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Chapter Text

Dark Phantom is a runaway hit of an action comic, boasting sales that would make the Big Two grind their teeth in jealousy and a run that was long enough that the children born at the beginning could start drinking by the end. 

Of course, calling it a comic is rude to people who actually care about things like "plot" or "consistency" or "not wasting the readers' time". Dark Phantom is best known for its long plots that never went anywhere, the huge amount of love interests, the fights that never had any other outcome other than the Protagonist winning, and the sheer amount of male dream fulfillment. It shouldn't have been any different to any of the thousands of other comics just like it, but for whatever reason it got lucky and became one of the most well-known sensations in the world. 

Being a fan of Phantom is a bit like being a masochist, except even masochists get some satisfaction. 

Most people got to be a normal, casual fan of it though, so they weren't as affected by the horrors. However, there were those certain...unique individuals who decided to spend more money on the comic and all of its merchandise than anyone else. All while complaining and hating every bit of the comic they spend so much time on. 

And what did they get for all of their time and effort spent on this eons long comic? A satisfactory resolution? Something that is absolutely worth getting every issue that they know they'll be re-reading over time? 

No! Of course not! Instead what they get is broken arcs, unsatisfying villain deaths, a group of lovers that was big enough to need multiple charts figuring it out, and above all a completely disappointing ending to the story of Dan Fenton himself. 

A main character like him should have been given the most impressive ending possible! A sorrowful childhood, so many enemies to fight against for years and years, and what does he get at the end? Not happiness, that's for sure. Instead sitting back on the throne he'd fought and scraped for and finding it nothing more than lacking . 

And then ending the entire series there. 

The amount of rage roaring through this one community was intense, to say the least. The fact that the main writer was completely unrepentant and barely even responded to criticism was the worst part, and only stoked further fires. There was no end to it, you could hardly ever click on a website and NOT be greeted with fifteen different posts on the front page alone! 

It's this ending that Vlad Masters is ruminating on in his Wisconsin castle. 

Of course, he's not the original flavor Masters. He wouldn't have any idea about any of this if he was- he'd just be another clueless dipshit making the biggest mistakes of his life. 

Vlad Masters, in the comic, is an eccentric and brilliant billionaire who happens to be the only other half-ghost in the entire world. He's one of the biggest and most dramatic villains in Dark Phantom , being Dan's main source of frustration and heartbreak throughout the series. He was responsible for more than a few deaths of those close to Dan, and many people felt like his end wasn't nearly enough to make up for all the harm he'd put the MC through. 

Vlad himself had thought that, before he'd gone and possessed the man.

He had woken up one day with a raging headache and in a body that was definitely not his own. Considering the last thing he remembered from his regular life was the smell of smoke and an intense heat, he has his suspicions that his previous body is not in any condition to go back to. This is a problem, because he's now stuck in the worst possible situation. 

He's already had his little panic attack at being stuck in this body, and is now trying to get his bearings in a way that will help him. If this was some minor villain or a cannon fodder character that didn't matter in the grand scheme he would have gratefully bowed out of the plot and never looked back. But he's one of the main characters, one of the ones that can't in any way disappear without being immediately noticed. He's also come into this body right after Vlad already started things with the reunion, so it isn't like he can just avoid being evil fully. 

And that's another thing. Of course he didn't come into this new life alone. 

There'd been plenty of isekai and reincarnation stories to read in his previous life, so it didn't surprise him too much when he came into this world and was faced with a System. He was glad he was alone when he woke up, because it gave him more time to deal with this new world. 

There were a few things that he came to realize about his situation: One, that he's currently on an OOC lock that can only be fixed by finishing an entry-level mission given by the System. Two, that if he tries to escape the plot as Vlad without being careful, he'll not only be pulled back but penalized for it. And three, that there are certain plot points that can't be skipped over otherwise the entire story would collapse and he'd go back to his previous life- that is to say, dead. 

One of those plot points just so happens to be to the Reigning Storm arc. 

Reading it as an outside observer who knew that everything was fictional made it an entertaining part of the story. A real turning point for the young Dan, who had until that point been a pretty normal wish fulfillment character. One of the best arcs, easily, and definitely one of his favorites. 

Unfortunately, it requires ruining Dan's life, by Vlad's own hand. 

So, no, he's not really looking forward to having to deal with that. Even if it's a while in the future yet, he knows he's going to need to have a real plan put out. Something that can get him out of the fallout, without making it obvious that he's trying to make it so Dan doesn't totally die. And although he's currently possessing an incredible genius, he's still partially himself- And he really isn't that confident that he's going to make it out on the other side. 

[Warning: Reigning Storm Arc is required. Any divergence from this plot point will be-] 

Irritated, Vlad waves away the System message. "I know that. Don't remind me every time I consider things- I'm not stupid." 

It treats him like a fussy mother dealing with an unruly child, rather than an adult man trying not to die a horrific death. He doesn't really appreciate it, since he has enough on his plate. 

[Start Beginner Mission? Y/N] 

He glares at it again before groaning and putting his head into his hands. He's alone so he can act however he wants, but he thinks even if someone was nearby it would still be in character for Vlad to be miserable at the thought of having to do an honest day's work in his life. He just doesn't want to get started on anything the System insists on him doing, because as far as he can tell it's going to drive him insane. But what else is there to do? Just sit here and let the plot happen? Even though he isn't literally Vlad he can't bear to sit around aimlessly. 

"Fine. Let's start it." He waves a hand at the confirmation button and leans against it as he reads over the description. 

[Beginner Mission: Pride Goeth Before A Fall 

Infiltrate Casper High and gain information on Valerie Gray and Danny Fenton without being caught or suspected. 

Mission Rewards: OOC unlock

Mission Failure Penalties: Instant Loss] 

Vlad stares at the screen and promptly stands up and strides right over to the very well-kept alcohol cabinet. 

WHAT is that mission description?! Could it GET any more vague? He doesn't even know where the story is starting off from, how is he supposed to prepare himself and figure the best way to not get caught? And what is with that penalty?! How is that possibly fair for a supposed beginner mission?? It isn't, that's how. 

He quickly makes himself a whiskey on the rocks and downs it, more thankful than ever that a high alcohol tolerance came with Vlad's body. 

Okay. He can figure this out. How hard can it really be, when it comes down to it? It's a beginner mission, it can't be nearly as serious as he's mentally making it out to be. Just go in, maybe steal a bit of information to copy, and go out! He can literally turn invisible and go ghost- there's no reason whatsoever to worry about being caught. That's probably why the failure penalty is so strong; anyone who fails such a simple mission is never going to make it through the more complicated things in the future. 

He pretends like he fully believes this, and isn't just deluding himself into thinking everything will be alright. 

It turns out that gaining access to Casper High is even easier than he thought, when you're a billionaire who's incredibly popular with people who don't know better. 

All it takes is a phone call and Vlad has gotten himself an invitation to speak at their "Spirit Week". The principal was nearly falling over herself in excitement that he would have reached out first. He'd made it sound less...suspicious by claiming that he was going to be in town anyhow, and that he had a relative in the school (not a lie. technically Danny is his godson). 

Still, a Spirit Week...That sounds so familiar, and it isn't until he's walking into his hotel room that he remembers. This is the plot where Penelope Spectra was first introduced. It was an early arc where Dan is still getting used to his powers and the concept of being a half ghost. He'd always liked it, since it was a strong story with an enjoyably dislikable villain. Spectra ended up showing up a lot more in the future, too, so this introduction is especially important. 

...Is he going to be an issue being there while the plot goes on? He doesn't actually know for sure one way or the other. Dan doesn't realize what's going on until it's almost too late, so surely it can't be any worse for him if Vlad's there as well? Hm. 

Whatever, he'll deal with things as they come. If the System decides to throw a tantrum he'll just make up a rich guy excuse and leave without actually interacting with the MC or any of the supporting cast. 

Satisfied, he sits down and prepares to scratch out the most simple of speeches that will still impress a bunch of teenagers. 

Or he would have. Turns out it's a lot more difficult to make a coherent speech than he thought it would be. It's later in the night and he's very close to giving up, when a strong shudder goes down his spine. 

If he hadn't already experienced his ghost sense from Vlad's vultures showing up previously, he would have freaked out. 

He doesn't get much time to react to it, though, because almost immediately the ghost comes swooping in from the ceiling in a blur of white and black, and Vlad finds himself face to face with Dan Phantom as the boy grabs him by the front of his dressing gown. 

There's a lot to say about the main character of Dark Phantom . Much is made of the fact that he grows up to be annoyingly handsome, that he's incredibly powerful, and that he gives back as much pain as he's ever gotten in his life. But right now, what Vlad can think about is how adorable he was when he was young. There's a difference between seeing the youthful face on the pages of a comic, and seeing an actual soft faced teenager in front of him. Dan- Danny right now, he supposes- looks annoyed and uncertain, but not actively murderous. It's...definitely hard for Vlad not to fanboy out completely and instead focus like he has to.

"Plasmius!" Danny says, and oh. Oh my god. His voice cracks halfway through the word and his voice is so adorable . He really is just a young teen, isn't he? "What are you playing at, huh? Showing up to my school??" 

"Daniel, hello to you too." Vlad bats away his hands without much issue. Danny's control over his powers at this early stage is basically nil, and even though he's incredibly powerful and frightening he never wants to hurt anyone at this point. "You're referring to your school's Spirit Week? I'm sure you can understand the concept of someone famous being invited to speak at a school, yes?" 

Oh, jeeze. He feels bad for the irritation and rage that are so clear on Danny's face. Being an asshole isn't difficult at all, but it will make it a little more difficult for Vlad to get friendship points with Danny at this point. Ugh. 

"Don't- I'm not stupid! You're probably planning to DO something, aren't you??" He points an accusing finger into his face and Vlad tamps down the urge to laugh, even if it would be IC. He doesn't want to get blasted through a wall, but it's just... He's so dramatic. He's such a teenager about all of this. 

"Yes, I'm planning to give a speech in order to encourage you young people to get through school and work for me." He drawls. And doesn't even bother to resist rolling his eyes when Danny looks at him triumphantly. Like this is some sort of big admittance. "Really, coming in here so late at night...I didn't know heroes did that kind of thing." 

Breaking and entering is actually something Danny does pretty often, both for humor's sake and not. For some reason, though, Danny seems to take immense offense at this. Or maybe he's just embarrassed at being called out, judging by the way he's blushing so intensely. 

"You-! Ugh!" He throws up his hands and floats back, glaring at him. "I'm keeping an eye on you, Vlad! And you won't be able to do anything evil while I'm watching!" 

"Yes, yes. I'm looking forward to watching your grades plummet even further. Have a lovely night, Little Badger." He gives a lazy wave and ignores Danny making strangling motions at him. He disappears out of the wall, but Vlad has to wait a few more minutes before his ectosignature actually leaves the building. Probably was double checking that Vlad wouldn't immediately run off to be evil when he left. 

As soon as he is gone Vlad stands up and goes into the bathroom, turning on the cold water and splashing his face. As dramatically silly as he'd acted, that was terrifying . It's one thing to be faced with an overpowered teenager, but he thinks it's quite another when he knows every horrible, violent thing that teenager is capable of. If he'd really wanted to he could do some serious damage to Vlad even as weak as he currently is. 

"...Fuck." He splashes his face a bit more. It doesn't really help as much as he thought it would, but the action almost makes him feel better. 

All this and he still doesn't actually know what he's going to be writing about for the speech. Can a man not get a break? 

Chapter Text

Casper High is a big part of the Dark Phantom universe. Since it's a story that starts with the protagonist in highschool, of course a lot of the earliest scenes and books are chock full of scenes set in the school. Vlad never hated it, but he always felt like it was a bit too...silly? He certainly didn't remember highschool being like that, and he wasn't the most popular kid in school. But perhaps it's different in the real world. 

One thing he still hasn't gotten totally used to is the time period difference. He comes from about twenty years in the future, and although Vlad has a lot of gizmos and toys that are...closeish to some of the really cool stuff from the future, he still can't help but to miss the internet and normal cell phones. And another thing he hasn't gotten used to: the specific early 2000s way that all of the kids dress. He keeps his eyes facing strictly forward, because just glimpsing a bit of skin from the teenagers has made him feel like a monster. 

"You have no idea how excited we all are to have someone as well-known as yourself here, Mr. Masters." Principal Ishiyama speaks as she leads him through the hallways. She's not hiding her happiness at having someone with so much money showing interest in the school, which Vlad can...kind of respect. Better than just spending time schmoozing up with him without coming out with it. "And for our Spirit Week no less! I'm certain you're going to cheer all the students up!"

"It's my honor, Mrs. Ishiyama. When I heard about it, I couldn't not jump to help where my dear godson resides." He says, glancing around. 

He'd already known about the Spirit Week plot, but seeing it in person is...Hm. Most of the students are sitting or leaning around the hallway, and none of them look happy let alone spirited. There's a few that have been clearly crying judging by the way their eyes are puffy and red, and that...Hm. 

As much as he'd known about Spectra's powers it was easy to gloss over what she was actually doing to the kids because it only ever happened in a few panels. The ones without Danny in them tended to be glossed over, and it wasn't like a lot of side characters got attention for more than a half page- A full page if they were lucky . But now with his elevated ghostly hearing, he can hear the students all talking about what Spectra's said to them, how they're feeling, how hopeless they've become...

Ugh. It's fine. Danny fixes all of this, and everything goes back to normal soon after. It's ridiculous to feel bad for characters that don't matter in the grand scheme of things. 

