*An: welcome, dear readers! Things are finally picking up, and oh boy was I excited to share this chapter with you. I'm a bit inexperienced with fight scenes, so please excuse if it seems unnaturally short. Other than that I hope yall enjoy! As a reminder, we left off on a bit of a cliffhanger. Daniel found the doppelganger ringing the doorbell at the Masters' door. This is where the fun begins.

"Who in the name of the Dairy King are you?"

"Well, now I know for sure, I really am going crazy." Fake-O Daniel stared at him, and he stared back. "What... how-"

"Hey, I asked first," Daniel inturrupted. "Who are you?"

"I'm Danny Fenton, and you..." The other--Danny? That was way too similar to Daniel--looked Daniel up and down. "...aren't a figment of my imagination."

"Touché," Daniel deadpanned. "Hang on just one moment." Daniel slammed the door without waiting for a response. He transformed to his ghostly form and phased through the floor. When he found Vlad, he flew over at a hurried pace. "Father, There's something you have to see!"

Vlad looked to Daniel with a sudden and sharp glare, stepping between the boy and whatever he'd been working on. "Can it wait, Daniel? I've told you not to bother me while I'm working!"

"Really, it can't. I promise I'm not wasting your time, just please follow me?"

"Alright." Vlad changed form and Daniel grabbed his arm and led him to the front door where both turned back human. "Honestly, Daniel, what could be so important?"

Daniel's response was simply to open the door, revealing Fake-O with his hand out as if he were about to open it himself.

Daniel felt a hand on his shoulder. "Daniel, leave us, go to your room, or play a video game, or... whatever you teens do." Vlad spoke harshly, leaving no room for debate. Daniel was tempted to anyway, desperate to know what was going on. He locked eyes with the Fake-O, and that glance conveyed a silent agreement between them: they both needed information, Fake-O would do what he could to get it out of Vlad, and they would compare notes after. It was surprising how easy the communication was with just one glance.

"Of course, father." Daniel was more comfortable with leaving now that he knew Fake-O was friendly, but he was still more than disappointed when he left the room. Immediately, he heard harsh footsteps and a door slamming behind him. An aggressive whisper came next, but Daniel by this point was too far to make it out. He pulled himself up the stairs and into his room, mind racing. This meant he hadn't been imagining things in the ghost zone five nights ago.

He knew he shouldn't go down. The last time he'd directly gone against Vlad's orders, he'd been scared half to death and then was watched 24/7 for the next few days. Needless to say, he wasn't anxious for that outcome again.

It was about four impatient minutes in his room before the sound of yelling came muffled through the walls. He couldn't understand any words directly, but it was enough motivation to push him out if his room. He couldn't just NOT listen in! As Daniel decended, the words started clearing up.

"-akes a special kind of crazy fruit loop to pull shit like this," The other Danny was saying. Daniel winced at the aggrivated tone.

"Tsk tsk. My Daniel wouldn't use such profane language," Vlad's proper condescending tone came in response. "This was a perfectly logical decision on my part. You clearly weren't going to see reason--"

"Perfectly logical decision my ass! I said no for a reason, and that reason is that you're batshit insane!"

Daniel's mind was racing as he floated, now invisible and intangible. What were they talking about? Fake him obviously had denied Vlad something, but what could that be? And why was he so mad now? It didn't help that Daniel had less than a week of memories to try to work out what was happening.

As he floated through the closed door, he could see there were practically sparks flying between the two. Fake-O was pacing and clearly distressed, while Vlad's anger was a controlled rage.

"Language, child!" Vlad spat. "I thought you might overlook the soul of the ordeal, but it's really quite simple. This way, you can go back to your little hometown without a care in the world, and I have all I need. Just forget this ever happened." Well, clearly Vlad didn't have any hard feelings about whatever had happened. Why was Fake-O mad, then?

"If you think I would ever do that--I would be able to do that--you're crazy!" Apparently turning into a ghost when you're angry was a common thing, because Fake-O seamlessly transformed into the same ghost Daniel had seen in the Ghost Zone five days ago. That confirmed it; he really hadn't been seeing things.

"Go. Home." Vlad didn't move or outwardly react to the change, he just stood there, arms crossed and expression dark. "You've gained the information you came for, now I believe you've overstayed your welcome."

"What about him?" Fake-O glanced at the door, where Daniel was floating. For a panicked moment, Daniel wondered if he'd accidentally gone visible. Then he realized that had just been where he'd left the room from.

"That matter does not concern you, I only told you what I did out of courtesy. This is your last warning to get out of my house."

