Danny looked rather sullen, but he hid it easily due to his current state of invisibility. He was bothered that Vlad wanted him gone, but not nearly as bothered as he was over the large hole in his memory. Every time he tried to pull something out, to recall even a piece of conversation, a thick veil of smoke and haze hindered him. He could recall being terrified though, after some serious effort, and gave up after that. Perhaps the memories were best left forgotten.

"Alex, earlier you said that you had a plan…" he said, trying to get the boy to talk. Alex nodded, launching into the plan. It involved the four teens splitting into two groups: normal kids and super powered. "I don't like this idea," Danny grumbled. From there, the trio would troop around the mall, walking alone but still close enough to each other, purposely seeking out the older halfa. When the target was sighted, one of them would signal Danny, who would launch an attack on the would-be killer. If all ended well, Danny will have successfully distracted Vlad long enough for the others to arm themselves and trap him. Alex paused, tapping his chin. As if he had read the spy's mind, Danny made himself visible and pulled the backpack off his back, looking to see what was inside. Bothe of them were pleased to see the thermos there, among other things. Danny raised an eyebrow, pulling out a pack of gum before taking a single stick to chew on and offering the rest to the group. "So, are we set then?" he asked, earning three variations of a yes. "Okay then. Let's go shopping."

The halfa lost his visibility once more, taking the hand of the two people closest to him and leaving it to one of them to grab the last person. Along the way to the mall, Danny announced that he would drop each of them off at separate entrances, and that he himself would swing by the food court for a snack only after he was sure that it was clear of any paranormal activity other than him. It was decided that, upon seeing Vlad, the lucky kid would yell either "ghost" or "fire", depending on Vlad being in his ghost form or not to get the attention of the general public. They knew that people would react more dramatically if they thought there was a fire than just some seemingly old guy trying to rob a kid or something. Hopefully, the mall would clear out quickly, and they wouldn't have to deal with civilian casualties.

Alex was the first to be dropped off at the main entrance. He insisted on this door for the sole reason of being near the food court. Other than Danny, he was the strongest of the group, and he wanted to be near the halfa if danger came because the halfa was the one who was really at risk. He told them that he wanted to be let down earlier than the others because he felt dizzy, and they bought it.

Sam went down second, realizing her mistake when she walked into the preppy district of the mall. Too late to change her location, she put on her deepest Goth scowl and set off. She personally took this as a challenge, knowing that Paulina would never even dare to step foot into one of her stores, or even walk past them for that matter.

Tucker was cool with his door. There were plenty of girls around, and he was content. He waved over his shoulder to where he was pretty sure Danny was before setting off.

Danny flew to the café, transforming as he did so. He raced to the shortest line he could find, ending up with a cheap meal of a single burger. He stole over to a dark shadow, turning himself invisible before he devoured the food and storing the wrapper in his pocket. Once done with that, he transformed again and started to slowly patrol the mall.

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Vlad walked into the mall fifteen minutes later, having walked the entire way. There had been a slight delay in arriving, but that had all been fixed. He held the door open, allowing a woman in a fresh blue dress to walk in. She brushed her long brown hair from her eyes and smiled softly, thanking him.

Vlad Masters was glad to have met this amazing person. He felt some strange connection with her, as if he already knew all of her secrets.

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After minutes of scanning the area, Alex sat down at a vacant table, his face impassive. He gave up looking for Danny some time before, and focused only on finding Vlad. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins from a few false alarms, each one leaving him annoyed.

He looked up suddenly when he heard a familiar voice: Dash. The jock was chatting up some other buddies of his, one of them being the Asian guy from the Nasty Burger who was now on duty at the nearby Auntie Anne's. As if sensing the stare, Dash turned around, a smirk already on his face. Alex rolled his eyes, turning back around. He failed to see Dash nudge another jock, or how they quickly raced up behind him. The other guy grabbed his arms, trapping him, and Dash dumped a bag of flour, courtesy of Kwan, on the spy's head.

"That's for what happened at the Nasty Burger, Teabag!" Dash cackled, laughing at the frantic way Alex rubbed his eyes to rid them of the flour. Alex heard them leave, so there had been no time to get back at them. Besides, reminded his mind forcefully, there were more important things at hand. At the very least, he could move to a different table. It seemed like a wise move, so he left, making another round of the food court, idly ridding his head and shoulders of the white mess of flour.

