Slayer Anderson

HIVE Minded X

A Teen Titans/Danny Phantom Crossover Fanfiction

11/06/09

Chapter 10-Sins of the Father

Or

Eureka!

Anyone who knew Vladimir Masters, that is to say no one, would describe him as a man driven by obsession. The particular obsession he was driven by? Danny Phantom would say it was him. Madeline Fenton, if she had an inkling of Vlad's usual plans, would say it was her. Danielle Phantom could say, with some certainty, it was her. All three would be completely right, but also completely wrong.

Vlad wanted the one thing he had been deprived of all his life…

Family.

He wanted a wife and children. He wanted people who would accept his…eccentricities, no matter how bizarre. It seemed, though, that his own characteristics, both physical and mental, had barred him at every turn. In college he had been denied dates because of his geeky exterior or, after Jack Fenton's sabotage of his life-

-Deep breath. Inhale, Exhale. Jasmine had insisted that one step on the road to recovery was the removal of his paranoia towards Jack. It hadn't been sabotage; it had been a tragic accident.

After the accident, the ecto-acne had temporarily scarred his face so badly that he'd fled the college after receiving a clean bill of health. After his degree was complete at Gotham university he'd been drawn to Barbara Kean…

And it had almost worked!

One of his relationships had almost come to fruition!

Jasmine had insisted that he come to terms with that failure. She'd sent him off to that gothic city to settle things with Barbara once and for all. To…to apologize for his behavior that night. Now that the years had past, forgiveness had come easy to him, even with Barbara's husband and children overseeing the conversation. Jim Gordon was a good man, to have even let him in the door.

Granted, the police commissioner's service piece at his side had probably provided some sense of security, but the man had no way of knowing the gun would do nothing against him…

Still, the fact that he'd mended one of the many bridges he'd burned in his past felt good. It was a strange kind of satisfaction that was more pleasant than his latest million. But…that satisfaction had come at a price.

A price that had shaken him to the core.

He hadn't wanted to come back to Wisconsin, so he'd headed to Amity Park. For once, he'd forgone the expensive limousine and entourage and just…walked. Given his immense fount of ghost powers, he'd long forgotten the simple pleasure of a long walk to clear one's thoughts. He'd been so consume in his ruminations that he'd almost walked right by his destination.

Luckily, Jack could strike with a timing common only to comedians and vipers.

"Vladdy!"

Vlad looked up just in time to get crushed by a very large man in day-glow orange spandex moving faster than anything that size should. It was a testament to just how…strange his day had been that Vlad felt hardly any irritation at all in the embrace.

"Hello Jack."

Jack immediately dropped the man to his feet, eyeing him with an almost uncanny perceptive ability. "Vlad, buddy, you okay? You don't sound like yourself. And you should have told us you were in town! We would have rolled the red carpet out!"

"Actually, Jack, I came to see young Jasmine. You see, I need to talk to her about something and…"

It was a testament to the large man's complete faith in his 'friends' that he didn't question why his middle-aged buddy wanted to see his teenaged daughter. Instead, Jack just grinned and hollered up the house, dragging Vlad into the building in the process.

"Vlad? What are you doing here?" Maddie asked as nicely as she could. Granted, his saving Danny's life during that incident where the town had been dragged into the ghost zone had warmed her attitude somewhat, but she was still wary of her friend…

"Oh, hello Maddie," Vlad said pleasantly, with almost an absent-minded tone. Listening to his own voice, the businessman frowned. This was Maddie, you fool! The love of your life!

Then Jazz stepped into the room and all of his attention shifted to her. "Jasmine! I…um, wanted to see you about your prescribed treatment. You see, I recently got back from Gotham and…"

Jazz nodded patiently, listening as her trained gaze looked over Vlad. She had finely honed her senses in her quest to ascertain injuries her brother sustained, before she'd come clean with the fact she knew who he was. She looked for a rumbled appearance, dirty clothing, any tender movements that could indicate bruising, breaks, or sprains…

But Vlad didn't seem injured. Even though it was sheer habit that she'd started looking for the subtle clues on Vlad instead of Danny…she could still see some anomalies. His suit, normally immaculate, was wrinkled and slightly stained…he walked with a certain hesitance in her step that was unusual in his normally confident body language.

That, combined with the tense muscles around his forehead and eyes, indicated he'd been under quite a bit of stress lately. Motioning for him to stop, Jazz turned to her startled parents. "Mom, Dad, I'm going to take Vl…Mr. Masters up to my room. Doctor-patient confidentiality, you understand?"