"I want you to meet up with the lady in charge of planning everything, so that you two can make sure everything works well." Principal Ishiyama claps her hands before knocking on a door with "Doctor Spectra" on it. "I'm very excited to see what the two of you come up with together."

The door opens, and out steps Penelope Spectra. 

On the comic page she was quite a beauty, and because of that despite her villain status she was very popular in the fandom. But Vlad thinks that if anyone had seen what she really looks like, they would have been way worse about it.

The main thing he notices is how much smaller she is than he expected. She'd always been on the page with teenagers, so he guesses he can understand why she would appear an average height. Or maybe Vlad is just entirely too tall. Then there's the fact that she's so young . Of course Vlad knows all about her powers, but... Well, when compared to the teenagers she was usually surrounded by on page, seeing her next to other adults shows just how youthful she really appears. He wonders why she chose that age. Wouldn't it be a lot less believable? He considers the characters that were usually there in the school. No, it wouldn't be. 

Then there's the indisputable fact that she's gorgeous. The drawings really couldn't capture the way her red hair caught the light, or how her features are delicate but in a very noble way. Her eyes glitter with calm intelligence, but there's a spark of mischief if you know to look.

...Vlad may have been a bit of a fan in his past life. He feels extremely vindicated right now. 

She's looking up at him with an interesting expression. It's...does she recognize him? Actually that wouldn't be that surprising. Vlad isn't a subtle ghost and neither is Spectra. Them crossing paths is hardly out there. 

"Dr. Spectra." He says, holding his hand out to her. There's the briefest flash of surprise on her face before she takes his hand with her own delicate one. 

[Character Profile Updated: Penelope Spectra- Vitality Ghost] 

"Mr. Masters." She says. Her voice is sweet in that way where listening to it makes it feel like things are going to be okay. He'll have to keep that in mind. "You don't know how honored I am to be able to work alongside someone like you." 

"Likewise. I've been told that your work is impressive." He doesn't miss the look of curiosity on her face at that, but before he can follow that thread to its conclusion she's back to the winning smile. 

"Well, come on in! I was just talking to Miss Fenton about our plans- With you here we would only have to adjust a little bit, I hope you can work with us!" 

He follows her inside and looks at the girl sitting in front of the desk. It's too easy to ignore the freezing cold of the room when such a popular character is right in front of him! As much as Vlad had preferred Jazz Fenton in the later parts of the series, he'd be an idiot to turn down being able to meet her when she's still in her opening years. Most people found her annoying at this time, but perhaps that's just because most of the story was from Danny's perspective, and he was...a teenager. 

Of course, Vlad the character has already met Jazz and they didn't exactly get off to the best foot what with him hitting on her mother all the time. Honestly with that in mind it's impressive she doesn't hate him more. 

"Oh! Mr. Masters!" Jazz stands up, looking excited but also just a bit nervous. Maybe suspicious? Again, he couldn't blame her. "I heard about you asking to be a speaker but I didn't think- Uh, that you would actually be the one to come."

"I had considered sending someone to be my proxy. BUt then I thought, that certainly wouldn't send the right message, now would it?" He is so glad Vlad already speaks in lies and double speak, because he can just tell half truths and it'll be considered as entire lies by the people he's talking to. "Hello to you again, Miss Jasmine." 

Jazz fidgets for a moment, looking unsure, before sitting back down. Vlad can't blame her. If there's someone of his level doing a speech, then she probably is going to worry about being overshadowed or completely unnecessary. And if memory serves, Danny has been having a difficult time during this period, so she's doubly stressed. 

"Oh, goodie, you two already know each other! That's perfect!" Spectra leans against the desk, beaming ear to ear. "Now, Miss Fenton, don't worry. I'm sure Mr. Masters won't want to take any spotlight away from you during this pepped up Spirit Week! Right?" 

He looks at her for a moment, and he can just tell that she's wanting him to argue, to have his ego win over and embarrass Jazz. Probably so she can feed off of her a little bit before the big finale. Well, he won't be giving her that satisfaction. 

"Completely correct." He says smoothly. "After all, the students may find me fascinating, but they can better relate to a peer they're already familiar with. I believe Miss Jasmine will be instrumental in this." 

Spectra frowns at him just a little bit, and Jazz is looking at him with surprise. He'd expected to be dinged some OOC points for that- Maybe Vlad being a little bitch if it suits him is more IC than he'd thought. 

"Oh- I'm honored...Um, then, will you make a speech before me?" 

"That would work well. I can warm up the crowd...Grab their interest. And then you'll come in with the big finale." A pause, and then to look less like he knows exactly what the plot is: "I am assuming there's a big finale." 

Spectra seems to have recovered and gives him another winning smile. "Of course there is! You see, we're setting up a bunch of dominos that at the very end will set off the spirit sparklers! It's going to be a blast ." 

He did not miss the puns. 

"Sounds thrilling." He says, like a liar. Well, no, it really will be thrilling...Just not that much for him. All he needs is to say a few words after hopefully completing his mission and he'll be able to enjoy watching Danny save the day from semi-up close. 

"Ms. Spectra has been really helpful with all of this! She has ideas that I would never have come up with, and she's done so much with all the kids at school." Jazz clasps her hands in her lap, smiling a bit. "I can't help but to idolize what you're doing a little..." 

Vlad is so glad he catches himself before he grimaces. Poor Jazz. She always does her very best and that's one of the reasons he likes her so much as a character. But she goes through a lot of mental turmoil as well. Her brother, her family, her relationships...And quite a bit of it is because of Vlad. 

"Oh, sweetie, that's so wonderful to hear! I'd love to see a ground-floor gal like you get the determination to break through your less than favorable background!" Spectra pumps her fist a little and winks at Jazz, completely ignoring the uncomfortable, unhappy expression on the girl's face. 

Vlad scowls. He wants to say something so badly, but he doesn't want to lose those points for being OOC...And it isn't like he wants to completely derail this plot anyhow. It's important for Jazz and Danny's relationship...Still, though. It's more difficult to watch a young girl be talked down to so obviously than he thought it would be. Hearing it and reading it are so very different. 

"I should be getting going, then." He says instead, bringing the attention to himself again. "I'll see you on Wednesday. WIll you be needing to know anything about my planned speech?" 

"No, Mr. Masters, as long as you don't go rambling on for TOO long!" Spectra giggles. Vlad is finding that his fanboying of her is waning the more she talks. 

"I'll keep that in mind. Dr. Spectra. Miss Fenton." He stands and nods to both of them, turning and walking, NOT rushing, towards the door. He can't wait until he can get this damned OOC lock off, because he wants so, so badly to be able to punch or otherwise kick Spectra's ass without losing all of his points immediately. 

He opens the door and blinks at three teenagers too-quickly standing up and attempting to scamper away and not look like they were listening in. Ah. Danny and his friends. 

"Vlad." Danny spits out as soon as their eyes meet. 

"Danny??" Jazz is peeking around Vlad and sounding very distressed. "What-"

"Ugh, Jazz..." Danny shakes his head, looking more annoyed than when faced with Vlad. Ah, little brothers. 

"...Well, I'll let you two sort it out between yourselves. Ta." He doesn't even glance back at Danny as he starts down the hall again. He can feel the boy's glare burning a hole into his back though. Which is ridiculous, honestly, he didn't even do anything today! Just because he's spending time around SPectra and Jazz does not mean he should be treated with such suspicion.

Like, yes, he's planning to break into the school files to get more information on Danny and Valerie, but Danny doesn't know that. And with any luck he won't ever know it. 

He finds himself outside quickly, and walks until he's closer to the parking lot than the school. With his heightened senses he can smell the sheer amount of cigarette smoke still lingering in this spot, and he sighs in some relief. Vlad smoking in the comics was very cool, but actually having a nicotine addiction was way less cool. 

He only gets out his fancy cigarette package before he picks up a different scent- something moldering and old. He pauses, before it clicks that it's his ghost sense. He's still getting used to the idea that Vlad has one at all, considering it was never actually touched upon in the comic. But who- 

"My, Vlad, I didn't expect you to be such a poor role model for the children." 

Turning, he isn't sure why he's as surprised as he is to see Spectra standing there next to him. Of course she would be there, probably to make sure that he isn't going to be an actual hindrance to her plans. She clearly knows that he's a ghost too. 

"That's why I'm out of sight of most of them." He says, eying her up. "What can I help you with, Dr. Spectra?" 

To his utter shock, she pouts. 

"Oh, talking to me like that again...Trying to keep some distance from me? It's sweet how delicate you still are." She leans forward, drawing a finger up his chest absently. "But it isn't going to do anything. I'm not going to let you get in my way again, Vladdie." 

Vlad feels a bit like he got hit over the head with a club. What is this woman talking about? Is it possible that Vlad knew her more than he'd thought? She's being so familiar, but it's incredibly uncomfortable, with a strong squeezing of anxiety in his chest. He doesn't think that's entirely him, either...Maybe it's some of the original flavor's emotions leaking through? Uncomfortable to think about. 

"Don't touch me." He says, batting away her hand in irritation. "Whatever you have planned has nothing to do with me." 

"...You would be surprised. But maybe you're just that heartless, hm? Not that I'm surprised..." Her voice is so sweet, but it's sharpened by the cruelty in her words. He isn't a fan. 

"If you don't have anything to say that's actually helpful, then you can leave." He says, coldly. It's a lot different seeing his favorite character being evil on page and having that aimed at him...and children, he guesses. "I'm busy." 

She gives him a long, lingering look, and for a moment he thinks she's going to be saying more. But instead she just chuckles low and wiggles her fingers at him. 

"If you insist! But don't let your grumpiness take you away from the big spirit speech. It's going to be electrifying ." She laughs, a wholly unpleasant thing that reminds him more of nails on a chalkboard, before turning and walking away. 

He wants a smoke more than ever. It's probably a bad idea, though, considering if she knows he's here then she's probably interested in causing him issues. He's so annoyed he almost doesn't hear the System's alert beep. 

[+50 plot complexity points! +50 plothole paver points! +100 character complexity points! Keep up the good work!] 

He stares at the window for a long moment. 

"Can you be...more specific?" He says, trying not to sound too weak. 

[Answer: Built on Villains' complexity! Penelope Spectra and Vlad Masters relationship complexity! Good job!] 

Well. That is uniquely unhelpful. He guesses it makes sense in a way, because he has no memories of Spectra and Vlad ever interacting even when they were on the same page. But to call that conversation added complexity...What was it, then, specifically? The fact that Spectra seemed to know him personally? That she seemed to know him well enough to know that Vlad is kind of a disaster? But that's not exactly difficult to figure out from a few seconds spent with Vlad. 

It feels like he's missing something and he does not like that at all. Missing out on information is a good way to get completely fucked when he's just trying to live. 

Rubbing his face, he curses quietly under his breath, before grimacing at the all too familiar ding of losing IC points. He can't wait to finally get that lock off so he can stop cursing in pastries. He has a feeling he's really going to need to say fuck more often than anything else. 

Chapter Text

Vlad didn't expect to get dragged into actually planning anything for the Spirit Week. He'd expected Spectra and Jazz to be doing most of it, but he supposes it makes sense that the administration wouldn't be able to hold back at the thought of the Vlad Masters helping them out for such a dramatic week. He's turned down anything that would be actually helpful, though, both out of not wanting to be dinged for being OOC and really not wanting to deal with the high school nonsense. 

What he is able to do, however, is help out the teens who've been harassed so awfully by Spectra. 

He didn't think that he would be able to help much at first. He was nervous that even trying anything would just lead to him getting in trouble with the System. But after his conversation with her in the parking lot it seems like he now has the "IC" reasoning to butt heads with her a little bit. Which he does appreciate, truly. She's gone from one of his favorite characters to a definite hated one. Seeing all these children talk about their doomed futures and how horrible they "already look" has made him feel sick as an adult. So, he does what he can. 

Which mostly comes out to having mini meet and greets with the students. Most of them are excited to meet such a famous person, if not outright a fan of him, and they do seem to perk up a little bit whenever he compliments them. He tries to keep the compliments to their mind or another quality that they can control- pretty much the exact opposite of Spectra. 

He also avoids Spectra as much as he can in private, only interacting with her when there's at least one other definite human in the room. He can tell he's pissing her off but he isn't going to be stupid and let her spew her poison into his ears too. She does that well enough by just smiling at him. 

He finds himself outside again, just a few hours before the Spirit Speech is due to be made. Things are all set up, even the ridiculous ray guns. He really had to hold himself back from messing with them, because his System made it painfully clear what would happen if he messed with the plot like that. Frustrating, but he understands it- And it's not like Jazz actually gets injured thanks to Danny. Still he feels a little uncomfortable knowing that there's a child that's going to be in danger and he could fix it but he...can't. 

Ugh. So annoying. It would have been easier to transmigrate as Vlad all the way back in the past, so that he could change him to be a person with some manner of personality that was enjoyable to be around. 

He perks up as he hears footsteps coming closer. Not the distinctive tap of heels, so it's not Spectra, but that doesn't mean it won't be a huge bother...So it's an extremely pleasant surprise to see Jazz walking around the corner. 

"Miss Fenton! Why, what a surprise! Is there something that needs my attention again?" He straightens up, smiling as winningly as possible. It's true that she isn't much fooled by his billionaire persona, but she also has no reason to think that he's truly as evil as he is. She seems to take it as a charming personality trait. He's just glad she hasn't yet tried to psychoanalyze him. 

