Summary: When the Phantoms get dragged along to their parents' twentieth college reunion, they meet the multibillionaire Vlad Masters, who seems to also be hiding a dark secret for them. Can they resist his offers, or will he be swayed by them instead?

A longer chapter than usual to make up for the length of time between updates. Enjoy the story.

"Crap, crap, crap, curfew, curfew, curfew!" the Phantom twins exclaimed in unison as they shot through Amity Park's night sky after a long night of ghost-fighting — mostly the formless ghostly blobs or the ectopodes that would mindlessly attack anything that got too close to it. They'd just parted ways with Penny and Terrence a few minutes earlier, but their two friends didn't have a curfew.

Jack and Maddie Fenton had taken note of their twin children's late returns in the recent weeks, and to try and curb whatever behaviour they were afraid the two were engaging in. It was a sweet gesture, but it only hindered the Phantom twins in their nightly patrols. Unfortunately, the curfew was still new, and both the twins still weren't used to it in the slightest, which resulted in them overrunning their curfew multiple times since it was implemented, which had the result of their parents threatening to deprive them of certain privileges they had.

Unfortunately, it seemed as if the twins weren't going to be able to meet curfew that night either.

"Hey, you youngsters!"

Danny stopped abruptly, making Dani, who was just a little bit slower than him, crash right into him from the beck, sending both of the white-haired ghost teens barrelling forward through the air until they recalled their flight, and slowed them down before they slammed right into a building that was right in their path. "Dani!" the older of the twins sputtered. "Why'd you do that? I stopped!"

"Yeah, and evidently, you weren't stopping fast enough," his sister shot right back. "Now who was that?" She looked around until an identical wisp of mist escaped their mouths at the same time, alerting them to the presence of new ghosts. Dani immediately turned around, her mismatched gloves blazing with green energy as the younger of the Phantom twins faced the unknown ghosts that were calling to them. She frowned when she saw the trio of green ghost vultures that were flying towards them, but then took note of a scrap of paper one of them was holding. What was that?

The one in the lead squawked when the vultures got close enough and huffed like it was tired. "Finally!" it scolded the twins angrily. "You whippersnappers, always rushing, rushing, rushing! You don't know how to stop and enjoy the world!" it ranted on, and descended into a quick rant, causing the twins to glance at each other quizzically. "Anyway... where was I?" the old bird croaked. "Right. I was wondering if you two youngsters would be able to give us a point in the right direction. We're looking for this guy—" the vulture shooed the one wearing sunglasses up and made the second one show the twins the photograph it was holding.

Danny took the photo from the vulture and looked at it, Dani zipping over to look over his shoulder. The photograph was torn on one end, looking to have been ripped from a complete photo, so it only showed a headshot of a man... a very familiar-looking man. He was heavy-set, with a square chin, and black hair in a very eighties-era mullet. "Is that...?" he trailed off, looking at his sister.

Dad? both twins chorused in unison over their psychic link.

Thinking quickly, Danny folded the picture up. "Sorry," he lied through his teeth. "Don't know who this is." He could feel Dani reaching behind him to grab the Fenton Thermos hooked to his side. Danny watched the vultures quickly argue amongst themselves about the virtues of wasting their time by stopping to ask for directions, giving them long enough for Dani to take the Fenton Thermos in her hands.

"Eat Thermos, you buzzards!" she cried out, uncapping the containment device.

"We're vultures, you bra—!" The vultures didn't get a chance to finish their sentence before they were sucked up.

Dani capped the Thermos again and gave it a good shake just for good measure before she high-fived her brother with a grin. "Come on, Dan," she said, hooking the Thermos to her instead. "Let's head home. It's..." Her green eyes widened.

"Oh crap, our curfew!" both twins exclaimed aloud as they shot back to the FentonWorks building.

"Why did they have a picture of Dad anyway?" Dani asked as the Phantom twins flew back to the building, reaching their window in record time. She hefted open the window from the outside — they'd left a ruler there because their window couldn't be opened otherwise — and jumped in, turning back to her human form.

"Heck if I know, Dani," the older twin said as he got in, removing their ruler and closing the window behind him. He reverted to his human form and held out the photograph. "But whatever it is, it can't be good." Danny had just enough time to put the photograph down before the door to their room was opened, and their parents walked in, both looking irritated. The teen paled a bit, as did his sister. "Uh, hey... mum, dad, we're here?" he said with a weak grin.

"Don't give me that, Daniel Jack Fenton!" Maddie Fenton scolded. "Your father and I checked your room at ten exactly, and now it's fifteen past ten! Climbing in through the window doesn't mean that you're on time! And you, Danielle Madeline Fenton! Out so late with your brother — I thought you would have at least been able to inherit my common sense, young lady! You're both grounded for a week! No electronics, no friends over, no going out!"

