Aaaaaand we're back! It's 8/9/15, the same day I finished the last chapter! I will probably finish this one next year! (LOL).
I don't really do 'story arcs' but if you want to put it that way, I suppose last chapter ended one arc, and this chapter starts another. Also, for the sake of this story, Danny was taken before Dani was ever created, thus, changing the events so that Vlad never actually clones him.
On to the Danny tort-I mean story!
Disclaimer: Ok since the last time I did this I seemed to have gained three kittens! Rescued four back in May—they were 5 weeks old. My sister took the female, and I still, at 15 weeks, have the three boys—Alvin, Simon and Theodore. (7/28/2024: I STILL have these three boys. Hard to believe they're 9 now!) Also, I do not own DP!
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Chapter Nine: Vlad
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Danny's eyes followed the outline of the castle on the horizon. The great stone abode had come into view moments ago, the moon hanging just above it, and the hybrid felt his muscles tense, nerves firing quickly trying to convince him to run, fly, get out of there, it didn't matter how; they just wanted him to move.
His leg bounced up and down in an erratic rhythm keeping time with a melody only it could understand. He ran a hand through his hair for what must have been the thousandth time in the last hour. Why? Why did it have to be him? But he knew the answer: because he was the only other half ghost in existence.
He was the only one who could possibly have the answers they needed.
'Just my luck,' he thought. 'This had better be worth it.'
Sam glanced at Danny in the seat beside her. It was obvious he was anxious and the closer they got to Vlad's, the worse it became. Another mile and she'd be turning down his driveway.
She knew this was going to be hard for him. Vlad had shown them another side to him these last few years, but she knew it would be hard to convince Danny of anything. If she could spare Danny this trip and this anxiety she would, but Vlad was their best hope for answers. Simply by agreeing to come, Danny had shown that he knew this as well.
Sam glanced over again and watched as Jazz's hand came from the backseat and rested gently on her brothers' shoulder. Danny's leg stopped bouncing and he calmed almost imperceptibly. Sam smiled wistfully. She was happy Jazz was able to calm him, but silently wished she could also have that effect on him.
All too soon the driveway came into view and Sam turned onto the well managed asphalt. Forest and shrubs slowly gave way to snow covered lawn and expensive landscaping. A small pond on the right was frozen over from the brutal winter this far north.
After another half mile the castle was upon them and the driveway circled around the front. Sam drove around the circle and stopped the car near the entrance. Danny's anxiety shot up again.
Sam turned the car off and waited a moment for Danny to collect himself. "It's alright, Danny. Just take a few moments and sit here."
She frowned when that sentence seemed to trigger something else. His body instantly stilled, and his expression hardened with calm resolve. "I am not afraid."
Before she had a chance to respond Danny was already out and closing the door. She sighed and opened her own door, stepping out into the cold winter air. Jazz and Tucker followed her lead, Tucker holding onto DJ's leash.
Once to the front door, Danny's resolve left him quickly. His nervousness came back in a flood and as Jazz knocked on the large, ornate, oak door, he went invisible.
After a few moments and some muffled noises from the other side of the door, a faint 'No, no I have it.' Floated to them. Footsteps and an odd metallic sound came closer. The doorknob turned with a click and the oaken door swung in.
Vlad Masters' shocked expression greeted them.
"Hey Vlad," Jazz's soft voice and small smile snapped the older man out of his surprise.
Vlad smiled in return. "Jasmine. What a nice surprise. And hello as well, Tucker, Saman- I mean Sam. I am assuming this visit is about Daniel?"
"How'd you know?" Tucker squeaked when Sam elbowed him.
Vlad raised a brow at the action but didn't comment. The pair was always bickering. "You've never actually come to my place of residence for any other reason." With another light smile he stepped aside. "Do come in."
He frowned when the three hesitated, giving each other nervous glances. "What is it?"
Sam sighed. "Well, you see, the thing is—"
"—we've been halfway around the world—"
"—I followed this news cast—"
"—then she called me and—"
"—I thought I was going crazy—"
"—we knew we'd need your help—"
"Enough!" The three stopped at the command. Vlad looked at them with a confused and slightly exasperated look. "What is going on?"
