Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom, I'm a big fan and was feeling nostalgic.
Chapter 35: Implications
Vlad's POV
No sooner had I closed the door behind me that I leaned my back against the door for support and craned my head against the wood, a maelstrom of troubled thoughts still at the forefront of my mind that I failed to conceal entirely as usual. I knew by doing this I would relieve some of the pressure on Daniel to make peace with his departure from this insignificant speck on the map but I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy his reaction nearly as much as I had wanted to. After all I had more pressing matters on my mind...
To tell the truth, the real reason I called Jasmine was so that she could serve as a distraction for Daniel while I took some time to consider my options, put some serious thought into what needed to be done to annihilate this new threat before his plans to utterly debase Daniel could come to fruition, and of course deal with the more immediate matter of prepping Daniel's special blood transfusion. His chills were only becoming worse and needed to be taken care of right away. I already discussed this with his sister and Jasmine agreed to help me keep Daniel calm during the procedure since the ecto-restorative was going to make him feel more of a rush then he felt each time I lent him some of my energy to tide him over in the meantime. Unlike normal ghosts we self-generated our own ecto-energy in addition to absorbing the ambient ecto-energy around us from both the Ghost Zone itself and whatever traces were left behind by other ghosts in the area. In fact that was part of the reason Daniel usually healed so quickly after a fight. It was because Daniel was unconsciously absorbing whatever 'wild' ecto-energy was left after he captured or chased off a ghost, for once the energy was expelled in the form of an energy blast or what have you it no longer belonged to the user and thus could be reabsorbed by the victor.
All that aside however, the part that I found both the most fascinating and worrisome was what I discovered last night. Daniel had the power to create portals. It was still dormant, at least for now by the look of it, but once his core stabilized the magnitude of what he could accomplish was...astonishing. I was up almost the entire night cross analyzing the existing data I had on Daniel's powers and running through dozens of theories and simulations to figure out how this was even possible. In the end it all came down to one thing-
Our accidents.
Funny how different they were yet right down to our regenerative cores the two of us were so alike, not to mention we are the only two half-ghost hybrids in existence. There was a modest power gap between Daniel an I, at least for now, which was understandable since it had taken a lot of trial and error on my part over the course of 20 years to reach this level of skill and mastery over my ghost powers. Even so it astounded me that Daniel had so much potential hidden within him that had yet to be explored due to the short time he's had these powers. But with my guidance Daniel could learn more about himself and his ghost powers then if he continued trying to figure them all out on his own the way I had to.
The timing couldn't have turned out better really because lately Daniel's powers have been developing at an almost alarming rate, and as a result it would have made the changes that much harder to hide from his parents and peers. If my theory is correct then I believe this is partially due to the fact that Daniel's body is maturing and it's effecting his ghost half. Another part of it is largely because unlike me Daniel's exposure to all of that raw ectoplasmic radiation completely enveloped his body, mutating it beyond recognition, and according to him it happened in a single terrifying moment of agony. I explained this to him before -or meant to at least- but the changes in my physiology happened over an extended period of time while his was accelerated at an astronomical rate. To be perfectly honest I'm surprised Daniel's stay in the hospital only lasted a week or so according to Jasmine.
Speaking of Jasmine, after reminding myself that I needed to give her and her brother some privacy, I suppressed my ghost signature before teleporting back to the laboratory to gather what I would need for the transfusion. Luckily, unbeknownst to Daniel, his sister Jasmine didn't have school today because in truth my people were already working on installing the spare Ghost Shield from Axion Labs onto Casper High as promised. By acting immediately I wanted the people of Amity Park to know and understand the seriousness of the situation they were about to face, because as 'predicted' more ghosts would likely soon begin to reappear and threaten their livelihoods, especially their children's. And in order to avoid the same tragedy as what they now thought had befallen Daniel, I decided to do something I normally would not which was share my technology to...help others.
This was not my true intention however, it was purely a strategic move. Although I suppose keeping his friends and sister safe would help put his mind more at ease about the prospect of leaving them behind to live with me. And heaven knows Daniel needed some reassurance right now that wasn't mere words. Because as Daniel himself pointed out, up until I openly changed the role I play in his life to his guardian rather then an adversary, everything I've said to him has been either mocking him, or it was heavily laced with anger or sarcasm against him or his father. Speaking of Jack, as much more as I loathed the man now I wasn't too worried about his parents safety as much as Daniel's. If nothing else they've proven that at least every once in awhile that they could defend themselves against most threats and do something useful for a change, especially during the Pariah Dark incedent. Even so, the more vindictive part of me felt that those two deserved to sample but a small taste of the constant danger their Daniel has been putting himself in during the past year for their sake while hiding the fact that he was half-ghost. Part of me was earnestly hoping that whatever danger they eventually faced would serve as a small justice if you will upon them as well as those two traitors Daniel called 'friends' who clearly did not know the true meaning of sacrifice or what it means to be everyone's hero when the boy was struggling to even save himself...
