Sam PoV
Despite what Jazz told me and no matter how illogical it was, I still couldn't get the thought out of my head that maybe we were wrong. Maybe Vlad and Danny were the enemies they'd always been, and that when we showed up on Vlad's door step we'd see them fighting tooth and nail like always. None of the evidence or signs we had supported this, of course, but still, I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe we were wrong. Perhaps it was just blind hope.
"Tucker, don't bring that, we already have four of them." Jazz snapped as she frantically ran around the lab, throwing ghost weapon after ghost weapon into the specter speeder.
The portal was up and running, it's eerie green glow cast along the metallic walls and floor of the ghost lab. I organized everything as best as I could in the speeder, stacking it in neat piles and sticking guns and nets in drawers, making plenty of room for us to drive in and grab Danny.
Tucker looked a little lost in the ocean of lab equipment, and I couldn't blame him. The basement was a complete mess, yet Jazz seemed to know her way around perfectly. She easily maneuvered around half built machines and trigger-tender guns, picking out every useful tool we could possibly need.
"Alright Jazz, that's enough. We gotta get out of here before your parents show." I called, motioning for her and Tucker to get into the speeder.
"Just a few more things. I wanna be extra sure that we're prepared." she called, rummaging through a box.
"Jazz, we're fine, we've got to go." I called exasperatedly.
She stood straight, looking around the lab with a pained look before finally relenting. They jumped in quickly, Tucker knocking over a set of jack o' nine tails in the process. I felt a rush of exhilaration as he fired up the engine, hooking his PDA up to the weapons main frame. Jazz was in the back, throwing weapons already attached to a handy utility belt to me. The metal clasp fastened around my waist, it's light click bringing the full realization of what we were about to do.
I felt butterflies dancing in my stomach as the speeder rose into the air, turning toward the glowing portal slowly. The ectoplasm within twisted around and around, almost hypnotizing.
"Hang on Danny," I whispered as Tucker pressed on the accelerator, "We're coming."
With a jolt of speed, the giant machine flew into the world of green, instantly swallowed up by the ectoplasm that made up the ghost zone. I didn't have time to take in the beauty of the dead world. The hundreds of floating purple doors and twisting narrow caves were lost to me as I turned to the control panel.
"How do we find Vlad's portal?" Jazz asked, looking out the window as though expecting it to pop up out of the abyss.
"Well," I began slowly, "I know that each of those doors leads into another ghosts lair."
"What?" Jazz spun around, jaw dropping. "But there are hundreds of doors."
"I know, and Vlad isn't necessarily a ghost, so I don't think his mansion is behind any of these doors." I assured her. "We should probably look for a portal entrance that looks like yours. It's only ten minutes away, where ever it is. It can't be far."
Tucker was fiddling with his PDA again, pressing multiple buttons so fast that I got a little dizzy.
"I know it's in here." he mumbled to himself, frowning. When his face brightened and he pressed another button with success, I knew he had found whatever it was he was looking for.
"Ah ha! Here it is! Sam, remember when we tried to map out the ghost zone?" He asked, plugging some cord into his PDA and then pressing a few buttons on the control panel.
I blinked in surprise as our meager map popped up out of a hologram screen, complete with Danny and Tucker's mini tic-tac-toe game in the bottom corner.
"I took a picture of the map we have so far and saved it in my PDA in case we ever lost it. It's not much, but at least we know where Vlad's portal isn't. We can safely say it's not to the west or south." He scanned the scribbled map, thinking to himself.
"Wow Tucker. I'm impressed." I said, my eye brows raised.
"You guys tried to map out the ghost zone?" Jazz looked incredulous, "Don't you know that this zone is infinite? Mom and Dad sent out a probe the day we turned the portal on and it's still going."
"Yeah, Danny told us, but we figured we should map stuff close by so we roughly know where everything is, assuming they don't float away and move somewhere else of course." Tucker squinted at the map. "Hey look! I think I found-oh, nevermind, it's just a thumb print."
"Look, lets just head in the direction of Skulker's lair." I sighed impatiently.
"Skulker? Why?" Jazz and Tucker looked back at me with blank faces.
"We know Skulker works for Plasmius, right? So maybe Vlad's portal is close to his lair." It was a long shot, I know, but we didn't have any other leads.
