What Unusual halflives we lead

Chapter 9: Things That go 'Bump' in the Night

In the darkness three lone figures carefully navigated their way around broken furniture, battered pieces of debris and lord only know what else, the house was like a minefield now. After the blackout and the tremor they had somehow managed to get separated…in their own home…how does that happen anyway? Maddie vaguely recalled running up the stairs and into the sitting room with Jack. They had given Jazz a weapon…then she remembered nothing but darkness.

Maddie trembled as she felt the floor move…she supposed this was a kind of after-shock to whatever earthquake they had felt a while ago. She swallowed and gripped the weapon. She kept going. She had somehow navigated her way through a particularly bad culmination of debris when she heard a scream. It was a girl screaming. It was her daughter screaming!

She didn't think; she ran. Maddie ran on adrenaline and fear until the screaming grew louder and clearer. "Jazz…are you there…is that you?" she shouted and lifted a Fenton Glow Stick from her utility belt. It cast a creepy green glow but she saw her daughter clearly. Jasmine Fenton was alone in the sitting room amidst tons of wreckage and rubble; she was violently slinging a huge Fenton Foamer around the room and firing from it randomly and very quickly. Under different circumstances the Ghost Hunter in the teal jumpsuit would have been impressed by her daughters pace, but at the moment she had to calm the girl down. "Jazz…it's me…there's nothing here…" Maddie said rationally and made her way over to her eldest child.

"Mom…" Jazz cried and dropped the weapon, "What happened?" she asked as her mother enveloped her in a tight reassuring hug.

"I don't know, but we have to find your father," Maddie replied and took up the discarded weapon. She smiled down at her daughter, took her hand and gave the girl the Fenton Glow Stick. Together they made their way through the living room and into the kitchen, but here was still no sign of Jack Fenton.

"L…let' try the lab…" Jazz said shakily and wiped her eyes. With a nod her mother began to lead the way and they continued to gawk at the damage.

"Things can be fixed Jazz, people can't. I'm just glad you're alright," Maddie gave her daughter's hand a squeeze and adjusted the weapon on her other shoulder. She wanted to be strong for her daughter, even though she had no idea what had happened, and she was scared stiff for her husband. But at least Danny was safe with his friends…he never seemed to have much luck when it came to ghosts, but she was glad she didn't have to worry about finding another Fenton in the rubble. She didn't want to find her son squished under something…she didn't want Danny to be hurt. She didn't want anyone in her family to be hurt…

"I know, mom," Jazz said, and Maddie was pulled from her thoughts by her daughter as they continued their journey.

Once they eventually found the stairs to the lab, mother and daughter began their descent together. "Jack…" Maddie whispered afraid to break the silence. It was a tense coarse silence; one you felt you couldn't…or rather shouldn't break, for fear of the consequences.

Jazz lifted the light and they gasped as it settled upon an unconscious figure on the ground. But once more she felt something breathing down her neck and whipped her neck round to look behind here, and then up at her mother. Maddie simultaneously regarded her daughter, and she knew they had both felt it…there was something else here with them. Maddie, still holding her daughters hand pulled her over the hazardous ground and to the unconscious man, then with their backs against the wall she spun round, weapon at the ready. The strong light was able to penetrate the darkness but once more…thy saw nothing. Maddie swore she could see something move…something vanished from the corner of her eye…but maybe the darkness and the fear were playing tricks on her mind. She was a scientist; she would look at this rationally - so there was nothing there. It had simply been an earthquake.

She turned her attention to her ailing husband. Jack's orange jumpsuit was torn in several places, but she was sure that hers probably was by now as well. Maddie took the light from Jazz's hand and placed it beside them on the floor. She handed the weapon to her daughter and with a false smile she glanced down at her husband.

Sam and Tucker had reluctantly wandered away from the shadows surrounding Fenton Works and were now sat in Tucker's cluttered bedroom with his laptop open as he continued to type furiously on the keys. For the last few minutes he had been trying, and failing to access theEmergency Ops-Centre's security cameras, at least then they'd have some clue as to what happened.

"What's taking so long?" Sam asked for the 10th time already, and continued to pace the length of the room with her arms crossed.

