Downward Spiral by SupremeDramaOverlord

Chapter 15 - I Came, I Saw, I Kicked Vlad's Arse!

Vlad's POV ~

Incredulous, I watched the teenager storm angrily out of the room. I never imagined that Daniel would react in such a hostile way after I gave him the gift. The boy thought I was attempting to bribe him when I honestly just wanted to ease some of the tension I created when he had tried to escape again. Was it really that difficult for him to believe that I wanted to give him a simple present? Needless to say, I was peeved when Daniel chucked the gift out the window so brusquely.

For a moment I considered going after him to give him a good lecture about something called 'gratitude', but I thought better of it. It was obvious to me that the Little Badger was quite distressed from last night's events. It seemed that I had crossed some sort of line with him but at least I was confident that he had learned his lesson. I doubted he would try anymore foolish runaway attempts.

Though he continued to defy me, I was secretly relieved. A part of me had worried that the boy would be a trembling, frightened mess after what happened last night. Daniel was obviously still weary and scared of me but he was just as rebellious and feisty as ever. When I had entered his room to untie him earlier, I was worried that he would be too afraid to even look at me. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. It was odd how relieved I had felt when the very first thing he did was glare defiantly up at me. No, it would take so much more to send Daniel over the edge. He remained to be the same endearing, gutsy teenager.

Still, I wished my plan to appease Daniel had worked. I just needed to give him some time. Eventually, that temper of his would simmer down. After all, I still had four more days before I 'sent him home'. With some gentle coaxing, he'd come around.

Phasing outside, I picked up the present that had been so mercilessly rejected and kicked out the window. The package had a rather large dent in it, but the rocket inside had suffered no damage.

I had thought the boy would have been pleased and excited to receive such a gift. After the reunion three weeks ago, I wasted no time in setting up surveillance cameras to learn everything I could about Daniel and those pathetic Fentons. When I had set up the cameras, I snooped through his room and discovered a few model rockets he had constructed himself. Naturally, I had decided to get him the very best money could buy. Thanks to my spying, I knew for a fact that Jack and Maddie never gave Daniel anything as grandiose as I did.

Originally I planned to give it to him when he would be sent back to that backwash town he loved so much. That way he would have something to do during the flight. I had resolved to give it to him today as a more productive way for him to warm up to me. Clearly, that plan had backfired. I shook my head as I phased back inside. I was not getting anywhere with how relentlessly stubborn the teenager was.

I paused when I re-entered the dining room. Miss Ragland was standing discreetly outside the entryway. Her cherry-red eyes grew in startlement when I caught her gaze and an embarrassed green hue tinted her face. I realized much to my chagrin that the elderly ghost had seen the entire spectacle. Thanks to my enhanced ghost sense, I was able to detect most if not all ghosts who came within thirty-feet of me. However, because I was extremely used to her signature, I hardly ever noticed when Miss Raglan was around.

Deeply embarrassed that she had been caught prying, the squat ghost awkwardly floated into the room. "Plasmius, sir?"

I sighed as I sat the abused box on the table, "Yes, Miss Raglan?"

She gave me a direct look, "I am well aware that your affairs are not at all my concern, but may I offer some advice?"

I was hardly surprised. Since I hired her years ago, I had known her to be an obedient but very bold employee. However, Miss Raglan never stepped out of bounds.

I turned, giving her my full attention and this was all she needed to continue.

"I'm sure you have your reasons and I have never gotten involved with your personal business before. But sir," she spoke her next words dauntlessly, "Danny is a child. A very sweet child, might I add. Isn't it cruel to keep him here against his will?"

There were a few moments of tense silence as I gave her a piercing stare. "Your concern is touching, but in the future, you'd do well not to get involved in affairs you do not understand." I kept my voice strict and leveled, "Am I understood?"

Miss Raglan's lips formed into a thin line as she nodded, "Yes, sir, Plasmius. It won't happen again." And with that, she hurriedly floated out of the room to continue her usual day-to-day duties.

Growing peeved, I frowned as I thought about what she had said.

Cruel? She thought it was cruel to keep Daniel here? Ha! It would have been cruel not to remove the young halfa from Amity Park, with or without using force. I had every right to take him. Whether it be from malicious ghosts or neglectful and ignorant parents, Daniel was always under constant attack. His nights (and most days) had been filled with nothing but ghost fights. At home he would be ignored to no end unless he was late for curfew. Not to mention how dangerous it was for him to be under the same roof as the people who constantly try to hunt him down. What kind of life was that for a child? It was a wonder the teenager was so determined to escape and return to his old, awful home.

