Chapter 29:
Danny POV-
It would not have been my first choice to bring my parents into the brawl. In fact, it would not have been my first choice to bring anyone into this, but, at least Sam now has ghost powers (and I figured it highly unlikely that she would have sat on the sidelines), but everyone else…especially my parents, who had only just found out about Vlad…I didn't like the idea.
The Fenton RV screeched to a halt in front of the mansion, locking its lasers and cannons on the mansion, as my family and Tucker climbed out. I glanced at Sam, who hovered next to me, giving her a nod, the nod she returned felt almost like a promise, as if to say, "I will save our babies." With one final look, she flew off.
I had no doubt she would find them, it was just how she would find them, and what would happen after she found them, which concerned me.
I shook my head, looking down at our group. Vlad, undoubtedly, already knew we were here, just knowing the amount of noise the RV makes. My parents looked up at me expectantly, expecting me to lead, of course I don't really have a problem leading, it's just weird from them.
I was honestly a little surprised about how my parents reacted about…well…me. That's how I had always expected them to react, or at least how I always hoped they would react, and Sam had no doubt whatsoever that they would be accepting, but…I don't know, I had spent so much time anticipating a negative reaction, acceptance was just…bizarre.
I phased the five of us into the house where the arrogant son of a bitch was already waiting for us, floating above us, in his ghost form, arms crossed, smirking.
"Daniel, I see you brought the whole family, well, isn't this a surprise, if I had known everyone was coming over I would have laid out the fine linens," he remarked.
"Where our my grandchildren," my mom warned, the Fenton Bazooka on her shoulder, making a dangerous whirring sound as she aimed it at him.
Vlad tsked in a mock-scold.
"Maddie, Maddie, Maddie," he grinned evilly, "I can assure you, they are quite safe, at the moment, and will remain that way so long as none of you do anything drastic. And, I must say, you are much too young to be a grandma."
My dad stepped in front of my mom, scowling at his former best friend.
"Daniel," he sneered, turning his attention back to me, "I see Samantha is not here." For one terrifying moment, I thought he was being sarcastic, like he somehow knew she was here. I managed to cloak my worries behind a scowl, but as it turned out, my fears were unwarranted, as Vlad continued to boast, oblivious to the fact that Sam was in the house right now.
"Was the responsibility of motherhood too much for her? If so, she should be glad I relieved you of such a burden. Think about it this way, Daniel, now you and Samantha can actually have a future without being tied down to two children. If you look at it that way, I did you a favor. They will be raised well, with the finest education money can buy, buy the age of five; I'm sure they'll have their powers mastered better than you, Daniel. But I will have to rename them; I was thinking Dmitri Vladimir Masters and Madeline Rebecca Masters," my mom bristled when he used her name. He was baiting me, baiting us, I knew it, and, unfortunately, it was working. I clenched my fists, gritting my teeth.
Suddenly, I heard alarms sound from upstairs. I cursed to myself, knowing that Sam must have accidentally tripped some kind of sensor. Unfortunately, I didn't go unnoticed by Vlad either.
"Ah, so Samantha is here, is she?" Vlad smirked, "Then perhaps, we should give her a surprise." He pulled a remote out of his pocket. I prepared to shoot the remote of his hand, although I feared he would anticipate my defense. Fortunately, we didn't get to find out what the remote did, because, an invisible force landed a well-placed kick on the back of Vlad's head, surprising him enough that he tumbled to the ground and the remote flew across the room.
Vlad whipped around, immediately, looking to me, wondering if I had done that. In that instant, Sam appeared, holding both of our children close to her chest.
"Surprise," she smirked, but the look in her eyes was murderous.
And, I must say, Vlad did look surprised. I actually took quite a bit of satisfaction in that, that is, until the three of us simultaneously realized that Sam could not defend herself with two babies in her arms.
I dove in front of her, creating a shield as I did so. Vlad had always been stronger than me, so the shield didn't hold for very long, just long enough to block the blast and allow Sam to hand our babies over to the outstretched arms of my sister, while Tucker and my parents charged up their weapons, pointing them at Vlad. Sam and I raised our fists, which glowed green, ready to fight.
Vlad merely laughed, surrounding us, all of us, including my sister who had not quite made it to the door yet, with duplicates of himself.
"I must admit, Samantha's abilities were a surprise, but you will never beat me, Daniel," the copies chanted at once.
"Maybe not alone," Sam countered.
Vlad laughed, "You've had your abilities for what, five and a half, maybe six months? You're even less of a threat to me than Daniel."
He was underestimating her, underestimating us. Clearly, he did not understand the extent that parents will go to for their children. So what if we've only been parents for a couple weeks. It doesn't change anything. They're our kids and we love them and are going to get them back.
Elizabeth and Grayson began to scream, their wails harmonizing in an ear-piercing scream. And that's when Vlad's well-calculated plan dissolved into chaos.
My mom fired off her bazooka, taking out six duplicates directly in front of her, while my dad entangled three more in the Jack-of-nine-tails, constricting them until they dissolved into dust. Sam and I formed a unified attack, taking out the copies in front of us, and then surrounding Jazz, attempting to give her a path out to the Fenton Assault Vehicle.
But Vlad wasn't about to let our children slip out of his grasp just yet. He rose up beneath us, taking Elizabeth and Grayson from Jazz's arms, and flying to the other side of the room. My daughters shrieks could be heard above all else.
