WoM- WHA! I'M SO SORRY! 'Makes face,' wouldn't let me upload yesterday, and then dad kicked me off for… ah… 'attempting to widen the computer's vocabulary,' After fifteenth time that stupid error message came up, (That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!) I almost forgot why I first came to despise this site in the first place, too…Oh, and I had some trouble getting started with this one, so I had to cut it a little short. Sorry, but I'm just too busy lately with school and family obligations, especially with my little brother's birthday right around the corner (Despite all evidence proving otherwise, I do have a life people!) Not to mention my mom gave me a heart attack when I found out she gave some of my drawings to my three-year-old cousins to color on… (It turned out to be scrap junk, though, so don't worry.)
"While there's life, there's hope."
-Marcus Tullius Cicero
Scene 13
"A discussion?" Kimbers repeated in a mild tone, sitting down. "What about, Vlad?"
"The new movie You're shooting in Amity," Vlad responded.
"Ah, Living Spirits," Kimbers smiled, "We're expecting that one to bring in a lot of money. The ghost industry's gotten more popular since that Phantom character first came on the scenes. I guess customers just love the mystery of him."
"Then why threaten that very element of him?" Vlad asked. "If your movie reveals too much, Phantom will lose appeal."
"That's why I review all the tapes as Michael sends them to me," Kimbers said, his smile never wavering. "And I must say, everything's very interesting so far. Thank you for your concern, though, Masters. Coming from you, it's quite a surprise."
"Oh?" Vlad's eyebrow kicked up.
"After all, wasn't it you who took control of my brother's company, leaving him bankrupt?"
"That's business, I'm afraid," Vlad said, keeping his tone light, "I'm sure you know it's a very vicious world, Kimbers. Only the strong such as ourselves can survive."
"Oh, yes, Vlad, I know," Kimbers nodded. "Which is why I can't help but wonder about all the money and time your poring into finding out more about that boy." Only someone who was watching for it would see the minute reaction that got before Vlad covered his emotions with expert precision.
"Boy?" He repeated mildly, "What boy?"
"I believe he goes by the name of Danny?" Kimbers said, never taking his eyes off Vlad's face.
"Daniel?" Vlad laughed, "You must be joking, Kimbers. Daniel is bright, yes, and he can be quite ferocious when provoked, but other then that he is a mere fourteen year old boy."
"Then why are you so interested in him?" Kimbers asked. "If there's nothing special about him, why take measures to constantly check on him, even going so far as to have his grades in school forward to your house in Wisconsin?" Vlad frowned, making a mental note to fire all his human staff. Apparently someone was a little loose-lipped…
"Quite simple, really," Vlad said, "I can see he has potential to become a threat if I allow it. Like I said, the boy can be very quick-witted when the moment calls for it, and his knack for frightening away people he dislikes is unrivaled."
"He doesn't scare you," Kimbers pointed out.
"Actually, he can," Vlad admitted, "He's the only person who's ever outsmarted me, and considering his age that even more of a remarkable achievement."
"I see…" Kimbers nodded. "Yes, that is extraordinary for a boy so young… you intend to bring him into your company, then?" Vlad smiled.
"Heavens no!" He said, "Daniel would never accept a job in my company, not in his current stubborn mindset. However, I do wish to make sure he can reach his full potential. It would be terrible to waste such talent on meaningless chores,"
'Or slaving away for a race of ungrateful dogs who would sooner turn on him then anything else,' Vlad added in his mind. As much as he hated to admit it, he did agree with the Pyros on that account; Humans were fickle, opinionated creatures, far more so then ghosts, who tended to be much more clear in their intents.
Between the human world and the Ghost Zone, Vlad preferred the empty, honest feel of the world of the undead to the false promises of the living. He'd learned early on in life to trust no one but himself, and if he had to rely on skills somewhere it was better to go to the ghosts firsts. They worked harder, with more skills and drive then humans. Not to mention they even tended to be cheaper…
Still, he didn't wish for the extinction of the human race. Disrupting the scale of life and death in such a drastic way would lead to a chaos that even Vlad never wanted to see in his lifetime, and the Pyros were insane for attempting it.
"I see your point," Kimbers nodded. "But that doesn't explain why you came all the way to Amity when you heard about my movie. If there's nothing special about the boy, what's there to hide?" Vlad scowled internally.
'Perhaps he is not as much of a fool as I thought,' He admitting begrudgingly in his mind, sour that the man was picking up on such minor details.
"Jack and Maddie are dear friends of mine," He admitted smoothly, "I merely wish to ensure that they and their children weren't being tricked or monopolized. After all, they are scientists and family people, and neither of them has any head for finances or business. I'd hate to see how my poor fat old friend handled looking over his contracts for the movie on his own! He'd lose all his secrets that way, and things like that are vital in his profession."