"Mr. Masters." She says, fidgeting a bit and not quite meeting his eyes. This sets off alarms for him right away but he works to keep his expression calm. 

"Whatever is the matter my dear? Are you getting stage fright? It's quite normal, even I had it when I was younger." He says. 

"Oh er- It's not really that, no. Um...I actually wanted to ask you something about Danny." She looks up at him, biting her lip and so obviously worried. But Vlad feels like he's just been slapped in the face. 

Will it be too dangerous to hear her out? Has she somehow discovered the link between him and Danny this soon into the story? Or does she suspect something more sinister? ...Part of the mission was to not get caught, so this could be extremely dangerous for him. He really hopes it's just something about Danny's hatred of him, that he can likely blow off fairly easily. 

"YOung Daniel? Of course I'll hear you out." He turns to her, giving his full attention to the conversation. Jazz swallows visibly, rubbing at her arm in an anxious motion. 

"...You seemed to get along pretty okay with Danny during the reunion, and...Well, I'm worried about him." She says. 

"...You don't have anyone else to talk to this about?" He says, immediately inwardly grimacing at the way that comes out. It sounds so...smug. But it is in character even if it makes him want to strangle himself out of frustration. 

"I-!" She starts, and then slumps down a bit. Vlad feels bad for her, of course. Being a teenager isn't easy, especially when you don't have reliable parents. "Mom and dad are...distracted by their new invention. And Dr. Spectra is..." 

"I don't blame you, of course. Things like that are very delicate, and Dr. Spectra isn't always the most sensitive choice." He nods, making the biggest understatement of the day. "I'll keep whatever you say private."

Jazz perks up a bit, and Vlad thinks about how...sad it is. She doesn't seem to have any friends her age- That would be who you'd go to first, if you were a teenage girl worried about your family, right? And she can't go to her parents, because they'd immediately jump to the ghost conclusion and make everything so much worse. If he wasn't a good person possessing the evil villain, she would be spilling her guts to someone who could really hurt her. 

It's strange. He'd thought she was so strong and brave in the comics, but right now he just wants to take care of her. 

"Okay. Um. Well, Danny's been acting...weird. Weirder than usual for a teen boy going through difficult things at home- Not that anything's bad at home! But. You're friends with our parents. You know what they're like." Jazz looks up at him until he nods. "He's been making huge messes, and getting really violent with people, and he keeps snapping at me- At first I thought it was normal to be going through these kinds of changes, but he's acting...I don't know." 

If memory serves, currently Danny has been dealing with the difficulties of being bullied while also being targeted by Spectra for especially humiliating bullshit. It's always been very unfair. The mere fact that Jazz notices there's something going on means that she's really just as caring as she had been shown to be in the comic. 

"And you believe it's something beyond normal teenage boy actions?" Vlad looks at her. This time he does his best to not sound accusatory- She's been getting plenty of that from Sam and Tucker. She's trying to figure out how to help her brother and doesn't need to be hurt by a careless word. 

"..Yes. I know, it sounds... Like I'm really worried over nothing. But I know Danny. I know what he's like, and what's normal for him. And this isn't." 

"...Well." Vlad leans back a bit, thinking. He could give her genuine help, but there's been a flashing alert in the corner of his vision the entire time. He's pretty sure it's telling him to tread carefully or he'll lose points, and that would be...well worth it, but stupid. "I think, perhaps, what Daniel needs is someone on his side. Someone who can give him support in his unique circumstances. Someone who would understand him and what he's going through." 

He says it with the implicit "someone like me" undercurrent in his words, and the alert goes away. Ha....He knew it. Anything that sets Vlad up as the hopeful mentor towards Danny is IC. Fucking asshole....

"Oh! That's true, isn't it? I guess it's possible that he could be feeling unmoored, due to everything going on in his life since school started...And having teenaged friends isn't nearly as helpful when they're going through the exact same issues as he is..." 

"Yes, precisely." Vlad nods, pleased she's getting it so easily. Not that that's too much of a surprise...Even when she's at her lowest Jazz is incredibly smart. If a teenager. 

"Right....So." She looks up at him with bright, excited eyes, and a large smile. "Will you help him?" 

What. 

"Wh. I beg your pardon?" 

"Well, like I said, there aren't that many adults I would trust with Danny's...issues. All the teachers don't like him very much, and mom and dad...." She shakes her head. "But you, Mr. Masters, you're our parents' friend. And he butts heads with you, yeah, but you haven't given up on him despite that! You could probably get through to him!" 

Hey, System! Any way of helping me out here?? Is this IC? OOC? Will I get in trouble???? 

[Processing...processing... IC to accept. However, accepting may lead to demerits down the road if the Owner cannot stick to the plot due to divergence.] 

And that would mean....?? 

[This System is unable to properly guess at what would happen. Good luck!] 

Vlad spends a good few seconds thinking of all the worst possible words that he can't even say because of the OOC lock at the System. Seriously! What's the point of even having one if it's not capable of helping him out during important times?!

He takes in a deep breath, refocusing himself. He has to deal with what's in front of him before anything else. He can panic about the future later. 

"Why, Miss Jasmine, I'm honored..." He starts, and then really has to force himself to keep going. He doesn't want to do this. It feels like he's about to step over an invisible line he won't be able to uncross. "I think I would like that, although I don't know how much Daniel would allow that. He gets annoyed whenever I'm involved at all." 

"Oh, that's true, but...I think if it's you you might be able to get through to him, somehow." Jazz's hopeful expression is honestly way too much for him to handle without crumbling like cheap paper. "And...And maybe you could meet up with my parents more often? Mom's, uh, been talking about you!" 

Oh it takes everything in him not to snort at the idea of that. He knows she's not telling the truth, at least not totally. If Maddie's talking about Vlad it's not going to be in anything overly positive, not after the reunion. Still ,he has to hand it to Jazz; this is something that would work perfectly on the original Vlad. He probably wouldn't even think it through, just to jump at the chance to interact with Maddie again. But he's trying to be smarter so he doesn't die horribly at the end of everything. 

"That's very nice of her. Hm. I'll let you know once things have calmed down at the school and my own work...But." He smiles at her, genuinely. She can take it however she wants, but he doesn't think that she should be going off without at least a little bit of help. "Even if I do decide to help out, I'll be honest with you Jasmine: The person who can help Daniel the most isn't me. It's his sister." 

She immediately flushes almost the same shade as her hair and he can't help but to be a little fond. So charming, really...She's always trying too hard to help her family and friends and even complete strangers, but she so rarely gets compliments unless it's something about her grades or how she's better than Danny. Which is unfair. She's as much of a child as he is. 

"Oh. Um, thank you Mr. Masters." She glances down at the ground, smiling a little bit. 

"Of course. Now, hurry along. It's going to be time for the rally soon, and we can't have the main speaker be late." He makes a small shooing motion and she smiles again before nodding. 

"Okay. I'll see you there!" She waves happily before turning to leave. Vlad watches her go until she disappears around the corner, and lets out a slow breath. Alright. Well. 

He isn't sure how he feels about being the adult that she came to. Sure, it feels a little bit nice to be needed, but on the other hand...When he died he was not someone who he would have come to for help, and as Vlad he's honestly not much better. He doesn't want to lead her astray, future plotlines be damned- 

[Warning-]

"I know !" He hisses. "Am I not allowed to think anymore? Complain at me when I actually go against the story in a way that matters!" 

[The System has noted your complaint.]

He has to struggle not to groan at that. Great. Can't wait to see how that bites him in the ass later on. Why couldn't he get a helpful System? Or at least, one without sass in it. He doesn't know if it would be making his life easier, but at the very least he would have less headaches. 

It's a few hours later, and he's sitting down in the place of honor for the rally. That means that he's extremely out of the way of the obviously deadly lasers, while still being clearly visible to the crowd. And...what a crowd it is. 

Spectra has really been working hard this past week. Every single child sitting in the audience looks like they would rather be anywhere else, but especially the grave. There's not one single happy face in the crowd and it's honestly bumming Vlad out a little bit. Minus...Lancer of course, and boy howdy if it isn't incredibly bleak to see a teacher genuinely trying to cheer up his students. It's a lot less comedy relief when you're sitting in front of it all. 

The principal gave her first little greeting speech, to absolute silence, and now it's Vlad's turn. This was the part he was pretty much dreading, but he doesn't have much of a choice...It'll be fine. He adjusts his suit as he stands, and gives everyone his absolutely most winning smile. It doesn't even break the ones who were before very cheerful. Yikes. 

"Students of Casper High," He begins, keeping up the warm chipperness. He can't falter here, he's so close. "First let me say what an absolute honor it is to have been invited here. I couldn't help but to be interested in speaking out for such an important chapter in the school's life, as well as your own..." 

He's practiced the speech so much he's pretty sure he could do it in his sleep by now, which means he can focus on other things. 

He wonders why it was never considered strange that the person who made all of this possible didn't show up to the rally in the end. Or how Danny didn't get caught out for skipping. Well...glancing around, perhaps he can understand the latter. The teachers that were untouched by Spectra's bullshit seem to be worried about the kids, and the ones that did go to her for a bit of help are, well. They aren't doing much better than their charges. One kid missing is probably a relief rather than the entire year missing out on this. And he has seen how Danny's been treated....

"...And so to end, I gladly pass off the speech to Miss Jasmine Fenton." He smiles over at her and steps away from the podium. She walks up, to...barely any applause at all. He sees her waver for a moment, and he leans over to whisper. "You've got this." 

The smile she gives him is almost blinding, and she turns back to the microphone looking much more confident. 

He goes back to his seat nervously. The speech isn't very long, if it's like it is in the comic, and Danny should be fighting Spectra right about now... Which means that in a few minutes the stupid ray guns will go off. And she'll be in a lot of danger. 

The minutes tick by and he stares at the guns, feeling his blood slowly turning to ice as he thinks about it. While he doesn't doubt that Danny will save Jazz, he can't help but to worry. After all, he's only a child...And he's busy fighting Spectra, even if he's doing a probably good job at it. What if he doesn't make it in time to save Jazz? What if Spectra wins? Vlad- Vlad should probably do something then. But then there's the fact that if he does that would probably count as extremely OOC, and might even lead to him failing the mission. 

Is he willing to possibly lose his life just to save one person? 

He doesn't like that thought. He especially doesn't like that he doesn't know the answer, however. 

Thankfully, when the dominos click down he doesn't have to keep worrying about it- The blast from the guns goes off, and while there's a lot of screaming and shock from the humans, Vlad can see through the bright flash perfectly well. He sees Jazz, terrified for a moment, and he sees Danny, jumping in to make her intangible at the last possible moment. He could pass out from relief, but this is not the time. 

He knows that people are going to freak out and Spectra will get exactly what she wants if people think Jazz really is dead. He rushes over to the podium, giving a less-than-perfect smile. But now isn't the time to worry about that. 

"Now now, no worries! This is all a part of the plan!" He says, and gets over a hundred panicky eyes looking back at him. He takes a deep breath and prepares to bullshit harder than he ever has before. "You see now, how worried you got for Jazz? How seeing her disappear got your hearts racing? Hold on to that feeling! Remember the importance of your classmates, no matter how your true feelings may be! And as much as you all worry for her....remember that others in your class will worry for you ." 

He just completely pulled that out of his ass and he thinks he should be getting a medal of some sort. maybe a prize for acting? Maybe a drink. But to see the way the students' eyes light up, well. He likes to think that it's not just because Spectra is currently being defeated. 

It helps that a few seconds later Lancer runs back in with Jazz in tow and the entire place goes insane clapping and cheering. He wonders how exactly Spectra's powers work...it seems like when she's defeated the misery and life she steals from people goes...back? Best not to think too hard about it, maybe. There were...a lot of weird power plot holes like that, and no one ever got out the other side feeling better for thinking too hard about it. 

"Mr. Masters!" Jazz looks at him as he tries, not too successfully, to slip away. "What did- Um. Thanks for covering for me? I know I should have told everyone ahead of time, but uhh..." 

"Not to worry my dear girl, I completely understand." He smiles at her. "You may be a bit over excited in this one instance but who can blame you for wanting to, ah, pep everyone up?" 

"Um...Yeah!" She sounds so relieved. Probably that he's stupid. He'll accept that for right now. 

"I need to step away for a moment. As fun and interesting as it was, it was a bit of a shock." He gives her a pointed look and she at least has the grace to look embarrassed. Even though it wasn't really her fault. Damn it. "But good job." 

"Okay, um-" She hesitates a moment too long, and Lancer is next to them, putting a hand on her shoulder and steering her towards the podium. Thank god. 

It's easy enough to slip out through the back entrance. He'll be back, he just needs to finish the second part of his mission before he can really take the time to relax... 

"Plasmius." 

FUCK'S SAKE. 

He rubs at his temples before turning to a very annoyed looking Danny. He looks...fine, actually, a little scraped up but nothing too bad. Vlad isn't sure if it's because of a ghost's healing ability or because he really did manage not to get his ass kicked too hard. 

"Daniel." He says, trying very very hard not to show exactly how annoyed he is. Teenagers can smell fear. "Whatever can I do for you? Are you that eager to hear me repeat my speech? I saw you weren't in the audience." 

"Did you have anything to do with Spectra?" Danny says, of course completely ignoring everything Vlad says. Which is perfectly IC but good god does it frustrate him when he just wants to know. 

"No." He says, and then sighs at Danny's expression. "No, really, I mean it. Dr. Spectra and I do not have a working relationship whatsoever." Which certainly isn't a lie, even if he doesn't know the exact extent. Danny looks at him doubtfully for another moment. 

