Disclaimer: Once again, DP and its related characters do not belong to me. They are just being barrowed to create this story. I do however own a giant fluffy monstrosity that I call a pet. His name is Bohdan.

And, like before, this chapter has not been beta'ed. If any of you would like to do so while Dragondancer123 is busy with her schooling, please be my guest.

Author's note: The author's note that was up for chapter 19 has been taken down and an actual chapter has been posted. If you haven't done so already, please check it out; it will help things make sense.

Eidolon
20. Convictions

"Sam! Tucker!" Daniel shouted before he could stop himself. As soon as the names escaped his lips, he covered his mouth in a desperate attempt to cover up his slip. His eyes darted towards the older hybrid; it was clear he was terrified of what would happen if the older man heard him. The boy should know better.

"Danny!" they called out as they stopped struggling. Both of their eyes widened as they realized Daniel was not on the ground, but actually floating a few feet off the ground. It must have been the first time they had seen the boy perform such a feat. Had they really waltzed into his mansion without knowing exactly what they were walking into? Though, he did have to give them some credit. Vlad had expected them to 'freak out', as the younger kids say.

"My, what a touching reunion, but…" Vlad stated cheerfully as he grabbed the boy by the arm and spun him around. "How is it they recognize you? Didn't you say you didn't know they were here? Hmm?"

"I-I didn't!"

The man sneered as he threw the hybrid to the ground. Did Daniel really think he could be played for a fool? The charade had gone on for long enough. "How long do you intend to try my patience, boy? I've tried again and again to teach you what you need to know to survive in this world, but you've refused to listen to my advice. But, I think I may know what can be done to finally get you to see my side. Skulker!"

The robotic entity neared his master hesitantly. "Yes, Plasmius?"

"Set the meddlesome brats down. They're perfect for this demonstration."

A hideous grin crossed the ghostly robot's face as he complied. With an unexpected gentleness, he set the two humans down a few yards away from Plasmius. "Just remember," he warned them before he completely let them go, "there are no doors down here. You can't escape this time."

"That's enough, Skulker. Be patient, and I may allow you to have more fun with them." Vlad turned back to sneer at Daniel. "You brought this on yourself, boy. Again and again, you disobeyed my directions, yet I had forgiven you each time. But, this time, you have gone too far. You have conspired with your human friends to try and take me down – do not deny it!"

The older hybrid allowed himself a moment to regain his emotions after his outburst before speaking again. "Since my previous attempts at curving your rebellious streak have failed, I am going to take a different approach. I had been hoping to leave your human friends alone, but now that they're involved… Forgive me, but I hope their examples will keep you in line from this point forward." Vlad raised his hand as a pinkish glow began to envelop it. "I promise this will only hurt for a moment," he told Sam and Tucker with a harsh tone.

"Vlad, please! They're just children!" Maddie shouted as she tried to interfere. She had tried to rush over to them, but Skulker had decided he would grab hold of her until Vlad was finished with his demonstration. He would have to remember to reward him later.

"I always knew you were caring, my dear, but your pleas have no power this time." Without another word, he released a huge ectoblast towards the children. Screams of "NO!" bounced throughout the room as the blast exploded.

An eerie silence crept through the room as the dust cloud began to settle. Vlad turned back towards a horrified Daniel. "It's tragic, really," he said while adopting a fake tone of sadness, "but this all could have been avoided if they had never gotten involved. Though, I must say I'm surprised you didn't put up more of a fight."

"Who's to say I didn't?" a voice shouted from behind the dust.

Startled, Vlad spun around to see a green dome begin to emerge from the cloud. Inside, the boy stood protectively in front of his friends. Other than the mixed expressions of terror and relief, the human children looked no worse for wear. The man's eyes widened as he turned back to see Danny wearing a smug expression. Another glance back and forth confirmed Vlad's suspicions; the boy had learned duplication!

