Hello, everyone! Ready for an evil little climax? I hope you are! Heh-heh! Anyways, I wasn't able to get to responding to all the reviews again, but I'll work on them during the week, kay? I have a test on Monday which I still haven't finished studying for, but I just had to take a break to post this for you guys! I hope you enjoy it! But as you read, do put yourselves in Sam's, Tucker's, and Jazz's shoes. And think about everything that they know and do not know. Also, in regards to Danny… think carefully about what he has been through…and what he has stacked against him, hmm? See you at the bottom!
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.
Chapter 35: Distortion
After having shown Danny the mansion, Vlad had retreated to his favorite living room for a game of chess. He had felt no desire to go to bed, which was unusual since he was very strict in his sleeping schedule: in bed by nine pm; awake by six am. The only time he broke his habit was when 'circumstances' arose. But on such an uneventful night like this one... why wasn't he remotely tired?
"Wonderful. Now, I'm suffering from insomnia. All I need now is Jack's eating disorder," Vlad grumbled, spitefully knocking down a pawn.
Speaking of that idiot, it had been days since he had gone to Amity Park to speak with him. And according to Fright Knight, Jack had yet to take the bait he had laid out for him. What was taking the fat oaf so long to bite? Perhaps that's what had him on edge. After all, how could he complete his plan if that crucial part didn't play out?
Vlad frowned deeply in thought. He just needed to be patient, that's all. Jack would play into his hands, if not by this method, than by another. If he, Vlad Masters, managed to topple his head-strong young enemy, then disposing of that overgrown buffoon should be a snap.
Returning his attention to his chess game, the billionaire paused as he realized his last move had placed him in a compromised position. He was two moves away from toppling the opposing king piece. However, in order to do that, he would have to sacrifice his queen. And that was always a move he hesitated in performing whenever he played chess. The queen was too important to let go of.
But he realized he had another option as he continued to analyze the chess board in front of him. He could delay his victory by engaging in several more moves. And in doing so, he could keep his queen and still take the opposing king. Only that, this strategy was risky. It would mean possibly putting his victory in jeopardy. There was a chance he would lose.
Vlad narrowed his eyes in concentration as he pondered what strategy to use. "Hmm… I could let go of my queen, and in doing so obtain the king…. Or I could try the other approach, thus allowing me to conserve my queen. But I would risk losing both my queen and the king if the plan proves unsuccessful in the end…."
He remained silent for a moment. But he then picked up his hot tea, leaned back on the couch, and took a sip while he continued to debate his next actions. He knew the best choice was to give up his queen and take the king. But he didn't want to give up his most important piece—after his king, of course. He didn't care about sacrificing all the other pieces. But he never sacrificed the queen. That was how he played this game. Otherwise, it didn't feel like he truly won. What was the point of winning if you had to give up something of equal value for that victory?
Vlad looked up at the large grandfather clock and saw it read ten forty-four pm. It was much later than he thought! Had he been playing that long?
"I should head to bed," he said out loud as he placed the tea cup back on the tray. He stood and straightened his attire, but his eyes were still locked on the chessboard. Perhaps he could lose the queen this once. After all, the entire point of this game was to take the opposing king…In the end that was what really mattered…
Making his decision, Vlad leaned down and moved his bishop forward, then made the only move the opposing side had left and that effectively took out his queen. But that gave him the freedom to make his final move. And he made it.
He took the opposing king off the chess board, and smirked at it as he declared, "Checkmate." He studied the piece with satisfaction; but then, he slowly frowned. Vlad looked back at the chessboard, and then back at the king in his hands again.
"Perhaps not as satisfying…," he said seriously, not wanting to admit the reasons that gnawed his mind. He placed down the king on the chessboard, and then silently walked out of the living room.
As he headed towards the main stairs, his thoughts went to a couple of errands he needed to get done tomorrow. He was meeting with the shareholders that had come to dine at his home some time back. Despite Danny's interference in that business matter, he had managed to get the deal back on track. And tomorrow he was closing it.
He had a couple of other small gatherings for some of his other companies to go to, but they were later in the day…
Vlad paused at the top of the grand stairs, his eyebrows creasing in contemplation. Didn't he have a press conference tomorrow? Or was it next week?
"I need to call Stephanie," he muttered to himself, knowing his secretary would be able to tell him. He looked at his watch again, and sighed. "It'll have to be tomorrow… I wouldn't want to--"
"Crash!"
Vlad turned towards the faint sound coming from the left hallway….the direction in which Daniel's bedroom was located…
"Now what?" the billionaire asked, annoyed. If he had heard the crash all the way out here, then whatever the boy had done was serious. With a roll of his eyes, he walked off towards the teen's room, grumbling, "Daniel is so clumsy. It's still a wonder how he has fought ghosts for over a year now and has managed to stay alive."
Sitting on a large sofa in his room's lounge with his feet stretched across it, Danny flipped to the next page of the mystery book he was reading. He hardly watched television anymore because it did nothing to keep his mind from thinking about his predicament; but reading did.
However, he wasn't just reading to keep his mind occupied. If one good thing came out of being at Vlad's, it was discovering reading again. It was quite pleasurable, when you found the right book... Jazz would be proud.
If he wasn't so caught up in his book, too eager in discovering what the next clue in the story meant, his subconscious thoughts would have bothered him. Danny's eyes widened a bit in anticipation as he flipped the page again.
And that's when it happened.
"CRASH!"
The boy's eyes jolted towards the sound, but not quick enough to register the object coming towards him.
"Ahh!" he cried in pain as the projectile hit him right on the forehead. His book dropped to the ground as he used both his hands to cradle his throbbing and spinning head. Slowly, he looked up, mumbling, "What the heck?"
A frown fell on his face as he stared at the glass doors that led to the outside balcony, and noticed one was broken. But upon remembering the fact that something had hit him, he looked down trying to find the thing responsible for the large growing bump on his forehead.
He spotted it instantly.
Danny's breath caught in his throat and his face immediately paled. His hands lowered from his forehead, and they began to tremble as he picked up the item on the ground.