He deserved so much more than this, so much more, and every time I thought about what I witnessed last night it only strengthened my resolve to see to it that Daniel would want for nothing so long as he was under my protection. And I would NEVER allow that foul spirit or whatever abomination he was to break let alone get anywhere near my little badger again. Honestly I felt like such a fool for not realizing sooner that there was something amiss from the moment Daniel had his first panic attack moments after I barely managed to get him breathing again. As difficult as the current situation with his parents was this other matter was much more serious because there was an evil ghost from the future who was actively doing everything in his power to take advantage of Daniel's weakness and unravel the young teen's mind one thread at a time.
After carefully studying the readings and the footage again however once my own mind stopped reeling about the two shocking revelations I had just witnessed, it would seem that this version of Dan was only a duplicate which meant two things. One, this Dan character was powerful enough to maintain a duplicate from within the Ghost Zone which was something even I couldn't manage for very long so I was assuming this was why he only went after Daniel when he was certain no one was there to interfere. And two, because this Dan creature shared such a similar signature to my own and Daniel's, that must be why the security system completely bypassed his signature by accident when I told it to ignore ours. This of course meant that extra security measures needed to be taken so that Dan wouldn't be able to slip past me again so easily to target Daniel while I wasn't there to protect him.
I was still in the middle of gathering the rest of what I needed when I suddenly took a moment to really think about what I was doing. Ever since the day we met I've been fighting Daniel tooth and nail while at the back of my mind I also kept hoping someday he'd come to his senses and realize that fighting me was pointless. Daniel had so much more to gain from joining me then playing the part of some teen superhero. And when all of my attempts to convince him to join me because of how alike we were didn't work I only grew more resentful towards him and desperate until finally I...went so far as stealing his very identity when I foolishly tried to create the perfect son I've always wanted in his image. I just...I wanted Daniel to become my son so badly! Even now, I was doing everything within my power not to chase him off. That is precisely why I want to know who and what this Dan really is, but at the same time I knew that thinking too heavily on the matter since it involved the infinite possibilities of the future it would eventually drive me mad. Because if this Dan character WAS another clone I created in the alternate future of Daniel, the question remained 'why' I did so...
What could have possessed me to create yet another clone if Daniel was already living with me? After Maddie, her husband, her daughter, Daniel's friends, and this random teacher passed away in a freak accident what was the point of creating Dan? Perhaps he was created to become something akin to a brother for Daniel to fill the void left behind by the untimely death of his older sister? Who could say? I know I certainly couldn't without more information about exactly what transpired in that timeline leading up to Dan's creation.
Whatever the case may be, in my mind there was only one solution: I had to destroy ALL of my cloning research which would take some time since I had quite a lot of information on Daniel's physiology, some of which I had no choice but to keep in order to continue treating his medical needs. Truth be told, if that was what needed to be done then realistically Danielle should be included in that equation, but right now I couldn't afford to waste my time searching for that little brat when a much more serious threat to my plans for Daniel was actively trying to thwart my efforts to save the boy from himself. That's when I decided so long as she NEVER showed her face again I was content with forgetting all about that failure and leaving her be because in the end, I finally had what I've wanted all along which was the real Daniel by my side. And I would do almost anything to make sure nothing got in the way of that, which was as much for my sake as it was for Daniel's...
By the time I finally returned after carefully reorganizing my thoughts to focus on the matter at hand, I was happy to see that Daniel was smiling at least a little when I entered the room after giving the door a quick knock. Jasmine seemed worried still but not so much as before and it was more of her usual over-protectiveness shining through since she already knew what I was there to do. Not that I felt much different then her actually since I was also concerned for my little badger. Judging by the uncertain look that flitted across Daniel's face when he saw the medical supplies in my arms, his sister did as I asked and told him we were going to be performing a brief checkup before beginning the transfusion so he would have time to mentally prepare himself. And with Jasmine there, hopefully Daniel wouldn't think that I was plotting to do anything aside from check his vitals.
Smiling at the two siblings before my gaze settled on Jasmine I asked, "So, did you two manage to have at least a somewhat relaxed conversation my dear? I'm sure there was a lot that needed to be said. Still, I trust you both feel at least a little better now that some of the gaps in the story regarding what happened have been filled? Half the battle is knowing the truth before it can be properly confronted and dealt with so you can both begin to move on."
