A/N: It took me longer than expected to come up with the current direction for the story, so I do apologize for the delay.
Chapter 11: Plot Driver
As soon as Sam got home, she barged into her father's study, intent on showing him exactly how she felt. Upon entering, she immediately reconsidered. Her father sat in his office chair, leaning into his hands, a posture he usually adopted in times of frustration. When he was like this, she knew it was unwise to just blow up at him; he could shut her out. No, this was a sign that he was trying to think.
She took a few deep breaths, clenching her fists tightly, in an attempt to swallow down her anger.
When she had calmed down somewhat, she opened her mouth. "Dad-"
"Did you know?"
She froze; he looked at her with eyes that weren't even accusatory, but more questioning, shaken. "…About what? Dani being…"
"A clone? Of that kid you're dating now? There's no way you didn't know. And yet, you said nothing? Is she some result of one of those Fenton's experiments? I always knew those people were nuts!"
"Dad, please don't assume things. It's not their fault. It's that fruit loop that made Dani. That so called may…some crazy guy that wanted Danny for his son, but ended up making a girl. We know about her, but not Danny's parents. We wouldn't know how to tell them, it's really, really…Anyway, she's her own person, she's a very special girl and it's not about where she's from or how she was born, and I really hope you can see that, Dad. Please don't judge her. If you dare to say anything to mom or Dani about her identity or kicking her out, I swear!"
"I need to think about it." With that he swiveled around to look out of the window.
Her emotions pulsed through her and she bit her lip so as not to go off on him. Instead she went out the way she came, slamming the door behind her with a huff.
-2-
Sam opened the door to the room Dani was currently staying in, only to find no one there. However, the sound of sniffling gave her away.
"Dani, I know you're in there. It's just me."
She took a few steps into the pitch black room, and blinked a few times to allow her eyes to adjust.
Moments later, Dani reappeared on the bed, curled up into a ball with the blanket wrapped around her. She peaked out of her arms with harrowed eyes.
Sam wordlessly went over to sit beside her, not sure of what to say to comfort her. This room was actually a guest room, with a lone nightstand for furniture and a stock white and blue striped bed set. It hadn't been used since she had her last sleepover with the "friends" she had in elementary school—before she stopped trying to please others and started being true to herself. Her mother must have had a maid clean this place up, because it didn't smell like dust; instead, it had the faint scent of lavender.
After a few moments of silence, she decided that it was better to say something than leave things like this.
"Dani, I just wanted to say, you know you mean a lot to us right? You're you, and you have nothing to be afraid of. Just because of how you were born doesn't make you anything less. I, honestly, knowing my dad, he does that only when he feels like something was kept from him, but he's way more understanding than Mom and will probably come around. And even if he doesn't, you don't have to worry about where you'll stay. I'd gladly hide you. Or if you don't want to stay here, you know you can stay with Danny, or even Tucker. You're our friend, and I hope that you can rely on us, Dani, like family."
Dani didn't say anything, and she feared that she had just talked at her instead of communicating her heart. She wished she was better at this kind of feely talk, though she found herself doing it a lot as the 'mother' of the group.
She was so distracted with inward thoughts that she wasn't expecting Dani to practically crawl in her lap and embrace her before sobbing heavily on her shoulder. She was not big on hugs, especially dealing with emotional people, though she did take exception for her friends. Instead of shrugging away, she patted Dani's back, trying not to be awkward.
Eww, snot.
She looked away, towards the door, where she spotted her sorry excuse for a father looking back awkwardly. Darn it, she forgot to close it behind her. She waved him off, figuring it would be better for Dani to gain her composure first.
"Samantha, I think it's better to say it now," he said, then walked in anyway, opening the door wider and letting in the soft light from the hallway.
Upon hearing his voice, Dani pulled away from her and turned around, slipping onto the carpeted floor with bare feet. She wiped at her nose.
"Am I getting kicked out?" She said in a low tone, sniffing slightly and looking to the floor.
He walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. She met his eyes slowly. "Danielle, I have to apologize to you. I should not have reacted like that. And after pondering on the issue…"—Sam gulped—"You can stay."
Dani paused for a moment. "I…I-I can? Really?"
He shrugged. "Yeah. It doesn't really matter what your birth story is, and my wife likes you, and it's not like you've done anything wrong-"
She rushed up and embraced the man, squealing. "Thank you, thank you, thank you sooo much!"