"The Fenton Boomerang," he whispered in disbelief and fear. In a flash, the teenager jumped to his feet and ran over to the glass doors. His hands—one still holding the boomerang--pressed against the glass door that had not been broken, while his eyes nervously scanned the star-filled night sky and surroundings. But he didn't see a trace of what he expected to find. That fact, however, did little to quell his dread.
"Knock-Knock."
Danny spun around towards the lounge's pull-down stairs upon hearing someone knocking on his bedroom door below. And he soon knew who that someone was.
"Daniel?"
"Oh no…," the teen whispered.
"Daniel, open this door!" Vlad ordered, this time knocking a bit louder.
The man's words jolted the boy from his fear-induced shock. And without thinking, he took off towards his bedroom's main door, his mind only focused on preventing his arch-enemy from entering the room.
But when he reached for the door and was about to lock it—not that that would have done much good--he realized what was still clutched in his right hand. A panicked whimper left Danny's throat as his eyes darted around for a place to hide the boomerang. If he wasn't so scared, he would have smacked himself for not hiding the device before doing anything else.
However, his rational thinking was so far gone by this time that all he could think to do was attempt to phase the boomerang through his bed. But it was too late.
Danny froze when his bedroom door opened, but his instinct took over and he hid the device in the only place he could at the moment: behind his back.
"Daniel, I heard a--Are you alright?" Vlad abruptly asked, instantly noticing how panicked and pale the boy looked--not to mention he had a large red bump on his forehead.
"I-I…," Danny began, but couldn't get his vocal cords or mind to function properly. The teen was certain he had never been so terrified in his life. He knew that the ghost device's appearance could mean only one thing. And he knew that the outcome could only end in disaster. He began to feel both dizzy and sick.
It was then Vlad noticed the boy was hiding something behind his back, and he rolled his eyes. "Daniel, if you broke something, it's of no consequence. It can easily be replaced. Now calm yourself and let me see what you have there," he asked calmly, pointing at Danny's hands to show the boy he had noticed he was holding something.
Danny clutched the device in his hands even tighter and shook his head at the billionaire.
Vlad raised an eyebrow at the young hybrid's childish refusal. But then, the man sighed in irritation. "Really, Daniel, it's late. I'm in no mood for this. I already said you're not in trouble, especially when whatever you damaged can fit in your hands. Now, let's see." This time, the older half-ghost moved forward and grabbed the boy's arms.
"No!" Danny exclaimed when he was unable to keep the man from forcing his hands forward.
The billionaire's eyes widened and his face turned five shades whiter when he found one of Jack's ghost devices clutched in the boy's left hand.
Danny's breathing escalated to the point that he sounded like he had just finished running a marathon. But then, a loud gasp escaped his throat when Vlad abruptly lifted his right hand higher and held it tightly in place.
Danny followed Vlad's shocked gaze and saw he was staring at the bracelet on his right wrist. The teen's own eyes also became glued to the device, noticing it was black again… At that instant, everything clicked together for Danny and he realized the true reason why the bracelet had been acting strangely.
It was damaged.
Vlad's eyes slowly narrowed and turned bright red as he lifted them to Danny's own, which gazed back at the man with nothing but fear in them. "You have no idea what you have just done," the man whispered in a dark and threatening voice.
Danny's eyes widened when his enemy roughly let go of his hands, before the man transformed and turned towards the lounge. Clearly, Vlad had pieced it all together as well.
"No, wait!" Danny cried out, grabbing one of the man's arms to stop him from going anywhere. The young half-ghost didn't need to ponder what his enemy's words implicated. And he didn't need further reasoning to understand he was powerless to stop his enemy; after all, he had submitted to him.
Vlad instantly looked back at him with a menacingly glare. "Let go!" he hissed dangerously.
The teen's contained panic exploded in response. "Vlad, I swear I didn't know! You gotta believe me! I—"
But Plasmius didn't let him finish. He turned his arm intangible, effectively dislodging it from the boy's hold, and continued without words towards the lounge.
The unexpected release of his enemy's arm caused Danny to fall back on his bottom, but he didn't let go of the boomerang still in his left hand, even as he frantically got back to his feet.
"Vlad, wait!" The teen ran after the older half-ghost who had just phased through the ceiling to get to the lounge.
By the time Danny made it up the stairs and reached Vlad, he found the man frozen in place, staring out the glass doors.
And teenager soon saw why.
He reflexively dropped the boomerang, covering his mouth in unspeakable horror as he watched the Specter Speeder off in the distance approaching the mansion.
Vlad quickly snapped out of his shock and his hands ignited with red burning energy. His mind was suddenly set on knocking the speeder out of the sky. He would get rid of Daniel's pesky friends—who else could it be?--before they could get here!
"NO! Vlad, don't!" Danny pleaded, getting in front of the man and grabbing his wrists, desperately trying to prevent him from using his energy.
Vlad didn't look or say anything to Danny, nor did he try to get the boy to let go of him. Truth was that behind his anger, the older half-ghost was just as panicked as the younger one. He didn't know how he was going to handle this. He never expected the teenager to be found. At least not now. Not like this! No matter how he resolved this, his plan would still go up in smoke...
The realization escalated Plasmius' anger to a new level. And his initial desire of getting rid of those in the speeder became stronger.
Danny's eyes grew larger—if that was even possible at this point—when he saw the red energy in his enemy's hands condensing into ecto-blasts. "NO!" the teen screamed, his hold on Vlad's wrists growing tight enough for the man to finally notice it. "You can't hurt them!"
Plasmius glared darkly at the boy. "You forget I only agreed not to force you to harm them. I, on the other hand, am free to do whatever I want. And if you dare break your word now, if you dare to oppose me, I'll make you regret it for the rest of your life!"
"They're my friends! You can't do this!" he cried back, not releasing his hold on his enemy. Suddenly he added in a desperate voice filled with conviction, "Vlad, you can't hurt them! I won't let you!"
Plasmius instantly dispelled the energy from his hands, and having no difficulty pulling from Danny's hold on his wrists, slammed the boy against the glass door with a single hand. "Is that so? And how exactly will you stop me?" the older half-ghost growled.
Danny's once hard gaze fell. "I…I can't stop you," he admitted, knowing the man had Jazz's life in his hands… and he owned his.
