DISCLAIMER: I do not own, have never owned, and never will own Danny Phantom.
Chapter 10! As always, I'd like to thank my reviewers: sciencefreak330, DPcrazy and KittyGrl24. Thank you!
Last chapter, Mimic's secret was revealed to Valerie, and while Sam and Tucker came up with a plan, Mimic and Val went to find a few Fenton inventions.
CHAPTER TEN: Distraction
"Okay, Mimic, Valerie, great job. Now, the plan is to find Danny with the boo-merang and then sneak in and get him out. It sounds simple, but it's a lot harder than you might think. Valerie, you'll be with me, getting Danny out. Tucker and Mimic, you're providing the distraction. The last thing we want is Vlad showing up while we're getting out of the building. With me so far?" Sam asked, surveying the room.
Valerie and Tucker nodded, but Antoinette (Sam's mother kept appearing, and a ghost, hero or not, would not have gone down well) frowned slightly.
"That sounds fine, Sam, but what kind of distraction do you want me and Tucker to provide? Loud and flashy or subtle?" she asked.
"Subtle. Vlad's a smart guy, and he'll get suspicious if something just blows up or whatever. Actually, I was thinking maybe you could shape-shift or something. You could wear one of the Fenton Phones, hidden of course, and Tucker could help you keep him occupied from the sidelines. As long as you're okay with that..." Sam trailed off. Mimic nodded.
"Nah, that's okay, I can do that. Tucker?" Mimic glanced at the boy questioningly, and he nodded.
"Sounds good. So, we keep him busy somehow, and you and Val get Danny out of there. Got it." Tucker grinned. "Right. Well, Mimic and I should probably get going, shouldn't we?" Sam nodded, and Antoinette morphed back into her ghostly form, jumpsuit and all. She grabbed hold of Tucker's sleeve, and the two of them phased out of the roof and went off in search of Vlad.
Danny tugged against the glowing restraints on his wrists, glaring up at Vlad all the while. Vlad merely smirked.
"Now, now, my dear boy. You don't really think it would be that easy, do you, Daniel?" he sneered at the teen, who ignored him. Vlad went on talking anyway.
"I suppose your little friends will be here looking for you any moment now, Daniel. Such a nuisance. But I don't think I'll be having any problems with Valerie, at least." Vlad gestured elegantly towards a TV screen. He pushed a button on a remote control, and a video began to play.
On the screen, Danny saw himself, surrounded by Vlad clones. He saw Mimic and Valerie round the corner, and then he saw Vlad jab the Plasmius Maximus into his side.
The TV Danny transformed, and fell backwards through the air. He scrambled away from Vlad just as the other ghost swept down on him, gathering the fallen hero up and disappearing into thin air with a victorious cackle. The TV mimic shot forwards with a distressed shout, but Valerie stayed perfectly still, staring at the space Danny had been.
Mimic was searching desperately for a clue when Valerie made a choking noise, and the ghost turned around, suddenly looking quite sick, the little colour she had draining from her face.
TV Mimic stared for a few seconds at the shaking ghost hunter, who still said nothing.
"...Valerie." said Mimic, face grey, eyes a dim, flat green, ghostly glow barely even there. She looked ill.
The ghost hunter said nothing.
And then the screen went black.
Danny strained against the ropes. "No!" he shouted. But Vlad just laughed.
"I'm afraid so, Daniel. I didn't intend for your little secret to get out, but I'm not sure Valerie will feel the same way. We'll see if your little friends are able to get you out now, hm?"
And Vlad left the room, neglecting to mention that actually, Valerie had accepted the boy, and that his friends were probably on their way at that very moment.
Mimic smoothed her uncomfortable suit for the fifth time that minute. Tucker had found out that somebody named Marcia Jacobs was coming as a representative of another company that was considering selling to Vlad, and Mimic was now impersonating her. They had considered just overshadowing her, but people had been known to fight overshadowing, and if the real Marcia decided to fight back, it could tip Vlad off to their plan.
Tucker had had to suck her into a Fenton Thermos to get her past Vlad's ghost shield without the halfa noticing, and they had nearly lost Marcia's briefcase, but they had eventually got in. Marcia had been told by her 'boss' (Actually Mimic) that the meeting was cancelled, and was at home enjoying her day off while Mimic did her job for her.
The meeting was only supposed to take ten minutes or so, as it was just signing papers, but Mimic had to make it last at least half an hour to give Sam and Valerie time to get in, free Danny, and get out. Tucker would be helping all three girls via the Fenton Phones and his PDA, making sure that Mimic didn't slip up and Sam and Valerie knew where the security systems were hidden. He hid in a tree on the grounds of Vlad's Wisconsin mansion- Mayor of Amity Park or not, he still spent a lot of time there.
He turned to Mimic, surveying her critically and comparing her to his photograph of Marcia Jacobs.
"You forgot the glasses. But other than that, you're good to go." He told the now blonde-haired young woman. Marcia was in her late twenties, with short, straight hair and a pallid complexion. She was dressed in a dark blue skirt and jacket, with neat black shoes and a white blouse. She was a clever, businesslike woman.
