Chapter Seventy-Two: Wicked Person
"I guess the Guys in White aren't a threat anymore." Plasmius remarked after Danny told them about Stuart's offer. "That's good to hear."
"Maybe we can get them to scare dad." Dan smirked.
"No, I doubt they'll do that much." Danny frowned. "Besides, it would…totally work for his story. Huh, maybe I will ask him if they can do that. It's just weird that they attacked me to get to him, but haven't done anything to him since."
"Just a scare, though." Plasmius nodded.
Danny nodded, looking at the card. "They're also going to let up on the ghosts, after we had a talk about how much ghosts are like humans. They won't be shooting first and asking questions later anymore."
"Why did they take your blood, though?" Dani frowned.
"Something about diluting it to try to make humans stronger." Danny nodded. "It's based on dad's notes of when he was—" He stopped short, hearing footsteps approaching. "Vlad's coming."
Vlad entered the den then, carrying a book. "You all look like deer in headlights. Did I interrupt a secret discussion?" He went to put the book away.
'Vlad think that the Guys in White did this to me and forced dad to watch…' Danny thought. 'We can't let him know about the offer; or about me going to call for a scare.'
'Yeah.' Dan thought. "Where were you?"
"I was on the phone with someone." Vlad replied.
"More world-takeover stuff?" Danny asked curiously.
"No, actually." Vlad walked over and sat in his chair. "I was calling for a tailor for Danielle. I refuse to have her going to a store like Phantom did and wearing whatever clothes fit him."
"That is NOT what I did." Dan frowned.
"No, he just let his girl pick everything." Danny grinned.
Dani giggled. "Wait, Phantom has a girlfriend?"
"Remember Valerie Gray?" Danny asked her. Her jaw dropped. "Yeah. She has no clue who he really is, he has the red hair for her benefit; since you asked about it earlier."
"Wow. That's dishonest, Phantom." Dani looked at him.
Dan looked to the side and mumbled something before he got up and left the room.
"Well, I don't blame him for lying." Danny shrugged. "I mean, there is the whole 'until death do we part' thing."
"What about you and Samantha?" Vlad asked.
"She's a goth and doesn't care if I'm dead or not, I guess." Danny shrugged. "I dunno, ask her!"
"I'm not stepping in that mud puddle." Vlad shook his head.
"Neither am I." Plasmius agreed.
Dani sighed, leaning back in her seat. "It's so weird no worrying about one of you two trying to kill me. And were you split like Danny was?"
"No…he's a clone that I've been keeping out because it didn't feel right to de-summon my own brother. No matter how annoying he can be." Vlad looked at him sharply. "We could, I suppose, try splitting properly."
"That would require using whatever the Guys in White used." Plasmius shook his head. "They most likely have the lab cleaned out."
"I'm gonna make a phone-call." Danny got up and left the room, flying up to the roof for privacy. Once up there, he pulled out the card and his cell-phone – a gift from Vlad – and dialed the number.
"Hello, this is Stuart Brownstone." He heard Stuart say.
"Mr. Brownstone, it's Danny." Danny said. "I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"
"Sure, Danny, what is it?" Stuart asked.
"My father is saying the Guys in White attacked me to get to him. But, it's been almost a year since and he hasn't been attacked once. So…" Danny faded off, trying to think of how to word it.
"You want him to be attacked by the Guys in White, to keep his story straight." Stuart said. "I suppose he has been dragging our name through the mud ever since your death."
"Just a scare, though. We have…our own plans for how to properly punish him." Danny said.
"Can it be a big scare?" Stuart asked.
"Have fun." Danny shrugged.
"Great." He could sense Stuart's grin. "Anything else?"
"Yeah, among the items from the lab, was there anything like clawed gloves?" Danny asked.
"Hm…" He heard a rustling of paper. "Nope, nothing like that in the inventory. He might have it."
"Thank you." Danny smiled. "I'll be watching the news for that scare."
"I'll try to impress you as well as you impress me, Danny." Stuart promised. "Take care."
"You too. Bye, Mr. Brownstone."
"Fare well, Danny."
Danny hung up and pocketed the phone and card, flying back down to the garden and walking in the front door. He saw Dan on the phone and gave a thumbs-up, Dan nodding and giving his own thumbs-up before continuing his conversation. Danny walked past him and went upstairs, feeling just a little guilty for hiding everything from Vlad. He went back to the den, finding it empty, and grabbed his bracelet, fastening it on and changing into the James appearance.
"What were you doing?" Plasmius asked. Danny jumped and turned to him. Plasmius was standing by the bookshelf, picking out a book. Okay…not so empty.
"Were you invisible?" Danny asked.
"No, you were inattentive." Plasmius left the bookshelf and walked over to him. "So, what were you doing?"
"The phone call we discussed." Danny nodded. "Apparently he was only too happy to help, with how dad has been dragging their name through the mud."
Plasmius smiled. "Good, then we even have a valid reason." He pulled Danny close. "You can be wicked at times, you know."
Danny squirmed in his hold. "I'm not…wicked. I just…I just wanted his story to make sense."