"You keep asking me that, and I keep telling you; I DON'T KNOW!" Tucker moaned, "Someone really doesn't want us to see the footage, okay,"

"No, it's not 'okay'." Sam poorly imitated his voice and made sarcastic speech-marks with her fingers, "Danny'll be here soon and he'll be going in there blind if we can't find anything…"

"What d'ya mean by 'we,' I'm the one getting shouted at here," Tucker replied and sighed as he lowered his head to the keyboard. "This isn't gonna happen anytime soon, man, it's like try'na hack into the Pentagon…blindfolded…with no hands…" the techno-geek had tried anything and everything he could think of, but he had come up blank. Usually hacking into Fenton Works was a walk in the park for him, but now it was impossible. Talk about a quick upgrade!

"What," Sam exclaimed upon seeing her friend's defeated demeanour, "You can't quit now, something really bad could be happening and we…"

"I know, Sam, but it'd take me hours, if not days to hack into this baby, and by then we probably won't need to…maybe we should just go over and check it out ourselves," he said twirling his office chair round to face his goth friend.

Sam immediately pulled out her cell and resumed her frantic pacing, "…he's not answering…" she growled after a minute of listening to the repeating dial tone. "Keep trying, Tucker," she instructed, and upon seeing the girl's bloodcurdling expression he turned back to his laptop and began his long vigil once more.

At the same time Danny Phantom was soaring through the rainclouds and roaring winds at 300 mph, the Ghost Boy was invisible to all below but for once he paid the stunning view no attention at all. It was already going dark and the street lamps were beginning to flicker to artificial life as he circled past them. His mind was plagued by questions to which he had no answer. His family were in jeopardy and it was all his fault. He knew this would happen one day, maybe if he'd just told Vlad about his injury and not fought with the man they could have figured things out and he wouldn't be in this terrible situation.

He hardly knew anything about what he would be up against, but when had that ever stopped him before? Just what exactly did it want with him…this…what had Vlad called it…a Calidae? If it wanted him why go after his family…maybe it thought he was there and had just gone in blind? Whatever the reason, it had crossed the line when it chose to endanger his family. It was fine for something to go after him; he didn't care…but it was not okay to go after them!

Within minutes he had gone from Vlad's mansion on the outskirts of the city to his house…and he stopped dead in his tracks. Sam and Tucker had not been joking, but it was strange that no-one else seemed to notice the strange sight before him. The usually unmissable house was in darkness, like his parents had forgotten to pay the electricity bill, but it was more than that. It was only with his superior vision that he could make out the outline of the building at all, at first glance it appeared that Fenton Works had simply disappeared off the face of the earth. But as he looked closer his glowing green eyes picked up another shape. It was vague and imprecise but it was enough to send a chill down his spine.

It was now official; something was seriously wrong!

Disregarding the voice in his head that told him to run as far away from here as possible, Danny flew straight into the lion's den. He went intangibly through, what he presumed was a wall and into complete and total darkness. If it had been dark outside it was nothing compared to what he now found himself in. Even with his ghostly senses he couldn't see or hear a thing, and now he was slightly worried. "…Mom…Dad…Jazz…" he whispered and whipped his head round and round, but still…nothing changed. He couldn't see anything. He couldn't hear anything. And he had no idea where he was, or where his family was, fantastic.

He lifted his right hand and it began to glow with shining ectoplasm, then he lifted his head and his jaw dropped. The sitting room of the house had always been a refuge to the whole family. When he was little he used to run into the house and forget about school and its bullies and his mother would let him run into her arms, then they'd both sit beside each other on the couch. They'd talk about everything…they used to talk about everything. He'd ask her what it was like to be an astronaut and look at the earth from above; she didn't know but she used to tell him it was like walking in water with an amazing view. He'd ask her about flying without a plane or a glider; she didn't know but she'd tell him it was freedom that only birds – and ghosts, can know what it felt like. Maddie Fenton would never be able to know what it was like to be in space or how it felt to defy gravity and fly like a bird, but Danny did.

She had been there for him when he needed her; it was their time to be together and the couch was important to them. It sounded silly, Danny knew that, it was just a couch, but it had some of the best memories of anything in the house he could remember.

If he had been a visiting stranger it would have been impossible to tell the difference between said couch or the chairs or even the tables. Everything had been literally torn to shreds. There were huge claw marks on the walls, like a really pissed of tiger or lion had been let loose…abig cat, ten times the size of a normal one. The marks were huge…as the battered and torn furnishings could now testify.