His ears pricked at the tell tale sound of fear as some random person shrieked down the way. The spy took off running, leaving his area quickly behind. Vlad gave a start as the boy raced past him, clearly focused on the screaming child a few stores down. The woman next to him cried out, laughing.

"Excuse me, I do believe that is a dear friend of mine. I must say hello to him before he gets too far and I loose him!" she said smoothly, racing off gracefully. Vlad nodded, watching her leave. He, unlike her, knew that that was only Alex, not Daniel. Alex hadn't been by the wrecked car with Daniel's other friends earlier. Alex was here now, where Daniel's friends said they would not be, which meant that they were here as well. Could that mean that Daniel was here as well?

Absolutely.

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Alex skidded to a stop, narrowly avoiding running into Sam and Tucker. They had somehow heard the scream too, and came running. In the end though, it was a false alarm; only some kid freaking out after they had dropped their ice cream without realizing it and then tripping in it. Sam bent down, helping the kid back to their feet before the child, ignoring her savior, ran back to her mother.

The Goth sighed, straightening up and turning back to face the guys, pointing to Alex. "What happened to you?" Before she got an answer, she waved a hand. "Never mind, I don't want to know. What do you guys have? Is Vlad here yet?"

Tucker took his glasses off to clean the lenses, squinting as he did this. "I got nothing. Alex?"

"Nothing." He sighed, stopping halfway when he saw the look in Sam's eye. Slowly he turned, finally noticing the woman. She was grinning down at him, a cross between a mother and a hungry wolf's smile. "Can I help you?"

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As luck would have it, Danny was the one who found Vlad first. In some space of time, the older halfa had managed to transform into his powerful alter ghost form without really going anywhere and without being seen. He must have turned himself invisible, right in the main doorway of the mall, before doing so. At the moment, he was visible, in all of his spiky-haired glory. He was standing so still that many thought that he was nothing more than a poorly placed statue.

"You've got some nerve, Vlad," the younger halfa muttered. He watched the man for another minute or two before quickly flying back to look for the others. Along the way, he tried to count how many people were at the mall. Whatever the number was, it was a large one. If he was going to fight Vlad here, it had better be in the most vacant spot in the mall, like the knitting store. Sure, his dad would be upset at the loss, but he would just have to deal with it. Danny's face scrunched up when he suddenly remembered that the knitting store was full of knitting needles. While they weren't exactly sharp, most of the time at least, they could still do some damage. So, the knitting store was out. Briefly, he considered the food court. Vlad was pretty much there, and it would give the boy the opportunity to squirt some stupid ketchup on Vlad's ridiculous white outfit.

Stupid ketchup…

Danny gave his head a good shake, trying to rid it of the strange haze, before looking down at the people below. Tuck's red beret stood out like a target down the hall a bit, so he made his way over there. Halfway to his destination, he stopped cold. The woman from before was talking sweetly to Alex, whose head and shoulders were covered in white substance. Quick as a bullet, he flew to his friends, flying intangibly through some people. They gave yelps of surprise as the feeling of being dunked in ice water went through them, which alerted the trio.

"Danny?" Sam whispered. She looked confused, and worried.

"Sam, Vlad's at the main entrance. All of you need to be there. Do not talk to that woman!" the invisible boy hissed into her ear. Sam raised an eyebrow, silently pointing out that the mall was practically bussing with women. "That one, right there, Sam! The one with the blue dress; she's talking to Alex. She's trouble." His voice became tight, showing how worried he was. Not wanting Danny to go back to his crazy ways, the Goth cleared her throat and suggested to the guys, making sure to keep the lady out of it, that they go and get some food.

Tucker and Alex nodded their heads slowly, not really getting it. The latter suddenly sneezed, accidentally inhaling some flour. The woman was suddenly all over him, acting like an overly concerned mother. The spy barely managed to shake her and the offered handkerchief off, noting how the lacy square in the woman's hand had a small rusty brown stain on the corner. He made a face, taking a step back.

"C'mon, let's go." Sam said, taking both visible guys by their arms and leading them away. She purposely wove through the more crowded parts of the halls before finally ducking into a kitchen appliance store next to the food court. "Sorry, Danny said that the lady was trouble. Also, he found Vlad." She paused, peeking out the store to check the main doors. Vlad was still there, still as a statue. "He's got some nerve," she muttered.

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AN: Cookie if you know who the woman is! It's pretty obvious though… ^^;

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