Plasmius smiled and kissed his cheek. "Admit it, you actually do enjoy seeing people who hurt you get hurt back."
Danny sighed. "I just hope no one else gets hurt."
Three days later, Danny was called into the den to watch the TV. The Fenton RV had been destroyed by furious Guys in White agents. No one was harmed but the Fentons were clearly terrified. He watched silently, not sure if he enjoyed the sick satisfaction at seeing the wreckage of the Fenton RV or not.
"I suppose they were just biding their time." Vlad murmured. "I hope no one else gets hurt…"
Danny nodded, then silently left the room. He felt his pocket vibrate and pulled out his phone, heading to a private area.
"How do you like it? No one hurt, and the vehicle that carried you to that place is destroyed." Stuart asked.
"It's great." Danny said, his lips feeling incredibly dry. "Thanks for the help, Mr. Brownstone."
"Please, Danny, call me 'Stuart'."
"Okay, Stuart." Danny nodded. "I'll talk to you later."
"Take care, Danny."
Danny hung up and then ran to the bathroom. If he didn't know that ghosts could vomit before, he sure did now. Ectoplasm and bits of food from the night before went down the toilet pipes as he wiped his face with toilet paper. 'What am I turning into?' He thought. 'How could I ENJOY seeing them all so terrified?' He curled up against the wall, burying his head in his knees as he trembled. 'The RV…we've had so many adventures in it, and now it's…gone. It was their biggest weapon.'
'Well, you made the call.' Dan said to his mind. 'Jazz looked pretty upset, we better not tell her we're responsible.'
'We can't tell her that we're allies with the Guys in White, anyway.' Danny looked up at the ceiling. 'She thinks they killed me!'
'Yeah. More lies, huh?'
'Yeah.' Danny got up and washed his face before he walked out of the bathroom.
He was feeling numb at breakfast that day, and went to the classes silently. Dark raised an eyebrow at his silence but didn't say anything and Ghostwriter seemed to enjoy him keeping his mouth shut for once, though Dan got whacked a few times on the head for mouthing off and Dani got one slap on the hand for speaking out of turn.
When he was still quiet the next day, Dark finally had enough and pulled Danny in ahead of Dani and Dan, shutting the door in Dan's face. "Okay. WHAT happened?" Dark asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're unfocused, silent, and just downright unnerving. It's worse than when you were just a shadow ghost!"
"I could've…I could've killed my family…" Danny said softly. "They were on their way back to it when it was…"
"Back to what?" Dark sighed heavily.
Danny hesitated, then told him everything: The capture by the Guys in White, the battles, the meeting with Stuart, being asked to join them, being given Stuart's personal number, the favor call, and then the RV destruction. By the end of it, he was sobbing and clinging to Dark while Dark awkwardly pat his head in an attempt at comfort that he was completely rusty at.
"Well…" Dark sighed. "We all make mistakes, kid. At least your family is still alive."
"Plasmius is right." Danny sniffled. "I am wicked…"
Okay, this was WAY beyond his comfort zone. Dark sighed heavily and leaned down to look at him, brushing the teen's black bangs from his blue eyes. "Okay. You are not 'wicked'. I'M 'wicked'. You are just a scared, upset, and distressed kid who went through hell and is still coping with it. You did something that you thought could help both you and your father's stupid story and now you're feeling regret. That's not wicked. If you were wicked, well, you would be laughing and saying 'darn, just missed them'!" He grinned. "Like me."
Well, his attempt seemed to work. Danny was smiling now, even laughing a little bit. "What's so funny?" He asked.
"It's just…it's weird. You comforting me…you tried to kill me before." Danny wiped at his eyes.
"Noooooo, I never tried to kill you. That would've wiped me out. I captured you, handed you off to a bunch of ghosts to beat up in my place, and tried to kill your family so you would be full of despair and ask to lose your emotions, but I didn't try to kill you." Dark raised an eyebrow. "I just beat you up. And then you beat me up right back, so we're even on that."
Danny nodded. "Thanks, Dark." He wiped at his eyes again, tears still slipping out. "I still can't stop crying, though…"
Oh god, how long was he going to have to play the nice, friendly guy? Dark sighed and held him close, rubbing his back. "Just cry it out and keep in mind that the Guys in White are extreme bastards and don't ask for a favor from them again."
Danny nodded, clutching at Dark's shirt tightly. Dark thought briefly of his son with Valerie and wondered if this is what it was like to actually hold your son. Jack Fenton was such a bastard, destroying his son for the sake of science or whatever. He decided that if he ever went to the future again, he'd apologize and ask to see his son.
Apologize? HIM? What the—this was Danny's fault for sure. He had discarded remorse and regret long ago, but here it was cropping up just because Danny was crying in his arms, and not for anything DARK did.
Finally, Danny calmed down enough and wiped away the last of his tears. Dark formed an ecto-ball and let it grow only a little, bringing it to Danny's chest. The ecto-ball cleared him up, erasing all trace of tears from his face.
"Alright, let's start class." Dark opened the door, giving Dan a look when he saw his smirk. "You. Shut up."
"Didn't say anything~!" Dan said as he flew in, Dani looking puzzled right behind him.