Disclaimer: I don't own anything A/N: I'm not sure if Sam's parents were ever given names, if they were, I'd be appreciative to anyone who let me know…otherwise I'll just go with the ones I made up
The Master Plan
Uric Igi Shelps
Chapter 8
Ransom
Maddie knocked on the Manson's front door with confidence. Vlad stood behind her, an amused smile playing at his lips. As they waited for someone to answer the door, he subtly studied his love.
She really was an amazing woman, he thought, amazed at how she was handling herself as both her son and husband were "missing" in the ghost-zone. Most mothers and wives would have called the authorities and gone off to cry; but not his Maddie. She would try to handle this herself, and if his plan hadn't been perfectly solid, he might have been worried she'd foil it for him.
He knew that both Daniel and Jack were far too dim-witted to ever seriously threaten his plans.
His musings were interrupted when the front door finally opened, revealing a haggard looking woman, wearing, to Vlad's disgust, all pink. This woman was that gothic girl's mother, and the same woman organizing and financing an invasion of the Ghost-Zone?
She was, nevertheless, quite beautiful — despite the running makeup — and the pink. Though she was nothing compared to his beloved Maddie, of course.
Maddie climbed the last step and reached out, cupping Mrs. Manson's hand in between her own. "Alexandra," she said soothingly, as she stepped closer and embraced the woman. She stepped away, and turned to Vlad, "Vlad Masters," she introduced, gesturing to the man, who bowed haughtily, "Alexandra Manson," she followed, introducing the crying woman in front of him.
Pathetic, Vlad thought disgustedly.
The girl had been gone for less than two hours; the note that he'd written specifically mentioned that no harm would come to the girl as long as the ransom was paid, there was no reason for the woman to react this way.
"A pleasure," he said, his words contradicting his feelings, "You must be terrified,"
Alexandra merely smiled — however slightly. "Yes — yes I am," she said distantly, and then she seemed to realize that they were all still standing out at the front door. "Come in, please," she emphasized the sentiment by opening the door wider and standing aside. Maddie and Vlad strode across the threshold and Alexandra closed the door behind them.
Looking around, Vlad had to admit; the Manson's had style, and they were obviously incredibly wealthy. Of course, Vlad knew all about the Manson's financial position; the whole point of a major portion of his plan relied heavily on the accuracy of that information. Young Samantha's kidnapping would be pointless if the family had significantly more money than he knew of.
Though he was confident that his sources had done their job well.
Alexandra led them through a long, lavishly decorated hallway and into an equally elegant sitting room, furnished with two extremely inviting large couches, and four expensive looking lounge chairs. An ornate fireplace adorned the far wall, looking as if it had never been used, while innumerable lamps and tables lay around at strategic places, adding to the room's décor.
There were already two people sitting in the room; an old woman sitting in a motorized scooter, whom Vlad could only assume to be Samantha's grandmother and a man he knew to be Mr. Thomas Manson, his captive's father.
He stood up, and Vlad was slightly surprised at how composed the man seemed, as he shook hands with Vlad and greeted Maddie, introducing himself as he did so. "This is my mother," Thomas said, he hesitated for a moment, looking flustered, before he went on, "She goes by Samantha as well,"
Vlad concealed a grin, somewhat relieved to know that the stoic looking father was being affected as well, but was merely hiding it. "We found this," Alexandra said as she withdrew a crumpled note from a pocket and handed it to Maddie, who read it warily as Alexandra sat down next to her husband and took his hand.
Vlad watched as Maddie's eyes scanned the note quickly; she handed the note back to Mrs. Manson and frowned, thoughtfully. "I think Sam's with Danny," she said finally, surprising every one in the room, including Vlad.
"Where's Danny," Samantha asked suspiciously, looking up at the younger woman.
She hesitated for a moment, looking from Mr. to Mrs. Manson, and finally meeting Samantha's eyes "In the Ghost-Zone," she sighed.
Vlad mentally cursed himself for handwriting both notes.
Danny woke up to the sound of the cell door being thrown open with a crash. Two guards entered, looking around, almost suspiciously as they crossed the threshold. Once they saw that they weren't about to be attacked, the two guards swept across the cell with obvious relief, before they stopped above the sleeping Jack Fenton.
Danny quietly removed himself from the still-sleeping Sam and jumped off the cot, inadvertently getting the guard's attention.
Without warning, they both spun around and shot at him. Surprised, Danny was blasted back against the wall, where he landed on the cot, jolting Sam awake. "Danny?" she asked groggily, blinking the sleep away as she sat up.
