A/N: Halleluiah! Miracles do happen! So much for working late into the night last night finishing this up and then rereading it this morning and posting it before I went to work. No, fan fic had to be down and force me to wait until after I finished work! takes deep calming breaths Oh well, the important thing is that it's up, right?
Alright, so the battle scene is up! Yay! And I don't mean to like boost my ego or anything, but I think it's one of the best action scenes I've ever written, especially since it consumes an entire chapter (and all of you should know that it really isn't stroking my ego because saying it's the best really doesn't mean much since I hate writing them so much!) But I finally worked through it and I'm really happy with the way it turned out.
And for the record, I think the fates were against me putting this chapter up. Not only because fan fic wouldn't let me download any documents, but because I always seemed to get really good inspiration when I was trying to sleep so I could wake up to go to work at six something (not my hour of choice since any hour consisting of a single digit followed by the letters a and m is an unholy hour) or at work. Then I'd come home, and my inspiration would be shot until said hours. It was quite annoying. But, that's all in the past now!
Alright, here's a bad news good news announcement, without the good news. I'm going on vaca for ten days starting Thursday and I won't have internet. I'll have my laptop (when given time to use it) but no internet, so I won't be able to post.
This brings me to the next bit of bad news: for those of you who read A Secret Uncovered, at this point, it doesn't look like I'll be able to get it up before I leave. I know, I know, I'm really really sorry, but combined with work and an extremely massive writer's block I haven't had time to finish it or quite frankly get much further than a page (where the little niche that I need to work out resides). So, I'm going to try my hardest since I don't have much of tonight left and I may have some time tomorrow between packing, but realistically, I don't think it will be done. But I promise it'll be up the day I get back. I'm really really sorry and you all have permission to hate me forever and flame me to eternity, but that's just the way it is.
I really am sorry! Truly!
Enough of me blabbering, to the chapter that you've all been patiently waiting for!
Chapter Fifteen
The Battle for the Cure
Danny jumped out of the way as three ecto-blasts scorched the ground he was just standing on. He landed onto the ground and immediately jumped again, avoiding another blast from a quick-reacting Vlad duplicate. He landed hard on the floor and rolled under a table, avoiding yet another blast. This was getting annoying. He didn't want to fly, since that would waste all his needed energy. He was saving it, for that nice clear shot when he could shoot Vlad down and grab the device. But the lack of flying was definitely putting him in harms way.
A frenzy of ecto-blasts demolished the table and Danny leapt out from under it, hiding behind an invention, an ecto-blast grazing his side.
"Daniel, this is getting ridiculous. Are you really planning on playing hide and go seek with me forever?" Vlad taunted as he shot at the cabinet. "Believe me, I have no problem destroying my lab to get to you. My only regret would be that the cure gets destroyed along with it."
Danny stayed behind the invention, knowing Vlad was bluffing. He wouldn't destroy the cure, since it was the only leverage he had. Danny for the cure, that was the promised bargain. If Vlad destroyed the cure, he'd destroy any chance of ever having Danny on his side, and as Vlad so accurately said, he knew what he wanted.
While behind the invention, Danny pulled out various devices he had stolen from the GAV before they entered the mansion. He wasn't going to hide forever, but he was going to make the most of it while he could.
Once Danny heard all three of the Vlad's shoot an ecto-blast at the invention he leapt up and, using their temporary distraction with their previous shot to his advantage, shot a blast from his mother's Fenton Lipstick at each Vlad, causing the two clones to disappear. He ducked back behind the invention to escape Vlad's wrathful blast.
Danny waited until Vlad finished, prepared to shoot him again, but when he leapt up and shot the blast, he found Vlad was no longer there.
"Fool, you think I'd really let you use that move again?" Vlad asked menacingly from behind Danny. Before Danny had a chance to leap over the invention Vlad shot him. He went flying through the invention and into the wall, hitting hard and sliding to the floor. Despite the pain, he jumped behind a table and tipped it over so he could hide behind it. With one had he held an ecto-gun behind him and with the other he prepared to shoot Vlad over the top again as he took deep breaths, trying to ignore the pain in his chest. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.
