Wow, my first fic.
Anyway, I love Vlad. He's a wonderful villain. Just look at him. But one day this popped in my head and I somehow found the motivation to make it a story, so I hope you enjoy.
All was quiet in Amity Park that night. That is, until the silence was broken by a 14 year old on an electric scooter.
"Finally!" he said, checking his watch. "It's only 9:57. I'm about to make it home one night without ghosts getting in the way of my curfew!"
Not 2 seconds after he said that, a familiar chill ran up his body and out his mouth in a puff of mist. Filled with a sudden mixture of dread and annoyance, Danny looked up to see three green birds whizz overhead.
"Ugghhhh, why?" he groaned as he ducked behind a car and transformed. It didn't take long for him to catch up with the birds.
They turned out to be three ghost vultures, who were all wearing red fezzes.
...Ghosts didn't make much sense. Danny flew up to them.
"Hey, any chance you guys lost?" he asked.
One of the birds turned it's head to look at the leader.
"Ask him for directions." It said in a Turkish accent. Danny hadn't expected an actual answer, he was just being snarky.
"Ve don't need any directions!" The leader answered. He suddenly dove out of the sky. The other two birds followed him, Danny not far behind.
The birds phased through the roof of a monorail train. When Danny entered the train he saw the birds perched on the seats, having a heated debate. It was a good thing this car was empty.
"I know vere I'm going!" the leader snapped, his head thrown up in indignance.
"Ve've been flying avound in circle for an hour. Ve could've been halfvay to Florida by now. Ask him!" The vulture pointed his wing at Danny.
"Ask me what?" Danny asked.
The birds phased through the roof and Danny followed them. Why couldn't they just stay still?
The leader ghost sighed in defeat.
"Ve are on a surveillance mission. Could you help us find dis guy?" He pulled a ripped corner of a photo out of his neck fluff and handed it to Danny. The person in the photo had much longer hair, but besides that he looked just like-
"Dad?" Danny exclaimed.
"See, I told you he'd know!" The bird with the glassed smirked.
The bird's smile was quickly wiped from his face as Danny threw and ecto blast at him. He managed to dodge and flew off, the other two trailing behind him. Danny gave chase.
The vultures manage to elude Danny for a bit, until they came to the clock tower. They tried to circle around it to lose Danny, but he saw what they were doing and circled the other way without them noticing. They squawked in surprise when they saw him, but before they could do anything, Danny managed to grab them all by the ankles. He swung them around his head like a hammer thrower and tossed them as far as he could into the sky. The birds were dazed, but they managed to fly off as fast as their wings could take them.
"And how about you do everyone a favour and stay lost!" Danny called after them. He'd forgotten the thermos at home, so scaring them away would have to do. They seemed pretty harmless anyway.
Danny pulled the photo out.
"I wonder what those guys wanted with Dad..."
His musings were interrupted by the chime of a bell. He looked over at the clock tower and saw it was...10:15!
Oh no! He was late! Again! His parents were not going to be happy.
Sure enough, they were not happy. They were waiting for him at the door with unimpressed faces. They brought him to the living room to have 'a talk'. Well, his mom talked, his dad was working on some green boiler-looking machine whose function Danny was too afraid to ask.
"Danny," she said "this is becoming a problem. You're constantly late,"
"You're shirking from your chores," his father popped his head out from behind the machine to say.
"You're grades are slipping," his mother added.
"You're shirking from your chores,"
"You already said chores." Danny raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, but when you don't do them, I get stuck with them."
"The point is," his mother interjected "this behaviour is unacceptable and has to stop."
"Look, I'm under a lot of pressure." Danny knew that was a lame excuse, but he didn't have a better one prepared, and he certainly wasn't going to tell them the truth. "You guys have no idea what it's like to be a kid these days."
"Oh come on Danny, that's the oldest excuse in the book." His mom was rolling her eyes, so she didn't notice Danny's arm sinking through the arm of the couch. He quickly pulled it out and was relieved to see that Jazz was occupied with a book, so no one noticed. "There's nothing you're going through that you're father and didn't go through as well."
"Oh yeah, I beg to differ." Danny muttered rubbing his arm.
"The reason Danny thinks you can't relate to him," Jazz closed her book "is because you never talk about your childhood."
"Jazz." Danny knew this couldn't go anywhere good.
"Did you ever tell him about where you grew up, your first date,"
Danny watched in horror as a thoughtful look crossed both his parents faces.
"Jazz!"
"Where you went to college?"
"You know, that's a great idea Jazzy-pants." Jack said.
"It is?" Jazz asked.
"What is?" Maddie raised an eyebrow.
"This is!" Jack pulled a gold-trimmed flyer out of his pocket. "Our old college bud Vlad is holding a reunion in Wisconsin! We can all go down together!"
"Wisconsin?" Jazz echoed, horrified.
"All together?" Danny horror equal to, if not greater, than Jazz's.
Jack pulled Maddie close to him. The kids could tell from her face that she also thought this was a great idea.
"Yup," Jack chirped, oblivious to their tone "Just the four of us in an RV for hours. And, while we're driving, your mother and I can talk about our college days, and I can blather on about ghosts!"
As if on cue, the boiler-thing he'd been working on sputtered to life and began lurching horribly. Green goo shot out of one of the pipes and landed on Jazz's face. She did not look happy.
