexes and hearing of his opponent. Building off of his mistake, the boy lifted into the air and hovered only a few feet in front of the man before casting off a blast and darting to another location for quick successions of attacks at randomly chosen areas.
Three of twelve blasts hit their mark before Vlad called the test a failure and the two morphed back into their human forms. Danny reappeared and offered the device as the shields were lowered and their work had begun yet again.
"Tell me, Daniel, how were you able to sense my signature?"
I sensed you use invisibility and hovered above me. I used that as a base point when I felt your signature disappear and could follow a small trail of energy that followed your movements.
"Hmm," The man considered the information before asking another question, "I will admit that I was unable to find any such trail or pattern from you."
Danny smirked, I'd say that you are losing your touch, but I suppressed my energy before going invisible. I also didn't rely on the device; I just used it as a type of cover for what I was unable to hide myself. By the time I was out of your sight, I was already undetectable; aside from the faults in the system of course.
There was no hiding the pride that filled Vlad at the boy's explanation. "You will never cease to amaze me, little badger." Danny blushed a bit uncomfortably as the man chuckled, "Where could you sense the faults?"
The day continued like this. Hours were spent tinkering with the devices design, layout, and performance as each halfa discovered another area of improvement after testing it. After the first few trial runs, the audience of humans began to disperse around the building to get back to their usual duties while the teens continued to watch. They made it their task to feed, keep an eye on, and be there to assist- if needed -the halfas in their care.
Both halfas seemed reluctant to leave their work as the sun took the light away. The entirety of the day was spent on their invention and they were so close, but the teens insisted the two take a break for the night. Mumbling in agreement, Vlad lead Danny into their temporary room and urged the boy to sleep which he attempted to refuse in favor of taking watch so Vlad could rest, but the man left no room for argument. In only a few minutes, the young-halfa was asleep.
Vlad knew that they were in no immediate danger. Sleep should have been the first thing on his mind, yet he couldn't close his eyes for fear of missing something.