Vlad's cold eyes bore into the boy's for a moment. But then he moved his gaze to see where the aircraft was, and noticed it was starting to descend from the sky, though it was still not low enough for him-- or those within it-- to make anyone out.
Cursing under his breath, Plasmius fisted the hand pressed on the teenager's chest and grabbed a hold of his white shirt. He roughly dragged Danny away from the door, knowing that whatever he was going to do about this latest predicament, he would have to do it now.
He could always hide the teenager and deny he was here. But that blasted instrument had already picked up on the boy's signature and led them here! It would be fruitless.
Vlad glared back at the visible night sky as he stopped with the boy beside the staircase, far enough from the glass doors to remain unseen by those outside. He really should just get rid of those two pests. It was the simplest solution to this mess. But was it also the wisest? Did anyone know those two brats were here? What could the consequences be of his actions?
Danny looked towards the balcony as well, before looking back at Vlad. He didn't like that the man was remaining quiet. Whatever he was thinking could not be good. Danny couldn't let his enemy carry out any plan against his friends. He needed to think of something, and fast!
"Vlad, listen to me," Danny pleaded, getting the man's attention. "They might know I'm here, but that doesn't mean they really know anything. I wrote them these letters. I practically told them I was leaving on my own. They have no reason to think otherwise!"
"What's your point?" Vlad snarled, his grip on the boy's shirt tightening.
"I-I can make them leave," Danny whispered.
Plasmius narrowed his eyes at him, clearly not trusting his words. Suddenly, the roar of the speeder resonated through the lounge, and Vlad turned his dark gaze back to the balcony.
"Please!" Danny screamed, his panic swelling with the roar of the speeder. "Don't hurt them! Please, I can make them leave! I can make them leave!" he pleaded over and over again.
Vlad suddenly pulled the boy closer by the hold on his shirt. His gaze pierced through the teen as he tried to find any traces of treachery in his pleading blue eyes. "For their sake and yours that better be true!" Vlad said darkly, his face inches from the boy's.
Danny nodded vigorously. "I-It is. I swear. Just let me handle this. I'll make them--" The teenager froze as the bracelet around his wrist began to grow warm. The only time it had done that was around….
"Jazz…" Danny said softly, looking down at the bracelet and noticing it was now blue again.
Vlad let go of the teen, his composure returning as he, too, noticed the bracelet had activated once more. He touched the device on the young hybrid's wrist, and feeling it was warm, soberly said, "It seems Jasmine has decided to join us as well….All the more motivation—added to the fact that if you don't make them leave, I will," he assured him. Plasmius gave the boy one last dark look, before vanishing in a cloud of pink smoke.
Now alone in the lounge, Danny gazed pitifully at the bracelet on his wrist as it flickered from black to blue until it turned black again. However, he knew it wouldn't stay off for long. The sounds of the speeder's engine cutting off to a low hum turned Danny's attention back to the glass doors, and he saw that the vehicle was now hovering alongside his room's balcony.
"Okay, calm down," he whispered to himself; but it didn't help in the least. "What do I do?!" He knew he had to get them to leave without them suspecting the truth… Did Jazz even know about her condition? Did they know he was forced to come here? Did they know what he had done?
No, they couldn't know. Or he hoped they didn't know… for their sake.
A bang on the glass door jolted him out of his thoughts.
"Danny!" his friends' and sister's muffled voices sounded from outside. "Danny! Let us in!"
But Danny didn't move. He was so overwhelmed at the sight of them, he couldn't do anything. Hearing their voices… Seeing their eyes on him…. It was too much. Why had he told Vlad he could make them leave? He didn't want them to leave. He wanted them to stay! But if they stayed, Vlad would harm them. The bracelet would harm his sister. No, there was no other choice. They had to go. He had to make them go. They couldn't be near him. He was a danger to them.
But how would he convince them to go? ...He would have no other option than to lie to them. But could he? Could he do that to his best friends and his very own sister? He always had been a terrible liar. And they knew him so well, especially Jazz. How was he ever going to pull this off?
Meanwhile, Vlad watched invisibly from the staircase, and mentally cursed the boy. Why the blazes was he just standing there staring at his friends and sister? His hesitance was going to make the three teenagers outside suspicious!
"I knew he wouldn't be able to do this," Plasmius thought spitefully. But the truth was the boy's suggestion had been the most logical approach to this problem. It was why he agreed—for the time being, anyways. It would have been unwise to attempt anything before knowing what he was dealing with. He needed to know how much Jasmine and Daniel's friends really knew before he could act.
And at least he still had his most important playing card in his hands. Now, more than ever, he was glad he had programmed the bracelet he gave Daniel to excite the nanobots within Jasmine. Obviously the device was severely damaged since it kept shutting down. But it might be working well enough to convince Jasmine and those other brats to leave—quickly.
On the other side of the door, Sam, Tucker and Jazz were starting to get worried. They could see their friend and brother! They had found him! He was just a couple of feet from them! But he wouldn't let them in! Why?
Before they could decide to break in, Danny suddenly moved forward, and finally unlocked the door. He stepped back, bracing himself mentally for the next part. If he took what he had to do a step at a time, perhaps he could function enough to get through this.
But nothing could prepare him for the emotional agony that overtook him as his sister and friends quickly entered and ran to him.
"Oh! Danny!" Jazz cried out, throwing her arms around her brother and sobbing heavily on his shoulder.
Sam and Tucker came up alongside their friend, each grabbing one of his arms and hugging him from behind.
"Danny," Sam whispered as if she couldn't believe it was him. But the tears welling up in her eyes showed how glad she was to see him.
"Danny! Dude! You're okay!" Tucker exclaimed, relieved that Valerie's story was not true after all.
They were all so relieved, so happy to see Danny after he had been missing for over a month that none of them noticed how unresponsive he remained to their words or affection.
Danny wanted so much to hug them right back, to tell his sister that everything was okay. But he couldn't. If he did, he would lose whatever little control he had left. He would shatter right in front of them. And that meant failing in protecting them. He couldn't fail, not with this.
"W-We thought something happened to you! I was so worried!" Jazz continued, hugging him tighter. "Mom and Dad are going to be so happy when--" She suddenly stopped speaking, and her eyes widened as she remembered where they were. "Danny, we have to leave before Vlad finds out we're here!" Jazz said urgently, letting go of her brother and taking a hold of his hand.