"Awesome! It works!" Jack cried, seeming unaware of Jazz's predicament. "I cant wait to blather on about that too!"
They managed to set off the next morning with only one semi-major incident (Jazz may or may not have gotten covered in ecto-goo again, and it may or may not have been Danny's fault).
Wisconsin was pretty far away, though, so they'd had to park somewhere to sleep for the night. The kids weren't exactly stoked about sleeping in the RV.
"It's the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle." Jack corrected them.
"And more importantly, hotels are a rip-off." Maddie said. "Why pay 200 dollars to sleep somewhere when an air-mattress for four only costs 80?"
"Aren't you guys loaded?" Danny asked.
"It's the principle of the thing, Danny." His mom replied.
"Alrighty, rest up everyone." Jack said as Jazz emerged from the bathroom. "I want you all bright eyed and bushy-tailed when we meet Masters tomorrow."
"Wait a minute," Jazz froze mid-step "Masters? As in, Vlad Masters? As in, Time magazine's billionaire of the year?"
"Yup, that's the one."
"You mean, you were friends with a billionaire in college?" Danny asked, suddenly getting Jazz's shock.
Jack seemed unaware of the looks of stupor on his kid's faces and continued speaking.
"Well, back then he wasn't 'billionaire Vlad Masters'." Jack said. "Back then he was just good old 'Vladdy'. Yup, we were pretty popular guys back then."
Jazz and Danny finally broke out of their shock to give each other looks of doubt.
"Back then, your mother, Vladdy, and I were an unstoppable team. We were the only ones brave enough to dive into the budding field of ecto research."
Danny resisted the urge to crack a joke. Jazz seemed like she was doing the same.
"Yes indeed, we even had our own research laboratory to build and test our inventions in!"
"Well, it was more of an abandoned classroom that no one stopped us from using." Maddie said as she pulled some pillows and blankets out of a compartment Danny hadn't even know existed until now "but, still, it was ours." She hugged the pillow she was holding with a far-away look on her face.
"Yup, we had a good thing going." Jack beamed. "That is, until the fat fingers of fate jammed themselves into Vladdy's eyes."
Maddie's dreamy expression turned somber. Jack started to tell the story:
"We'd finally finished the construction of our very first ghost portal."
Danny's eyes widened when he heard this. Jazz gave him a concerned look. She didn't like how easily her parents seemed to forget about his accident.
"Well, it was really more of a proto-portal. It was a lot smaller than the one we have back at home. We didn't know nearly as much as we know today about ecto-technology, especially not something as complicated as a portal. I also may have gotten a bit over-excited and rushed some of the calculations. The thing went haywire when I turned it on. Vlad was standing too close and took a blast of impure ecto-energy directly into his face. It resulted in a horrible case of ecto-acne."
"It devastated him." Maddie said. No one noticed that she had made up the air mattress while Jack was talking. "Vlad wouldn't allow any visitors in the hospital. Including us." She looked absolutely crestfallen when she said that. "The week after he dropped out without a word to anyone. We haven't spoken since."
"But the good news is, after all these years, I think he's finally forgiven me. Goodnight kids!"
On that note, Jack flicked a switch and the RV lights shut off.
Danny wasn't sure why, but he couldn't shake an uneasy feeling as he drifted off to sleep.
When Danny first saw Vlad's mansion, he thought it was a castle. The building was constructed entirely out of grey bricks. Green and gold banners hung from four turrets as well as above the entrance. Actually, Danny wasn't completely sure it wasn't a castle.
As they all climbed out of the RV, the wooden double doors swung open and out stepped Vlad Masters. He was wearing a suit and had long silvery hair that was swept back into a ponytail. Danny was surprised by his hair colour. Vlad was the same age as his parent, but neither of them had even started to go grey. He wondered if it had anything to do with the portal incident. Not that he was going to ask.
"Ah, the Fenton family." Vlad smiled as they reached the top of the stairs. "Jack, Maddie. It's been too long." He looked down at Jazz and Danny. "And these must be Jasmine and Daniel. It's nice to finally meet you two. Come in, come in." He turned around and gestured them to follow.
An irritated look flashed across Jazz's face. For some reason, she didn't like being called by her full name. Danny didn't understand why. He didn't mind being called by his.
The entryway was also adorned with green and gold. A red carpet that led to the stairs. Pictures of football players lined the walls. The pictures simultaneously felt tacky and decadent. There was also a football resting on a pedestal near the end of the hall with a signature Danny couldn't make out.
"What's with the green and gold?" Jazz asked. "You're a billionaire, surely you can afford an interior designer?"
Danny hadn't realized the name thing ticked her off that much. Maybe the trip had made her irritable. Still, he felt Jazz was being pretty harsh to their host.
"Jazz, hello? Notice the football stuff? He's a Packers fanatic."
"Fanatic is such a...strong word, Daniel. But, yes." Vlad stopped by the signed ball.
"Oh yes," Maddie said "I remember, back in the day, you and Jack were always going on about football. Vlad actually played quarterback on the college team, kids."
Danny shuddered internally at the word 'quarterback'. Vlad seemed a lot nicer than Dash, but still.
"Yes, but that was a long time ago Maddie." Vlad said "I'm afraid my quarterbacking days are long over."
"Aw, come on V-man. Don't be like that." Jack grabbed the football off the pedestal. "I'm sure you've still got some old moves left in ya!"