They glanced at each other and shrugged, knowing that was the best we had. Tucker sat in the driver's seat, taking control of the autopilot and turning the speeder around sharply, almost throwing me and Jazz to the floor. I dragged myself into the passenger seat, giving him a dirty look.
"What? This thing is touchy." he defended himself, turning his eyes back to the zone and pressing on he gas.
"How long does it take to reach Skulker's lair?" Jazz asked.
"Roughly fifteen minutes, which means the portal would be between us and that psychotic hunter. Keep your eyes open." I scanned every scrap of surface and ectoplasm I could find, eyes peeled for anything.
We passed awkward rock formations, mind twisting caves, and foul looking pools. Little, weaker ghost's would occasionally throw rocks or ecto-beams at us, but it was too much of a hassle to get rid of them, so Tucker just threw up a shield. Jazz's eyes were also pressed against the glass, taking in as much as she could.
"Tucker, can you slow down? I can barely see a thing." she huffed, squinting her eyes.
I felt the speeder slow, more things coming into focus. Little dead trees sprouted from hunks of floating black ground, looking like gnarled hands. Tombstones haphazardly jutted out of the ground, the occasional glowing green hand breaking through the surface. All the stones either said Jane or John Doe. I shivered, and looked away. The Ghost zone was too creepy even for my tastes.
"This is so crazy! It's like finding a needle in a hay stack! How are we gonna pick out one portal in a world with thousands of them?" Jazz pulled at her hair, glancing at her watch.
I sighed, wishing Jazz would calm down. We passed floating doors, an old textbook, boxes, archways, a giant purple foot ball, two broken pianos, a twisted tree. The most random of things resided in this mystery realm and we couldn't find the one thing that actually belongs here. I mean come on, a giant purple foot ball? Where the heck did that come from?
"This is so impossible." I muttered, my own patience fraying as I glanced at my watch as well. Danny's already been at Vlad's for two hours now.
"Maybe his portal is hidden?" Tucker suggested, looking around as well.
"Sounds like something he would do." Jazz agreed.
Oh wait. Giant purple foot ball. Duh.
"There!" I yelled, pointing.
Tucker and Jazz immediately snapped their directions to where I was pointing, Jazz getting it.
"Where? I don't-" Tucker looked around, lost.
"Behind the football." I explained, pressing a button and pulling up a large gun outside the speeder. With one shot I blew the stupid pigskin to pieces, revealing a large glowing green portal much like the Fenton's.
Jazz and Tucker cheered happily, Tucker punching the air. The open portal renewed my determination, my nervousness with it. Our victory was short lived, however, as our situation brought the momentary high back down.
"Okay. So you all know the plan?" Jazz asked, handing Tucker a utility belt.
We all set our game face, nodding curtly. Tucker clasped the belt to his waist, quickly grabbing his PDA.
"You sure your going to be able to bust any locks we run into with that?" I asked, hoping Tucker's tech would be a match against the billionaires security.
"Yeah." He licked his lips nervously, "Their not expecting us, so we shouldn't have a problem."
Jazz nodded, looking into our eyes with a blazing fire.
"You guys ready?" she asked.
Our swift nod was enough and we instantly went into action. Tucker went back to the control panel and pressed a few buttons, opening the hatch and securing four lines to the portal, keeping the speeder steady. A ramp closed the space between the open hatch and the portal and we quickly clambered across.
"Lets hope they're not in the lab." Tucker mumbled.
We were lucky. A dark and empty lab met our wide gazes, the portal serving as the only light. We looked around the pristine lab, each counter top glistening with shine. Mysterious tools and sharp weapons hung neatly from the walls, casting eerie shadows from the light of the portal.
"Where's the exit?" Jazz whispered, eyes peeled for the slightest twitch of movement.
Me and Tucker turned our flashlights on, lighting up the dark corners. The beam passed over more tools and more empty counter space, finally reaching the outline of a door.
"There!" I hissed, silently bounding for the security panel.
Tucker was quickly in front of me, pulling a cord from his PDA and attaching it to the panel. Me and Jazz watched with mounting fear as he pressed button after button, his frown never moving. If we couldn't get past this door we couldn't save Danny, something we all knew.