Because his ectoplasm was the only light in the room everything also had an eerie green tinge to it, and it bothered him slightly that he hadn't been able to see any of this with his eyes, he had really good night vision. So, he decided to test a theory, he took one last breath and let the light go dimmer and dimmer until it vanished completely. Then he waited several seconds and turned his head round once more to test his eyes. Nope, still nothing. It was really weird and he hated being blind. So he illuminated the room once more and he was met by the same distressing sight. Like the room had been hit by an atomic bomb or a not-so controlled explosion things had been tossed left, right, up, down and any other which ways you could imagine. Strangely he noticed that the windows were still intact and there were glowing globs of ecto-gloop festering on the carpet, his mom was going to blow; she hated cleaning up glowing globs, especially when they were on her carpet.

He took one last look round the war-zone that was once his sitting room and with a quiet shudder he hovered through to the kitchen and was met with a similar sight. The same claw marks on the walls and the battered furniture; someone's bad idea of post-modern décor, he hoped. As he hovered his foot snagged on something and he fell out of the air and painfully onto uneven ground. His legs hit something pointy and sharp while his chest and arms collided with something hard and cold.

"Ugh…" he moaned and in the shock his light had gone out. He felt around uselessly in the dark and tied hastily to touch something familiar; a chair, a table leg…anything. But was surprised when he discovered what he had tripped on felt like the refrigerator. He re-lit his palm and without getting up he observed that it was indeed the Fenton fridge, it was lying on its side, partly propped up by the wall and it was open. Now that he observed he saw that the contents were littered and spilt all over the room, it was on the walls, the debris and even the ceiling. On a whim he crawled over to get a closer look and saw the emergency ham had long since moved and the button for the controls had been switched on.

So someone had been anticipating an attack, but what had it been? He continued to fumble around the room and tried the light switch…with no success; well it had been worth a try. Where would his family go for safety in Fenton Works? There were only two places to choose from. TheEmergency Ops centre…and…

Without a second thought he flew through the floor and into the lab.

He took a deep breath and his eyes widened in shock while his jaw dropped in horror. The cabinets and tables that had been attached to the walls had been ripped off and thrown about the room. The glass test tubes, phials and beakers now created a painful carpet of broken shards on the ground that caught his ghostly glow and magnified it tenfold.

The Fenton Portal was wide open and he stared into the green swirling atmosphere, it was a kind of refuge to him as well. It was a hostile environment filled with loopy ghosts that wanted to kill him, but he loved it. And seeing it open right now for some reason worried him greatly; anyone…or anything could get in…or out...

He was about to fly over and shut it down when a soft whimper stopped him. Danny turned round and fell to the ground in shock; he was unable to maintain the miniscule concentration that it took to hover in the air. There, in the corner of the broken lab were his mother, his father and his sister.

Each one of them was now littered with dozens of bleeding cuts and wounds, their clothes soaking up the blood and taking on an unhealthy red. His father was unconscious and his mother was gently treating a particularly nasty looking gash on the man's right shoulder. Jazz was pointing a dented Fenton Foamer at him with angry eyes. "…Jazz…" Danny frowned and took in the whole ghastly sight from the ground where he lay. He ignored the sharp shards of glass now penetrating his suit and his skin, of what importance was that when his family was in this state? "It's me…" he said quietly with his hands up in the classic 'surrender' pose.

"Danny…" Jazz's voice cut through him like no ghost ray ever had. Her usually musical voice was rough and uneven…it scared him. Just what had happened here?

"Jazz…what is it…" his mom now looked up, her attention had before been fixed on his dad, but now that she saw him she looked…he wasn't sure how she looked. He had come as Danny Phantom…not her son…so how should she feel? "Ghost Boy…what are you doing here?"

Usually he would give a witty remark, something like 'I have a name y'know, and it ain't Ghost Boy,' but now was not the time for his trademark sarcasm or flippancy. Now was the time to get his family the hell outta here. It didn't matter where, anywhere was better than here at the moment.

"Listen mo…Maddie, I have to get you guys outta here…come on, let me help you…please…" Danny begged and his mother stared at him in shock.

