Disclaimer: I own nothing from Danny Phantom

Note: I gotta say, writing classic villain Vlad is so much fun. Especially when he's actually doing it for a good reason in such an insane way. But considering everything he's seen Dani endure, can you really blame him? Anyways we're getting closer now to some really interesting sections of the story so I hope you're looking forward to them as much as I am!

Also to "DarkAbyss53" I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! This is my first real attempt to add some serious Gray-Ghost vibes that might actually go somewhere but so far things are looking good. And I don't want to make Sam seem like his feelings for Dani aren't just as serious which means the three of them are going to have to figure out their true feelings for one another in the middle of the biggest ghost invasion Amity Park has ever seen!

Not only that, but Vlad's going to learn the hard way that he can only push his luck so far before everything goes to hell. And this time he's got no one to blame but himself for that by getting a little too greedy when what he was already trying to do at Axion Labs with the ghost shield tech and ghost task force would have been more than enough to make Dani's life a little easier. Still, sometimes things have to get worse before they get better, right?


Chapter 12: Conclusive


Vlad's POV

Once I made sure I had gotten everything else out of the way for the time being, I decided to move forward with my plans to retrieve the Skeleton Key by defeating the Behemoth acting as its guardian while Danielle was otherwise preoccupied with a few personal matters of her own. It was invigorating to take on such a foul beast mainly and the best part is I didn't have to hold anything back for the sake of keeping up appearances. The Behemoth rushed forward with a loud roar and attempted to crush me like a bug between his large talons, but I merely teleported out of its grasp and encased my hand in ecto-energy, slamming my fist into his torso which sent him soaring high into the air.

Shortly after I put that distance between us I created three duplicates to occupy him before making my way towards the ornate glass case which contained the prize I sought, the Skeleton Key. I did this invisibly so as not to be spotted with it immediately. As soon as the key was within my grasp I teleported myself far away from there and allowed my duplicates to fade without much effort to make it appear as though the Behemoth had forced me to retreat, unaware that the real me was long gone.

So when I heard him roar angrily in the distance I smirked to myself, almost wishing I could see the look on the Behemoth's face. He could search for it all he wanted, but the Behemoth would never find the key. Especially not where I was going. For a moment I considered going after the Ring of Rage next since I still had some time to spare but ultimately I decided against it since I knew better than to let myself get carried away. Besides, if I was going to convince the Fright Knight to work for me once I was ready to free the Ghost King and begin the next phase of my plan to overthrow him I would need to make a contingency plan in the unlikely event that he refuses my generous offer to help free him from his eternal enslavement to Pariah Dark...

Which of course, I would be more than happy to do for him once I become the new Ghost King. Judging from everything I have heard the Fright Knight will certainly make a valuable ally. However, I am aware that he and Danielle have a bit of a history together since she carelessly stole his sword once which meant I would have to be sure to smooth things over before he decides to avenge his lost honor by challenging her to battle once more. She barely defeated him the first time by pure luck since he friend Samson happen to know of the ancient magic cast upon him long ago to banish the Fright Knight from our world for reasons I have yet to fully uncover in my research into long forgotten his past.

At any rate, the next order of business I had to take care of was assigning Danielle the perfect bodyguard for her protection, Vallen, whom she has grown to trust a great deal just as I intended. Someone that I firmly believe is the most unlikely person to betray her since she is part of the main reason he chose to become a ghost hunter once I secretly made sure to personally give Vallen his weapons and other highly advanced battle equipment. And knowing Danielle as I do, she must already feel very protective of HIM how that she knows he fight ghosts as well in his spare time. But so long as Vallen does not make himself a nuisance to her by directly interfering with her work as 'Dani Phantom' then I'm confident he'll do a wonderful job keeping her safe.

If I played my cards right, those two would be so busy protecting each other in secret that I would be free to do as I please in order to coax Pariah into invading Amity Park to search for the ring once I've successfully stolen that from him too. Because I assure you, the instant he discovers its gone I know he WILL search for it because Pariah cannot become all-powerful without it firmly in hand along with the Crown of Fire resting on his brow. After I've done that its only a matter of using myself as bait so he'll chase ME all the way into the real world only to realize the ring is no longer in my possession once I temporarily give it to Danielle for safekeeping.