"And just to make sure you don't cheat this grounding, you're coming with us, no electronics, for our twentieth college reunion!" Jack Fenton exclaimed, holding out a green and gold invitation into the twins' faces. Wisconsin State University College Reunion of '84! the invite practically exclaimed in gaudy golden lettering. "We're heading over to our old college buddy Vlad's place for the weekend, and you two are coming with us, no 'if's and no 'but's about it!"

Danny glanced over at his sister, their blue eyes meeting. Crap.

Dani was seated in the back of the Fenton RV — a chrome and green RV with 'FENTON' printed on the outside in large, flashy letters — with Danny next to her, the twins discussing what could be going on, though their discussion hadn't given them any possible leads. The girl huffed, finally shaking her head. "Okay, I give up," she mumbled, staring out the window. "What're we going to do for this weekend, anyway?"

Danny frowned, leaning back in his seat and looking up at the ceiling of the RV. "I don't know. This Vlad Masters guy is a billionaire or something," something Terrence had mentioned before in passing when talking about the world's richest people — his parents were just out of the top fifty, along with the Manson family — "and he used to be interested in ghosts too." The older twin frowned. "Dad and mum never mentioned their prototype to us until last night."

The girl frowned, matching her brother's expression. "Well, are you surprised?" she asked, her red beanie sliding down over her eyes. "It's gotta be an old shame of theirs. I mean, they gave their bestie ghost acne, gave him premature white hair, hospitalised him for years and almost thoroughly ruined his life. They haven't spoken face-to-face in years and have barely called. Of course, they don't want to talk about it."

Danny shrugged. "I don't know, Dani... this isn't giving me good vibes at all... I feel like something is going to go wrong here."

"Tell me about it, Dan. I'm uneasy about this too." Dani looked up at her brother, frowning.

Before Danny could say anything, their father shouted from the front, "Kids, get ready! We're here! Get down from the RV — we're going to greet your Uncle Vlad!" He sounded genuinely enthusiastic as the vehicle abruptly jerked to a stop as the heavyset man stomped down on the brake pedal, nearly sending Dani shooting forward if Danny, who was wearing a seatbelt, hadn't grabbed her shoulder. Let it never be said that Jack Fenton was a good driver — because he wasn't, and if the twins' memory of their mother sending them to kindergarten was reliable, Maddie Fenton was terrifying on the roads too.

"We'll talk about this later," Danny promised his sister, cringing as they finally stopped moving forward. "That must've left a mark on the pavement. I hope Mr Masters doesn't mind." He grimaced as he finally stood up, letting his sister go, only for him to yelp and stumble forward as the RV jerked another inch forward. "Gah!" This time, Dani held him back from smacking his head on the table in front of them. "Thanks, Dani."

"No problem. Let's go and meet Mr Masters," Dani remarked, adjusting her red beanie as the twins made their way off the RV and up to the front door of the mansion. Dani's jaw dropped at the sight, her blue eyes wide in surprise. "Multi-billionaire is right. This isn't a mansion, this is a castle!" she exclaimed in as hushed a whisper as she could to her twin. "Mr Masters is loaded, dang!"

An amused chuckle could be heard, and the younger Fenton twin immediately flushed bright red at being caught. A man clad in a smart suit, with white hair tied back into a low ponytail, was standing at the front door, an amused smile on his face. "It's simply smart investing and business practices, young lady," he dismissed with a smile that looked somewhat forced. "Your parents know exactly what I mean, I do believe." His smile turned a bit more sincere. "Jack, Maddie, it's so good to see you two again. It's been twenty years." He held out his arms for a warm greeting, but the massive form of Jack Fenton barrelled forward, sweeping him up into a bone-crushing hug.

"Hey, V-man!" the Fenton patriarch cheered with a goofy grin that the twins knew all too well. "I've missed you, Vladdie!"

Maddie smiled as she walked over, her goggles hanging around her neck and her hood down for once. "It's great to see you too, Vlad," she said, putting a hand on Danny and Dani's shoulders, pushing them forward. "We haven't had many chances to meet up, especially since the twins were born. I guess it's better that we didn't go to any of the major milestones, though. At four and nine, I don't think I could have brought along these two little monkeys anywhere."

"Mum!" Danny groaned, his face now just as red as Dani's was.

"This is Danny," the Fenton matriarch said regardless, patting her son's shoulder, "and this is Dani." She squeezed Dani's shoulder. Seeing Vlad's briefly very confused expression, she elaborated, "Daniel Jack and Danielle Madeline. Someone made a small mistake in their birth certificates — Danielle was supposed to be Daniella, but the name stuck and they make it work." She glanced down at her children. "Kids, say hi," she said sternly, making the twins fidget.