Before he could determine how to respond, Daniel leapt into action. While the one clone made sure his friends were fine, the other swiftly attacked a surprised Skulker. A few well-placed strikes and an ectoblast to the helmet effectively took the robotic ghost out of commission. Maddie and Jasmine went over to check on the other humans as the boy double-checked his work before joining them.

"Danny, I-I don't understand," Samantha stuttered as she glanced back and forth between his two forms. "How…?"

He gave her a sad smile as he and his duplicate rejoined into a single being. "It's complicated… But, I promise I'll explain when we get out of this." He then turned back toward Vlad with a determined look.

"My, what an unexpected development. You have been taking your training more seriously than I thought," Vlad told the boy. While he was somewhat impressed by the unexpected mastery of an advanced technique, it was not the time to dwell upon it. He was still rather angry with the boy, and until he was properly punished, he would not allow himself to give any further praise to the boy.

"As impressive as your little display was, do you really think anything has changed? You are still years away from being able to match me in strength and technique." He floated a little closer only to stop when an ectoblast came dangerously close to his head.

Green energy swirled around Daniel's hands as he took a defensive stance. "I don't care whether or not you're older than me or have more experience; I am not letting you lay a hand on my friends!" As he finished speaking, he fired another blast towards the older man.

Vlad rolled his eyes as he knocked Daniel's attempt at an attack out of the way. It was strange; the boy had gotten much better, but why hadn't his attacks gotten any stronger? Unless…

A strong force caught him in the side before he got a chance to finish his thought. He caught himself in time to see Daniel charging at him. He was about to move when another blast caught him by surprise. Looking over, he noticed Daniel was still in the same position in front of his friends. The boy had made two duplicates? He must have made the second one remain invisible until he could attack. Impressive, but it did lead him to wonder as to just how strong had the boy gotten?

"Is this the best you can do?" Vlad sharply asked before his disappeared into the air. Even if he was surprised by his improvement, Daniel was still not strong enough to defeat him. He quickly reappeared behind the approaching clone and blasted him towards his original. "Really, Daniel? How unoriginal can you get? You're going to have to do a lot better if you're going to get everyone out of here alive."

The boy's previously confident expression morphed into one of uncertainty. Had that been his only plan? Vlad almost laughed at the thought. When this temporary setback was resolved, he was going to have to focus on teaching the child strategy. His current level was incredibly pathetic.

Previously unnoticed whispers came to his attention. It seemed the boy's treasured humans were trying to give him words of encouragement, and from his expression, they seemed to strengthen his resolve. That was another thing he would have to teach the boy – to distance himself from the humans who would never fully understand or trust him. It was a lesson he would begin now.

Without another thought, he quickly flew towards the group. As expected, the boy quickly put up a shield. Instead of directly attacking it, Vlad allowed invisibility to once again mask his appearance. He allowed Daniel and the humans to frantically search for him. After what he deemed was an appropriate amount of time, he made a duplicate, who remained invisible, and attacked the ecto-shield from above, effectively shattering it. Daniel wasted no time in throwing a few punches towards Vlad, which be blocked. But he was knocked back by a sudden blast to the chest.

Daniel was about to continue his attack when Vlad's duplicate grabbed him from behind. "How does it feel to have a taste of your own medicine?" the duplicate asked as Daniel struggled. He then removed a machine from the inner pocket of his suit. "I was expecting a lot more from you, especially since you're so determined to keep them safe. But, you've also shown me to expect the unexpected from you. As such, I feel it is necessary to keep you from interfering again."

The boy screamed in pain as the duplicate slammed the small device into his back. Surges of electricity flooded his body until white rings formed around his waist, separated, and transformed him back into his human appearance. The duplicate held him for a moment longer to see if the boy was truly unconscious. Satisfied, he threw the boy to the ground where the humans gathered around him.

"Wh-what did you do to him?" Samantha demanded as she glared at the duplicate.