Cruel? This was a courtesy.

Here, I ensured that Daniel was safe. I was the one protecting and providing for him. I was the one who made sure he did not go hungry. I was the one nurturing him to his full potential. I was the one who gave him the opportunity to embrace what and who he truly was. What had his parents done? Neglect and ignore him. I was not cruel to Daniel, they were!

My gaze wandered towards the table and rested on the rejected gift. If only Daniel could see reality. His love and loyalty for those two cretins blinded him to the truth.

I swiftly exited the dining room and walked at a brisk pace up the stairs, towards the boy's room. Eventually, Daniel's eyes would open to the truth. Until then, I just needed to remain persistent.

Stopping outside his door, I gave a few soft knocks, "Daniel?" Of course, I would go in with or without his permission but the gesture might mean something to him.

"Shove off, Cheesehead!"

… Perhaps not.

Sighing, I phased through the door. I found Daniel laying face down on top of his bed with his arms spread open. Without moving from his position, Daniel's annoyed and muffled voice muttered, "Go away."

"You slept the whole day away. You can't possibly be tired."

"I'm tired of you."

I huffed at Daniel's smart-aleck quip. "Since it's only six o'clock, why don't we go outside and train for a bit, hmm? I believe I promised to show you ecto-manipulation."

"Pass." The stubborn child refused to look at me, "I'm not gonna train with you anymore. Go away."

He wanted to be difficult? Fine. Two can play at that game.

"Very well," I spoke casually, "I suppose we can always train next week."

"What?!"

Daniel's predicted reaction was instant and satisfying. The teen abruptly jerked into a sitting position before tumbling to the floor in a sputtering mess. Somehow I had managed to resist a laugh, though I found it to be extremely difficult. After tripping a couple of times in an effort to stand, he stood as tall as could with trembling fists. It wasn't much, considering that he was a least a foot shorter than me.

My lips quirked up into a smirk, "Yes, Daniel?"

The child protested in a panicked voice, "You promised to send me home at the end of this week! That's in four days!"

"Actually if you recall, we had made a deal," I strode forward until I was standing directly in front of Daniel. He didn't back down and fiercely stared me in the eyes. "In exchange for your cooperation, I would send you back to that hovel you call home. However, you have been failing to uphold your end of the bargain. I suppose you will not be leaving as soon as you had hoped."

"That's not fair!"

I couldn't help but laugh at this. "Actually, my dear boy, it is fair."

He gaped at me as if I had grown another head, "Excuuuuuse you? In what universe is any of this fair?"

"It is fair and square because you agreed to this," I grinned smugly, "If you do not uphold your end of the deal, how on earth do you expect me to uphold mine?"

As expected, Daniel's face grew red from rage. I was a bit surprised when he squeezed his eyes shut before quickly turning his head away from me. Normally, he would have tried to drill holes through my skull with his bold, blue eyes. Not this time. Though he refused to back down and continued to stand definitely before me, he now refused to so much as look at me.

Daniel's voice was laced with tension, "Just how long do you plan to keep me here?"

"As long as I see fit." There was no point in lying when he knew the truth, "I can keep you here much longer than a week or two."

The boy was much too prideful to admit it, but it was obvious that he was deeply unsettled and scared. His entire body went rigid and I could detect a sharp intake of breath. He took a slow, unconscious step back.

"Of course, it needn't come to that," It would not do to have the child launch into an unnecessary panic attack. I spoke in a softer tone, "Let me properly train you and I shall allow you to leave at the end of the week as previously planned. Surely a few days of compliance is not so terrible?"

From the way his expression twisted sourly, he did not agree. Out of the corners of his eyes, he sent me a skeptical look. Not wanting to stay for a longer duration than he had agreed to, the younger halfa scowled and spat out, "Fine."

"There's a good little house guest." I teased, enjoying the moments when I could get a rile out of him. I could tell he did not appreciate the comment. However, he held his tongue.

Pleased with his new development of reluctant submission, I reached over and ruffled Daniel's hair. He flinched away as if my touch burned him. I pretended not to notice. Placing my hand on the back of his tense shoulders, I lead the way outside to the training dome. He did not protest this time and instead followed silently and obediently.

