Chapter 9:

Dan, Sam and Tucker

Chapter Warnings:

Strong Language, violence.

Started:

January 10th 2013

Edited:

February 5th 2013

Uploaded:

February 5th 2013

Chapter Rating:

T

Dan's POV.

Vlad cackled, his voice ringing across the field and into my ears, causing my anger to jump from simmering to boiling. I could crush him and his little army with my pinky finger if I so wanted. I was stronger than he was, and I had his ghost half inside of me, so I knew all of his tricks. There was no way he'd be able to outsmart me, not when his mind had been corrupted with the power he now found at the tip of his fingers.

His army lay below him, standing stoic and blank faced, each clone a perfect rendition of Danny, though it was obvious they were mutated with whatever it was that made them explode. Vlad wanted Danny back, and that was why he had come out into the open in the first place. He wasn't playing around anymore. This was the end.

However, Danny was too weak to come out and fight. He was currently in a coma, with the medical staff working overtime to try and help him out of it, and Sam wouldn't leave his bedside. She was glued to him like a spider to its web, watching and waiting for the first sign of his recovery. She had abandoned every other ambition she had, and although I wouldn't have let her fight anyway, she hadn't even acknowledged my warning that Vlad was approaching. It bothered me, to say the least.

Beside me, a large dragon shifted, its lips peeled back and teeth bared, wings half spread to make itself bigger. Large, shearing claws dug into the ground, more than ready to get on with the fight. I had told the humans to stay back. Stay underground and hidden, because this wasn't something they could handle. It was bad enough that I had to rely on dragons to help me; I didn't need pathetic meatballs getting in my way as well.

Especially not with so many of them already too scared to be much use. The scent of fear wafting down those tunnels and through those buildings was both delicious and over whelming at the same time. They were determined to help, determined to fight, but it was useless against Vlad's clone army. The Danny's Vlad had at his disposal for an army were much too volatile and dangerous to be put against normal humans; they would explode and tear them apart in an instant if given the chance.

At least the dragons had a thick armor, naturally growing on them. Floating up so I was at Vlad's level—and so that the dragons knew just who was in charge, though I'm sure they couldn't really forget, my power level was well beyond theirs—we locked eyes. His eyes, natural pools of red and hate were twisted with insanity. I'd never seen him look so crazed before, even when he was going after mom—Maddie. I corrected myself. That half of my life was over, even if I was being tamed enough to help battle Vlad, I was not that weak little Phantom boy anymore. I was Dan. Mighty and powerful.

And this stand still was boring.

I knew that the Danny's would react the instant either of us gave the word, and Vlad was just waiting, assessing me and trying to figure out what I was going to do. With the tiniest twitch of my fingers, the dragons behind me roared and sprang into action and I shot one fist up and sent a blast in Vlad's direction.

The powerful ecto energy hit home, but instead of knocking Vlad back, he just disintegrated, leaving nothing but a plume of pink smoke in his wake.

A clone.

"Fuck," I muttered under my breath as I turned, just as I was forced upwards from a blast from a suicide-Danny. Those explosions were powerful and they caused updrafts of hot air, messing with flying and levitation. Looking around and through the crowd of snarling, angry beasts and explosions I tried to pin point the real Vlad, but was coming up empty handed. It was just like him to send a clone instead of himself. It wasted less energy and put him out of direct fire.

So where could he be?

Sam's POV

The water was cold now, but that might be better than what I was already putting on him, it would seep into his skin and fight off his fever, maybe it would help him wake up. I wasn't holding out much hope. Danny was pretty deep into his coma, he was too thin and he was hurt pretty badly. The doctors didn't know what else to do for him, and without any source of fresh plants or supplies, they had no way to make any sort of medications. They could only hope the power would stay on so he could stay on his machines and his IVs until he comes out of the coma on his own.

Because everyone thought he would, because he's a ghost. At least a half ghost, unless Vlad had done something to him that took that part away, but we couldn't have two Dan's… not with Vlad still having his own ghost half, it was impossible.

I put the cloth back in the water and stretched; the vertebrae in my back popping when I stretched and settling back into position. I should really be asleep as well, the doctors were constantly hovering over me and around me, wondering when exactly I was going to stay still and let my own wounds heal. But they were nothing compared to what Danny has, and I couldn't just leave him alone. He wouldn't leave me alone. So leaving him just wasn't an option for me, either.

"Sam?" Tucker again, I turned and frowned at him, wondering what exactly he was doing here again. He'd been checking on us for so often, I was wondering if he was even doing his job. "Is there any difference?"