"I short circuited his powers," Vlad stated as he dusted himself off and approached his duplicate. Upon looking at her skeptical expression, he had to chuckle. "Didn't Daniel tell you? He's a halfa – someone who is half ghost and half human. I believe he is the only natural example, but that doesn't give him an edge. His powers can still be suppressed if you know how."

"Now, I think I'll take care of you meddlesome fools before he can interfere again." Vlad and his duplicate charged an ectoblast of their own. "Now, say goodbye!"

xxxxxxxx

"Didn't Daniel tell you? He's a halfa – someone who is half ghost and half human. I believe he is the only natural example, but that doesn't give him an edge. His powers can still be suppressed if you know how."

Sam stared at the creature floating in front of her. Danny was a halfa? As in half ghost? How was that even possible? Did that mean one of his parents wasn't a human? Woah, she needed to steer clear of those thoughts. They were leading her into some strange and rather disturbing thoughts she didn't need to be entertaining while her life was on the line.

"Now, I think I'll take care of you meddlesome fools before he can interfere again." She heard Vlad say as he and his duplicate (how can he even do that?) charged their pinkish energy in their hands. "Now, say goodbye!"

She braced herself for an explosion only to notice a streak of green light fly past her left side and hit the duplicate, effectively knocking it down. A second shot quickly sent Vlad flying as well. Looking over, she noticed that the woman in the teal jumpsuit, Maddie, adjusting a small silver tube held in her left hand. "Fenton laser lipstick," the woman offered as an explanation when she caught Sam's questioning expression.

"Mom…" an urgent voice called out from their right. The redheaded girl was looking in the direction where Vlad had fallen. "Do you happen to have anything else that could stop him, because I think you just made him angry."

Looking over, Vlad was indeed up from the ground. The glow around his body and eyes seemed to intensify as he slowly approached them. His double was nowhere to be seen, which could have been a good or a bad thing. Maybe it was gone, or maybe it was lurking invisibly nearby.

"Unfortunately, this will have to do. You know Vlad's confiscated all of my other weapons. I still don't understand how he was able to find all of them."

"Ladies," Tucker interrupted before anyone else could say something. "I know this is a bad time, but what about Danny? Is he okay?"

Sam's attention turned back to her fallen friend. He looked just like he did the day before he disappeared. Same black hair, similar wardrobe, and noticeable lack of any ghostly features. She gently placed her hand on his back. To her surprise, she could feel the faint rise and fall of his chest. He was breathing! That had to be some sort of good sign!

"Most likely," Maddie answered rather matter-of-factly. "That device was only designed to prevent him from using any of his abilities. After a few hours, he'll be back to normal."

"A couple hours?" Tucker's voice cracked from his fear. "How else are we going to be able to protect ourselves?"

"We'll have to find a way."

"But…!"

Maddie have him a severe and scolding glare. "Don't you think I know how terrible things look right now?" she hissed at him. "As much as I don't want to admit it, having Danny awake would tremendously raise our chances, but we don't have that luxury right now."

"So… do you have a plan?" Sam asked as she noted the determination hidden in the mother's tone.

"Yeah, I'll try to keep him busy as you head over to my work area. Jazz, you know that unfinished invention? Try and get it to me." After receiving a nod from her daughter, she turned her attention back towards Sam and Tucker. "See if you can get Danny over there too. You'll be surprised to see how light he is… it's one of the odd effects the ectoplasm in his system has on his body."

"What do you want us to do when we get there?"

Maddie didn't look at them as she rose and fired another shot from her laser. "Try to wake him up. He understands how Vlad fights better than anyone. If anyone might know how to get out of this mess, it's Danny. Now, go!"

A pink blast exploded near Sam's feet as Maddie and Vlad started firing at each other. She quickly rallied a terrified Tucker to grab Danny and move. Like Maddie had said, he was much easier to move than she expected. When this was over, there was so much she was going to have to ask him. Everything about him seemed too different. If she was going to remain by his side, she was going to have to try to learn to understand him.

