Chapter 27

Vlad glared at his destroyed Portal. His castle was lost, but that fact was overlooked for the time. He could rebuild it whenever he desired. Without his Portal, he couldn't get the key. After all that time searching for it, he finally found the legendary skeleton key. If only he remembered to change that ecto-filtrator, the Portal wouldn't have exploded. Like his castle, rebuilding the Portal wouldn't be difficult. He had the money to do it. But time was another factor. It would take time to get all the right parts and reconstruct it from scratch. Time he didn't wish to waste while the key remained just beyond his reach. He couldn't be certain that the key would remain where he found it if he spent the months it took to rebuild a Portal.

He needed to find another working Portal. But who would even something like that? The idea hit him, and a smirk spread over his face as he changed back into his human form. Vlad reached into his jacket's inside pocket to retrieve a picture that he kept there. The picture was taken right before the twentieth reunion that he held. He sighed at the sight of Maddie, who warmed his heart like no other.

That's a lie, a nagging little voice insisted, refusing to be silenced even after twenty years.

Vlad ignored the voice as he skipped over Daniel's image, ignoring the boy's very existence, to sneer at Jack. "I guess I'll just have to take Jack Fenton's." He laughed at the idea formulating in his mind. It would be all too easy. His plan played right into Jack and Daniel's weakness, and he knew they would dance right into his hands.

"Whoa!"

Vlad cringed when he heard the exclamation. He stuffed the picture back into his breast pocket as he made his way out of the ruins of his castle. Rebuilding would come after he acquired Jack's Portal and the skeleton key. When he climbed out of the debris, he spotted the man on his doorstep, staring rather shocked at what remained of the castle.

"When Ben said you threw wild parties, I totally didn't believe it," Digory said, shaking his head. "I might have actually went to that reunion party if I knew it was going to be a blast." He frowned as his gaze turned back to the castle. "Though I didn't think that would be literal."

Vlad took a deep breath, forcing his anger deep down inside him. "Yes, well, luckily I was out when the gas main exploded," he explained as he folded his arms behind his back. "What can I do for you?"

Digory managed to tear his eyes away from the scene of destruction, and when he looked back at Vlad, he frowned. "Ben was pretty upset when he came back after that reunion party."

"And it took you until now to come say that?" Vlad lifted an eyebrow at him. He knew Digory wasn't exactly a genius, but he would have expected a confrontation sooner than this.

"Ben would probably kill me if he knew I came by." Digory shrugged, but guilt wrote itself in his expression. "He's not in town right now, and he would have found out if I tried to come by while he was still here."

"Trouble in paradise?" Vlad sneered. Sometimes he wished he would receive news that the happy couple finally called it quits. But they were one of the few couples from their class that stuck together since college.

Digory sighed at that reaction. "It's not all sunshine for us, you know. We have our ups and downs as well."

"Oh, what was it? Did Ben catch you checking out some big breasted woman?"

"You actually think I haven't changed since college, don't you?" Digory took a seat on what was left of the steps, but Vlad refused to join him. "Ben is still the only one for me." He stared at the billionaire, and Vlad could almost read the "and Danny is still the only one for you" in his expression. Unlike Ben, Digory didn't come out and say it. For some reason, that made Vlad like the man a little more, but it was a very small amount.

"Congrats to you then," Vlad muttered with his jaw set and clenched. Why did he have to meet such meddlesome people in college? "I assume you didn't come here just to boast about that."

"A friend can't visit another friend?" Digory actually managed to look surprised at the question. "And here I was, thinking I haven't seen you since college and it would be nice to hang out again. Maybe grab some pizza, you know."

Vlad did know, and he remembered quite well that day the four of them sat in the park enjoying the pizza. It was merely another unwanted memory to be squashed and forgotten. "Well, as you probably noticed, I'm quite busy." He gestured toward what was his home. "Castles don't build themselves after all."

Digory sighed as he stood. "Well," he patted a hand on Vlad's shoulder, "maybe another time then. And if you ever need someone, I'm still here for you." After one last pat, Digory started back down the driveway to the gate.

Vlad watched him go with a frown on his face. Frustration hummed under his skin. Digory didn't need to come out and say it for Vlad to know that what he really wanted was to remind Vlad about the one person he was trying so hard to forget. I love Maddie, he growled forcefully, but he could feel that little voice shaking its head disappointedly in his mind.

Before the week was over, his plan was set into action. A million dollar was placed upon the head of Amity Park's ghost public enemy number one, Danny Phantom. He hired the best known ghost hunters, which wasn't saying much. He saw their records, and none of them managed to catch even one ghost. He knew Jack Fenton would show up, even when uninvited. Vlad saw it as a perfect opportunity to make the man look like a fool, destroying Daniel's respect for his father all while taking their Portal right out from under them.

Tricking Daniel was simple enough. With the hero complex, the boy performed exactly as he wanted, like he was tugging on the invisible strings to make Daniel move. He admitted that shock of ectoplasm lightning may have been a bit much, but those sharp barbs about losing Maddie and being bitter and alone dug too deeply into him. It was only a little payback, he reasoned in his mind.

