Ch.33: Vlad Plasmius
Danny giggled quietly to himself as he landed on another rooftop edge. Looking down, he smirked. A gang leader was trading his money for a six-pack of meth with his regular dealer.
Ah, the poor suckers, Danny mused to himself. The poor, unsuspecting, drug-addicted, confused, down the wrong path-ed suckers... ... I need to stop hanging out with Timmy so much...
Danny sprung into the air before pencil diving onto the gang-leader's shoulders. As he crumbled to the ground, his bones emitting a loud crack in protest, Danny sprung into the air again, wrapping his legs around the dealer's throat. He made a face at him, letting out a really weird but taunting noise, before smashing his fist into the dealer's nose. Another loud crack sounded. Danny flipped away as the man stumbled back, clutching his blood-gushing nose. The nine-year-old held his hands out and released a low-powered ecto-blast. The dealer flew into a dumpster and then crumbled to the ground. His entire being slumped.
Danny merely smirked and dug out his handcuffs. Then he realized something.
"I need to stop hanging out with Jason so much..."
The child shrugged before hooking the dealer and the gang-leader together with the handcuffs and then handcuffing them to a pipe. "Suckers..."
The child admired his work for a few minutes with pleasure, wishing Batman had been around to watch. The Dark Knight found extreme enjoyment in watching big brute's having their butts handed to them on a silver platter by a lanky, Skippy-Lou child that was easily candy-happy.
The moment would have been better, if, you know, the hairs on the back of the nine-years-old neck hadn't pricked as his Ghost Sense went off.
Danny shivered, still not used to the feeling, before looking around warily. Most ghosts would have jumped out of the shadows by now, not stay hidden.
"Well, that was most impressive, Daniel."
The child whipped around in a circle, trying to find the person or thing that spoke. His eyes flew back and forth before he flew to the rooftops and began trotting towards the edge so he could hop to the next one.
"Now where would you be going?"
Danny picked up his speed and brought up his holo-computer for a split second to see where Batman's coordinates were before shutting it off again.
"Why do you keep running, you silly boy?"
The child whimpered at the voice. It chilled him to the bone. It made his muscles want to lock up; stop working; shut down. His entire mind was screaming at him because he knew that voice but he couldn't remember where from. At the moment, his memory decided to blur with only one mission in mind: get to Batman because Batman was safe. He'd make the voices stop.
"Now, now. Get back here."
The adrenaline running through Danny's veins was familiar; as was the blurring memory. It all happened when his Other Daddy would announce it was time for a meeting and the payer would release a chilling laugh, gazing at the child with a lustful gaze, as he approached. Danny scrambled into the corner and whimpered, shaking. His blue eyes were watery and scared. The child got up from the ground and ran past the man and up the stairs. He slammed the door shut and hid under his bed. The door was quickly kicked down and the payer stalked in, boots clacking on the wood floor loudly. He stopped by the bed. His insane, grinning face appeared by Danny's. "GOTCHA!" Danny screamed.
Focus! Now was not the time for that, Danny told himself. It didn't help ease the adrenaline or the memories but, for now, he could concentrate on the objective, if only a little. His mind was part way in the memory, part way in the voices, and part way on getting to his mentor.
"Come back, come back, come back!"
The nine-year-old stumbled, a yelp escaping his mouth. His eyes watered, a few tears escaping. Oh gosh, he's never wanted to be with his mentor more than this moment before. He'd never been so scared of something in his head.
Danny screamed. His body scrambled back into the wall, still under the bed. The payer laughed, reaching out to grab him. He caught Danny's shirt and dragged the boy from his spot. The child screamed before being slapped hard across the face. His tears fell as he was tossed over the payer's shoulder. Danny beat against the adult's back as he was carried down the hall. His eye's pleaded with his father to get him out of this situation but Jack merely waved.
The door shut and that's the image that stayed with Danny the entire night.
His father waving at him as he was being carried to certain doom.
Relief flooded through Danny's systems and clashed horribly with his anxiety when he saw his mentor resting on another rooftop. Unconsciously, his speed picked up, legs moving faster.