"Ah ha!" He grinned and a light beep echoed around the lab, accompanied by a little green light.
Relief washed over us as the door smoothly slid open, revealing another part of the lab, just as pristine as the one behind us.
"It think this is the main chamber." Tucker whispered, flashlight roaming around the room.
"You make it sound like a prison." I muttered.
"It's Vlad's creepy ghost lab. It's about as close to prison as you can get." Tucker replied.
"Are those stairs?" Jazz asked, her disembodied voice coming from behind us.
Her beam lit up a staircase, leading up and out of the foreboding lab. Smiles broke out on our faces and we ran toward them, not hesitating to climb as fast as we could.
"Theres no security panel." Tucker stated, confusion in his voice.
He scanned the concrete wall in front of us, not even finding a crack for a doorway.
"I don't get it, where's the door?" he took a step back, frowning.
"You don't thing he doesn't have one, since he's half ghost and all, do you?" Jazz squeaked in a scared voice.
"Here, let me try." I pressed my hands against the wall an pushed as hard as I could against the concrete. I couldn't believe that there wasn't way out of this lab without ghost powers. What if something happened and Vlad lost his powers?
"Guys, help me." I grunted, pushing with all my might.
They threw themselves at the door, grunting and straining with effort. Miraculously, our work paid off, and the concrete slowly grated forward, falling into a little crevice and making a clicking sound echo around us. We looked around nervously, waiting for the giant boulder to fall and bring on an instant Indiana Jones reenactment, but instead the concrete wall slid upward, sliding smoothly.
We all breathed a sigh of relief, the first part of the mission completed. Before us was a massive study, full of books, chairs, and tables. Some of the tables were littered with papers and maps, other with open books. Of to the side there was an elegant desk with an expensive looking laptop on it. Papers covered the desk, along with a couple books weighing them down.
A single picture frame sat next to the laptop, it's gold edges quickly catching my eye. I slowly moved toward it, suspicion budding in my chest. Disgust quickly shadowed my face as I stared at the picture of Danny. It was a windy day and he was wearing a tight jacket and scarf, smiling and waving happily at the camera. It was a great picture of him, yeah, but the fact that it was on Vlad's desk sent a surge of hate and anger coursing through me. I promptly turned it face down, unable to rid myself of my stormy expression.
Tucker and Jazz didn't need to ask why I was so angry, and without a word we slipped out of the private study. I felt like a secret agent as I slinked down the halls, my ears peeled for the slightest noise. My friends followed behind me like shadows, hands hovering over various weapons on their belts.
The house was almost too quiet, or maybe it was just too big. Pointless pictures lined the walls, ugly statues filled space. It was like a haunted house, just creepier and clean. It seemed like ages before we finally came to a set of stairs, deep red carpet leading the way down. Our footsteps were silenced in the soft material, our hands gliding over the smooth wood of the railing with ease.
"What floor are we on?" Tucker whispered, but I shrugged. There was no telling in this ridiculous maze of a house.
Minutes stretched on as we lost ourselves in the winding hallways, my fearful apprehension melting into impatience. Danny was right, Vlad is excessive.
"This is so stupid." I grumbled.
"No, look, another staircase." Jazz pointed into the distance.
"Finally." I breathed, taking the lead.
It was obviously the grand staircase, splitting into two sets of stairs on either side of the massive entrance. The front door was down below, ornate carvings set into the dark wood. A glassy floor reflected the beautiful chandelier hanging high above, no doubt real crystals sparkling in the light. The high class décor didn't really register in my mind though, as a pair of muffled voices were floating up to us.
"Hear that?" I whispered, straining my ears.
Tucker and Jazz practicality stopped breathing, listening hard. Their eyes widened as they heard the sounds too, nodding frantically.
"Is that Danny and Vlad?" Tucker whispered.
"Only one way to find out."
The butterflies in my stomach doubled as I slowly descended the staircase, almost afraid of what I'd see. Maybe we were wrong. Hopefully we were wrong. Jazz and Tucker followed behind me, their shallow breathe almost undetectable. As we descended, the voices became louder, although still too muffled to understand what they were saying.
When my toes touched down on the ground floor, I half expected alarms to go off. The fact that we had gotten this far without a hitch was miraculous enough. I took a steadying breath, steeling myself, and pressed forward, my fists clenched. No matter what I saw, I would be ready to protect Danny.