He tossed Daniel down to the wait group of ghost hunters. After seeing the progress of Daniel's skills, Vlad couldn't foresee the boy being caught by anyone other than his father. The bumbling idiot also played into ensuring that Daniel wouldn't be caught by the useless ghost hunters that Vlad hired. With the way Jack messed everything up, they would be lucky if they didn't leave Amity Park gravely injured.

With the plan in motion, Vlad left to wait for the moment when he could ensure neither Daniel nor his father would be in his way. That meant only Maddie and their daughter Jazz would be there to stop him. He would love the alone time with Maddie, but after the mishap last time, he didn't expect a warm welcome from her. No matter, he thought as he flew through the sky over Amity Park. He would change her mind sooner or later. His priority now was getting that skeleton key.

Jack arrived right on time. Vlad wasn't actually keeping time, but if he was, he might have decided that Jack actually came earlier than he expected. It didn't matter though because in the end, both Jack and Daniel were exactly where he wanted them: caged. Vlad applauded them, for they were brilliant puppets.

The Wisconsin Ghost? Vlad sneered at the name that Jack gave his ghostly form. He didn't bother to correct it though. Let the fool think it was a clever name. Even if he gave Jack his true name, he doubted he would make the connection to his old college buddy. After all, they still hadn't realize Phantom was their son.

"Of course I have a Portal," he snapped at Jack. And again, Jack's obliviousness amazed him. Could he not put two and two together with the pieces laid out right in front of him? He was the only one other than Jack and Maddie who would know anything about building a Portal. But he didn't have time to sit around wondering over Jack's stupidity. "Live and learn, or in your case, die and learn."

Vlad smirked villainously before he flew off toward Fenton Works. Jack and Daniel were trapped for now, but Vlad knew it would only be a matter of time before Daniel found some way to convince his father to free him. Jack was the gullible type, after all. When he reached the laboratory in the basement of the Fenton's house, Vlad was disappointed to see how slowly the vultures worked on dismantling the Portal. If everything went as planned, then Maddie and Jazz would currently be locked in the weapons vault. Once again, your idiocy works to my advantage, Jack. He was already aware that they failed to put the handle on the inside of the door to the weapons vault.

"I don't suppose you could move any faster," Vlad prodded. He would never get the Portal dismantled and moved at the rate the vultures were working. I should have used different minions for this, he thought, ignoring the vulture's complaint about his age. They apparently aged about fifty or a hundred years each time they mentioned how old they were. He doubted their ages had anything to do with their slowness.

When a line wrapped around him, Vlad was surprised. Those blasted, useless wannabe ghost hunters hardly slowed Jack down. Then again, the chance to take out Jack in his home had some appeal. Vlad smirked as he felt Daniel's presence. "Oh, this is the greatest day of my life!" He could eliminate Jack and prove to Daniel how pathetic his father was.

Jack defeated the vultures with a triumphant yell. Impatience grew inside Vlad, and not because his minions were so easily defeated. He wasn't the least bit surprised to see them taken down by the buffoon. Daniel actually seemed impressed by that display. When he saw Jack running for the Portal, he moved to block the man's way.

"It's time someone put you out of their misery." Vlad punched his former friend, watching with satisfaction as Jack slammed into the wall. But the victorious smirk didn't last long on his face. He cursed his own foolishness when he saw that he put the Ghost Gauntlets right into Jack's hands. They probably don't work, he thought as he flew toward Jack. He would end this fight quickly.

Surprise flashed in his red eyes when Jack caught hold of him. How was this even possible? A string of curses ran through his mind was Jack threw him across the surface of one table. Those Gauntlets! They actually worked. When Jack held him with those Gauntlets, Vlad couldn't escape them. He couldn't use his ability of intangibility to phase through them!

He grunted as he hit another table, beakers crushing under him and spilling to the floor where they shattered. I suppose he does have his moments, he admitted begrudgingly as he gritted his teeth. He shot an energy beam at Jack and growled when it failed to hit the man. Jack was as broad as a barn! How could he have missed?

Vlad roared furiously as he flew up to Jack, readying an attack. He would not miss again! But ectoplasm suddenly blinded him. This was not possible! Vlad wiped the ectoplasm from his eyes, and in that moment of distraction, Jack seized him again. The doors of the Ghost Portal squealed as they opened, and Jack tossed him right inside.

How can I lose to that idiot? Vlad thought as the doors slammed closed behind him. Jack should never have been able to beat him. He planned everything out! Jack should have fallen to him. Daniel should have seen him as the better man. The Portal should be his right now. Where did his plan go wrong?

"The castle looks like it's coming along well," Digory said as he stared at the reconstructed castle.

"Yes, yes it is." Vlad took a deep, suffering breath that he released slowly. This wasn't the first time Digory stopped by since the start of the reconstruction. "When it's done, are you going to stop coming by?"

"Is that what you want?" Digory took out a beer from his bag and offered it to Vlad. "You haven't bothered to tell me to leave."

Vlad frowned at the beer but eventually accepted it. He was still bitter over the recent defeat, though it wasn't as bad as he thought at first. Daniel now had a newfound respect for his father, unfortunately. But Vlad came out of the whole ordeal with what he wanted in the first place. A hand slipped into his pocket and wrapped around the skeleton key. One step closer.