Sam walked up and gave her dad a whack on the back. "Huh, Dad, you know I was counting on you to come around right? It's your fault I have snot on my shirt."
Dani let go to face her with a pout, putting her hands on her hips. "Hey, my snot is special okay? You should wear it like a badge of honor!"
Sam crossed her arms and glared at the short girl. "I'm going to show you how to use the washer and dryer, because this is so your responsibility to clean, okay?"
"No, no it's not! I've got no time for that kinda stuff. I think you're the expert so I'll leave it to you."
"Now, now, girls…" Her dad failed at peacemaking.
-3-
"It's about time you two got here! I was regretting all these abominations you call food."
She towered over the two boys she had known since the sixth grade—well, she tried. She huffed at them and then went down the stairs to the basement theater, knowing they'd follow her.
"Sorry Sam, Tucker's mom roped us into helping her out so that took a bit," Danny said.
"And why were you there instead of coming straight here?"
Tucker explained, "Hey I have to bring the real nacho cheese okay? All you have is that fake soy stuff. Even though you said you'd stop making dairy your enemy-number-one."
"I didn't lie about that okay. I really bought a little milk. I'm not going to have the stuff every day okay, maybe once a month. I still like soy, and soy cheese. Hey, if you don't want it you don't have to have any. But somehow it's always eaten."
This caused them to sport guilty expressions.
She opened the door to let them in, and then Tucker rushed over to the cabinet to get out her stash of nacho chips. She handed the boys their own box of pizza and then grabbed her own, vegetarian.
"How can you like that stuff?" Danny moaned, plopping in one of the red chairs after grabbing a soda can from the table. "I still can't get the taste of those soy corndogs off my tongue." He shuddered.
Sam snorted at him, whacking his head slightly before sitting in the middle seat. Tucker sat on her right with a bowl full of the triangular chips. "It's not my fault you ate up half of what I made, which was the whole package. Though I guess you had a lot to be stressed about at that time."
"Okay guys," Tucker interrupted. "I really, really don't ever want to think about those Master's Blasters guys ever again. Speaking of which, they've gone into showbiz."
"Wait what?" Sam almost spit out her bite of pizza.
"I seriously saw them on a reality TV show. They're doing one of those survival challenges. And it's an internet streaming show."
"No way," Danny said excitedly. "What site? Maybe we should watch the-"
Sam groaned. "No. Not on your life boys. What happened to the horror marathon?"
Danny sighed. "Can we just watch Jumanji today? The original."
Tucker chimed in with a "Mhm."
"Guys…" She didn't have to say anymore; she just stared at them until they stopped with the silliness. Why their favorite pastime was messing with her she'd never understand.
After back-to-back episodes of the Counselor of Camp Patna, including the finale where the last camper alive managed to kill off the monstrous counselor and was rescued by the forest patrol, Sam used the remote to close up the entertainment panel and turn on the lights.
"Okay it's official, I hate camp," Tucker said, then reached into his bowl and found it empty. "Hey what happened to my-"
"That was awesome!" Dani managed, spitting out a few crumbs in the process. She was floating just behind Tucker's seat.
Sam did a double take. "Dani? Since when were you here?"
"About fifteen minutes into the second episode," Danny said nonchalantly, causing Sam to shoot him a 'why didn't you say anything' look. "I've always said the pilot was unnecessary to the plot."
"You…" Tucker looked at his bowl sadly. "You ate my nachos!"
Dani rolled her eyes at him and put a hand on her hip. "Oh come on, this was your third bag. I only ate about a fourth of what you put in there every time. And plus, by this bag you were losing your appetite, if slowing down on eating gives any clue. So I helped myself. So you brought the cheese? It was so delish."
Tucker's mood flipped. "I know right. Let us not mention the enemy of cheese."
The two looked at her accusingly, while Danny cracked up.
She flashed an angry look. "Danny, are we dating or not?"
"I'll be good…" he replied meekly, looking away.
"Anyway," Tucker said to change the subject, "glad things worked out for you Dani."
Dani beamed, then hovered to the front of the group. She then landed on her two feet.