Satisfied with the progress I had made I stepping across the threshold to my lab through the portal and the instant it firmly shut itself behind me I changed back into my human form and left to stash the Skeleton Key in my vault. Then I wasted no time calling Axion Labs to tell them I was on my way and instructed them to tell our head of security, aka Damon Grey, to meet me in the conference room along with the rest of the people I put in charge of the other departments. And as it so happened, I knew his son would be there today too since one of Vallen's teachers had given their class an assignment to write a report about their parents work and to share their experience personally watching them go about their day for at least an hour or so...

And before you even ask, yes, I may or may not have played a part in 'suggesting' this particular bit of homework recently by overshadowing a few teachers while Danielle was busy chasing some ghost I had Skulker set loose on purpose so she wouldn't notice my presence at Casper High. Getting back to the present though, as soon as I entered the main building I immediately saw Vallen hot on his father's heels just before Damon turned around and told him to wait outside until I finished delegating their expected roles to fill for the rest of the day. When I laid eyes on the group I put on my most charming smile and upon overhearing what Damon said I insisted that nothing we were discussing during this particular meeting was case-sensitive so I was more than happy to allow his son Vallen to sit in on the meeting.

I saw Vallen's eyes light up either when I told Damon he could stay because I trusted him to be on his best behavior which ironically is actually true since they both seem to have a good head on their shoulders. His admiration towards me was definitely a very good sign since that meant the boy would be easy to manipulate in the near future into doing exactly what I want Vallen to do. We do, after all, share a common goal which is to protect Danielle at any cost. Not to mention their family is already indebted to me for saving them from the poor house due to that unfortunate accident with Cujo, a former security dog the previous CEO of Axion Labs haphazardly decided to have put down prematurely to make way for a better form of security in his eyes only to create a bigger problem in a very literal sense when the poor animal came back as a ghost.

You may be wondering how I know all of this, but the answer is simple. To me, Vallen is nothing but a tool, a shield to protect Danielle with without her knowledge, not to mention another way for me to keep an eye on her without setting off her ghost sense because he's human and therefore does not have a ghost signature. To be completely honest I really wish I didn't have to spy on her so much, but it is a necessary evil after I came dangerously close to losing her forever when Freakshow used his Blood Magic on Danielle, shrouding her mind in an impenetrable darkness almost to the point of forgetting all about me and I can't stand the thought of going through that again.

One might argue my plan to use Vallen to distract her is extremely underhanded, but if you ask me this was far better than the alternative of locking Danielle up in a gilded cage and throwing away the key like I've been tempted to do several times now as a result of seeing first hand just how much danger she puts herself in on a daily basis whether she likes it or not. Sometimes I wish she had somewhere safe besides my mansion to rest her head at night because Danielle often looks as thought she is on the verge of collapsing after days of ceaselessly fighting ghosts which is a problem and clearly my threats of retaliation have fallen on deaf ears which means I have no choice but to take matters into my own hands...

Danielle is burning herself out and what frustrates me the most is knowing that I am also partially to blame for this too. I've tried to convince her parents to shut their ghost portal down from time to time or perhaps lock it more securely when not in use but they continue to insist that they have things completely under control, which they clearly do not. Sometimes I wanted nothing more than to shake them both and shout in their ignorant faces that this is hardly the case given just how often the ordinary people of this town, including Danielle, are being harassed by a myriad of ghosts on a daily basis!

So if Danielle insists upon defending this deplorable town in their place as the ghost-fighting heroine Dani Phantom, then I'm the one who has to actually do whatever it takes to protect her since Jack and Maddie are unable or perhaps unwilling to do the same. But unlike them I plan to take care of Danielle without being forced to play the hero for a city, and a people who in my eyes STILL don't deserve her. None of them do. Not even Vallen despite how much I've grown to respect his dedication which is a stark contrast to what Jack and Maddie contribute to community.

