A/N: A continuation from the previous Child's play oneshot. I'll be sure to be working a little harder on my oneshot collection when I get the time. Well, here you are to pass the time, I guess.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Child's play (part 2)

Vlad wasn't worried when Danny disappeared for a few days. After all, how far could a five year old get with unreliable ghost powers? Certainly not very far when he received the expected phone call. Glancing down at the caller ID, he suspected it must have been the police.

This was the seventh time this month that Danny had tried to escape his current predicament.

"Vlad Masters," he answered with a growing smirk on his face. He listened intently to the voice on the other end before he shook his head. This was exactly the call that he knew he was going to get. He did find it odd that the child hadn't been caught sooner. Danny must have gotten better at learning to blend in to the environment and not seem suspicious. "Yes, Daniel is my son."

He let out a sigh of mock concern. Best to act the role of a concerned parent to keep up appearances. "He does have a bad habit of running away…" He trailed, trying to make his tone more believable – to conjure the false occupation of empathy.

The police has been through this many times before. Vlad didn't need to try very hard to be convincing. Danny always tried to run, trying to seek out a way back to the Ghost Zone, only he never makes it very far. The older halfa scrunched his eyebrows in annoyance – the boy was trying to kill himself, not to mention it was an unattainable goal.

"Yes, thank you," Vlad concluded the conversation before pulling away the phone from his ear and looking at the saved number in his phone. The police were on his side, and even the townspeople of the outskirts of town knew to contact him when they saw the lone child by himself.

Why was it that Daniel was still trying this foolish voyage of his?

The doorbell rang out, and Vlad placed the phone on the desk in front of him carelessly. He had his son to collect – no matter how much Daniel tried to get out of it.

"Let go of me!" Danny growled from beyond the door. Vlad heard it and rolled his eyes at the boy's tone. It was much too grown up for a five year old, but no one would take him seriously. After all, kids say the most outrageous things. "You're working for the enemy!"

Vlad held in a smile at that accusation.

Case in point.

"Alright, kiddo, that's enough," the police officer chided, having to keep a keen eye on the child. The boy tried to get out of his grasp as if he had seen a war and lived to tell about it. Not to mention, the grip that he had on the kid was tight.

It seemed to the officer that the kid had the strength of a child thrice his age.

But that was impossible.

The door opened, and the officer had to hold in a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure how much more he could hold onto the squirming child. As soon as Vlad Masters made an appearance, Danny suddenly went tense and stopped struggling.

Even Danny knew when the battle had been lost.

"Daniel…" Vlad spoke in an even tone.

Danny wasn't an idiot, he knew he would get lectured by Vlad later on how his actions have consequences. Yadda, yadda, insert how he will never get out of the situation he was in, yadda, yadda, it was a fool's errand…

And he hated those lectures.

"How far did you get this time?"

"Almost would have made it out of the town if Officer Idiot didn't catch me last minute," Danny hissed out. There was complete detestment in his voice as he spared the officer a cold glance from the corner of his eyes.

The officer looked over at the kid, opening his mouth to say something along the lines of how he was just doing his job. How he was looking out for the kid – having his well-being in mind all along. Yet, the words wouldn't come.

The officer's words died in his throat because in those cold blue eyes of the kid, he could have sworn that he saw something flash a toxic green. In the man's honest confusion and slight petrification, Danny pulled his arm from the officer's grip with a loud exhale of detestment.

"Yes, well, I'm glad that Officer Burns got there just in time," Vlad boasted, and Danny looked down at the ground and crossed his arms across his chest with a huff. The dark haired child did his best to ignore how Vlad had corrected him on the man's name. Honestly, the teen trapped in a child's body couldn't care less about what Vlad's accomplice's name was.

"That makes one of us…" Danny muttered before he looked at the officer, shooting the man one last scathing glare, and then headed into the mansion. Thoughts instantly flooded his mind - maybe he could escape out the back and trek through the forest. Of course, Vlad had trapped the forest with anti-ghost nets. One wrong step, and he would be hanging from the tree in defeat in front of his arch enemy.

He would know…that happened more than once.

Maybe this time would be different – the officer and Vlad were both distracted.

He took one step into the hallway before the door closed with a slam. Curious to know if his plan would still work, he casted a sideways glance over to where the main entrance was.