Sam added, "And now you have tutoring starting on Friday. You guys, my mom really pulled all the stops for this kid. She had a hard time finding someone that could start from the beginning, which means she has to deal with Rick. Remember, my tutor for sixth grade. I wouldn't be surprised if Dani's ready for high school by next year if she can stand that Spartan."
"I told her not to worry about it," Dani muttered. "School's not my thing."
"It's not anyone's thing," Danny said. "Well except smarty pants people like Jazz and Sam. Besides I think you know less math than I did at your age…and by that I mean 13."
"Hey! I can add…and subtract. It's just that weird solve-for-x thing I don't get."
"I'm sure you'll be able to do it." He reached over to ruffle her hair, causing her to pout.
"Hey! I'll get you back for that." She playfully ruffled his back and then froze. She pushed up his bangs and stared at his forehead for a good minute. "That's strange."
"…What?" Danny said with a blank look.
"N-nothing." She removed her hand. "I'm kinda tired now, bye guys." She vanished.
"She ate too many nachos. I'm pretty sure that's it."
Tucker shook his head knowingly. "That's what she gets for taking what's not hers."
Sam wasn't sure about that. Dani was clearly startled about something. But what?
Then a recollection flashed in her head. "Anyway, Danny, what did Lancer want?"
"Uh…" Danny looked around.
"Spill it," Tucker said, poking his side in jest.
"So remember Star and that intern thing…"
"No. Way."
Sam did a spit take. "Wait so work with Vlad? You're not doing it are you?"
"I think I should," Danny said, putting his hand behind his neck. "It's the best way to see what he's up to, and maybe I can stop him from planning anything. Or at least, we can stay ahead of him."
"Like he's going to allow that."
Tucker did a thinking pose. "I dunno…based on how he acts all the time, I think he's desperate for attention."
"You think?" Danny said sarcastically.
"When do you start?"
"This Thursday, so tomorrow, after school."
-4-
It was another morning and Vlad was not feeling it. After finishing the day's agenda, he barely cleared a slot to have a few hours to himself, so he decided to spend it outside for once. It was a nice crisp morning, so he walked the fifteen minutes to the local park to walk along its scenic path.
That therapy of Spectra's was actually working; to his surprise, so he didn't feel himself getting so angry at other people without cause. After using mindful meditation to 'go to his happy place' by touching his wrist, it was easier to dissociate random faces from those he hated most. Of course, it could just be a placebo effect, and he still hadn't dealt with the next checkpoint on his list: the apologies. After he got through as much as he could, he hoped to be sane enough to think about his next plot.
As of right now, he had no goals. Every plan he concocted, someone stood in his way. The girl he loved, he had planned to ask out that day, only to be cursed with powers he never wanted. His revenge, which he had planned for twenty years, was muddled by warming up to his son. This caused him to become weak, and it was a mistake to have modified his plans to accommodate the family that he had never dreamed of having prior. That never could be his. He was a fool to covet, greedy. After finding out the hard way that Daniel's sense of justice would never tolerate his deviousness, he was desperate; he had to have him for a son. He was such a fool, and created a child he could never love. The girl he painstakingly armed and nurtured as a rival to the Phantom turned on him after finding out his true form. And that foolish blubbering man had caught onto his deception during his idiotic quest to rule the world.
How would he apologize? What could be a possible excuse? It wasn't like he cared for any of those people, except for his arch enemy, who was nothing but a child. He didn't regret manipulating them, just the fact that he failed. Was there a way to gain empathy overnight? What remained of that died along with his mother.
There was no guarantee that making peace with them was possible, or even if he succeeded, if he would have a life after that. The emptiness ahead of him scared him. It reminded him of the empty castle he had roamed all those years, though he always had plans then to distract him. This couldn't be his last plan, just putting his things in order. No, it was almost as if he was considering death.
"You."
He was shocked into the real world by that voice that was filled with rage. He must have been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he failed to hear the baby birds chirping in their nest right above him. He slowly turned towards the voice that was so familiar.
Valerie.
"Hey Vlad! Or should I say, fruit loop?"
She was wearing her backpack, and probably was heading to work, as her hair was pulled into a loose ponytail.
He shrugged, adopting a smug look. "I see you've been talking with Daniel."
This would work out for the better. No checklist would defeat him. At the very least, he would make sure this plan would succeed. No more failure.
"I've known you were a nut, but I didn't know you were such a cold calculating…ughh! Human cloning? And then you tried to dispose of her like she wasn't even alive. If you had done that…I can't believe I helped you with that!"