"So, what, you just HAPPENED to show up at the exact same time she did, to do all...that???" 

"Believe me Daniel, had I known she would show her face around here I wouldn't have bothered." He takes a few steps forward, and is surprised when Danny doesn't immediately try to block him. Hm. "Shouldn't you be making sure your sister and friends are doing well? Especially Jasmine. Perhaps you can convince her to do something less dangerous next time." 

Danny scowls at him hard, but pushes past him to get into the auditorium. Thank god. Vlad really wasn't sure what else he could say to him to convince him that, no, he wouldn't go so far as to harass teenagers into killing themselves. Or, at least, this era of Vlad's characterization wouldn't. Probably. 

He makes sure that no one's around before going invisible and intangible and walking right into the principal's office. With Danny being in the auditorium with nearly everyone else in the school, there's no issue at all at finding what he needs. 

Two files. One on Daniel James Fenton (giant) and one on Valerie Grey (normal sized). He takes quick pictures of the entire files, struggling a little on his phone when it comes to the sheer amount Danny has on him. God's sake...Even if he didn't harass him in the future Danny would still be struggling to deal with life in school. Poor little bastard. 

[Ding! The Beginner Mission "Pride Goeth Before A Fall" has been successfully cleared! Congratulations! OOC lock is now off! +40 points of character complexity! +20 points of villain/hero complexity! Keep doing a good job!] 

Vlad looks up at the ceiling and takes a deep breath before stuffing the files back into the cabinet and leaving the room, still invisible and intangible. He flies up to the roof of the school and stares up at the sky, considering. This is nice. He did it. He should definitely feel a whole lore more successful than he does, but to be honest all he can think about is how totally fucked he is in the future. He's already started messing with the plot, but what does that mean for Danny and Jazz and all the rest? What if certain plot beats don't come to pass and he ends up in a bad timeline? Something tells him that even if he does he won't get any help from Clockwork. 

But still...He did it. He made it through one mission, all in one piece. Maybe things will be alright. Maybe he can fix this broken world a little bit, and then escape before Danny turns evil and decides to do horrible, horrible things. He deserves a little bit of celebration. 

"Fuck yeah." He whispers, and basks in the complete lack of character point deductions. 

Chapter Text

Since entering this world, Vlad has made notes about what he wants to do the moment he gets proper freedom. Some things are silly, like changing as much of the closet as he can, and some are...more serious. See, one thing about Dark Phantom that always got people to come back to it even though it was trash half the time were the plot twists. Not all of them were surrounding the romances, either. Plenty involved villains, both impressive and not, getting their just deserts for being so cruel to Danny. 

While he had enjoyed reading about it for the most part, there were always characters that he thought never got a fair end to their plotlines. Or worse, when those characters would be killed off only because of their relationship to bigger, badder villains and wouldn't have actually done anything too evil if they weren't encouraged for it. 

One of these characters, one that he liked quite a lot and secretly would buy merch of all the time, was the fearsome and talented hunter, Skulker. 

Although Skulker could be a little insane, that was one of his main charm points. Who else would so eagerly chase after a main character with such insane declarations as skinning him and putting his pelt on the wall? Vlad had been incredibly fond of him despite his tendency to talk like that, mostly because he also was endearingly messy in his personal life. "Gap moe" and all that. 

But his doom came at Dan's hands when he worked for Vlad at just the wrong time, and he was shattered without regret and hung up in the throne room. An extremely ironic punishment, but one Vlad always felt sad about. Sure, Skulker wasn't the easiest to get along with, or the most emotionally smart, but he wasn't a horrible person. Especially when compared to some of the other villains, like Spectra. With a little more luck he likely would have been able to work for Dan instead of being killed by him. 

Of course, that happened in the first place because the original Vlad was too greedy and overestimated himself. But he's not going to make the same mistake! 

It took a bit of looking around but he was eventually able to find the way to contact Skulker, and he's been waiting patiently in his sitting room for a while. He's patient, certainly, and if memory serves Skulker is the type to show up even if it's not perfectly on time...And he won't complain about being allowed a bit of time to himself before the big plots start. Once they do he'll be incredibly busy trying to make sure that things don't explode like they do in canon. 

He feels a prickle on the back of his neck and he sits up straight, turning his head towards the door. His ghost sense is a lot less obvious than Danny's, but his body is primed enough to recognize it even if he himself isn't all the time. In the doorway is, well...There's no way to not recognize Skulker. 

As with every other character, there's a whole realm of difference between seeing them on the comic page and seeing them in real life. For one, Skulker is roughly twice the size he ever appeared to be in the comic- Which makes sense, because as much as you might want to draw things being dramatic it wouldn't always do to have the villains be larger than the protagonist. Second of all, he's far more intimidatingly built. Where there were a lot of shorthands done in the comic in order to fit in the needed amount of details into every panel, in real life the details don't go away just because Vlad is far away. Skulker is built like a tractor trailer and every part of him shows this off incredibly well. 

He's also looking at Vlad a bit warily like he's a cat that's known to bite, which is...kind of fair, he guesses. When it comes to the original goods there's no amount of things that man wouldn't have done. Sometimes it would seem like Skulker was his only, close friend but then that would change in the next issue they interacted in. He supposes that interactions that inconsistent were impossible to handle in the real world. 

"Skulker." He greets him, trying very very hard to conceal the undignified fanboy squeal he wants to let out. God he looks so cool like this...Ahem. No, focus Vlad. YOu need to come off as still similar to how you've always been, even if your OOC controls aren't restricted anymore. If he comes across as too strange, people are going to think something dramatic is wrong, and that'll make working difficult. 

"Plasmius." Oh jeeze it's that name he's using. That doesn't bode well, but Vlad smiles through it. 

"Indeed. Take a seat, won't you? I imagine you have a lot on your docket." He still hasn't really fallen out of Vlad's habit of speaking like that, at least in front of other people. 

Skulker looks exhausted already. He does sit down though, so he considers this a win at least a bit. 

"What is it?" He says. Vlad takes a moment to pour himself a drink, crossing his legs. He has to do this right. 

"You know all those jobs that I've been putting you on?" He says, trying to seem as casual as he possibly can. Like the actual discussion doesn't matter all that much to him, but it's important for Skulker. If it'll actually come across that way, well...

"Of course I do. They've been really cutting into my hunting time." Skulker growls a bit, before crossing his arms. "Don't tell me you have another one-" 

"I'm going to cancel all of them." 

"Wha- What?!" Skulker sits up at that, his lazy lounge pose totally wrecked. Ugh...No, focus Vlad. You can think about how cool he looked later. 

"Of course, I'm not going to just do that without paying you, don't worry. But I've had...a bit of a change of heart." He tilts his head. Smiling towards the window. Surely this comes across as a man who's only the most delicate and honest of souls. "And so I won't need to do most of what I've planned anymore." 

He looks back at Skulker and ... yeah he expected that expression. Doubt, confusion, and unease. All of these things make perfect sense when you compare how he's acting right now to how the character acted for most of his life! 

He is so utterly confident in his understanding of the situation that he misses the fourth emotion on Skulker's face- that of utter concern. But maybe it makes sense- Who would think that a character like Vlad Masters would cause anyone to experience concern for him? Certainly not him, and that's why he's simply smiling, utterly oblivious.  

"Vlad." Skulker stands up and looms over him. He reaches out, and for a moment Vlad is pretty certain he's going to be struck or otherwise threatened, and braces himself. But instead he feels the touch of cool metal against his forehead. "Are you sick?"

"What?" He says, surprised. Then he laughs a little. "Oh, my no. Nothing like that. Can't a man have a change of heart without being regarded as ill?" 

"Not you." Skulker says which. Yeah, okay, that's fair. Usually when Vlad gets like this it's a manic state that will last all of a day and the next he'll be calling back to change his mind. ...One of the issues with slightly inconsistent characterization in a comic, he supposes. 

"Hm, yes, I do deserve that. However...I mean it this time. Oh-" He sets his drink down and ducks away from Skulker's hand and concern, to pick up a box that's sitting near the table. "For you. I haven't been able to get everything for your payments just yet, but I wanted you to know just how serious I was being about this." 

"What..." Skulker pulls the box closer to him, opens it, and looks troubled. Moreso than Vlad expected. "...You really aren't joking, are you? What, are you planning on something really insane, Vlad? Come on. Can't you just tell me instead of playing games?" 

"I'm not playing games, but I suppose I can understand your concern...Not to worry." He shrugs delicately. "Nothing I do will come back to trouble you, so you won't have to focus on me at all-" 

"That's not-" Skulker sighs in a long-suffering enough way that Vlad really thinks is uncalled for. Surely it isn't that bad... "That's not what I'm concerned about. Talking like this makes it sound like you're planning to go completely off the grid, to do .... whatever it is you want to do." 

"Oh." Hm. He can see where he'd get that idea from. 

"Yeah, oh ." Then, quieter, "At least when you tell me your plans I can stop you before you can do something completely insane..." 

Vlad doubts Skulker meant for him to hear that, but he can appreciate that way of thinking anyhow. Surely it must be an incredible trouble to constantly have to struggle with someone as irresponsible as Vlad tends to be. Well, no more. He's determined not to have Skulker completely suffer. Even if his plans later on cause issues with Danny, Vlad is confident that they won't be nearly on the same level as if he was plotting with Vlad. 

"Rest assured I'm not planning anything too crazy. Just the regular." He jokes, but that lands like a lead balloon. He coughs into his hand and continues before Skulker can try to get more information out of him. "But seriously. My plans have changed, and I don't need you for right now. So it wouldn't make sense to have you continue your work when it will all end up useless..." 

"What, you think the information I've been looking into about the Artifacts will be useless now?" 

Oh. Shit. 

He'd only vaguely glanced at the contracts the original goods had with Skulker, to figure out what payment was expected. He hadn't wanted to look too closely at the details, mostly because everything original Vlad ever wrote was honestly completely insane at best. He got a headache whenever he thought too hard about it, so he had just...not looked at it anymore. That was obviously a mistake. 

The Artifacts...He remembers that plot of course. It's part of the early-series finale drama that got most of the attention. It made Danny cooler, more of a hardcore main character, and it was....entirely Vlad's fault. 

The Ghost King's Crown and Ring are insanely powerful artifacts of ghosts that allow the wearer to have the opportunity to become the next reigning King of the Ghost Zone. In the original plot, Vlad had gotten his hands on both, but had pushed the power and danger onto Danny, with the plan to defeat him at his weakest and take the title from him easily. It hadn't worked out like that, of course, and Vlad had almost been murdered just from attempting it...It makes him nervous to think that he's already so deep in that plot. It led almost directly to Vlad's torture and death. 

For obvious reasons, he would really like to avoid that happening. 

"No....Not useless. Just, perhaps, a bit more useful in the future." He says. He's trying, though he doesn't know how much Skulker will actually believe him. If at all. "If my plans go south again I'll certainly go back to my original ideas. However, I sincerely doubt they will." 

Ah, now there's the eyeroll Vlad was hoping for. If he acts like a fool again then it'll be a lot less suspicious than, well. Just out and out explaining his thoughts. He imagines if he tries to explain that he's actually going to be acting as just and righteous as he possibly can, Skulker would try and check him for possession. And considering he isn't himself sure how much of his situation counts as possession or not...

It's better safe than sorry. 

"Well. That makes sense I suppose." Skulker sounds gruff. "But I'm still going to give you the information. Not because I think you'll use it- Before you start scolding me about not listening or whatever it is that goes through your head. But I don't have any use for it myself, and it would just take up room in my Lair. Besides," he pats the payment box. "it wouldn't feel right to just leave with this without giving you something in return." 

"Oh. Well, if you insist." 

It makes sense! In a way. Skulker most likely doesn't want to be indebted to Vlad. Certainly the original goods had a horrible habit of having people "pay back" any kind of debt, even if it's only ever been implied and nothing is concrete. 

"...Is that all then, Vlad?" Skulker is already standing, so Vlad waves his hand in what he hopes is a properly dismissive way. 

"Oh yes, that's all. I simply wanted to update you. Go back on your hunts or whatever it is you do." He says, as if he isn't painfully curious about everything that Skulker does. But right now he wants to push the man away, not allow him to stay close by actually talking with him about his interests. It's a true test of strength for him, honestly. 

"Hmph." Skulker rolls his eyes again and tromps out. Vlad doesn't even bother to see him out. Like he said, he's being evil for appearance's sake. 

At least once certain plots are over with, he can finally take his time and really just...relax. 

One thing he's found about being in Vlad's body is the man is a lot more insanely stressed out than he would have guessed. In the comic, except for a few backstory scenes, he always seemed so perfectly put together and smug about it. The only time he ever came across as flustered was when Danny messed with him in a way that he couldn't avoid. But being him? That's...it's painful . There's aches in places that don't make sense for a man his age, even one that gets as many beatings as he does. 

Plus, sometimes it seems like the mental state of the original's has seeped into Vlad a bit. Although he doesn't have any memories from before his reincarnation, that hasn't stopped his body from freezing or otherwise panicking without his input. Like that thing with Spectra, which he still hasn't been able to figure out. 

It's...Hm. It's complicated, to be certain. He'll have plenty of time to figure it out once he's not worried about his life being cut short just for being Vlad Masters. Maybe he'll go to the Zone and spend a lot of time there, just enjoying learning firsthand about things that he'd only read about until now. Or he could take one of his billions of dollars and go to a completely uninhabited island and just hide for a few years. 