They didn't say anything. After a few moments a figure behind them began to materialize. The older half ghost gaped in astonishment as stark white hair came into view and blazing green eyes met his. "Daniel?" Jazz stepped aside so Vlad could get a better view.
The boy had certainly grown; he was now taller than the billionaire. He had a muscular build, but not overly so. What caught Vlad's attention, however, was the hollow, almost haunted look in the young man's eyes.
Danny, though, was certainly the most shocked out of the two hybrids. Vlad, in appearance, hadn't aged much. What caught his eye was, in fact, the cane the man was now using to support himself. 'That is what the metallic sound must have been,' he thought.
Upon closer inspection, Danny could see the lines and wrinkles in his once-adversary's face that had not been there before. He looked weary and worn, but laugh lines had also begun to appear, as if the man had learned to enjoy himself more the last few years.
The eldest man brought himself out of his observations and moved further aside. "Come in. It appears we have much to talk about."
The four plus dog entered the mansion and followed the aging hybrid into one of his many living rooms.
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The four were seated comfortably in a spacious room. Jazz and Tucker took the couch while Sam took a clearly expensive recliner, DJ lying down patiently on the floor next to her. Danny refused to sit and stood near Sam so his back wouldn't be to Vlad, who had also chosen to stand.
The older man's gaze fell on Danny. "I'm glad to see you're okay, my boy. We've been searching for you for quite some time."
Danny refused to speak, keeping his level gaze on the man who had tried so many times to hurt his family.
Sam glared. "Danny, say something."
"No."
The goth sighed. "Da—"
"It's quite alright, Sam," Vlad raised a hand to interrupt the girl. "He hasn't had the luxury of seeing our relationships change. I do not blame him for any animosity."
Danny's eyes narrowed. His focus remained on Vlad, but what the older half-ghost noticed that the others did not was that the young man was staring at his cane. "Is there something you wish to ask, Daniel?"
There was a moment of silence before Danny shifted his weight and gestured with his head towards the cane. "What's with the cane?" He asked bluntly.
To Danny's surprise Vlad smiled. It was such an odd sight to see a smile on the man that wasn't malicious in intent. But oddly, Danny noticed, the smile fit the man's face. It looked…natural.
"Our ghost halves are very unique, Daniel, even by full ghost standards. We have super strength, heightened senses, the ability to use ecto-blasts and invisibility at will. Our cores pulse and have the ability to regenerate power on their own, unlike full ghosts. We can even heal at an accelerated rate. But what it can not do for us, my boy, is protect us from human diseases."
Danny, mildly confused, looked at the others in the room. He was unnerved to see Sam gazing at the man sadly while Tucker and Jazz had directed their miserable gazes to the floor. "What do you mean?" he asked, his own stare returning to the other hybrid.
"Cancer, little badger."
Danny's eyes widened. He didn't even cringe at the pet name at the revelation. Sure, Danny had caught the common cold and stomach bugs after he had obtained his powers, but he had always recovered swiftly; much more swiftly than the average human. He knew he was able to get common human illnesses, but this was much more than that.
Vlad took the opportunity to take a seat. He tired easily these days and no longer had the strength to continue standing. He took the large armchair next to Sam before continuing. "Liver cancer, to be exact; stage four. Once I realized my regenerative core was unable to heal the cancer cells I turned to traditional human methods. However, chemo and radiation therapy are having little effect and instead are weakening my ghost core. I thought maybe ecto-radiation would do the trick, since ghost cores are designed to turn it into energy. But my core was too damaged from the chemo to be able to absorb the ecto-radiation."
Realization dawned on Danny. "You're dying," he said matter-of-factly.
Vlad smirked in response. "I wouldn't go that far, my boy. There are still a few tricks up this billionaire's sleeve."
After a few moments of silence Tucker coughed. "Can we get to the real topic here?"
"Yes, yes, of course," Vlad waved his hand. He folded his hands in his lap and gazed seriously at Danny. "As I said earlier, we've been searching for you. Just how, may I ask, did you find him?" He turned to Sam.
Sam replayed the whole story for Vlad, from when she saw the newscast to flying to China, to spending weeks on end searching the city with no results. She told him of how she found him and when he came crashing through the balcony doors after Tucker and Jazz had shown up. She even told Vlad of the men that had come after them and their escape to the airport. She left out the more personal details of Danny's nightmares, the first murder and, of course, the man who's neck Danny had snapped, of which the hybrid was grateful.
