Chapter 5

Notes: So, I know I haven't updated in quite a while. Still haven't found a new job so I am still searching for one, but in the meantime we had numerous school events popping up along with loadshedding and, of course, Karate training for our upcoming grading.

New news though is that I finally finished my planning and I am starting to write my own story for the Novel competition, though it already leaves me with less time to update and add to my fanfics, I am quite enjoying myself with it. Will give you guys an update for when I get the first few chapters out.

Now without further ado…

On with the story!

$$$$Danny Fenton & Vlad Masters$$$$

Danny decided to ignore the feeling as they first dropped off Sam and then Tucker, even though Danny's house had been a bit closer and Danny found Vlad shooting worried glances at him whenever he glanced to the side.

He started to panic as he noticed that Vlad wasn't taking him home, instead, he was driving back to his place, yet still he did nothing until they came to a stop in front of the mansion.

Vlad turned to him with a smile, though Danny knew him well enough by now to note the worried pull around the edges, "So it seems I shouldn't have destroyed that bit of technology if it kept you powerless for this long."

Danny looked at him in confusion, "It didn't, my powers returned when you stopped at the gala."

The man seemed flabbergasted for a moment, "But you…why? You could have simply gotten away at any time then?! Why would you stay longer than you had to? It's not as if you enjoy my company."

Danny scoffed and shook his head even though he took careful note of the slight bitterness that seemed to have crept into Vlad's voice, "As if you would've let me. I know you would've followed through with your threat of having 'Plasmius' crash the party if I didn't go along with it."

Vlad frowned at that, "That has never stopped you before, in fact, I recall numerous times when you would simply delight in another chance to thrash Plasmius around."

The younger man choked out a laugh, "Yeah, that was before I realized that you have been pulling your punches."

Vlad seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment, but he quickly came back to his senses. The confusion on his face would have fooled anyone else, but Danny knew him better than most, "Whatever gave you that idea, Little Badger?"

Danny shrugged, "You did actually. I realized tonight that you had many chances to brainwash me, clone me, or whatever else your devious mind decided on, but the moment you had me truly powerless you simply dragged me along to this whole gala thing and now I'm dead sure that I am either going to get the thrashing of my life on Monday, or I am going to have a bunch off stuck-up idiots dogging my steps because of who my 'uncle' is. Unless," he paused, "that is the plan?"

Vlad frowned at his words, "I thought it would be a good thing if they left you alone…why would it cause you to get a thrashing instead?"

Danny watched Vlad with a raised brow, "You either weren't bullied in school, or things were just way different at schools in the past but star jocks like Dash usually get away with whatever they want, and according to some of the teachers, 'boys will be boys and the experience builds character', or so they love saying."

The older man turned and started walking again and Danny gulped as he noticed that flash of red as it passed over the man's eyes again before he stopped and seemingly glared at the door, "I may be a villain, but bullying is something I cannot condone." The door opened and Vlad stepped inside, but Danny simply scoffed, causing the man to turn back and look at him in confusion, "You don't believe me?"

Danny shook his head, "It's not that, I didn't expect you to go the whole 'Danny is mine alone to bully' route since you can't deny that you pick fights with me as well, but you hate it when others do the same."

Vlad's face seemed to go red with anger, "How can you still call me a bully when you just complained about the fact that I pull my punches?"

Danny put his hands on his hips and some part of him begged him to just stay quiet, to not egg Vlad on, but he'd never been good at listening to that little voice so he opened his big mouth anyway, "So you admit that you pull your punches?"

He knew he'd taken it a bit too far when Vlad's expression shuttered completely before that small, yet bloodthirsty grin made its appearance, "Now that you mention it, maybe I have allowed you to get a bit too cocky…"

Danny chose that moment to swallow his pride as he quickly went ghost and high-tailed it out of there before the man made good on his unspoken threat. He didn't see the man reach out his hand in an aborted motion before he rubbed his hand tiredly over his face instead and slammed the door shut in frustration.

It wasn't that he was afraid of the man, he wasn't sure that he ever truly would be afraid of him again after learning that the man had intentionally been losing against him…but he needed time to figure out a new plan of action.

It didn't take him long to get home. He fell onto his bed as familiar rings revealed black hair once more. He didn't have the energy to deal with the new information tonight though. Just as he thought he was getting better…no, he wouldn't think about it like that. Vlad was older than him and he'd had his powers for much longer as well. It made sense that the man knew more about them than Danny did.

His phone buzzed five times and he groaned. He didn't really feel like moving at all at the moment, but there were only two people that bothered to message him and he knew they would come banging at his front door despite the late hour if he didn't at least let them know that he was ok.