"Come on, Danny!" she whispered with urgency as she tried to shake him away. "You got to get up!" Her frantic attempts continued as flashes of pink and green light lit up the room. Shouts from the others and frantic shuffling bounced around the room as the fight intensified.

After a moment, Sam realized Tucker wasn't helping her. "What do you think you're doing?" she snarled as she turned to find him tapping on his PDA. "This isn't the time! We need to wake Danny!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" he asked has he held up the device and shook it slightly. "Just watch and learn." He then hit a button and an alarmingly loud sound rang through the room forcing Sam to cover her ears. At the same moment, Danny jumped a foot into the air as he came back into the conscious world. "See?"

"Whoa, did any of you get the license plate on that truck?" Danny asked as he looked around as he tried to calm his nerves. It was rare to see someone get so freaked out from a noise. Sam was going to file away that information for a later time. There were so many possibilities… But, she was going to have to push thoughts of fun aside. They weren't free yet, and until that happened, she needed to focus on trying to stay alive.

"Hey, man," Tucker greeted as he put his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so…" Danny's words trailed off for a moment before he stiffened. Turning around, he looked at them with wide fearful eyes. "Uh… It's not what you think! I can explain!"

"Danny, it's okay. We know." Sam told him gently.

"You know? What do you mean?"

"Dude, calm down! We know you're somehow half-ghost."

He looked away from them in shame. "This is all my fault. You wouldn't be in this mess if I was normal. Because I'm this freak, you guys have to suffer."

"But, you're not! You're just… unique!" Sam told him in an attempt to cheer him up. "There's nothing wrong with you!"

"Do you really believe that?" The intensity in his eyes startled her. Even if she didn't believe something was wrong with him, it didn't he that he felt the same way. Although he really hadn't shown it before, Danny was truly troubled by what was happening to him.

"Yes, I do."

"Me, too," Tucker added. "I won't pretend I'm not a little weirded out, but it's nothing a little bit of gaming can't fix."

Danny just stared at them in disbelief. As he tried to find some words, a pillow was thrown at him. "I hate to break up your bonding time, but Mom's in serious trouble, Danny." Jazz told him as she approached. She carried an odd-looking device in her hands. "You guys can get all gushy later, but right now, we need to do something."

"What do you expect me to do?" Danny almost demanded. "It's not like I have my powers right now."

"Distract him!"

"What?"

The redhead rolled her eyes as she started to lose her patience with him. "You're the one person in this room Vlad absolutely won't kill! You're too valuable to him. Do whatever you can while I get this thing to Mom."

"Okay… but if I end up permanently maimed, I'm blaming you. What is it anyways?"

"I haven't the faintest idea."

"This plan of yours is sounding better by the moment…"

"Danny, stop wasting time and get out there!" Jazz snapped as she pushed him towards the two warring parties. "This will work!"

"Alright, alright… I'm going!" He then looked over at Sam and Tucker. "Please, try to take cover. I don't want to see you guys get hurt anymore than you already have."

Sam tried to protest, but Tucker stopped her. After the two boys shared a nod, Danny rushed off towards the fight. She then turned towards Jazz and fixed her with a serious glare. "What can we do to help?"

"For right now, try to stay low. Don't hurt him more by putting yourself in more trouble," she told them grimly. "Danny can't stand it when the people around him get hurt." She then rushed off to where her mother was trying to pick herself up from the floor.

Sam just stood there for a moment as Jazz's words sank in. Would it really be best if she just hid? No. There was no way she was going to accept that. She quickly ran over to the work bench Jazz had been rummaging through moments before. "Come on, Tucker! Help me look!" she yelled at him.

"For what?" he asked as he joined her.

"Anything that could possibly help!" She quickly started searching through anything that could help. In the background, she could hear more blasts and Danny's voice. He was trying to talk to Vlad, but judging by the negative responses, he wasn't having much luck.