"Why would you want to help us?" She asked, and he was beginning to sense a major déjà vu moment. Hadn't he had a similar conversation with someone a while ago? Was his life strange or what?

"Because I care about you…I don't know what happened here, but I need you to trust me," Danny slowly stood up and began to approach them.

Jazz smiled, "I don't think he wants to hurt us, mom. We really need his help," she said and turned to face her mother.

"…Well, I…oh…Alright…" she sighed and glanced down at her husband, "just help me move hi…"

Danny was just leaning over to help his mother lift up his unconscious father when the ground shook for a third time.

It was worse than both of the previous ones put together and trebled. Danny was forced to stand up as his mother lost her balance and fell beside Jack. Jazz curled up on the floor and tried to keep from falling on the pointed objects that littered the floor. Danny looked round and immediately lifted a strong ecto-barrier to protect them from falling debris.

If the house fell on them it wouldn't be a problem; he could just turn them intangible and wait for the shaking to stop. What worried him was the strange feeling that was now coursing through his veins. It felt kind of like his ghost sense. It was a cold sort of rush and he craned his neck forwards to observe the room. When he didn't see or feel his ghost sense actually escape from his mouth he started to get increasingly worried. How could he get the same feeling without the signature blue mist? It was not possible.

"Danny," he vaguely heard his sister say, "What's going on?" But he was too far into his own mind to give her an answer.

Every bone in his body was screaming at him to run! It was self-preservation in its most basic form and he was well acquainted with the feeling…it was the 'fight and flight' instinct. Only the 'fight' this time was being dulled by something, and the 'flight' was becoming louder and louder and louder and louder! It was becoming unbearable!

But he couldn't just abandon him family; he would NEVER forgive himself if he did. So he cast the thought away and strengthened the shield.

The tremors seemed to decrease but they were still present; Danny felt them through his feet on the ground, and he heard the noise from falling objects and shattering glass. Before his eyes something began to emerge. It looked like smoke, from a burning building on its last legs and about to crumble forever; the foul air that penetrated a person's lungs and caused so much damage with so little effort.

It had an uneven shape; like the filthiest industrial smog or a spine-chilling midnight mist. Danny found it strange that this mist seemed to have a dark blue tinge to it and he added more strength to his shield. It was now probably the most powerful one he had ever created, it was fuelled by his ecto-energy but in his fear he had lost control of his innate ice powers and it now a thin, but strong layer of glowing azure surrounding it.

The mist now began to take on a more denser shape and Danny saw two black eyes that managed to convey to him the purest look of hatred and abhorrence; he had never seen anything like it before…except maybe in his nightmares. He saw the coal black eyes never waver from him, it didn't even look at his family, not once…this…abomination had eyes for only him.

It seemed to growl at him, a low penetrating sound that only fuelled the voice in his head telling him to fly out of there as fast as he could. Nothing he had ever come across before had managed to instil such fear in him with so little effort. Not Skulker, Walker or even Vlad had this effect on him. And it froze him to the spot, he felt like a deer caught in the headlights, powerless to do anything. It was a horrible feeling.

It growled louder and louder and seemed to be moving closer to him and his family, Danny's arms began to quiver and could practically feel the fear come from his family in waves. Clearly none of them had ever come across anything like this either.

Once it rested just outside Danny's shield he was able to make out two horns on the things head…if it even had a head…maybe this was indeed the devil…how could it not be…only something from the deepest darkest pits of hell would be able to look and act this way. He saw two long arms emerge and it lifted one of them up slowly. Its long, slim fingers each had a pointed black talon growing from it and they were now raised and pointed right at him.

He through he was going to be attacked, he was expecting a painful, mind-blowing attack, but it seemed to tilt its head slightly at him. Danny still didn't move - if he did his family were toast and if he stayed where he was, the he was toast as well. But something told him that when this thing was through with him there wasn't even going to be any ashes left, let alone toast. The analogy was almost comical…almost.

The hand came ever closer and he quietly swore when he felt the immense pressure on the shield. It was trying to force its way past his defences, and it appeared to be off to a damn good start. This had to be by far the most powerful shield he had ever made, and this thing was gonna slice through it like it was cheese…huh another food analogy…maybe he was still hungry…He groaned as he felt his arms and legs buckle under the incoming attack and the claws came ever closer.