"Don't touch that!" Vlad snapped, snatching the ball out of Jack's hand with surprising speed. His warm welcoming aura suddenly turned hostile.
Everyone stared at Vlad for a few seconds, not really sure what to do. Vlad's expression melted from rage to a dignified shame. He cleared his throat and straightened his posture.
"My apologies," he said setting the football back on its stand "I know that reaction was...inappropriate. The truth is I was forced to stop playing because of the accident." A look of guilt flashed over Maddie's face "I didn't realize it until now, but I think I was subconsciously viewing this football as a sort of..." Vlad spun his hand in the air, as if trying to summon the correct word "...consolation prize. It has always been my favourite piece of Packer's paraphernalia. It's signed by Ray Nitschke himself." The warm grin made it's way back to Vlad's face as he stared at the ball.
"It is also very expensive, and I'd rather it not be damaged." He added quickly, snapping his gaze back to his guests.
"That was impressive." Jazz said "You must be seeing a really good therapist."
"Jazz..." Maddie scolded.
"Quite alright, Maddie." Vlad waved his hand "It's been a while, but yes, I've had access to some of the best psychological minds in the field. The accident in college was quite the upset on my life, but it also gave me the opportunity to work on myself. In a way, that accident was responsible for making me the person I am today."
Danny wasn't sure why, but he felt creeped out by that last sentence. It kind of felt like Vlad was making a private joke to himself. Sort of like he was hiding something.
"Anyway," Vlad checked his watch "I'm afraid I can't stay for dinner, but I'll show you you're rooms before I'm off."
"Aw, you're leaving already, Vladdy?" Jack pouted. "But we've barely even had any time to catch up."
"Time is money, I'm afraid, Jack. Don't worry, we'll have plenty of time to catch up tomorrow."
Jack didn't look cheered up at all. Vlad came over and put a hand on his back.
"You know Jack, this house is very old. So old in fact that there's rumours that the ghost of the Wisconsin Dairy King himself may haunt these very halls." Vlad tilted his head upwards.
At the top of the stairs there was a rather large portrait of a stout jovial-looking king whose scepter was shaped like an ice cream cone. Jack's face was instantly lit up with glee, and he was suddenly gone.
"Thought that'd do the trick." Vlad grinned.
"Thanks Vlad," Maddie said "That really cheered him up. It'll be nice to talk properly at the reunion tomorrow." Maddie's voice was level, but it was hard to miss the manic look in her eyes.
"No need to be polite, Maddie. If I know you, I'm sure you're just as anxious to investigate this potential paranormal activity as Jack."
"Don't be ridiculous." Maddie cracked each of her knuckles individually as she spoke. "I, er, should at least see where are rooms are before I run off."
"Ah, yes. Right this way then. I'll make the tour quick."
Danny was glad to finally be getting some sleep. His room was decorated in green and gold like the rest of the castle (Mansion? Danny wasn't really sure how to classify this place). His room had a purple double bed with drapes. There was a large glass door on one wall that led to a balcony. It was much more glamourous than sharing an inflatable mattress with your family.
Just as Danny began to drift off, he felt his ghost sense go off.
"Oh great," he said to no one "We go all the way out to Wisconsin and you guys still find a way to bug me." Danny focused and the familiar rings came (around the whole bed for some reason) and he was out of bed and flying through the wall in no time.
The mansion was big, but Danny's ghost sense gave him a general sense of where to look. It wasn't long before he found what he was looking for; three ectoplasmic-green ghost...vultures? They were turned away from Danny, various machine parts clutched in their talons.
"You guys again?" Danny exclaimed. The vultures turned around, startled. "Are you following me or something?"
"Aie! It's that ghost kid!" One of the vultures shrieked.
Danny charged up an ecto blast, but he was too slow. The vultures all turned intangible and flew off in different directions.
"Hey," Danny shouted "I want answers!"
"As do I." Came a voice from behind him. Danny spun around.
Floating a few feet away from him was a humanoid ghost. His skin was blue, his eyes were red, and he wore mostly white including a full-body cape. His pitch-black hair was styled straight-up, giving it the appearance of devil horns.
Danny had to admit, he looked pretty impressive, floating there with his arms crossed, cape flowing out behind him. The glare he shot Danny from his glowing red eyes was actually quite scary.
Not that all ghosts weren't kind of scary...
"I was aiming for the birds, but you'll do."
Danny charged at the ghost, fist-first. To his surprise, the ghost caught Danny's fist and redirected him, causing him to crash into a wall.
"You're a lot more competent than the other ghosts I've fought, I'll give you that." Danny said as he got up. He made another attempt at the ghost, charging straight for him. "But I'm done playing around."
Before Danny could hit him, the ghost caught him again, this time by the neck.
"As am I." The ghost said as he threw Danny to the ground. "Danny Phantom, is it?"
"You...know me?" Danny quickly recovered, floating back up to the ghost's level.
"Of course!" The ghost flew backwards, phasing through the wall behind him. Intrigued, Danny turned intangible and followed him. The room they ended up in was a giant library. There were so many bookshelves that it was more of a maze.
"Every ghost in the ghost zone has heard of you. You're that ghost child who's been defending the humans in Amity Park ever since that portal opened. Imagine my surprise to find you here, harassing my vultures."
"Hey, they're the ones that started it!"