'Not that he isn't already giving everything away with spectacular detail to anyone who sits still long enough to listen.' He added dryly in his head, a flash of annoyance coursing through him at being forced to speak of the man who was his rival as both a father figure and a husband in semi-friendly terms. 'Honestly, how Daniel could have any respect for such a buffoon is beyond any of my comprehension… And Maddie!' the billionaire sighed mentally, 'Ah, well. They'll both come around eventually…'
"Besides," He couldn't help but add, "I almost see Daniel and Jasmine as my own now. Allowing them to be harmed merely because they were minors and their parents made a mistake would be the worst crime I could commit!"
'At least it is as far as you need to know,' He smirked. True he was wary of Jazz, who had proven to be as deceitful as her brother when her mind was set to the task, but there was little he could do with her. She was by far the most normal person in her eccentric family. 'even the bloody cat's strange…'
"You think you're fooling me, Masters?" Kimbers asked, his mild tone taking on an edge.
"Fooling you?" Vlad repeated, the picture of innocent confusion, "What do you mean?"
"I mean I know there's something else going on here!" Kimbers growled, slamming a fist down on his desk. "Everyone knows it, but they're too scared to make a move! I know that boy is involved, Vlad, watching him for five minutes told me he wasn't as normal as he pretended to be!"
"Of course not," Vlad said, "His parents are ghost hunters, what else do you expect."
"I expect to find out what's going on," Kimbers told him firmly, "And when I do, I'll expose you and that boy."
"Dragging Daniel into this seems a little low to me, Kimbers," Vlad said, his tone losing some of its light warmth.
"As low as what you did to my brother?" Kimbers asked sullenly.
"Your brother was a businessman, Kimbers," Vlad snapped, "Daniel is a child. There's hardly a similarity from where I'm standing!"
"Well then," Kimbers said, "I guess we're done here." Vlad stood up as Kimbers made to do the same.
"Indeed," He agreed, "But don't expect this is over, Kimbers."
"Oh, no," Kimbers said with a cold smile. "Don't worry about that…"
With one last pointed glare, Vlad left the office and stormed out of the building, startling the poor young secretary at the front desk yet again. As soon as he was out on the street, the half ghost was bombarded by his own servants.
"Well?"
"How did it go?"
"Did you get them."
"Of course," Vlad said lazily, holding up his apparently empty left hand. "The fool didn't suspect a thing." While he said this, he allover the files in this hand, (which had been locked firmly in Kimbers desk up until the moment he'd taken them.) to become visible again.
As he did this, he couldn't help but frown in suspicion at the labels on two of the files, admittedly concerned about their contents and how much of it Kimbers had seen…
D. Fenton.
V. Masters.
'Okay, this one earns a 3 on the Top Ten List Of Stupidest Things I've Ever Done,' Sam thought dryly to herself as she put her hands in her jacket to protect them from the biting cold as she entered the Park of Amity Park.
Still, what else could she do? She wasn't about to send Danny right into the Lion's den unprotected, promise or no. And they couldn't pass up on the information Sparks had promised for them. So there was only on logical choice left…
"Where is the half ghost?"
Sam jumped at the unexpected voice, which was cool and sophisticated. Turning, every which way, she found herself encircled by the same robe-wearing ghosts who attacked Danny. Even Sparks was there, standing behind the man who appeared to be the leader and giving Sam a bored look, her hood down.
"Danny isn't coming," Sam said, trying to hide her fear the best she could. After all, these ghosts could easily fry her to a crisp… "I won't let you guys see him until I know you're being honest about not hurting him."
"And who are you to pass judgment upon us?" The ghost (Danny had called him Inferno, right?) asked Sam in a cold tone.
"Who are you to judge humans?" Sam countered. Then, deciding things would go easier if she complied, she added, "Danny's my best friend. I just don't want him to get hurt if I can stop it,"
"Can you?" The mockery was evident in Spark's tone.
"Better then you'd ever give me credit for," Sam responded, glaring.
"Enough," Inferno said, frowning at Sparks when she opened her mouth to add something. "What is your name, girl?"
"Me?" Sam asked before she could stop herself, flinching at how stupid it sounded.
Still, ghosts rarely paid any mind to her and Tucker as far as names went (Or even Danny for that matter) and if any one of them mentioned her, the references usually had something to do with either 'goth' or 'Lovebirds' (Which still amused Tucker to no ends)
"I'm Sam. Sam Manson," she said, wishing she could see Inferno's face.
"I assume 'Sam' is short for 'Samantha?'" Inferno said after a long silence. Sam flinched at her full first name.
"Well, yeah but-"
"And you broke your word to Sparks, did you not Samantha? You never delivered my message to Phantom?"
"Because I won't be responsible for putting the noose around my best friend's neck!" Sam snapped, glaring. "If I think you guys will keep your word, then I'll let you talk to Danny. Until then, though, you're gonna have to get through me to get him!"