I shook my head quietly, patting Danny's forehead with the cloth, taking the sweat away. Anyone else could do this too, just sit here and tend to him and make sure he didn't overheat, but I took it upon myself to make this my job. After all, I'd already proven that I was useless on the field. I wasn't any good to anyone right now, anyway. There was no way I'd be able to get out there and actually battle, let alone take out my personal vendetta against Vlad. He was too strong for me, and I had grudgingly admitted it. There was no way I could take him out, and I just had to hope that Dan was able to do it for me.

"There's no difference," I whispered, feeling that anything louder than a whisper might wake him up. I got up, picking up the bowl of water and coming to the door, squeezing past Tucker, who quietly closed it after me. Danny was alone with the beeping of the machines and the drip of the IV to keep him company, but not for long. I would never leave him alone for long. "I don't know what Vlad did to his ghost half, but it must have been something horrible for him to be out for this long…" I looked down at the dirty water and headed towards the nearest sink, which was in the kitchen, Tucker following me like a loyal dog.

"It must have been something serious," Tucker stated the obvious as I poured the old water out. "We might need to get him to Frostbite." I hadn't thought of that. Frostbite might be the only being able to help Danny in his current condition, but how would we get to him? Vlad has the only working ghost portal, and I doubted that Dan would make one for us to help Danny. Dan wanted Danny dead; he didn't want to help him in any way.

Turning on the tap and rinsing out the bowl, I thought about it, biting my lip as I did. "We'd have to go after we defeat Vlad, and use his portal."

"Dan could make one." Tucker said with a shrug, but I ignored him. I wasn't going to ask Dan to do that, not after everything he'd done for us so far, against his nature. "Since he already has to open one to get the dragons home, we could just hop in with them…" I hadn't thought of that, and it was a good point, but I didn't really want to be talking about Dan right now. I had Danny to worry about after all.

"How is it going out there, anyway?" I asked, making sure the water in the bowl was lukewarm before turning and starting to walk back to Danny's room. Walking had become easier, now. It still hurt, but it wasn't as gruelling as it had been.

"I'm not sure, Dan hasn't sent any reports yet." Tucker was watching, I knew he was, but he wasn't able to see everything. "I know that the dragons are fighting, and we've lost a few, but their doing fairly well against the explosions, just like we'd hoped."

That was good. If the dragons could take care of the bulk of the explosions, it would be less for the human army to encounter later. It seemed too good to be true. The building was under constant stress from all the explosions, however, and they were constantly shifted around from the vibrations. The old wood groaned during particularly bad hits, but still held firm. If Dan could keep them away from the building, they'd be alright.

"I hope he's got everything under control." I said as I put my hand on the doorknob to Danny's room, turning to face Tucker, "And that this is the final battle, like he keeps promising us." Twisting the knob and opening the door, I heard a gasp from Tucker as his eyes locked on something in the room. With a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach, I slowly turned around. It took all my might not to gasp as well.

"Well, well Samantha… Nice to see you're still alive."

Tucker's POV

It wasn't going as well as it was supposed to be, and that was making me worried. I watched through an old pair of binoculars as Dan hunted for Vlad, having lost him to his clone in the first strike. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, and we'd all thought that Dan would have known better than to lose Vlad like that. It should have been obvious that Vlad was simply a clone, that the real one was still at large and probably using all his resources to find Danny.

With that thought, I knew where I most needed to be. I grabbed one of the more powerful guns and tucked it into my belt, and headed down into the subbasement, where we were currently keeping Danny. Mostly because it was cool down there, and it would help him with his fever, but also because it was the most secure place; it was out of direct line of fire, and under several layers of trained people, so it was that much harder for Vlad or his arm to penetrate and get at.

But now that Vlad was missing from the battle field, I knew where he was going to be, and with everyone busy with their assigned positions, I headed down and opened the door, knowing Sam would be annoyed by yet another interruption from me. But this time, it was worth it. "Sam?" I called out quietly, making sure not to startle her. She turned to look at me, clear signs of exhaustion on her face. "Is there any difference?" I knew that she—or at least, who she used to be—would not appreciate any interruptions, and certainly not from someone who was there to protect her. She wouldn't want to be protected. She liked to believe she could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, however she wanted, and that she would be okay. That she didn't need anyone's help, or anyone to protect her. But this time she was wrong. Not that I was going to openly admit that I was here to help her, but it was a start, at least.

We talked about little things for a while, I brought up what I'd been thinking; that Frostbite might be the only one able to help Danny in his current condition. He'd done it once before, and his medical facilities were the best in the ghost zone. There wasn't much else the humans could do for him; not if it was a ghost related thing keeping Danny unconscious. I already knew that Dan probably wouldn't be much help when it came to getting Danny into the ghost zone, but it was worth a suggestion to her, because if anyone could convince him, it would be Sam. But even she wasn't keen on the idea of it, so that meant that the only option they really had left was to build their own portal, or get to Vlad's.