At any rate, once the other apartment heads and researchers were present I activated the holographic screen located on the far side of the room and began my speech, keeping an eye on Vallen's to gauge reactions to the project I mentioned to Danielle about creating more affordable ghost shields for the public. Someone asked me if Vallen was supposed to be here who must not have been paying attention earlier so I cordially explained to them that yes he was. And what's more, I made it a point to mention this project did involve him anyway to some degree due to the current issue of Casper High being a hot spot for ghost attacks which puts many young people like him at risk of being exposed to danger at any time.

To further prove my point I pulled up the reports I was permitted access to from the school board to give examples of just how many children have been injured or threatened by ghosts over the course of the last several months and unsurprisingly, Danielle's name came up the most often which made Vallen's shoulders visibly tense in response. "One thing I would like to point out before we proceed is the simple fact that, out of all these documented incidents, there has not been a single casualty or life-threatening injury since these attacks first started. Can anyone tell me why that is?"

Scanning the room I waited patiently for a response but frowned when not one of them mustered up the courage to give me a direct answer since they were afraid of looking foolish in front of their peers. Imbeciles, if you ask me that only made them appear even more ludicrous and genuinely made me wonder if anyone besides Damon had the brain capacity to even attempt to formulate and answer under this kind of pressure...

Thankfully, as befitting his title since Damon was in charge of Axion Labs security he answered respectfully but sternly. "If I may Mr. Masters, are you suggesting is it because of the ghost girl Dani Phantom? With all due respect I'd like to point out that she's caused a fair share of property damage too just like the rest of these ghost's we've been dealing with. And unfortunately I can safely say I can speak from personal experience..."

Pausing to nod in Vallen's direction, Damon continued briskly. "My son was there that day I showed the previous owner of Axion Labs all of the features of our latest and greatest security system which I designed especially for them and we all genuinely thought it to be the one of most powerful and secure in the United States. But it proved to be no match when faced with the first ghost any of us had ever laid eyes on in the form of a giant dog. That thing absolutely tore the place apart in a matter of seconds and I nearly lost my job. And to make matters worse it began causing all sorts of trouble for me and my family because we just couldn't figure out a way to get rid of it at the time."

Finally finding their voice, one of his co-workers from the weapons department added. "It's true Mr. Masters. I was there when it happened too and I saw the whole thing. From what I could tell the ghost girl didn't seem hostile though and to be fair she tried to stop that beast from attacking us even though its one of her own kind which I for one am thankful for. But despite the evidence you've shown us that proves just how helpful she is to the rest of the community by continuing to fight on our behalf, that doesn't change the fact that we're ALL still under constant threat of another ghost attack which is why we had to implement an absurd number of new security measures equipped with anti-ghost properties we had to resort to asking the Fenton's of all people to show us how to build before you came along with something better."

"Thank you for your input, it was very insightful." I smiled, waiting for him to take his seat again before continuing off what the other man had said. "And that, my friends, is precisely the point. Up until now, we have been leaving the protection of this city in the hands of a ghost child who, as capable as she may be, does not have access to the same resources that we do so she's had to make do with the ghost powers she possesses naturally to fight them off herself.

"It's true we've been able to protect this lab to a much greater extent thanks to my advanced knowledge of ghosts, but what about the common people living in this ghost-infested town? Who protects them? The Guys in White? No, as part of the government their primary concern is 'national security' so the welfare of Amity Park is of little to no consequence to them. And while I'm sure my old friends Jack and Maddie Fenton mean well they lack the power and resources needed to truly take care of this ghost problem. I, on the other hand, have more than enough to do what is necessary to provide everyone with the reassurance they so desperately need right now during these difficult times."

"Then what do you purpose we do?" One of the head researchers asked, adjusting her glasses. "We haven't finished development on the new anti-ghost security systems yet."