But when she tried to move towards the glass doors, she was met with resistance.
Jazz looked back at her unmoving brother, a confused and wary look on her face. "D-Danny?" she asked. Sam and Tucker reacted the same way as the older girl, having realized before her that something was wrong with their friend.
"What…." Danny paused, suddenly feeling the bracelet grow warm again. He swallowed hard, before trying again. "What are you guys doing here?" he finally managed to ask, his face so taut it almost looked emotionless.
Jazz gave her brother an even more baffled look, while Sam and Tucker stared at one another before frowning at their half-ghost friend.
"Hey, man, are you alright?" Tucker questioned, not understanding his friend's reaction …. Danny was acting like he wasn't even happy to see them…
Danny looked at Tucker, but his focus was just past him. "I'm fine," he answered, still sounding collected—almost robotic. "I just don't get why you're here," Danny elaborated. He then turned from them, and walked over to the couch he had once been sitting on while reading his book. His action appeared casual, but the truth was that he was trying to put as much distance from his sister as possible. The bracelet had grown so hot now that he was on the verge of panicking.
They watched him sit down on the couch, before Sam spoke up. "Danny, why did you leave like that?" she asked carefully, trying to decipher her friend's odd behavior.
Danny didn't look at her. He didn't know how to answer. Noticing the book he dropped earlier, he quickly picked it up, needing an extra second to stabilize his voice for an answer. "I left because I was tired…" he said vaguely, flipping through the book to avoid looking at them. If they saw his eyes, they would know he was lying.
Sam was taken aback by his response. But she quickly pushed past her bafflement, although it was still present in her voice when she asked, "Tired? Of what?"
"Everything," he said simply, still not looking at them.
Danny's words bothered them all. But Jazz knew this wasn't the time to question her brother about his reason for leaving or being here. "Danny, I think being here for so long has done something to your head. But we'll talk about it later. Come on, we need to go."
This time, the young hybrid looked directly at his sister and friends. "Then go," he answered, the intensity in his voice not going unnoticed by Jazz, Sam, and Tucker.
A heavy frown fell on Jazz's face as she finally understood something was wrong with him. Had Vlad done something to her brother? Maybe he didn't believe they were truly here.
"Danny," Jazz said gently, grabbing his shoulders and leaning down to gaze into his eyes with her own worried ones. "It's alright. We came to rescue you. You're-"
Danny abruptly stood, and moved away from her as if she had burned him. "Who said I needed rescuing?" he asked, this time regarding her with a serious look. He needed them to leave now! But he could not think of a way to make them do that fast enough!
Sam and Tucker looked at him with large eyes filled with disbelief and shock. Did this mean their friend wanted to be here? He came to his arch-enemy willingly?
Ignoring the sudden headache that had just surfaced, Jazz approached her brother again. "Danny…" she called, tears beginning to well up in her eyes from how much he was scaring her. "What's wrong with you?"
"Look, Jazz," he said, his sudden strong tone halting her approach. "There's nothing wrong with me. I just left, okay?"
"Are you crazy?!" Jazz exclaimed, her fear overwhelming her. "You are living at your arch-enemy's house! The same person that has tried to kill Dad and steal Mom!"
Danny crossed his arms, stealing himself as he said, "Yeah, I know." How could he not know? He was confronted with that truth every day. And now, with those he cared for in front of him, it only made it even more painful.
Jazz fixed him with a steady gaze that only an older sister knew how to give. "Listen, I don't know what has gotten into you, Danny. But I'm not leaving here without you. We are going home this instant, even if I have to drag you out of here," she assured him.
Danny found himself silenced by her words. He realized he would never be able to convince her to leave without him. What was he going to do?
"Jasmine, what a pleasant surprise."
Everyone spun around to look at Vlad Masters who was standing at the stairs. And Sam, who had brought the large Fenton's ecto-weapon with her and had it strapped behind her back, immediately brought it forward. However, Jazz, Tucker, and she were so focused on the evil man, they didn't notice the way Danny stared at the man with fearful and pleading eyes.
The older half-ghost completely ignored the boy's silent plea. Daniel would not be able to handle this on his own. It was time he took this matter into his own hands.
Tucker was the first to break the silent tension. "We're also here you know!" he said, annoyed that the man disregarded Sam and him all together.
Vlad turned his gaze to Danny's friends, immediately noticing the gun the teenage girl had pointed at him. "So you are," the man responded uncaringly, before turning his eyes back to the oldest of the three. "Jasmine… why are you looking at me that way?" Vlad asked, faking sadness and hurt.
Jazz's hateful glare didn't falter. "I'm trying to determine what kind of creep I have in front of me. I can't believe you have dropped so low that you had to kidnap my brother!" she yelled furiously, her hands fisting on her sides.
Vlad laughed full heartedly at her words, while Danny felt disgusted by how well the man could act like everything was under control. "Dear girl, I have not kidnapped anyone!" He calmly walked over to the young half-ghost and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Daniel's here by his own choice," he informed her with a smirk.
Danny had to suppress the shiver that ran through him from his enemy's touch when he saw his sister's eyes go to him. He knew Jazz was looking to him to see if the man was lying. His sister always saw through him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"I don't believe that!" she snapped back, looking again at the billionaire.
Vlad shrugged, and uncaringly answered, "That's of no concern to me."
Jazz stepped forward and pulled her brother away from the man's hold, and then grabbed him tightly by the shoulders, forcing him to look at her. "Danny, listen to me. Whatever he's doing we won't let him get away with it. I'm not letting him keep you here any longer," she assured him, comfortingly.
Danny couldn't take it anymore. "Jazz, stop it!" he exclaimed, moving away from her hold. "I already told you, I'm here because I want to be! So just go!"
Jazz's composure snapped with her brother's words. And she immediately lunged at Vlad. "You monster!" she hatefully screamed. "What have you done to my little brother?!"
Vlad grabbed the girl's arms, preventing her from touching him. "Jasmine, do control yourself. You're going to make me forget whose daughter you are," he said with a sweet smile. However, the obvious threat that could be heard in his voice had Danny fighting with all his might to keep himself from attacking the man.
