Jeanette9a: When I saw your review I rolled my eyes "So not going into that…" was my exact thoughts. Sometimes Jean you startle me.
Guests 1,2,&3: I try to update when I can but I have other things in my life too, i.e-school, family, horses that need breaking in. But I appreciate your Reviews. Out of curiosity are all of you the same person? 3 reviews within 3 minutes is kinda fishy-its ok if you are the same person I'm just curious.
Royalfuschia/Guest4: Aww thanks :D
Pearl84: You're the one who brought up that image..not me. As for the guardian I thought I gave it away in the last chapter. And why on earth would I give up on this story…I'm interested in it too and I'm pretty sure IF-Vlad would kick my butt if I did.
Zinnia99: Thanks.
CHiKa-RoXy: Thank you! I'm glad it was interesting.
Wingfish: Thank you
Well my friends, here we are! The reason this is up so EARLY is because I caught a cold and I really didn't feel like doing anything else. And I wanna get this story over and done with so I can start on one that's been bugging me for a while.
I DO NOT OWN DANNY PHANTOM OR ITS CHARACTERS!-put it big since I forgot it in the last one.
Chapter Ten
Danny without anything else to do started bobbing his head against the stone behind him, making a dull thud each time his head landed. He hoped that doing this would help him think because he usually did this when doing his math homework and that always somehow managed to get done, at least when he wasn't chasing down ghosts that is. It didn't seem to offer him any support this time though because even after a couple minutes of it only managed to give him the start of a headache. He was surprised that Vlad hadn't gotten after him for it and glanced over in the man's direction, thinking that maybe he was asleep. His gaze fell on Vlad and discovered that the man was awake but appeared to be deep in thought. Danny seriously considered saying "Blam!" really loud to see if his arch-enemy would react in any way. Thinking better of it he laid down on his cot and lay there trying to sleep, there was really nothing else to do.
It looked as if he was looking at the ceiling but in reality he was looking into space and his own thoughts. Vlad was having a difficult time coming to grips with the fact that HE was the guardian. If he was a lesser man it would maybe have drove him insane but as it was he was concerned as well as frightened. He brought a gloved and manacled hand up to his face and studied the irons that bound him. He knew that they couldn't be cut by any means that he and Daniel normally possessed nor any more mundane means. So that meant that they had to be undone by something more extraordinary. His tongue curled as much as it could around one of the fangs hidden inside his mouth. On an impulse he turned so that what he was doing was hidden from the boy's sight. Then he summoned forth one drop of acid and let it fall from his mouth onto the chain. A smile touched his lips as he saw it eat a tiny hole in the hard metal the smile vanished however as he realized that even if he managed to get out of his chains he and the boy would still be trapped in the room-there was no windows and no doors. Unless they phased out… Experimentally he put his hand against the wall and tried to make it go intangible but pulled it back quickly, hissing in pain.
He heard Vlad hiss but didn't open his eyes, because he had decided that whatever the fruit-loop was doing he could do it on his own. This was partly due to the fact that even if the older hybrid would include him in it he wouldn't be able to reach him anyways. Although he was curious as to why Vlad had hissed he didn't feel like asking. "Maybe he turned into a snake." He considered this jokingly at first but the more he thought about it the more he wondered. Vlad had after all became a vampire and that had added to his already great supply of powers. He looked over at the man "Hey Vlad?"
Wondering how many times his thoughts would break because of Daniel, Vlad took the shredded glove off his hand grimacing at the blood(ectoplasm) on it and grumbled "What?"
"Can you turn into a snake?"
The question startled Vlad for a second but then he rolled his eyes as he turned over to look the teen in the eye. "No Daniel I cannot."
"Have you even tried?"
Vlad mopped his face with his non-bloody hand "No I haven't and why would I?"
"I don't know. But doesn't your vampireness give you the ability to morph?"
"Even if it did and if I could, what purpose would turning into a snake serve?"
Danny pretended to look stumped "Gee I don't know…Maybe slip OUT of the CHAINS?"
"Daniel even if I did, how would we know if I could change back and how would we get out of this room? There are no windows or doors."
"You must've hit your head sometime. We've got ghost powers remember?"
Here Vlad looked at his bleeding hand and let out a low ominous chuckle "Try it then, you little rat, try it. But I suggest you only try to make your finger go through the wall, but when have you ever tried listening to me."
Worried by Vlad's tone of voice but nevertheless determined to try it so he wouldn't look like a scaredy-cat, Danny turned towards the wall. He brought his arm up and glanced at his pointer finger until it turned intangible. He then pressed it to the wall, no sooner had he done this when he let out a big "OW! HEY!" took his own white glove off and proceeded to suck his finger. When he brought his injured finger back out of his mouth he glared accusingly at Plasmius. "You KNEW that was going to happen!"
Vlad held up his sliced up hand for Daniel to see "Yes I did, but you should be thanking me because had I not cautioned you, you would have shredded your entire torso and most likely part of your head."
Even though he knew it was true Danny couldn't help but wish Vlad's hand had been ripped up a little more. "Served the stupid cheese-head right." He directed his focus back on the wall, pretending that it was the most interesting thing in the world.
His own attention back on the small hole his acid had ate in the metal; Vlad pondered the situation both he and Danny were in. He COULD free himself and the boy from the chains but that would leave them stuck in the same space. They would be able to reach each other though; this was the real dilemma that Vlad found himself facing. If he was free and his…vampireness chose to overwhelm him before he could release Danny then the young hybrid would be utterly defenseless before him-of course the teen was powerless even with his powers if Vlad were to bind him with his mind. Yet if Vlad were to drink from Daniel regularly, wouldn't that keep the monster from taking over? Since he had no proof that it would Vlad discarded it immediately. Even if it could, every time Daniel turned human the boy would become weaker with each time. This was because every time the teen morphed his own human half would require food to replace the blood lost from Vlad's dinner.