"Um, sorry," Dani said, scratching the back of her neck. "Hi, Mr Masters, I'm Dani," she said, tugging slightly on her ponytail. Dad, you can let him go now... people don't hug other people for so long. She heard Danny snicker over their mental link, and she shot him a quiet glower.

"I'm Danny," the older twin said, ignoring her glare. "But, uh, Dan is fine if it's confusing to try and figure out who is who," he added quickly, seeing the frown on the white-haired billionaire's face. The identical names had always been a problem for the twins whenever they met someone new, but they'd gotten so used to it that it barely registered anymore. "Um, Dad, you can let Mr Masters go now," he suggested slowly.

"What? Oh! Sorry, Vladdie!" Jack exclaimed, releasing the billionaire and stepping back, looking equally sheepish. "Didn't mean to crush you. Are you alright?"

Vlad inhaled deeply, giving the twins a thankful look as he straightened his crooked tie. "Thank you, Jack," he said, sounding audibly relieved. "I'm alright — it's just been a while since I've had one of your... bone-crushers. And please, children. 'Vlad' is enough." He dusted off his black suit jacket and stepped back, smiling at the family. "You've surely had a long trip. Please, come inside! I'll get you some refreshments." He gestured to the open door behind him and waved them in.

The Fenton family was ushered inside, and if Dani had thought the outside of Vlad's castle was a show of his wealth before, she had been wrong. The entrance hall was decked out in green and gold — with the exception of the grey stone that made up the walls and ceiling, as well as a red carpet that covered the entirety of the floor, the entire hallway was a very specific shade of green and accented with gold, with a glass trophy case placed at the very end of the hall beside a grand, sweeping staircase. On the top shelf was a golden football, but below it was a shelf dedicated to trophies, green and silver chrome, but a very specific green that didn't fit anything else.

"Whoa, no way, is that the Gilded Golden Football the Green Bay Packers won last season?" Danny exclaimed when he saw the golden trophy, and almost immediately, Vlad seemed to perk up in delight at the recognition of the statement. Crap, what did I do now?

How do you even recognise that thing? Dani asked, watching as Vlad all-but-rushed up to the trophy case and unlocked it, taking the golden football out and holding it up to the light. The girl squinted a bit at the bright light it was reflecting. "Oh wow, it's real gold, isn't it? That's shiny!"

Well, Terrence was talking about taking a chance at football betting, Danny thought back, squinting at the bright light.

"That's right, children!" Vlad exclaimed, as delighted as a kindergartener given unlimited ice cream and high on a really bad sugar rush. "That very trophy was won during the finals of last year." He hugged the trophy as Dani would with her — self-bought! — body pillows of her favourite anime hotties, though it looked far less comfortable since it was hard. "I managed to buy this from them when my fifth attempt to purchase the team this year went down the drain." He sighed, though the statement visibly alarmed both of the twins — five times?!

Jack and Maddie didn't even look alarmed, though. The patriarch of the Fenton family roared with laughter. "After all these years, Vladdie, you're still a fan of the Badgers, aren't you?" he asked with a wide, goofy grin that the family knew all too well. "Guess the two decades haven't changed you all that much." He clapped the man on the back, hard enough that it sent the trophy flying right at the twins.

With a yelp and a gasp, Danny managed to catch the trophy, though it slipped again, and Dani caught it the second time before she was able to return it to Vlad. The twins were too short to reach the top shelf, but Vlad, with the trophy in hand, shot them a grateful look as he put it away.

"So, where will you all be staying for the night?" Vlad asked the adults of the Fenton family as he proceeded to lock up his trophy again, not-too-gently pushing Jack away from the glass case — the patriarch had the cognizance to look sheepish when he did so. "I do so hope that you're not going to be staying at one of the trashy motels in the area near my mansion — they're terrible wastes of money and certainly not worth the dollars you'll have to spend on them. Actually," his smile came back, and along with it, a shiver was sent down Dani's spine, "why don't you and your family stay here with me? My mansion will be able to house your family, no problem!"

Maddie held her hands up into the air. "Vlad, we can't possibly impose!" she protested. "This is your home, and surely you've got other guests you need to entertain!"

"Nonsense," the white-haired man said with a pleasant smile that looked impossibly fake to the eyes of the two teenagers, though their parents didn't seem to pick up on the falseness. He waved a hand like it would wave their concerns away. "I have no guests over and there is more than enough space in the entire mansion's guest wing to give you each a room of your own! Jack, Maddie, you two will surely need your beauty sleep, no? We'll be taking a lot of pictures tomorrow and you need to be in tip-top shape!" He paused, eyes shifting as if he was contemplating a secret, but to Dani's eyes, it was visibly exaggerated.