She found out more than he thought Daniel would tell. But no matter.
"Ah, well it ended well, didn't it? Due to the tense situation I created, that boy was pushed to find a way to save her after all. She was already unstable and would have perished eventually."
"Screw that! Do you even have a heart? Do you? Are you even half ghost? Or is the heart part of you not even human."
"Valerie, Valerie, how cold of you. I may have lied to you up till now, and I do apologize for that, but the last time was no lie. I didn't trick you into helping; you saw the situation and made the choice yourself."
He was doing it again: reflecting fault. Spectra's voice played back in his head:
"Good or bad, write down how you handle situations and people in your special journal. It's the best way to reflect, with no judgment, not even from yourself. Once it's on the page, you can clearly see, without bias, what works and what doesn't and where you need to improve."
Valerie scoffed. "You…apologize? Are you trying to say you've changed?" All of a sudden she smirked. "How's that anger management coming along?"
"Quite well, thank you. I'd say I have changed, as a matter of fact. I'm no longer cloning." 'My machine is broken, and I can blame future Daniel for that. Always causing me problems.' "I have the power I was after, and now I'm reconsidering my priorities."
"You had better not be planning anything. I'm warning you." She glared at him fiercely. It was amusing.
"Oh really? I'd like to see you try. But alas, I'm not planning anything, for now."
"Heh. Knowing you, you can't function without something buzzing around in that head of yours. I'm onto you. And that training and equipment you've given me, I'll be sure to use it against you."
"Ah, I'm scared."
"And honestly, if you're going to pretend you're sorry and you've turned a new leaf, you're doing it to the wrong person. More than me, you've always made it out to Danny. And you've really wronged Dani, probably from the very beginning."
"Why thank you for the pointers. I truly have no knowledge of where to begin, or how to approach them."
Her voice raised a few decibels. "How about don't. I don't care if you're mayor of this town or what; you leave them alone. Don't go anywhere near them. And the next time you show your face and I catch you, you'll be meeting my guns."
"Right." Like he couldn't disable those 'guns' any time he felt like it. It probably didn't even occur to her.
Apparently satisfied, she turned tail and stomped off towards the direction of the Nasty Burger. Well, that went exactly how he expected: an unaccepted apology. It still counted though. Things were moving and he hadn't even arranged it. Was this just coincidence?
He pulled out his Palm Pilot from his suit pocket and pulled up the list, then checked off Valerie. The other names were going to be hard to address. They were: Jack, for sabotaging his shot for the asteroid and trying to ruin his reputation; Danielle, for trying to obliterate her despite having created her; Daniel, for trying to ruin his reputation for revenge in not being able to have him as a son; and Maddie, for not letting her go despite the fact that she had a family. Those apologies would be difficult, and he would have to lie to do them. Danielle was still, to him, a failed experiment, but it would have been better if he tried to love her. From the way Valerie acted, she knew where to find the clone. If need be, he could get it out of her as a last resort; he was a master at pushing buttons, honed in his arcade days. But knowing that child, if she wanted to, she could find him. There would come a day when she would do just that, even if only to get revenge. After all, it was what the boy would do, and she was like him to a T. Vlad knew, for he created her.
If he could somehow distance himself from that family that only brought him bad luck and motivated his bad decisions, maybe he could turn his life around. He could leave this town and go back to his dreary castle in Wisconsin; he had already repaired it in the time he spent in Amity as mayor.
What of his new strength? He had not gotten the chance to experiment with it, but maybe he could have time after the five o' clock town hall meeting. He couldn't give up; there had to be some way to use this power to make himself happy…
'Is that the problem? Maybe…that is the problem. I might not be able to make myself happy, no matter how much power.'
Power could hurt, and power could save. He used to play the hero himself, before he grew tired of it, letting his drive for payback turn him into who he was today. With this power, he could probably conquer a section of the Ghost Zone and live the rest of his days there. But what was to do once he did that? There would be plenty of fights. The last few months before the asteroid, he had picked fights with Daniel mainly for the thrill, so his days would not be so empty. Then he was curious how Danielle lived so long, and that cost him his puppet. Then he thought it was a good idea to bribe the world.
None of his plans had made him happy. The happiest he was, was the time he spent trying to outsmart the lad. Was he that desperate? Apparently so.