"Is that so?" the ghost raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, and I intend to end it!" Danny said shooting an ecto beam.
The ghost raised his hand and Danny's beam bounced off of a pink square that appeared in front of his hand. Danny tried firing more beams, but the ghost simply moved his hand around, along with the pink square, deflecting all of Danny's blasts.
"Ectoplasmic energy blasts." the ghost fake-yawned. "So, year one?" he closed his fist and the square disappeared. "Tell me child, can you do...THIS?"
Suddenly, another ghost, identical to the one Danny was fighting, popped up beside him. Startled, Danny began to back away, but two more clones popped into existence behind him.
"N-no, I can't." Danny replied, gobsmacked. "How can you?"
"Years of practice." The four ghosts replied in unison. They all raised their right arm and fired their own pink ectoplasmic energy blast at Danny.
Danny crashed to the ground. He looked up to see the four ghosts fuse back into one, but it didn't matter. That last blow had knocked any chance of winning the fight out of him.
Danny felt his consciousness slipping away...
"No, stop, get away!" Danny yelled as he untangled himself from the blankets, sitting bolt right up in bed.
"Everything all right in there, Daniel?" Vlad asked from the doorway.
"Huh, oh, uh, yes Mr. Masters. I must have just had a nightmare, sorry for disturbing you." Danny spoke quickly, still dazed.
"Quite alright my dear boy. You needn't worry, I was awake anyway. You're sure you're alright?"
"Yeah, I'm good now thanks. You can go back to bed."
"Yes, I think I shall." Vlad said, turning around "Sleep tight little badger. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."
Once Vlad was gone, Danny breathed a sigh of relief. So the ghost attack had just been a dream. It didn't feel like a dream, Danny thought, as he laid back on his pillow. Then again why would those ghost Vultures come all the way from Amity Park to Wisconsin?
At least he didn't have to worry about facing that terrifying ghost again, he thought as he drifted off.
The next day went off without a hitch (aka, ghost attacks).
At the party, Jack and Maddie introduced Jazz and Danny to their friend, Harriet Chin. Danny cringed in sympathy when his dad made a joke about her name ("Harry Chin. Get it?"). Jazz actually seemed interested in Harry, though. The two of them talked for a bit about Harry's career with the Milwaukee Journal. It seemed pretty high-level.
After a while Harry and Maddie found some other old friends to catch up with. Jazz went to Vlad's home theatre (man, he was rich) to watch a documentary on the Packers. Danny popped in to check it out, but saw that the film was in black and white. It was a close-call, but he decided the get-together might be slightly less boring.
While most of the guests were getting reconnected with long-time friends, Danny sat at a table by himself, his chin resting on his hand. His eyes glazing over as he watched the various 30-something-year-olds "shin-dig" around the auditorium (seriously, who has an auditorium and a theater in their house?). The novelty of a bunch of adults with blocks of cheese on their head had worn off about an hour ago.
Just as he was about to fall asleep, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder.
"Bored are we, Son?"
"Wha- uh, no sir, Mr. Masters." Danny startled "Also, it's just Danny. 'Son's' what my dad calls me."
"Hm, very well then." Vlad smiled. He was always smiling. Danny was sure if he found that comforting or creepy. "Anyway, I've got something upstairs that I've been wanting to show you. Interested?"
"Oh, um...sure." Anything was better than sitting around here.
"Excellent. Right this way." Vlad said, turning towards the auditorium exit.
Wait, Danny thought, was Vlad taking him up there alone?
"Uh, Mr. Masters," Danny said as he caught up with Vlad in the hall "Aren't you going to get my parents?"
"No, Daniel." Vlad said as they started to ascend a curling set of stairs "They're busy catching up with old friends, I don't want to disturb them."
"Oh. Should I get Jazz then? She's probably not doing much either."
"Oh no, don't bother her." Vlad said as they reached the top of the stairs "I have something that I'd very much like to show you, and only you."
"Why me?"
"Don't worry my dear boy, it will all make sense when we get there."
Something wasn't right about this.
Danny did not like how secretive Vlad was being. He probably would have run away by now, but his curiosity was getting the better of him. Besides, if things went south he had his ghost powers, something Vlad didn't know about.
They stopped in front of a statue of the Wisconsin Dairy King. Vlad put his eye to one of the buttons on his coat. A red beam shot out and scanned it.
"Personal Recognized: Vlad Masters" A voice said, making Danny jump.
"Sorry about all this security, little badger. " Vlad said, as the wall in front of them slid to the side, revealing an enormous safe-like door "I've got some...valuable things in there. Things I really wouldn't want others to find."
"Well now I'm definitley interested in what you want to show me." Danny muttered as Vlad punched in a code on a keypad.
The door slid open. Vlad walked inside and Danny followed, cautiously eyeing his surroundings. There wasn't much. Unlike the flamboyant decadence of the rest of the mansion, this room, although large, was empty besides for another keypad on the back wall. The floor was white and the walls were made of metal. It kind of reminded Danny of something, but he wasn't sure what.
The door slammed shut behind him. Danny felt his eyes go green, as they sometimes did when he was startled. He quickly blinked them back to blue. He hoped Vald hadn't seen.
"Now then," oh good, he hadn't. "Now that we're alone, I wanted to ask you a few questions."
"Okaaaay..." Danny raised his eyebrow, what could Vlad possibly want to ask him of all people?
