Chapter 19: Bitter Reunions Part 3

The night's sleep wouldn't do much to help Danielle in regard to Vlad. Sure, when she first woke up, she was fine, but as she joined her family and Vlad for breakfast the feeling of hate would return to her gut. She honestly had no clue what was going on back to the Gauntlet, which she hadn't thought about in awhile, she wondered if this had something to do with it as well.

Not only did Danielle have to worry about this feeling of hate though, but she also had to worry about another threat that could be nearby as well. For you see, when Danielle had been on her way to breakfast, Danny had stopped her in the hall and told her about what happened the previous night. Or what could have happened. He wasn't sure if it had been a dream or not in the long run.

Apparently, if it wasn't a dream, Danny ran into the ghost birds from the previous night again as they tried to attack Jack. Danny had saved their father, then as he was about to take on the birds another more powerful ghost appeared that scared the birds off. According to Danny, the ghost seemed to be humanoid like them with blue skin, red eyes, and pointy teeth. Honestly Danny's description of the ghost made Danielle think he was describing an off-brand Dracula.

The ghost had used powers similar to their own it seemed, but way more advanced than anything they had at their disposal. It kind of scared Danielle to be honest. A powerful adversary here. Could it maybe be the Wisconsin Dairy King that Vlad had talked about yesterday. Why would a dairy king be that powerful? Then again, they had taken on a ghost lunch lady, and she had been pretty strong so… Maybe she shouldn't throw stones at glass houses.

Though Danielle had to remember her brother wasn't sure if it actually happened. If it had, why would the ghost have left him alive in the end, and back in his bed. It could have all been a very bad dream. Regardless, with this news now in her head, Danielle was going to keep her guard up. She didn't want to run into this so-called ghost unprepared.

Fortunately, the rest of the day would go by rather quickly for Danielle, as she helped Vlad and her family, alongside the staff Vlad hired, to set up the reunion. Eventually it would be evening, and people would start to arrive at Vlad's Estate.

Sometime before the guests had arrived, Danielle had managed to change into her getup she wore for the dance a few weeks prior, alongside her brother who had done the same. Currently, the two of them were wandering the halls of the castle, looking for something to do as well as look for their older sister who seemed to them to have disappeared.

Approaching a room that had a sign that read "screening room" on it, the twins would poke their heads in to see if Jazz was in the room. What they saw was a movie theater-like room filled with people watching old football videos of the Packers team. Spotting her sister off to the back, Danielle would tap Danny's shoulder to indicate she found their older sister.

Entering the room, the twins would walk up to Jazz with Danny asking, "Jazz, aren't you coming to the reunion?"

"What," said Jazz, slightly surprised, "And watch a bunch of old fossils pogo to new wave music? Pass. Did you know the Packers won the very first Super Bowl?"

"Whatever," said Danny, as Danielle raised a brow at her sister.

The twins would then leave the room and start to head towards the main hall where everyone was meeting up. Along the way, they met up with their parents and walked the rest of the way together.

As they entered the room, Jack and Maddie would be looking around to see if they recognized anyone. Danielle, for her part, would look around to see if her parents had been college mates with any famous people, whilst Danny just seemed bored.

Then her Dad finally caught sight of someone, and yelled out, "Hey Harry!"

The aforementioned person, who was a woman, would do a spit-take upon hearing the twins' father. "I would know that voice anywhere," Danielle would hear the woman say, before they approached and said, "Jack! Maddie. How nice."

"Danny, Danielle," said Jack, "Meet Harriet Chin. She's a big-shot reporter for the "Milwaukee Journal" now, but back in my college days, she was just Harry. Harry Chin. Ha ha. Get it?!"

Unfortunately, Danielle would let out a little snicker whilst rolling her eyes at her dad. She had to admit it was a little funny, but a little mean if you asked her.

"I'm really sorry, Harriet," said Maddie, as she looked apologetically at Harriet.

"Sweetie," said Harriet, "You married him. You should be."

Then the music would change, and Jack would shout, while grabbing Maddie's arm and pulling her away, "Hey! My song. Come one, let's pogo!"

"Ok, I'm officially mortified," said Danny, as Danielle would just watch her parents dance in disbelief. What were those dance moves her father was doing?

"What took so long," said Harriet, as she walked up next to the twins.

After a few minutes of talking with Harriet about their folks, the twins would separate from the reporter and each other to do separate things. Danielle would notice Danny going off to one of the far-off tables. Whether it was to mope or just be bored, she wasn't sure. As for Danielle, she would head for the refreshments table for some sustenance.