And she would know — in elementary school, Dani had been in a school play as a shifty character.

Vlad leaned towards the two adults with a smile. "The ghost of the Dairy King is said to lurk around this place."

Like a switch had been flipped, both Maddie and Jack looked enthusiastic. "A ghost, you say?" Jack inquired with a wide, goofy grin. "Well Vladdie, if you insist..."

"Certainly!"

"Then we're staying!" Maddie exclaimed, making the twins share a concerned look. "Kids, go and get your suitcases!"

I've got a really bad feeling about this, Dan, Dani thought with a grimace. Mr Masters is...

Acting super fake. I know, Dani. Something's up, Danny thought back. Let's be careful.

Danny yawned as he flopped down onto the bed in the guest room, having just changed into his pyjamas. His hair fell over his eyes — he'd have to cut it at some point — but he was tired enough from wandering around the mansion with Dani to not care about it. As the teen closed his eyes, a cold wisp of air escaped his lips, and he immediately shot straight up from the bed, eyes wide. "Dani!"

"Yup, ghostie around," Dani confirmed. The younger of the twins poked her head out of the bathroom, her shoulder-length hair down around a scowling face. "Let's get them!" White rings formed around the girl, bisecting and passing over her to transform her into her ghostly identity, which, thankfully, put her hair up into a ponytail. "Come on, Dan, let's get going!" she exclaimed, turning intangible as she shot through the door.

The older of the Phantom twins shook his head, transforming as well and following after his brasher sister. "Let's find the ghosts." Letting his sister lead the two down the halls — Dani had a better 'ghost detector GPS' than he did, according to Penny and Terrence — Danny guarded her back as they hovered down several metres of carpeted halls. They turned a few corners before they finally saw the ectoplasmic green glow of a ghost.

More accurately, they saw three green vulture ghosts, hovering uncertainly around the bulky form of Jack Fenton, wearing his classic Day-Glo orange hazmat suit under his striped pyjamas — how did he sleep in that, anyway? It was so uncomfortable — as he mumbled something incoherent, sleepwalking down the halls.

Oh crap. Who gave dad soda before bed? Danny thought, paling. At least he's asleep...

Dani's hands charged up with blazing green energy, and she fired a blast at the ghost vultures. "Hey, I thought we taught you a lesson last time!" she growled, knowing that with how heavily the Fenton patriarch slept, it would take much more than just some shouting and fighting to wake him up. And without waiting for an answer, the younger twin blasted the vultures one by one with a shout, knocking them away from Jack as she shot towards them to take them down again.

Danny ensured that his father wouldn't walk into anything dangerous and shot off after his sister, combined blasts and physical punches until the vultures were subdued, which didn't take too long. Sending a blast into the face of one of the three vultures, it made the rest of them squawk and fly off. "And scram!" Danny added for good measure, hearing his sister groan at the quip. "What?" he almost whined. "It was a good quip!"

"I'm afraid you may have to brush up on your witty banter, boy," a new voice interrupted, immediately sending both twins into a mode of high alert as they spun around, only to come face-to-face with Dracule in a white cape... or well, what looked like it, anyway, even if the blue skin did throw them off a little. The release of their ghost sense, though, alerted them immediately that the vampire-wannabe in front of them was indeed a ghost.

Danny's bright green eyes narrowed, blazing a toxic green. His fist was encased in blazing green as he faced the ghost, moving in front of his sister defensively. "You'd better back off," he demanded, recognising the flippant, mocking tone as one he wouldn't consider friendly. "Or I'm going to blast you! Now, what do you want?"

"My, my, why so aggressive, my boy?" the vampire inquired, only for Dani to blast him first, shooting a beam of toxic green in his face, which the blue-skinned ghost easily evaded. "Dear girl, be a bit more tactful, won't you?" A pink glow enveloped his fists, and he flung his arm out at her, sending three pink disks at her that narrowly shaved past her shoulder.

Dani yelped, ducking her head and losing only a bare millimetre of hair from the attacks. "Oh, you called for it!" she exclaimed, kicking off into the air and shooting at him despite Danny calling out to his twin to not be as brash. Despite it, she lunged straight for it, pulling her fist back to throw a punch, only for her fist, encased in green, to be caught by the ghost's gloved fist, and then promptly thrown into the wall, hard enough to keep her down and out of the fight for the time being.

"Dani!" Danny exclaimed, turning his attention to the vampire and snarling as he shot towards the ghost, both fists now glowing green as he sought to protect his sister. Just like Dani, though, the ghost easily countered his strikes and blasted him squarely in the shoulder, throwing him back into the wall next to his sister. With a hard enough impact, he was disoriented enough to start seeing black spots, and he collapsed next to Dani like a puppet with its strings cut, falling in an undignified heap.