Mimic had spent a good ten minutes trying to copy her voice accurately, as they had no idea whether or not Vlad had met this woman before. When they were happy that Mimic could imitate the woman perfectly, Mimic had sped to the place Marcia's company car was supposed to pick her up, an invisible tucker in tow. They had phased out again briefly to get past the ghost shield, but otherwise the journey had been uneventful.
The car drew to a halt, and Mimic stepped out, squeezing her eyes shut quickly as she reminded herself that it was for Danny.
The front doors of the mansion opened, and she gave the butler a thin smile.
"Here we go." she whispered under her breath as she was led through the mansion to meet Vlad Masters.
"Sam, Val, she's in. Vlad should be out of the way." Tucker's voice said through the Fenton Phones, and Sam gave Valerie the thumbs up.
"Thanks Tuck. Wish us luck." She replied, and they snuck into the house through the back door (Sam had picked the lock, used to doing the same thing to her own door when grounded by her parents). A couple of months ago, Danny had taken advantage of the fact that Vlad was busy in Amity Park to have a quick look at Vlad's security, and he had found that this door was relatively unprotected, because it was rarely used by anyone but the occasional maid.
Once inside, they cautiously made their way towards Vlad's study, avoiding Vlad's employees as they did so. There were a few hair-raising moments when they were sure they would be seen, but thankfully they got by without incident.
In the study, Sam reached up and grabbed hold of the football statuette. She tugged hard, and the secret passageway to Vlad's lab opened wide.
"Ah, Ms Jacobs. A pleasure to meet you at last." Vlad smiled easily at Marcia Jacobs. They had spoken on the phone, but never actually met one another in person.
"Mr Masters. An honour." She said, reaching out and shaking his hand before taking her seat opposite him.
Vlad gave a gracious nod, all the while keeping one eye on his computer screen. It really was a nuisance that this meeting was scheduled for today, he thought. Those brats would be turning up at any moment to free Daniel, and he couldn't afford to lose the boy again.
"Can I offer you a drink, Ms Jacobs?" he asked, and the woman gave him a thin smile.
"Coffee, if you please, Mr Masters. Black." She said, leaning backwards in her chair slightly. She held back a sigh. This was going to be a long half hour...
Danny, exhausted, hung in his restraints. He had spent the past few hours desperately trying to get loose, but he was beginning to tire. Eventually he decided to try and save his strength. No matter what Vlad said, he was sure that Sam, Tucker and Mimic would try and rescue him, even if Valerie wouldn't. He shut his light blue eyes with a sigh.
As he did so, the entrance to the lab was suddenly flung open. His head snapped up as he readied himself to deal with whatever Vlad had cooked up for him, but the figure... no, figures in the doorway were quite definitely not Vlad. It was Sam and...
Valerie?
But hadn't he transformed right in front of her?
He decided that he didn't really care much, as long as they were here to get him out. Sam quickly removed the restraints, and Valerie helped him to his feet. He gave them a delighted, but exhausted, grin.
"Thanks." He said as Valerie pulled his arm over her shoulders to support him. "I thought... Vlad showed me this video..."
Sam shook her head. "Oh, Danny. You know we'd never leave you behind."
Vlad was feeling more and more irritable. This meeting was not going well, as far as he was concerned.
Marcia Jacobs was supposed to just be signing the contract. That was what they had said over the phone. But instead, she was studying it in minute detail, pointing out every loophole and flaw she came across. He had overshadowed her boss into just agreeing to the contract, but evidently his subordinate was not as accepting. And he couldn't overshadow her, as she'd be sure to think something was up if she'd just signed it after spending so long studying it.
Marcia, however, was quite enjoying herself. She and Tucker, with the aid of the Fenton Phones and a tiny concealed camera, were quite happily dissecting the contract between them. It had become a competition between the two: Who could find the most problems in Vlad's contract? Tucker, so far, was winning.
She could feel the irritation coming off Vlad in waves, but she didn't care. The longer she spent stalling, the longer Sam and Valerie would have to get Danny out.
Despite how much she'd been enjoying herself annoying the man, she was relieved when Tucker told her that Danny was out.
With a grim smile, she looked up from the contract. "If I sign this contract, everything in the company that I currently control will belong to you." She sighed. "However, I have been asked to sign it, so I shall, no matter how ridiculous I think it is."
With a flourish, she signed Marcia Jacobs' name over the bottom of the contract. It already had Vlad's signature on, and another which she assumed belonged to Marcia's boss. She handed it back to Vlad, and stood.
Vlad leant back in his chair as he watched the annoying woman finally leave. He glanced at his computer screen, and his eyes widened.
Mimic started to run as she heard him shout behind her. And all hell broke loose.
I'd just like to say I have no idea what would actually go on in a business meeting, so I made it all up from scratch. If it didn't make sense, then this is what happened: Marcia controls part of the company. Signing Vlad's contract gives that part of the company to him. Her boss, overshadowed, has already signed the contract, and now Marcia has to, to complete the process. Like I said, I have no idea if that's how things work, but there you go. Any comments would be much appreciated, as I'm not too happy with this chapter.
Anyway, please review!