Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom, I'm a big fan and was feeling nostalgic.

Chapter 25: The Devil You Know

Vlad's POV

The moment I mentioned Daniel's name, the onslaught of questions and baseless accusations began assaulting my ears from the Fenton couple but I simply waited it out. By allowing them to vent and exhaust themselves once they ran out of steam as it were it would leave them wide open to my carefully laid out plans of ensuring that this time they left the search to me entirely. Because in the end they knew they needed my help since their own search had proved in vain. As such I was the only person with enough influence to expand the search radius since as I said before it was very likely they were no longer anywhere near the town of Amity Park anymore and an aimless search across the states would be impossible. Besides which it would leave Jasmine to fend for herself which was why I stepped in to do so since they had already left her in such a position with their incessant ghost hunting theatrics.

Clearly the two of them were quite sleep-deprived themselves so I didn't have to endure their side of the argument for long. And once they fell silent without me so much as uttering a word before then, I offered to get them both some water before we 'continued' although really they had spent the last hour shouting nonsensically and irately at me. Reluctantly they agreed to let me get them some drinks and I seized the opportunity to create a duplicate to attend to the other task I had set out to do here and have it check up on Jasmine. It was an extension of myself so I could easily send it impressions of what I needed it to do or say and was a master at multitasking, which I of course had to be to manage 3 separate duplicates at once with enough power to still pose a threat. Reabsorbing it's memories would be slightly jarring but I was used to it...

At any rate, I promptly returned with two glasses of ice water and took a moment to evaluate the two of them. While I'm sure they had multiple copies of the same hazmat suits I noticed theirs were worse for wear and there were signs of ectoplasmic stains on the cloth, which was odd since the fabric was usually laced with something that made it slide off like water off a duck's back to avoid 'contamination' as they saw it. Both Maddie and Jack had dark circles under their eyes, their skin was flushed, and their hair was disheveled and unkempt. Also, was it just me or did even Jack look a tad thin...? Either way I noted that even as weary as the couple was there was still this almost maddening determination burning in their eyes, which at least meant they still cared enough about Daniel not to give up the search. And that only proved that they would indeed need the 'ghostly distraction' I had in store to avoid them doing anything else too rash on their own right now. Although after our argument from the last time, I highly doubted they'd listen to even half of my advice which was precisely why in a way I was indulging their delusion of being even remotely helpful in their desperate search by reducing the number of ghosts in general.

"Now, IF you two are quite finished then allow me to explain myself," I began in a cold business-like tone to let them know in no uncertain terms that I'd had enough of their nonsense. "First of all, I have told you multiple times how much your family means to me. And that includes young Jasmine. As such when she came to speak to me I felt it was my duty to console her because to be perfectly frank...you two are frightening the poor girl. I understand your concern for Daniel but it has been a week now with no sign of him even when you've gone out night after night hunting and torturing any ghost you find; or so I assume seeing as you come home covered in ectoplasmic blood. That is enough to frighten any child and therefore I decided to take responsibility for Jasmine's well-being and remove her enough from the situation to allow her to continue normal activities without feeling afraid in her own house. Maddie, Jack, I hope you realize I did this because Jasmine was on the verge of running away from home altogether because of your carelessness!" Staring down the two harshly as they fidgeted guiltily I sighed and continued, "I already have my best people trying to track Daniel down but so far nothing of note has come up and frankly, there have been several incidents at City Hall that have taken my attention away from the search to attend to the rest of the town's ghost problems. I'm sure you heard about the couple attacked the other day I presume? As ghost hunters, protecting the PEOPLE should be your top priority, not making more enemies out of the more dangerous ghosts by being the ones looking for a fight! What will you do if a ghost comes after Jasmine next hmm? Will you shoot her too claiming she's possessed?! Will you rush off again without a plan and ultimately die and become ghosts yourselves, haunted by the fact that you failed to protect your family? And oh yes she told me all about the time that you also stalked her at school and proceeded to catch her in a net in plain sight without thinking for one second that should have been seen as assault resulting in the government taking her away from you due to child endangerment! If they knew you actually SHOT DANIEL WITH A GUN! Having her taken would be the least of your worries. You'd be arrested! She has been covering for you because that isn't what she wants at all and neither would Daniel so for pities sake think about what you're doing for once! Look at you! You're falling apart and so is your family because of rash decision you made to harm an otherwise harmless ghost that took your son away to protect himself! Studying ghosts is one thing, but to make an enemy of them is something else entirely and trust me when I say that if you don't stop this and let me handle it, eventually you will come face to face with a ghost who will be out for blood and will go after your remaining child to do so!"

"We can't just give up now," Maddie began dejectedly, her voice weak and cracked from shouting so much. "Danny needs us."