"Gladly," Sparks smirked. "Won't be that hard, after all. Just a little intangibility and-!"
"I WAS SPEAKING METAPHORICALLY!" Sam snapped.
"Alright, alright!" Sparks rolled her eyes, "Man, some people have no sense of humor…"
"The fact remains, though, that you've proven to be as deceitful, just like every other human," Inferno said, his eyes glowing red under his hood, "I have a great dislike for being deceived, and little patience for humanity."
'Couldn't tell,' Sam thought sourly. He'd made both points obvious even before they'd met.
"What do you guys want with Danny?" She asked out loud.
"That," Inferno said, "is no matter for you to involve yourself in, human. I'm done speaking with you," And, with a sweep of his cloak, the ghost started away.
"Hey, wait!" Sam protested, starting after him. Suddenly, icy hands encircled her wrists, and she found herself restrained by two other cloaked ghosts.
"Take her to our hideaway," Inferno ordered, "Keep her under constant surveillance. We can turn this to our advantage when Phantom seeks her out," Sam's jaw dropped and she turned a condemning glare on Sparks.
"You tricked me!" She accused, fighting to free herself from her guards and attack the female ghost. "You said you just wanted to talk!" Sparks smirked back.
"Yeah, funny thing there," she said with a wicked grin. "It's true I can't lie to ghosts. Problem is, you're not a ghost now, are you?" And then she laughed as she danced away to follow Inferno, the last thing Sam heard before a sharp blow from behind knocked her out cold…
Electra frowned as she looked into the mirror, not even really seeing her reflection. Instead, she was thinking, thinking of a night a long, long time ago, two girls in trouble… one who betrayed the other and left them for dead…
'Traitor…'
"Ghosts don't exist," She told herself firmly, shaking herself from her thought, "They're figments of overactive imaginations. Or it this case, a clever prank,"
'Coward…'
"I was just a little girl, I didn't know what was going on." She continued, ignoring the voice that still hissed in her ear even after all these years. "I was young, stupid and scared. You can't hold a person accountable for things they do as children!"
No matter how many nights she said these words over and over again, the voice still hissed back and the memories remained fresh and vivid. Electra scowled into the mirror.
"Sam was there too," She said, "Sam helped, and she should've been punished too, if it were real. But lucky for me, it wasn't. Ghosts don't exist, and neither do their curses." Electra frowned at the scare on the back of her wrist, shaped like an eye gazing back at her accusingly. A souvenir from that fatal night…
Tearing her eyes away quickly, the girl stood up and headed to bed, pulling the covers up and not bothering to turn off the lights. She knew the accusation that would come next. It always did. Always the same, painful cycle night after night after night.
'But ghosts don't exist…' She thought helplessly, 'they don't, they can't!' These thoughts, however, didn't keep the voice at bay.
'Murderer…'
WoM- Yep, I'm in 'cliffie mood,' again. The people who read more then one of my stories must be getting ticked off by now. 'grins sheepishly,' I swear the next chapter will be longer, I just need to work on some other stuff right now (Danny-related, don't worry) and finish things off school-wise. I've got my mom to support my new career choice, now the problem is convincing Dad to relent…
And that last part with Electra was just for you kind, forgiveing fans, who will (Hopefully) Forgive me for being forced to update a daylate (starts grumbling about stupid glitchy fansites)
Oh, and please check out my profile to find out the ways you can help save Danny!
Thanks to;
epobbp
dramaqueen07
Tetsukon
puppyface
AirGirl Phantom
Snea
the sleep warrior
Jerrac
Asilla
Light Dragon SunsSong
Master of Procrastination
Silent Elegy
cheetahs-speret
My Eternal Facade
Divine-Red-Crayon
IwuvMyKenshyPoo
Anomaly25
Galateagirl
Canis Black
Phantomhobbitses
purpledog100
SquirrelGirl
Kuki Salazar
lonelobo09
random-idiot-v2
Rob Phantom
BratCat
conan98002
The Sole Survivor
Kyuugi
KingSimba'sBestFriend
enigmatic penguin
Spirit of Zurvan
Rob the Hedgehog
Neko-hanyou05
Fey Phantom
Inumaru12
Lunaqua
Hafae a.k.a. Hufflepuffer242
Peter Arathorn
Sukira-chan
Next update; February 9th
See you then!
ATTENTION!
As I'm sure most of you are already aware, Nick is threatening to cancel Danny Phantom after just three seasons.
Naturally, I'm one of the people fighting to keep Danny Phantom running, so I beg you to send in letters with my own to the following address;
Cyma Zharghami or Marjorie Cohn
Nickelodeon
1515 Broadway
New York, New York
10036
USA
Attention: Programming.
And to sign the petitions I have posted on my profile (I've got around three or four now, not including the chain. won't let me up the link here.)
And don't forget to spread the word! With your help, we can save Danny!