"Oh no, no... This is not going to do."
Danny felt someone behind him, reaching out to grab him, but, instead of turning, he pushed off the edge of another building and began his descent towards his mentor. "BATMAN!"
The Dark Knight whirled around startled at his adopted son's screech. His eyes were wide and his expression was morphed into concern and fear, seeing the height Danny was falling from.
The fall from one building to another was bigger than Danny had realized when he had first jumped. His eyes widened and pupils dilated into black pin-pricks. He reacted to slowly and crumbled to the ground when he landed, one ankle folding under him with a sickening cr-r-r-rack!
"Danny!" Batman yelped and sprinted over to his protégé. Danny was sobbing in both pain and fear as he clung to his mentor, being scooped up into his arms.
"Daddy, make the voices stop! Make em stop!" Danny sobbed desperately, still feeling the ghost's presence in the immediate vicinity. Batman, however, was oblivious to his surroundings, his sole focus his Baby Raven and his twisted, bloody ankle.
"Voices? What voices? Danny, there are no voices." Batman consoled, rubbing his ward's back. He'd never seen the child so spooked, except when his long-lasting nightmares appeared.
Danny shook his head into his mentor's armored chest, still sobbing. "The voices are after me, Daddy! Daddy, you gotta make them stop! Please!"
A bone-chilling growl resounded through the air. Danny screamed into his mentor's chest as Batman tightened his hold on his baby. The Dark Knight got off the ground, placing Danny on his hip and making sure not to hurt his injured ankle any more than it already was. The Dark Knight's eyes narrowed at the air around him, angered someone could spook his protégé so badly.
"You going to come out or are you just going to continue scaring my kid, Vlad?" Batman questioned to the still night, looking around.
The ghost appeared at his name with a murderous look in his eyes. The man, Vlad, had blue skin and slitted, red eyes. He wore a white tunic with matching white pants and cape. He had black gloves, boots, and belt. The inside of his white cape was red. The man's hair was pitch-black and made into horn looking things. Fangs completed the vampire-ish look.
Danny, with his tear-stained face, peaked out from the Caped Crusader's shoulder. His breath hitched, green-eyes widening. His breathing picked up, panicked.
Vlad appeared in Danny's bedroom. The child was staring blankly ahead in the corner. The child had no shirt on, blood running freely down his back and staining his jeans and the floor under him.
The blue-skinned man smirked and walked forward. He stopped in front of Danny and kneeled in front of him.
Danny's eyes came into focus and they widened at the man in front of him. He shook his head back and forth widely. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no..."
"Yes Daniel." Vlad said and grabbed Danny. The child screamed but was phased through the ceiling.
Jack, downstairs, growled irritably at his son's scream but took another swig of beer to calm his nerves.
...
Danny ran past the trees, stumbling over things he couldn't see in the dark. Pants fell out of his mouth in short gasps. His eyes, wide and dilated, looked behind him. The child grunted as he ran into something and fell on his backside.
The child looked up and screamed at the grinning face.
Vlad smirked at Danny's panicked face. "Why hello there, Daniel. So nice to see you again. Want to play hide-and-seek?"
Danny screeched, loud and high-pitched. Batman winced but pressed Danny's face back to his shoulder. The child's sobbing was absolutely heart-wrenching as he clawed at his mentor's padding desperately. Batman was ready to give the man in front of him more than just a piece of his mind.
Vlad sighed, a smirk dancing on his lips. "Well Bruce, I'd stick around but I have things to do and I just wanted to see the Little Badger here for just a bit. Just like old times."
Shudders wracked Danny's thin frame. His nails, even though a bit short, dug into Batman's Kevlar. Every last muscle in his body was tense with anxiety.
The Dark Knight glared at Vlad before he disappeared. "If I ever see your face in Gotham again, you're going to end up in a full body cast in the Arkham infirmary. You don't mess with my kid and just leave. Do I make myself clear?"
Vlad stopped before he disappeared. "Perfectly. Oh and Bruce... He can't be your kid if he has my mark on his hip."