"I'll tell my parents everything," Jazz whispered threateningly, unfazed by the billionaire's words.
Vlad looked over at Danny, still smiling. "Do you hear that, Daniel? Your sister wants to expose you…"
Overwhelmed with what the consequences of that would be, Danny's eyes widened. "Jazz, no.…you can't." This time, he could not hide the desperation from his voice. "It's my secret. You can't tell them. You can't tell them anything," he pleaded, while adding mentally, "Please, you'll just make things worse."
"You know Daniel's right, Jasmine," Vlad said, bringing her attention back to him, "But we already discused this… remember? Can you live with those consequences on your conscience?" Vlad asked smugly, before releasing the girl's hands.
But Jazz's glare and conviction stayed firm. "If you think your little mind games work with me, Vlad, you are dead wrong! I will tell them everything if it's the only way of keeping my brother away from you!"
Vlad raised an eyebrow at her words, though his calm demeanor stayed the same. He had to admit the sixteen-year-old girl was a lot more resourceful than her brother. But it didn't matter.. He could see through her all the same and knew that she was bluffing.
Jazz kept her spiteful gaze on the man, hating how sure he looked that she wouldn't say anything. But right now she didn't care about proving him wrong. And she didn't care about how ill she was feeling with every passing minute. All she cared about was getting her brother out of this place.
"I'm taking my brother. And don't try to stop me," she growled at Vlad, before turning to her younger sibling, who now stared at her with disbelief and shock. "We're leaving, Danny," she said with finality, not giving any room for further discussion. All Danny managed was a surprised yelp when she grabbed his hand and began to drag him towards the veranda.
Vlad frowned. "Now, Jasmine--"
"Stay back!" Sam warned, charging the gun in her hand, the second the evil half-ghost took a step towards Jazz and Danny.
Tucker also reacted. However, he realized that he didn't have any kind of weapon; and quickly looked around for something, anything he could use. He spotted it to the side of his feet, and reflexively picked up the Fenton Boomerang. He was too frightened at this point to remember that it would do nothing to protect them.
Vlad instantly glared at Danny's female friend, his patience with the trespassing teens reaching its end. "No one threatens me, girl! Especially not in my own home!" Vlad snarled menacingly, instantly changing into his ghost form. The black rings hadn't even disappeared completely when two violently burning ecto-blasts formed within his hands, leaving no doubt in anyone's mind that the man was pass the games and acts.
Danny panicked as his worst fear became a reality. If Vlad tried to harm his friends and sister, he would not be able to stand back and allow it. And that meant he would break his deal with Vlad. And if he did that, his sister--and even his friends--would suffer the consequences. He needed to get them out of here now! And there was only one way left to do that.
Danny roughly yanked his arm from his sister's hold, and in a flash of light, quickly changed into Phantom. He glared at his loved ones as he placed himself in between them and Plasmius, purposely keeping his enemy directly behind him.
"Danny, what are you doing?" Sam asked with disbelief, forced to lower her gun now that her friend was in her direct line of fire.
"Yeah, Danny, you're glaring in the wrong direction," Tucker added. He didn't understand why his friend was acting like they were the enemy!
"It's time for you guys to leave," Danny said angrily, his glare not wavering.
Everyone just stared at the young hybrid in shock silence for a moment, even Plasmius. The man was truly astonished with the boy's sudden resolve and actions. He never thought Danny was capable of sounding so... cold. It was so surprising to Vlad that it took all in him to keep his lower jaw from hanging wide open.
Jazz was the first to come out of her shock. "Danny, why are you doing this?!" she exclaimed, although she sounded out of breath. But she still continued and approached her brother again. "You can't possibly want to stay here! We've been worried sick about you! Everyone's worried sick about you!"
Danny quickly stepped away from her again, this time rising off the ground to prevent her from getting any closer. "Why don't you tell someone who cares?" he spat out, his gaze locked on his sister. Jazz's increasing ailments were not going unnoticed by Danny. And it was his notice of them that drove him to continue his cruel act. And it pushed him to take it to a darker new level.
"Dude, you can't be serious!" Tucker cut in, "I know that you don't mean that. We're friends! And your letters--"
Danny's mocking laughter stop Tucker cold; he and the girl teens were unable to keep from noticing just how similar to his evil-self Danny sounded.
"Oh, please," the young half-ghost said, his face falling into dark amusement. "I just wrote what I thought you wanted to hear. Don't tell me you guys fell for it."
"What?" Jazz asked in disbelief. Her brother had never been a good liar, but at the moment, he was doing a very good job of it. Unless… he wasn't lying!
Danny folded his arms, regarding all three teens with a cold look, although his main focus was on his sister. "I never thought I'd have to spell something out for you, Jazz. But you don't seem to get it. I'm here because I want to be. I left because I wanted to. I wanted to get away from everything and everyone, including you three. So, to make it plain and simple: leave. I don't want to see any of you again," he said cruelly.
Jazz, Sam and Tucker just stared at Danny with large eyes, stunned by his vocal blow. But then Jazz found her voice again. "Danny…I-I'm not leaving without you," she said softly, but her strength of mind had shattered from her brother's hurtful words.
Danny was panicking within. Why didn't Jazz and his friends just leave?! He needed them to go before something happened to them, especially his sister, who was looking worse with every passing minute! He had come here to keep her safe. And although it was tearing him inside that he was hurting her like this, he had no other choice. Better he hurt her than his ruthless arch-enemy…
The thought of the man behind him gave Danny the extra push he needed to do what he had to. He had to make them leave.
His eyes closed briefly, before he opened them again; they now glowed a yellowish-green as he concentrated on every ounce of hate he felt for Vlad Masters.
"Yes. You. Are," Danny growled, igniting his hands with ecto-energy.
Jazz, Sam and Tucker gasped in disbelief, and for the first time in their lives, they felt afraid of Danny. But that didn't stop them from trying to reason with him. Or at least, it didn't stop Tucker and Jazz…
"Dude, come on, chill. You don't really want that, right?" Tucker said worriedly, his grasp on the boomerang increasing with his anxiety.
But before Danny could answer, Jazz added with tears in her eyes. "D-Danny, p-please. I-It's me, Jazz. I'm your sister."