Cursing, Danny realized that both Valerie and his father had woken up. "What do you want, spooks?" his dad shouted, jumping to his feet.
"Just your execution," a voice spoke from the doorway. Unsurprisingly, Walker floated at the doorway, arms folded across his chest. Jack didn't seem to know what to say to this, as he just stared at the two guards in front of him.
A moment passed, and each guard took one of Jack's arms and led him towards the door. Danny just stared, confused. Why wasn't his father fighting back? "Can I just say goodbye to my son?" his father asked suddenly, forcing himself to stop.
Walker rolled his eyes but evidently saw no harm in it, as he silently signaled to his guards, who immediately let Jack walk towards Danny.
Danny watched as his father came up to the cot and embraced him in a crushing one-armed hug. Surprised at the gesture, Danny nearly dropped the small device that was slipped into his hand. "I want you to get these girls out of here, son," he whispered into his ear so that even Sam could not hear, "Give one of them the Fenton Mini-Shield,"
He pulled away and smiled down at him, before he inexplicably turned to Sam and hugged her as well. He whispered something into her ear that Danny didn't quite catch, but when he pulled away she was blushing like mad. "Good luck," he whispered, smiling slightly. He turned around and walked out of the cell on his own, shoving off his ghostly escorts.
Walker looked back and locked eyes with Danny once his father was gone. "This is what you get for fighting me, kid," he went to close the door, but stopped suddenly, "Oh, yeah," he remembered, "I'll send an escort for you once we're ready to do the deed, I wouldn't want you to miss the show," he slammed the door behind him, as Danny's eyes flashed dangerously.
He immediately jumped from the cot and looked at the device his dad had slipped him. The Fenton Mini-Shield, his dad had called it, was a small, high-tech looking ring, covered, of course, in small Fenton logos.
He remembered, vaguely, his mother explaining how the ring created a small Ghost-Shield around the wearer, and temporarily increased their strength and stamina. The only flaw had been the energy supply, which hadn't lasted long enough to satisfy his parents.
"Okay," Danny said finally, looking at the ring in his hand once more to strengthen his resolve. "I think we can get out of here," he continued, looking from Valerie to Sam.
"Why do you think that?" Valerie asked predictably, "Unless that thing in your hand is something that annihilates every ghost within a mile — I think we're brutally outnumbered,"
She missed both Danny and Sam flinch at her plans to annihilate every ghost in the area. "Well," Danny said, a little harsher than he'd intended, "This is a personal Ghost-Shield," he tossed the ring to Sam, who caught it easily. "When the guards come in for me, we make our move, and you two stick close together and use the shield,"
"That's your plan?" Valerie asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow and folding her arms across her chest, "There is no way that'll work,"
"Do you expect me to just sit here while they kill my dad?" Danny exploded suddenly, shocking Valerie; she'd never seen Danny angry. "I don't care if you come with me or not," he went on, in a somewhat quieter voice.
"Calm down Danny," Sam said soothingly, "No one expects you to just sit here,"
A moment passed in silence, "Why do I have to hide behind a shield?" Valerie asked, changing tactics, "I'm the only one with any ghost-hunting experience,"
"Danny's parents have been hunting ghosts since before he was born, he knows what he's doing," Sam spoke up quickly, knowing Danny's lack of skill at lying. Valerie didn't look convinced.
"Once we beat the first few guards we should be okay," Danny said, "We might not even have to fight anyone," he lied, convincing no one.
"Fine," Valerie muttered, looking doubtful.
Danny rolled his eyes indifferently. Ideally, she'd be knocked out quickly so he could "Go Ghost" and stand a better chance, but he could improvise if he had to.
Danny knew that they'd come for him soon, so he positioned himself next to the door, taking one of the chairs with him. Valerie and Sam begrudgingly moved together behind Danny, as Sam slipped the ring on.
Minutes passed in silence, and just as Danny was beginning to think that Walker wasn't going to come for him, the door opened, and two guards floated in. They paused just inside the doorframe, peering around the dark, empty looking cell.
Without waiting another moment, Danny picked up the ectoplasmic chair and hurled it at the guard closest to him, just as he saw Sam activate the ghost shield, creating a tall dome that surrounded the two girls.
The chair connected with the guard's head, sending him careening into his comrade, knocking both to the ground. With no other weapons, Danny scrambled to grab the chair again as they recovered. Just as he reached it, one of the guards recovered enough to shoot at him.
He saw it in his peripheral vision and flung himself over top of the chair as the blast sailed past him, ricocheting off of Sam's shield with a resounding clang and — incredibly — connecting with the same guard who'd fired it, knocking him out.