So they'd have to wait till Vlad was taken care of.

Tucker had strategically placed guards inside the subbasement, to keep Danny and Sam protected, even if she didn't quite catch on. Her head wasn't how it used to be yet, she was still slow on some things and she was more distracted by Danny than concentrated on the war effort. So it wasn't much of a surprise when Sam hardly noticed young Riley standing in the kitchen with them—each floor had utilities, so that no one had to run up and down stairs with full trays of food—watching them carefully. He had asked to be placed with Sam, and I hadn't found reason to disagree, he seemed protective of her since he found her, his pride swelled larger than it normally was for a dragon. It was a nice change, and Riley was strong, so it wasn't a bad idea.

I waited with her while she refilled the bowl of water, and walked her back to the room. The pit of my stomach was twisting in an unnerving way, and I didn't like it. I had become reliant on my gut instincts, and they were currently screaming at me about something. This was confirmed when Sam opened the door and I saw Vlad standing there, holding Danny up by the hair, the wires and IV tube handing limply from their stands, trails of blood running down Danny's arm from where they were ripped out.

"Well, well Samantha… Nice to see you're alive." Vlad said, his voice coming out like toxins as he brought one hand up, his fingers gently gliding along Danny's chin and down his neck, tracing his jugular. "And it's nice to see this boy alive, too." He said with a mocking smile, shaking Danny once for us to see. With him holding Danny, I couldn't fire at him. I hadn't gone for my weapon yet, not wanting to blow my cover. Danny was being used as a human shield, and we all knew that.

"What do you want?" Sam asked, her voice carrying its usual defiant streak, reminding me of our younger days.

"Isn't it obvious?" Vlad drawled, swinging Danny's limp body lazily. "I came for my property, which you so rudely stole from me."

"He isn't property!" Sam shouted, her hold on the bowl in her hands so tight I was surprised it hadn't shattered yet.

"Oh, but isn't he?" Vlad asked, bringing a hand close to Danny and lighting it with his pink energy. Danny gasped and twitched, the first sign of him still being in there since we'd gotten him back to base. "I'm the only one that can revive him, after all…" Vlad grinned, toying with us like a cat with a mouse.

I couldn't stand it anymore, I couldn't stand Vlad shuffling Danny around like a rag doll, he was a living being! Vlad, in his insanity, was going too far! "Put him down!" Surprisingly, my voice didn't quake. It was more of a command than anything, but in the split second that I'd said it, I already had my gun out, charged and aimed at Vlad's stupid forehead. The man was still in his human form, so I wasn't sure how much damage the gun would do, but I was hoping enough that it would send him back and away from Danny. Not that I would risk firing it yet.

The room was so quiet now you could hear a pin drop, so it wasn't hard to miss the pounding of feet as Riley arrived, his eyes glowing dangerously at the threat. Vlad simply raised an eyebrow at me and then glanced at Riley. He knew that the boy was a dragon; he had to, after Riley had blown a hole through his base to get Sam out, but right now the young dragon couldn't hope to transform here. Being eight feet tall had its disadvantages sometimes. "I said, put him down." I repeated slowly, nodding towards Danny's bed while not taking my eyes off of Vlad. "Put him down, and I won't shoot." That was a lie, but I was hoping that Vlad wouldn't catch it.

"Dear boy, I think you're a little too cocky," Vlad's voice was right in my ear, and I realized too late that he'd sent out a clone when I felt something stab into my side. Through the ringing in my ears, I could hear Sam screaming and Riley shouting, but I couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on.

This wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to be there for Sam. I was supposed to protect her and be the hero for once. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. I looked up, my weapon on the floor and forgotten as my vision blurred at the edges and I looked up at Vlad, trying to pull myself together; to get back up and fight him like I knew I could. I had to be there for Sam. I had to protect her.

Vlad's mouth moved, but for the ringing in my ears, I couldn't make sense of it, and suddenly he was kneeling next to me, a dark grin on his face as he reached towards my head, his hands glowing with his energy before releasing it.

It's dark. And nothing hurts anymore.

A/N:

Sorry this chapter is so late! I hope it makes up for itself though!

Also i'm sorry if there's mistakes I've missed; I have to get to work now and I wanted this to be uploaded before I left, so I don't have time to edit it!

I'll try to update all my stories faster, they're all almost done! :D

Also, whoever is still with me with these new or old... I LOVE YOU.