She quickly picked up the pace as the voiced behind her started becoming more frantic. As her hands brushed against something metallic, a tremendous 'boom' sounded throughout the room which was followed by a huge cloud of smoke and dust. After coughing a little, Sam looked up and gasped. A gigantic hole had appeared in the one wall. Looking to her side, she noticed Maddie was on the floor holding what appeared to be a smoking bazooka. Danny and Jazz were standing near her with dumbfounded expressions while Vlad openly gaped at her while the dust continued to settle.

"Damn it, I missed." Maddie hissed as she glared at the ghost.

"It was a good try, my dear," Vlad told her as his confidence reemerged. "But, you'll have to do better than that if you want to get out of her alive."

He raised his hand to attack, but cried out and cradled it after a shot rang out. He snarled as he turned to see who had attacked him only to see at least ten men in SWAT uniforms starting to filter in the room with their guns drawn. "HANDS IN THE AIR!" one of the men yelled as they continued to approach.

"Do you think mere guns can stop me?"

Another shot was fired and grazed his side causing him to cry out again. "YOU HAVE ONE MORE CHANCE! HANDS IN THE AIR!" the same man yelled again. Sam had to give the man props. Even though he was staring down something that was clearly paranormal, he never lost his professionalism.

Vlad stared at the approaching group of men for a moment before he turned back towards Danny and the girls. "Don't think this is over, boy," he snarled. "Take your victory, but just remember, I'll be back to claim what's mine." He then swished his cape rather dramatically and disappeared in a swirl of pink energy.

No one spoke or moved for a moment. It seemed like everyone was trying to figure out if Vlad was truly gone. The men from the SWAT team were the first to move, they split into two groups. One approached Danny and the others, while the others approached her and Tucker.

"Are you Daniel Fenton?" one of the officers asked him. Unsure what to do, he hesitantly nodded. "Don't worry, Danny. We're the good guys here. Once we get you out of the building and checked out, you'll be allowed to go home to your guardian."

Sam smiled at the look of relief plastered on Danny's face. He was finally going to get to go home! But there was one thing still bothering her. "How did the police know we were down here?"

"Because I told them."

Sam turned to give Tucker an incredulous look. "What?" he asked as he tried to hide his amusement. "I sent out a message with directions to them when we found the passage in Vlad's lab. They were probably trying to get in here when Maddie blew that hole in the wall."

"Has anyone ever told you you're amazing?"

"All the time."

Woo! Part 1 (as I guess I should call it) is done. But don't worry, things aren't over yet for Danny and his friends – not by a long shot. Besides, there are still a few things I haven't gotten to explain yet. There might be a bit of a time skip next chapter… I am 90% certain of this.

Uh… I guess I should mention I don't actually know what the true name of that lipstick-looking laser first seen in "Doctor's Orders" is. Not for lack of trying either. I did search… it's currently eluding me. Also, if you think about Sam's reaction when she first hears Danny's a halfa (in the setting of this fic), it does make sense. How else do you usually get hybrids? That concept is somewhat disturbing, so her concern is valid. It's not true though; that I can tell you.

Anyways….

I apologize for not updating in October… but, as what appears to be a growing trend, life is incredibly stressful right now. As I believe I've mentioned before, I am currently doing rotations for school. For a pharmacy student in their 6th year, a rotation consists of 5 weeks (sometimes more, depending on the school) in a specific location where you learn and practice a specific type of pharmacy (yes, it's not just standing behind a counter and counting pills). There is also homework on top of the 40 hour weeks (without pay). This is then added onto working in the paid internship and being interviewed by potential employers.

For those of you who haven't been interviewed before, your interviewer has the chance to either be really nice or a complete and utter jackass. I hope you don't have to deal with the latter because you're not going to feel very good about yourself afterwards.

Anyways, it feels like I don't even have time to take a breath right now. Things are that bad. I promise, I'm going to do my best to finish this fic… I just don't know how long it's going to take.

Well, that's it for now.

Goshi, signing off