"Sister? I don't have a sister and I don't have friends!" Danny screamed, his fake anger masking the desperation in his voice. "Just leave! Forget I exist because I long forgot that you guys and everyone else in Amity do!"
"Y-You don't mean that, Danny," Jazz said sorrowfully, her eyes pleading at him. But all that did was hardened his glare, and his energy began to glow brighter. She was unaware of the agony that her little brother was feeling as he realized just how far he was going to have to take this in order to get through to her.
All Jazz saw was his unspoken dark threat, one she couldn't accept as true. "No, you would never hurt us. Please, stop this, Danny. You're not--" Jazz gasped as a green ecto-blast missed her head by only inches.
"Daniel!" Vlad exclaimed, the boy's actions startling him out of his stunned silence. He couldn't believe that Daniel was really pulling this off. But now the boy was taking it too far!
"Stay out of this!" Danny spat out, quickly shooting Vlad a hateful glare that silenced the man again. But Plasmius was now certain that the boy had snapped!
Danny glared back at his sister. "Consider that a fair warning. Leave, Jazz, and don't come back. Ever," he stated darkly.
Jazz shook her head at him in disbelief, her tears now freely falling down her cheeks. Her little brother's hateful and threatening eyes were breaking her heart. Was that why she was now feeling so dizzy and sick?
Tucker felt his heart break as well. The pain that impacted him when he realized that Danny had lost it was too much. Tucker looked to Sam, who had been unusually quiet for some time now, and saw that his goth friend was just staring at Danny with a sober gaze.
Seeing both girls so unresponsive forced Tucker to push back his sorrow and act. With a steal look on his face, the dark-skinned boy walked forward and placed his unoccupied hand on Jazz's shoulder.
"Let's go, Jazz. That's not your brother," he assured her, his betrayed-filled eyes glaring at Danny. This had gone far enough. If Danny wanted to stay here so badly that he was willing to physically threaten his only sister, then Tucker wasn't wasting another word to convince him otherwise.
Tucker's words finally made Sam react. She slowly walked forward, and joined Tucker beside Jazz who was now sobbing loudly and looking very pale. But Sam said nothing to her former half-ghost friend; and instead, grabbed one of Jazz's arms.
"Come on, Jazz," she said softly, coaxing the other girl to move.
"No, I can't leave him!" Jazz cried out, but found she had no strength to hold her ground when the younger girl wrapped an arm around her waist and gently began to pull her away. As Sam walked away with the older girl in tow, she looked back at Danny with her saddened plum-colored eyes. But still, she didn't say a word.
Tucker stayed behind for a moment, finding himself unable to turn his back on his best friend and leave without him. But the expressionless way Danny gazed back at him, only strengthen the harsh truth: this wasn't his friend.
"You might not believe that you're my friend, and right now I don't feel that you are, but I hope this is really what you want," Tucker whispered, his gaze lowering to the boomerang he still held.
But then he steeled himself, and looked up at Danny again. "If you think you're better off here, fine. I've never stood in the way of your choices before, I'm not gonna start now. But for the record, I don't think your letters are a total lie like you said. You really didn't want us to find you…You really did want us to forget about you…I get that now."
Tucker held his sober look as he added, "I hope you don't mind if I say what you never did in your letters… Good-bye, Danny." Tucker ended, his voice reflecting all the pain he felt within.
Danny's expressionless look didn't leave, even when Tucker turned from him, even when he watched those he loved get on the speeder. Even when the aircraft lifted and took off, Danny's unresponsive stare didn't falter.
It was only until the speeder had vanished into the night sky that he slowly floated back down and changed back. He walked closer to the glass door, and placed a hand against it and left it there without word.
The deafening silence that shrouded the room was so intense that Vlad couldn't bring himself to break it. He was still too shocked with what the boy had done. But it had worked. The teen had made them leave like he said he would. But at what price? Daniel's outer calm gave the billionaire an idea of what that price was. And he didn't like it.
Vlad hesitated, but eventually was the first one to say something, "…Daniel?"
Danny's response came instantly. "Get out," he commanded, his voice eerily calm and his gaze still towards the outside sky.
Again, Vlad hesitated, unsure if he really wanted to go through with this after all. But then, his resolve hardened. "No, I will not," he said angrily. "You have—"
Danny abruptly whirled around, his blue eyes radically becoming a yellowish-green again. "ARE YOU DEAF? I SAID GET OUT! LEAVE!" he screamed in rage, his hands fisted on his sides.
But the teen wasn't truly angry; he was in agony. He needed to be alone. He had allowed his enemy to see him break down once; he refused to allow it again. But he was quickly falling apart, and if Plasmius didn't leave…
Vlad glared darkly at the boy. But for once, he felt compelled to obey him. However, that didn't stop the man from reminding Danny his place. "This is far from over. You will answer to me," he assured him, before vanishing from the room.
Danny's glare instantly fell, and he began to shake as his resolve finally shattered. In that instant, he felt his legs weaken under him, collapsing the boy to his knees. His hands hit the wooden floor where they coiled so strongly his nails dug into his palms.
The horrible pain in his chest suddenly seemed to grow ten-fold. It was so agonizing that for a moment, all he could do was clench his teeth against it, unable to express it through his vocal cords. The horrible agony seemed to constrict his entire body.
The young half-ghost drew sharp breaths with every painful jolt, feeling as if a sharp dagger was plunged in his heart over and over again. And soon he could take no more. His mouth opened; and though at first no sound came out, when it finally did, Danny couldn't make it stop.
A cry of agony, so painful that it penetrated right through him, came from the young half-ghost, followed by another, and another. But then, his heartbreaking screams abruptly turned into loud sobs.
"C-Come b-back!" he began to plea through his cries. "Jazz, Sam, Tucker, please! I-I didn't m-mean any of it. P-Please…. P-Please, don't l-leave, d-don't leave me here!" Danny's body shook as violently as his voice; and as he continued with his pleas, it only intensified. "I-I'm s-sorry! I-I didn't mean it! He… He's m-making me d-do this! I-I'm sorry… Jazz… Come back! C-Come…. b-back…"
Through his sobs, Danny continued to pour out everything he had wanted to scream to his loved ones the second they had gotten here. The indescribable pain he felt seared him to his very soul.
