A.N. I'd like to know what you think about how I'm writing this thing; does it work for you as readers? 'Cuz I switch from what's happening to Danny to Vlad, the idea is that like in chapter 4 they kind of merge and me in my infinite wisdom tries to get inside both their minds at the same time, this is sometimes easier than others, I guess it depends on my mood. I did experiment a little with this one and a first person narrative but I don't think it worked as well as this; I was never much for writing in first person anyway. Maybe later on I will have another go to get a better psychological insight but this is how I always write so it will stay this way, I suppose this is a mix of first and third person narrative voices, I think it works!

Leave a review and let me know, advice is most welcome and it really makes my day. BIG SMILES PEOPLE as I have now also OFICIALLY finished with my January exams! YEAH! So I will hopefully have a little more time to write.

I don't know if I'm going crazy or not but writing this thing has rekindled my long forgotten love affair with chess. Ya' know cuz Vlad loves it so much and it's such a good metaphor for how he sees the world. And as I've been trying to get into his mind and all, I guess it's contagious…it's the same with stargazing for Danny. Any fellow Brits may have noticed the recent Stargazing Live on the BBC in the last week with Dara O Briain and Prof. Brian Cox and I couldn't take my eyes of it, it was fascinating. Weird or what? Problem is I HATE football, both American and English so if I start to develop a Green Bay Packers fixation I think it might be time to call it a day!

…Now if I remember correctly I foreshadowed some real seriousness in the last chapter so let's see what happens now…

What Unusual halflives we lead

Chapter 6: Curiouser and Curiouser

After his shower Danny crept into Jazz's room and knocked, "Jazz, you up?" he asked quietly.

A second later his sister opened the door and stared at him in disapproval, he hadn't had much sleep again, she guessed correctly. "What's wrong?" she asked tiredly.

"Nothing. I just figured I'd tell you I'm goin' to the Ghost Zone for a while, otherwise you'll freak out like last time. And just so you know I'm only going to the Ghost Writer's library to check out some stuff." He said rather defensively.

"Couldn't find out what…that is?" His sister looked him over with a solicitous glance.

"No, but I will, so don't worry about it," he said cheerfully, "Tell mom and Dad I've gone to Tuck's, they're a little ticked off with me goin' to Sam's so much, so I don't wanna start something. See ya," he said and before she could protest he had phased through the floor and was gone, she sighed and closed her bedroom door.

Once again he felt the same pang of guilt he always at lying, both at his parents and Jazz, however it couldn't be helped. But it was partly true, so that wasn't as bad, right? He did plan on visiting the Ghost Writer…it wasn't at the top of his priority list for the day. What Vlad had said to him had him seriously worried, and as he flew through the Zone he couldn't shake the increasing feeling of dread that engulfed him. It just wouldn't give him a moment's peace and the growing sense of claustrophobia from the swirling green air gave him a serious case of the heebie jeebies.

And what annoyed him was he couldn't figure out why. Nothing looked different, it just felt wrong. The Ghost Zone looked the same as it always had; a vast expanse of kaleidoscopic green which seemed to glow and illuminate his way. The rocks of dusty earth floating around cast interlocking shadows on themselves and the infinite number of doorways and natural portals drifted listlessly in the air. He loved the mystery each one posed, each was unique in appearance and destination; every point in the past the present and the future all of them impossible to either navigate or predict. A dangerously attractive combination. But he wasn't here to find another mystery, he was here to solve one, so he demanded that his curiosity take a back seat on Air Danny as he drew nearer to his destination.

The Intemporel Face.

The most shadowy and covert place in the whole of the Ghost Zone. A timeless place where the laws of realism and physics were meaningless and every corner posed a new mystery. And most importantly; home of Clockwork, one of the most powerful inhabitants of the Zone. The Master of Time itself. But everything had its downside, and working for the Observants was defiantly top of the list. They meddled in everything, Danny supposed in that way Vlad was a lot like them, but fortunately they had an intelligent servant. Clockwork was clearly more powerful than every Observant put together and multiplied by a billion but he still worked for them. Danny just couldn't understand it, but then he wasn't able to see every outcome from every decision from all of history. He would have gone mad! But if anyone knew what was causing this change and was likely to tell him anything it was Clockwork.