As she arrived and began munching down on the food provided, Danielle would overhear a few folks talking about her father. "Gosh," said some random male, "I never thought I see'd Jack Fenton again of all people. I kind of hoped I wouldn't have."

"Yeah, I know," said some random female, in reply, "How does that man even make a living? Hunting ghosts. Like they really exist."

Danielle would sigh upon overhearing this. It wasn't that she was unused to these sorts of comments about her folks, but… It never did get easier.

"Like you're one to talk about making a living," came another male voice, immediately to Dani's right, "Your job is "hunting" Bigfoot. How do you possibly make money off that?"

"I… Uh…," said the first male, unsure how to respond.

"Oh, lighten up Nathaniel," said the female, "We're just joshing around."

"Then josh around somewhere else," said this Nathaniel, "Can't you see your annoying the little lady here with your jokes.

Hearing this, Dani would look up at the person speaking, who was an older gentleman who was standing next to her. Was she that easy to read? She had never met this person before. That she knew anyway. As the two random people left, the one called Nathaniel would turn to face Danielle.

"Sorry about those two," said Nathaniel, "There… Kind of bullies in all honesty."

"It's all right," said Danielle, "I'm… Sort of used to bullies."

"I… See," said Nathaniel, as he frowned at Danielle's comment, "Oh, my apologies. I haven't introduced myself. Names Nathaniel. Nathaniel Russell."

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Russell, I'm Danielle Fenton. My folks call me Dani with an I or Elle," said Danielle, as the two shook hands. As she did, she would take a closer look at the man. He had long silver hair that would reach his upper back if it wasn't in an upper ponytail. He also had some scruff around his chin. His eyes were a piercing sapphire blue. His attire currently was a tux that, in Danielle's opinion, didn't seem to fit the man.

"Just call me Nate," said Nate, "Mr. Russel makes me feel old."

"O-okay, Mr.… Nate," Danielle would correct herself, before asking, "But… How do you know who I am?"

"Oh, I've heard a bit about you from you mom," said Nate, with a chuckle, "Me and her were friends back in college. We've kept in touch through letters and e-mails and such since. She told me all about her two genius daughters and brilliant son. Said you were coming with her to the reunion and everything."

"Mom said that about us," said Danielle, her cheeks lighting up in embarrassment, "I… I'm not that smart."

"Hehe, modest too, I see," said Nate, as he took a cocktail wiener from a plate and ate it, "I can definitely see your moms praise in you is well earned that's for certain."

Danielle was unsure how to respond to this, so she didn't. She just shut her mouth and just blushed even deeper. Even when her mom was off dancing with her dad, she still found a way to embarrass Danielle.

"You and your folks live in Amity Park right," asked Nate, as he poured himself a drink of punch.

"Ye-yeah," replied Danielle.

"Hmm… Hope you get along with my son then," said Nate.

"You have a son of your own, sir," said Danielle, taken a little by surprise.

"Oh yeah, his nam-," Nate began to say before he was interrupted by Danny.

"Hey Elle," Danny shouted, as he walked up to his sister, "You mind helping me with something for a moment? Vlad asked me to go get something from his lab. Said it was a little heavy so I should get your help with it."

"Sure thing, bro," said Danielle, as she glanced at her brother for a moment, "It was a pleasure meeting you Nate."

"Same Miss Fenton, same," said Nate, as he took a drink from his glass.

As the twins would walk away, Danny would ask, "Who was that, Sis?"

"A friend of moms from college," Danielle replied, "What does Vlad want you to get?"

"A present for dad," said Danny, with a shrug, "Couldn't tell you want though."

It took a few minutes, but eventually the twins would find the door that led to Vlad's lab. As the door slid open automatically, the two ghost kids would walk into the room that was filled with some impressive tech. Though in hindsight, maybe it wasn't so impressive since Vlad was a billionaire and all.

As they entered the room, Danny would say, "Present? I don't see a present."

As the twins looked around for this so-called present, Danielle would approach one of the counters and notice something lying on it. A picture frame with an interesting picture inside. Or rather a partial picture inside.

"Hey," said Danielle, as she rummaged through her pockets for a second, "Wait a minute."
"You got something, Elle," said Danny, as he joined his sister's side just in time for her to pull out the fragment of picture she got from the birds and hold it up to the torn photo. Revealing that the two pieces were once one whole photo.

"Oh no," said Danielle, with Danny adding, "No way." Then their ghost senses would go off.

Looking at one another, they would enter into a defensive stance and change to their ghost forms. As they looked around for the ghost they sensed, Danny would be taken by surprise, as two sets of ghostly tentacles would grab his arms. As the ghost octopuses lifted him up, Danielle would frown before jumping up and punching one of the ghosts off her brother. This would allow Danny to grab the other's tentacle and slam them into the floor.

