Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Now on with the show!
A porcelain doll.
That was what he thought the first time he saw her. She was a living, breathing porcelain doll. Absolutely perfect in every way possible, Snow White herself come to life. Black hair as dark as night, lips as red as the rose, and flawless porcelain skin that seemed to have an unearthly glow to it. She had a body that would put Aphrodite herself to shame and her big beautiful black doe like eyes ensnared anyone, be it male or female, Magical Realm, Human World, or The Ghost Zone, that was fortunate enough to garner her attention. And, oh God, her voice! Her voice that bewitched and enchanted all who heard, her voice that made him believe for one time in all his wrenched, miserable existence that there was a God for no creature could sound that magnificent without divine intervention. Danielle could turn the most calm, well ordered, collected person completely deranged with desire. He'd seen it many, many times before especially with his old Master's son. He didn't know a being alive (Or dead for that matter) that could resist the siren call that was Danielle Fenton.
And apparently that extended to half-ghost mages too.
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Friday. December 23rd, 2004. Private Study. 8:14p.m.
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He appeared in the room in a swirl of red light. What lay before him was complete and utter destruction. Glasses and their contents were smashed up against the walls, furniture was overturned, the Persian rug was burned to a crisp, books were torn, ripped and flung in each and every direction.
And those were just the things that were salvageable.
He glared at his Master who was currently hunched over against the wall, his hands burning ectoplasmic holes in it. He knew all that talk of Madeline Fenton being his one true love was bullshit. He knew the moment he saw Danielle he would forget the violet eyed woman and move on to his porcelain doll. Damn that lying son of a bit-
"Who is she?"
The whispered statement drew him out of his angry thoughts.
"She?" He curtly replied, checking his staff in a show of nonchalance. "I'm afraid I don't now who you're referring to Master."
His answer got just the reaction he expected. His Master turned in fury, grabbed his collar, and painfully slammed him up against wall. His Master's feral red eyes were trained on him and he roared.
"WHO-IS-SHE!? WHAT CREATURE IS SHE!? IS SHE A SIREN!? A SUCCUBUS!? A VAMPIRE!?"
"I'm afraid Master," He spat, glaring down at the red eyes of his Master. "I don't know whom you're referring to."
The stare down lasted only a few moments. All too soon he was released and his Master turned away from him, seemingly trying to compose himself. In a calmer voice he told him.
"I command you to tell me everything you know about Danielle Fenton."
Damn. A direct order. His collar burned and his mouth forcefully opened and he began talking. In defiance he told his Master Danielle Fenton's favorite shows, her favorite toothbrush, her favorite band, her level in martial arts,-
He saw his Masters body tense in annoyance and another direct order was given to him, this time much more specific.
"I command you to tell me everything important you know about Danielle Fenton."
The collar burned and he opened his mouth and told him that she wasn't any kind of magical creature but was unaffected by Mage Powers, even his. He saw his Master turn and his midnight blue eyes widen in shock. But before his Master could question him, he told him something that he'd regret for the rest of his life. But he had no choice.
"She can what?" His Master whispered in shock. But he stood silent. His Master's eyes narrowed. "I command you to repeat that statement!" His Master harshly ordered him.
His teeth gritted as he was forced to repeat the dreaded statement again.
"She can bear your children."
His Master stood stunned and he didn't blame him. If he had believed for over twenty years that his chances of having children were ruined, he'd too find it hard to believe if someone just told him out of the blue one woman held the key.
"Show me." His Master asked, desperation seeping into his voice.
He stood silent glaring at him and did nothing. His Master realized his folly and shouted at him
"I COMMAND YOU TO SHOW ME!"
His collar burned and he was forced to wave his staff over his Master's laptop, which was a few feet away from him surprisingly undamaged. He gestured his Master to take a look at it. When his Master did, he saw a number of emotions swim through his face. But the ones he read the most were hope and joy. He turned away from him in shame, his heart plummeting.
He just damned Danielle in the worst way possible to a man that was a million times more smart and powerful than Dash or Susan Baxter could have ever dreamed to be. Danielle didn't stand a chance in hell against him. But at least he showed the medical documents before she got her ghost powers.
"I command you to tell me if any of this is false." He heard his Master's hoarse voice called out.
His collar burned again and he was forced to answer him.
"It's all true Master."
It was silent for a few moments. Then his collar burned when another direct order was given to him.
"I command you to look at me."