Only to find an amused Vlad standing in front of the closed door.

"I thought I had more time than that…" Danny muttered darkly before Vlad started to walk over to him. The boy knew he was caught, and that there would be nothing else that he could do. It was stupid – he wasted a year trying to find a ghost portal, but all of his attempts had ended up useless.

"Daniel, you start school tomorrow," Vlad stated, and the child stopped and stared at the man in front of him with wide eyes filled with disbelief. "I'm serious, I need to keep up appearances, and having my son not going to school wouldn't help my image."

Danny glared at the man. "Like I care about how you're perceived by the community," he argued, and Vlad simply let out a shrug.

"I would tone down the vocabulary…Although, to be honest there's not that much of an improvement…" He trailed, his annoying voice making Danny shake with rage.

"Yeah? Well, at least I don't live in a mansion by myself."

"Then why are you here?" Vlad taunted, making the boy clench his fists at his sides. "You're living in an inescapable illusion that you're getting out of your predicament."

"The only one living in an illusion is you. You're assuming that you're going to win," Danny proclaimed turning on his heels and walking down the hallway.

Vlad watched him leave before he rolled his eyes and started to head up the stairs to where his office was located. No, Daniel would keep living in a lie that he would get out of here. There was no escape for the child, this Vlad knew.

The boy needed to know humiliation – that's why he was sending him to elementary school. As a punishment for the multiple escapes over the past year.

"Thank you for meeting with me, Mr. Masters," stated Ms. Kate, the kindergarten teacher. Vlad sat promptly in the chair that was in front of the desk with ease and sophistication. Crossing one leg, he leaned forward in his chair, eager to hear why the teacher gathered a conference to begin with.

"Not a problem…Anything to help my son excel in his studies," Vlad spoke in his business-like tone. "I am curious as to why you called to order this conference. Has Daniel failed to keep up with the rest of the class?"

Ms. Kate looked down at the papers on her desk regarding the child in question. "Erm…Not exactly – Danny has an advanced reading level well beyond his age."

"Daniel," Vlad correct mindlessly, making the teacher look up from her desk and stare at Mr. Masters with an intent gaze. The older halfa did his best to not smirk – the teacher wasn't used to being corrected, no doubt her pride had just been attacked.

"Right…" Ms. Kate spoke, trying her best to not let her emotions get the better of her. She cleared her throat and looked back down at the papers, trying to regain her focus and reorganize her thoughts. "Daniel is a very promising student, in fact, he spends most of his time at the library."

Vlad rose an eyebrow at that. "Does he? But he rather likes to stay outdoors and explore…" He trailed, sitting up straight from his relaxed posture. He planted both of his feet on the ground with a stern facial expression. "What is it he's reading?" He asked, curious as to what his little badger is up to without the prying eyes of himself to observe him.

Ms. Kate let out a small smile. "Well, we keep advanced books in the back. Topics like theoretical physics, and chemistry books. He reads them in the library but never checks them out," she informed, placing her hands on the desk with a small chuckle. "He's very fond of astronomy topics. He'll spend hours just staring at the documented photographs of the night sky."

"I would like to know what goes through Daniel's head…It seems to be very expansive…" Vlad responded, making the teacher grin. Inside, the older halfa was frowning. If Daniel is reading on college topics, then there's only one thing that he's trying to do. If the child couldn't find a natural ghost portal, and Vlad had dismantled his…Then the damned child was going to make one himself.

"He is the smartest child in the class. We are very proud to have him. In fact, to better accommodate Daniel, we recommend that he takes a middle school placement test. It seems as if coloring in math sheets and times tables are much too simple for him."

Vlad let out a sickingly sweet smile. "I agree. Ah, where is my son at the present moment?"

Ms. Kate stood up from her seat. "He's at recess – I imagine he's playing with the other children."

"Is he now?" Vlad asked, not convinced that's what he was doing. Why would Daniel waste his time on nose picking children when he could be plotting against him? Still, the teacher didn't know their situation and would be none the wiser. However, Daniel's behavior was starting to become dangerous. Perhaps school was a horrible idea after all – the boy would have to be 'home schooled'.

The adults made their way to the playground.