He just needs to get Daniel off his back, and then it's perfectly smooth sailing. 

Chapter Text

Vlad never thought that a building would be able to fill him with so much trepidation. 

This is the next step of his "make sure I'm not killed when Danny goes evil" plan, and boy is it going to be a doozy. He isn't actually all that confident that he's going to be able to pull it off in one go. He knows he has time, but...He inhales slowly and nods to himself before reaching out and ringing the doorbell of Fenton Works. 

The main thing about the issues the original Vlad faced was his inability to give up on his miserable past. Though it was never really expounded on, the Fentons did something to him that pissed him off enough to cause trouble for them and their children for over twenty years. This brought a lot of trouble, for both Vlad and Danny. So the least he can do is try to make sure that things will be a little easier. 

He just hopes the Fentons are as friendly towards him as they seemed to be in the comic. He's really nervous that things might go down the drain before he even has the chance to make his case. 

...Hm. No one's answering? He's pretty sure someone should be home though- Ah. There's the door-

"Mr. Masters?" To his great surprise, Jazz is standing there. She looks surprised to see him, probably as much as he is to see her. 

"Ah, Miss Jasmine! Excellent to see you again. Are your parents home?" 

"Oh- They are, yeah. What do you need them for?" Her expression drops after a moment. "Is Danny in trouble?" 

"...That's where your mind goes to first, eh?" Vlad can't exactly blame her. Danny is...Danny. 

"Oh uh!" She turns a little red and he chuckles. 

"No, don't worry. Danny isn't in any trouble, I promise. Mm. Actually, I'm here to speak with your parents..." 

Oh, the face she makes. Not that he can blame her there, either. THe last time they spoke in the same room, Vlad had repeatedly hit on her mother and spent active time trying to lock her father out of the house. No matter that that was the original goods, it's still stuck in Jazz's head. He's determined to fix this issue, however, today. One way or another.

"...Alright. They're down in the lab. Come in." She takes a step back and lets him enter the house. 

There's a lot to be said about the Fenton household. It's. Um. Well. 

The issues that came with having a ghost hunter family were always emphasized during the comic's run. Danny was always extremely embarrassed about it, and it was even worse because as a teenaged boy he wasn't able to let his friends come over unless they were able to get really cool about a lot of things very quickly. But it's a whole lot different actually walking in versus just reading about it on the page. 

For one, there's the scorch marks all over the walls. Vlad remembers there were often debates on the forums centered around whether or not they were just weird ways of inking or if they were plot-relevant designs. Well, now he can say for certain they aren't plot relevant, but they also are very real. It's never been shown what made them exactly, but the fact that they haven't been covered- or worse, that they keep happening in the same spots so often that they just aren't worth covering up. 

Then there's...Well. The ectoplasmic contamination. Vlad doesn't think that anyone else would notice it, not unless they were well-versed in ectobiology somehow. But between him knowing a lot about ghosts because of the comic, and this body's inherent understanding of ghostly natures due to being half ghost, he can tell right away that something's wrong with the house. It's too...much. The regular amount of ambient ectoplasmic energy should be just enough for something as weak as a blob ghost to barely appear, and even then they likely wouldn't be able to stay in the human realm for very long. 

In the Fenton's house? He understands why ghosts are able to come through the portal and immediately run out while being fully formed and visible. 

Speaking of the portal, he can feel it under his feet, and it's not just the hum of such a large machine. He can feel the ecto energy below him, strong to an almost nauseating degree. It's pure ectoplasm beneath him, linked to the Infinite Realms, and something in his mind and body knows that it's not supposed to be there. 

He knows this is the first time that this body would have directly visited the Fentons. He can understand why he wouldn't have wanted to come here, besides the issues he had with the family. It feels awful. And if he, a fully grown adult half ghost with a lot of power and experience under his belt, feels this bad he can only imagine how bad Danny feels. 

He turns to the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs behind him, and it's a good thing he does. He isn't that surprised to see Jack Fenton bounding up the stairs like an excitable puppy, and actually seeing him gives him the time to react before Jack sweeps him up into a strong hug. 

When reading the comic he’d always thought that Vlad was being too dramatic when it came to interacting with Jack. Who would believe that someone would be strong enough to cause actual struggling? With just a hug? 

But now he understands. It's like getting an entire elephant trunk wrapped around him and squeezed with all of its power. Too tight, to the point where Vlad is very glad he's already half dead.

"VLADDIE!!" Jack shouts right in his ear. Vlad wonders at not being deaf yet. "We didn't know you were comin' over! We would have welcomed you if you'd called ahead!" 

"Yes, this is a nice surprise but a bit of warning would have been nicer." Ah, and there's Maddie. Vlad is let go and set on the ground, and he wobbles a bit before turning to see the woman who caught the original Vlad's obsession so strongly. 

He is... 

Well, it would be mean to say he's disappointed . He has to remind himself that he's not the original Vlad, and their tastes are completely different. Maddie Fenton is a perfectly pretty older woman, someone who's clearly got strength and power under her suit, but...He just doesn't have the kind of connection that would make him fall to his knees in obsessive amazement. But that's probably for the best, isn't it? 

The same can be said for his feelings on Jack Fenton. As much as the man is a bumbling fool, he is honest and genuine with his emotions in a way that the original goods could never really understand. The man was obsessed with revenge over some petty college squabbles, not things that actually mattered. What would he have done if he'd ever won, really? Vlad is certain that original Vlad just never thought that far, because he was a bit of a twit. 

"I apologize for the surprise, but I was in the neighborhood and wanted to drop by." He adjusts his suit, not able to break all of the body's habits despite his best efforts. 

"That's great! Oh, V-man, you oughta come downstairs and see what we're working on! I tell ya, Mads has been making some real great strides lately!" Jack grins at him with the open honesty of a puppy. Vlad wonders how anyone could possibly be cruel to this man. Not just because it would feel a bit like bullying an animal, but because he doesn't know if he'd ever even notice. 

"Is that so...? Well, I wouldn't mind." He says, glancing at Maddie. He's a little startled to see her staring him down with a strange expression, before it occurs to him that of course she's looking at him like that. The last time he'd interacted with her (Even though it wasn't him him) he'd flirted with her terribly and bothered her husband. It makes sense she would be wary. He'll just have to prove that he's fixed his bad habits. 

"Great! Oh, this is gonna be so amazing!" Jack claps him on the shoulder which damn near folds him. Maddie watches his expression carefully, but even she can't fully hide her smile when he just grimaces a little bit. He can't get too mad, at least not this time. He's trying to fix things, after all. 

"Hey dad, what's with all the yelling, is..." 

Vlad looks up at the voice, and ah. Danny is standing on the stairs, staring down at them with quickly mounting horror. He doesn't blame him, but...honestly. He's just standing here. 

"Danno! Come on down! Vladdie decided to give us a surprise visit, isn't that great!" Jack gives Vlad another side hug, making all the air squeak out of him like a deflating dog toy. Danny's hands on the bannister tighten, and his eyes narrow. 

"...Huh. Really? What's he here for?" He says it casually, but no one would be able to miss the obvious hostility coming from him. Well, no one but Maddie and Jack, apparently. Jazz at least looks a little concerned at his venom. 

"I thought I'd just stop by, you know. I was in town, after all..." 

[Main Character's Irritation points rising. Good job!] 

...He's going to figure out how to strangle the System somehow. What do you mean good job! That's not a good thing!!!! If he isn't careful, Danny will get too annoyed with him and then how will he do anything to make sure he doesn't kill Vlad! 

"Just in town. RIght. Just like you were "just" at my school." Danny says, scowling. 

"Danny!" Maddie says, and Vlad is surprised by the sharpness in her voice. He guesses it makes sense, since he hasn't completely ruined every bit of her good will, but still. "Young man, don't speak to him like that! He hasn't done anything." 

"But-" Danny groans when he sees the look on Maddie's face. "Mom...." 

"I understand his aggression, Maddie, don't worry." Vlad raises up his hands. It doesn't seem to calm Danny down any. "No one wants to deal with their parents' uncool friend showing up at their school." 

"Still..." Maddie sighs, before smiling at him. It seems genuine, too, which makes him feel warm. "How about we go downstairs now? Danny, we'll talk later." 

Danny does not like this and glares at Vlad like he wishes he could kill him. Which, okay he understands why he would hate him, but isn't he supposed to still be a hero right now? Is his hatred for Vlad really that intense that he can't figure out how to calm down whenever they interact? That might be an issue. Danny turns to storm back to his room, and Jazz glances between where he went and her parents, before following him upstairs. Good. They need to talk more, as siblings. 

Downstairs is worse. 

He didn't think it would be possible after the startle-reaction he had upstairs, but down here he feels far worse. Maybe it's because the portal is as close as it is, or maybe it's all the ectoplasmic samples laid out just in the open air, but he feels so ill he almost trips and falls down the stairs. Through sheer stubbornness he manages to make it to the bottom stair, and tries taking a deep breath to steady himself. 

This turns out to be a mistake, because as soon as he does the air hits him all at once and he feels himself quickly sliding off to the side. It's embarrassing, but he can't even focus enough to catch himself he's so dizzy. All he can think about is, how confused he is. Why is this happening? Sure, he's a half ghost, but Danny can come down here without this kind of reaction. Is there something specific about his body that makes him weak to this sort of thing? He wonders- 

He blinks back to partial awareness to find himself being helped to lay down on the couch upstairs. He hadn't even realized that he'd been led back up. He stares up at the very, very worried and somewhat...guilty? faces of the Fentons. 

"...Vladdie." Jack says, his voice quieter than he thought he could ever hit. "Are you okay? Why didn't you tell us-" 

"You're still affected by ambient ectoplasm?" Maddie says. Her voice is just as hushed, with the same odd tinge of guilt through her words. Vlad stares for a moment. 

[Ding! Villainous Backstory Updated!]

...Okay, look. 

The original Vlad Masters in the comic had always been evil. It was kind of a source of mockery on the various forums and websites, talking about how he managed to be so fucking weird without actually having any kind of background to back it up. Comparing him to a Saturday morning cartoon villain, who just existed to hate and get in the hero's way for no really good reason. Sometimes, there would be things hinted at about his backstory, but they had never really committed to it. The most they had ever gotten was that Vlad was involved in some sort of accident which had made him a half-ghost, and had him sick for a little while. But that was it. Any further details than that were lost to the editors, and most people agreed it wouldn't matter what exactly happened anyhow, since his weird obsession with the Fentons was bullshit. 

One would think that if it was relevant to the story, it would actually be in the story! Apparently not! Jesus Christ!!

He ignores the System for now, rubbing at his face. 

"I...Er, I apologize. I don't know why..." He starts, but then notices how saying this seems to just make the other two sadder. He doesn't understand why. "...I'll be fine, don't look so terribly down. I just felt nauseous. I'm sure that's common enough." 

"Vladdiieeee." Jack sounds like he's about to cry, which is not optimal. He's such a big man, there's no doubt in Vlad's mind that his tears would be just as absurdly large. He really doesn't want to get rained on for something as simple as being a bit dizzy. 

Thankfully, Maddie comes in to save him.

"Just a moment. Come with me, Jack, let's give Vlad some space." WIthout waiting for an answer she grabs him by the arm and bodily hauls him off towards the kitchen. Vlad relaxes a little bit, sighing softly. Ugh. He's going to have to look into what just happened...It can't be that hard for a billionaire to get his medical records, can it? Maybe he should have done that first... 

He doesn't realize that he's dropped off a bit until he suddenly jerks awake. At first he isn't totally sure what's woken him up, but when he glances around he immediately spots Danny glaring at him from the corner of the room. Ah. That would do it. 

"...Danny?" He says, hoping against hope that the young man isn't about to kill him or something similarly gruesome. Sure, he's still just fourteen here but that doesn't mean he can't pack a mean punch. Maybe he's thinking about getting things out of the way early on. 

"...What's your plan, Vlad?" Danny says. There's something strange in his voice though...He doesn't sound...Hm. He doesn't sound as angry as Vlad was expecting. As a matter of fact, he's doing that thing that teenagers do when they're extremely worried but don't want to show it. "If you think that getting my parents to drop their guards by being pathetic is gonna work, it. It might. But it won't work on me!" 

"..." Vlad sighs, truly and honestly exhausted with the kid. There has to be a limit to being rude, right? God, his head is killing him. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Danny. I understand we may have gotten off on the wrong foot-" 

"The wrong foot?!" Oh that was exactly the wrong thing to say. "You call almost killing my dad and trying to be with my mom the wrong foot?! God, you've seriously lost it. Just tell me what your plan is to," He tries pitching his voice to be mockingly similar to Vlad's. It cracks halfway through. "Get me to be your son~ So that I can turn you down and kick your ass and you can leave ." 

"I know this may surprise you, but not everything involves you." He says, like a liar. This whole world is made to impress people with how Danny becomes great and powerful. Of course everything involves him. "Besides, if I were, what, faking all of this don't you think I would have tried to sneak around instead of lying here in misery?" 

Danny hesitates. Vlad takes a small amount of smug satisfaction that he managed to leave him speechless, however long that actually lasts. 

"...What, are you gonna tell me that you passed out from a little ectoplasm then? C'mon. You go in the Zone all the time- For years and years longer than me. And you have that freaky lab. Am I supposed to believe that you just fainted like that?" 