If I had known that all I had to do for his compliance was threaten to keep him here longer, I would have done that days ago.

As we walked, I made sure to slow my pace to match his. I never got the chance to walk next to him and I wanted to enjoy it. He tried to shift away from me but when I tightened my hold on his shoulders, Daniel desisted the pointless effort. Though, being the stubborn and hot-headed child that he was, he shot me a glare which I returned with a smug smirk.

"Why are you so intent on treating me like the enemy?"

The boy looked affronted with my question, "You are the enemy."

"Only if you view me that way."

Daniel scowled as he harshly looked away from me. My grip softened a fraction, "There is no need to be so bitter, Little Badger."

"Why do you have a weird obsession with badgers?" He muttered.

I couldn't help but chuckle at that question, "It was a nickname my father used to call me."

Scandalized, Daniel wrenched violently away from my grip, "Don't get all touchy-feely, Vlad." He scowled up at me, "Nobody wants to hear about your fam, old man. And stop pretending to be my father!"

"Daniel," I warned in a dangerous tone as I frowned deeply.

Ignoring the hint, the boy continued with his insolent rant, "You want me to train with you? Fine! I'll do it. But get this through your thick head; You are not my father! And I will never be your son!"

One second. That was how long it took me to pin the boy to the wall by his throat. I was seeing everything through a haze of red as both my hands gripped his throat in a firm, unrelenting grip. A growl tore through me as the lights in the room flickered and popped. Pinned high over the floor, Daniel's legs kicked and swung around uselessly. His hands were clawing and pulling at my own without any success and his eyes were squeezed shut as a choked gasped came from his mouth. Even in my enraged state, I was careful not crush his throat to the point of strangulation.

Once again I was thrown off guard by how much raw power and influence Daniel possessed over my emotions - and he didn't even know it! I hated it. I could hardly stand it. How could someone's words - let alone a child's - make me feel so anguished?! It was like I had no control at all at how I felt! With a few choice words, Daniel had sent a torrent of emotions swirling inside me! None of which I liked.

There was a horrible sensation in my chest. It was like the boy's words had solidified into a jagged knife and it was twisting and burrowing a deep wound in my heart. My head throbbed from the amount of raw irate fury I felt from hearing his words.

He could not do this to me. I would not allow it!

A choked whimper snapped me out of my turmoiled thoughts. Daniel's legs had gone limp and his hands were gripping mine, his fingers digging uselessly into my hands. His eyes were still glued shut but his face had turned an alarming shade of blue. I hadn't realized that my gripped had tightened over his throat.

My breath hitched as I immediately released my hold. Not expecting the sudden release, Daniel's knees caved the moment his feet hit the ground but I caught him by the shoulders before he could fall completely.

I could not lose control. Not with Daniel. Regrettably, that would be a difficult accomplishment since it seemed the boy made it his own personal goal to get under my skin.

I heavily exhaled as Daniel tried to stand. Whether he liked it or not I was going to prove him wrong. No matter how long it took, he was going to view me as the perfect father. Just as much as how I already viewed him as the perfect son. He would not have a choice in the matter.

As my anger resided, so did the flickering of the lights. The redness in my vision vanished and I straightened to my full height. Composed, I stared evenly down at Daniel as he leaned against the wall and shakily batted my hands away. He finally opened his eyes but kept them firmly averted from mine.

"Do not disrespect me in my own home, Daniel. I will not tell you again."

When he had nothing to say, I firmly pulled him up by his arm. I dragged him along as we continued to the training dome. The moment we entered he wasted no time to transform and phase out of my grip.

Smirking, I straightened to my full height as a pair of black, glowing rings appeared and separated from my waist. The sensation was similar to jumping into a hot tub. I welcomed the pleasant, heated warmth that shot through my system that would have felt unbearably scorching to a normal human being.

"Now then," Positioning myself in front of Daniel, I held my hands out for demonstration. Purple wisp-like energy flared and ignited in my open palms. "Conjuring ecto-energy is simple enough, however, a great deal of concentration is needed to produce the right energy. It needs to be flexible so you can bend and manipulate to it to your desires. That makes it easy to shape into any form you want."

I took a moment to stretch and twist the energy I held into three-dimensional shapes. A smug grin slid across my face as I took note that Daniel was intently studying my hand movements, right down to the finger strokes. His eyes were glued to my actions, the purple light reflected in his green eyes.