The creature seemed to smile on seeing his struggle, and as Danny's ice defence literally shattered into million tiny shards of useless ice he swallowed hard. He couldn't keep this up for long; he wasn't going to survive purely through defence alone; he needed to attack. He needed to protect himself and his family; he needed to get this thing away from his house and his city. But surely that wasn't a good idea…but there was no one to come to his rescue…so he had no other choice.

It had made short work of the outer layer and was now half way through the remaining defence; this was easier than he thought it would be. At least the other one had put up a fight...a poor one, but a fight none the less. To do otherwise was weak and dishonourable and those were two things the Calidae hated most of all, and he relished the look of pure fear on the child's face. He stepped closer and closer until the green shield shattered completely, leaving an undefended hybrid and three weak humans.

Danny let out a yell of surprise and pain as he felt his most powerful defence fade away; he felt the ectoplasm leave his palms and it felt like losing a limb. It was now or never, he could attack now and have some small hope of survival…or he could give up and let himself and his family die without even trying. He knew which one he would choose…it was the option he always chose…he fought. There was no way he was going down without a fight…it was in his nature…something that he hoped would never change.

He let out the cold feeling from deep within and felt his palms light up with frozen energy, from his eyes and hands he let out as much of the power as he could and kept going. It hit the intruder on target and soon Danny was looking at a misty frozen sculpture.

Usually he would admire its beauty, or stop to take in the shape of the thing trapped within but there was little time to do so. He intended to take it far away…not a well thought out plan perhaps, but he flew from his family and toughed his right palm to the ice. Without even looking at the people below he turned both himself and the being intangible and up through the ceiling. Another two to go and then it was clear skies all the way…but that was all the Calidae was going to stand for. Danny felt the ice melt beneath his palm and a sudden feeling shot up his arms and sent him flying into the wall behind him.

He felt as though his whole body was on fire, and he knew what that felt like, this fire was worse and hotter and any normal flame. As his back collided with the wall his head slumped down on his chest and he recognised the familiar prickling touch on his abdomen.

Danny forced his head up in time to see the ice instantly shatter with a loud theatrical sound that reverberated excruciatingly in his eardrums. Apparently it didn't like being frozen and now it was totally pissed off with him. Oh shit! He pulled up his hands, ignored the protest from his limbs, and sent swirling discs of ecto-energy at it. But they were easily blocked by a bluish-black hand and Danny moaned.

The building then shook once more and he heard loud screams from downstairs, Danny tried to turn intangible to fall through the floor but one of the beasts large hands shot forwards and pinned him to the wall. It cut off his oxygen and he choked for air…he didn't need as much as most people but he still panicked when he was being strangled by a shit-scary monster! Was that so wrong of him?

Then he was thrown clear across the room and into, what he found on impact was a particularly large pointy pile of rubble. He screamed in agony then Danny strained his ears to find the screaming sound of his scared family, but he heard nothing…maybe they were okay now…or maybe not. Before he could even think of a worst case scenario a powerful blast of crackling black energy hit him and he felt it shock him from head to toe. It felt worse than one of Skulker's attacks from an upgraded suit…it felt worse than being tossed like a rag doll through 3 solid walls consecutively and even worse than Vlad duplicating himself and having them all electrocuting him at the same time.

He was now left with two choices; he could do nothing, or he could attack with his Ghostly Wail. Both of them would most likely result in his losing consciousness…for the second time in one day, he had to note bitterly. Today was definitely was of his worse days. He took in a deep breath and let out his most powerful attack. It caused the whole house to tremble and created even more damage to the interior.

It had to have caught the creature by surprise as it was sent backwards and held against the wall by the sheer force of the green waves of energy. But it didn't last long. Danny was shocked as it vanished in thin air, so he stopped his attack. The consequences of using his Wail when he was not at full power soon became clear and he propped himself up shakily on his knees. His head began to spin and he morphed back into his human half…when he tried to change back he was met with internal resistance and he fell to the ground with a sigh.