From his place at the wheel, Tucker consoled Danny's crying sister the best he could. "I'm so sorry, Jazz," he whispered. He was a bit worried about her because the older girl wasn't looking too well.
"I-I can't believe it! He hates me!" Jazz sobbed louder, unable to accept what had happened. Her body trembled both from her cries and the weak feeling that had begun sometime when she had been arguing with her brother.
If she wasn't so destroyed at the moment, she would be worried that all this was proving too much for her sick body.
Tucker didn't know what to say to that. After all, there was no misinterpreting the hateful glare Danny had subjected them all to. The boy was about to say something to Jazz when Sam's abrupt and hysterical laughter got his attention.
"Sam," Tucker said worriedly. He knew there was something wrong with her from how reserved she had acted back there. And now what he had been dreading finally occurred: Sam had fallen into a deep breakdown.
Tucker quickly stopped the speeder, and left it at a hover so he could get out of his seat and calm his hysterical friend.
"Sam," the boy called, squatting down in front of where she was sitting so she would look at him.
But Sam just continued to laugh.
"Sam, I know this is hard. But… you gotta pull yourself together. Seriously, you're scaring me," he told her, regarding her with deeper concern.
But his words only made her laugh harder. "Oh, Tucker!" she suddenly exclaimed. "Danny! I… never thought… he could…I--He's good! He--" Sam couldn't continue as she fell into another fit of laughter.
Tucker now looked severely distressed. His friend's attitude was worse than having her crying her heart out like Jazz was. At least, crying made sense. Sam's laughing was just disturbing.
"Sam, you gotta calm down," Tucker pleaded.
Sam shook her head in amusement. "I can't believe it, Tucker! He almost had me! I almost believed him!" she said, still laughing hysterically.
"Sam… what are you talking about?" Tucker asked, fearfully thinking his friend had truly lost it.
Sam held up her hand, silently asking him to give her a moment to compose herself. In truth, she knew she shouldn't be laughing. There wasn't anything remotely funny about all this. But if she didn't laugh about it, she would be more broken than Jazz. And that's not what Danny needed right now…
Finally calming down, she looked up at Tucker with an amused yet sad smile. "I can't believe you didn't see it."
Tucker's eyebrows creased, but then he sighed. "I think you need to lie down," he told her seriously.
Sam sighed, casting her gaze downward for a moment. Now that her smile had disappeared, she looked severely distressed. But then, a heavy frown coated her face, and she abruptly stood up, almost throwing Tucker off balance.
"Jazz," Sam called, walking up to the older girl, while Tucker stood where he was. "Look, you need to calm down. Danny… He didn't mean it."
Jazz looked up at the girl through her blurry vision, but the confusion and pain in her eyes was visible. "W-What?" the older girl croaked out.
Sam looked over at Tucker as she asked, "Did either of you see anything different about Danny?"
"Yeah, he's lost his mind!" Tucker replied angrily.
"No, Tucker." Sam sighed sadly, and her arms wrapped around her waist, while adding, "He had a bracelet on his wrist."
"I didn't really notice. But what about it?" Tucker asked, confused.
"Tucker, it was the same one that he said Valerie gave to him for his birthday!" Sam began to nervously pace as she continued to explain. "I didn't really notice the bracelet until he changed into a ghost and started using his ecto-energy. And the only reason it caught my attention was because it suddenly flickered. It turned into that black bracelet we found on his dresser after his birthday. But then it turned back into a white device-looking thing."
Tucker stared hesitantly at her, still not following her completely, while Jazz, on the other hand, had silenced into small sniffs. A deep thoughtful look evolved on her face as she tried to make sense out of what the younger girl had said. But since Jazz didn't have all the information, being that she had been in the hospital up until Danny disappeared and that she knew nothing about this black bracelet Valerie had given her brother, she drew a blank.
"Okay, so he's wearing Valerie's bracelet…. I don't get it, Sam," Tucker spoke up.
"Tucker," Sam said, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Valerie didn't give him that--Vlad did!" she exclaimed, fear in her voice. This was why Sam had kept silent. She knew that what she had discovered was important. But she also knew she could not let Vlad Masters suspect that she had figured out this much. It would have made things worse for them, but most importantly, for Danny.
Jazz suddenly intervened. "If Vlad gave him some bracelet, some device, sometime around his birthday, then that means he was around before Danny left," the older girl concluded, her voice sounding strained and tired. "But what does that mean? What does that device do?"
"Oh man! What if it's controlling him or something?!" Tucker suggested. "I think his jerky arch-enemy is crazy enough to attempt mind control!" he exclaimed fearfully, not finding any other reason why the bracelet's presence correlated with his friend's attitude towards them.
"I…don't know, Tucker," Sam admitted, "Danny didn't look like he was being… controlled like that…After I realized that stuff about the bracelet, I could see Danny was really forcing himself to act like he was. He looked desperate…" Sam said, saddening. "But I also noticed that you were holding the Boomerang, Tucker, and that it kept reacting to the bracelet. When it flickered black, the boomerang activated; but then when it was white, the boomerang would turn off again… I think that device Danny's wearing has to do with us not being able to find him."
Jazz gazed down at the boomerang on the ground, before looking back at Sam. "Are you sure?" she asked, feeling a ray of hope slowly filling her. She wanted to desperately hold on to it, to embrace it, but her brother's words still pained her heart. Danny had made it seem so real…
Sam frowned. "No, I'm not, at least not about what the bracelet does. But I am sure that it's a big part of all this…" Sam suddenly became angry. "That's why Danny was so upset before he left!" she said, more to herself than her companions. "He knew Vlad was up to something! But what I can't figure out is why he didn't tell us! And why did he accept that bracelet thing from Vlad in the first place?!"
"Oh man, Sam…this is deep," Tucker said fearfully. "And Danny… He sounded so…"
Sam sighed again. "For a while I believed him, too, Tucker," she admitted sorrowfully. "But this is Danny we're talking about. A lot of this still makes no sense, but I refuse to believe he would say all those things and mean it." Sam's gaze lowered, but then, she sobered up, her amethyst eyes filled with certainty as she stared at both Jazz and Tucker. "This is another of Vlad's schemes and that bracelet is all the proof I need."