"Your parents did tell you about my little...accident back in college, didn't they?"
"Yeah, my dad says you haven't spoken since that day." Danny responded.
"Indeed," Vlad sighed "Jack and Maddie are dear friends, but it was hard to face them after what happened."
"So, you're still mad at them?"
Vlad laughed. Danny hadn't been expecting that reaction.
"Mad? Daniel I was never mad at them. I just called them 'dear friends' didn't I? What happened was an accident."
"You seemed pretty mad at my dad earlier."
"Sure, your father has always had a habit of getting on my and, frankly, everyone else's nerves." A far away look washed over Vlad's eyes. "But he made up for that with his sheer joyful enthusiasm. He may come off as an unaware oaf, but he really does have an incredible knack for ecto-technology. It could be hard, but it really was a delight to work beside him and Maddie."
Vlad sighed.
"Ah, Maddie, what a brilliant mind. You know, she could have chosen to study anything. Become a doctor in any field of her choosing. In the end she chose to pursue what mattered to her, even though the rest of the world called her work nonsense. That's truly an admiral trait, being true to oneself in spite of other's expectations. I don't know where she found the patience to put up with your father and me, though. I imagine she's an incredible mother."
"Um, yeah, I guess she is." Danny wasn't really sure how to respond.
"Anyway, enough reminiscing" Vlad said, returning to the present. "The past is in the past."
"Isn't reminiscing the whole point of this reunion?" Danny asked.
Vlad laughed again.
"Oh, Daniel. You're as clever as your mother, you know that? Both you and Jasmine." Vlad shook his head "Ah, look how easily I get distracted. This is what happens when you spend too much time alone. Anyway, I was wondering if they ever took up trying to rebuild that old portal."
"Um, yeah." As Danny spoke, Vlad turned around and started typing on the keypad on the back wall. "They actually got one working in our lab about two months ago." Vlad paused his typing, but didn't say anything.
Danny felt weird. It was odd to be talking about ghost stuff with someone who wasn't an immediate friend or family member. Usually that would result in him getting punched.
"Well good for them." Vlad's tone shocked Danny out of his stupor. There was almost something...forced about it. Maybe Vlad wasn't as over the accident as he said he was.
Before Danny could decide whether to confront Vlad about it, he pushed a green button on the keypad and the wall in front of him split into two and began to slide open, revealing a swirling pink, fully functional-
"Ghost portal?" Danny gasped.
"Yes, and that's not all." As Vlad spoke, tables began to emerge from hidden panels in the floor, and sections of the wall spun around revealing shelves. The tables and shelves were all filled with familiar green test tubes, as well as strange devices that glowed pink like the portal. If the devices had been green, and the whole space a little shabbier, it would have looked identical to Danny's basement.
"Wait, you've been a ghost hunter all these years too?"
"Well, more of a ghost researcher than a hunter, but yes, basically."
Danny walked up to the portal and brushed his hand against the metal frame.
"That's incredible. Do my parents know about this? This place would blow they're minds!"
"No, Daniel. You are the only other human who's been in this lab."
Danny stopped rubbing the frame and turned to face Vlad.
"Mr. Masters, why would you tell me about this place and not my parents? I mean, no offence, but they're the ghost hunters, and I'm 14. I feel like you'd get more out of showing them than me."
"Daniel when your parents got their portal working," Vlad's face suddenly turned serious "were there any...complications?"
Danny's eyes widened.
"I-"
Before Danny could think of an answer, he felt a familiar chill escape his mouth.
"Look out!" he shouted as an ecto-blast shot through the portal. Danny barely had time to jump out of the way as it whizzed by where his head used to be and crashed into one of the tables, shattering the beakers.
"Butter Biscuits!" Vlad cursed, grabbing an ecto gun off of another table and poiinting it at the portal. "What is it this time?
As if to answer his question, three giant green yeti-looking ghosts with massive tusks lumbered out of the portal, the largest one leading the other two. They walked on all fours, and Danny noticed razor-sharp claws on their front paws.
The ghosts stopped to look around, and Vlad seized the opportunity and shot at the one closest to him. It yelped as the beam hit it's face and the front one (who Danny assumed, based on his limited knowledge of biology, was the Alpha) roared and swung it's paw at Vlad, launching him into the air. He crashed into the wall next to Danny and slid to the floor.
"Mr. Masters!" Danny cried, rushing to his side. Before he could help him up, Vlad brushed him away and pushed himself up into a fighting position.
"Alright," he grimaced "Time to stop playing around."
Danny gasped as a black ring suddenly appeared around Vlad's waist, crackling the air around him. The ring split into two and went up and down Vlad's body, changing him into the ghost Danny had seen last night.
Danny stood there, awestruck, as Vlad flew into the air. The yeti he had shot at let out a challenging roar. Vlad raised his arm and shot a pink ecto beam directly into it's throat. It let out spluttering yelp and ran directly back into the portal. The other two turned intangible and went off in separate direction. The Alpha one phased through the floor while the smaller one went through the back wall.
"Finger sausages! They've split up!" Danny almost jumped out of his skin as Vlad turned to look at him. "Daniel, the leader is headed to the auditorium. You distract it while I take care of the other one. Make sure it doesn't hurt anyone." Vlad said as he turned intangible. He flew through the wall before Danny had time to respond.