He landed silently on the large elaborate island and took in the familiar surroundings of the huge clock faces that littered the citadel. Some clocks floated in the air, their hands turning noiselessly, while others lay discarded, forgotten on the ground the faces cracked and damaged against the sarsens. Clockwork had once explained to him that like his appearance the clocks represented the passage of time, so each fallen face denoted a lost reality or future that would never happen. Danny had found his description quite sad; would-be futures filled with dreams and people that had been thrown away because of someone's decision to act differently. But he couldn't see things the way that Clockwork did, and he never would.

Danny wandered beneath the precarious turrets and towers and ignored the few pieces that fell from above, he had long since gotten over the fact that the buildings were decaying around him. Like Clockwork they just aged, and then the process reversed and repeated again, it was really cool once you got used to it.

"Clockwork…" Danny voiced, and the resounding echo bounced off the aging walls as he continued his journey. "Anyone home…hello…" Passing through darkened corridors filled with contrasting monochromic bygone décor and gaudy baroque extravagances, he scanned each corner and shadow. He hoped that the Master of the House wasn't planning on surprising him. He wasn't in the mood for surprises right now. Very soon he reached the main room of the island and was standing before the colossal glowing portal on the wall. The ceiling of the room was cracked and broken, its huge gaping holes casting shafts of light onto the ground below.

Currently Clockworks' portal was blank, showing only the spiralling atmosphere of the Ghost Zone, unfortunately the room was empty too. Which Danny found unusual, Clockwork was always home, he was always here whenever Danny came Clockwork would always know where and when he was going to show being the Master of Time and all it wasn't difficult to figure out why.

So what was going on?

He walked the length of the room and on instinct checked that nothing was amiss, not that he was the world greatest detective but surely if something had happened…to Clockwork? Was he serious? It was impossible to surprise him, Danny knew all too well as he had tried and failed miserably. You couldn't surprise someone who knew you were going to attack them before you even knew it yourself. Maybe his paranoia was just acting up again, that had to be it, but he was sure he was being watched. The hairs of the back of his neck prickled and his heightened senses were on full alert as he peered into the dark shadows in the corners of the room.

After coming to the conclusion that there was nothing amiss and not a soul to be found in the limitless citadel Danny sighed and decided to leave, he wasn't achieving anything here. Maybe Clockwork was just out visiting the Observants; that must be it, he did kind of work for them after all so it made sense that he would need to speak to them on occasion. Reluctantly he took off and left via one of the cavernous holes in the rafters.

From the concealing darkness a voice suddenly spoke; "This is for the best," the first Observant messenger said with no emotion in his steady voice. His single eye was focused on the retreating body of the ghost boy as he began to fly away with a clear look of confusion and disappointment.

"I know, but I do not do this for you…" Clockwork replied with a stony expression on his aging visage. He really detested his employers sometimes; they were simple minded fools, only able to see a single outcome from every decision and thought while he had the privilege and curse of overseeing every single one.

"The boy must learn that his own interests will rest solely on his ability to trust his opposite. He cannot do that by relying on an impartial being such as you, Clockwork." The second Observant added. "None of this is of our making; we must remain disinterested, it is their wish."

"I know that too," Clockwork sighed and once Danny was out of sight he floated over to his Chronokenic portico. (A.N. my name for the screen-y thing that shows the different outcomes. From the word Chronokinesis, the manipulation of time) As he drew nearer to it an image appeared clearly, it was one of several outlooks he predicted for the close future, and it had him concerned for the young half-ghost. "I will intervene only if I am left with no other choice, you have my word." He told the Observants, then they briefly nodded and vanished.

The spirit was left to study the object of his melancholy, he truly felt for the boy; hadn't Danny already proven himself enough to the Observants that his intentions were good. How much more could he do…he'd already fought against himself, what more could he do? But of course his employers didn't…or rather couldn't see it in that light; to them Danny's dark future had still happened whether he had chosen to stop it or not. But to Clockwork it was different. Danny had earned his second chance, but fate just seemed to love messing with people. And now something new was closing in around some of the only two people that had earned their peace and quiet the hard way.