"...No, you're right. But it's also the truth that I don't know why I fainted either. Is it really that hard to imagine that I don't know absolutely everything about my body?" Vlad shakes his head. "And really, let's not lie to each other Danny...You definitely know the state your parents' lab is in, right? Is it that much of a shock that I might faint when exposed to such blatant lab safety breaches?" 

Ah. As expected Danny bristles at that. While Vlad might understand why, that doesn't mean he has the patience to deal with it right now. 

"YOu-!" 

"Danny?" Maddie walks out of the kitchen, before noticing Vlad. "Oh, good, you're up! I was getting worried, but we didn't want to wake you up if you just needed a rest." She offers out a glass of water which Vlad gratefully takes. He just ignores how Danny's staring him down like a hawk. 

"Thank you, my dear. I am feeling a bit better, but truth be told I may return home...I apologize for cutting the visit short in such an unpleasant way." 

"No! No, none of that. Honestly Vlad, I kind of wanted to bring you to the hospital but I...know how you probably think of doctors now." Maddie sounds deeply apologetic, and Vlad feels bad for not really knowing how to respond to that. If he was the real Vlad, then surely he would have the context to know how heartening that is, but as he's not...

"Thank you." He sets the water down, chancing a glance at Danny again. He doesn't look as angry, more...confused. Concerned. And trying in vain to hide it. "I'll...call you, to let you know how I feel later. I'm sure I'll be fine, but I'm also sure that Jack's been fussing since I fell asleep?" 

"Mm." Maddie smiles a bit wryly. "You've got that right. Let me walk you to the door. Before he comes out of the kitchen and cries on you."

He's grateful for that, just as grateful as he is for his body not giving up on him as they walk towards the front door. He still feels...bad. Off kilter in some way. A little sick, if he's being perfectly honest. But if it's just this house, or the body's memories in a way he can't figure out, then all he needs to do is go home and relax a little bit. Besides, he'd done what he came here to do. Proving to the Fentons, at least most of them, that he's not going to keep being an absolute creepoid. 

"Really, I should call ahead next time and see if we can't set something up." He says, nodding. "I'd say maybe at my house, but that's a bit of a long drive every time..." 

"Why don't you get a house in Amity?" Maddie says absently. He watches her expression go through a few phases- embarrassment at suggesting something so expensive, remembering Vlad's rich status, annoyance, probably at him being rich. "I think it would do you good to be out of that castle now and again anyhow, Vlad..."

"I'll take it under consideration. I'm not going to be getting rid of my Packer's collection, if that's what you're hoping for." He says this in a jokingly scolding manner, but it seems to be enough to actually startle Maddie. Maybe that's understandable. After all, even though they were close in college he had changed towards her an awful lot last time. 

"...Hm, fine, I guess I can't expect you to change that much." Maddie smiles a little bit. Vlad takes it as enough of success. "Take care on your way home, Vlad." 

He nods and turns, walking down the steps carefully so he doesn't fall down them and make things more embarrassing. He has a lot to think about. 

Once he's far away enough from the Fenton house, he brings up the System. He's so glad the comic is set in modern times, because he can just pretend to be making a call. 

"What did you mean about the villainous backstory, earlier?" He says, and looks at the screen expectantly. 

[Response: The Main Villain Vladimir Masters has an extensive unpublished backstory. Access to it is restricted to higher levels. Unlocking it through natural character improvement will add onto the points. Would you like to see what you've unlocked so far?]

Vlad stares, hesitating a little bit. Well...

"Alright." He murmurs, not sure he's really ready for what he's about to see. But if he wants to appear somewhat competent at being Vlad... Another ding sounds from the System. 

He stares at the screen in front of him, his brow creasing as he slowly realizes what he's looking at. Instead of a reasonable amount of backstory, or even a reasonable amount of unlocked, all he can see is pages and pages of redacted information. He guesses this is supposed to be like those games where you get more information as you progress, but isn't this a little difficult to deal with?? 

He scrolls through it, feeling his frustrations rise. It feels like there's absolutely no information he's actually got access to whatsoever, which doesn't make him feel very accomplished. 

"What exactly did I unlock?" He complains, scuffing his foot against the ground. 

[Answering: "Vlad Masters struggled with his exposure to ectoplasm, leading to a lifelong chronic issue."] 

"...... . . . ." Vlad looks up at the sky as if God will suddenly appear and explain what the fuck is wrong with this world. How can you say this is any kind of impressive unlocking??? It's worse than nothing! He already knew that Vlad was a halfa because of his stupid actions in college exposing him to ectoplasm! Is this supposed to be impressive? 

He guesses the helpful part is supposed to be that it's an explanation for the chronic pain he's been struggling with, and him nearly passing out in the lab, but still... Ugh. He's just going to have to be more careful, isn't he? ...Actually. 

Now that he thinks about it, something Danny said isn't meshing with this information. He was right, after all; Vlad spends a lot of time around ambient ectoplasm both in the Ghost Zone and in his own lab. Does it really make any sense that he would faint at the smallest amount of ectoplasm? 

...On the other hand, he knows what the state of the Fenton's lab is. Danny was always given the gross tasks of cleaning up everything, and being as he is a teenage boy it wasn't always that well done. Vlad had only gotten a brief look at things, but perhaps the state of the Fenton lab could be the cause? It didn't seem particularly safe...and then there's the portal, which unlike his own is just. Open. And leaking energy nearly 24/7. 

Ugh, if that's the case he's going to have to be a lot more careful going over to the Fenton's. If he isn't, he's going to pass out a whole lot more or worse get sicker. That's not what he needs right now, and indeed ever. Ugh. 

He sighs again, finally turning towards his hotel. It's fine. He can focus on that later when he has more time. For right now, he wants a bit of a break...Is all he gets to think before there's the bright ding of the System again. God damn it, can't he escape at all? 

[Alert! New Mission available! Shades of Grey: Send Valerie Grey the Red Huntress outfit and start up a working relationship with her. Accepting this will gain you a valuable asset! Accept Y/N?] 

He does hesitate, but only for a moment. As much as he doesn't want to harass a young girl who's dealing with her grief at losing her way of life...He also knows that a lot of what happens between Valerie and Danny is probably considered important to the plot. He hits the yes button, and hopes he's not making a huge mistake. 

Chapter Text

Vlad stares at the paperwork in front of him, his brow furrowed. 

When it comes to Valerie grey, one would think that there would be an incredibly obvious way to stop her plot from going all the way through and interfering with him. If he just makes sure that her father never gets fired, then she wouldn't have any reason to start hunting ghosts and she wouldn't get involved with Danny or Vlad or anyone else in a serious way. Having one less hunter on his ass would be helpful as well. And really, it wouldn't be that difficult to stop the firing- All he would have to do is stop Cujo from dying ahead of time, probably by having the dogs adopted out instead of euthanized. 

There turn out to be a few issues with his obvious plan, however. 

One is that apparently it would be more difficult to change things at Axion than he'd thought. Oh sure, he could just buy it out and make sweeping changes but...that would still require figuring everything out in time to stop everything with Cujo, and he doesn't know that he does have that kind of time. He could always just go ahead and overshadow until his work succeeds, but that leads to the next issue...

As he was planning this little idea out, it appears that Valerie becoming a ghost hunter is vital to the plot. His System very cheerfully alerts him to this fact- if he goes through with this, he'll have to deal with the loss of points. When he asked how many he would lose for Valerie not showing up to the big arc he almost faints at the amount. Just for one character not showing up! Jesus Christ! He might as well just throw the whole idea of being Vlad away if he's just going to lose all his points anyhow- 

It took him a while to calm down and think of something better. If he can't stop Damon from struggling with his job, he can at least make sure that there's more of a cushion for Valerie to fall back onto. 

He keeps a close eye on everything while the Greys are going through the upheaval. It sucks, but it's important for the greater good. Or at least, that's what he has to keep telling himself. 

Once everything has gone through, he takes a deep breath before hitting send on the email he's had drafted up for days. 

See, one of the main things he remembers from the comics is the mystery based around who was supplying Valerie with ghost hunting tools. She didn't know, and no one else did either. Valerie only went with it because she was so desperate to have control over her life, to have an outlet for her anger and the feeling of unfairness from her life being turned upside down. Finding out that Vlad was the one behind it had been one surprise, and then the half-ghost thing had been a second, worse one. Vlad is planning to make at least one of those surprises a little softer. Does he think he can trust a literal child who's full of nothing but rage? ...Not really! But he also doesn't have much of a choice. Maybe if he's lucky enough he'll be able to convince her to be just a little less angry. 

He's in his office signing papers when the intercom from his secretary's desk clicks on. 

"Mr. Masters? Miss Valerie Grey is here for your 10 AM."

"Thank you Prue. Send her in." He says, before clicking it off and taking a deep breath. This is it. This is how he finds out if his plan will work or if he's really as bound to the narrative as he's worried he is. 

When Valerie walks in, he's again struck by the fact that seeing her on the pages did nothing to prepare him for the real person. On the page she was usually drawn fairly confidently, though just as often with an angry scowl. But...Mm. 

She really is just a kid, isn't she? 

"Hello, Miss Grey." He greets her, nodding and gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. She looks at him, awkward uncertainty on her face. "Take a seat, won't you?" 

She does, still eying him up like she can figure out his intentions easier that way. He doesn't blame her. Being suddenly sent an email offering her a coveted spot in the Vladco internship program is probably strange enough, but he bets it's even stranger that he, specifically, sought her out. 

"I understand that you accepted the offer into the internship but had several questions, correct?" He folds his hands in front of him, keeping a pleasant, friendly smile on his face. 

"Well, yeah." She says, clearly before she can properly stop herself. He doesn't even feel annoyed. If he wants to deal with hiring a fourteen year old, then he can deal with a little bit of sass. "I just- Uh, no offense Mr. Masters, but I don't remember ever signing up for something like this." 

"You're not wrong." He nods. "But part of Casper High's relationship with me is to recommend talented young teenagers whenever they think that it would be a shame for me to miss out on them." 

"Oh." She hesitates. Honestly it's a bit refreshing to have to deal with her. Her emotions are worn on her sleeve. "That's pretty cool, yeah. But I've never really worked in this kind of place before. What would I do?" 

"Ah, I'm so glad you asked! You must understand that details aren't always the easiest thing to share over the internet. You never know who or what might be listening in." He stands up, going to look out the large window that overlooks Amity. He finds that for whatever reason people find that impressive, even though it's just to make it easier to hide his expressions. "You see Miss Grey, I am very well aware of your family's current...issues." 

Silence. He doesn't have to look behind him to guess what kind of expression she's making. 

"Yeah." She sounds petulant, which probably means she's going back over the memories. Poor thing. He apologizes mentally for not being able to help more before it came to this. 

"Your father worked for Axiom Labs until he was unceremoniously fired for failing to stop a ghost attack." Vlad says, and half turns to face her. As expected, she's glaring at her in the way you do when you don't want to be caught glaring but can't quite manage it. He feels for her, he does. 

"...It's true." She says, before anything else. Honestly? Vlad is very much charmed by the fact that she's so strongly willing to go to bat for her father. Even as everyone else is convinced he's either just incompetent or crazy, she's sticking beside him because she knows what they both saw. It's sweet. 

"I know it is." He says, and continues even as her face morphs into shock. "Of course I believe you and your father, Miss Grey. I have my own experiences in the supernatural and their penchant for ruining lives." 

"Oh." She says, and her voice has gotten very small. Oh Jesus, he didn't mean to make her that emotional. He guesses it makes sense, though. GHosts aren't a well-known thing just yet, so he's probably the first and only adult besides her father to listen and believe in her. He isn't going to deal with that heavy of a weight on his shoulders yet though. Instead he reaches over and offers her a box of tissues. 

"Indeed. So believe me when I say what I'm going to offer you will not just be out of pity. I fully, truly believe that you deserve this chance." He picks up the package from his side table and pushes it over to her, smiling a bit. Valerie looks at him with confusion for a moment. "Go ahead and open it." Then she slowly reaches out and opens it, and there's shock on her face. 

It's true that Vlad won't be able to avoid the plot forever, at least not with her. But one thing he thinks he'll be able to do is make it a little easier to bear. 

"...What is this?" 

"This, my dear girl, is a ghost hunting suit. State of the art. Once it's got your DNA linked to it no one else will be able to hack into it or take it over." He says, leaning over. He's had a lot of trouble figuring out how to adjust the original suit. He doesn't want to give Valerie a suit that would be less than helpful in actually keeping her safe. 

"...Why?" She looks up at him, and he smiles a bit at her expression. It's not exactly suspicious, but she clearly doesn't trust him fully yet. That's good. That's better than just blindly believing whatever he tells her. 

"Because I know what kind of girl you are. I asked plenty about you when I was given your recommendation. You aren't the type to let things go...And you want to be able to do something when you can. But right now, you don't have the power to deal any kind of blow to the ghosts who have caused you grief. Unless you accept this, that is." 

"And..." She hesitates, pulling out the helmet. It's designed to be comfortable and give her all the information she'll need during her hunts. He's looking forward to it, because he doesn't think she wants to turn him down. She's just being cautious. "What do you get out of this, Mr. Masters?" 

"I'm not going to make you my secret police or anything like that." He assures her, and chuckles a bit when she obviously relaxes. He can't blame her but it is a bit funny aout what she thinks of him. Great job, Vlad... "Instead, I would like you to bring back samples for me. I don't know if you know this, but I have a great amount of knowledge involving ghosts. I don't have the time to go and get samples myself, so it would be a boon to me if you could do it in my stead." 

