Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom, I'm a big fan and was feeling nostalgic.

Note (02/08/2018): I've said this before I'll say it again, I'm sick of getting sick at work. Sorry if it's tmi but I unexpectedly threw up at work and now my stomach s being all queasy so I can't even sleep it off. So I might as well finish up this chapter I started right after posting the last one...

~Chapter 21~

The Masters' Heir

(Chapter inspired by Frontline by Pillar)

Vlad's eyes widened in shock when Owen's words finally sunk in. The boy was...asking to protect HIM? Him, Vlad Masters? Better known as Vlad Plasmius in the ghost world, and the Wisconsin Ghost in this one? The man who had exposed him to his enemies, nearly gotten him killed more then once, failed to stop Owen from being kidnapped multiple times, Owen was putting himself in harms way and doing all of this just to-

"Yes, that is exactly what the boy is doing," the other Vlad smiled knowingly, sensing the distress of his other self. "You would do well to remember the path that you yourself have chosen which is to take this young man under your wing to shelter as well as teach him the things his human parents never could have. Don't you see? Fate has given you a second chance. This boy IS that chance. A chance to find unconditional love meant only for you, and in turn give him the protection and security that only a man as powerful as yourself can provide."

Owen nodded in agreement, wincing a little when it jostled his irritated skin which brought both Vlad's back to reality. They were only delaying the inevitable and truth be told while Vlad WAS sure this treatment was safe, especially since the second serum was specifically created with Owen's necromancer form in mind there was a lot they didn't know still about the boy's biology except for the new information he'd just given Vlad back down in the laboratory. And that was that his body when 'infected' as it were it would isolate the source of the the corruption and slowly convert it into purified necroenergy. It was fascinating really. Owen's blood itself repelled hostile ghosts from entering his body but if somehow they got past that and did manage to get inside then instead of wasting energy to attack that energy it would instead convert it into it's own, essentially absorbing it.

It was exactly as Skulker described when he first mentioned Azrael. About how these necromancers could not only control ghosts but if they had no other choice or were perhaps from an evil clan then they could capture a ghost and absorb their energy to fuel their power. Almost like how these wraiths absorbed negativity because they themselves could not self-generate their powers unlike ghosts and necromancers while witches have to borrow the existing power around them through nature or upon death from the raw ectoenergy in the Ghost Zone.

"Vlad?" Owen dared to ask though his voice was hardly louder then a whisper.

Shaking his head and scowling, Vlad began searching for a vein on his left arm to administer the first injection and growled, "No talking remember?"

In response Owen sighed until he suddenly remembered something about earlier and thought it would be a good idea to tell Vlad right away. Raising an eyebrow, Vlad turned his attention to the hasty scribbling Owen was doing before the teen held the pad up and pointed to what he had written: "Wait, there's something I forgot to tell you. Something new happened when I was in the Ghost Zone and it happened again when that shadow attacked me and it might make this a little more complicated. I hope I'm wrong but just go ahead and try to give me the first shot. If it doesn't work I'll have to try forcing my body not to react the same way."

"We don't have time for your riddles my boy," Vlad replied with a kinder though still irritated tone. "I told you, or rather HE told you this serum is completely harmless. If you're concerned about side effects I can assure you I'll take note of them so I can improve the mixture later to avoid them. Now hold still."

With an annoyed snort through his nose, Owen set down the notepad and glared at the floor thinking 'Fine, but don't say I didn't try to warn you...'

Of all of his accomplishments both before and after becoming a half-ghost Vlad was grateful for his many degrees in various fields including of course clinical care which unbeknownst to Daniel, Vlad's original intention for going to college was to become a doctor before he became fascinated by ghosts the the philosophy behind there being a flip side to their whole world filled with strange beings the likes of which no human had ever seen. Though most of his passion for the field was born through his friendship to Maddie more so then Jack Fenton. Still, even his mundane human knowledge on human anatomy and biology served Vlad well whether he was half-ghost or not since he grew to dislike normal doctors in general if only because of how poorly they had treated him both emotionally and medically since his condition was anything BUT normal.

Putting those thoughts aside, Vlad finally located the vein he was searching for and promptly began cleaning the area with an alcohol swab. He didn't even have to pull up Owen's sleeve and simply made it intangible, the sight was really bizarre and Owen could only roll his eyes at Vlad being such a show off even when treating his injury in a very unconventional way.

But Owen was right, they needed to make sure this healed tonight or at the earliest tomorrow morning in case the social worker showed up because saying Owen had a cold would only work so many times before they started to suspect malnourishment or worse that was causing so many health problems -including stress related ones- in the short time Owen has been staying with the billionaire. Even though it's only been a month Owen has suffered heaven knows how many near-fatal injuries yet Vlad could only feel grateful now that the boy had accelerated healing too now just like himself and Daniel. Although Vlad was still determined to try and avoid Owen receiving any more injuries altogether, he knew better then to expect that to happen over night. Especially when between the two of them, they had some very old and new enemies to worry about...

Putting those thoughts aside for now Vlad began applying pressure to Owen's skin to give him the shot. However, Vlad's eyes widened when the needle suddenly curled upwards when the patch of skin he'd tried to penetrate briefly turned into that same necroenergy as his whole arm did whenever the boy transformed. If not for what Owen wrote on his notepad Vlad would have scowled and thought he did that on purpose to make things more difficult for him to prove a point.

Still, Vlad did give him a look when Owen smirked knowingly and without saying anything as Vlad pulled the needle away, he shrugged as if to say 'I told you so.'