She nodded, putting her hand over Daniel's which made him blush a bit and turn away from us as Jasmine replied, "Yeah, the hardest part was not knowing how Danny feels about this whole thing from when it first happened and why it did. Honestly I'm a bit upset finding out that you were one of the ghosts, or half-ghost's I guess, that Danny fought before he made it home but that's water under the bridge since you did save him in the end. You better not pull anything like that again or you'll get a taste of the Fenton Ghost Peeler!"
"Jazz, don't say stuff like that!" Daniel exclaimed before I could wonder what on earth she was talking about, though from her tone I already knew she was only teasing me to keep the mood relaxed for her brother's sake.
Smirking playfully, Jazz challenged, "Why not? Even if we're on the same side since we're both looking out for you I still have every right to act like your over protective older sister as usual! Besides, Vlad knows I'm only joking. Because even if I did try to kick his butt we both know how outmatched I'd be in a real fight. Come on, at least let me feel a little useful will ya?"
Rolling his eyes, Daniel eyed the medical equipment I was setting up and pouted, "Yeah right Jazz, you've already been VERY useful to Vlad because he used you as a diversion, which you willingly accepted. Geez, and you call me a drama king? You guys could have just told me we were going to be doing the blood transfusion thing today instead of keeping that a surprise too. I could've handled it."
With a mirthful tone I relented, "Yes I have no doubt you probably could have Daniel, but I didn't want to take any chances. Besides, had I done this earlier without calming you down you would've been in a foul mood the entire time, and sadly this procedure is rather time consuming so none of us would have wanted to deal with your usual sass or in a worse case scenario risk you spiraling into another panic attack. Especially not after your display with your friends the other day. Rest assured that your darling sister is only here to help you feel more comfortable since there's a lot I need to do to ensure that this goes smoothly. And before you ask, yes I've performed this procedure before but you were unconscious at the time. Prior to that I've also treated a fair share of injuries on myself so I know exactly what I'm doing from personal experience. Don't worry, most of what we're doing isn't going to be invasive since I mainly need to check your vitals before starting the drip. However, unlike a normal transfusion I will be adding an extra dose of ecto-restorative to help jump start your healing powers again which in theory should regulate the cold energy your ghost core is currently self-generating. That means you're going to feel something akin to an adrenaline rush regardless of how slow the drip is meaning I'll need to monitor your condition to make sure there aren't any more complications. Your sister agreed to stay here to help support you as well since this should be the last transfusion you need Daniel. Just let me know when you're ready to get started since I need to take a blood sample beforehand to make absolutely sure the infection is gone. I also need to check your body temperature to make sure it isn't too low. After all, we obviously don't want your new power to flash freeze the blood-bag, now do we?"
"Fine fine," Daniel replied, waving his free hand dismissively before giving me a sly smirk as well and repeating in a similarly mirthful tone, "Lets just get this over with so we can have cake, I promised Jazz some since you wouldn't let me have any for my unofficial birthday and you wouldn't want to disappoint her too, now would you...?"
"Of course not dear boy," I chuckled in reply. "However, that doesn't mean YOU are necessarily ready to have any yet yourself. Or did you forget that already?"
Grimacing, Daniel gave in and admitted, "Drats, I was hoping you were still too wrapped up in whatever had you making that face earlier to notice that. Seriously Vlad, you seem more worked up then I am about this transfusion thing. I'll be fine. And...uh...you did invite Jazz here so I finally got a lot off my chest that I need to talk to you about. It's my friends, they-"
Shaking my head, I put a hand on her sister's shoulder to silently signal for Jasmine to move aside so I could begin the check up by checking his pulse and explained, "We'll worry about them later Daniel. For now we need to focus on getting YOU taken care of. They made their choice and are paying the consequences for their actions much like your parents are and as I said before, I'm letting those two friends of yours off extremely lightly if only for your sake. Be mindful of that Daniel because I do NOT normally let anyone get away with deprecating me. If I had my way I'd make them regret ever having crossed Vladimir Masters. Your sister understands that too because legally I was well within my rights to get them sent to Juvie for breaking into my house and having that put on their permanent record; and you three don't exactly have a spotless record to begin with. At least in your case I know most of it is due to ghost activity or your powers causing...accidents. Regardless, if you're about to say what I think you are then it's just as well anyway since they're both grounded for the rest of the month. It would be more difficult to arrange a meeting with them anyway so I was going to suggest waiting until you feel ready and have settled in before reaching out to them again. Don't worry, I'm already going to be creating a secure method of communication between you and your sister that can't be traced back to us and we'll do the same for your friends if that is what you desire. Alright, hold still Daniel, I'm taking a blood sample so you're going to feel a slight sting. Then again, this is probably nothing compared to...well you know." I hated bringing that up at all but it was true, Daniel had suffered through a lot more pain then I ever gave him credit for and much of it was pain that I inflicted upon him. That's when, under my breath, I added, "I'm sorry...little badger, for everything. I'll make this right, somehow."