His collar burned and he turned around. He glared into the eyes of his Master, which was now filled with dark victory. There was a sinister smile edged upon his Master's face and his hands were clasped together. He seemed to snap back into the being he was before he met Danielle and not the wreck he saw when he first came in.
"I command you to tell me anything and everything I can do to get back into Danielle Fenton's good graces."
His collar burned once again at his direct order and he was forced to betray Danielle to a man who made his former Master believe he wasn't that much of a threat, then proceeded to slaughter her and half the Baxter family without so much as breaking a sweat. And he managed to keep the whole thing quiet from the mermaids, which is quite unheard of.
Danielle was doomed. His heart hurt just thinking about it.
He felt a sudden surge of determination wash over him. He had to do something. He couldn't let Danielle go down like this.
"What about Madeline Master?" He asked him when he saw him preparing to leave. "The purple eyed beauty-"
His Master simply waved him off and told him.
"Her beauty is nothing compared to that of her daughter's."
"But, Master," He tried once again, hoping he didn't sound too desperate. "I thought she was your one true love. Isn't this what you been planning for all these years? Revenge against Jack Fenton for stealing away the love of your life, Madeline?"
His Master stopped. His hopes soared. Had his words really worked? He saw his Master calmly walk over to a picture of Madeline on the bookshelf that had remained standing and grabbed it in contemplation. His hopes were dashed however when his Master removed the picture from it's cover and burned it to ashes.
"I was wrong." His Master cooly said as the picture smoldered in his hand. "Maddie is nothing to me now. Nothing at all. What I once felt for her is gone. She is not my true soulmate. Her daughter is. I felt it the moment I touched her hand. My life-force matched perfectly with hers."
His breath hitched. Unfortunately for him his Master noticed and glared at him in suspicion.
"How can you be so sure Master?" He asked before his Master could order anything else of him, his red eyes boring holes into his Master's indigo ones.
"All ghosts have a soulmate." His Master responded holding his glare. "Apparently even half ghosts like me. Our life forces connect and there is no one else but each other. You of all people should know this seeing as many ghosts as you've been through."
"Then I wonder, Master, why did Danielle try to snatch her arm away?" He challenged, ignoring the jab at him. "Why didn't she feel what you felt?"
Here his Master faltered. He saw him look away and glance outside the window where snow was softly falling.
"I don't know." His Master finally whispered, his tone broken and distraught.
He tried to reason with his Master once more.
"Master, Danielle-"
But a roar so loud and fierce cut off what he was about to say.
"DON'T CALL HER DANIELLE!" His Master's eyes were bright red and a wave of pure malevolent energy washed over the entire room. "I COMMAND YOU NEVER TO CALL HER DANIELLE!"
His collar burned and he stood silent. Eventually his Master calmed down, his eyes turned back blue, and he told him with gritted teeth.
"Daniel was a name I had chosen if I ever had a son, a name I so foolishly shared with Jack in my college days." He paused, glancing out the window once more. "Call her Snow." He softly finished.
"Very well Master." He complied, his fists inconspicuously clenching in anger. "You know, my old Master's son tried to keep Snow by threatening her family. And she hated and resented him for it. She went out with him, of course she was forced to, but she never truly smiled, she never laughed, she never had anything to say to him. She was like a zombie." He shuttered at the mere memory of her dull, empty eyes. "This went on for almost a year. It drove him insane. Why be like him Master? You have the upper hand here. Wouldn't you rather have a willing bride who smiles for you, laughs for you, and willingly bears your children?" He felt his heart break with those words but he forced himself to continue. He needed to buy Danielle time. "All you have to do is wait a couple of more years-"
"No."
His Master's curt, firm reply cut him off.
"What Master?"
"I said no." His Master repeated back to him, smoothing out some wrinkles on his suit. "Dashiell Baxter was a fool. He waited too long to take Snow as his and now look what happened. Now I have her and I'm never letting her go. She is my soulmate, my other half, she will love me. She has to. Besides," He added saucily, his blue eyes flashing with lust and desire. "After our first night in bed, she won't have the slightest desire to be with anyone else but me."
For a moment he saw Dash. He saw his Master's eyes turn ice blue and his grey hair turn golden blonde. The words that Dash had said to him just one month ago echoed through his mind.
'After one night with me she'll be begging me not to leave.'
'He's just like Dash.' He seethed. 'The only difference between them is age.'
