Chapter 11

He watched the other program pacing before him around the room. Confusion spun through his head, his brow pinching in the center as he tried to puzzle out the meaning of Plasmius' words. "What are you even talking about?" Danny questioned when it was clear that the program wouldn't respond without some kind of prompting. Minutes ticked by slowly since Plasmius first released his hold on Danny's chin.

Plasmius stopped in the middle of his pacing and snapped his red eyes toward Danny. "Your parents never spoke to you about Vlad Masters?"

After a quick moment to search his memories, Danny shook his head, not recalling any mention of the man from his parents. "Why? Are they supposed to know him or something?"

Plasmius snorted with a look in his eyes that Danny couldn't quite place. Anger? Frustration? Loneliness? It was all a jumbled mess, flashing behind that translucent red visor. "Of course they wouldn't speak to you about me," he muttered, his hands clenching and uncurling at his sides.

Lost summed up what he was feeling quite nicely at that moment. "Why would my parents talk to me about you?" He pointed a white gloved hand at the program. "My parents don't see programs as actual beings. And how would they even know this Masters guy? Can you please start making sense?"

The way his eyes narrowed, that slight flaring of his nostrils, the curling sneer of his lip, all made it look like Plasmius was about to start ranting about how talking to Danny was like talking to a brick wall. With a deep breath, he stood up straight, somehow managing to calm himself enough to speak without screaming at Danny. "Perhaps that pea sized brain of yours isn't capable of grasping the obvious-"

"Hey!" Danny protested, anger crawling through his veins. He was no genius, not like his parents, not like Jazz, but he was no moron either.

"So let me spell it out of you," Plasmius continued, pretending not to hear Danny. "Your parents went to college at the University of Wisconsin where they studied the inner workings of the NetZone." His mouth twitched when he caught Danny blinking in surprised that the program knew anything about his parents. "Despite what you may think, your parents always believed there was something more to the programs and viruses running through the NetZone. Do you honestly think they would have started inventing weapons to combat viruses directly if they didn't think they could be pulled from the NetZone and given a physical form?"

"I," Danny felt stunned at Plasmius' words, "knew that." He really did. The invention he stepped into, examined to see why it didn't quite work when his parents plugged it in and tested it, was the exact reason he had his powers. That particular invention was meant to open a means for them to pull out viruses from the NetZone so that his parents could examine the viruses in a manner that no one ever considered, dissecting them as if they were living beings. His prior comment wasn't quite right. His parents did see programs and viruses as beings. They simply didn't considered them to have feelings in the same manner as humans. They could experiment on and cut up a live virus, even destroy its coding to nothing, because it wasn't human. He swallowed, feeling sick, a bile rising up in the back of his throat, as he recalled the Data Deleter and the fact that in parents' eyes, Phantom was just another virus.

From the smirk on his face, Plasmius clearly noticed Danny was realizing his error. "During their college days, your parents worked on invention for the simply purpose of-"

"Yeah, I know," Danny interrupted in a growl of annoyance. "They call it the Fenton Material Portal."

Plasmius snorted at the name. "They weren't the only ones that worked on that invention in college."

Danny jerked, his eyes growing wide as the pieces connected in his head. "Wait. You don't mean-"

"Yes," Plasmius agreed before Danny could even finish his thought. "Vlad Masters contributed to that little project. But, alas, he suffered an accident when they tested the prototype of your parents' invention. I'm sure you know quite well the effects that come with that type of accident." His mouth thinned grimly, eyes watching for Danny to realize something from that statement, to make the connection.

Danny stared at the program, and it slowly worked its way through his brain, the gears grinding until it finally hit him. Green eyes grew impossibly wide as he stumbled back a step. "No," he gasped as his gaze remained locked with Plasmius' burning red eyes. "You're Vlad Masters?" He gaped at the program, hardly believing that he could possibly be the human that Clockwork sent him to meet. A small part of him realized that made some sense. Having a digital form, being able to enter and exist within the NetZone, Vlad would have unique knowledge in how to combat the viruses that attacked data on the NetZone.

"You didn't think you were the only one to suffer from your father's bumbling idiocy, did you?" A cruel smirk twisted upon Vlad's face.

"My dad isn't a bumbling idiot!" Danny shouted, resisting that urge burning through him to fire an energy blast at the man. Attacking the person that was supposed to teach him wouldn't be wise.

"Then please, do explain how you ended up the way you are." Vlad returned to leaning against the desk, smugness in his expression. "I'd love to hear it."

"How I ended up like this isn't important," Danny snapped, not wanting to prove anything to Vlad. It wasn't entirely his father's fault. Some of the blame landed on Danny, himself, for messing with the invention when he should know better. Folding his arms and shifting his weight to one foot, he frowned at Vlad. "That at least explains why Clockwork would think you'd be a better teacher. You know exactly what I'm going through."

"How long ago was the accident?"