When she finished the room went quiet. Vlad sat in his chair, both hands on the handle of the cane in front of him, eyes watching something far away. It took a long time for the man to snap out of whatever it was that had captured his attention. He turned to Danny. "That is quite a story, my boy. I am sorry you've had to go through so much."
Danny's face hardened. "What do you care?"
"Danny!" Jazz admonished.
"No!" He shouted back, stunning all in the room. Jazz was especially taken aback, as her little brother never spoke to her in such a manner. "How can you so easily forget what he's done?! He's tried to kill dad, he's tried to kidnap me, hell, he injected you with nanomachines! You simply trust that he won't one day just switch them back on?!"
"Yes!"
This time Danny stared wide eyed at his sister. Jazz stood and stalked over to her six-foot four brother, completely unafraid as she had to look up to stare him down. "You don't know Vlad anymore. Once he realized that we could all truly lose you, he changed. Sure, the cancer probably had something to do with it, but he genuinely cares about you, he just went about it the wrong way," She sighed and dropped her shoulders. "Vlad no longer cares about going after dad or mom. He doesn't care about forcing you to be his son. He really is a good guy; it just took losing you for him to discover that."
Danny worked his jaw a bit before closing his eyes. He was very confused. His brain told him that his sister never lies, but his heart could not forget all the pain and heartache that man had caused. A soft voice interrupted his thinking and he looked up, eyes meeting Vlad's.
"She is right, Daniel. When they came to me and told me you had been taken, I admit I reacted badly. I shut them out; I didn't believe them. But when even I couldn't find you, I began to realize something was very wrong. After a year it occurred to me that we may have lost you forever. Every time I was ready to give up, Sam was there to encourage me to keep looking." At this he gazed fondly at the goth before returning his attention to Danny. "In that time, I got to know these young people and I realized that the caring and attentive person I once was was not a weakness as I had once believed, but a strength. I realized that I could not simply win anyone's love, but I could earn it. In a way they became my children, at least, I began to see them as such. We've worked closely together to find you and though I wish you had never been taken; I would not trade that time for anything in the world."
Danny's eyes flared. "Why you selfish son-of-a—"
"Danny!" Jazz admonished.
He growled. "No! I don't give a damn what any of you think! He's a snake and he'll always be a snake!" Betrayal shone in his eyes as they landed on his friends and sister. "How could you do this? How could you betray everything we fought for?! Have you forgotten what he's done?!" He pointed an accusatory finger at Vlad. The billionaire looked hurt, but not at all surprised by Danny's reaction.
Sam stood, her temper bursting at the seams. Her sudden movement startled DJ, who got up and went to Vlad's side. "We had no intention of betraying you. That's not even what this is; you're just too blind to see! He's not the same man! And neither are you! There was once a time you'd have forgiven him; once a time you'd have forgiven all your enemies because that's just who you were!"
Danny snarled and spread his arms. "Well, news flash, Sammy! I'm not that innocent little boy anymore! This is the real world! Superheroes don't exist!"
With that final statement the young halfa turned and flew from the room. Sam glared at the back of his head until he disappeared. She turned to Vlad. "I'm so sorry about his behavior."
Vlad raised a hand. "It's quite alright, my dear. I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect this reaction. He needs time. Now," he smiled. "Catch me up. It's been a few months."
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Okay. So…this is the longest break so far. I just finished those last couple paragraphs. And guess the date? 12/4/19. That's right…I started this chapter over four years ago. Now, I had the next chapter written out completely. I skipped because I wasn't sure how to end this one. However, I wrote the next chapter, in its entirety, on my cell phone. That phone…I no longer have, and I forgot to save the file. So now I get the pleasant task of trying to remember what the heck I wrote. That was two years ago!
I have an excuse. I was married to a sexist, narcissistic, abusive jerk. I've since divorced, realized I should have been with my best friend of 10 years instead, and married him last May. It's wonderful! Life is SO MUCH BETTER with him.
It's hard to believe I was 16 when I dreamt this plot and typed out the prologue. I am 30 now. Which is EXACTLY why I'm writing these before posting. 4 Years is too long to wait to update!