She watches him for a moment more, before smiling. He wasn't wrong in thinking that she wouldn't accept this too easily if he didn't have a reason behind it. Of course he doesn't need anyone to go and get things for him, but it won't hurt him to have an extra hand in all this. Besides, he isn't planning to betray her like in canon. He wants this to work. It has to work. 

"I agree, Mr. Masters." A pause. "And will I get paid for this?" 

"Oh, of course! This will count as an internship, and on paper you'll be my part-time assistant. I will still bring you to meetings and such from time to time, because I do think it would help you to learn more that way." He smiles at her. "Hunting ghosts isn't something that should become a full time job, after all. Surely you've seen how that works out for the Fentons?" 

She pulls a face and he laughs a bit, not able to help himself. It's refreshing honestly. She's so honest and open with her expressions, barely even thinking to hide them in front of him. She should, but he isn't going to be the one to tell her that. 

"Alright. When can I start?" She says. 

"I'll just have you read a few papers and sign here, and then we'll be all set." He replies, sliding papers towards her and holding out one of his branded pens. He's determined that, unlike in canon, he isn't going to make a mistake that will ruin this girl's life. 

All that said, he isn't planning on using her right away. First she has to settle into her new life outside of Amity and handle the childhood trauma of being disliked by people you thought were your closest friends. He can sympathize, but he doesn't want to cross over that boundary between employer to friend. That's way too close to what the original Vlad would have done, and he thinks that's a slippery slope to start going down. 

Apparently though, the System really enjoyed the way he handled the Valerie plot. He got points added on for complexity of characters and of the storyline. As far as he's concerned though, no matter what he'd done in that it would have ended up more complicated than it was in canon. Honestly, what Vlad was really planning to do having a teenage girl fighting all his battles while doing fuck all to get her to trust him without a doubt...Ugh. What a moron. 

He's enjoying a cup of wine in his study when he senses a ghost arriving. It takes a moment to pinpoint where exactly it is, but when he does he can't help but to frown a bit. In his lab? When he doesn't have any plans with Skulker or anyone else? So much for having a calming evening to himself. 

He stands and sets his wine down, sighing before floating down between the floors and settling into the entrance to his lab. If it's someone without bad intentions he doesn't want to go in guns blazing, but he also doesn't want to just greet anyone who happens to make their way through his portal. It's still his damn house, they should at least knock. He steps towards the portal, before stopping. 

There's a young woman laying in front of it, and he would immediately recognize her anywhere. Ember Mclain ...One of the coolest characters by far, even if the writers had a terrible idea of what counted as "cool" lyric writing. She was brash, intense, and had some of the best merch to boot. He steadies himself mentally, because as much as things in this world have changed the characters are still all awfully similar to canon. He has to be prepared. 

"Ugh..." She groans and slowly gets up on her hands and knees. He recognizes exactly what's happened- This must be right after she tried and failed to take over Amity. He's surprised that she's here and not still in the Zone, but his portal is kind of an easy way to escape. "That dumb brat..." 

"Ember." He says, hoping that his attempts to come off as cool and constrained work. God this is so exciting! He wonders if he would be able to get a signature from her without seeming uncool or weird. 

Her head snaps up to look at him and she groans, louder and more clearly in annoyance. 

"Oh god, it's you." 

"Of course it is? This is my house?" He walks forward and she glowers at him. It hurts a little...But he understands why. Ember isn't a huge fan of older people, especially when they're as annoying as original flavor Vlad was. He offers out his hand to her and when she glares harder he sighs a bit. "Look, I'm not going to throw you right back through the portal. You've clearly had a...hard day." 

"...Skulker was right." She says, seemingly out of nowhere, before reaching up to grab at his hand. "You have changed." 

"I don't think I've changed that much- Being a bit less of a dick hardly counts." 

She seems so startled by him actually swearing that she laughs loudly, and he smiles a bit as she seems to get some of her pep back. Good. 

"Ha! Jesus, Plasmius, who knew you had it in you to be so funny?" She rubs at her arm before huffing. "You know that dipstick in Amity? The new Phantom kid?" 

"I am well aware, unfortunately. Daniel packs a hard punch when he actually tries to hit in between quips." He shakes his head and glances around the room. Hm, she's a ghost so she doesn't need the usual kind of medical help, but...Aha! Right, Ember is fire based, so... "Would you like a drink?" 

"...Pft. Yeah, sure." She shakes her head and goes to flop onto a nearby chair, lounging like she absolutely owns the place. He is so glad that Vlad's face is easy to keep neutral, because he wants to squeal over how cool she is. "I don't want any of that lame wine stuff you're always drinking. If it's gonna make me as weepy as you get drunk." 

"...That would ruin your cool appearance, wouldn't it?" He chuckles and shakes his head, going over to the vodka. Of course he likes wine, but this body is particularly resistant to getting drunk. He doesn't mind the harder stuff at all, even if it makes him look less impressive. He doesn't really have the energy to care all that much about what Vlad did all the time. He steps back over with a shot glass and offers it out. "Here. Is straight vodka cool enough?" 

Ember stares at him for a long moment before laughing loud and taking the drink, chugging it in a swift movement. 

"I thought you'd gotten all old and sad, Plasmius, but you still got a bit of fire in you huh?? Not bad!" She seems genuinely delighted by this, and it takes everything in him not to visibly preen too much. Getting compliments is bad enough, but when it comes to getting complimented by someone he really likes... 

"Thanks, I think." He idles for a moment, setting the bottle next to her. "...Dare I ask what happened?" 

"Ugh." Ember slouches further in the chair, holding out her glass for a refill. Amused, Vlad obeys without complaint. "I thought it would be a whole lot easier than it was. Like, that town is totally filled with teens, it shouldn't have been so difficult! But that stupid goodie two shoes just had to step in and ruin my good time." 

"He has a habit of that." Vlad agrees. Though as he remembers it, Ember wasn't exactly being innocent. No need to bring that up though. "I'm not surprised he was so much trouble." 

"And he totally embarrassed me with that geeky nerd friend of his, I didn't even know it was possible to be that bad at singing! Or that it would make the mind control break so easily." 

Vlad looks at her grumbling and checks the bottle. It's just vodka...Is Ember perhaps a lightweight? He's never met her in person before and the comics only really focused on her relationships- With Skulker first and then later on Dan once he came to power and amassed his harem. He would think he would have remembered any scene where she gets sloppy drunk, but that might not be the case... 

"I see. That does sound like a pain in the ass." He says, which gets him another round of laughter. Definitely tipsy, if not full on drunk. He'll have to keep that in mind... "Ember? Are you going to be able to make it back to your Lair?" 

"Uhhhh yeah man I'm fine." She giggles and he checks the bottle again. She is...moving faster than he thought possible. Half the bottle is already gone. He didn't even see her drink it. "Don't be a total dip. WHo'd think that an ex rocker would be so boring sometimes?" 

Vlad pauses, and blinks at her with wide eyes. Did he hear her right? Is that...What? Vlad was a rocker? 

"A rocker hm?" He chuckles a bit. He doesn't want it to come across like he has no idea what she's talking about. "That's high praise from you, Ember." 

"Well what else would you call that old band of yours, huh? Not as cool as mine, but it's kinda neat sorta." She grins and Vlad smiles back. She looks like she's feeling better, in terms of power, but also like she's about to pass right the hell out. Poor girl. "You should try being that cool again sometime. Maybe people would think you're less of a joke." 

Ough. But fair enough. 

"I'll keep that in mind. Are you sure you wouldn't like to crash here for the evening? My sheets are all fireproof anyhow." He especially doesn't want her flying off wasted, get into trouble, and then have it come back to him later. God. That would make him look even worse. 

"Ugh, fine. I guess I can't turn you down if you're being that nice." She yawns and stretches a little. When she goes to stand he has to catch her by the arm so she doesn't fall right over. Thank god she doesn't seem to take offense at this. 

It's easier to fly her up into one of the guest bedrooms, where she promptly flops onto the bed and passes out. He considers trying to get her to wake up and change into something more comfortable than leather but...mm. Not really worth it. He steps out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind him, and considers. 

It doesn't get any less strange to learn information about Vlad from a third party source. He sometimes wishes that he had gotten all of Vlad's memories so he wouldn't have to struggle when people throw information at him like this. But...a band? Really? It must have been a very long time ago, because he can't really imagine the modern billionaire Vlad deigning to give up enough control to work with other people. Maybe it was during college...? He could see Jack Fenton in a band, that's for sure. 

It's interesting. He wonders what made everything go wrong about that, if they were close enough to be in a shitty college band together. It couldn't have just been the accident, and besides that was Vlad's fault anyhow...He shakes his head. It's not important enough to go around and figure out, even if he is curious. He'll just have to ask Jack the next time they cross paths- Which, knowing the Fentons, should be soon enough. It'll make for a fun little conversation starter when he runs out of ways to avoid talking about why he's so different now.

Chapter Text

Vlad is making lunch when he hears the knock from his front door. It takes him a moment to realize that it's coming from there, because he's become so used to people just jumping through his portal and harassing him that way. But there are plenty aof humans who might want his atteniton, he spposes, so he should probably get used to that idea before the mayor plot. He turns off his stove and goes to answer the door. 

Danny is staring up at him petulently, and for a moment Vlad genuinely considers just shutting the door in his face. 

Instead, he says, "Danny. What a surprise." in a tone he thinks is actaully rather even handed considering. Danny's expression doesn't clear up at all. Honestly, if he wasn't the main character he would be a whole lot less charming. 

"Vlad. I," His voice strains, and it doesnt seem to be just because he's a teenager trying not to have it crack. "I need your help." 

Vlad stands there for a solid minute, trying to desperately leaf through his memories. He has all of the arcs memoried, but he can't for the life of him think of what this could be about. It's far too early for Freakshow to show up, and Pariah isn't for ages yet. Walker again? No, he would have heard the disaster going on in town. What...

"Whatever is the matter?" He says distractedly. Danny doens't seem to notice, just shoving his hands deeper into his pockets and slouching further down somehow. Teens. "If you don't tell me, you know I won't be able to help you." 

"Ugh! I know, I know. But- Look, you cannot tell my parents about this. If you're just gonna snitch-" 

"I think it should be incredibly obvious that I can keep a secret, judging by how I have yet to tell anyone of your biggest secret." He points out. Unfrotunately, Danny not wanting his parents to know what's going on doesn't actually mean anything as far as figuring out plot goes. That's like...every single plot, ever. He could probably make a shorter list about plot points that had nothing hidden from the Fenton parents at all. 

"...So you know how it's Halloween, right?" Danny says. And of course, now with that Vlad knows exactly what's going on. 

It's the introduction of his future right hand man: Fright Knight. Vlad had always been fond of the issue he was in- Even though horror wasn't always his favorite thing in the world, he really enjoyed the way that people's worst fears were depicted. It was a surprisingly mature take on a lot of characerization...even if it was totally broken and ruined later on in the series. It was still cool. And now, with him being right here, he has a chance to actually meet the character face to face! What's more, if he's careful about it he might be able to help Danny and improve their relationship, not to mention not having him deal with the horrible bet he made with Baxter. 

"Of course I know. I haven't decorated much yet, but...What do you need help with?" He opens the door a bit more and steps slightly to the side, a silent offering to Danny to enter if he likes. Danny, perhaps predictably, completely ignores it. Vlad pushes down the slight grimace of insult he might feel. It's Danny. 

"...Look. I made a stupid bet, and I made it with a teacher and this jerk who keeps beating me up. It's supposed to be about making a scary haunted house in town but..." Danny trails off and huffs. Vlad can understand. He honestly doesn't know what Lancer was thinking- Just because he doesn't want to lose to the other teachers doens't mean he shoudl be putting all of this on two teenagers who hate each other. "I'm not really that good at it, and between me and my friends we're so gonna lose and...Ugh. Look, if you've really turned over a new leaf or whatever, then I want proof." 

Vlad has to bite his tongue at that. Oh, what a funny way to ask for help! Not even a single please. Or even a mention of the word help. But he likes the way this is going, honestly. It's better than Danny just completely pretending that Vlad is without any kind of honesty to him, and that he'll never be given a chance to redeem himself. It gives him hope! Maybe he won't die! 

"Why, Danny, if you need my help then I'm only too happy to assist! I imagine though...You won't want it to be too obvious that you cheated by using me." He says, and immediately holds up his hand to stop Danny's complaints before they come out. "This isn't a bad thing. I think it's frankly ridiculous taht any teacher would allow you to go into a house by yourself and try to make it look like a profesionally haunted house, without any assistance. What made this happen, anyhow?" 

"Er..." Danny rubs at his arm, looking a bit sheepish. "It's just, I messed up and Dash was about to start wailing on me and Lancer got mad at both of us...But it was barely my fault and Lancer doens't usually care anyhow!" 

Right. Vlad really needs to have that talk with the school board. Maybe after making a few donations. 

"Well, you know me. I have no issue using my powers for more unscrupulous reasons. And as it happens I'm rather bored this time of year...Things just aren't that frightening when you have to deal with ghosts 24/7 normally, you know?" 

Danny actually cracks a smile at that. A real one, not just him being sarcastic or rude. Vlad has to resist the urge to ruffle his hair. That would not go over well. 

"Yeah, ha...Thanks Vlad." He even manages to sound thankful! Vlad will forgive him for being a bratty little teenager. "I just don't want to have to eat- Uh. Nothing." 

Vlad, knowing entirely too well what stupid thing Danny has bet, wisely stays silent. 