"I am well aware of that." I replied confidently, showing the next set of images and videos on the monitor showcasing the training our security guards were already undertaking in the meantime before explaining. "However, as you can see we have been giving the members of our security team special training to make sure they are to repel any more of these ghostly invaders. My question to the rest of you is, why should we stop there...? Why don't we take this idea a step further and train a special task force whose sole purpose will be to defend this town on our behalf? Why should we leave it all in the hands of one girl when we already have the means to take matters into our own hands now that this information on how to deal with the ghost problem is more readily available?"

There was a murmur that swept through the room, but while some of them seemed hesitant, Damon and a few others agreed that this was a good idea and began asking questions on how this plan of mine was going to work. And in response I revealed to them that this would be a privately funded project by yours truly. Not only that, but I wanted Damon to be the one put in charge selecting candidates for this special task force for obvious reasons since he has a good eye for talent and plenty of experience training security guards. Of course, Damon had no idea that I would be selecting a candidate of my own too-

His son, Vallen Grey.


After the meeting was over I was quite pleased with the results and took my sweet time gathering up the files and such I brought with me in a briefcase until the only two people left in the conference room were myself and Vallen. Damon hadn't noticed his son lagging behind since he was in the middle of discussing something with the head of the weapons department once I gave them each of their assigned tasks. I, of course, was counting on this. Still I knew I had a bit of a time limit to speak to the boy privately before his father came back to retrieve him once he finally noticed Vallen's absence.

I didn't want to make it too obvious that I knew he was still there so I waited until Vallen approached me first out of the corner of my eye before looking up, raising an eyebrow, and asking politely. "Is something the matter my boy? Why aren't you with your father?"

"No...there's nothing wrong." Vallen began, closing his eyes before looking up to meet my gaze again. "Well, actually maybe it is. See, the thing is I'm really worried about Dani. I used to be one of the people that made fun of her and her parents for believing in ghosts until they started appearing everywhere and we found out they weren't as crazy as we all thought. But now that I've gotten to know her better and understand how she's been dealing with ghosts literally her entire life I'd like to do something about it. That's why I want to help fight them too."

Closing my briefcase slowly, I inhaled a slow deep breath and explained calmly. "While I appreciate your enthusiasm I very much doubt your father would approve. Ghost hunting isn't a game, Vallen, it is a dangerous and possibly life-threatening profession. The fact that Danielle's life has been put in harms way so often by them is precisely because her parents are in this profession."

Scowling in response to my dismissive answer Vallen grumbled. "Well yeah, but they suck at it! I mean, the only reason we haven't already been overrun by ghosts is because that ghost girl Dani Phantom just so HAPPENS to be on our side. Besides I'm not asking to do this just for Dani, I'm doing it for me too because I'm sick and tired of all these ghosts showing up and ruining my life!

"If it wasn't for you helping my dad get his job back, I wouldn't even be here talking to you like this since it was a ghost attack that nearly wrecked everything for us in the first place. You heard my dad right? We nearly lost everything because of some giant dog and I'm not going to let it happen again. Please, won't you at least consider it? I still haven't paid Dani back either for being there for me even though I used to be one of the people making HER life difficult before all of this."

I had to stop myself from smirking outwardly because Vallen was playing right into my hands since I was hoping he would say that. To keep up with appearances though I grabbed my briefcase off the table and while casually walking past him, I placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to look sympathetic, and said. "I'm sorry, but the answer is still no. I cannot in good conscious put your life at risk like that at such a young age. It will take time, but once your father has chosen the candidates we'll begin forming a team of professional ghost hunters and they will be the ones doing the fighting. I want to keep Danielle and her family safe just as much as you do along with your father, but trust me, the last thing we need right now is another vigilante running around riling up these ghosts even more."

After that, I began making my way out of the room and allowed myself to crack a small smile when my back was turned to him when I heard Vallen mutter under his breath with my ghost hearing. "Guess it's up to me then to take care of this myself. Don't worry Dani, I'll do whatever I can to keep you safe from now on. I promise. And I'll do it with or without anyone's help."