Both adults blinked in confusion as their daughter led the their college friend up the stairs. Then, Jack turned to Maddie.

"Honey, did you know Jazzy-pants was a doctor?"

Maddie frowned. "Jack, sweetie, why don't you go work on the Fenton S.C.R.A.M.B.L.E.R?" After all, Jack would be crushed if she had to break Vlad's legs for touching her daughter while he was in the room. "I'll go make some tea and snacks for our guest."

Vlad was already half-way to the lab.

Jazz was unnerved by the vacant look in Vlad's eyes. It spoke of a man who had relieved a sudden, jarring blow to his world-view. She let Vlad lay on her bed as he spilled the events of the last few days. She took a seat in the wooden chair set next to her desk and retrieved a writing pad to take notes.

As Maddie made the refreshments, Jazz noticed something alarming.

Perhaps it was just the as yet unexplained shock to his system, but the half-ghost was more…open at the moment. His attitude had changed so much since she last saw him, it was amazing. She didn't expect this to last, though. It was only a matter of days, if not hours, until he reverted to his usual cold and closed-off exterior. She had to make the most of the time she had…

She asked question after question.

How did he feel about his ghost powers?

How did he feel about Danny?

His life?

Her father?

The image he painted was of a man scorned by society, tragically flawed by his baser instincts, and fallen to the dark side of his cunning and ambition. Then, when she'd thought she'd heard the most shocking of his deeds, the creation of clones…clones! of her brother!

And then, as hard as it was to believe, he dropped the bomb on her.

"Jasmine," Vlad said, his voice thick with emotion. "What Barbara wanted to tell me…I have a child. A daughter! All this time I was looking for a family! And I…I never knew! I…"

Jazz was of two minds about the situation. One part of her insisted this was the same man that done so much to destroy her and her family. He'd flouted the very laws of nature in his quest! Over the weeks they'd been meeting to discus his 'problems' he'd been sarcastic, mean, and downright vile! He'd only even gone to see his ex-lover on her request to demonstrate the futility of her aims and humor their agreement.

The other part of her really wanted to believe there was something, anything good in Vlad. She'd always looked for the best in humanity, and this seemingly failed example was just one facet of their race. She wanted, with all her heart, to believe that she could save him.

Honestly she couldn't say what, exactly, had disturbed Vlad so about this specific sin. Perhaps it was that he hadn't committed it consciously. Perhaps it had just been one two many weights on his soul. Perhaps it was the knowledge that he'd accidentally crushed his own dream underfoot not just once, but twice-over.

Whatever it was that had turned the man she knew, or thought she had, into this broken thing before her…could she really rail at him, castigate him for all his misdeeds? Did she have it in her to absolutely destroy any hope this man had of ever being redeemed?

Even if he was a crazed-up fruit-loop?

Jazz sighed and steeled herself, wrapping Vlad Masters into a tight hug.

The man stiffened like steel for a long moment, before slowly relaxing into the teenager's embrace. Then Vlad did something that surprised both of them. It may have been because this was the first real human contact he'd had in years or his reaction to the weeks of Jazz's trying to get close to him. The last wall he'd built up finally crumbled and…

He started to cry.

It was natural that Maddie chose this time to walk in on the 'doctor-patient' interaction.

All things considered, there wasn't any punishment handed out for the event. The creation of a team of superheroes, mid-battle, to combat the aliens wasn't something anyone could have foreseen. Jinx and Wykkyd were given course credit for the operation, as was Danny. The Headmistress was impressed enough that she slated the three as a 'b-team' in case Mammoth or Gizmo was incapacitated or unavailable.

The next two months were much along those lines.

The HIVE went back into isolation, Danny went back to classes, and the city saw the new superheroes establish themselves. Almost overnight, it seemed, the newly christened 'Teen Titans' wiped out what crime there was in the city and created a new landmark in the bay. Where the landing craft for the space-lizards had come to rest on the island in the bay, a giant shining 'T' was erected.

There were press conferences, establishing Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire, and Robin the Boy Wonder as a team of affiliated superheroes on call 24/7. They were to be privately-funded and would serve as an incorporated policing agency for abnormal disasters and acts of terrorism or criminality.

After the Justice League, it was a landmark in government-approved vigilantism. The fact that California was tacitly okaying a group of underage masked teens to police a city was absolutely unheard of and caused many to question governor Swarchenegger's sanity.