Danny had, in his eyes, earned the Observants trust more than once, but they were practically prepared to throw the boy to the wolves so to speak. And Plasmius, though many of his choices over the years were questionable he hadn't had an easy half-life. If Danny had been alone when he got his ghost powers he would have made similar choices, Clockwork knew. But the reality had long since been discarded and lay dead on his island. His gaze didn't waver from the portico as he watched the images morph into a brighter possibility, a happier future. Perhaps things weren't impossible; maybe they could change things and learn to understand each other, if only they tried…

As he flew back through the Zone the unveiled disappointment began to lift from his face, Danny was trapped in his thoughts and a new one had just come to light. He knew what his friends would say to him; Sam would call him nuts and thwack him over the head with her heavy Othello text. Tucker would agree with her and list all of his other ingenious ideas that had ended badly. But Jazz, his sister would most likely say go for it, after all it as clear that something was amiss, but what should he do? His wound and the Writer's library were the last things on his mind; as usual self-preservation Danny was locked up good and tight by impulsive Danny and curious Danny.

He had passed very few ghosts in his travels, save for several aloof green ghosts he had seen no-one, he knew the Ghost Zone was huge and solitude was not uncommon…but where the hell was everyone? It didn't help that he was already paranoid, and this was not helping his situation.

And this was the origins of his next brilliant idea; a visit to his friendly neighbourhood Mayor Masters. He kept repeating to himself that this wasn't because Vlad was right, or that he believed him. Danny just wanted answers. And if the man had in fact been attacked by something then it must be serious. After all, Vlad would never admit a weakness even if it was true, so something severe must have prompted his recent attempt at his philanthropy merit badge. He continued to weigh up the pro's and con's in his head leaving little space for anything else so his flight path slowed to a halt. He took up temporary residence on a piece of dusty rock beneath him and continued with his inner dilemma.

If he went to Vlad's then maybe he could get some answers, like what was wrong with the atmosphere in the Zone lately? And what he had said about Skulker being a fake was that true? And what had attacked the man so badly? Or maybe it was all a scam and going to Vlad's would only make him a lamb being led to the slaughter. Unfortunately the lamb never escaped and Danny knew that if he played into Vlad's hands like this it could have serious repercussions. Was it worth the risk? Vlad hadn't attacked him last night, but he still hadn't ruled out the possibility that was part of his plan too.

With a moan of pent up frustration he let out a huge blast of glowing green ecto-energy at another of the rocks and it shattered on impact. The ear-shattering explosion caused broken shards to fall in all directions. It helped him on the inside. Making one of his characteristic snap decisions he took off towards Vlad's portal, pushing aside common sense for curiosity and perhaps, a quiet voice in his mind echoed…for stupidity.

Upon reaching the huge purple football Danny smiled ruefully as he pushed it aside and flew into Vlad's lab. Looking around he was curious as to why no alarms went off, was there no end to the strangeness in his life? He glided through the ceiling and into the ground floor sitting room. "Hello…" hoping this wouldn't be another repeat from earlier he mentally berated himself. He had just announced his presence in his enemy's house! Stupid Danny!

Ignoring the luxurious and expensive furnishings he drifted from the room and up the huge stair case, this sucker looked like it belonged in a palace it had a red carpet and everything. Vlad sure did have an ego problem. Danny scoffed as he floated down a corridor lined on both sides with impressive paintings of sweeping landscapes and inspiring sun-sets.

"I'm afraid that Mr Masters is not here at present…that is who you're looking for isn't it?" upon hearing a woman speak Danny did a 180 degree turn so fast it made his head spin. He lit up his palms with ghostly green expecting an attack...but was shocked to find…what he presumed was a maid going by her uniform...but he felt colder and he nearly fell out of the air when his ghost sense went off.

Shit...Vlad had ghost staff, the man was mad!

"I'm sorry, did I frighten you?" she asked. Danny ignored her question and instantly fired at her. But the blast went right through her as she turned herself intangible. She vanished and re-appeared behind him then fired a weak blast back at him. He landed on the floor with a thud and the 'maid' was now in spectral form, he stared wide eyed at her from the floor. Expecting her to finish him off he was surprised when she seemed to smile and asked, "That wasn't very nice now was it Mr Fenton?" and he remained floating in the air then pointed a glowing finger at her.