"Blast it all woman that's exactly the point!" I rebuked, unable to soften my tone even for her anymore. "He needs you to still be here living your lives to the fullest so there's something to come home to after all this but Maddie, have either of you considered that he might not WANT to come back after what you two did to him even though Danny 'Phantom' was sharing a body with him? He might remember your husband shooting him, and you LETTING him. Tell me, would that inspire the confidence of any traumatized child? Especially one that's only 14 years old? Even when I do find him, because believe me, I will, it may take time for him to recover from the emotional scars you've left on him. On Jasmine as well because of your obsession with ghosts. True we know for sure they exist now as opposed to our college days, however, it is one thing to invent things to track or shield you from them, it is quite another to arm yourselves and go out looking for a fight. We know how dangerous they are which is what inspired me to take on this job as your mayor to protect the populace of this town and the next generation from ghost attacks..." closing my eyes, I finally told them, "...most of all, it was Daniel in particular who inspired me to leave my old life behind and come here to be closer to you and to him, so the fact that he is missing means that the reason I came is more important to me then the task itself. That is why as of today, I am stepping down from my seat at office to dedicate my time to working on ways to further protect the people of this town and your family from ghosts. His safety matters more to me than anything else because he's..." really, I gagged before saying he was my best friend's son but covered it up by letting some crocodile tears form in my eyes that I swiped away before taking a deep breath whilst the two of them gasped.

"You're quitting? Because of us? V-man I don't know what to say! I know you said things have been busy sure but are you sure that you're ok with abandoning the job to help us look for Danny?" Jack asked, for once sounding skeptical and unsure.

I nodded, "I'm quitting because Daniel needs me more, that's the truth of it. However I do not intend to leave the town helpless once I do and I was hoping you'd be willing to help. If not then-"

"Of-of course we'll help! Anything to help you find our son faster and put a stop to those spooks!" Jack blurted out, leaping up off the couch.

"Jack honey, I don't think...?" Maddie began unsurely when I stood from my seat and not caring how it looked to her or Jack, I took her hand in mine and gave it a squeeze, smiling sadly since in a way...this was my way of bidding my love for her farewell in exchange for devoting it to Daniel from now on as a father figure.

"Maddie, I've only ever had your family's best interests at heart so please, forgive me for doubting your love for Jasmine and going behind your backs. I was simply putting her needs first like I am now doing so for Daniel. Besides, it's true that I need to return my focus to the companies I own since managing all three is too much even for someone such as myself and we both know it doesn't do to spread yourselves too thin. And you my dear are clearly pushing yourself too hard. You won't be any good to your daughter or him if you collapse or wind up in the hospital. That's why I'm asking you to trust me, both of you, like you once did before we drifted apart. And I promise you that I'll do everything within my power to return Daniel to you..." And if not that, I will be sure to protect him from now on since I truly think that perhaps the only person I was destined to love was him after all...I added silently, watching as tears formed in Maddie's eyes and they fell silently upon my hand, as cold and fleeting as my feelings were now towards this woman who had become nothing more than a memory, a shadow of a dream that would never see the light of day.

Meanwhile, upstairs while I was convincing her parents to leave as much of the search to me as they could for their sake and Jasmine's, my duplicate had long since made his presence known to the distraught 16 year old. Of course it was just easier to keep it in ghost form instead of as another Vlad Masters so I thought nothing of how nervous it made her. Then again it might not have been about the duplicate at all since she was at her wit's end again. Therefore I had my other self console her a bit telling her I'd do what I could and Jasmine seemed a little relieved at least before a tired sigh escaped her lips and she stood up from the bed, motioning the duplicate over.

"I was planning on stopping by again before going to the hotel but I packed kind of hastily so...there are a few things still left in Danny's room that I forgot. Just grab whatever else you need from my bag once we're out of sight ok? I'm too tired to deal with any of this..." Jasmine of course didn't wait for any indication that I was following before heading to Daniel's room...

As expected the blood had long since been cleaned up but I noticed how she still shuttered at the memory of where it was. After that Jasmine pointed out the NASA poster above Daniel's bed, the closest, and his laptop then told me what she already had packed with her and tiredly waved my duplicate off, telling them that she needed some time alone so through it I respected her wishes. Although before I did I, or rather my duplicate, flashed her a smile and wished her luck from here on and told her that Daniel was awake and that I would keep my word about trying to arrange a meeting soon which made her perk up hopefully, thank me, and to my surprise give me a soft peck on the cheek before returning to her room.

It was strange, but I could almost feel the same warmth on my own cheek downstairs but resisted the urge to touch it since I was still in the middle of spelling everything out to Jack and Maddie about my intention not only to announce my retirement to the entire town, but also my plans for moving back to Wisconsin and commissioning Axion Labs to begin work on ghost shield technology that the general public could use although it would be some time before it became available or even affordable aside from the one I was going to donate to none other than Casper High which for 'whatever reason' was a hot spot for ghosts in this town and where children like Daniel were exposed to the most danger.

This time I felt a genuine twinge of guilt knowing I was purposefully exposing her parents to the same danger concerning ghosts but it couldn't be helped. Daniel's needs went above hers and theirs and she knew that full well by now. Other than that they were more than a match for any lesser spirits and the smarter ones would do well to remember that if I lay out certain terms it does not bode well for them to double cross me and take things too far. I could care less if they 'took over' the town, but to keep up appearances I would side with the common folk defending themselves while leaving things mostly to the so-called professionals since that WAS their job after all. I would merely give them to tools to do so. Whether or not they made good use of them was really up to them...