"I'm not leaving, and there's nothing about this that doesn't concern me." Fake-O's hands glowed with what Daniel recognized to be ectoblasts. "I didn't want it to come to this, but get out of my way. Or else."

Alarm bells rang in Daniel's mind. Without a moment of hesitation, a surge of protectiveness over Vlad sent him forward and he flew straight into the Fake. Daniel was able to catch himself midair and stop his momentum, but Fake-O went flying into the wall. "Stay away from him," Daniel said through gritted teeth. He didn't know what was happening or who this was, but if there was one thing he knew it was that he didn't want Vlad hurt. The conflicting voice in his head reminded that Fake-O and him had a silent agreement. After all this, if he broke that agreement, he probably wouldn't get be able to figure out what was going on.

"Thank you, my boy," Vlad was looking directly at Daniel, eyes showing a pride he hadn't seen before. The validation combined with that look was like a hug for his heart. That was definitely worth a sort-of betrayal of the weird not-twin he never had a real conversation with.

Fake-O was in the air, preparing another attack by the time Daniel was back in the present. "Look,--um--me," he hesitated, "you don't understand the half of what's going on here. Vlad is bad news, and if you knew anything about him, you wouldn't be protecting him."

Vlad just stayed there, watching the interaction with careful eyes. The hints of pride were gone, replaced by what looked like a professional curiosity. His hands didn't move from behind his back.

"I know enough," Daniel argued, floating between the Fake and Vlad. "For example: you don't stand a chance against me and him combined. Trust me, I'm the last person that wants us to be enemies, but right now you need to leave."

The Fake looked like a cornered animal: sure of defeat yet looking hopelessly for a way out. Slowly, he lowered his hands, which had stopped glowing. "I can't do that, I-"

"Oh shut up." Vlad finally moved, one hand in his pocket and the other clenched as he stood, eyes fixed on the fake. "You're perfectly capable, you're just a loud complaining child." With one motion, he brought his hand out of his pocket and aimed it at the Fake. Daniel got a glimpse of silver and green before it was lowered again and Fake-O was stumbling backwards.

"That's... new..." He grunted, wobbling as if there was an earthquake. Daniel wasn't sure which of the two to stare at in disbelief, but Fake-O won the battle for attention as he collapsed to the ground.

"Father, that was a bit extreme!" He flew at Fake-O, staring as if the unconscious--but thankfully not dead--double of him would spontaneously spill secrets.

"I'm really quite sorry, Daniel, but this has gotten out of hand." Vlad's hands were behind his back again when Daniel turned. "I'm impressed by how well today went, however. I won't soon forget your loyalty to me, my boy. You might, though."

"I might... what?" Daniel stood straight, staring Vlad in the eye. Something was off about him, less open and caring and more... sinister. Even that night in the basement, Daniel had gotten the impression there was some care, some parental reasoning for the secrecy and the anger. Here, it was gone. Vlad stared at Daniel as if he were a rat that got out of his cage. He turned human and took a few steps back, disturbed by the look.

"Don't worry about it, little badger. Pleasant dreams." Vlad lifted his hand again, palm out towards Daniel. He got a glimpse of a small silver device there before it lit up green and blasted. Daniel didn't feel an impact, just a tingling in his chest. He felt as though he had to itch it, so he lifted a heavy hand to the spot. It was warm--too warm--and that warmth creeped all the way into his core and started spreading through his body. It felt like a heated blanket wrapped around his core, instantly relaxing his muscles.

Daniel got out a mumbled, "What...?" before gravity beat his resolve and he passed out.

~••~

Daniel woke up to the turning of a page. As he sat up, yawning, he noticed Vlad sitting on the couch as he always did when Daniel woke. He was reading a book about history this time. That was beyond boring. "Morning." Daniel told Vlad, already slipping his legs out of the covers and off the huge bed.

"Ah, good morning, Daniel." Vlad shut the book and smiled pleasantly. "How did you sleep? It seemed like you were having quite the dream."

Daniel considered, picking through his memories. "I think so." The one that came to mind was fuzzy, as dreams were, and he could only pick out small pieces from it. "I had a really weird one where this, like, evil me came to the house. He called you a fruit loop and I think he was gonna hurt you, but I stopped him."

"I see. Your imagination can come up with the strangest things."

*AN: off-topic, but I think it's hilarious that Daniel calls 'Danny Fenton' Fake-O. I didn't plan that, I just wrote Fake-O once and then it became what Daniel called him internally. My humor is broken. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this round of weirdness and picked up on a few things that may be going on. As always, thank you so much for your support throughout this fic--it's nice to see all you still willing to read such an old fandom and enjoying this. See you next chapter, beautiful beings!