Sure enough, Danny hit Vlad once with the lipstick as the table exploded and turned immediately behind him and shot a blast from the gun, hitting Vlad as he teleported behind him. He ran instinctively, leaping to avoid another blast, which lead him straight into the wall, hitting his head, blacking out his vision for a brief moment. When his vision returned, he noticed a pink light heading towards him, with no time to leap out of the way. He instinctively held his hands in front of his face and turned his head sideways as he felt a sneeze leave his nose. He braced himself for the impact, but it never came. He turned his head back and noticed a glowing ecto-shield in front of him. Vlad glared down at him as Danny smiled, realizing that he just found the way to draw the battle out longer.
The shield fell and Danny jumped aside, hiding behind another table, waiting for another sneeze to come. And for once, he wouldn't point it away from people.
"Do we head down there?" Jazz asked as she gripped an ecto-gun.
"No, not yet. We wait for Danny's signal," Maddie answered. Danny knew what he was doing and she didn't want to be responsible for blowing his plan. Still, the sounds of ecto-blasts and crashing objects didn't comfort her nerves, and she knew the rest of them were feeling the same way.
"I just don't like it. He's getting hurt and can't fight back, and we're just sitting up here, letting him," Jazz complained.
"I know, but we need to wait for his signal. Danny needs that device, and I don't want to screw up our chances of getting it."
Jazz solemnly nodded her head and went back to waiting, cringing every time she heard an ecto-blast that she knew wasn't coming from Danny.
Danny was out of options. All the tables in the lab had been destroyed and there was nothing left to hide behind. He was back to dodging blast after blast, having no time to shoot any back himself, with a weapon or a sneeze. He was tired, sore, and his skin burned where he had been hit with blast after blast in his attempt to dodge the hundreds of blasts Vlad continued to shoot out endlessly.
Vlad seemed to sense that Danny was out of ideas and smiled, realizing his victory was soon at hand.
"Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. I must admit you've impressed me greatly, still putting up a strong defense even without your powers, but this is growing tiring. The amusement ends now."
He duplicated himself again, the three of them floating into the sky, hands glowing pink.
Danny started running, trying to dodge them, but with nothing to hide behind, it didn't last long. A blast hit him, sending him skidding across the slick lab floor. Another Vlad advanced on him and Danny knew he was doomed, until he sneezed, and found himself on the other side of the room as the three pink blasts scorched the spot he'd just left. While the Vlads stared at the spot in confusion and tried to figure out where he went, he summed up part of his saved energy and turned invisible, ready for what he knew was his last hurrah before the second front appeared.
"Blast! He somehow managed to go invisible!" Vlad cursed as his red eyes searched the room for his opponent.
Danny crept up behind them and summed up the last of his energy, shooting a large ecto-blast at the three of them, shoving them forcefully into the wall.
They pried themselves away from the wall and rounded on him while Danny ran, trying to escape the wrath. Again an ecto-blast finally hit him and he skid into Vlad's grasp. He sneered at him before throwing him across the room. He hit the wall and slid down, looking up at the three Vlads hovering over him.
"Let's see you pull off another miraculous escape," Vlad taunted as the three of them raised their glowing pink hands.
Please sneeze Danny begged please sneeze. A shield, teleportation, intangibility, anything. But nothing came. The three blasts hit him and he screamed, releasing the signal to his family, his eyes watering as all the pain and weariness from the battle collapsed upon him.
Then the pain stopped. Danny opened his eyes and saw Vlad against the wall, his chest smoking, the duplicates no where in sight. He turned his head and saw his parents standing in the doorway, ecto-guns still glowing, aimed at a very surprised Vlad. Tucker, Sam, and Jazz rushed over to him and picked him up, sheltering him behind them as they too raised their weapons at Vlad.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that when I ran away my parents came running after me?" Danny asked sarcastically as he beamed weakly at Vlad over his wall of support. Vlad's hand glowed dark pink, his protection adjusting the aim of their weapons in warning.
"If you so much as make one more move towards my son I promise you I will find a way to kill you," Maddie threatened, her eyes narrowed in hatred.
"Oh I'm absolutely terrified," Vlad mocked, though Danny could see that inside he was worried. They both knew that Maddie was not a force to be reckoned with, especially when angry. Danny smiled at Vlad's disappointed and surprised face. He was not expecting this.
"You should be, because I'm not joking. I have absolutely no problem killing you, Vlad Masters or not."
Vlad's face fell. He looked shocked, surprised, betrayed, lost.
"Oh yeah, and I also told them about you. Must've slipped my mind earlier as well. Whoops!"