I let the energy disperse. "Once you can do that, I will teach you how to solidify the energy into objects. For now, I want you to focus on generating the correct energy. It is a useful skill to learn but extremely difficult to master. Creating the proper energy and being able to manipulate it is no easy task. It took me many years before I could accomplish this technique."

Daniel looked up at me with a smirk, "Well if you can do it, how hard could it be?"

My grin twitched at the teenager's impudent cheek. "Very well, then. Let's see it."

His smirk fell, "What?"

"Since you believe this to be a simple little parlor trick, 'how hard could it be'?" I gave the child a haughty smile, "Go on, give it go."

Daniel faltered before shooting me a bilious glare, "Fine. I will."

He turned his full attention to his own gloved hands as bright, green energy encased them. Just as I had been doing, Daniel had his palms facing each other and as the energy continued to build, he tried to form it into a shape. But he had too much and the strong wisps of power sparked and fizzed in disorder. His stress was affecting his power.

"Careful, do not overcharge," I instructed with a gentle tone. "This does not require much energy. Start with a smaller quantity."

I was both pleased and surprised when Daniel actually listened for a change. In no way did he acknowledge me with words nor did he so much as look at me. But after a moment he absorbed some of the energy and left a more manageable amount. The intensity of the energy's movements slowed and relaxed. Sweat trickled off his brow as he fixated every once of control into getting it to stretch. I was impressed when after less than fifteen minutes, Daniel had managed to pull and stretch it like putty.

I beamed as I carefully took the small ball of energy. Not only had he succeeded in making the right ecto-energy and bend it to his will, but Daniel had giving it quite a bit of substance. It was a far cry from being rock-solid but it was tangible nonetheless. A boy of fourteen accomplished a task in mere minutes that took me years. Imagine what Daniel could be capable of with my tutelage.

"Excellent work, Daniel!" I praised before turning to Daniel. I was confused at his dissatisfied expression. It did not take long for me to realize what had him displeased.

"Do not be so hard on yourself, dear boy. This skill is far from easy. I never expected you to master it in a day, let alone get this far in solidifying your energy."

I could tell by the way he scrutinized me that he was suspicious of whether or not I was sincere. I rolled my eyes before handing the hunk of ecto-energy back to him, "It was a compliment, not sarcasm."

"Yeah, whatever," he mumbled doubtfully as he turned his attention back the energy in his hands. "How do you absorb this?"

"It's late," I stated after briefly glancing at my wristwatch. "I suggest you get some rest and I can teach you absorption tomorrow."

"Fine," Daniel chucked the glob of energy at one of the practice targets before he reluctantly followed me out of the dome.

As we walked through the front door, I smiled warmly at the boy, "You did exceptionally well today, Little Badger. I'm very proud of you and how far you have progressed in just a few short days."

He stared hard at me, "The days haven't been short to me." And with that, he turned and walked up the stairs.

"Oh, Daniel?" Halfway up the stairs, he paused and turned to face me questionably. "Try not to make any late night trips, hmm?"

Glaring coldly, the teenager stomped the rest of the way before slamming his door. I rolled my eyes at his antics.

Teenagers.

Danny's POV~

I slammed the door knowing full well that Vlad would lock it soon. Leaning my back against it, I dragged my hands down my face as I let out a frustrated growl.

Where did he get off saying that?! He was proud of me?! Like I'd care!

…. At least I wished I didn't.

When Vlad told me that he was proud of me, I felt… good?

I knew it was weird and wrong, to feel happy by making your own kidnapper proud. I hated myself for it but I couldn't help it. It was something people never told me. For once, I hadn't felt like the screw-up punk kid everyone makes me out to be.

Just then, Vlad had made me feel appreciated. Something I hadn't felt in a long while.

It made me feel like banging my head into a brick wall. Vlad was evil! He tried to murder my family! He kidnapped me! The guy practically tortured me! I didn't even want to be here, this place was a living nightmare. I wanted to go home so badly and he didn't care. He didn't care that I wanted to go home, yet here I was feeling appreciated by my own kidnapper! I hated him for it.

I hadn't forgotten about the incident in the hallway either. I rubbed my neck, still sore from being nearly choked to death. At least he didn't find out about the bracelet. There were a few times when my eyes almost gave me up. I didn't like how weak it made me seem but I had to avoid eye contact every time my eyes glowed. I wished I had better control over my powers…

My fists cleaned in anger. He thought he could keep here? Well, I was going to prove him wrong!