Jazz closed her eyes, her mind replaying her brother's cruel words, before remembering his letter. A letter Danny just said was a lie. But the words he wrote to her—the intensity that was in them—couldn't be faked.
"I love you, Jazz. Never forget that…"
Jazz's eyes narrowed in anger, forcing her other emotions to stop clouding her judgment. Sam was right. Her brother would never look at her that way without being forced to. Vlad had planned all this out. And just like he had threatened her into keeping quiet about his and her brother's secret, that jerk was also threatening Danny into making them believe he joined him. Her little brother would never willingly join that evil man. Her little brother would never willingly abandon them and his home. But how was Vlad Masters forcing Danny to do all this?
They needed to find out. Without that piece of the puzzle, without getting rid of whatever the evil hybrid was using to control her brother, they had nothing. They could do nothing to help Danny if they didn't first figure out Vlad's scheme.
"There is something happening here that we don't know about. Vlad is holding something against Danny." Jazz fisted her hands against the immense pain that filled her with the knowledge of what there only choice was at the moment. "And… until we find out what that is, we cannot help him…" Jazz finished sadly.
Tucker's eyes widened in disbelief at the implications of the older girl's words; while Sam, having already realized and understood what Jazz had, kept a sober gaze on her face. It was why she didn't say a word to Danny. It was why she didn't act on what she had discovered at that precise moment. The fact, as painful as it was, was that they could not help Danny. Not when they did not know what was going on. This wasn't like every other scheme Danny's arch-enemy had tried to pull off. There was something dark about the man's plot--more so than the whole 'cloning' plot. This plan almost seemed disturbingly perfect. And this time, they could do nothing to foil it if they didn't know the depth of this game the evil half-ghost was playing.
They needed their own plan.
Seeing that Sam wasn't going to object at Jazz's implicated suggestion, Tucker finally spoke. "Hold up. Are you saying we're just going to leave him there?"
Jazz couldn't hold back the tears that returned to her eyes. "He will not come back with us, Tucker. There is nothing we can possibly do or say to get him to come home, not while Vlad is holding him there. Danny has to already be dealing with a lot, especially after what he was forced to do just now. We can't go back there until we figure this out. Otherwise, all we are going to do is force him to do something that is going to further destroy him both mentally and emotionally."
Jazz shook her head sorrowfully. "I can't do that to him again. I did that once to him at the hospital and now here… I will not do it again." She glared hatefully as she added, "I don't want to leave him with that monster. But we don't have any other choice. If we don't know how Vlad is controlling my brother, then we're just going to hurt Danny instead of helping him."
Tucker shook his head, feeling like he was turning his back on his best friend when he needed him most. "We'll just talk to him. We can wait until Vlad's not around. We'll tell him what we know, and that we're going to help him. Without his arch-enemy around, Danny will be sure to tell us what's going on. He's never let Vlad win before. I know he's not going to let him now," he said confidently.
"Tucker, don't you get it?!" Jazz exclaimed desperately. "Danny threatened us! He wants us to think he hates us! Do you realize how serious this has to be for him to have done that?! Do you realize how hurt he must feel right now?!"
"I know!" Tucker exclaimed back, sounding just as desperate. "But we can't just leave now! We can't leave him there!" The boy suddenly sat down and buried his face in his hands. "I don't want to leave him there, Jazz. I… said some awful things to him, things he didn't deserve from me… I'm such a jerk…" he said sorrowfully. He wanted to go right back there and beg his friend to forgive him. He shouldn't have said all that. Danny was his best friend. He should have known that his friend would never say what he said willingly.
"Look, Tucker, you didn't know. Like I said, I believed him for a while, too," Sam said, placing a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "I want just as badly as you do to go back there. But Danny won't say anything to us, even if Vlad wasn't around. He refused to tell us what was going on while he was in Amity, so I doubt he's going to start talking now. I'm sure Danny has his reasons for keeping us in the dark like this, but we still need to find out. And for now, we need to do it without him, Tucker. Whatever Vlad is threatening him with has to be bad, especially if Danny has allowed that evil jerk to control him like he is."
Tucker sighed in sad acceptance. "Then what do we do now?" he asked.
Sam sighed, but realizing Jazz had suddenly gotten quiet, she looked at the older girl. And what she saw turned her worry for Danny into worry for his sister. "Jazz, are you alright? You look really pale," she said fearfully, moving over to her.
Jazz nodded as she held her spinning head. "I think I overdid it a little," she said weakly.
Tucker, too, noticed Jazz's condition, and stood as well. "I think it's more than a 'little', Jazz," he told her seriously.
"You should get some rest," Sam suggested, "Maybe it will make you feel better."
"Yeah, and how about having something to eat?" Tucker added, reaching into his pants pocket. And trying to sound optimistic, he pulled out some jerky and said, "This always makes me feel better."
Both Sam and he knew Jazz was a very emotional girl, and even though they all now knew that Danny didn't mean anything he had said, it had still severely affected the older girl. And her physical deterioration proved it.
Jazz dimly smiled at them. "I think I'll pass on the jerky for now, Tucker. But thanks, both of you. We better head back. I think we're all wiped out from this trip… and everything else. When we get to Amity, we'll figure out what do, alright?"
The two younger teens nodded and smiled at her. Without another word, Jazz reclined her seat back and closed her eyes. She wanted to start thinking right now on a way to help her brother, but her body wasn't letting her. She was feeling not only physically drained, but emotionally exhausted as well. She just hoped that some rest was all she needed. She couldn't afford going back to the hospital, not now, not when her brother needed her most.
Tucker silently got back in the driver's seat, grabbed the control on the speeder, and continued their flight back to Amity Park. Noticing Sam had sat directly behind him, and that Jazz was drifting off, he whispered to his friend the question that was on all their minds, "How are we going to help, Danny?"
Sam gazed out the window for a moment, before answering just as softly. "I don't know, Tucker… But we have to find how to fast… Danny, even he can't handle something like this for much longer…"
I REALLY want everyone's honest thoughts on this chapter! And don't worry I got my umbrella ready to hear it all! Heh-heh! Thanks for reading! And, of course, your wonderful reviews!
--Vlad muse smirks evilly—
Ta!