The voices became clearer and clearer as we followed them, wandering down a part of the house that was becoming familiar. It took seconds for me to realize that we were heading toward the room Vlad took us to when we came here with Mr. and Mrs. Fenton.
"This is so boring." Danny's voice suddenly projected clearly from the den, sounding relaxed if not, as he said, completely bored.
We hastily scuffled behind statues and plants, peering into the doorway. My stomach was doing the tango as I looked in, expecting the worst. However, when I looked in all I saw was Vlad calmly sitting on the couch, looking at papers and an open text book on the coffee table in front of him. With a careful squint of my eyes I noticed it was our science text book for school.
"I thought you liked science." he called over his shoulder in a good natured voice, flipping through a few of the pages.
"Well yeah," Danny finally came into the picture, leaning over the couch and looking at the textbook. With a pang I noticed some marks on his neck that hadn't been there today at school, but from this distance I couldn't really tell what they were. They were probably just scratches from a ghost fight, not bite marks.
"But this is a subject that I'm actually good at. I'll probably do just fine on the test without studying."
So Danny really did lie to us. I gripped the edge of the door I was peaking behind, forcing my hurt down. Tucker's expression mirrored mine, but Jazz looked almost confused. I paid it no mind and listened as Vlad spoke again.
"Oh? So are there any more tests you should be worrying about?" Vlad glanced up at Danny, a knowing smirk on his face. Danny scowled.
"Have you been stalking me again?"
"Only for your own good."
"Says you." Danny mumbled.
"Stop complaining. You have an English test to study for."
"I don't even know what it's over. I'll do it tomorrow."
"No you won't, you're spending time with your friends tomorrow. Can't have them getting suspicious, now can we?"
This banter between them was beyond confusing for me. If Vlad really had done that to Danny, why are they acting like friends? Is he just playing up Danny's delusion that he loves him? But why would he go so far as to help him with his homework? He was acting like he actually cared about Danny. And what did he mean by us getting suspicious. Suspicious about what, their act?
"Wait, you want me to spend time with my friends?" Danny pretended to look shocked.
"Well I have to." Vlad grumbled, turning back around and leaning against the couch, crossing his arms in an annoyed fashion, "What with your little goth friend being so damn perceptive."
"Hey. Be nice." Danny scolded, adopting a more teasing tone. "Just because you don't like her doesn't mean you get to be a jerk."
"That's hardly fair. If I do recall, there was a certain teenager who once held a strong dislike against me and that never stopped him from being a jerk." Vlad looked pointedly at Danny.
"Yeah, but there's a difference. I was in denial."
Vlad laughed lightly, looking back to the science homework and picking up the text book.
"Alright, enough stalling. Come here and do your homework." He pointed to the spot next to him and Danny obeyed reluctantly, sitting on his knees next to him.
"Come on, Vlad. There are much better things we could do besides homework." I ignored the double meaning in his words, along with his tone of voice that matched those double meanings.
"Yes, but unfortunately you can't get into a good college on the grounds of having amazing sex everyday."
Tucker's jaw fell into an open gape. Jazz had her hands clamped over her mouth, eyes wide. Vlad's words were the only thing in my numb brain, pounding around my skull like a pair of atoms. He was kidding right? He had to be kidding.
"Bummer." Danny sighed forlornly, his voice bringing us back from our personal freak outs, sounding far away.
"Indeed. Now what was it you had to do? Chapter assessment right?"
Danny obviously wasn't listening to Vlad. He was staring at him, a plot forming behind his eyes. I watched, barely breathing, waiting to see what would happen next, knowing whatever it was I wasn't going to like it.
Danny was the one to start it. He was the one who made the first move, out of his own free will. His arms snaked up Vlad's chest, face moving closer to his ear. Vlad's words died on his lips as Danny started whispering something to him, biting and licking his earlobe. My stomach twisted itself into a dozen knots, making me feel sick. I watched as Vlad's once focused eyes lidded, a dark smirk crossing his face at whatever Danny was whispering to him.
