The ghost ray zipped through the air towards Danny's heart only to hit something else. Dan frowned in anger and disappointment. His moment of victory stolen. Danny panted and struggled to stay conscious and watched as his rescuer stood up again. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw none other than Vlad Plasmius standing in between Danny Phantom and Dan Phantom. "I can not allow you to kill Daniel, Dan. I don't know who you are or who you were but I will not let you win. You destroyed my last piece of sanctuary left and you shall pay for that!" Vlad growled angrily at Dan. Dan's eyes glowed furiously and he lunged at Vlad. Danny that passed out unable to stay conscious due to his weakness from the Ghostly Wail.
Vlad fell to the ground and with a growl of anger of his own, duplicated and his duplicate tackled Dan, throwing him off Vlad. Vlad fired multiple ghost rays and plasma rays, most making contact. Dan was pushed backwards from the amount of attacks sent towards him. Dan was weak also. He had used his Ghostly Wail and while it didn't weaken him as much as it did for Danny, it did weaken him. Also Danny's Ghostly Wail had hurt him also. Dan snarled at Vlad furiously.
Since when did Vlad care about Danny? True, in Dan's timeline Vlad had pitied him enough to do as he asked and rip apart his human and ghost halves. But he had never cared about him. However this Vlad seemed to genuinely care if Danny was alive or dead. Vlad seemed to want to protect Danny with his life if need be. This infuriated Dan further as it was a factor that Dan hadn't accounted for. Dan had never truly defeated Vlad either. He had ripped apart his Vlad's human and ghost halves and merged with Plasmius, leaving Masters helpless. However the sudden surge of power had temporarily driven him into a blind rage. He had killed his human half and fled, laughing all the way to the nearest portal. Then he had spent the next ten years developing and honing his powers before returning the human world to show everyone how it feels to lose everything they cared about in the world. But the fact remain Dan had never defeated Vlad in a fair fight, they had reached a stalemate enough, but never a decisive winner. This played on Dan's mind and judgement. If Dan could feel properly, he would have realised that Vlad's sudden appearance had unnerved him to the point of frightening him.
Vlad noticed this and used it to his advantage. He pushed harder against Dan. He used everything in his power to land a critical hit on Dan. He duplicated his form and together with his duplicates fired plasma and ghost rays at Dan, gaining the upper hand with numbers and the element of surprise. Vlad couldn't help but smile cockily. He had Dan on the run now. It had been years since he had used his powers properly.
Vlad had occasionally come into the human world to gather some food and water to survive. There wasn't any in the Ghost Zone as ghosts didn't need to eat. Some ghosts, particularly the newer ones, ate simply to maintain the illusion of being alive but the food they ate wasn't truly food but merely echoes. The kingdom of Aargon held banquets but the food they ate didn't give any of them nutrition. Vlad, being half human, couldn't survive on that. He had survived in space as while he remains in his ghost form, he doesn't need to breathe. He and Danny only wore helmets in space to ensure that they wouldn't die if they accidently reverted to human form.
Therefore Vlad had come to the human world invisible, and stole the food he needed. It put his life into perspective. He had nothing left. He lost his mansion and wealth when he was abandoned and then banished from the human world. He lost his friends and reputation when he showed the world that he wanted world domination. He lost his oldest and most reliable friend, Jack Fenton, and the friendship of the love of his life, Maddie Fenton, when he revealed to them that he was part ghost that had sought to destroy everything they held dear. Vlad channelled those feelings into fighting Dan. He felt that the only chance he could live the rest of his days in peace was in the Ghost Zone but now Dan had threatened that.
Vlad didn't blame Danny for what had happened, in fact he was grateful to him for saving Earth and so the Ghost Zone when he couldn't. Danny had been the one to solve the ectoranuim problem in the disastaroid. Vlad owed it to Danny, and to his parents that had been there when Vlad was at his lowest, to help him now. If Danny was too weak to fight off this threat, Vlad would do it for him. Vlad had been waiting for this chance. The chance to show the world that he had learned his lesson. Vlad merely wanted to be accepted and allowed to live the rest of his days in peace. He didn't want to lead anymore. Vlad gritted his fangs and fought Dan more fiercely than ever. Vlad was trying to be what Danny had become. Accepted and respected. Vlad knew the only way for that to happen was to stop Dan.
Wow, Vlad the hero!? I wanted a big twist and I also wanted to catch up with Vlad after he had been abandoned in space. Again I wanted to give both characters better motivation behind their actions and background. In the ultimate enemy, it showed that Vlad became a broken man and changed his ways after he lost everything and after the Phantom Planet, he lost everything. So he had to change into a similar character.
Anyway, until the next chapter…