Vlad looked pleadingly from Maddie to Jack, both of which continued to stare at him in loathing, not changing their expressions.
"Ma-Maddie listen please, you have to understand…" Vlad pleaded.
"There's nothing to understand. If you used your powers for good, then yes, we'd understand, like we did for Danny, but when you use them to harm our son and ruin our family, that crosses the line with leaps and bounds."
"You don't understand…"
"Oh I think we understand perfectly," Jack answered menacingly.
"Don't try to weasel your way out. We heard you talking to Danny upstairs. You created the virus that's making him sick. You were joyful when describing Danny's suffering. You were glad when you believed we had deserted him. You hurt him, even though he was weak. After all this time, tonight we've seen what you really are underneath your fake, genteel exterior; you're a monster."
Vlad opened and closed his mouth, unable to say anything in retaliation. Even from far away Danny could see that Vlad's eyes were tearing. As much as he hated to admit it, he did feel a little sad for Vlad. The only woman, and quite possibly the only person, he ever loved just called him a monster. But it was merely a passing feeling as the pain from the burns and cuts Danny sustained from the ecto-blasts throbbed in remembrance.
"Jack, old buddy…"
"Don't 'old buddy' me. Anyone who threatens my son is no buddy of mine. I agree with her," his father retorted, his voice crisp and threatening.
"Ma-Maddie…"
"Don't even. I don't want to hear it. I want you to hand over the cure and I'll let you go, for old times' sake. Then I never want to see or hear from you again, or I will kill you, understand?"
"I just can't do that Maddie," he answered with a sigh.
"Oh, and why not?" Maddie asked, venom dripping from every word.
"Because keeping it is the only way to win you back."
"Vlad, there is nothing in the world that can convince me to marry you," Maddie spat.
"What about your son's life?" Vlad asked, some of his gusto seeming to return. "That virus is fatal and if he doesn't receive the cure, he'll lose all his energy. But I'm willing to give him the cure, if you come live with me."
"You don't seem to understand the situation. Either you give us the cure, or we'll take it from you once you're dead. Either way, we get the cure."
"Ah, but that's if you can kill me."
"Like I said, I'll find a way."
"Maddie, I don't think you can. You won't let yourself."
Maddie charged up the ecto-gun. "Would you like to test that theory?"
"I'd love to, because you'd never–" Vlad started to taunt but was cut off by a blast hitting each shoulder, one each from Jack and Maddie.
Vlad's eyes glowed red as he floated off the ground. "I didn't want it to be this way," he lamented as he shot two ecto-blasts at Jack and Maddie. They both dived into opposite directions to dodge the blast, each of them rolling as they hit the floor (Jack rather clumsily) and rising into attack positions, shooting ecto-guns at Vlad, causing him to form an ecto-shield.
"Oh yes you did," Maddie responded as she jumped up and shot an over head shot at Vlad while Jack shot one from below, causing Vlad to get hit by Jack's as he deflected Maddie's. "You asked for it the moment you harmed our son!"
While the old college friends fought, Tucker, Sam, and Jazz stood around Danny, protecting him from the Vlad duplicate that they knew was going to eventually emerge while they watched in awe at their parents' ghost fighting skills, which were actually quite impressive.
Armed with their utility belts full of ghost weapons they threw as much as they could at Vlad, switching inventions faster than Danny could keep up, and it looked as if Vlad was having the same problem. Any time he tried to counter one weapon, his parents would simply pull out another one that would do the job, forcing him to either dodge or come up with some other quick method of protection. His parents worked as a flawless team, covering for each other, protecting each other, compensating for the flaws of the other.
Vlad shot a quick ecto-blast at Jack before teleporting behind Maddie, getting ready to shoot a blast at her as well. Maddie whipped around with her Fenton Machete, slicing Vlad across the thighs while Jack grabbed the ecto-blast with the Fenton Gauntlets and threw it back at Vlad. Before they could launch another teamed attack, Vlad teleported and reappeared across the room by the ceiling. He raised his hands and duplicated himself again, this time leaving four Vlads in the place of one. They all smiled evilly as two headed for Jack and
Maddie, splitting the two of them up while the other two headed towards Danny and his friends.
Sam, Tucker, and Jazz pulled out their weapons and began shooting at the two Vlads flying towards them, managing to hit them a number of times, but their inexperience got the best of them and the Vlads quickly parted them, one of them grabbing Danny and throwing his weakened body against the wall while the other blocked his friends from hurrying to his rescue.