Some of the tension left Danny at that question, now that he wasn't being antagonized by Vlad. "About three years ago now," he answered with another awkward shift of his weight. It was strange speaking about his experience with someone after holding it bottled up inside since the beginning of his freshmen year.

Vlad nodded as he absorbed that information. "And your powers? What have you learned to do so far?" He brought up his pink screen again, focusing it onto Danny's body.

Seeing the way the other man was examining him on the screen, Danny felt uncomfortable. "Energy balls," he answered with a small shrug as he turned his gaze away from Vlad. "That seems to be pretty standard for all viruses. I've been working on shields but, well," he held out a hand creating a faint hexagon of translucent green before him that faded out quickly, "it's not very strong. I can fly." He frowned, scuffing a foot on the floor. "For about a minute. And holographs." He opened a map that showed the interior of the room, venturing only a little beyond the firewall. It was easier to simply view maps through his visor, but if he wanted, he could call up a three dimensional image of his surroundings.

An eyebrow lifted as Vlad raised his gaze from the screen before him. "You've had your powers for three years, going into your fourth year now," he said slowly in a way that made Danny feel like the man thought he was stupid. "And that's all you've managed to learn? I'm surprised you've been able to do so well against the viruses with that low level of skill. Clearly the viruses aren't as big a threat as we all believed them to be if you can beat them off."

The tension rose up in him again, anger boiling through him. With his teeth clenched, he repeated in a mantra not to attack the man. "Sorry I can't be a genius like everyone else," he shouted, but Vlad didn't even flinch, instead looking rather bored by the outburst. Even if his mother said she thought he was bright, it didn't stop the sting he felt every time someone implied that he was an idiot. "It's not like I had a freaking manual on how to use these powers or all of what I could do with them. I suppose you discovered that you could open data screens even while you're human within the first five seconds after your accident. Sorry that I'm so slow!"

Surprise ghosted over Vlad's face. "You," an eyebrow lifted, bafflement playing through his expression, "believe you're still human?"

"Of course!" Danny snapped, not understanding why Vlad would even ask such a question. "I might have freaky powers, but that doesn't change that I'm still human."

Vlad exhaled tiredly, shaking his head. "Daniel, I'm afraid you're not." His voice was very calm, almost like he was reading the weather from a newspaper rather than delivering a terrible lie. "Do you honestly think it's possible to have survived that kind of shock to your body?"

"Then why do I have a human body?" Danny folded his arms, gripping his biceps hard enough to bruise them to avoid punching Vlad for even suggesting that he wasn't human.

"You aren't a coded program or virus," Vlad explained with that same irritating calmness that didn't help with Danny's mood. "You were digitized from a human body, and yes, your human side still exists. But," his voice turned firm, "you're mostly a digital being now." He continued on before Danny could wrangle up an argument against him. "I take it since you've gained these powers, you still spend most of your time in the real world. Correct?"

"Well, duh." Danny still didn't trust what Vlad was saying, even if he was a digitized human too. And apparently, for a much longer time though he didn't seem to show his age all that much. Vlad didn't look anywhere close to the same age as Danny's parents. "I have a life. My parents and friends would notice if I just suddenly disappeared to live in the NetZone. I have school to attend. I can't just give up my life to live solely in the NetZone. I'm human."

Disappointment was in his eyes as Vlad observed Danny. "Your life outside the NetZone, existing within the real world, is killing you, Daniel."

"What?" Danny heard a crackle of static when he shouted in rage. He couldn't believe what Vlad said. He wouldn't believe it. It didn't even make sense. How could living outside the NetZone be killing him? That was crazy talk. He didn't care that Vlad was the same as he was with the ability to change into a digital being. There was no way he was going to stand there and believe something so utterly ridiculous, completely insane, totally bogus. Lies. That was all this man was spewing at him. Terrible, vicious, hurtful lies. He didn't know why the man would feel the necessity to tell him such bald faced lies, but that was the only explanation that Danny could think of, because believing Vlad spoke the truth was too unthinkable.

He bruised when punched and bled when cut. He slept when tired. He hungered with the need to eat. Everything about him remained completely human beyond his strange powers, his ability to enter the NetZone like a virus. He refused to think otherwise. His eyes narrowed darkly at Vlad, daring him to try saying that he was nothing more than a ghost of a human, that he wasn't really alive anymore. It didn't matter if this man taught him anything about using his powers or not, the next time Vlad tried to claim he wasn't human, Danny was going to punch him.

"It's the very reason you aren't getting stronger, Daniel," Vlad continued, glossing over the rage in Danny's voice and in his expression like his feelings meant nothing. "You haven't developed past the very basic of skills because you're clinging to your human life. The only reason you haven't completely failed to function while living in the real world is because your fights against the viruses continuously pull you back into the NetZone, allowing your form to regain some sense of stability. But that's not going to work forever. Eventually, your body won't be able to handle living in the real world, and you will die."