Determination setting in, I released that comforting, chilling sensation. In a burst of silvery light two twin rings formed around me before separating and I was transformed into my ghost half. Turning invisible and intangible, I phased through the floor with one destination in mind.

Phasing through the ceiling of the study, I eagerly floated over to the desk and searched through the drawers. I was disappointed when I found nothing of interest. Just files and papers that I didn't bother to read. Turning away from the desk I went over to the bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. Thinking that there might be something important hidden inside a hollowed-out book, I began to flip through random books before placing them back where they originally were. I didn't want Vlad to know I came back in here, seeing how bad that ended last time.

I paused, looking around. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. My heart was pounding and I was terrified of what Vlad would do to me if he caught me trying to escape again…. I didn't want to be electrocuted again.

It didn't help when I remembered that Vlad had been watching me when I snuck in here the first time. He'd been watching since I got into the hall that night. I had the sneaking suspicion that he had wanted to see how far I'd get on my own.

I shook my head as I continued pulling out books from the shelf. Thinking about it wouldn't help me get home. Maybe Vlad was watching me from the shadows like the monster he was, or maybe my paranoia was at its peak and nothing was really there at all. I couldn't focus on the 'maybes'. If I get caught, I'd get caught. But I wasn't going to sit idly by in this house of horrors like the good little boy Vlad expected me to be.

I was halfway through the second shelf when a thick book I grabbed slid partway out from the shelf before jerking back in place. I didn't have time to be perplexed as a loud grinding sound filled the room. Sharply turning to the right, I saw the small fireplace in the room split in down the middle, parting to reveal a secret passage.

I laughed a humorless chuckle. Oh, of course the crazed up Fruitloop had his own secret tunnel. I wouldn't have been surprised if it leads into a secret lab. I summoned a small, neon-green ball of ecto-energy in my right hand before cautiously descending into the narrow stairwell that spiraled down. The passage would have been completely dark but the ghostly energy glowing from my hand was enough to illuminate my surroundings in an emerald, luminous light.

After a few minutes went by, I realized that I had to have been deep underground by now. The air had grown damp and cold. A coil of anxiety wormed its way into my gut. I never liked being underground, it always gave me a sense of impending doom. I couldn't stop myself from imagining the walls caving in and trapping me under layers of stone and dirt, but I hastily shook away the awful thought. It was a silly fear, really. I knew that on the random chance the walls did collapse over me, I could simply turn intangible and fly out. There was no way I'd get buried alive. But despite my mental reasoning, the unease in the pit of my stomach grew. I bit my bottom lip and pressed on.

When I reached the bottom, the light I held in my palm expanded as the narrow passage expanded into a wider room. My light however, was not bright enough to fill the whole room. I could only make shadows and dark shapes. I held the ghostly light towards the walls, searching for a switch. Finding one, I flipped it and felt relief when bright lights built into the ceiling bathed the room in artificial lighting. My eyes weren't used to the sudden brightness and it was almost blinding.

My ecto-energy died in my palms as I eyed the spacious cavern. I was right, the creep had his own evil laboratory. From all around me, computers automatically powered on as well as other machines that were foreign and bizarre to me. It was a far cry from the messy, cramped, and unorganized basement my parents renovated into a lab. The walls stretched widely on all sides and the ceiling arched high above my head. The place screamed with expensive and advanced technology, and there was a sinister nightmare feeling in the atmosphere. My nose crinkled in revulsion at the menacing odor of unknown chemicals. It didn't smell like the cleaning supplies people use to clean kitchens and restrooms, but instead resembled something more unpleasant. It almost smelled like a morgue, like death.

Ignoring my strong desire to turn and flee up the stairs, I steeled my nerves and slowly entered the lab. I eyed my surroundings with inquisitiveness. Along the walls were high arches leading into separate alcoves. Passing one, I peeked inside to find what appeared to be a personal infirmary. There was an examination bed as well as plenty of medical equipment you'd expect to see in a hospital. Another one had shelves built into the walls that were stocked with glass flasks and beakers filled with chemicals - the source of the toxic scent. A table was in the center with bulbs and graduated pipettes.