Eventually, Danny found out the full story of that night though some of the HIVE's contacts. How the Titans had unknowingly risked an entire city's destruction in order to save the life of that one orange alien. It had taken him a while to come to terms with how he felt about that.

It was stupid, hot-headed, brash, and…and…

Pretty damn heroic, if he was honest.

The fact that Starfire turned out to be something along the lines of a prisoner or kidnapping victim, rather than a convict only strengthened his conviction. He'd seen the team on several of his outing as Daniel Fenton, and had been genuinely impressed. They cared more about the people than the criminals, which was admirable, but they were also competent…

Much more so than he, himself, had been when he'd started.

Still, judging the new heroes was neither his business, nor even one of his main projects. He and Bumblebee had taken to having sparring matches, passing notes, and trading data cards with each other, amassing a huge block of information on the HIVE's infrastructure. It hadn't been easy to get her to work with him after that original altercation, but, in the end, they'd decided it would be better to work together than fight each other.

Especially since Bumblebee was still frightened by him.

And, of course, there was Jinx. He'd been straining to control his emotions ever since they started dating and now it was getting harder than ever. The pinkette seemed to take a perverse joy in tugging the ghost-boy into dark corners, jamming her tongue down his throat, and coping a quick feel before disappearing again. It was frustrating, especially since she'd started spending the night in his room.

He'd tried to say no, but…

She'd ended up curled up by his side almost every night this week, especially on nights when Blood wanted a report. She'd stated using excuses to defend Danny almost immediately, playing into Blood's misconception that Phantom was a formidable and intuitive foe that sabotaged her every attempt at assassination.

It was a temporary fix, at best.

One that Danny was trying his hardest to solve permanently. Bumblebee had received training from the Martian Manhunter and The Question, which left her able to resist Blood…marginally.

Given the source of the training, though, it was almost impossible to duplicate their teaching methods. After all, The Question was certifiably insane most of the time and a paranoid nutcase the rest and the Martian Manhunter was the last survivor of an other-wise dead race. So, Danny was on his own to find a solution to Jinx's problem and, if he didn't do it quickly enough, Jinx would misstep and Blood would know something was up.

He'd almost exhausted the library, the teachers, and the few students who weren't in Blood's grip who had any experience in mind control. What he was finding was depressingly vague and unhelpful. It seemed Blood at least had the presence of mind to destroy any literature on the subject…if there had been any in the first place.

During the long nights were Jinx had lain next to him, sleeping, and he'd switched between reading books, making notes, and watching her for several hours. It was…irritating that he hadn't been able to find something to help his girlfriend. Actually, no, it was frustrating in a way that few things in his life had been.

Which lead him to the practice hall on more than one occasion.

Kyd Wykkyd's eyes widened as he teleported again, a green blast nailing the location he was just at. Danny narrowed his gaze as he pressed a small button on the Spook Specks, keying them to heat signatures. Wykkyd, he'd learned, was slightly cooler than the average normal human, but tended to give off a slight warmth when he exerted himself. Given how much Danny had been working the other teen…

WHAM!

Danny's eyes widened as Wykkyd slammed down onto his back, having teleported and fallen to gain momentum onto the unaware Phantom. Danny didn't phase through the ground, instead rolling and bringing up his hands to fire again. Instead, he spied a small shiny stone that had fallen out of his coat when he rolled.

Just like that, it clicked.

"Thanks for the spar Wykkyd! Gotta' go!"

Kyd blinked his eyes as he slowly dropped his guard and watched Phantom pick up…whatever it was he'd dropped and rush out the door so fast he didn't even bother opening it. Wykkyd shrugged and popped back to his room. If Phantom was done for the day, he had a paper to finish.

Danny rushed to his room, clutching the cracked gem of life tightly in his hand. He's stuck the damn rocks in one of his pockets at Thanksgiving and forgotten all about them. The coat had so many nooks and crannies…as almost anything his father created did that it was almost stupidly easy to do so. Shoving the stack of books he'd been sorting through aside, Phantom yanked open one of the footlockers he'd been using as a table and dug through till he hit Sam's parting gift.

"A freak by any other name," Danny muttered, grabbing Freak Show's book authored under his original name. It was a compendium of ghostly artifacts and Sam had already read it so she'd given it to Danny in the event he ran into something strange.