His tongue feeling around a bottom fang, Plasmius gazed at the boy. Could he try and make his acid spray over on Daniel's chains? It would leave himself chained and the boy free to do…whatever. Not without hitting him it seemed. Seeing what it did to the sturdy metal he was sure the effects would be more than devastating if the teen were to come in contact with it. He cursed and kicked the wall with the back of his foot in frustration. For the second* time in his life he had no idea what to do.
Danny looked over at the older hybrid, it was plain to see that the man was aggravated and Danny couldn't say he blamed him. They were stuck together, as if that wasn't bad enough, in a place that seemed impossible to get out of all because they were trying to make Vlad unvampiric. If that was even a word. He thought back on what Vlad had told him back when they were at the older crossbreed's mansion and a thought suddenly occurred to him. Why had Vlad wanted that silly necklace anyways? Sure it had been pretty but Vlad could afford anything with his stash of money, there had to have been some unusual properties about it. "Vlad?"
"No Daniel I can't turn into a snake, spider, dragon, gryphon, crocodile** or anything else you might've come up with in the last twenty minutes."
Danny glared at Plasmius "That wasn't what I was going to ask."
Vlad cocked an eyebrow, making Danny jealous "Really?"
"Yes, really. I was wondering about something else entirely." Seeing Vlad waiting for him to expound he continued "What did you want that silly necklace for anyways?"
Plasmius remained silent for a moment then shrugged "It had some unusual properties that I wished to harness for myself. Surely by now you have realized that I am a selfish man." The man's last sentence was mocking.
"Yes, but usually no matter what you do you always have a good reason for it. Spit it out Plasmius."
Hurriedly tossing away the idea to spit acid close to the boy the older hybrid responded "Why? What purpose would it serve?"
"Maybe we could figure out why that bipolar lady had it in the first place."
"Hmmm, I would've thought that part would have been obvious. Clearly it was meant as a trap and I unfortunately fell for it."
"What was the necklace's powers anyways. And don't try to step around it again I actually caught what you were doing this time."
"How remarkable, maybe you should spend more time in dungeons. As for the necklace it…." Here Plasmius paused because he still didn't want to tell the boy but yet what harm could it do? "It makes the wearer loved."
Danny almost let out a snort of laughter but kept it in check because he decided that 1: If Vlad wore it around his mother…. And 2: he wanted to get out of this cell alive. "Oh. But why would the vampires have it?"
"Tell me Daniel, what is one of the most hated things on the earth?"
Danny thought this was a random question but he answered it anyways "Ummm. " He thought about saying 'you' but decided against it "Jocks***?"
This made Vlad let out a bark of laughter "Not the answer I was looking for but I suppose it might work. No Daniel I was hoping you'd answer 'vampire'."
"I don't know…a lot of girls at school would disagree with you."
"Oh they say that but do you really believe that if they were faced by something that would…drink them dry," here Vlad paused for a minute recalling the accursed dreams "that they would have any feelings whatsoever for it. Cruel irony, Daniel. To think you have finally obtained an item that will make others love you only to become something so feared and despised."
The two hybrids fell silent after that and the only noise in the cell was the sound of their breathing.
Danny jerked awake to the sound of harsh coughing and quickly looked over at Vlad. The man was sitting on his cot, hunched over his face stuffed into his elbow in an effort to muffle the sound. Danny stood up and went as far as he could go towards the older hybrid, watching with concern.
Finally the blasted coughing came to an end and Vlad sat back against the wall and closed his eyes. He opened one red orb a little when he realized he was being stared at "Its rude to stare Dan-" And as immediately as it had stopped it begun again.
"I finally found something good out of this Plasmius," Smiled Danny "It keeps you from talking."
His lungs still trying to rid themselves of who knew what; Vlad glared over at the boy and was sure that if he could he would've already strangled the boy by now. At last he was able to respond "Shut up you little rat!" but his voice was scratchy when he said this.
Danny just kept smiling as he went back to his own makeshift bed and kept it there until he was certain Vlad couldn't see. When he was sure the smile fell "He's getting sick again because he hasn't had enough blood." Peeking out of the corner of his eye at the vampire/ghost he wondered how long Vlad could keep it up.
He knew the signs, he'd had them before, and he knew that he had about a week until he was as bad as when Daniel and his parents had arrived at his manor. How much time he had after that was really the question. He had to figure out by then how Daniel was supposed to get out of this accursed cell, he had no real hope of his own self leaving. He studied the wall next to him then looked down at his chains and then his gaze went back up to the wall. A small smile graced his face as he put a single drop of acid on a finger, inwardly marveling how it didn't burn him, and touched it to the wall. His smile fell when he lifted his finger and saw that no hole had been made. He had thought that it would work and his hope had risen only to be dashed. "That seems to be my life." Inwardly cursing he lay back on his pallet and closed his eyes.
His red orbs snapped open as his lungs once again protested against nothing in particular. He had been about to sleep but had been ripped out of it by the infernal coughing. He supposed that this wasn't necessarily a bad thing because it kept those horrible dreams away. Done coughing, he took in some breathes of sweet air, trying to ignore Daniel's stare. His own gaze now directed at the ceiling he took note of the fact that he was much more exhausted after this fit. He closed his eyes again not trying to sleep but instead attempting to come up with some way that they could escape. But the darkness behind his lids gave no solution. The two hybrids were running out of time.
*The first obviously would have been when he received his powers. **Peter Pan stuff kicking in there. ***I don't like jocks because they were always mean to me like they were to Danny(Though I punched back, unlike Danny). That's about it. I thank you in advance for your Reviews!