Chapter Ninety-Four: Second Visit

"Samantha…you promised it wouldn't be too big of a mess." Vlad said, shaking his head at the mess in the kitchen.

"Well, Dani and Daniel got frustrated with the mixes not coming out right and…well, had a couple tantrums." Sam said, glad she was wearing a hairnet for the duration. "I tried to calm them down before it got too bad, and so my apron is covered in it." She wiped chocolate mix off her face.

"So, where did they go now?" Vlad sighed.

"Dani heard you coming, grabbed Daniel, and fled." Sam shrugged.

Vlad sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. "When you see them, tell them to see me in my office. Samantha, you can go get cleaned up. I'll…summon the maids."

"No, really. I'm well-practiced in cleaning up Danny's messes." Sam said with a weary sigh.

"Yes, but you have another Danny to worry about. Go clean up and I'll have the maids clean up after Danielle and Daniel." Vlad shook his head. "I should make her scrub this, honestly, but they've most likely hidden away to clean up and I won't see them until dinner."

"And you can punish Dani then." Sam smiled. "I think you should let Daniel go, though. He didn't intend to make the mess; most of it is Dani's."

"No, if Daniel gets away with this then he will think he can get away with other things. He may be twenty-six, Samantha, but he still thinks and acts like a fourteen year old." Vlad raised an eyebrow.

"That…might actually be true." Sam admitted. "He was caged by Dark for ten years, then he had two years of solitude and fear of stepping outside and now that he's here, everything is just…I guess it's hard for him to adapt."

Vlad sighed, shaking his head. "I'll speak with Dark on making sure that Daniel knows that he needs to take responsibility for his own mistakes."

"Oh yeah, open THAT can of worms." Sam groaned. "He's going to start crying again, just like the last time, and began apologizing to everyone he killed with his mistakes."

"…I phrased that wrong." Vlad sighed. He'd forgotten how emotionally-fragile the older Danny was. "Well, a simple apology and promise not to disappear on the mess again should suffice."

Sam nodded, walking out of the kitchen. "I'm going to take a shower."

Vlad followed her out, intending to summon the maids and find Danielle – maybe not in that order, if he could.

"Vlad!" Danny and Dan ran up to him, Danny carrying Lucretius. "We got a little problem."

"Another one? What's blown up now?" Vlad asked.

"Uh, nothing. Lucretius just bit through his tether, we need a stronger one." Danny looked at Sam. "You okay?"

Sam nodded. "Yep. Dani just had a temper tantrum while making chocolate, that's all."

"Fun." Dan remarked.

"Yep. I'm going to go wash up." She walked by, sighing heavily.

Danny watched her go, then looked at Vlad. "So…about that tether?"

Vlad groaned. "Let's go to my lab."

.

Luckily, he found Dani near the lab and sent her off to clean the kitchen with Daniel. That allowed him to focus on the new problem – Lucretius' growing teeth.

"The tether wouldn't be needed if we could just block his powers." Vlad said, looking at the baby sitting on the lab table. "I'm going to try to come up with a drug to stabilize his power level so we can just block them."

"In the meantime, though…" Danny looked at Lucretius.

"In the meantime, we need a new tether." Vlad nodded. "I'll have to make one stronger than the Wraith Wrangler, unfortunately…"

Danny nodded. "What do you need?"

"Well, it'd be nice to have a blueprint of the Wraith Wrangler…" Vlad frowned. "Still, I can make-do without it."

"Our parents are gonna be out of the country." Dan reminded Danny.

Danny nodded. "We can go in, steal the blueprints, and leave."

Vlad looked at them. "Last time was very risky…"

"Last time, dad was home." Danny reminded him. "He won't be this time."

"And what if you encounter Miss Gray?" Vlad asked.

"Er…I'll be invisible and she'll only see Phantom?" Danny shrugged.

Vlad looked at Lucretius. "I'll see what I can manage, so don't go until I say you can." He glanced at Danny. "How did you know they would be leaving?"

"Tucker told us." Dan said, nodding.

"Ah." Vlad nodded. "Mr. Foley. I see."

.