"Okay, not only is Vlad a ghost hunter, he's also apparently a ghost-ghost." Danny put his hand on his forehead "How long has he been a ghost? How is this even possible?"
Danny shook his head to snap himself out of his stupor.
"I don't know how this is even possible, but I'll have to figure it out later. For now, I'M GOING GHOST!" Danny shouted as he transformed. The rings had barely left his body before he was diving through the floor.
Meanwhile, at the party...
"...And then I..." Harry blathered on about a story she was working on to Jack who, not possessing an ounce of subtlety, let his chin sink down into his cup.
"Am I boring you, Jack?" Harry asked, irritated by his lack of tact.
"Quite frankly, yes." Jack replied.
Suddenly, a giant green beast dropped from the ceiling and landed in the middle of the dance floor, silencing the chatting adults. They all stared at it for a moment, before it let out a terrifying roar, sending everyone into a panic.
"Suffering spooks! I didn't expect to see one so far out here." Jack immediately jumped into action "Maddie, get the RV! I'll hold it off!" he cried, pulling a mini ecto gun out of his jumpsuit pocket.
"Come on!" Maddie cried, grabbing the awestruck Harry by the arm as she ran by. "That gun won't do much, we're gonna need the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle!"
Harry was bemused, but intrigued.
Just as they left the room, Danny poked his head through the floor (or, ceiling, he supposed). Party guests were running everywhere, and his dad was shooting the yeti with a small ecto gun. The gun didn't seem to have much effect, in fact it only seemed to make it angrier.
This was bad news. The ineffective ecto gun meant Danny would need to help his dad fight the ghost, but unfourtunately Jack was likely to start attacking Danny as well if he saw him.
Danny had an idea. Turning invisible, he flew towards his dad and dove into his body. Blinking a few times to adjust himself, he raised his hand. Ever since he'd discovered that he could overshadow people, Danny had wanted to see if he could still use his powers while inside someone.
Danny aimed for the yeti and was pleasantly surprised to see a green ecto beam shoot out of his now enormous gloved hand.
"Yes!" he shouted as it made contact with the yeti, who yelped. The good news was that he now had a way to fight the ghost without his dad trying to kill him. The bad news was that the yeti now had it's attention turned on Danny. He barely managed to jump out of the way as the yeti lunged at him, crashing into, and destroying, another table.
"Woah," Danny wobbled a bit as he landed. "Jumping around in Dad's body feels so different." His musings were interrupted by the yeti throwing a chair at him. He ducked just in time. "But I better get used to it quick."
Danny looked around and saw that everyone had fled the auditorium, leaving him alone with the yeti.
"Perfect," he said, smiling at the yeti. "That means I don't have to worry about anyone seeing my dad do THIS!"
He punctuated his sentence by launching another ecto blast at the yeti. The yeti yelped again as it was hit. Danny launched a few more, but the yeti had wised up and began darting around the room, making it way harder to hit. It moved surprisingly fast for such a large creature.
Danny was so busy trying to hit the yeti that he failed to notice how close it had managed to get to him. Just as he realized what was going on, the yeti pounced across the remaining distance, pinning Danny's wrists to the ground with it's paws.
"Uhhh, any chance you want to just, talk this out?" Danny asked nervously, the yeti opened it's massive maw (which was uncomfortably close to Danny's face) and gave out another incredibly loud roar. "That's not exactly what I meant." Danny remarked, silently sweating.
Suddenly a pink ecto beam hit the yeti in the face, knocking it off of Danny. Danny pushed himself off of the floor. It took a second since he wasn't used to how heavy this body was. When he got up he saw Vlad had arrived, glove still smoking from that last ecto blast.
Before either of them could say anything, a loud honk stole their attention. He turned and saw the Fenton RV smash through the wall that used to hold the auditorium entrance. His mom's head was poking out through the driver window and she looked furious.
"Get away from my husband you filthy ecto abomination!" she shouted as three mechanisms that all looked vaguely like guns popped out of the roof of the vehicle. There was a brief whirrr sound before the one in the middle shot out a green ecto beam that was much bigger that the ones Danny fired. It his the yeti square on and sent it flying across the room.
"Way to go Mo- uh, Maddie!" That was close. It was weird how easy it was to forget you were in someone else's body.
Maddie got out of the RV, a much bigger ecto-gun than the mini blaster Jack had been using in her hands.
"Jack, you drive the RV." She commanded running past him, her goggles blazing with determination. "I'm going to give this ghost a piece of my mind!"
Danny looked around the auditorium. Vlad was nowhere in sight. He turned his attention to the RV.
"Ok," he said to himself "I'm technically too young to drive, and Mom and Dad seem to have this handled, so I'm going to go find out where Vlad went."
With that, he invisibly flew out of his father. Danny hovered near the ceiling and watched the panicked Harry yell Jack out of his stupor. Jack shook his head and jumped into the RV, weapons blazing within seconds.
"Wow, I almost feel sorry for the yeti." Danny cringed. "I wonder if Vlad went back to his lab."
Danny phased through the ceiling and turned visible. Vlad was indeed there waiting for him, still in his ghost form. Danny would've been lying if he'd said he wasn't a bit intimidated.
"I assume Jack and Maddie have the situation under control down there?"
"Yeah, and all the guests are safe." Danny looked around. He felt a twinge of guilt at the sight of the smouldering tables. "Sorry about the damage to your lab." he said sheepishly.