He cleared a space on his desk and placed the other three gems next to their brother. Turning frantically to the page detailing the Reality Gauntlet, he began to read…

The idea was fuzzy and vague, even after a week of ruminating on it.

The basics were incredibly simple: use what was left of the gems to create something which could protect Jinx's mind from Blood.

The specifics were…another story. The gauntlet itself was destroyed, so he have to make something to substitute, which was very risky. Given the nearly-shattered state of the gems themselves, he guessed he had one chance at this before the power overrode their structural integrity and they exploded. Even if it worked, he needed to decide what the device would look like, how it would work, did he want it to do anything else, and other specifics of it's design.

So far, he'd put quite a bit of thought into what he wanted.

It needed to protect Jinx's mind.

It needed to clear any remaining influence Blood (or anyone else) had in her head.

It needed to change her appearance.

The last was an addendum that had come when he'd considered their lives as super-powered individuals. Sure, Jinx had an alright reputation now, but her graduation exam was just a few days away and that would vast amounts of negative attention. It would be great if he could give her a way to hide her…unique characteristics. Of course, she'd need to be able to turn that on and off like his own transformation…

So ensconced was Phantom in his thoughts that he completely missed the oncoming mass of black and silver armor with half his face covered by an rust-orange plate. Phantom visibly shook himself as he looked up at the one eye gazing down at him, blank and intimidating.

"I'm sorry, sir." Phantom said, coming to attention. After all, this might be one of the guest-lecturers or a new staff teacher. "Please excuse me, I had my mind on other matters and wasn't aware of my surroundings. I apologize."

"Quite alright." The deep, soothing baritone rasp answered. "Actually, I was just looking for a student. You wouldn't happen to know where the Headmistress' office is Mr. Phantom?"

Danny blinked as he shook off the feeling that this man knew exactly where the office was and had run into him for the express purpose of making conversation. After all, why would anyone want to talk to him?

"Yes sir. May I ask your business at HIVE Academy, Mr…?"

"Deathstroke the Terminator. Of course, that has become a bit of a mouthful. Most people call me Slade, these days. You understand, don't you…Inviso-Bill?" The man stated amicably.

Phantom nearly jumped at the name, but held back his surprise with an application of ice to his emotions. Instead, he sighed in apparent exasperation. "Yes sir, I suppose I would. I thought that name hadn't ever gotten into the media. Where'd you hear it…sir?"

Slade nodded at the respectful tag on the question. It was more than he'd expect from most teens these days. "The names of prospective villains always reach the proper ears. As do…heroes."

Phantom's throat went dry at the tone and he clamped down on his powers, frost coating his gloves. "Ye-yes sir, I suppose they do."

Slade nodded as they continued down the corridors. "Indeed. Now, I heard the most interesting rumor that I had hoped you would be able to substantiate. During that…troublesome mess with the aliens…you apparently had a run-in with our newest branch of organized superheroes. Is this true?"

Phantom very briefly contemplated not answering.

Very briefly.

"Yes sir, I did."

Slade nodded again, this time in satisfaction. "Excellent. What would your opinion of their skills then? An honest assessment, please?"

Danny was silent a moment as he collected his thoughts. "I would say they are…skilled. Individually, at least. They are each competent in their own abilities. I can't really say anything about their teamwork, seeing as how I was one of the first to face them…except that it seems that they have a natural inclination towards working together."

Slade hummed thoughtfully, tapping his chin as he meditated on the matter.

"Beast Boy seems to be almost wholly offensive. The only real defensive strategy he has is morphing into something small. Raven has the strongest defensive abilities, but also the widest range of adaptive supernatural talents. Cyborg has a technological edge, but tends to fly off the handle fairly easily…although that may just be with me. Starfire has the most staying power, can take some serious damage and get back up almost immediately."

"And…Robin?" Slade asked, doing his utmost not to sound too interested.

Danny frowned thoughtfully. "He's…dangerous. Even though almost nothing he did could affect me, he's talented and observant enough to take every advantage available to him. And that pole of his hurts, by the way."

Slade snorted in a momentary bout of unexpected humor. "Very good observations, Mr. Phantom. I expected nothing less from Amity Park's premiere…villain. I will report your exemplary conduct to The Headmistress. Make sure to keep up the…good work."

"Thank you, sir."

Phantom and Slade parted ways at the door to the Headmistress' office, Danny becoming ever-more convinced of two things. The first was that the entire conversation had been staged for some reason that Danny couldn't fathom. The second?