"Ah, I see what you were trying to tell me now," Vlad began nonchalantly, putting aside all his frustration to analyze the situation professionally. "Well I shouldn't be surprised that your body is reacting this way, after all you were attacked by a very hostile being so I would assume a form of necromantic adrenaline is flowing through your veins as we speak. Unlike myself that shadow-being has no self-restraint and no humanity, meaning it had every intention to do you harm. After all, while Lilith probably would prefer you alive, all she cares about is capturing that unique soul of yours. And thanks to you I know now that despite that shadow talking on my form, it is not a true reflection of who I am let alone who I was. Not entirely at any rate. It has a piece of me held hostage yes, but the rest is simply the opposite of what the other form you created of me is. So much for my argument about shades of gray when we're quite literally attempting to fight a being of darkness with a being of light. Still, what to do now..." he wondered, staring intently at the bent needle before turning to the cabinet to switch it out.

Hearing more scribbling behind him Vlad froze when it stopped abruptly and both of their ghost senses went off. In response, the light-side of Vlad moved closer to the boy as they tried to pinpoint the source of the ghostly signature.

A moment later, those three vulture ghosts suddenly made a very unexpected appearance, their feathers all ruffled and more then a few were missing. Vlad scowled at this and was about to demand what they were doing when one of them finally screeched in an angry tone of his own, forgetting for a moment just WHO he was raising his voice to.

"Vhat gives Plasmius? I know ve haven't been on ze best terms lately but that is no reason to attack us! There ve vere, minding our own business vhen WHAM! You start shooting at us and spouting nonsense about us being a worthless as common Earth fowl! There vas no need to insult us like zhat, ve know ve're old and forgetful but zhat has never stopped us from doing our job before," straightening his singed red fezze, the vulture continued his rant. "Ve're too old for zhis! The boyz and I agree zhat it's probably about time ve retire to zhe Ghost Zone if all ve are going to be used for anymore is target practice! Zhat is, unless you care to explain vhat ve did to set you off zhis time..."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Vlad explained in a very no-nonsense tone, "Are you buzzard's blind as well as senile? THAT was clearly not me. Didn't you find it odd how I was suddenly all black? Like a living shadow? Well, there's your answer. That thing IS a living shadow that's decided to pretend it's me and I am currently working on a way to exterminate the blasted parasite that's unfortunately been hiding in the dark corners of my home for who knows how long as a trap set for the boy here. Though I'll admit, I should have expected something like this when it finally took a physical form and warned the castle's staff, namely the ghostly kind such as yourselves. For that you have my apologies. I'm afraid I was too busy treating Owen's injury to send word of the danger. Needless to say you now know that I was not the person who struck you three down. Now that you've brought it to my attention that is has reformed a lot more quickly then I expected I will be sure to send someone to take care of it. In fact, I have a job for you right now related to this incident if you think you're up for making a quick trip to the Ghost Zone as I'm sure you may want to anyway since the natural ectoenergy there will help you recover more quickly too. Then we can solve both our problems at once."

The three vultures looked at each other before the eldest of the three crossed his wings and smirked with a I-knew-all-along glint in his solid red eyes, "See? I told you he vasn't acting like himself. Ve may not be good for much, but zhe Boss here vouldn't just attack us without a good reason to be angry vith us for a job ve botched up. Anyvay, sure, vhat do you need us to do?"

"Vhat?! How can you forgive him so easily?" the third vulture blinked in surprise.

With a sigh, the leader of the trio responded, "Vell, as much as ve tend to fail spectacularly at even ze simplest jobs ze Boss here still keeps us around since ve don't have anyvhere else to go. Sure, ve could go back to ze Ghost Zone but vhat then? If ve do absolutely nothing with ourselves you know vhat vill happen? Eventually, even ve vill turn to ectoplasmic dust. Because a ghost vithout purpose or drive might as vell not exist..."

Vlad was shocked by the ghost vulture's bold declaration as much as his two companions but quickly shook it off and after briefly glancing back at where his light-side had been moments before, only invisible now, Vlad cleared his throat and returned their attention back to him as he instructed, "Thank you for understanding. Now then, what I need you to do is first is tell me exactly where you last saw this shadow-being parading around as me. After that, spread the word to any of my other ghosts lurking around the castle at the moment of the danger this shadow poses but that they are by no means to confront it themselves under ANY circumstances. And thirdly, think you three can manage a trip to the Fright Knight's lair?" They nodded uncertainly and then Vlad continued with a knowing smirk, "Once you arrive, tell him Vlad Plasmius has a very special job for him. One that will require his Soul Shredder. He'll understand what that means and I will give him further instruction. And if that does not wet his appetite perhaps this will-"

Motioning for one of them to come closer, Vlad whispered something in the elder vulture's ear that made their eyes widen in realization and glance over to stare at a certain young man sitting on the bench behind Vlad in awe and perhaps even with a hint of fear. Still, they feared Vlad's wrath more from when he WAS genuinely angry with them if they refused after deciding against quitting altogether and they promptly saluted the elder halfa before phasing back the way they came.

Once they were gone Vlad's other self reappeared just as the real one pressed a button on the wall to enable the ghost shield in this room which he had also forgotten to do sooner. Then Vlad's light-side asked what Owen was wondering too, "What did you tell them just now?"

With a wicked smile not unlike those he used to wear so often, Vlad put a finger to his lips and winked, "Now now, I'm still allowed to keep a few trade secrets to myself. Still, knowing the Fright Knight, his loyalty to me is second only to his loyalty to one other. Meaning that if he values his alliance with someone as powerful as myself and that alone does not convince him to drop everything and come here quickly, as if the devil was at his heels, then perhaps knowing that my new and only 'heir' is also someone of great importance in the Ghost Zone, he will be willing to lay down his afterlife to ensure that no harm befalls him tonight. I only hope my theory proves correct considering who he once served before, and how many ghosts have started to become aware of just what a valuable rarity Owen is in both worlds..."