In one smooth motion, faster then I could watch, Vlad suddenly pushed Danny to the couch, a strong hand pressing down on his chest to prevent escape. Danny's expression wasn't one of fear though, he actually looked...excited, triumphant almost. Vlad's smirk spread into a grin as he leaned over him, his face a whisper away from Danny.
"Daniel Fenton, I do believe I've spoiled you."
Danny giggled, curling his arms around Vlad's neck and bringing him even closer. Utter emptiness reverberated through me as Vlad pressed his lips against Danny's, the hand on his chest moving up to caress his face. I heard Jazz make an odd half choking sound, Tucker's whispered "No way.", but it didn't register in my numb brain. I couldn't tear my eyes away, refusing to believe it as it happened right in front of my face.
The emptiness churned into revulsion as I watched Vlad stick his tongue into Danny's mouth, tripling as Danny returned the action. I didn't want to see this. I wanted to turn around, walk away, and pretend it never happened. This was more than just wrong, it was more than just unnatural. Jazz was wrong. This wasn't rape at all. That much was easy to tell by how much Danny was fricking enjoying it. I felt betrayed by him, watching him squirm below his worst enemy, react to his every touch. It was disgusting and I hated it.
"Danny..."
Jazz seemed to have floated out of her hiding spot, a hand resting on the doorway, her face pale and clammy. Me and Tucker rose out of the shadows from behind her, our hearts beating in our mouths and similar expressions of shock and revulsion.
Danny and Vlad instantly broke apart, the most perfect dear in the head lights shot matching on both their faces. There was a horrible tense silence that didn't belong. I had a million things I wanted to scream, but I couldn't get them out. All I could see beyond a growing red haze was my best friend wrapped up in the arms of a villain and enjoying every minute of it.
"Get away from my brother you creep!" Jazz screamed suddenly, shattering the silence and letting all chaos loose.
She yanked an ecto gun from her belt, firing off shots like she was in the middle of a war zone. Vlad moved automatically, shielding Danny from the attacks and simultaneously throwing up a red energy shield.
I could barely see past the barrage of attacks, the room being taken up by gunshots and Jazz's enraged screams. From within the red shield, Danny and Vlad were crouching in defense. Danny looked petrified, white as a sheet despite the red tinge the barrier was giving him. Vlad seemed to shut down, his once blank expression of surprise turning into a focused glare.
Tucker joined in with Jazz, throwing everything he could at the shield even if it wasn't a ghost weapon. I was still stuck, still refusing to believe the fact that Danny's been ditching us all this time to go screw around with Vlad.
I watched as Vlad turned Danny toward him, looking right into his eyes. I couldn't tell what he was saying, but his stony face of determination gave away his goals. Danny nodded to whatever Vlad was saying, looking both guilty and unsure. For half a millisecond, Danny glanced over at me, our eyes meeting at once. Guilt flooded his face and he quickly looked away. My anger spiked at that, realizing that not only had Danny been lying to us for Vlad, but that he's been doing it because he wanted to, every single time. Vlad suddenly twisted his hands in Danny's hair and kissed him full on the lips, the desperate passion obvious even from this distance. At that, my anger surged, and the fire in me exploded.
With an irate howl, I pulled the first gun I could find and let loose a barrage of ectobeams. The shield held under the combined attacks, creating a shower of sparks that burst like fireworks all over the den. Eventually, between explosion after explosion, I noticed that the shield was empty. Danny and Vlad were gone.
"Guys! GUYS!" I screamed, feeling my voice start to go hoarse.
They managed to hear me over their attacks, tearing their eyes away from their target and turning their glares to me.
"Their gone." I panted, dropping my arm, the gun limp in my hand even though I wanted to continue shooting something.
They looked back to the shield just as if flickered out of existence, leaving a pristine circle in the middle of a war zone.
"Well where are they?" Tucker yelled, twisting around the room as though expecting them to pop up out of no where.
"He's taken him! Vlad's taken my brother and he's never coming back!" Jazz screamed in frustration, shooting her gun off at random.
"Are you kidding me?" I screamed at her, meeting Tucker and Jazz's scared expressions. "Danny hasn't been kidnapped! He hasn't been held against his will or brainwashed! Danny's betrayed us, plain and simple! He's been lying to us all this time just to get laid! And now, he's ditched us again!"