"How the hell do you know who I am, lady?" he shouted. What kind of place was Vlad running anyway, ghost servants who could get the drop on him and knew who he was...maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all.

"Lucky guess," she replied, "Now do you want to speak to Mr Masters or not?"

"NO!" he shouted and fired at her again. Once more she went intangible and the green energy hit one of the painting crashing to the floor and she merely smiled at him.

Vlad was sat in his study; it was a large, quiet room adjoining him bedroom which he had furnished to be tasteful yet elegant. But it reminded him too much of his father's own study; stuffy and arrogant. The room was lined with bookshelves and expensive modern furnishings, he liked to think that the modernity of it enabled him to keep himself separate from his home. However you could take the boy out of the environment, but you couldn't take the environment out of the boy. And he had only been a boy when he left home. A silly little boy who dreamed of glory and fame, far away from his the brutality of his father.

CRASH

BANG

CRASH

Vlad nearly jumped out of his skin and the ink was now smudged on his work, damn! He looked up and listened to the sudden outburst of noise that was now taking over the peace and tranquillity of his home.

After a moment all was silent again and he sighed in contentment, he took up his pen once more and concentrated on the words before him. Until it happened again, loud crashing and screaming, what could possibly be happening now?

"What in the blazes?" Vlad shouted and slammed down the fountain pen. He stormed out of the room and down the hallways. "What in the name of the Ghost Zone is going on?" he screamed as he stalked his way towards the growing sound, here he was met with a strange sight.

One of the Spectrals was having their own little war in his house and his expensive fine art pieces had paid the price, whatever she had been fighting had landed at the end of the corridor. "DANIEL!" Vlad bellowed as he saw the ghost boy fly at top speed back towards his 'enemy' to deliver a retaliating blow.

Danny's eyes widened in shock and he stopped almost immediately in front of the angry looking business man. Vlad seemed to dominate the whole space and he was fuming. "What the hell are you doing?" he demanded, and was slightly pleased that he had the power to make the child slightly shudder in fear as he did.

"It wasn't me, it was HER, she started it and she..."

"Her? What exactly did she do, exactly?" he questioned in a strained voice. Vlad crossed his arms and held the child's green gaze with his own angry blue one.

"She...she...she knows who I am, and I..." Danny explained angrily, "What kind of place are you running here anyway...letting you GHOST servants go around and attack people like this...and how the hell does she even know..."

"Sir, I was asking if Mr Fenton was wanting to speak with you, perhaps I caused him an unnecessary shock," the floating green Spectral suddenly took on the appearance of Marion and now stood firmly on the ground.

"Yes, clearly...I think it best if you leave us now," Vlad said to her and with a nod she instantly spun on her heels and walked silently from view.

"I am SO outta here," Danny muttered as the crazy maid vanished, and shook his head disbelievingly at Vlad before turning to leave.

"Wait," Vlad called and the room was shrouded in his purple ecto-energy which prevented Danny from leaving. "You're not going anywhere, now tell me why you came,"

Danny slammed into the shield despite the fact that he knew it would shock him, maybe Vlad would just take pity on him and let him leave…then again this was Vlad, but intellectual Danny had already vacated the premises for now. "You people are all nuts in this place," he muttered and floated back down to stand in front of Vlad who regarded him with vague amusement.

"Says the Ghost Boy whose parents hunt ghosts all day," the man shot back and he knew that he had won this little round of witty banter. Childish perhaps, but it made him smile, and there were few things in life that made him smile anymore.

"Stupid fruit loop…" Danny muttered to himself and knew he had lost a major point. He wasn't sure if either of them was meant to be keeping score anymore, but both parties were biased in the extreme so it didn't really matter anyway.

Vlad then turned and made his way down the battered looking corridoor and towards the grand stair case, he descended it and made his way into the sitting room, leaving Danny with two choices. He could follow Vlad and most likely into another trap, or he could go home and frget about all the craziness in his life.