Vlad glared down at Danny and he realized he was in trouble. He was far too weak and in too much pain to pull any of his earlier stunts, and Vlad looked livid, wanting to punish Danny for allowing this to happen in the first place.
"Oh yes Danny, your punishment is here," Vlad threatened with a manic smile as his evil red eyes focused on Danny's green ones, showing Danny the pain he was going to be subjected to.
"Get away from him!" Maddie yelled as she tried to run over to Danny but the Vlad duplicate she was fighting held her off. She glared at him, punching and kicking him to release some of her anger and frustration while he turned intangible, only increasing Maddie's rage.
The Vlad in front of Danny ignored her, keeping his attention focused on Danny, the scapegoat for all his pain and depression. He picked Danny up easily and threw him against the wall, his arm still around his throat. Danny reached his arms up to his neck, trying to pry Vlad's strong grip apart, but he was just too weak.
Vlad smiled at his attempts. "This, Daniel, is for telling your parents," Vlad informed as he threw him into the wall again. "And this is for bringing them here," he added with another shove. He continued to pound him into the wall as it continued to dent further in, threatening to bust a hole through it.
Maddie stared in horror at the pain befalling her son, her eyes narrowing in anger. She ended her pointless attacks and back-flipped while pulling out an ecto-gun, shooting her Vlad clone while landing. Taken by surprise, the blast hit him, but Vlad's angered state seemed to fuel his power as he seemed relatively unfazed by the blast. Realizing she needed something stronger than a simple ecto-gun she shifted through her pockets while Vlad shot blasts at her. She dodged them with simple flips and jumps, still trying to locate a weapon to use against her former college friend.
She pulled out the Fenton Machete, twirling it with the grace of a Jedi master. She lunged at Vlad who quickly backed up out of the way of the dangerous glowing sword. Maddie continued to dash towards him, slicing the machete across his ghostly skin when he couldn't dodge fast enough, ectoplasm leaking out of his wounds. As she prepared to strike again, Vlad shot a blast at her, sending her to the wall, but her protective feelings towards her son wouldn't let such a simple wound faze her, even though it burned quite badly. Her son was experiencing worse. She lunged back at Vlad and continued the attack.
Meanwhile Jack ran towards Danny, seeing his son in pain. Vlad raised out of the floor in front of him to stop his progression but Jack merely threw him aside using the Fenton Gauntlets and continued running. Vlad recovered in the air and flew straight into Jack's side, shoving him out of the way and into the wall. He backed up and shot an ecto-blast at him before he had a chance to dodge it.
"You don't know how long I've wanted to do this," Vlad taunted to Jack.
Jack's eyes narrowed in response and he flicked his wrist out, the Jack-A-Nine-Tails spreading out from his hand and wrapping around Vlad, electrocuting him. "And I've wanted to do that since Danny told us about you in the car ride here!"
Vlad growled and burst through the ropes binding him, flying after Jack, shoving him forcefully into the wall. Jack shook his head clear and grabbed Vlad by the shoulders, throwing him across the room before trying to run back to Danny, but Vlad flew under the ground and extended an arm out from under the floor, tripping Jack, causing him to slide across the lab floor.
Jazz, Tucker, and Sam pulled out their weapons and held their ground, shooting at Vlad as he dodged the blasts in the air, returning some of his own at them, causing them to occasionally break their circle to dodge the blasts.
"Alright, that does it," Jazz muttered as she stood up after leaping to avoid yet another blast, wincing from landing on her broken arm. She pulled out the Fenton Peeler and activated it as the metal spread up her arm and covered her body. She looked evilly at Vlad and started shooting, while Vlad dodged them. Tucker and Sam joined in shooting Vlad near where Jazz was shooting, knowing that Vlad would avoid being hit by the Peeler at all costs and wouldn't be focusing on avoiding the blasts as much.
Meanwhile Vlad dropped Danny to the ground. Green ectoplasm was dripping out of his mouth from the continued contact with the wall and he looked barely conscious. Vlad backed up, his face radiating pure joy at seeing Danny's pain and misery.
"And this, this is just for being alive," he threatened as he held his hands up and shot a continuous ecto-blast at Danny, causing him to scream in pain again, but not having any power to do anything to stop it.