Although he could have sworn he saw something black and glowing in his peripheral vision...

But before Danny could even figure out what was going on, though, the black spots consumed his vision, and he blacked out.

"I officially hate this," Dani muttered to her older brother as they arrived at the hall the next night, looking down the stair bannisters at the crowd already present. She huffed, smoothing out her blue dress. The Fenton adults were wearing their customary jumpsuits, though Maddie Fenton had her hood down and Jack Fenton was wearing a yellow and blue tie. Meanwhile, the twins had brought along more appropriate clothes for the occasion, having thought it would have been a necessity, which left Dani in a belted blue dress and Danny in a stripped-down suit with a blue tie. The younger twin was now just wishing she had brought along something way more comfortable, but it was too late for it already.

Danny rolled his shoulder, grimacing as his jacket rubbed against his sore shoulder through his shirt. "Tell me about it," he said with a huff. "And we still have that vampire ghost to worry about. I still don't get it — why would he knock us out and not kill us? It certainly wasn't a dream since my shoulder still hurts a lot. It's like Baxter shoved me into a locker shoulder-first or something."

Dani huffed. Not that loud, Dan, she thought to him, pursing her lips together into a grim line. We don't want anyone to overhear, and you know how crazy our parents can be about this... they're wearing their jumpsuits for goodness sake.

Sorry, Dani. Danny grimaced. The last thing they needed was for them to be kicked out, especially since it would be ridiculously late when they got back to Amity Park if they didn't get to spend the night. Even if their father could easily stay awake for the entire time of the drive, it would still be pretty taxing on the Fenton Patriarch.

"Daniel, Danielle," Vlad called, the man walking up the stairs to meet them — their parents were already downstairs, mingling with old college friends. "Well now, don't you two look charming tonight? I don't mean to be rude and interrupt your enjoyment of the evening," he smirked a bit, "though I do sincerely doubt that you two are enjoying this stuffy old party any more than I am out of formalities. Moving on, will you two do me a favour and go down to my lab? I left a gift down there for your parents and forgot to bring it up to give to them. It's three levels down the stairs with the elevator, and then a turn to the left, towards the dead end."

The twins shared a look.

Suspicious or no? Dani inquired to her brother, her right brow arching upwards infinitesimally.

Very suspicious. But I say we should go and take a look anyway, Danny thought, the corner of his lips curling downwards. "Alright, Mr Masters — um, I mean, Vlad," he amended. "Dani and I'll go down and see if we can find it. What's it look like?"

"It's a box in black, you'll certainly know it when you see it," Vlad answered with a tight smile. "Go on, children. I'll be waiting around here for you. A host can't leave his party, after all."

"Sure..." Dani let her words drag on a little, pursing her lips together, but she took Danny by the wrist and pulled him along to the elevator. They'd figure it out, hopefully. Five minutes later, she was opening the lab doors and stepping inside a chrome-plated room that looked very much similar to the Fenton basement. "Okay, now where is it?" she asked aloud, walking around in the lab, looking at the smooth countertops that were covered in construction paper plans and metal bits placed in boxes to hold the loose bits. Her blue eyes fell on a table at the far end, and she brightened. "Nevermind, I found it!"

The black box was wrapped with a pink ribbon, but that wasn't what was odd, though. Beside it was a picture frame that was set face-down on the table, and out of curiosity, Dani picked it up, setting it back into place. Her eyes widened at what she saw — a partially torn Polaroid photo that was of three people, one on the far left missing their head, but wearing a very recognisable orange jumpsuit. The woman in the middle had a messy head full of brunette curls, her face scribbled out by markers. On the right was Vlad, looking much younger, and with dark hair. All three were wearing labcoats.

The twins shared a glance, and Danny produced the torn scrap that had their father's face on it. Putting it up against the picture, the torn edges lined up perfectly. "He's after dad!" Danny exclaimed.

"And mum too," Dani added, seeing the scribbling on the woman's face and putting two and two together. "We've got to stop him!" Transforming immediately, along with her brother, the two twins prepared to shoot out of the lab to confront the man. Before they could go anywhere, though, a heavy metal chain suddenly hooked around their ankles, yanking them back and falling onto the floor. "Hey, what gives?!" Dani sputtered.

"I'm sure you're eager to know, whelp," a familiar voice sneered, accompanied by heavy metallic footsteps.

"Skulker!" the twins exclaimed in unison, looking behind them to see the robotic hunter standing above them, holding the end to the metal chain that was wrapped around their ankles.

