When It's Not the Frootloop

I was up worrying the rest of the night, we all were. Danny and I missed yet another day of school trying to figure out where the hell Tucker was and when it seemed like we were going to get nowhere, there was a firm knock on our door.

At first, I thought it was going to be our favorite teacher again, coming to check up on us for missing yet another day of school, but it wasn't. I nearly blew a gasket when I saw who it was. The nerve the guy must have had to show up after Tucker's gone missing.

Maddie opened the door for us, on the same train of thought as me and Danny had been. I saw her posture stiffen as she realized it wasn't Ms. Stuth coming back to bug us.

"You bastard!" There was the sound of a fist making contact with a face. "That's for trying to hurt my son." Another punch sounded. "That's for trying to hurt Sam." And yet a third, and final punch sounded, much louder and harder than before. "And that's for just being an asshole in general!" Well, whoever had made it on Maddie's hit list, they were bound to have dual black eyes and a broken nose now. Then it hit me that our visitor had apparently tried to hurt me and Danny.

I caught a glimpse at who was in the doorway, and very nearly ran up to punch the frootloop for myself. Instead, I opted to be slightly more diplomatic in the interest of preventing a murder.

"So first you kidnap Tucker, then you have the nerve to show up at our door? You have got to be completely and utterly fucking insane." The man in the doorway was none other than Vlad Masters.

"Calm down, Samantha. I did not abduct your friend. Believe it or not, I actually came here to help." I sent Vlad a stone hard glare.

"Then where the hell is he if you didn't take him?"

"I don't know! Why are you adamant that I took him in the first place?" Vlad seemed thoroughly confused by the accusations we were throwing his way, but until I knew otherwise, I was going to act like it was him.

"It was your voice on the other end of the call last night, Vlad. We aren't idiots." Danny was behind me now, not buying anymore of Vlad's story than I was.

"What call?" The frootloop's face only warped to showed more confusion at what was being said.

"I have it recorded, I'll be right back. You two keep your eyes on the asshole for me." I shot Vlad a glare as I noticed Danny now had his hands up and charged with green energy.

It only took me a minute to retrieve the tape and another to fast-forward it to the end. I'd been recording phone calls ever since I got here, I never thought I'd actually be grateful for it though. The message played through once more, but now that I was a little more awake, I noticed something a little off about it, I couldn't tell what it was I just knew something wasn't right.

"Sam? Danny? I need help. Vlad grabbed me on the way home. I need you t-"

"Honestly, boy. Did you really think I wouldn't notice it if you tried to call for help? Let that be a warning." There was a click as the line went dead once more.

"Did you not hear the slight waver in the kidnapper's voice? Honestly, Samantha, with your background, I figured you'd know a imposture when you heard one." I really hated that the frootloop knew so much about my past, it made him even more of a pain in the ass.

"He's right Sam, there was a waver in the voice." Danny had relaxed one hand enough to place it on my shoulder.

"But if it wasn't Vlad, then why did Tucker say it was?" As Maddie said this, all the little puzzle pieces fell into place.

"Shit. He's in the Ghost Zone." I didn't know how he'd gotten there, but it was the only way someone could have fooled Tuck into thinking Vlad had taken him.

"Now that that's all cleared up. Can I come in or are you going to let me freeze to death out here?"

"A smart man wouldn't have even given us that option." Maddie snarled in response, she was still pissed off at the asshole and I didn't blame her. Hell, if I had control over it, I'd probably become Plasmius just to kick his ass with his own powers.

I put on my signature glare. "One false move, Masters, and you'll wish we'd left you out there to freeze." Vlad cringed a little at the threat, but didn't comment and quietly came inside.

"What do you want?" Danny's voice was as hostile as my own had been moments before.

"I came to help, Daniel. I know what Plasmius does to a person" Vlad looked to me. "No doubt you've dreamed of murdering those close to you by now." He raised an eyebrow at me.

"It's really none of your business. I can handle him on my own."

"And that's exactly why you didn't transform upon seeing me, I'm sure." He voice dripped the sarcasm I almost always held. The temptation to just let Plasmius have his way with the frootloop was getting more and more intense with each passing second.

"I don't want your help Vlad, just stay the hell away from me before I make what's left of your life a living hell."

"I was going to tell you how to get rid of him, but if you're so intent on ignoring my help, then I'll leave." He stood and walked to the door, turning to address us one more time before walking out all together. "Let me just say this, there's a reason I never got rid of him myself; the price was too great, even for me." And with that, he walked out, leaving the three of us with two mysteries.

Where was Tucker? And how the hell do I get rid of Plasmius?

So...I just thought of another thing that's going to get me killed by the end of this story... :P At this rate, I won't live long enough to finish it. ...not that any of you know what I'm talking about yet... :P

Comments and feedback are welcome as always! :D

Invisible One