He turned onto his side and pulled out his phone, shaking his head in amusement at the many messages and empty threats before he typed out a brief message to reassure them that he was fine and that he would explain everything the following day. A few more messages arrived, but Danny was already fast asleep.

$$$$Danny Fenton & Vlad Masters$$$$

Vlad glared at the door that he just slammed shut and just barely stopped himself from pacing around the foyer in agitation as he made his way to his study instead. Maybe it was time to admit to himself that getting Danny to agree to a truce was a lost cause. The young man always seemed to be waiting for him to reveal his latest scheme whenever they crossed paths…though admittedly it had been the only way Vlad could think of to keep the younger man busy while he dealt with the more dangerous hunters that seemed to jump out of the woodwork recently, as well as a few ghosts that Danny wasn't ready to deal with yet.

He frowned, Phantom was building up quite a reputation, and although he was only doing it to protect his hometown, it had been just a matter of time before other ghosts took notice and decided to target him simply for the renown they would gain as the one who'd taken down the hero.

The thought had him turning toward his lab instead of heading toward his study and he wasn't surprised to see Skulker hauling the corpse of a giant ghostly rat through his portal to the Ghost Zone. Despite his initial protests, the hunter seemed to enjoy the fact that there were now more creatures for him to hunt than ever before due to Phantom being such a trouble magnet, "Hey, Plasmius! This is the third haul of the day, how are things on your end?"

The glare he received was telling enough and Skulker set the corpse down, "I take it you had another run-in with Phantom then…", the hunter seemed to pause for a bit as he waited for an answer, and, of course, received none, so he sighed, "You know, all of this would be easier if the two of you just teamed up…"

Vlad's eyes flashed red and Skulker immediately raised his hands in surrender. He'd only seen the man get truly angry once, and it wasn't something he was eager to experience again, even if they were sort of friends, but Vlad merely slammed his hand down on the table, clearly indenting it with the bit of ghostly power that seemed to seep through his control, "He'll never agree to it, we've been enemies for too long."

Skulker seemed to look sky-ward for strength before he turned his gaze back to Vlad, "Of course, he wouldn't agree to it if you keep hiding the fact that most of the entities in the far reaches of the Ghost Zone are after his hide, and that's without those strange labs that seem to be popping up all over the place. You've been watching his back since Clockwork gave you that ominous warning, but you aren't letting him see that."

Vlad glared at Skulker through narrowed eyes, "If I didn't know any better I would say you've gone soft on the young man."

The hunter rolled his eyes, "As if, the guy can still pack a hell of a punch the day he wants to, but we haven't been enemies for a while now if that is what you mean. Or at least, not since the day I explained to him about ghostly obsessions and how they transfer over from life into death."

Vlad seemed to freeze and the air around him started to heat up as he stalked around the table towards Skulker, something dangerous hanging in the air around him as he bit out, "And why, pray tell, is this the first I've heard of it? Last time I checked, you were still trying to pin his hide to the wall and he was still trying to put your suit out of commission, permanently, before I 'showed' you how bad of a decision that would be on your part."

Skulker forced himself to stand his ground even though everything in him was screaming to take a step back and hide, "It only happened a month or two ago, and you were busy taking apart another lab so it kind of slipped my mind."

He watched as Vlad grit his teeth before the man's body seemed to sag slightly and he leaned back heavily against the table he'd rounded, "How-how did you do it?"

Skulker blinked in confusion for a moment before he suddenly realized that there was only one reason Vlad would ever deign to ask anything of anyone, "Well-eh I spotted him during one of his nightly rounds and noticed that he was heading your way so I decided to distract him, ended up with my suit busted to pieces again and decided that I really couldn't keep paying the extortionate amounts that Technus asks whenever he needs to fix it up again so I asked why he always seemed so intent on attacking every ghost that appears."

Vlad didn't move a muscle as he spoke, but given that the man hadn't snapped at him to hurry on up with his explanation yet, he continued warily, "I explained to him that ghosts couldn't simply stop doing whatever they obsessed about in life and he admitted that he hadn't known that so we made a compromise, I stick to animals and ferocious monsters and in return, my suit stays intact."

The other man stayed silent as he seemed to think about his words and Skulker took that as his chance to maneuver the rat through the portal. He was just in the process of stepping through himself when he heard Vlad talk to himself, "A compromise is it?" before the portal deposited him into the Ghost Zone with his latest kill at his side.

He promptly decided to act as if the conversation never happened and made his way home.