"How did you get your suit back? I could have sworn Deliah smashed it to bits!" Danny said with a frown. He didn't get an answer, though, as Skulker went over to the table, picking up the black box by the sides, and tossing it at the two, pulling on the ribbon as he went. The box suddenly unfolded and reformed into a black cage around the twins, sending a painful electric shock through them that almost immediately forced the twins out of their ghost forms.

Dan tried to transform, but when the white rings formed, she was immediately shocked again, making her scoot back towards the centre of the cage. "Ouch, okay, not going to try that," she muttered.

"Finally! I have you two half-ghost hybrids in my grasp!" Skulker sneered. "I finally get to skin you two and put your pelts on my mantle—!"

The lab doors opened. "That's enough, Skulker," Vlad's voice chastised. "I told you to capture the children, not kill them! You will receive your payment and upgrades later; for now, get out of my lab, thank you."

Grumbling, the robotic hunter folded immediately, stepped back and phasing right out of the lab without so much as a sound of protest. It showed one thing, at least, that Vlad held some crazy sway over him. And that he was working under the billionaire, but that was obvious enough.

The lab doors were shut once again as Vlad walked into the room to stand in front of the twins, the lights in the room turning on to full intensity. The billionaire looked quite solemn as he faced the two, his hands clasped behind his back, standing straight up and pulling himself to his full height. "Now, Daniel, Danielle... you must be wondering what is going on, correct? Allow me to show you." A black ring formed around his waist, bisecting and passing over him. As the rings travelled across his body, the man was transformed into the same blue-skinned vampire ghost from the previous night.

"You!" Dani exclaimed, jerking to the front of the cage and gripping the bars. "You were the one who hurt Dan last night!" she accused. "And not only that, you sent those old buzzards after dad! Plus, who knows what you've got in store for mum?! What do you want?" She tried to transform again, only to get another shock. Quickly, she was pulled back by her brother, who shoved her behind him.

Danny bared a snarl at the man, knowing that the twins' suspicions of him had been correct after all. If this man was threatening his parents, he wouldn't let him even have another chance to hurt his little sister. "What do you want, Vlad?" he hissed, his eyes glowing green, only to get him shocked. "You hurt Dani last night; you attempted to hurt dad, and whatever you're going to do to mum. Are you going to try and kill all of us now?"

The billionaire half-ghost looked almost affronted. "Kill all of you?" he asked, frowning. "Most certainly not, Daniel! Why on earth would I do that to you and your sister? You two, the only people in the world who would ever be able to understand me as a fellow half-ghost hybrid?" He stepped closer to the twins, holding out a hand to them, though they were still locked inside their cage. "You see, my dear children, your parents are ghost hunters that truly know nothing about ghosts. All they think ghosts are are the mindless, blobs of ectoplasm that float around the Ghost Zone. They think all ghosts are evil, irredeemable — not that they would try anyway. Would they ever accept the fact that their dearest children are now two 'filthy, stinking ghosts'?" he asked, putting the last part in quotes.

The phrase set something off in the twins as they shared a glance. They had refused to say anything to their parents about the accident because of their parents' profession, and Vlad seemed to know it, having struck directly at their one greatest fear, aside from death. "They wouldn't," the twins said in unison, almost too quickly to sound like they believed what they were saying. "We're their kids!"

"Wouldn't they?" Vlad arched a brow at them. "Do you believe that, my dear children? You won't ever know for sure unless you try it, and if they would, then it would be too late, now wouldn't it?"

Danny gripped the bars of the cage and glared up at the man. "You're insane!" he accused with a scowl. "They would never hurt us!"

Vlad barked with laughter, walking over and clasping his hands behind his back. "Am I now, my boy? But that's not what I'm here for. Regardless of your thoughts, it is a fact that your parents will not be able to accommodate you satisfactorily. They will not be able to adequately understand you or your situation nor will they be able to help you with your powers. No one can. No, no one but me. I am just like the two of you children, half-ghost, treading between the two worlds! I have all the powers you have now, and more! I could teach you two to control your powers, to reach your full potential. All I need from you is simple..." He leaned into the cage, enough so that red eyes could meet with blue, and a wide grin pulled at his lips. "All you have to do is simply to renounce your parents and join me as my wards."

The twins were left gaping at the man's absolute gall, their minds furiously trading thoughts through the mental link they shared to the point where they were no longer sure who was thinking what — it was that much of a mess in their minds as they tried to comprehend the level of arrogance and self-assuredness this man had. Vlad Masters had sent hitmen out on their father twice, played affable to their parents, and wanted them to join him; no doubt, he also had some sort of scheme to off both the Fenton adults as well.