"Those ghosts," said Danny, "Those were two of the first ghosts we ever fought."

"And they're not alone, pup," shouted the voice of Skulker, from somewhere else in the room before a net slammed into the ghost twins, ensnaring giving them a shock. Shaking their heads to clear their minds, the twins would follow the nets line back to its source. After a moment, they would find Skulker who was just now stepping out of the shadows he was hiding in.

"Skulker," shouted Danny, before looking at his sister before the two would tear through the net and jump into the air. They then briefly flew towards the hunter ghost before sending out kicks that would hit Skulker in the chest causing him to grunt in pain and be sent flying back.

As Skulker went flying back, he would hit some tanks further in the room, Danny would shout, "How did you get back in your exoskeleton? What are you doing here?"

"All excellent questions," said Skulker, as he began to stand back up, "Catch!" And with that, Skulker would toss a little glowing black cube towards the twins. As it landed at their feet, Danielle would think, "This can't be good." And boy was she right.

The cube would then expand and capture the ghost twins leaving only their heads out of the box. "Huh," said Danny, "Hey. I can't phase out of this. It's disrupting my powers."

"And that's not all it does," said Skulker, as he raised an arm of his suit and pressed a button on it. Which caused a surge of electricity to go through the twins.

"Ahhhhhh," shouted Danny and Danielle in unison as they reverted to their human forms.

As the electricity died down, Danny, who seemed to take more of the charge, would slump his head down on top of the cube. Danielle, for her part, would still have the energy to keep her head up, but just barely. Skulker would then approach the twins and grab Danny's hair, hoisting it up before holding his arm out in front of the twins. Danielle, at first, wondered what Skulker was going to do next, but she didn't have to wonder long, as a glowing blade would emerge from the suit's arm.

As Skulker held the blade in front of the twin's necks, Danny would take a gulp and say, "Ha. Uh… The glowing blade is new."

"You like it," said Skulker, happily, "I've had some upgrades. Now…"

"Enough," shouted Vlad, as he entered the room, "I didn't free you to kill the boy, Skulker. Your work is done."

Danny and Skulker would look at each other oddly at this, while Danielle would just look on at Vlad. "Maybe that feeling of hate I had was my instincts," thought Danielle, as she glared at Vlad, "I should have listened to it more than…"

"Well, I Uh," said Skulker, as he retracted the blade and let go of Danny's head before a beep would be heard from his arm, "I've gotta go to the library and check out a book on a gorilla. Again!"

And with that Skulker would go intangible and fly away.

"Skulker," said Danny, "The Ectopusses. I don't understand."
"Really bro," said Danielle, as she struggled to try to break free from the cube, "I think it's fairly obvious. Vlad here must have been the powerful ghost you fought last night!"

"But how," said Danny.

"Oh, for the love of," said Vlad, "Of course you don't get it. You're only, what, 14? Too young to drive and not in college, yet. I sent those ghosts and others to test your fathers' skills. Imagine my surprise when I find you two. The second and third ghost hybrids his foolishness created."

"Second? Third," asked Danny, before going, "Ow," from the kick Danielle would give her brother.

Grinning, Vlad would take a stance that didn't look particularly inviting and changed to his ghost form.

"You," shouted Danny, as Danielle groaned and thought, "And this is why you are a C- minus student, Danny."

"I'm going ghost," shouted Danny, as Danielle continued to try to wriggle out of the cube. When nothing happened, Danny would shout again, "Going ghost."

When nothing happened again, Danny would say, "Why can't I go ghost?"

"You have a battle cry," said Vlad, "Hilarious. I, on the other hand…" He would then pat the cube, and add, "Have this! A spectral energy neutralizer, designed by Skulker, paid for by me. And as long as you're both contained within that box, you're as human as your idiot father."

"Let us out of here," shouted Danny.

"Why," said Vlad, "So you can go back to stumbling through your adolescence desperately trying to get control of your powers? Power, by the way, that I've had for 20 years."

Vlad would then begin to show off some of the powers he had, whilst adding, "I have experience, my child. And the money and power attained through using those powers for personal gain, you see. I could train you both, teach you everything I know, and all you'll have to do is renounce your idiot father."

"Dude," said Danny, "You are one seriously crazed up Fruit Loop."

"Ditto," said Danielle, as she glared daggers at Vlad, "That is never going to happen."