Realizing that I probably didn't have much time before Vlad decided to look for me, I wandered into the center of the room. I let my eyes roam the various work tables. Most were covered in neat piles of machines' parts and blueprints. Vlad's laboratory was huge! Though there wasn't a doubt in my mind that shield's generator was located here. How was I going to find it?

I was about to start looking through all the alcoves when something on the far wall caught my attention. The wall was covered in screens and I went over to it, confused at what I was seeing. My jaw dropped in unbridled abhorrence. These were all images of the inside of my house! This is how that messed up stalker has been spying on me! That creep!

Wait a minute…

My eyes narrowed in suspicion before widening in horror. I couldn't hold back a gasp. The house was a warzone! Furniture and random objects had been thrown about the rooms, sickly green ectoplasm was splattered over everything, and freaky, mutated, animal-like ghosts were rampaging throughout the halls.

I frantically scanned the screens until I found them. My family. They had barricaded themselves in the ops center on the roof. From the hidden camera in the room, I could see the damage that had been done. Jazz was sporting a black eye, dad's arm had a nasty gash, and mom's jumpsuit was coated with scratches and tears! My blood boiled when I spotted Skulker leading an attack alongside some of Vlad's animal-like ghosts.

I knew it! Vlad was nothing more than a dirty, rotten liar. He never planned on letting me leave, he was trying to murder my whole family! My chest swelled in fury and trepidation. I needed to escape more than ever now, to save my family!

I was leaving today.

Without wasting any more time, I hovered high in the air, anxiously scanning the lab for the shield projector. There was so many machines in here, how was I going to find it? Wait… was that..?

I flew over to a corner of the room where my suitcase laid abandoned and forgotten. I zipped it open to find that everything was still in there, my clothes, the ecto-weapons mom and dad made me bring, and my cell phone! Digging it out from underneath the specter deflector, I flipped it open only to groan in defeat. Of course. It was dead. Anyway, I doubted that there was a decent signal way out here in the middle of nowhere.

Tossing it back in the bag, I flew around the room to resume my search. I nearly fell out of the air in relief when I spotted it. Besides a few upgrades it looked just like the one at home. It was shaped like a box and no bigger than an oven. There was a flashing green power button on the top and it emitted a soft humming sound. I smirked, knowing exactly what to do. I put some distance between me and the machine as my hands glowed and sparkled, charging up for an attack. Giving it everything I had, I hurled the powerful ecto-blast at the generator.

A bright purple bubble formed around the machine, causing my blast to demolish against it. The bubble vanished away, leaving the machine scratchless.

My blood ran cold as a heavy rock dropped to the pit of my stomach. Slowly, I turned around and came face-to-face with Vlad. He was in full ghost mode floating above my eye level a few feet away from me. His intense, burning, blood-red eyes were narrowed directly at me and a dangerous red aura surrounded him. The lights in the room flickered.

There was a tight lump forming in my throat that I nearly choked on."V-Vlad-"

"Did you learn nothing from last night?" He cut me off in an emotionless tone. "I must confess that I thought you smarter than this, Daniel."

"You liar!" I snarled as I gestured towards the scenes, ignoring the trepidation that was rising within me. "Why are you trying to murder my family?! You're breaking your promise!"

"Really?" He asked, cool as a cucumber. "You must be mistaken, dear boy. I never break my promises."

"What? Of-" I stared dumbly before finding my voice, "Of course you do! You promised-"

"I had made a promise to send you home by the end of the week." His grin grew into something awful as his red eyes gleamed maliciously, "Never once did I say anything about your pathetic family. Besides," he shrugged carelessly, "Soon your home will no longer in Amity Park."

For a long moment the only thing I was capable of was stare at Vlad. He couldn't possibly be serious! This couldn't be happening! My entire world was being ripped apart at the seams and I was helpless to stop it. I was starting to shake from my raging emotions as I tried to hold it together. I felt like throwing up.

"You can't keep me here forever! If you want someone else around, go get a freaking old-man cat!"

"I can keep you wherever and however long I please." He spared a quick glance at my wrist, ignoring the cat comment. "I just need to make another bracelet."

"But - But I don't - I don't understand!" I nearly choked on my words from the effort of speaking, "I know you hate my parents but how could you - why do you want them and my sister dead this badly?! What happened all those years ago was an accident! They never meant to hurt you, so why would you hurt them?"

He frowned, "You are a mere child, you do not know anything about what happened. And besides," He waved a dismissive hand, "They are simply in the way. But they won't be for long."

