Danny spies on the newcomer. He does not like what he finds.
Danny was extremely nervous. It had been a few day since the incident, and he desperately wanted to visit his friends. He hadn't spoken with them since before disappearing, so he knew they were probably worried about him. He was just too afraid of his parents to go through the portal.
He had tried making his own portal, but it hadn't been stable enough to step through, and had opened to some snowy place that was definitely not Amity Park. Danny wondered why Clockwork had him learn to make portals if he wasn't going to teach him how to do it correctly. And for what reason? Clockwork hadn't told him when he would use it, but Danny thought it would be rather helpful now.
Danny floated in front of the entrance to the FentonWorks portal, pacing in midair and scaring away any ghosts who approached. He was mentally calculating the odds of running into his parents. Clockwork had assured him that they didn't mean to hurt him and wouldn't do it again, and the burn on his arm had already healed, but he still wasn't ready to confront them.
After hours of contemplation, Danny sighed and invisibly floated through the portal. He reached the other side just in time to see his dad run up the stairs. Curious about what could have him so excited, Danny forgot his fears and followed.
In the kitchen, his parents sat across from a tall smarmy-looking man. He was practically oozing charisma. Danny instantly didn't trust him. He watched and listened as the man chatted with his mom and ignored his dad. Danny wasn't normally an eavesdropper, and he felt guiltier the longer he stayed there, but his gut told him that something was wrong, so he stayed. After a while, he noticed something odd.
His dad wasn't speaking.
Sure, he was paying attention and following the conversation, but he didn't join in. It was incredibly odd to Danny, who was used to his dad rambling about anything and everything.
Something was wrong, and it had to do with this new man. Vlad, his mom had called him, seemed to make his dad uncomfortable. Danny was uncomfortable too, but he didn't think his dad was picking up on the same gut feeling that he was. No, Jack discomfort came from something else, but Danny had no clue what.
By the time the group had moved to the living room - Danny was both flattered and embarrassed at getting his own photo album, but he supposed it meant his parents still loved him - Danny had realized something else that made his skin crawl. He watched the way that Vlad hung on his mom's every word, and realized that Vlad had a crush on his mom. Danny shuddered, thoroughly disturbed. He wondered if that was the reason for his dad's odd behavior, but dismissed it quickly. Danny doubted his dad would notice something like jealousy.
When Vlad left, Danny followed him. Something was very wrong with this man, other than having a thing for Danny's mom. He would almost say that Vlad wasn't human.
He rested on top of Vlad's car during the long drive to Wisconsin, spending time by counting the stars that he could always see no matter what time of day. After hours of driving, they arrived at a large mansion. The outside was painted green and gold, and Danny was willing to bet the inside was too. The thing was built like a castle, with numerous turrets and towers. There were even tiny flags hung above the absurdly large front door.
Danny discretely followed Vlad inside, where, sure enough, everything was green and gold. It was also, however, decorated with football memorabilia. Dash would love this place, he thought.
Danny had thought that Vlad would go straight to bed when he arrived, and that he would be free to snoop around, but rather than heading to a bedroom, the man walked into an office. Danny followed, curious. Vlad tipped a statuette and, like a cheesy movie, a secret door opened in the wall.
Danny stared in astonishment. He stood still so long that, by the time he snapped out of it, Vlad had already disappeared down the hidden stairway and the door had closed.
Danny phased through the false wall and floated cautiously down the stairs. He came out into something that resembled his parents lab. Vlad was hunched over a table, flipping through blueprints. Finally he pulled one out of the stack and tacked it up on a mounted clipboard. It is a lab, Danny realized. He gazed around the room, careful to move out of Vlad's way when he began to circle the room gathering instruments. There were multiple work tables covered in equipment, and strange chemical vats pushed up against the walls.
Finally, Danny turned around and came face to face with a ghost portal. It was far bigger than his parents' portal, and looked like it was made of better materials. Danny stared at it in shock.
There was a clicking noise behind him. Danny spun and found the barrel of a weapon pointed in his face. He froze. He had thought he was still invisible.
"Now," Vlad said far too calmly, "you are going to tell me who you are, why you were following me, and what you want from me."
Danny's eyes crossed when he tried to focus on the weapon. He licked his lips. "Uh. Why do you have a ghost portal?"
"No, I asked you first. Why are you here?"
Danny didn't answer.
"Do you even know who I am?"
"I know your name is Vlad," Danny hedged.
Vlad smirked. "That's a no, then." Then he did something that thoroughly confused and shocked Danny. He stepped back and a pair of black glowing rings appeared around his waist, moving up and down. Where the rings passed, Vlad's appearance changed. His black suit turned into a white tunic and pants, his skin turned blue, his hair turned black, and he gained a high collared red and white cape.
Danny backed as far away as he could. Energy sparked at his fingers in preparation to defend himself. "What are you?!"
Vlad laughed. "I'm a halfa, my boy, though that's all you really need to know." He darted forward, baring gigantic fangs.
Danny shot upwards, phasing through the ceiling, into the office, and up out of the mansion entirely.
Vlad chased him. "You're obviously new, or you would have been warned against getting on my bad side. If you tell me why you were following me, perhaps I'll let you go."
Danny glanced over his shoulder. Vlad was gaining on him fast. He looked up at the stars for direction, then flew as fast as he could towards Illinois.
Vlad continued to follow, spewing taunts and threats. Danny was beginning to tire, but Vlad looked like he was perfectly at home flying 100 miles per hour.
Danny began to feel desperate. He was running out of ideas, and stamina. He had never been a very athletic person, and dying hadn't helped. Danny was about to turn around and fight Vlad head-on, hoping to catch him off guard, when he got an idea. Still flying at top speed, Danny began to create a portal in his hands. It grew slowly, and Vlad let out a shocked exclamation as he saw it. Finally, it was just barely big enough to fit through. Danny released the energy and zipped through, not caring where he ended up.
Danny turned back to anxiously watch as the portal closed inches from Vlad's furious face.
With a sigh, Danny floated downwards.
"Are you alright, Daniel?"
Danny flinched and looked around. He was in Clockwork's tower, in the viewing room. He was slumped on the floor, leaning against a floating gear. Clockwork hovered in front of him, looking concerned. Danny opened his mouth, but his adrenaline was so high that he could only babble unintelligibly.
Clockwork held out a hand to pull Danny to his feet. "Go rest. You can ask your questions later."
Trembling, Danny nodded. He knew that Clockwork had decided not to say anything until later, so he didn't really have any other options. Danny trudged to his room and lay in his bed. He was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep. His brain was racing with questions, recounting the horrifying chase and Vlad's transformation.
He didn't want to see something like that ever again, but he knew instinctually that whatever had just happened, it was only the beginning.