"Yes, well once your father is out of the way," said Vlad, "We'll see how you both feel." And with that Vlad would let out an evil laugh before leaving the room

As Vlad left, Danny would struggle inside the cube. He had to get out. Danielle, on the other hand, just sighed, and after a few minutes said, "Just give it up Danny. We're not breaking out of this thing."

"I can't, Elle," said Danny, as he continued to struggle, "Dad and everyone else at the reunion are in trouble. We have to stop Vlad."

"And you heard Vlad," Danielle shouted, "We're as human as Dad is while we're in this thing. What can we do?"
"I don't know," said Danny, "But… I… Can't give up."

Luckily for the twins help would arrive but in a surprising package."Well, gosh and golly, it looks like you could use a speck of help there," came a voice above the twins, "Don't you know."

"What," said Danielle, as both twins looked up and spotted the ghost of the Dairy King as he lowered himself down to the twins' level.

"Hey, you're the Dairy King," said Danny, before a thought struck him, "Oh great. What are you gonna do, suffocate us with limburger? Strangle us with swiss? Or-"

"Ha ha," shouted the Dairy King as he lowered his ice cream scepter and hit the "open" button on the side of the cube which caused the cube to retract back to its original shape.

"Let us go," said Danny, surprised as Danielle kicked the cube away from them, "Well. Thank you. But why?"

"Not all ghosts are evil, right," asked the Dairy King, "Some of us just want to be left alone there, don't you know."

"Hey, will you help us fight Plasmius," asked Danny, as an idea started percolating in his head.

"I'm the Dairy King, kiddo," said the Dairy King, "Kings don't fight. They send other people to fight for 'em. That's royalty 101 there, don't you know." Then as the Dairy King began to leave, he shouted, "Try the gouda! It's dairy fresh."

"Jack," the twins would then hear their mother shout from the direction of the main hall.

"Dad," said Danny and Danielle together as they changed to their ghost forms and sped off out of the lab back towards the main hall.

As the two arrived, they would hear Jack shout, "If you live to tell the tale, remember that big, fat Jack Fenton did this to you!"

"Guess again, Cheesehead," shouted Danny, as the twins went intangible and rammed through their father to force Plasmius out of him. In fact, they had so much momentum that it carried them right out of the room towards Vlad's library.

As all three of halfa's emerged in the library, the Ghost twins would stop their ramming attempt where they entered from while Vlad flew a little further back. Taking the chance, Danny would fly forward and attempt to punch Vlad, but Vlad would merely fly out of the way and kick him away.

"Daniel, stop," said Vlad, "Think about the things I could show you and your sister, the doors I could open for you. You and your sister, Danny and Danielle Phantom, and I, Vlad Plasmius, together we could rule."

"Forget it pal," shouted Danny, as he and Danielle charged up some Ecto-blasts in their hands, "Your money can't buy our mom, it can't buy the Packers, and it can't buy us!"

"Yeah," said Danielle, as the twins let loose on Vlad. But Vlad merely blocked the blasts with a shield before firing off a blast of his own at Danny...

Gasping Danielle would run forwards and use her own body to cover her brother and just as the blast was about to hit… A green dome would appear around her and Danny. "Whoa," thought Danielle, as she looked at her hands which were glowing green, "Did I do that?"

"We know who you are," said Danny, "I'll tell my father. I'll tell everyone."

"And so will I," said Vlad, "Honestly, if you expose me, you expose yourselves."

Suddenly honking would then be heard and the Fenton RV would smash through the wall.

Dodging out of the way, the twins would watch as the RV went straight for Vlad, but Vlad would just fly out of the way and land on top of the RV. Phasing his hands through the roof, he would grab Maddie who was inside and say, "Mind if I cut in?"

"Let go of me," said Maddie, as she squirmed in Vlad's clutches.

"Never again woman," Vlad would reply.

Getting an idea, Danny would turn to his sister and say, "Elle, you get the RV. I'll go rescue Mom. I have an idea."

"Gotcha, bro," said Danielle, as she saluted her brother before going invisible and intangible towards the Fenton RV.

As she landed in the driver's seat, she would look at the steering wheel and shifting stick. "Okay Danielle," thought Danielle, as she took a breath and ignored Harriet in the passenger seat, "You can do this." Turning the engine on, Danielle would turn the RV around and head straight for Vlad. As Danielle did this though, her father who was still moving around the room, would get in the RV's path. As the RV got closer to her dad, Danielle would hear Maddie shout, "Jack! The RV!"

Gasping, Danielle was about to put on the brake, but Danny was there to cover for her and sped off towards their father. Going intangible and invisible, Danny would take control of Jack and have him jump out of the way.