Maybe his luck had begun to turn and it had run away? He highly doubted it. And he was proven correct and he sensed something behind him, but he was powerless to do anything in defence…when he felt the attack all he did..all he could do was…scream…

Vlad sat alone in his sitting room; with the glow from the fire illuminating his features and highlighting the confusion and concern in his glassy cobalt eyes. He had let the child leave alone, without his assistance. If he had almost died trying to fight it, perhaps Daniel wouldn't be quite so lucky as to escape with his life. But what could he do; when the mere memory of the creature brought a humiliating feeling of powerlessness and…fear. He hadn't felt the same way in over 20 years, and now it had returned with a vengeance…and Vlad didn't like it. Not one bit! It was inconceivable that a single fight had the ability to reduce him to this; a fearful, powerless old hybrid trying to save himself, and one of the only few people he actually cared, about from the slaughter.

"What happened?" Alothea asked as she entered the room in human form and Vlad felt the usual shiver down his spine. He had long ago learnt to control his reaction to other ghosts, but it never hut to be on the alert. She walked over to the fireplace, and knelt down and began adding more logs to the fire; she knew it was a pointless, unnecessary waste of money since any of them, including Vlad could make the fire burn without using fuel of any kind. But the man was adamant, he wanted a log fire and he was going to have a log fire. He didn't care about wasting the money, if he wanted to he could burn money…he had enough of the stuff…and he had never been a tree-hugger type anyway.

"Nothing," Vlad replied quietly and swirled the red wine in a crystal glass ostentatiously rimmed with gold.

"Hmm…" was Ally's only reply and she picked up a brass poker from the elaborately crafted Companion Set. (*1)

"He is just like you," she smiled into the fire as she nudged a particularly large piece of wood down into the consuming flames.

"Don't be facetious, Alothea, it doesn't suit you," Vlad muttered and sipped the dregs of the expensive wine. He then set it down gently and brushed back his hair with his right hand, a nervous habit of his instilled in him from his father.

"If you say so, sir," she smiled and returned the instrument to its rightful place. She then stood up straight before him and clasped her hands behind her back. "You are...worried the boy?" Ally then walked over to her employer and lifted the intricate glass decanter from the cabinet and poured more of his favourite wine into his empty glass.

"Not in the least," Vlad replied austerely and held the Spectrals gaze. This particular Ghost was not like other Spectrals he had met. She had far more knowledge than the rest of them, and while they appeared to be only a few years old in ghost years Alothea had over 700 years of memory. Sometimes she was confusing to be around, he could act cold and cruel, but she also spoke to him like a friend. Which he found absurd! But for reasons of his own he said nothing, he knew that she was aware of his doubts but the both of them kept quiet.

"If you say so, sir," she repeated and turned to put away the decanter. She then left the room with an antiquated bow and bid her employer goodnight. With his doubts and fears elevated she had done her job and the other Spectrals started at her anxiously as she walked away from the closed doors.

"Well?" Marion prompted eagerly. But Alothea was still walking away and the others had to walk quickly to keep up with her.

"Well what?" she asked innocently with her hands clasped lightly in front of her.

"Did you tell him…about the kid…he can't just let things happen like this…?" Elyn answered with a worried look on her sylphlike face.

"Elyn, I went in only to stoke the fire and bid our master goodnight. You know I don't tell tales after school," the stoic maid replied with a knowing look in her ancient eyes. Then she turned and bowed lightly to them "Goodnight," she smiled and vanished through the celling before their eyes.

"If you azk me, zat girl haz always been a leettle bit…"

"How many times…we didn't ask you!" Harry shouted and thwacked the wanna-be French Ghost upside the head with a frying pan.

"Mon dieu!" Louis exclaimed and clutched his head with both hand, "Zis is unacceptable behaviour…I will demand to be zee 'ead chef…you do not deserve zuch a distinguished…"

"Where were you keeping that?" Larson asked effectively cutting off Louis' rant and he curiously tilted his head.

"What's it to ya?" Harry rudely replied and once more brandished his weapon.

"Nothing…never mind…" the kleptomaniac gardener sighed and flew away from the continual shouts of the barmy chefs that continued to echo in the gloomy mansion.

What was he meant to do now? That was the question that pounded and resonated in Vlad's brain like a hammer. If he went over to the Fenton's then he was most assuredly dead. If he stayed here and wallowed then two of the only reasons for his existence were most assuredly dead as well. Was he selfish enough to let that happen...would he really let his beautiful Madeline die because he was too much of a coward to help her? Was he really stupid enough to let the son that should be his die cold and alone because he was too afraid to save him?