I swallowed down the lump that was in my throat. "What could you possibly gain by killing my family?"

"You."

My heart pounded as I was thrown off guard. I knew he was serious by his grim expression. Vlad wasn't playing around. He never had any intentions of letting me go. I realized that ever since he found out my secret I've been in the center of his attention and that was a very bad place to be.

"You can't do this, Vlad! I'll fight you!" I settled into a fighting stance, ready to battle with everything I had. Energy glowed in my hands as I prepared to attack.

"Think about this, Daniel!" he shot a nasty glare towards the surveillance screens. "You do not need them anymore. They will only drag you down in the end. You are far better off without them."

"That's not true!"

"Is it?" Vlad challenged with narrowed eyes. "I know you do not really believe that. Your precious parents make life difficult for you, do they not?"

"You don't know what you're talking about," I growled.

"Don't I?" Vlad's sharp fangs gleamed as he shot me a knowing smirk, "Are you not tired of sacrificing your life for an ungrateful city? For an ungrateful family that constantly hurts you time and time again? Tell me something, Daniel, how many hours of sleep have you lost since you decided to play the role of 'hero'? How often have you skipped meals to stop a ghost from attacking the town - and all for what? To get brutally beaten to a pulp just to catch some mischief-making ghost? Not to mention the little fact that Jack and Maddie regularly make a habit of hunting you down."

Biting hard on the inside of my cheek, I tied to yell at him but my voice barely rose above a whisper, "Shut up." His words pierced me like a sword.

Vlad rose a brow slyly, "Oh, did I hit a sore spot?"

"Yeah, that means you should shut your piehole right about now!" I threw two strong blasts at older halfa. Not that it did me any good. With a lazy wave of his hand, a shield materialized and effectively blocked my attacks like bugs against a windshield.

"It seems that I need to teach you another lesson." His face hardened and his red eyes flashed, "Maybe this time I can successfully knock some sense into that stubborn head of yours."

I yelled in both pain and surprise as I was blasted from behind. Tools and metal parts rained down on me when I crashed headfirst into one of the lab tables. My back felt singed and my head pounded. Looking up, I caught sight of Vlad and the duplicate that had shot me. Naturally, the creep wasn't going to fight fair. The coward.

His duplicate vanished as the original carefully floated a few feet towards me as I jumped to my feet. I held my glowing hands out in front of me, "I'm warning you, Vlad. Stay away from me!"

"You belong at my side, Daniel." Ignoring my threats, he strode confidently towards me, "We are the only two half-ghosts in existence! Humans cannot possibly understand us the way we do. By accepting the role of my son, nothing would be beyond your grasp. You could achieve anything! Think of the power you'd obtain!"

"NO!" Even though it was useless, I furiously threw ecto-blasts at him as I backed away. "I don't want any of that! I want to go home! I want my family!"

My back found a wall and realized that I couldn't back away any further. I phased through but before I could get away, two gloved hands shot towards me and grabbed my wrists. I yelped as I was roughly pulled out of the wall and Vlad's terrible face loomed over mine. I winced at how crushing his grip was.

"Stop being so naive!" His roaring tone would have scared away a pride of lions. Terrified, I turned my face away but Vlad wouldn't let me. His hand seized my chin and I was forced to stare into his livid, flaming eyes as his fingers dug into my face.

"Your delusions are getting tiresome, Daniel." He all but spat bitterly at me. His tone carried venom, "Ectoplasm runs through your veins. The two people you are so blindly loyal to are dreaming about picking you apart."

I was holding back enraged tears, "Shut up."

"You are a young, vulnerable child. How long do you expect to survive under their roof? One day they are going to learn the truth, and they will not hesitate to kill you!"

I don't know what happened next. It was like I had completely snapped from all my bottled up emotions and it caused something incredible and frightening. I was scared but I was also angry.

Really angry.

"I said. SHUT. UUUUUUUUUP!"

When I had screamed those words, I felt an overwhelming burst of power surge through my throat. I could feel powerful beams shoot away from my open mouth as I continued to scream. Although, by this point it felt more like inhuman wailing. The sound I was emitting was ear-shattering and had a haunting echo in it. Vlad's hold on me was violently torn away.