Neither Vlad Masters nor Brother Blood had anything on the man he had just met. Slade was frightening in a subtle way that neither of the other two villains could compare with.

Jazz hurled her bag onto the guest bed…no, her new bed with every ounce of frustration she was currently feeling. People just-ugh!

Her parents just frustrated her so much sometimes!

Sure, coming into her room to see her hugging Vlad looked bad, but they could have at least let her explain! It wasn't like he was molesting her or anything! But no, her parents knew best! They always knew best!

Like when they'd decided to construct a portal to another dimension in their basement! Or when they'd decided it would be a good idea to try and kill their own son! Hell, she barely blamed Danny for getting the fuck out of the city and away from their psychotic parents!

"Jasmine, we need to talk."

The red head looked up with a relieved smile. At least Vlad would hear her out. Granted, he tended to have more numerous and logical arguments than she did, but it was the principle of the thing!

"Yes Vlad? I'm…sorry my parents reacted that way."

The half-ghost blushed slightly in embarrassment. "Yes, well…it was quite excusable considering the situation. What I wanted ask was if you were certain this was a good idea…moving into my house, specifically. While you are certainly welcome and I can't blame you for wanting to get away from your father-"

Vlad paused and took a deep, calming breath.

"I'm sorry. While I can understand that you want to leave your parents' house for the moment, I could provide you with an alternative residence in Amity Park, in town nearby, or you could enjoy one of my vacation lodges in the country."

Jazz's smile lit up the room and startled Vlad slightly.

"Thanks, Vlad, but I want to stay here. After all, we still need to finish the plan to get Danny away from those…people," Jazz fairly spat the word, "And we need to find your daughter."

Vlad nodded, seemingly in resignation. "Very well. You are eighteen so there's little I can do to argue with viewpoints of a legal adult. Skulker's latest report was quite illuminating. He's finished mapping the HIVE's superstructure and pinpointed key attack points. I still believe Walker represents our best choice of agents, though your idea to use Wulf does have merit."

"I thought Danny's association with Wulf would naturally lead him to wherever Danny is currently. He'd see Phantom as someone who could protect him, wouldn't he?" Jazz asked intently.

Vlad nodded briskly. "Yes…he might at that. It would add a level of plausibility to the warden's actions…and my own. I believe there are still a few details that need ironing out, but this is, by and large, a workable plan."

"What about Skulker?" Jazz asked suddenly and distastefully.

The businessman hummed as he considered the question. "Skulker will serve as backup. I do admit that he tends to get…overzealous with his hunt, sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

Vlad rolled his eyes at the insistence. "While I know you don't get along with him, Jasmine, Skulker is a valuable resource. His experience in hunting and tracking, as well as scouting has been invaluable to our operations."

Jazz sighed at the unspoken message. Suck it up or get out. Vlad might have a new, slightly more positive outlook on life, but he still maintained the ruthless methodology by habit. In any matter other than Danny, it had served him very well and usually outmatched her brother's capabilities also. Besides, he was right, she couldn't act like a spoiled little girl anymore.

"Okay, Skulker can stand guard. What about me?"

Vlad's face looked conflicted for a moment, before he sighed. "I want you to watch over the portal to the ghost zone. If Walker is successful, though I doubt it, he will bring Daniel to us through that method. Should I need to return due to an emergency…I will most likely need medical attention."

Jazz's eyes widened as she stared at the man. Spontaneously, she hugged him tightly once again. Quietly, she said, "Thank you…thank you for everything you're doing for Danny…and me."

While Jazz's face was pressed against his chest, Vlad decided to indulge in one, brief sinister smile. "It's the least I can do Jasmine…after all I've done."

And all I have yet to do.

For all of those who actually thought Vlad was actually turning over a new leaf...shame on you!

And the true purpose of the reality gems has been revealed. Oh, and Slade got story time. Hm, for basically a preparation chapter this had a lot going on in it. Too much Vlad and Jazz in my opinion, but it had to happen. You now have an inkling of what is going to happen in the next few chapters. So far, it appears I'm juggling plots and sub-plots fairly well, which surprises me more than anyone.

Oh, and for those of you who think Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), oh, so close...but no. Vlad's daughter by Barbara Kean is...a secret! He and Jazz are looking for her identity right now.

Next chapter: Graduation!

Ah, another chapter down.

-Slayer Out!