"Sorry Dad," said Danielle, "We only have one shot at this…"

Speeding past Vlad, Danielle would turn the RV around once again and bring it to a stop. Pressing another button on the dashboard, a gun would pop out of the back and the steering wheel would change to a targeting device. As it did the screen next to the targeting device would indicate what the gun would fire. The first one was Energy Beam.

Aiming at Vlad, Danielle would take the shot, but Vlad would merely knock it away.

The next thing that appeared was lightning on the display, and Vlad would just go intangible and have it pass right on through him.

"Time for the last thing," thought Danielle, as ectoplasmic goo appeared on the display, "Hope it works!" The goo would indeed work, as it struck Plasmius and caused him to let go of Maddie. Gasping as her mother fell to the ground, Danielle would realize she had nothing to worry about as Jack, controlled by Danny, ran forward and caught their mother in Jack's arms.

"Jack, you did it," Danielle would hear Maddie shout.

"It was nothing mom- I mean, Maddie," said Jack, "Sure Maddie. You make sure Harry's ok while I finish this."

As Jack put Maddie down, Danielle would, while still invisible and intangible, exit the vehicle and head for her father as well. Entering her dad, as Jack made her way over to Plasmius, she would think to Danny, "You miss me, bro."

"Maybe," thought Danny, "What are you doing here, Elle?"

"Just giving you some extra power is all," said Danielle, "It's your show."

Walking up to Plasmius, Jack would lift the goo-covered ghost man up by the collar and say, "How's it going V-man?"

"Oh, you've overshadowed Jack," said Vlad, mockingly, "Oh, I'm so scared. Now what's next, a card trick?"

"Listen to me," said Jack, "I swear me, and Elle will walk out of our dad right now and expose us both unless you agree to a truce."

"You're bluffing," said Vlad with a raised brow.

"You sure about this," thought Danielle.

"Positive, Elle," thought Danny before Jack said, "No, I'm not. My parents will accept us no matter what, but if I expose you- Well, what would my mom think of you?"

Vlad's eyebrows would rise in concern, as Jack continued, "You'll be miserable and alone for the rest of your life unless you call a truce."

"Using your opponent's weakness against him," said Vlad, "I am teaching you something after all. Very well. Truce. Eventually, you will join me, by choice- You and your mother. But for now…"

Coughing a little, Vlad would jump up into the air and scream, "Curse you, Jack Fenton! Your world-renowned expertise of all things ghost has defeated me! Until next time, son!" Vlad would then let out a scream and disappear before everyone present eyes.

With their work done, the twins would leave their father, and after ducking down behind some rubble that had fallen from the RV entering the room would change back to human form.

"World-renowned expertise," the twins would hear Harriet say, "Outstanding."

As the twins left the safety of the rubble, they would see Maddie approach Jack and give him a hug whilst saying, "Jack! I have never seen you like this! You beat that ghost all the way to Kenosha."

"I did," asked Jack at first, "Oh heck, I'm just doing my job."

"And mine," said Harriet, as the twins walked up to their folks, "Jack, for all the years I thought you were a crackpot, I sort of apologize. Ghosts- This story will make your career- And mine!"

A few hours later, and boy would Harriet be wrong. For as soon as she called in to her job with the story, she immediately received a "Your fired" statement from the journal's management. Needless to say, Harriet didn't take that well, and the Fenton clan found themselves leaving the reunion that night with some very unhappy people behind them.

. "I can't believe they fired Harry," said Danny, in the passenger's seat as his father drove down the interstate.

"Of course they fired her," said Jazz from one of the beds in the RV's back, "She tried to file some crackpot story about ghosts. It's the "Milwaukee Journal," not the "National Enquirer.""

"I can't believe Harry blames me," Jack would speak up next, "And Vlad was so mad, he didn't even say goodbye. And we were all such great chums in college."

"Uh, whatever," said Danny, "Who cares what you were when you were younger? It's who you grew into that makes you who you are."

"I agree with Danny there," said Danielle from her seat behind Danny.

"You think," said Jack, as he glanced at his son and daughter.

"Hey," said Danny, "If you can cause that much damage in college and still turn out to be this cool, ghost-butt-kicking adult. Well, maybe there's hope for me yet."

"Thanks son," said Jack, as he put one arm around his son, "But your curfew is still 10.

"Oh man," Danny replied, whilst his sister laughed in the background.

Author's Note: And the final part of Bitter Reunions is done. I know I say this a lot, but man did I struggle with how to begin this chapter. I just couldn't figure out what to write. Regardless, I'm happy how it turned out and this allowed me to introduce a new character as well. Next up is Prisoners of Love. What do you think is going to change there? See ya next chapter.