"Going to Amity Park?" Sam looked worried. "Danny, I don't know about this…"

"I'll be back as soon as we're done." He promised her, kissing her gently. "I'll be invisible the whole time, don't worry. This is for Lucretius' sake."

She sighed, nodding. "Alright. Be careful!"

Danny nodded, then turned to Dark. "You'll keep her safe?"

"Of course. You two be careful, and thank you for actually telling us you're going this time." Dark raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hehe…gotta go!" He flew out of the room to meet up with Dan.

Dan looked over when he approached him, pocketing something before Danny could see what it was. "Alright, let's go." He nodded, flying over to the window and opening it.

Danny nodded, joining him at the window. Then they flew out together, going invisible and intangible when they left Vlad's airspace.

.

The Fentons had left town, which means she had to be on constant vigilance. She had promised her ghost-hunting mentors that Amity Park would be safe in her hands, but there was also the problem of schoolwork being important. Not to mention her job at the Nasty Burger…

Valerie sighed as she looked up from her schoolwork at the blinking light on her suit-pack. "Time to work." She said, getting up and grabbing her pack. She went up the roof of her apartment building, pushed the button to have the suit cover her up, and flew off on her jet-sled.

"Hey, Valerie!" She heard Phantom said cheerfully.

She gasped and aimed her gun. "You're back again, Ghost?!"

He sighed. "Val, aren't past the whole 'ghost' nonsense?" He flew towards her, dodging her blasts.

"Get away from me!" She snapped, then gasped when he flew up and caught her arm. "Let me go! Let me go, ghost!"

"If you don't stop calling me 'ghost', I'll kiss you." Phantom said teasingly.

She clenched his fists. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Oh no?" He smiled, knocking the gun from her other hand when she tried to aim it.

"Let me go, ghost!" She snapped.

Phantom sighed and then wrapped an arm around her waist as she struggled. "Last chance, Valerie~!" He grinned, reaching up to push the button that put her suit back in the pack.

"Ah!" She cried out, trying to pull away. "Let me go! Let me go!"

"You know what I want." Phantom smirked.

"Alright, fine! Phantom! Let me go, Phantom!" She struggled in his grasp, cringing away.

He nodded, then set her down safely on the roof, slipping a box into her pocket. "Happy Valentine's Day, Val." He kissed her cheek and then flew away laughing as she raged after him.

"Y-You creep! I'll get you for that!" She swore, then frowned and pulled out the box, looking at it. "…Valentine's…he didn't!" She opened it and groaned. "He gave me chocolate?! What is WITH him?!"

.

"Mission accomplished." Danny said as he sat on the roof of FentonWorks, the blueprints in his hand. "Thanks for being a distraction, Phantom."

"No prob." He grinned. "It was fun."

"Yeah, I can tell you're enjoying pulling her heart in what she thinks is two different directions." Danny got up and nodded. "Turn invisible, let's go."

Dan nodded, turning invisible and flying out of the shadows of the Op Center with him. "You remembered to turn the defenses back on, right?"

"Of course." Danny replied. "How could I forget that?"

"Just making sure." Dan shrugged. "You could've forgot."

"And you knew before even asking that I HAD, so stop acting like we're not connected mentally." Danny rolled his eyes, then glanced at Dan. "Do you think she'll eat it?"

"Who knows?" Dan grinned. "She's not one to waste food, after all. Even food from the 'enemy'."

"True." Danny chuckled. "You should send her something as Dan, y'know."

"I will when we get back, though the mail. I just figured that since I was in town, she'd get a gift from Phantom!" Dan laughed.

"You're twisted, you know that?" Danny sighed as they flew out of the city limits.

"Just as well as you do, Danny." Dan assured him.

Danny doesn't approve of his flirting in Phantom form, it seems. Who cares, she got chocolate! (Paulina would be soooo jealous!)
Dani and Daniel demonstrated how they apparently can't cook - you'd think after twelve years that Daniel would've learned to. What, was he surviving on Kraft macaroni and cheese?
Maybe NOW they can make a tether that Lucretius can't "narr" through! ~ Zone