Madeline and Daniel…Daniel and Madeline…they would be his undoing, he was sure of it. He'd never really paid much attention to the eldest Fenton child; Jasmine Fenton. She was her mother in miniature in appearance and intelligence, perhaps he should have cared more; it was always such a waste to see young talent die before it had the chance to shine. And as for Jack…well what was there to say? If his obsessions were his wife and son then that man was the embodiment of everything he hated and despised.

It made him wonder how he had ever been friends with such a person. But the memories of their college days had been some of the best he could ever remember…until he had realised they were both in love with the same woman…and the…accident.

Until Jack Fenton, Vladimir Masters had never had a friend in his life; he had his parents, he had his father's employees and co-workers, the servants…but never a friend. And he'd never had a friend after Jack Fenton either. The betrayal still stung. Even now, after 20 years…he still hated the sight of the man. In his darkest moments he wanted to kill him, he wanted to stop Jack's beating heart and laugh at him as he died. The sheer pleasure of knowing that you are the victor in this game drove his hatred. But if he did so he often wondered would he lose any chance he had with Maddie and Daniel?

Did that even matter? He could drag them both kicking and screaming if he had to…if he wanted to. Vlad wasn't sure exactly what was stopping him from doing so, and it bothered him all the time. He didn't like not knowing something. He had been raised to know his enemy, he had always been told to never loose…to never be crushed …and never give up. Under-handed tactics were always an option when the King was in danger…and if nothing else it was a mentality he would take to his grave. It had been too deeply entrenched into his mind and he was too old to change his ways now.

But what should he do? To go or not to go, that is the question? Vlad still didn't know…one answer did spring to mind…but it clashed with the mentality of his childhood. If he went he was putting himself in danger…there was a chance he could lose…but to stay would be to abandon the only two people he cared for. And neither were options he particularly favoured.

He saw images…hated recollections of the fight that not so long ago had threatened his own life; it still terrified him to just think about it. That monster could strike fear into anyone without even trying no matter how powerful they were. And if he abandoned Daniel to his fate he would never have another chance to convince the child he could be a batter father than the one fate had given him. He would never be able to prove to Maddie that he loved her far more than her husband.

So with one last sigh of acceptance Vlad finished his second glass of wine – a parody of a last supper – and transformed into his Ghostly alter ego, he then teleported himself quickly and quietly to Fenton Works.

Vlad made sure that he was well hidden in his chosen spot. He had appeared in a smoke screen of pink and purple mist behind a tall house close to the Fenton's, he didn't want the Calidae to know that he was here until it was absolutely necessary. While invisible he poked his head around the building and caught a glimpse of the strange darkness he had overheard Daniel's friends mention in fear…and they had a right to be fearful.

The house was showed in the same dark mist that he had seen overtake his own mansion…when he had nearly been killed. And like the hybrid before him he flew straight towards the house, but he stopped before he could touch it. Vlad glanced around…no-once else had noticed the seemingly large black hole in their street where the house used to be. Or maybe they just didn't pay as much attention like Daniel's friends did. Either way this was a major problem.

He flew through the darkness and into more darkness…or so he thought. Once his gloved palm ignited with purple ectoplasm he was soon corrected. He had been transported into a war zone! What kind of mad joke was this? The Fenton's sitting room looked like it had been chewed up and sit out by a huge rabid monster. Vlad's eyes flitted about the room and he eventually decided that there was no-one here, he was just flying out of the room when a speck of dirty grey caught his eye, it was tinted with his purple glow…but he still caught it.

Vlad hovered over with caution and his left hand crackled with electricity, ready to attack if necessary. But he stopped in his tracks and carefully scrutinized the morbid sight before him, with his mouth aghast and his eyes wide he was staring at the still, unmoving form of a very human and battered looking Daniel Fenton. He quickly made sure that they were alone in the dark and for the second time that day he knelt beside the unconscious boy. Vlad pushed aside broken pieces of wood, bricks and all sorts away from the bleeding child and lightly lifted the boy into his arms. With his floating orb of purple light still illumining the room his tapped Daniel's cheek and tried to revive him.