Deciding not to complain, Danny seized the chair again and flung it at the only conscious guard. He saw it coming and caught it nimbly, before twirling around and throwing it back at Danny.
For a moment, Danny almost became intangible, but he remembered at the last second. By then it was too late to dodge, so the chair hit him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him backwards.
"You can't just stand there!" Valerie yelled in frustration, apparently unsatisfied with his performance.
Vaguely, he heard Sam respond, but he was already dodging a blast, which ended up striking the chair and blowing it to pieces — effectively disarming him. Weaponless, and effectively powerless, Danny was forced to play a cruel game of dodge ball. He had to jump, roll, spin and anything else he could think of under the unrelenting blasts.
He realized that this was beginning to look hopeless. He wasn't prepared to reveal his powers to Valerie unless it was absolutely necessary. It was becoming increasingly necessary, because every moment they delayed was a moment his father may be killed.
"Danny!" Sam shouted suddenly, distracting him and allowing a blast to connect, sending him sprawling. The guard started laughing as Danny tried to fight off the pain and get up. "Danny—she's out, go ghost!"
Danny's eyes widened and he looked to see that Valerie was indeed on the ground, evidently unconscious. Wasting no time to wonder how that had happened, Danny sprung to his feet, suddenly energized.
The guard, who'd been slowly advancing, suddenly froze. He pulled a walkie-talkie from his pocket suddenly, but before he'd gotten a chance to talk, Danny had already transformed and blasted it from his hand. The guard looked up in time to see another blast hit him in the face, and he quickly joined his comrade on the ground.
Danny floated over to Sam, who had just turned off the shield. "What happened?" He asked, looking down at the prone Valerie.
Sam laughed, "I knocked her out from behind — she never saw it coming," Danny looked at her, not surprised.
"That self-defense class you took comes in handy every once in a while, doesn't it?"
Sam smiled, "Only when I hang out with you," Danny allowed himself a small smile before he refocused on the task at hand.
"I'll fly you and Val out to the gates and then go back for my dad," he offered, bending over to pick up the girl.
"No!" Sam objected, stopping him, "There wouldn't be enough time — I'll get Val out of here, you get your dad and we'll meet outside,"
"Are you sure," Danny asked, knowing she was right and desperate to get to his dad, but just as concerned about the girls. Sam nodded, reactivating the shield. "Be careful," he warned, worriedly.
Sam looked up and smiled, "I'll see you on the other side," Danny smiled back before he set his face and turned towards the door. He flew through it quickly, and picked a direction at random, wondering if there escape was even possible.
Vlad slammed his hand on the table, "You cannot organize something like that by midnight!" He argued hotly, though secretly marveling at Maddie Fenton's determination. "Unfortunately, I feel the best course of action is to pay the ransom,"
Once the Manson's had found out that Sam was in the Ghost-Zone, they'd asked about a possible attack on said zone. Vlad simply couldn't allow this, so he was forced to try and keep his temper in check, while trying to appear as the voice of reason.
"But the ransom is just enough money to stop our invasion plans," Thomas said resignedly, not really comparing the money to his daughter, merely stating a fact. "Those damn ghosts know what they're doing,"
"We have no choice, though, Thomas," Alexandra said, resignedly. "We'll have to pay,"
"Or…" Maddie said thoughtfully, and Vlad inwardly groaned.
At half-past eleven, Vlad excused himself from their last minute scheming, and disappeared into one of the upstairs bathrooms. The original plan had entailed a duplicate going off to collect the money, but the recent arrangement Maddie and the Manson's had come up with made him decide to stay in one piece and do it himself. If they noticed his absence, he'd merely tell them that he'd gotten lost on the way.
From an upstairs window, Vlad saw Maddie and Thomas get into the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle and start off to the meeting place. Vlad smiled grimly, convincing himself that the ends justified the means, and transformed into his alter ego, before flying through the window and pursuing the R.V.
The meeting wasn't very far, and soon enough Vlad, invisible, touched down in the alleyway he'd designated. He wasn't usually one for cliché's, but frankly he hadn't given it much thought, and he'd only spotted it on his way over to drop the note.
Moments later, the Fenton R.V. pulled into the alley. He watched as Maddie jumped out and ran past him before she hid behind a dumpster in the alley's corner. Thomas stood at the other end, briefcase in shaking hand.
Vlad waited several minutes for affect, before he allowed himself to become visible, looking like evil incarnate in his ghost form. He pretended not to hear Maddie's muffled whisper, "The Wisconsin ghost!"