He reacted before he could even think through his actions. One moment he stood with arms folded and eyes narrowed, and in the next instance, he launched toward Vlad with a arm drawn back to throw a punch. His fist collided with a pink hexagon of translucent energy that cracked under the force of his punch. His teeth gritted at the pain rattling up his hand, aching through his bones. Vlad remained standing calmly, like Danny's attack was nothing to fear, a mere gnat to be swatted away and ignored. The security program, however, was off the desk in a flash, assuming its form of a large, growling dog with fangs bared.

"You," Danny point a finger at Vlad, his voice shaking with rage, "are one seriously crazed up fruit loop if you think I'm going to buy those lies. Clockwork, obviously, doesn't know what he's talking about if he thinks you're going to teach me anything. I'm out of here." He stormed toward the firewall, his hand aching from the punch. When he reached the firewall, it remained solid, barring his way from leaving Vlad's domain. He snapped his head around, eyes glaring furiously at the other man. "Open it." His voice was cold and harsh, tinged with rage.

"Daniel." Vlad sighed as he walked over to the firewall with his security program following closely behind him, ready to attack if Danny tried to strike at its master again. "It would be wise for you to heed my warning."

"I might not be a genius, but I'm not a gullible fool either." Danny's glare was so cold that it probably could have froze water. "I'm not swallowing that pack of lies. Now open it." He pointed at the firewall stopping him from making his dramatic exit.

"If you actually learned more about your skills," Vlad snorted as he pressed a hand to the firewall, tapping out a random pattern with his fingers, "you could learn how to hack through this sort of thing with ease. True viruses have difficulty hack firewalls and fighting off security programs. But you and I," a smirk tugged at his mouth, "we're so much more." A door opened in the firewall, allowing Danny the ability to walk free of this man's domain. A gleam in his red eyes suggested that Vlad thought his comment might make Danny stay.

"Maybe all of that was true for you," Danny growled, "but I'm still human." He stormed out of the domain and back into the regular, familiar scenery of the NetZone. Continuing on his way back toward the access point at his house, he didn't bother to throw a glance over his shoulder, knowing the firewall would seal itself up immediately after his departure. He walked, in no rush to make it back home despite the pile of homework that awaited him. His anger over Vlad's words still hummed through his veins. The programs that he passed took one look at the fury on his face and quickly cleared out of his way. When he arrived back in his room, quickly changing back to his human appearance, the rage still hadn't burned out of his system. Walking over to his desk, he dropped into his chair, praying that maybe focusing his mind on homework would help him push aside some of his anger. He never wanted to see Vlad Masters again in his life.

DB-KT: D: But it's not my fault Danny fails at getting his homework done on time! D: Vlad mentally falls to his knees with his arms stretched toward the ceiling and screams to the sky, "Why, Jack, why?!"

werewolf120: *strokes chin in thought* This is true. I don't think I've actually planned for sub pairings. XD;;

animevampLlover: Thanks! =)

midnight: XD Yeah, we wouldn't want Danny getting chewed on like a squeak toy by Cujo. XD

jeanette9a: Cyber cookie! *nibbles at it*

XD: (8) 8D I love making references to episodes whenever it fits with the story. Thanks! 8D I'm rather fond of that idea. And Kwan just plays the idiot in high school to not get picked on by the other jocks. D: *stares at Kwan's parents* Well, there's that too. Well, there are access points everywhere, like wherever you'd plug into the internet on a laptop or computer or whatever. XD;; But if you mean the machine that gave Danny his powers, um~ Well, I keep seeing something like out of Tron. Except, like, with an opening that a person could actually enter because that's where the virus would materialize in the real world. His feels! All bottled up wanting to tell them everything but not wanting to risk endangering them! D8 *hugs Danny* He probably does. Valerie will be coming up more later. =) And yes to all 3. 8D (9) Sam and Tuck track Phantom back to Danny. Danny: "It's a lie! I'm not Phantom!" Sam/Tuck: *stare at him, not believing the obvious lie* XD;; Sam's a pretty stubborn person. XD Yeah, handing over something super dangerous to Phantom himself may not be the wisest choice. XD;; Vlad'll bake him lots of digital cookies~ *shot* (10) It's okay! XD I just got worried that you disappeared. Walker's goons seemed fitting for that role. XD Yup. Walker's the antivirus program for the GIW. Maybe the vultures were Vlad's first attempt but they were so lousy at the job that he created Cujo. XD;; Vlad and Danny have matching red and green visors! (They make up Christmas?) Yes~ Vlad is the mentor~ 8D And aren't they off to a wonderful, loving start? 83

Sammi: Yay Vlad! 8D Uh, well, to move the story along? *shot* But I think he realized that Vlad really wasn't going to buy his crap, and it was either answer with the truth or really piss Vlad off with more lies.