My wail had blasted Vlad across the room and it was keeping him pinned to the wall. The force of the sound was even pushing me back and I had to keep myself upright by planting my heels against the floor. I tried to stop but I couldn't! It was like a switch had flipped and I couldn't turn it off. So much ghostly power and raw energy was blasting out of my mouth and I couldn't stop it! All I could do was let it out.

After what felt like forever, when in reality it was probably less than a minute, my lungs had emptied and the very last bit of the chaotic soundwaves dispersed. My knees gave out and I crumpled to the ground, reverting back to my human counterpart. I panted and heaved as my burning throat felt like it was bleeding. I briefly glanced around the room to see the destruction I had caused. It looked like a bomb went off. Shards of glass were everywhere, tables had been knocked over, and bits and pieces of objects that were once tools and machines had been laid to waste. Even the walls and floors were dented. To my shocked satisfaction, the shield generator was nothing more than rubble. All around me was a perfect circle of clean floor, the blast had pushed everything away. And everyone.

"Agggh..."

My head shot up as I stared at where Vlad was sprawled on the ground, groaning from my supernatural outburst. I had completely disoriented him and forced him out of his ghost form. I had no idea what just happened but I wasn't going to waste time questioning it.

This was my chance.

I jumped up only to fall. My legs felt like jelly and instantly gave out on me. I stood up again and managed to stay up, but I'm pretty sure the room wasn't supposed to be spinning. I tried to shake off the feeling and stumbled towards my suitcase. This was my only opportunity to escape and I was taking it.

Stumbling over to where the contents of my suitcase laid scattered everywhere, I pounced on an item I never thought I'd come near in a million years. I clutched it tight and raced over to Vlad.

The shocked halfa was just beginning to get up and collect his bearings. Since he was still out of it, Vlad didn't notice me slip a metallic belt around his waist and lock it there. Backing away towards the door, I threw the key across the room. I tried to summon my powers but whatever I just did completely drained my ghost half and I didn't know when I could access it again.

Vlad quickly looked around the room before his gaze zeroed in on me. His eyes narrowed dangerously before he quickly transformed back into his ghost half. But the moment he did, a pained scream tore from his throat.

"You little rat!" Vlad snarled as he tugged on the belt, "You know what this means for you?"

"Yeah!" Taking that as my cue, I whirled around on my heels and made a beeline for the door. "A much fairer fight!"

Before I raced up the stairs, I took a moment to swipe one of my parents ecto-guns off the floor. Vlad screamed and yelled threats behind me as I hurried through the passage, skipping three stairs at a time.

It was time to get out while the getting was good.

Special thanks to Molly Nail.

On to the reviews!

Tailor.G: I'm glad it made your day! :) Thanks for the review!

AkabaneKazama: That list is way too long for me to write, lol! :D

Rush721: Thanks so much for the review! I'm really excited that so many Danny Phantom Phans are enjoying my story! It's great that my readers like you think I've done well in writing Danny and Vlad. And yeah…. Can we all just pretend that Phantom Planet never happened? I'm still having nightmares about it.

Specter14: My DeviantArt account username is the same as my username but I'm rarely ever on it. Thanks for reviewing!

RosyThorn: Aww, thank you! And lol, you're right about where most of the story's conflict is coming from. Vlad needs to take a chill pill. But of course if he did that, the story would be way too boring to read. :P And I'm glad that I've made Danny's emotional crisis believable. Writing how the characters feel can be challenging sometimes.

70489aycb: Well shucks! Reviewers like you sure do know how to flatter me. It makes me feel really great that you're enjoying my story so much! Thanks for the ideas! When you mentioned that you'd like to see the ghost maid give Vlad some advice, I was inspired to write that little tidbit between them. It probably wasn't what you had in mind, but that did inspire that scene. I like some of the other ideas too, I might use them for inspiration for future chapters! Thanks a lot for your support and ideas!

Olliepops16: Yup, the Fruitloop really set himself up for that one. I never heard of the word, "Brusquely" before. After I googled it, I just had to use it, so thanks for the inspiration! As for your question, that's kind of a tough one to answer. I have the entire story outlined but I don't know how many chapters that will take. My guess is an average of 45 chapters. But I'm just guessing so don't count on that amount as being set in stone. Again, it's just a guess. It all depends on how many scenes will be put into each individual chapter. Anyway, thanks for the word inspiration and all the encouragement!

EricaPhoenix16: Thanks for the review! :)

Deyinel: Thanks for reviewing my story!