I didn't mean to take my anger out on her, but I was just so damn furious! How could Danny do something like this? Vlad's creepy enough that it might be believable from him, but Danny? Since when has my best friend decided it's okay to sleep with the enemy? Since when has he decided that pedophilia is okay? Since when did he decide he's fucking gay for Vlad? It's complete bullshit! It's not fair! Danny wasn't supposed to end up with his arch enemy, he was supposed to end up with me!
Rage, resentment, embarrassment, and betrayal built up inside of me and I screamed it all out, throwing my gun and hearing a window shatter, the destruction music to my ears. Tucker seemed to have lost his fire, staring at the ruined floor with a broken expression, his gun on the floor. Jazz was pacing everywhere, gripping her hair and scrunching up her face as though in pain. For a striving psychologist, she looked quite deranged.
"Where are you!" I bellowed, wanting to take my anger out on the ones who deserved it. I felt like I wasn't in control of my own mouth, the words pouring from it born straight from my rage, "Come out, you cowards! What the fuck is wrong with you? Why the fuck are you betraying your friends to be Vlad's boy toy, Danny? Why the fuck-"
Suddenly I was flying across the room, my chest feeling as though it'd been hit with a sledge hammer. Tucker and Jazz called my name with a yell just as my back slammed into the wall, creating several new cracks. I fell to the floor, the breath completely gone from my chest. I looked up to see what hit me and saw Plasmius where I once stood, a black shroud of fury replacing his usual ghostly glow and snapping out like whips.
"Don't you dare insult Daniel like that." he hissed, eyes red with blood lust.
Jazz and Tucker coward in understandable fright, and I felt thick fear slowly spread through my veins, dampening my anger like water to a fire. I held up my glare though, recalling my anger and fighting against my instinctual fear. But when white hot electricity starting shooting out from his palms, I couldn't help but listen to my instincts just a little bit.
He stared walking toward us, murder in his eyes. I scooted back, pushing myself into the wall. Jazz and Tucker grabbed my arms, dragging me to my feet. It was the first time I was actually scared of something, even though I tried to stand tall against it. Two powerful streaks of lightening hit on either side of our cowering group, continually shooting until we were outlined with the deadly electricity. Through the flashing light, I sneaked a look at Plasmius, his demonic expression causing another instinct to jump through me. Despite my furious emotions, I found myself hoping with all my might that Danny would come and save us again.
"Vlad! Stop!"
His voice was our saving light, the electricity ceasing almost immediately. My ears were muffled, brain still trying to erase the crackling of the lightening inches from our skin. Trembling, I looked up. Jazz and Tucker moved their arms away from me too, unwrapping our make shift cocoon and peaking out to make sure the coast was clear.
Danny was floating in front of Plasmius, hands splayed out on his chest as though holding him back.
"Vlad calm down, she didn't mean it. Don't hurt my friends and sister. This is all just a big mistake, it'll be fine, just don't-"
"Danny." Plasmius said in a much gentler voice, the murderous rage gone from his demeanor.
Danny was quiet, but I could see he was shaking slightly. Vlad sighed heavily, reaching up and holding Danny's arms. He dropped his hands from Vlad's chest, the tension visibly leaving his body.
"I'm sorry. I lost control of my temper." he said in a quiet voice, obviously just for Danny. I strained to hear him.
After a pause, Danny nodded.
"Promise you won't hurt them?" he asked.
"I promise."
The dust in the air was slow to settle, but everyone was quiet. We were too scared to move, fear of Vlad tearing us to shreds, and Danny and Vlad seemed at a loss, not quite sure how to handle this situation.
"Maybe...talking?" Danny shrugged to Vlad, fishing around for a solution.
"Seems that's about all we can do. Unless you're okay with using several memory fabricators I have down in the lab." Vlad asked hopefully.
"We'll keep that for plan B." Danny joked. At least I hope he was joking.
Slowly, they turned to face us, Danny looking at us warily, and Vlad with just flat out dislike. We all stared at each other in total silence, waiting for the other to say something. Danny looked from Vlad to us, reminiscent of our web cam chat from weeks ago.
"Um..." he changed back to his human self, looking to Vlad. Vlad followed his lead, rolling his eyes and going back to glaring at us.
"So uh...you guys wanna talk?"