"Do you have my money?" He asked, floating an inch or so above the ground, also for affect; arms crossed and a bored expression on his face, as if he did this sort of thing all the time.
"Yes," Thomas said with surprising confidence. He tossed it to the ground at Vlad's feet carelessly. "Where's my daughter?"
Vlad ignored him and levitated the briefcase over to him, the briefcase that was now surrounded by a red aurora. Plasmius opened it as it came to him, and he quickly counted the money, satisfied that it was all there before it closed and reached for it.
He was just about to touch it when he felt the inevitable blast from behind, which sent him careening into the alley wall. The briefcase clattered to the ground, and Vlad spun to find his love fully armored in the Fenton Peeler. He smiled, knowing that she really stood no chance against him.
"You don't want to fight me," he warned, standing up and dusting himself off.
Maddie responded by firing again, but Vlad merely conjured a magenta shield in front of him, which easily absorbed the blast. He didn't even blink.
Yawning, he took the briefcase and prepared to leave. "What about my daughter?" Thomas said angrily, aiming a pathetic looking ectogun at him. Vlad chose to phase through Maddie's next attack before answering.
"You'll find out soon enough," he laughed, before he performed the brief mental task of creating a duplicate.
A foot to the left of him, two jet-black rings appeared, and moved apart, leaving behind an exact copy of Vlad Plasmius. Without pausing, the duplicate took the briefcase from the original Vlad's hands and flew off in the direction of Fentonworks.
Dodging one last shot, Vlad laughed once more as he took off back towards the Manson's.
Danny was getting worried. He'd checked every cell he found and he'd yet to find his father. He was human now, so all he did was stick his head through the doors and look around quickly before pulling it back. He'd seen a few familiar ghosts, Poindexter and the dragon princess to name a few, but most were ghosts he'd never seen before.
He turned a corner and saw an open door up ahead of him. Without thinking, he went ghost and flew flat-out towards the door. He zoomed through the door before his worried mind could warn him that it just may be a trap.
He froze in the near darkness, spotting his unconscious father strapped to a metallic, vertically positioned table, illuminated by the a lone spotlight from above — the only light in the room. Now sure it was a trap, Danny became invisible, just on the off chance it fooled them, and floated to his dad. He quickly made his father intangible and caught him before he fell; quietly saying a quick thank you to whatever deity had given him increased strength in ghost-mode.
Still invisible, Danny spun around and started towards the door, not quite sure why this was so easy. He had just crossed the threshold when the inevitable blast came from within the room, hitting him in the small of the back and throwing his dad from his arms.
Jack landed on the ground painfully, and abruptly woke up. Groggily, he saw Danny pick himself up and turn around in time to be hit in the chest, being thrown into his dad. "You!" Jack said, grabbing the ghost and throwing him off. "What are—"
"Don't worry about it now!" Danny interrupted, throwing up a shield to fill the doorway, just as half a dozen ectoblasts collided with it. "Follow this hallway until you find your son and his friends — they know the way out,"
"How do I know I can trust you?" Jack said, despite the fact that Danny had just saved his life.
"Run!" Danny shouted through clenched teeth, feeling his energy slowly drain. Jack hesitated just another moment before he sprinted down the hall. Once he rounded the corner, Danny let the green shield drop.
"Why'd you let him go?" Danny asked, stalling as he saw Walker float through the door, closely followed by a dozen of his guards.
"He doesn't mean anything to me," Walker said, "Neither do your friends, for that matter," Danny was confused, "Vlad just wanted them all out of the way for a while — you're all I care about, punk,"
Danny had slowly been backing up throughout Walker's monologue, and was now nearly at the corner. "Fire!" Walker suddenly commanded, noticing Danny's retreat.
Danny spun around quickly and threw himself around the corner just as the green blasts hit the wall. He stood up and faced the end of the hall that he knew they'd come around. He took a deep breath, and just as enough of the guards made it around the corner and stopped, confused that he wasn't running, he screamed.
But not a normal scream — his Ghostly-Wail — and it finally worked.
Walker and his dozen guards were caught completely by surprise, and the first waves of the wail drove them back, into and then through the wall behind them. Danny kept it up for nearly ten seconds before both the wall and the ceiling collapsed on them.
Exhausted, he quickly stopped the attack and tried to catch his breath. He was getting better at it, he thought, though he hadn't held it as long as he had previously.
Once he was satisfied that Walker wasn't going anywhere for a while, and he'd successfully caught his breath, he spun around and flew back towards his dad, Valerie, and Sam.