The rest of us prepared to fight again, but we all froze when Vlad held Elizabeth and Grayson over our heads by the back of their one-zee pajamas.
I spotted Vlad's remote on the floor, less than five feet from me. I wasn't sure what it did, but maybe, just maybe, it would provide a window large enough for us to save the babies and get out.
I cast a glance at Sam, nodding to the remote. She nodded, understanding.
"Don't hurt them!" she exclaimed loudly, sounding a little scripted (although I could hear just a little of the real fear behind it) not that Vlad noticed her acting, instead, he laughed loudly, taking in the performance. In only a matter of seconds, Jazz and my mom had also begun to play along, while Tucker and my dad seemed to be thoroughly confused. With Vlad's attention off of me, I inched towards the remote, not making too sudden of movements.
"Hurt them?" Vlad questioned innocently, "Now why on earth would I hurt them? I am going to raise them as my own, and I have no purpose for damaged goods. However, you're never too young to learn how to fear authority." For emphasis, he raised them a little higher over his head.
I clenched my fists. I wanted to put a couple holes in his massively large head, but instead, I focused on the task at hand, inching closer to the remote.
"Please Vlad, don't do this, we'll do whatever you want," my mom lied. At this Vlad paused, giving me another opportunity to edge toward the remote.
"Anything? Hmm…" he mused, still not putting Elizabeth or Grayson down. My dad looked about ready to object, but he caught my mom's eye, which forced him into silence.
'So close…' I thought, beads of sweat pooling on my forehead as I closed the distance between myself and the remote.
"In that case…" Vlad began, but he was unable to finish as my fingers closed around the remote. I pressed the red button in the center, and, for one terrifying second, nothing happened.
Then, the explosions started. They began in the upstairs wings, coming closer with each consecutive blast. My breath caught in my throat as I realized, that, had Sam not developed ghost powers and gotten them out of there, these explosions likely would have killed her and our babies. For a brief second I wondered why Vlad would destroy his own mansion, but, then I realized, that he probably had originally intended to rescue the babies himself, fleeing the city, and leaving the rest of us buried under a pile of rubble. But my realization lasted only a minute, when Vlad became distracted by the explosions. He slightly loosed his hold on the fabric, allowing our babies to slip down a few inches, then a few more, until they were freefalling the forty feet from where he had been floating, to the hard floor.
Sam and I reacted, both flying up and capturing one of our babies in our arms. I caught Elizabeth just in time, only a few feet from the ground.
For a change, my daughter was silent as she looked at me with fear-filled eyes.
Only a second later, did I realize that the fear was not because of me.
Vlad descended on me from above, landing a forceful combination of a kick and ghost ray on my back, launching Elizabeth out of my arms and onto the floor. She screamed loudly, but I breathed a sigh of relief. If she was screaming, that meant that she hadn't been killed in her violent tumble to the floor.
Putting myself between Vlad and my daughter, I faced him. Around us, the mansion was crumbling, bit of stone and wood and ceiling crashing to the ground around us.
With rage clouding my vision, I attacked Vlad, pelting him with a barrage of ghost rays. He fired back, but I was able to block every shot in time, deflecting them off to the sides, away from me and from my daughter who was still behind me screaming. Across the room, everyone else was avoiding falling debris, and Sam, who had Grayson close to her, with one hand above her head, creating a shield over everyone else, she wouldn't be able to give me any help.
I flinched toward the Fenton Thermos attached to my belt. All I needed was an opening.
Suddenly a six-foot-by-six-foot piece of sheetrock descended towards Vlad. Obviously, he turned intangible, letting the sheetrock pass through him, but it had left him preoccupied, just long enough for me to unclip the Fenton Thermos. When he turned tangible again, refocusing on his battle with me, I was ready. I sucked him into the thermos without a second of hesitation.
Ignoring his angry shouts from inside the metallic container, I turned around, ready to phase my daughter out of the crumbling mansion.
Suddenly, another explosion went off, this time, only ten feet away, sending shrapnel flying towards me, and, unfortunately, towards my daughter, who had been closer than I was to the explosion. She cried out in pain as the bits sliced through her skin.
I picked her up instantly, knowing that the mansion was one good explosion away from crumbling and, knowing exactly where that explosion would be: directly behind me, at the place where the grand staircases met the foyer.
I phased her out, taking only a millisecond to make sure that Sam had gotten everybody else out.
They were on the lawn in front of the house. I looked at Sam, and, in a second she understood. Locking arms with everyone else, we made them all intangible as the final explosion, the largest explosion by far, racked the mansion, sending out waves of shrapnel as the house collapsed in on itself in a mountain of dust.
When the dust cleared, we became intangible again. I gently, pulled my daughter back from where I had her pressed to my chest.
There were red stains on my costume.
Sam and I gasped, looking our daughter over. Thankfully, most of the gashes had already begun to heal, but the one that concerned us the most, was still spilling blood. It was on her forehead.
"Get her to the hospital," my mom ordered, a Jazz ripped off some of the fabric from her shirt and pressing it gently to the wound. It wasn't doing much good. The white of her t-shirt had become red in only a matter of seconds.
Sam handed Grayson off to my parents, and, as gently as we could, Sam and I flew our daughter to the hospital.