"Daniel…" he whispered quietly and was relieved when he saw the child's eyes flicker under his eyelids. "Daniel…wake up…" he lightly shook the boy's shoulders and was met with a quiet moan from the recipient.

Once Danny was able to open his eyes he expected the monster to be back to finish the job so he jerked as far away from whatever had woken him up, he didn't get far and he forced his vision to clear. "…e…lone…" he muttered and tried to get his hand to fire an ectoplasmic blast at the stranger. He didn't get very far in that either, and his hand gave off a pitiful spark before he was forced to drop it, the boy really had no energy at all.

"Daniel…I'm not going to hurt you…" Vlad replied.

Danny blinked in confusion, he knew that voice…but he couldn't place it…the thing that attacked him hadn't spoken a word, so it couldn't be that. It was a man's voice…but didn't sound like his father, "…huh…" he exhaled, took a deep breath and subsequently choked on the very air he had just breathed in.

Vlad propped the boy up to help him breathe and noticed that his clothes were torn…almost shredded and he looked past them to check the boy for any serious wounds. Then something black caught his eye…something that shouldn't have been there at all. An ugly, angry looking injury on Daniel's blood covered abdomen, something they had been discussing…and something he had feared.

But he pushed it to the back of his mind for the moment, right now he needed to get himself and the child out of the house and away from whatever was still probably lurking in the shadows. "Come on…we need to leave, now…" he whispered softly and lifted the boy into his arms.

"No…d…stairs…lab…" Danny muttered and tried to fidget out of Vlad's strong hold.

Passing the child's mumbled words of as the gibberish ravings of an injured boy, and standing up to fly them both far away.

"NO," Danny said again this time more forcefully and he was able to get the man's attention with increasing success. "Please…"

Vlad sighed and took in his surroundings, hopefully he sensed nothing, he saw nothing and he heard nothing. Maybe they were safe…for now. "What is it, Daniel?" he asked and turned his gaze to the ailing boy in his arms.

"…They're downstairs…in the…lab…please…" he said and moaned in pain.

If the Fenton's were indeed still in the house was there a chance that they were still alive? Vlad once more surveyed the damage and weighed up the probability; Daniel was the strongest of the Fenton's and it looked like he had just barely survived…so what about the others…what about Maddie. If he stayed here and tried to search for them he could be putting them both in even more jeopardy. But…in for a penny…Vlad moved the boy so that Danny's right arm was around his shoulders and he was acting as a prop from him to stand.

He phased them both though the floor and into the remains of the Fenton's basement lab. Vlad at once saw why Danny had been so adamant about staying…each of the three remaining Fenton's were unconscious in the corner of the room. They were surrounded by weapons and blood…lots of blood.

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

He had the lives of his most hated rival, the love of his life, and two helpless children in his hands…his mind demanded that this was a situation that was crying out to be manipulated to work to his advantage. And Daniel further played into his hands as he fell unconscious again…the child was exhausted. He floated over to the group of comatose humans and then he heard a low snarl…a howl or an angry growl. Something was not pleased to see him here…he had played right into its hands by coming here…now it looked like he was in for it.

But Vlad was not a stupid man he crouched down beside the Fenton's and focused on his mansion…he had to imagine every furnishing and corner of the sitting room…and then he expanded the purple mist around him. He sensed a huge mass of dark energy head towards him…it would know where he would go for safety…but it was too late to change his destination now…all five of them vanished leaving only pools of blood and ectoplasm behind.

A.N. So now I think I have the major plot line well and truly under way…and it only took me like 9 chapters and like over 40,000 words…too much d'you think…oh well…such is life.

And it's about time; it's Vlad to the rescue…well sort of anyway! Once again I know I really put poor Danny though lot, don't I? But he can take it; I will be kinder to him in the future!

Goodbye

Sayōnara

Au revoir

Lebewohl

etc

(*1) In case anyone is wondering; a 'Companion Set' is one of the traditional Victorian fire pieces that typically stood beside the fireplace. They usually had a shovel, brush, poker and coal tongs and were normally made of iron, brass or pewter. If you still don't know what I mean Google it and you'll see. Vlad of course would have to use a very elaborate set, and coming from, in my story, a wealthy traditional English family, (with Russian or German or whatever descent) he would have wanted one as a memento of his childhood.