With an irritated sigh Danny realised that if he wanted even the chance of getting any answers he had to follow the man and actually TALK to him! Life was unfair to him, he decided and flew quickly after the older hybrid. He soon found himself in room bigger then the whole ground floor of his house and ostentatiously decorated with expensive furnishings.

"Marion," Vlad called and the lady appeared with a smile. Danny regarded her with a wary eye as Vlad said, "Some te…"

"Not tea," Danny almost shouted, this was getting a little too cosy and homey for his liking and his ghost sense again set him on the alert, so he abruptly cut off Vlad's sentence, "Err…I'm a coffee person…"

"Some coffee then," Vlad corrected with repressed amusement, and before Danny could say anything Marion took off for the kitchen. The older hybrid sat on his usual chair on the right hand side of the fire and crossed his legs as he watched Danny shuffle nervously. "Do sit down, Daniel," he began to find the child's nervousness rather irritating and somewhat contagious.

Danny blinked twice in confusion and silently complied. He lowered himself onto a chair opposite Vlad's slowly so that he didn't aggravate his wound and leaned back with a comforting sigh. Maybe Vlad caught it, he wasn't sure, but it didn't really matter. Vlad had seen him wounded before and so it was nothing new to the man, he was just trying not to seem too weak. He should just come out and ask the man, it wasn't that difficult; it was just a simple question!

As Vlad was arranging his thoughts Marion chose that moment to bring in a silver tray with a fresh pot of coffee and set about pouring the drink for them. "I don't suppose you did actually come here to inspect my groceries Daniel, so what did you come for?" Vlad asked then took the clearly expensive and delicate cup from his maid. He stood by his early guess of the boys motives, but he wasn't going to help him get there, it was more amusing to watch him struggle.

"Who attacked you?" Daniel asked, ignoring the man's obvious attempts to bait him, "What did it look like?" Disregarding his dream as just a nightmare he needed to know that Vlad was telling the truth, so he took a piece of advice given to him by his sister. He would try to read Vlad's expression and body language to determine whether he was lying or not. His previous success had been varied, but maybe he'd have more luck with Vlad…or then again maybe not.

"Why do you want to know? Have you come to gloat?" Vlad raised a speculative silver eyebrow over his coffee cup. Marion then passed to Danny the second cup of steaming coffee and with one last glance at her employer that clearly said do-not-make-a-mess, left them alone.

When Daniel failed to answer he continued, "I'm not sure what it was, Daniel, but I am sure that this is not to be brushed aside; it has attacked me, and it has been testing you, this is serious,"

"Sure, but what is it? You don't expect me to believe you, do you? After everything you've done to me…now it's suddenly 'serious.' What gives?" Danny shouted bitterly, his fingers tightening on the handle of his cup.

"You need to work on your anger issues child, remember if I'd wanted to trick you here in order to kill you, you would already be dead." Vlad said rather harshly as their ghostly glowing eyes locked aggressively.

"Oh, 'cuz that's real comforting," the boy replied after an ephemeral silence, and rolled his eyes, breaking the disconcerting eye contact.

"Daniel," Vlad cautioned the child, and continued, "recently I have entertained the possibility that it wasn't a Ghost at all, I believe it to be a collection of Spirits," he frowned at the boy's blank expression.

"What?" Danny shouted as Vlad continued to stare at him.

"You do know what a Spirit is, don't you?"

Danny's eyes shifted left and right, "…maybe…"

Without getting into a long, drawn out science lesson Vlad decided to give him the most basic, bare boned explanation he could muster; teacher-student moments would have to wait. He drew in long breath, "Basically Ghosts are left behind when a person dies, and Spirits come from the earth itself which makes them stronger than Ghosts."

"I knew that," came the muttered reply, and Danny fished off his drink, he had to admit it was really good coffee.

"Mmm-Hmm," Vlad smirked, "No doubt…but other than that I know very little; it appears that during the fight we had, it destroyed most if not all of the cameras and thus, the footage."

"So how'd you know that anything dangerous is gonna happen?"

"I use my brain, Daniel," Vlad replied with only served to infuriate the boy further, "It tested me before it attacking me, it wanted to gauge my power before presumably trying to finish me off. I managed to stop it, but…it got away,"

"Great," Danny mumbled, but it seemingly went unnoticed.