Danny found his voice first, the boy sputtering, "Why do you even think we'd do that?" He looked incredulous. "We get it, mom and dad got you into an accident that ruined your post-college life, but that's over now, isn't it? You became a billionaire! Why are you doing this to our parents? They were your friends!"

Vlad sneered at him, red eyes glowing angrily as he levitated into the air, his cape billowing ominously even though there was no wind in the lab. "Friends?" the vampire snarled. "What kind of friends leave the friend they injured in the hospital to rot? What kind of friends set their friend up for a disastrous prank the week before our final semester project? What kind of friends are they?!" He bared large fangs at the twins, red eyes now bright and angry.

"Mum and dad would never!" Dani burst out angrily, pushing past Danny to glare up at Vlad. "You can just go and shove your crazy aspirations of killing our parents where the sun don't shine!"

A blast of pink energy surged, scorching past the twins' cage and into the ground. "Fine," Vlad sneered. "Then the two of you can stay here until I'm done taking out your parents, and then you'll see things my way." With a sweep of his white opera cape, the vampire ghost disappeared.

"Crap, we need to get out of here and get our parents to safety!" Danny exclaimed in a panic, trying to go intangible to phase through the cage, but was once again shocked. He blurted out a curse in pain, recoiling from the bars, but in his haste, he realised something — the bars had briefly flickered, and in their instability, he'd pulled his fist right through the bar he was holding onto. It wasn't nearly long enough to get himself through the gap — which was too small anyway — but it gave him an idea.

Dani, I've got an idea, he informed his twin, shaking his hand and waiting for the prickling pain of the electric shock to fade away completely. When he had his sister's attention, he continued, this time aloud, "The bars responded to my intangibility a bit when I tried to phase through them. We tried to phase through the cage individually, but we got shocked, and the bars reacted so quickly that they might not have reacted at all. What if we try using our intangibility at the same time?"

Dani caught on. "Right, it might be able to overload the bars for long enough that one of us can slip through," she figured. "Should I go? I'm more flexible than you are."

The older twin nodded, rolling back the sleeves of his suit and dress shirt. "Alright, let's give this a try." Resting his feet on two different bars, he also gripped two other bars, ready to channel his intangibility through them.

The younger did the same, and on a mental count to three, they attempted to phase through the bars, holding on for long enough that the bars visibly distorted, and both immediately released the bars; Danny scooted back, while Dani tumbled through before changing into Dani Phantom. The white-haired ghost girl flew over to the table, sweeping around it before she found a remote on the countertop that shared a similar theme and design with the cage.

A press of the button dismantled the cage's ghost-suppressing abilities, and Danny was soon released, the half-ghost boy transforming and joining his sister in the air as well. "Great job, Dani. Now let's go and save our parents!"

"Right!"

Danny phased up from the floor, Dani alongside him, the Phantom twins invisible and intangible as they appeared in the ballroom, just in time to see the ballroom in chaos as the Fenton RV revved its wheels, partially trapped inside the wall, partially out. With a loud screech, the vehicle suddenly lunged forward, barrelling towards an Asian woman in a green pantsuit.

Jack leapt forward, pushing his old classmate out of the way, placing him in the way of the RV as it drove forward at full speed. "Harrie!" he yelled. "Get out of here!"

"Jack!" Maddie gasped. The Fenton matriarch had her hood on as well as her goggles as she rushed towards her husband to try and extract him from the situation before it was too late.

The twins didn't need to even share a glance before they shot off like bullets towards the Fenton RV, phasing through it to see no one at the driver's seat. Well, not quite. As Dani fired a blast towards the empty seat, it bounced off a pink shield that suddenly flickered into place, before falling entirely to reveal Vlad at the wheel.

"Resourceful, my dears," the vampire grudgingly obliged. "But even so, you can't stop me!" His form suddenly split and replicated, two identical copies of the ghost appearing and lunging at each of the twins to attack them.

Danny moved in front of his sister, both hands blazing with green energy. I'll take these two, Dani, he thought to her, pulling his fist back and throwing a punch towards one of the Vlad clones. He'd wisened up from last time, though, and instead of hitting the older half-ghost hybrid, he put enough distance between them so that when his arm was fully extended, his fist was still out of Vlad's reach. Instead of punching, he used the momentum to fire a blast of energy towards the man.

Caught off guard, the blast hit one of the clones in the chest and immediately dissipated it, leaving Danny facing the sole clone left. "Gotcha," the white-haired boy said triumphantly.

"Well done, but you can certainly do better, no?" Vlad inquired condescendingly. He raised a gloved fist and blasted Danny straight in the chest, sending him shooting back into the back of the RV. Immediately, the RV jerked, throwing both the male half-ghosts into the side of the vehicle. The impact dissipated Vlad's clone, leaving Danny at the back of the RV.