"And if she doesn't Master?" He challenged once again, his red eyes narrowing at him, mentally shaking Dash's voice and face from his mind. "If she fights you like she fought Dash? After all she's only seventeen-"
"Which is a year above the age of consent in Minnesota, if I am not mistaken." His Master cooly interrupted. "And as I won't be fertile until Beltane and Snow's pregnancy is half that of a regular human's, Daniel won't be born until mid September. Only a month and a half shy of her eighteenth birthday, she's old enough. And I am not a foolish, arrogant, teenaged boy like young Dashiell and you would do well to remember that. Have you forgotten so quickly how I became your new Master?"
No he hadn't forgotten. How could he forget? His late Master's screams still ran through his mind and so did so many others. Vlad Masters was not a man to be trifled with, he had known that even before he ever became his Master. But never in a million years would be believe what he knows now. He wouldn't even have known it to be a possibility but yet it's true. Vlad managed to keep it a secret from all the Magical community, not one single person knew about it, and Susan Baxter's folly was not trying to destroy Vlad when she had the chance years ago and instead going with a 'peace agreement.' Which only lasted until Susan figured out a way to kill Vlad, which she was planning to do with Danielle's children. When Vlad Masters showed he resisted his powers and had ghost powers, Susan deemed Vlad too strong. And she wasn't afraid Vlad would kill him, just wound him enough to leave her open to her many, many enemies she had on the outside and inside. And on that tenth anniversary of that 'peace agreement', when he saw Vlad mercilessly kill all those Baxters without even breaking a sweat, there was no doubt in his mind that Vlad was the most powerful being on earth.
Well next to him of course.
"I know how to play my part." His master continued very arrogantly. "I know how to watch and wait. By this year's end Snow will be Mrs. Vlad Masters, our beautiful son Daniel will be forming in her womb, and Jack Fenton will be dead by my hand. And Snow will never be able to blame Vlad Masters for any of it."
His Master's eyes flashed red with a knowing smirk. He glared back at him. If only his Master knew who Danielle really was. But he supposed that'd make the situation way worse. Still he had faith in Danielle. She was extremely smart and made her way out of tough, terrifying situations before. If anyone could figure out who Vlad really was and defeat him, it was her. Although she wasn't stronger than Vlad or smarter than Vlad, she did have one thing in her favor. Vlad didn't see her as a threat. He didn't know who she was and he was underestimating her. He didn't even want to look at a picture of her before she arrived at the castle or look up some documents on her as she was so insignificant in his mind.
(Also because of the fact he was angry and jealous that 'His Madeline' had kids with that oaf and he refused to look at even a single picture of either one of them)
And that would be his Master's downfall. Danielle wasn't afraid to set it the fuck off, even if she doomed herself in the process. Hell he knew for a fact that she'd rather be dead than someone's baby making machine. Vlad was going to have one hell of a shock and fight on his hands.
"Oh is that the time? Dinner starts in fifteen minutes."
His Master's words drew him out of his thoughts. He saw him start to head out the door but suddenly he stopped mid halt. His Master turned towards him and said
"Oh and one more thing."
He saw his Master's eyes quickly flash red before his collar send shockwaves of pain all over his body. He dropped his staff unconsciously and felt a hand close around his throat, slamming him against the wall so hard it left a crack in it. His vision was spinning as he looked down at his Master.
"Forget about Snow." His Master harshly told him, his blue eyes flashing red in rage. "Whatever I choose to do to her is none of your concern. She is mine." Possessiveness oozed from his tone. "She will never be yours. Remember your place slave."
His Master dropped him like a sack of potatoes and he glared up at him from the floor, his red eyes burning with fury, pain still throbbing throughout his entire body. But at least the collar had stopped it's attack.
"Besides," His Master added with a cold smirk. "Do you honestly believe you even stand a chance with her after all she's seen you do?"
With that statement his Master turned and left the room, leaving him in mental tatters. All at once he heard her voice, her beautiful voice full of agony that echoed throughout his mind, refusing to go away.
'I'll give you anything! Anything you want! Just don't harm them!'
'No! Please! Have mercy! Not the children! Don't let him kill the children!'
'You monster! You murdering evil monster!'
'You'll rot in hell someday! I'll send you straight to hell someday!'
'Someday?' He scoffed, trying in vain to drown out her vengeful voice in his head. 'I'm already there.'
His Master was right. It was a lost cause. Even if he were miraculously free by tomorrow, it would still be of no use. Danielle Fenton would never love him after all he's done.
No matter how much he loved her.
Author's note: Reviews please!