"I got the fire alarm like you asked, Danny," muttered a child with red hair and freckles covering his plump cheeks. He sat on the top of the slide with the raven haired child who was working on an electrical device. "I did it like you told me to. They don't know nothing."

"Thanks, Lucas," Danny responded back, not looking up from the tech piece he was putting together. All he needed to do was put ecto-plasm into it and it should correlate his message to the ghost zone. Luckily, he knew where Clockwork's lair was.

All he needed to do was plug in the coordinates and type the message. It worked both ways, the child believed that the ancient time ghost would have absolutely no trouble sending a message to him. Any sort of guidance, or just a positive message to hang in there. Now was the time that Danny needed to remain head strong.

He ignored the footsteps that seemed too heavy to be an adult.

The young halfa figured it was probably just one of the playground watchers to make sure a kid didn't swallow a wood chip for fun. Danny fiddled around with the device, leaning back lazily and letting his legs dangle on the other side. He put a red wire in his mouth for good housekeeping and a clean work station, knowing that he would use the part in a second.

"Daniel, what on earth are you doing?" Vlad's voice came from below him.

Danny's eyes widened, the child almost clenching his teeth down on the wire in his mouth. Startled, he sat up on the slide, looking down at the adult who was certainly ruining his life. Taking the wire from his mouth, he hastily began to fidget with it, looking back down at the gadget in his hands. "Obviously trying to get a message to the ghost zone."

Vlad let out a sigh, putting his hands in his pockets. Looking around, he noticed that the bell started to ring, signaling the children to return back inside to resume teaching. The older halfa took a few more steps towards the raven haired child, who instantly scooted away from him and towards the ladder of the slide. "Hand it to me."

"No," Danny spat back childishly.

The adult narrowed his eyes. "You still cling to your foolish Clockwork conspiracy?" He asked rhetorically with a scoff. "The only one who will receive that message is most likely Skulker! Now, hand it over…" He threatened, hoping the child would finally accept his situation. "Besides, you need a coordinate code for that to even hope to work."

Danny tensed, holding the device closer to him with a glare. "I'm not giving it to you."

Vlad blinked. He looked up at the child who was showing fear, anger, and annoyance all at once. However, his fear was clearly shown in his eyes. "You have the coordinates already…" He trailed accusingly, making the child look to the left and right to hide any suspicion.

"N-no, I don't…" Danny muttered back.

Vlad's eyes flashed red, and in seconds there was a shadow Plasmius by Danny's side. The child let out a yelp, flinging himself forward to avoid letting the clone get the device. If Vlad were to get the location of Clockwork, he would probably try and destroy the ancient time ghost. Any way that Danny could have possibly gotten out of his situation, Vlad would have to eliminate.

The young halfa landed on the ground harshly, the wind getting knocked out of him when he landed on his back. Clutching the device tightly against his chest, he eyed the approaching adult with a glare. With a heavy breath, the child lit an ecto-blast, burning the device in his hands to ash.

"Daniel…" Vlad lectured, grabbing the back of the child's shirt aggressively. He hauled Danny to his feet, causing the child to let out a cough at the sudden movement. "You worked so hard on that school project – for months in fact…"

Danny remained quiet, unsure of how to approach the pissed off older half ghost at defying him once again. The child controlled his breathing, and appeared to be calm and collected. However, he was sure that the older halfa could hear his rapid heartbeat from pure terror and adrenaline.

"Such a shame you broke it," Vlad spoke before letting out a forced smile that seemed to send shivers down Danny's spine. "I spoke with your teacher. She and I both agree that school was not the best choice for you," Vlad finished, looking over at the child once again. His eyes flashed red, and Danny let out a flinch and tensed his shoulders for an attack. "It gave you too much freedom to scheme."

"You're just angry that I almost got away from you," Danny argued, finding strength in himself to speak.

"Key word being 'almost'," Vlad chided with a gloating smile. He patted the younger halfa's head a few times and then started to walk towards the building. "You're going to be home schooled – a school where I can keep a keen eye on you."

Danny rolled his eyes. "You're still going to lose."

Vlad let out a chuckle as he looked behind him to see the child trailing his feet from his defeat. "That remains to be seen, my boy," he mocked, placing his hands behind his back smugly.

END