"Why apologize? It's hardly your fault. And anyway this happens every other week. Comes with the 'ghost researcher' territory." Vlad grinned "Fourtunately, I am immensely wealthy."
Vlad stared at Danny for a minute. It made him a bit uncomfortable, but he wasn't really sure what to do. What do you do when you're a half-ghost, and you meet your parents estranged college friend who also turns out to be a half-ghost?
"So I suppose your parent's portal did this to you?" Vlad finally asked. Danny's eyes widened.
"I, uh, don't know what you mean..."
"You can give up the ghost Daniel, I know it's you." (:D)
Danny sighed. There was no escaping it.
"Yeah," he answered, rubbing the back of his neck "Sorry, I just, you're the first person- I mean, I've...never really told anyone before. They couldn't get it working at first. One day I went inside of it, I guess because I was curious. I was kind of running my hand along the wall and it...turned out that they had put the 'on' button on the inside."
Vlad paused for another moment.
"Yes, that does sounds like Jack and Maddie. Well, maybe more so Jack, but your mother has her moments." Vlad mused. "So you've been like this for about two months then, correct?"
Danny nodded.
"And, how did you, you know..."
"The proto-portal from college." Vlad raised an eyebrow playfully "Duh.
"So that means you've been a half-ghost for, what, twenty years?" Danny spun that information around in his brain. "Oh jeez, that's a long time! I can't believe that's even possible! I thought I'd be the only human with ghost powers ever! I never thought I could meet someone like me!"
"As did I." Vlad said "Of course I'd heard the rumours of a ghost-human hybrid in Amity Park. In fact, it was these very rumours that prompted me to hold this reunion. Thinking of Amity reminded me how long it's been since I'd seen Jack and Maddie, or anyone else from college, for that matter. Imagine my surprise when I see the fabled ghost-child, the only other member of my kind, floating through my very halls last night." Despite his regal composure, Vlad's tone was filled with excitement.
"Oh, uh, speaking of which," Danny said "sorry for attacking you last night."
"I believe it's the vultures you owe an apology to."
"The vultures?"
As if waiting to be mentioned, an angry ghost bird's head suddenly popped through the wall.
"Yea!" he screeched as two more heads popped out above and below him " 'Vere's our apology?"
"Hey!" Danny snapped "You're the one's who showed up looking to attack my family!"
"Ve did no such thing!" the lead vulture retorted, phasing his whole body into the room, his two friends following him.
"Ve vere only dere for invormation on da Venton's, ve never planned on attacking dem!"
"Well how was I supposed to know?" Danny shot back "Every single ghost I've ever met wants to either kill me or my friends."
"Well not all ghosts are evil, doncha' know?"
Danny turned around and saw a stout kingly-looking ghost floating a few feet away. He looked familiar...
"The Wisconsin Dairy King?" Danny said, remembering the painting in the entrance hall.
"Aye." the king answered jovially "I, fer instance, have been roaming these here halls fer centuries, not bothering a soul."
Danny blinked at him.
"What he's trying to say Daniel," Vlad cut in "is that, like humans, all ghosts have different motives and desires. You tend to only see the evil ones because they're the ones who go looking for trouble. The not-evil ones tend to mind their own business."
"And how can you be sure of that?" Danny asked.
"I've been dealing with ghosts for 20 years, Daniel. I've learned a thing or two along the way."
"Well, how do you know which ones are evil and which ones aren't?"
"Same as you do with humans."
Danny bit his lip pensively.
"It seems," Vlad said as a black ring formed around his waist, morphing him back into his human form "that you have a lot to learn about ghosts. Especially if you're going to continue in the business of keeping the malicious ones out of Amity Park. Even though I live quite far from you, I'd be willing to offer my support where I can, if you're interested."
Vlad finished his offer by holding a hand out. Danny shook it and morphed back to human as well.
"It's kinda nice, not being the only one." Danny smiled as he let go of Vlad's hand.
"Likewise, my boy." Vlad beamed back. "Now let's head back to the party. I'm sure your parents are looking for you."
"And you. My dad's probably already started crying about how 'the ghosts kidnapped his best friend'." Danny said as the lab door slid shut behind them.
"Awww," The Dairy King cooed. "T'wasn't that sweet".
"Ve still didn't get our apology." The lead vulture griped.
"...and even if I did believe you, which I don't, why on earth would a ghost be a yeti?"
"I don't know Jazzy-pants. Your mother and I may be leading ghost experts, but there's still a lot we don't know. It's too bad the spook ran off, though. I'm sure we could've learned a great deal if we'd been able to examine that behemoth more closely!"
"Sweetie, all the other guests saw the ghost, too. Surely you'd believe over fifty eye witnesses."
"Sure." Jazz rolled her eyes "Why wouldn't I believe a bunch of drunk people who ran screaming from the room before they could even get a good look? There's not even enough proof for your friend Harry to write a decent story, and she's a professional journalist!"
Danny watched his parents and Jazz argue from the bottom of the mansion stairs. He'd known this was coming and did not want to get involved.
"I assume they don't know?" a voice said from behind. Danny turned around and saw Vlad standing behind him.
"No."
"Do you plan on telling them? Jack and Maddie are very loving people, you know they'd accept you, no matter what."
"Are you going to tell them?"
Vlad paused.