The rest of his family heard the scream and doubled their efforts to attack their Vlad counterparts, but Vlad was too strong in his anger and knew their fighting styles too well, able to counter almost any attack.
As Jazz fired a shot from the Peeler, angered that Vlad once again dodged it, she realized that she had a clear shot at the Vlad distracted with Danny's torture. Taking careful aim she shot him in the back. He ceased Danny's torture and started screaming as he was peeled apart, slowly vanishing.
The Vlad attacking the trio realized his mistake and pelted at Jazz before Tucker and Sam could react, throwing her hard into the wall. Her head hit the back of the metallic body suit and she lost consciousness, the armor retracting back into the weapon. As Vlad approached her, Tucker and Sam stood protectively in front of her and started shooting with ecto-guns again, hoping to keep him busy and away from the Fenton siblings.
Danny opened his eyes and noticed the battle around him. Everyone was burned and bruised and although the Vlads looked worn down, their hatred and anger still burned within them, making them stronger, feeding their rage. He had to do something.
Danny used part of the wreckage to stand and walked slowly over to a group of cupboards, searching in them, looking for the cure. He knew it most likely wasn't in such a low security area, but he at least had to look. He threw out the contents of the cabinets, looking for the cure, but no luck. As he leaned into another cabinet, searching for a hidden vial he sneezed, turning intangible and falling through the cabinet and into the wall. Cursing the irony of the cold for not working before when he needed it he decided to head out of the wall, just incase his intangibility stopped working. As he turned around, he noticed something at the end of the hidden cavern. It was a beaker, filled with a very familiar looking powder, one he had seen many times under the microscope. A mischievous smile crossed his face as he knew exactly what to do with it and how to end this battle.
He walked out of the wall, beaker in hand. "Hey Vlad!" he yelled, attracting the attention of the remaining three Vlads as well as his family. "Let's hope you enjoy being subjected to punishment as much as you like dishing it out." He threw the beaker and shot it with an ecto-gun when it was at the peak of its arch. The glass shattered and the powder spread out all over the room.
"What? No!" Vlad shouted, realizing what Danny had just done. Two of the clones disappeared, leaving Vlad alone in the room, looking about dejectedly before he lost consciousness, falling to the floor and reverting back to his human self, which caused Maddie and Jack to jump, his transformation living proof that their friend had just tried to kill them all.
Danny rushed over to Jazz, throwing himself near her. "Jazz? Are you alright? Answer me!"
"Danny, she's fine, don't worry. Just a little bump on the head. She'll be fine. Go get that cure," Sam explained.
He nodded his head and limped over to Vlad, fishing through his pocket, removing the Plasmius Maximus and a small vial of bright blue liquid.
"Is that…the cure?" Maddie asked as she beheld the object they fought so hard and long to obtain.
"Yeah, this is it," Danny answered, leaning on the shards of a table for support. "Alright, here's what we need to do. We need to search this lab and destroy all possible notes or formulas on how to create the cure or the powder. I don't want him recovering from this quickly."
"There's no we in this Danny. You drink that cure and then lie down somewhere to get some sleep. We'll find everything; we know where Vlad likes to hide stuff."
Danny nodded his head and sat on the floor next to Jazz, propped against the wall. He uncorked the vial and drank the tasteless cure, feeling a slight tingle down his throat, like a carbonated beverage. He felt the tingle extend throughout his body as the cure neutralized the powder inside his cells. The feeling started to fade, as did the world around him. He felt the white rings formed around his waist, changing him back to his human form. Then he blacked out into blissful sleep, human again.
A/N: Just a quick note of interest: if anyone's wondering why Danny would actually feel sorry for Vlad, I didn't want to make Danny seem ruthless about enjoying Vlad's misery, even though I do. I think Danny's above that and I think one of his greatest strengths is having that generally good and caring nature that won't let him feel that ruthless towards people, no matter who they are. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's at least the way I see him. Personally, I'm not as righteous as Danny and I totally enjoy seeing Vlad suffer for what he's done, but that's just me.
Oh, and if anyone knows the name of the glove things that Jack uses in Million Dollar Ghost (if it has a name, which my resources says it doesn't) could you please let me know so I can change it? I called them theGhost Gauntlets, becauseI think that's what they're called, but I'm not really sure if that's right. Anywho, if you do know the real name, please let me know! Thanks!
One chapter left! Ahhhhh!