Maybe there was a way for him to return to his past. If he could have prevented his mother's death, maybe he would have lived for something other than revenge. He never did appreciate her until he was gone. Even though Danielle bore his mother's name, she meant little to him, much like the AI who only said the words he wanted to hear. How long had he been playing pretend, living in his own mind? He was full of ideas and no substance.
Would anyone miss him if he was gone? No, not a one.
-5-
There was, in the western area of the Ghost Zone, a place rumored to be full of troublesome, yet mindless ghosts. Skulker frequented the location, always on the hunt for specters with unique abilities or forms. And now, he wandered through the dark green abyss looking for trouble; after all, if he didn't initiate it, it was self defense, right?
He flew for a while, until he passed through a filament, and he felt the telltale pressure change—a sign that he entered a ghost lair. Not all lairs were owned by a singular entity; some were 'wild zones', which was exactly what he was looking for.
Upon entering the cavern, he was met with damp air and a thick miasma of darkness. When his red ghost sense went off, it mixed with the mists but was still detectable.
For some reason, his senses were clearer than usual. He closed his eyes and felt a presence behind him. He blasted without turning around, and was rewarded with a shriek. He looked to find an unrecognizable mass of ectoplasm that was gathering back up to reform itself.
'Just great, the blob.'
He grinned widely. This would be fun.
In the process of fighting droves of B-movie class ghosts, he grew accustomed to his current level of power. He somehow gained a new ability to yell sound waves, through it was best to curtail the duration to one second to avoid exhaustion. It served as a way to temporarily stun enemies, and knock out those who were within about a five meter radius. He could trap enemies with some sort of sticky trap that reminded him more of upchuck. The trap held smaller enemies for about an hour, but once many blobs coagulated, the new blob was able to break free in thirty seconds tops with its acid spit attack. He was surprised at that moment and failed to dodge its next attack, which got his shoulder scolded in the process. He paid them back in full, splitting the mass into many smaller ones.
Before they could reform, he decided to test his duplication capacity. While he could not produce more than ten duplications, his clones were hardier, possibly due to a bigger power well to share. The problem was that it was getting hard to breathe, with all the miasma around, and the blob ghosts kept on coming. He had been there for three hours after all. Closing his eyes, he decided to once again let his senses work for him. He formed a force shield and allowed the ghosts to accumulate, then blasted out all at once. To his utter surprise, it was not his ectoblast that came out of his hands, but shadows.
He felt freer than he had in days. Maybe it was all the destroying? Either way, it was a great stress reliever. It was clear what his next point of action would be: to explore this forsaken realm and either subjugate or drive out his enemies to claim this place as his own. Knowing the more business inclined ghosts of the Western Zones, he would surely be able to commission a castle or two. He would no longer have to face those he no longer wished to see, and then maybe one day he could heal. He flew over a great expanse of murky colored trees and a pristine lake, frequented by shimmering creatures.
'Maybe all I need is me.'
-6-
It wasn't until the next day that someone decided to inform him of the new intern's identity. And by then, it was too late.
Of course, he acted like he knew all along.
"Why, Daniel, welcome to my humble office," he said with a cordial grin, shaking the young man's hand. "I wasn't surprised you were selected by my devoted staff; when you so kindly assisted in my campaign, I saw your potential first hand. I am encouraged to see yet another talented youth interested in politics."
It was a good thing the boy never found out what he did to him, otherwise things might have reversed themselves and he would be packing his bags to the Ghost Zone faster than anticipated.
Danny edged his hand away with a smile a bit too wide to be believable. "Quite, Uncle Vlad. I think I'll be able to learn a lot from this experience. How to run a city and such."
He laughed, trying not to cringe. "Oh, it is my hope that you do. I will make sure to...teach you all that I know."
Danny flashed him a strange look. Yes, it was his full intention to remind him of that offer he so cruelly rejected. At the time, he would not have minded being used, so desperate he was to be a mentor, a father figure of some capacity.
What Danny said next threw him off though. "Oh wow, Mayor Masters. I'll make sure to take notes, and watch you very carefully."
…Drat.
Couldn't he even take over a portion of the Ghost Zone in peace? Would this boy once again interfere? Other than mindless creatures, it wasn't even harming anyone…for now.
He'd see about that.