"Touché. I stand by what I said, but I won't push it."
The pair watched the argument by the RV ("...crowds can be susceptible to suggestion! A group of scared teenagers once managed to convince an entire town they were attacked by a giant alien that turned out to be nothing more than an owl!").
"I must say, it's rather nice having someone else who knows." Vlad said after a minute. "Well, someone who isn't a ghost. It's a shame you couldn't stay longer."
"Yeah," Danny sighed "but you know how my parents are. Can't stay away from their research too long. They didn't even change out of their jumpsuits for this trip."
"That's the Jack and Maddie I know. I wouldn't change them if I could." Vlad smiled. "Still, I'm sure we'd have had lots to talk about."
"Maybe...maybe you could come and visit sometime?"
Vlad made a strange face. It only lasted a second before it shifted back into his usual smile, although it wasn't as bright as before.
"Much like you parents, I would be remiss to leave my work for too long. Amity is quite a way's off from Wisconsin."
"Oh." Danny couldn't really hide his disappointment. A pensive look crept onto Vlad's face.
"Perhaps..." he hesitated. "I can't guarantee it'll work, and it would take some time to figure out, but now that your family has a portal, it could work as a much quicker route between our locales."
"Wait, really? How?"
"Well, the Ghost Zone doesn't follow the same logic as the human world. This, theoretically, could allow for faster travel between the two portals. However the Ghost Zone is also rather...difficult to navigate. Quite dangerous and confusing."
Vlad noticed the excitement on Danny's face.
"Now don't go getting your hopes up quite yet, Daniel. I can't truly guarantee there even is a quicker route via the Zone and, even if there is, it will take time to find."
Danny still felt pretty pumped at the possibility. He noticed a strange look on Vlad's face. It was hard to identify. It was like he was thinking about something that worried him. Danny wanted to ask him what was wrong, but that felt kind of awkward. He figured Vlad might not want to confide in some 14-year old he'd just met.
That being said, they were just about to leave and Danny wanted this visit to end on a happy note.
"Hey, um," Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously, not sure how Vlad would respond to this "How long did it take you before you stopped accidentally phasing though stuff?"
Vlad laughed loudly.
"Goodness, I'd forgotten all about that. Oh, that was awful. I lost count of all the things I'd dropped my first few months as a ghost. I remember once, when I thought I'd finally gotten my powers under control, a dear archeologist friends invited me over to see her research. She let me hold a genuine Ming Vase and it slipped right through my hands!"
Danny's eyes went wide.
"Did it break?"
"Absolutely shattered. The only positive note was that she was too stunned to notice my hands were translucent. We never spoke after that. I assume she was angry, but, truth be told, I was too embarrassed to ever check if she'd forgiven me."
Danny figured it would only be fair if he shared an embarrassing story of his own.
"A few weeks ago, I asked the most popular girl in school to the dance, and my pants went intangible fell off right in front of her. Well, her and the whole school." Danny chuckled hesitantly. It had been an incredibly humiliating experience, but enough time had passed that he could see the humour in it.
Vlad laughed hysterically when he finished telling his story.
"And that is why I locked myself in a castle for twenty years. I honestly don't know if I could have survived if I'd gotten my powers as a teenager."
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by the most obnoxious car horn.
"C'mon Danno, time to hit the road!"
Danny sighed. He didn't want to leave, but he didn't really have much choice.
"I hope I get to see you again soon." he said to Vlad as he made his way to the RV.
"As do I, little badger." Vlad replied, following.
Unbeknownst to them, the three vultures had been perched on the banister, invisibly eavesdropping.
"I hope he does visit the kid soon. If you ask me, dat guy could really use some more human vriends." the raspy-voiced one said once they were out of ear shot.
"Yeah, I haven't seen Vlad dat happy in a vile." the one with the glasses added.
"That Plasmius is vun tough egg to crack fellas." The leader said. "but who knows? Maybe dat kid really can get trough to him."
Danny climbed into the RV as his parents said their goodbyes to Vlad.
"Well, Vladdy, it was good to see you after all these years." Jack reached his arm out the window and wrapped it affectionately, but tightly, around Vlad's neck. "It's like nothing's changed!"
"Yes, indeed." Vlad said, shoving himself out of Jack's grip.
"It's a shame we didn't have more time to catch up." Maddie sighed. "We'll have to get together again real soon, Vlad. Maybe you can come down to Amity Park next time."
"Yeah, V-man! You wouldn't believe the ghost activity down there!"
"Oh, I gave up the ghost research long ago." Vlad waved his hand. "But a visit with the Fenton family does sound enticing. Whenever I can find the time, of course. You don't become as rich as I am by sitting around all day, after all."
They did that thing that adults do where they talk about nothing for forever after they tell you it's time to leave. Eventually, Jack rolled up the window, and they were off. Danny waved at Vlad from the back window. Vlad waved back as the RV went around a corner.
Once Vlad had disappeared from sight, Danny sat back in his seat, beaming. Jazz raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything, instead cracking open a book
Danny felt lighter than he had in months.
Thank you so much for reading :)
If you had any thoughts on this story, please leave a review. I want to hear what you liked, and what you thought could be better. Seriously, criticism is like crack to me. The more details the better.
Imma show my age and offer invisible cookies to anyone who does review.
Again, most likely a one-shot. Hope you enjoyed, and have a lovely day.