Before the Dark Knight could question what that meant, Vlad was gone, leaving the Caped Crusader cursing him every name under the sun. Batman sighed irritably but stroked his baby's hair soothingly. Carefully, he carried the child down to the Bat-mobile and got in the car. He let the nine-year-old rest in his lap, arms around the older male's middle, as Batman drove back to the Bat-Cave, still sobbing.
Once they got to the Cave and parked, Danny was asleep, tears still clinging to his face stubbornly. The Dark Knight stroked his hair again before moving the child to his hip and getting out of his tank of a car. The Dark Knight took Danny to the infirmary, where Alfred was waiting impatiently, having gotten a call from Batman earlier about his protégé's condition.
The butler cleaned the wound (the bone pieced through the skin) and set the bone back in place. He wrapped the broken ankle and then left, quietly mumbling something about cookies and hot cocoa.
Thinking about Vlad's last words before he left, Batman unzipped his ward's hazemat suit and moved it away from his hip. There was a 'V' burned into the skin.
But the Dark Knight smiled smugly.
The burn was healing. The brand was healing. It meant little before but now it meant nothing.
Danny looked up and screamed at the grinning face. Before he could scramble away, Vlad grabbed Danny's shirt and pulled him up, arm around his waist. The child kicked and screamed but it was nothing to the older male, who moved Danny's jeans off his waist and lower on his hips.
Danny screamed louder, if possible.
Vlad dug his hand into his pocket and brought out a small branding iron. He released his energy into the handle and it lit up the steel. The older male wasted no time in pressing it against the child's hip.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
*hides under bed*
Kadzait: WHY?! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO TURN EVERYTHING INTO A HORROR MOVIE!?
I don't know, ok? I've got problems. Deep, psychological problems... And it's not like Vlad raped him! Then again... We don't know how many times he visited little Danny... Heh heh...
Kadzait: *eye twitches* And Skippy Lou?! Really?! Ain't that a brand of peanut butter!?
I don't know, maybe?! I don't know every brand of peanut butter they have!
Kadzait: Sick, sick monster...
Think of something more creative, will ya? You've already called me that a dozen times.
Thanks to these people for favoriting and/or following and WELCOME TO THE FAMILY: Keyz of Reasonance, Nega 20, and MonsterPhantom.
Reviews:
Crimson Leo: GIVE ME THE COOKIE! *devours cookie* *looks at you with an 'oopsy' look and shrugs* (muffled because of cookies in mouth) I thought you would take my cookie after this chappie...
Sina Xiel: Ho-ho... Funny you should say 'creeper Vlad'...
Guest(1): He is a creepy psychopath... And thanks! XD
TomgirlBre: YOU'RE RIGHT! WE DO HAVE MATCHING PLUSHIES! HAHAHA! Don't kill me for this chapter. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
The Keeper of Worlds: Ho-ho, that's drama alright... Creepy, dark, psychotic drama... Oops.
GreenDrkness: YES! AFTER I FINISH THIS LITTLE ARC, I AM SO DOING THAT!
BringbackDannyPhantom: If you hated Vlad in the last chapter, you must want him to burn in hell now... As well as me...
Supaherolena02: Yes, better late than never! And yes... Vlad's a creep-a-zoid. XD
Azorawing: BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! SO VERY TRUE! SO VERY VERY TRUE!
HollowJayy (from chapter 13): THANK YOU SO MUCH DUDE! I have no idea if you've gotten this far in the story yet but THANKS!
IWasNeverReal: Oh good. I guess I'm not the only one who shudders at Pompous Pep then. XD And yeah... Danny's a little kid like that.
Skymuse: Hahaha! Totally get it! XD And thanks! And you'd be surprised how many people wanna strangle Vlad.
Bibbledoo: Ok, so I'm not the only one who defaults to that kind of dirty minded thinking. XD And it must be the future, as Vlad is creeping Danny out...
Anonymous: You must hate Vlad now... Speaking you were disappointed last chapter. XD