Granted I would be leaving most of it to the head of security there who in truth was one of the few capable men I knew in this town, it was Miss Grey's father in fact. I'm sure she was going to take the news as quite the shock given how she already hated Daniel's alter-ego and secretly worked for me as a ghost huntress herself. I would avoid further tarnishing Danny Phantom's good name in case Daniel does watch the news announcement under the pretense of wanting only a select few to know he was the one who 'took' Daniel since I did not want anyone else being careless and hurting him even more. As for Valerie, I would have to deal with her as well and the easiest thing to do would enlist her help and 'trust her' with the truth that Danny Phantom was the ghost who abducted her friend so he needed to be captured 'alive,' or as alive as a ghost could be which again could work to my advantage. And with all that settled, all there would be left to do was move Daniel away from here then enlist the ghosts who were going to serve as distractions for Jack and Maddie, possibly Valerie too since I would 'release' them soon after word got out that I was going to begin pooling my resources into making ghost shield technology to essentially put a stop to their fun which to some might make them genuinely angry for ruining their big plans of conquest. Then again, the moment it was confirmed that Danny Phantom was missing in action they'd risk it and seize the opening anyway while the only true threat besides me was no longer an obstacle. That's when, much to my secret delight, Jack told me they were going to reactivate the ghost portal to run more tests on the ectoplasmic energy there before making a trip into the Ghost Zone despite my protests before. Although Maddie made sure to assure me they were going to do so only with the utmost care so that eventually Jasmine would feel better about coming home again.

I couldn't have planned it better myself! Now I wouldn't have to do anything aside from rile up a few ghosts and coax them into coming here! Plus it meant I wouldn't have to reconstruct my old portal after all and leave it out in the woods somewhere, though perhaps I could still find some use for it. At any rate, time was running short but even so I allowed my duplicate ample time to absorb the details of Daniel's room for me to revisit later when I reabsorbed it since I was curious to know more about him and this apparent love for Space travel. I've seen glimpses of his room of course and the footage from my spy cameras but actually being in the room knowing that Daniel was with me now made it feel so...final. It was like I knew he would be staying with me from now on and the other me smiled at the thought while gathering as much as I dared to without it making the room look too bare before making yet another duplicate to load everything into the trunk of my limousine.

The laptop of course would be the most obvious thing absent but Jasmine assured me she'd tell them she took it to see if Daniel had any recent pictures of himself to use for a missing person's poster or something of the sort. It surprised me that Maddie didn't have anything recent of either of her children until I assumed they were just too busy outside of the holidays to devote much time to parental bonding, except for the time I devised a plan to lure her and Daniel to me in the Rockies and convince her to leave Jack since he was unworthy of her love. Again, the irony of THAT being when Daniel suggested I buy a cat was almost comical.

Other than that I instructed my duplicate to grab some of Daniel's clothing when I noticed how tattered and threadbare much of it was. Just how long have they been letting him traipse around in this garbage? It wasn't as if they were impoverished when they had enough to spend on their inventions and countless house repairs. Or better yet gave him enough allowance to buy some decent clothes? Then again, his wallet was almost bare when I found his spare so I doubted they cared enough to even entertain the idea of ACTUALLY paying him an allowance for doing all those household chores he was so often punished for not doing according to him and Jasmine alike. But who could blame him? He was working much harder than either of their parents even realized and then had nothing to show for it even when he did manage to get them done! Daniel even clarified this himself during one of his rants.

Honestly the only somewhat decent thing in there was the suit Daniel wore during the reunion but even that was sporting a few wrinkles and stains, in fact it was even missing a button! And no I am NOT obsessed with suits, I just prefer them to stand as a trademark or a reminder of who holds the most power and riches when I'm expected to be in the company of others, and furthermore out of habit I rarely wore anything else even in my down time...

Clearly I would have to do something about this too for Daniel to give him a taste of what a better life with me could mean even if it was just clothes that better 'suited' him and improve his quality of life. I doubt I'd get proper measurements from any of these rags anyway, so the easiest way to get them would be to run a full medical exam on Daniel the first chance I got now that he was awake. I've been meaning to do that anyway to make sure he's healing properly. For now I had a general idea of what his size was and could probably stay within the estimated size range. My biggest concern would be getting him some decent pants since the ones he wore were practically Jack's size given how bulky and baggy they were around his ankles. He might think them girly but surely Daniel would look more dignified in some boot-cut jeans or even skinny jeans since as of right now as much as he's grown Daniel was still rather...lanky I believe the term is.

Alright I'll admit it, while I knew Daniel wasn't a doll I couldn't help but enjoy the idea of polishing his look a bit to make him much more respectable since it was the least he deserved after living such a life of hardship. I had no idea how thoroughly his own dreams were dismissed to become the heir to Fenton Works when clearly Daniel wanted to be involved in the space program. As what though I wasn't sure yet. But given how many model rockets he had built with surprisingly deft hands that were strung up to the roof I could safely assumed he wanted to be an astronaut. That would explain why Daniel was so quick to master flying since it gave him the freedom he imagined traveling in space would be like. Too bad for now the only traveling he'd be doing any time soon was out of Amity Park...