"Therefore it is highly probable that it will attack you very soon, it has already been testing you so it is only a matter of time," Vlad retorted, and put his empty cup on the side table near him.

"Okay, let's say I believe you…just for the minute…why did it attack you? And why is it gonna attack me…I haven't done anything?"

"And I have?" Vlad questioned in amusement, "…until I can discover more information I can't say anything for certain, you will just have to trust me,"

"Don't hold your breath," Vlad found Danny's bitter tone rather strange coming from him and ignored the poisonous anger shining through the boy's eyes.

"I am part ghost, Daniel, I am capable of holding my breath for a long time," Vlad replied smugly. "Besides, if you thought about it for just a moment, disregarding your mistrust for me, you would see that I am right. But you do not think, sometimes I really do wonder why I bother with you at all, and why it would waste its time with you is beyond me you are too weak to even…"

"WHAT!" Danny shouted, now he was confused, insulted and annoyed and it all showed as he yelled at the man responsible for this bad combination of emotions. He had learnt nothing from Vlad's expressions and body language save the fact that he really liked pissing him off, but Danny knew that already.

He threw his cup over at the cause of his anger, but it missed and shattered against the wall. "Well, why do you have to be such a jerk all the time?" he screamed, standing from his chair and glaring across at Vlad, "Your mood swings are seriously getting on my nerves!"

"Because you never listen!" Vlad shot back, though not nearly quite as loud and ignoring the boy's aim which had clearly been hampered by his emotions.

"You never give me a reason to listen to you!"

"You stupid boy…you are indeed your father's son; you are two of the most stupid people it has EVER been my misfortune to meet!" Vlad also stood up and glared daggers at the boy, his fists aching to burn with energy and shot it at Danny.

But of course, at this Danny lost any remaining composure and shot a powerful blast at Vlad before the man could aim, and this time he made sure not to miss. The older hybrid was momentarily taken aback and he was thrown brutally into the solid wall behind him. It hadn't been powerful enough to send crashing him through it, but Vlad felt his already aching back and ribs protesting at the further agony.

The child was being completely unreasonable and it needed to stop, for both their sakes but Vlad's judgement was slightly compromised and instead of talking rationally to prevent a fight he chose to ensure one. He hauled himself to his feet using the wall as a prop and transformed into Plasmius, then he retaliated with his own energy. Impulsively and irrationally he fired a powerful blast of concentrated energy, ten times as strong as the one he'd received. Vlad sent Danny tearing through the contrasting wall, and with a painful scream he heard the boy land painfully along aide falling masses off plaster and brick.

He was unable to see through the dust and debris his intense purple ecto-blast had created, but he moved a step forwards as a small part of his mind echoed that he may have killed Daniel. However much his anger had controlled him that wasn't what he'd intended, and he rebuked himself for letting things go like this. He was forced to shield his blood red eyes from the settling dust and he coughed lightly as he moved another step closer. As his eyes gradually adjusted he saw a shadowed figure move in the wreckage.

Danny pushed a particularly large and heavy piece of rubble off his chest and his strange wound objected to the strain. He crawled onto his knees and tried to stand up, he couldn't believe the man that had not long ago just told him to sit and listen had just thrown him through a wall. It was a seriously thick wall and it had really, really hurt! He might not be able to put up much of a fight but he was damned if he was going to let Plasmius get away with that!

He kicked more wreckage aside and stood painfully and unsteadily on his feet, he knew Vlad could see him through the dust, but it didn't matter, Danny was going to cause as much pain for Vlad as he had done for him, whether it killed him or not.

To be continued! AHHHHH!

A.N. I really enjoyed writing about Clockwork and his 'lair' in this one, and once again I apologise if I waffled. What about the fight between Danny and Vlad? Too soon maybe? Out of character?

I don't think so. Vlad and Danny wouldn't just trust each other completely therefore something plausible needed to happen and this was the only answer! And NO, I DO NOT HAVE ANGER ISSUES! It is what it is guys, don't blame me blame the characters! :D

~ ~ Till next time people ~ ~