Up in the front, Dani had engaged in a fight with Vlad until she'd managed to wrest control of the wheel, if only for a moment. She forcibly grabbed the wheel, making a sharp left turn that swerved the vehicle from its path to kill the Fenton adults, crashing it into the drinks table, and ramming it into the wall of the room, which broke them into the library. Using the momentum to her advantage, Dani grabbed hold of the man, turning both of them intangible, and pushing herself off from the driver's seat. The force yanked both of them out of the RV and tossed them into the library.

"Game over, Vlad," she growled at the man that had threatened her parents. "You're out!" She grabbed him by his collar, her green eyes blazing a toxic green.

Vlad grinned menacingly, baring his fangs as he reached up, his much larger hands clamping around her forearms. "Nice try, little weasel," he said with a taunting smirk. "But not this time." His gloves lit up with pink electricity, sending a shock through Dani and forcing her to release him. "But unfortunately, you and the little badger still have much to learn."

Bewildered by the strange nicknames for what she could only assume to be herself and Danny, Dani was given a mental heads-up just in time to duck, and a glob of green goo was fired from the RV that was still trapped inside the wall. The girl had managed to block Vlad's sight of the car and ducking at just the right time made it so that the blast from the anti-ghost weaponry in the RV would hit Vlad. The sticky goop managed to essentially trap the blue-skinned hybrid to the floor, imprisoning him while Dani gathered an ectoblast in her hand.

Danny phased out from the RV, having used the weaponry in the vehicle to trap the man and the older of the Phantom duo flew over to his sister. "Looks like we've bested you this time, Vlad," he said, narrowing his eyes. He copied his sister, his fist lighting up with green energy. "Give us one reason, Vlad. One reason why we shouldn't just lay on the hurt for threatening our family."

"I could transform back right now," the vampire ghost said slyly with a smirk, making both the teens pause. If their parents caught them, ghost form or not, beating up their old college friend, there was no way it would come across well either way.

Both the twins reacted in the same way, acting on autopilot. Each grabbed a fistful of the ghost's collar, pulling him up towards them so that the two pairs of green eyes could meet the red irises. "Listen here, Vlad," Danny began in a low, angry voice.

"I don't care who you think you are," Dani hissed, continuing. "But you don't threaten to hurt our parents and get away with it."

Danny took over again. "By revealing yourself to us, you've given us a trump card. If you think our parents will kill us, they'll also be able to kill you if they know."

"So if you value your life..." Dani growled.

"You'll leave right now, and we won't expose all three of us," the twins finished in unison, their toxic green eyes blazing.

Vlad smirked. "How sly of you, my dears. We really are more alike than you know." With a grin, the blue-skinned spectre turned intangible and phased through the floor. "Don't worry, I'll be back, and you'll see things my way, eventually," he promised, his voice echoing. "You'll understand soon enough."

"I can't believe that the RV got possessed by a ghost," Jack Fenton griped to his wife, with the twins in the back of the vehicle, listening intently to the conversation. "At least Vladdie was nice enough to let us stay overnight while we got the RV repaired."

"I know, I can't believe we managed to reconnect!" Maddie exclaimed.

True to what the adults had said, Vlad Masters had indeed given them an opportunity to stay the night, as the RV had taken some damage when it crashed through walls and Jack needed some time to repair it so it wouldn't get them pulled over by the road authorities. The twins had been worried that he would pull some schemes, but absolutely nothing happened, which only made them even more uneasy.

Moving back to the seats further back in the RV, Dani sank into the red leather of the seat. "So what now?" she asked her brother, her brow knitting together.

"Honestly, I don't know," Danny said with a frown. "We're still grounded. Vlad's still out there. Our parents are still in danger." He exhaled. "I guess all we can do is... you know, wait and see."

Dani frowned. "That doesn't sit well with me, but until we can talk with the others, this is all we can do." Her eyes shifted. "We should get training. Who knows what he'll do next time?" She folded her arms over her chest.

"You've got a point." Danny pinched the bridge of his nose. "Either way, we know he's coming now."

"That's five hours of sleep gone."

Danny stared at his sister, and he couldn't help but chuckle. "You always know how to lighten the mood, Dani."

Bitter Reunions turned out a bit darker than I intended. You'll notice, though, that Vlad is not interested in Maddie here, just her two children. In this world, he has realised that the only person/people who could really understand him would be similar people as to him. That is why he's out for Jack and Maddie's blood instead of just Jack.

I actually do have a more redemptive arc for Vlad planned here. He's bitter over the Fentons leaving him for years, but he's also very hurt. Doesn't excuse his actions, but yeah. There's an arc for him.

Read, review, and provide constructive criticism.