The house is kind of a huge disaster, and it's already being made worse by a bunch of teenagers running around trying to make it appear scary. Vlad slipped inside secretly, not wanting anyone to recognize him and cause issues. He's famous after all, and that gets a bit annoying when you're trying to do something mischievous. But then again, most famous people don't have the magic of being half dead to help them. 

Danny's room is...Yeesh. Yeah. He doesn't think this would even scare the smallest of babies, even if they were particularly afraid of fake spiders. The spiders aren't even that big; he thinks they might be cut off those spider rings you win at arcades. 

"...I can see why you asked for my help." He says. 

"Ugh...I just didn't want to go to detention. But my allowance isn't enough for all of this to actually work." Danny scuffs his shoe on the floor, looking sulky. 

"I understand. So what are your plans, exactly-" 

"Danny!" 

Vlad turns towards the voice, completely unsurprised to see Sam and Tukcer standing in the doorway. Sam looks confused and angry- her default. Tucker just looks confused. Easy. Vlad can deal with this. 

"Hello-" 

"What is he doing here??" Sam storms over and grabs Danny by the arm, pulling him into what would be normally a fairly average whisper circle. But unfortunately, again, the halfa hearing strikes. Vlad pretends like he doesn't have any idea that he can hear everything they're saying. 

"He's here to help me." Danny whispers back, grimacing a bit. "I know it's not like, a super good idea but you two know what's at stake. I'm not gonna lose!" 

"Okay, dude, but...He's kind of..." Tucker glances over his shoulder. Vlad waves. Then has to not laugh at Tucker's terrified expression. "Well he's waaay scarier than anything you've come up with so far." 

"Capitalism is the scariest possibility, I agree." Sam says. "But I don't think Lancer will think that way." 

"I'm not looking for that. C'mon, he's a rich adult. Even just one of him is gonna be better than all three of us combined. And I'm not above using him in order to beat Dash." 

"Ahem." Vlad clears his throat and very much enjoys the way the children jump. So they did just totally forget that he was standing right here. That's so funny. "As much as I enjoy listening to you all bicker, might we get on iwth it? Time is of the essence, right?" 

"Ugh. Right, right..." Danny looks...chastised is not the right way to put it, but he does look grumpily like he'll actually listen. Sam turns to him and crosses her arms. 

"So, what exactly are you planning then? I guess if you want to be boring you can just spread your money around and bribe Lancer. I bet you've done that plenty." 

"I know that you might think that's all I do, Miss Manson," He makes sure to emphasize her last name, because of course as an outsider he knows all about her paren'ts actual money. Honestly the original goods might have known too, considering the circles the two families ran in. She grimaces a bit, which means she caught it. "But I don't think that would fix the issue of Danny getting teased for his work. I think it would be a good idea to get information from you all, as well- What might have been frightening when I was a kid likely is less so now." 

"You mean when the dinosaurs roamed?" Danny quips, and just grins at the look Vlad shoots him. The worst thing about teenagers is you cant laugh at their mean jokes or they'll just keep doing it. Even if they're funny. 

"Well, I've got something that'll give us ideas for this." Sam says, before pulling out the book Vlad's been waiting for this whole time. He has to tamp down his instincitve fanboying, because that would not make sense to these kids. And he doesn't really want to appear like he knows more about the Fright KNight than them, even though he...well, he does. 

"Chronicles of the Fright Knight?" Danny takes the book, flipping through a few pages at random. "Wow. This looks pretty...Uh..." 

"It's spooky right? Legend says that if you run into this Knight guy, and he manages to stab you with his sword the Soulshredder, you'll be teleported into your worst fears." Sam grins. "I figured it could be interesting to go off of that." 

"Yeah...I- Wait. I recognize this place." Danny's expression goes from doubtful and a bit uninterested to very, very alert. "Vlad, look at this." 

Obediantly, Vlad leans over and looks at the map. It's so clearly that of the Zone, and...Hm. 

For the first time he questions why a book like this was in the mortal world. It never occured to him while reading that it would be strange, but seeing it so obviously...It's an accurate book relating to ghosts and their legends. It shouldn't be so easily accessed by human kids. 

"I see. I know where that is." He says, because of course he does. The original Vlad had some of the best maps of the Ghost Zone, mostly courtesy of Skulker. He knows all the places to avoid...Because they're all linked to future plots that will lead to his downfall. 

"I knew it! It's in the Zone, isn't it!" Danny grins and turns to the other two, who look surrised. "We don't have to just mimic what's in this book. We can get the original sword and make this place super freaky!" 

"That sounds like a terrible idea." Vlad says, rather cheerfully. He knows that this is pretty much a railed plot, but he has to at least appear semi-responsible. "You don't think that you can really just waltz in there and get an ancient ghost artifact that easily, do you?" 

"I cannot believe I'm agreeing with Vlad here," Tucker says. "But I think he's right. There's probably a reason why this sword is called the Soulshredder, Danny." 

"Pft. Ghosts just like calling things super dramatically. Just look at the Box Ghost." Danny says. Vlad...can't even argue against that. "Anyways, if I go with you, Vlad, then I'll be in less danger. And I really, really want to win this bet." 

"Well if you're really that determined to check it out, I will be gong with you." Vlad says, firmly. "I am not going to be responsible for you getting injured and having to explain to your parents what happened." 

"Ugh. ...But that's fair, I guess. Whatever." Danny shrugs. Then he brightens up. "Hey, actually, that means taht you know exactly where it is! We don't have to get eaten by the train-" 

Vlad wants a fucking medal for not slapping his hand onto his head. Who thought it was a good idea to let a bunch of idiot children wnader around the incredibly dangerous Ghost Zone, again?! If he didn't know better, he would think that Danny was a glutton for punishment. But this is just the way he's been written. 

"...Yes. You won't have to worry about that. I suppose we should get going, before night fully takes hold." He glances at the other two, who are still watching him uncertainly. "...I know it's Halloween, and you two likely havae your own plans, but until it's dark enough to go trick-or-treating, might I suggest you spend some time making this place up? If it turns out that the sword idea doesn't work like Danny wnats, then at the very least something will be done and Lancer won't be able to get furious." 

"...Ugh. Whatever." Sam crosses her arms and huffs. 

"I've got Halloween plans for later, but I can totally help right now." Tucker says, which is more of a surprise. Maybe he's feeling a little intimidated by Vlad being here. Hm. 

Danny turns to look at Vlad expectantly, and it suddenly hits him that he's going to be spending a lot of time with Danny, alone. Oh, man. This is increidbly exciting if he's being perfectly honest with himself- He hasn't really had long stretches of time alone with his favorite character, not ones that aren't fraught with issues anyhow. This will be the first time they interact in a way that isn't inhereintly violent or aggressive. At least, he hopes not. 

"Alright then. We should return within the hour, maybe less. Danny, using your parents' portal will be quickest, and I imagine they're busying themselves doing Halloween sweeps...?"

"...They are but how did you know that-" 

"They did the exact same thing every year in college as well." He says, shrugging a little bit. It's a lie, of course. He has no idea if that's how the Fentons worked back in the day or not- He doens't think it really matters one way or anoyher. Danny viisbly accepts this excuse, which is all he was hoping for. He urns and walks towards the front of the house, and with a little half nod to the other two Vlad follows.

Chapter Text

Vlad hasn't gone into the Zone on his own yet. Not really. There's been a few instances of him poking his head into his Lair and checking it out, as well as meeting Skulker there, but he hasn't gone around properly. There are a few reasons for this, the main one being that he doesn't want to deal with any of Vlad's issues without being prepared. But now he has an excuse! And what's even better, he gets to spend time with Danny! 

"What're you looking so happy for, Plasmius?" 

Ah, right. As cheered as he is by the fact that he can spend time with Danny, Danny is...less than enthused. He can't exactly blame him, but he isn't going to stop himself from being cheerful. 

"Despite what you may think, my dear boy, the fact remains that I'm very glad to be spending time with you." He says, smirking a little bit. "And then there's being able to see real history with my own eyes. Why wouldn't I be happy?" 

"...Whatever." Danny grumbles and flies on ahead, looking grouchy. It's honestly an adorable look for him, considering when he pouts he really looks his age. Vlad picks up his speed a bit with a hum. "You'd better not be planning anything weird with the sword, got it? I'm not gonna just sit back and let you do whatever you want. So if you have an evil plan-" 

"I don't think there's an "evil plan" that would require using a nightmare sword that creates the worst of your mind." He says lightly. "And despite what you may think, not everything I do has to do with plans. I am not a machine that creates evil ideas, I'm a person." 

Danny looks incredibly annoyed by this, but Vlad thinks it's important to make him aware of this. Danny has a habit of...judging ghosts a bit too harshly. Sure, a ton of them really are evil and annoying, but the Zone is almost infinite. It wouldn't do for the future Ghost King to be judgemental. Or, at least, as judgemental as a teenager is. 

The arrival to the castle is fairly normal, but Vlad keeps glancing at Danny. This is his first time stepping into the Keep of Pariah Dark. Not that he knows it's the Keep just yet, of course. This is where he'll rule, where he'll be trained by Pariah Dark himself...Vlad can't help but to get a little starry eyed.

"Yeesh. Everything in the Zone is purple and green huh?" Danny glances around, looking wholly unimpressed. ...Right, remind yourself Vlad, he's only fourteen... "And it's really cobwebby. Is that normal?"

"Well, I don't believe many people would come here. The Fright Knight is a dangerous, powerful ghost. Even if he has a glaring weakness it isn't wise to start fights that you might not be able to finish." 

"Hmph. I'm just surprised there's like, what? Ghost spiders?" He snorts a bit. 

"Yes, there are. Watch out for them." Vlad says, before starting down a hallway, cheerfully ignoring Danny's worried questions. Of course he knows the way to where the Knight is being held in stasis, it was well-described in the comics. You could really tell that the comic creator was extremely into the background of the Keep. Maybe too into it. Vlad had often wondered on the forums if it was fetishistic in some manner, and had promptly gotten flamed routinely for his innocent, wholly honest wonderings. 

"Vlad, how do you know the way so well?" Danny sounds suspicious, and Vlad pauses in a hallway. 

"Ah, I suppose you can't feel it?" He says, bullshitting wth all of his fucking might. "Yes, I can tell that there's something particularly powerful this way down. You're still rather new, so sensing out ghostly auras is probably a bit more difficult." 

He watches for a moment as Danny's face scrunches up in a clear attempt to do what Vlad says he can do. That's...ugh. He's so stinking cute, and for what? Why does someone so sweet and earnest have to turn into a power-hungry madman? ...Right, because the man who should have helped him in life was also a power-hungry madman without morals to stop him. Thank god he transmigrated, it's entirely too tragic to think of all the canon horrors happening in real life. 

They make their way down the rest of the way into the bowels of the Keep. Well, not quite. He knows there's still a few layers below this that hide Pariah. No need to force him down that path early. Even if the System seems determined to have that arc happen, he doesn't want to make it happen a second sooner than it has to. 

Finally, they make it to the chambers that the Fright Knight is held in. Vlad has been barely holding back his excitement. This is as wonderful as meeting any other character, though admittedly with a bit more danger than others. 

The pumpkin is simply sitting there, just as it was in the comic. Vlad looks at it for a long moment, feeling a pang of worry. Of course he isn't concerned about Danny- he's the protagonist! He has the immunity of someone who's important to the universe! But Vlad definitely doesn't, and if he isn't careful he might actually double die. 

Or, uh. Something worse than double-dying. The comic was never extremely clear on the details with that, which was always a bit...strange. Sure, there were only two full half-ghosts in the universe, but you would think that a comic that was so eager to show the biggest horrors on earth wouldn't care at all if they showed off what could happen to a halfa that got shattered. Being slightly without that kind of information is not...exactly cheering. He would prefer it if he knew everything instead of just guessing that he does. 

While he's been thinking, of course, Danny's already wandered off. His hand is on the grip of the sword, and Vlad doesn't have the time to warn him before he's yanking it free. Damn it- 

There's a moment where it seems like everything will be fine, just long enough for Danny to turn and grin at him. But then there's a large poof of green smoke from the pumpkin, and Danny stumbles backwards in surprise. Vlad reaches out, grabbing him by the back of his suit and yanking him behind him. Danny might take offense to it, but he's not willing to get the boy eviscerated right now. 

The smoke clears, and Vlad shudders a bit to see the Fright Knight in all his intimidating glory. He's taller than Vlad by at least a foot, and the fire pouring from his armor gives off an impressive intimidation level. 

"...Oh boy." Danny says softly. Vlad agrees. 

"Maybe he's still half asleep. We should probably-" 

"Who has released me? If you step forward now I will take pity on you during my future reign-" The Knight looks at them, narrowing his eyes. "Aha. I see. Very well- Hand me my blade so I may continue on!" 

Vlad is feeling...quite normal about being ordered around like that. He's just intimidated, that's all, he has to get his head on straight. 

"Hey man, we just want to borrow it, okay? We'll bring it back later." Danny says. He holds the sword awkwardly, very clearly as someone who's never actually had to handle one before. Sure, he looks determined, but he always looks like that... 

"That was not a request." Fright says, his voice lowering down to be colder. "It was an order!" 

"Daniel it is a good time to run."

"Yep. Heard that, Fruitloop." 

Maybe it's a bit cowardly to just turn tail and run, but Vlad isn't taking any chances right now. Besides, they do need to get back to Amity in order to continue the plot... 

Danny and he are about on equal footing when it comes to speed, luckily. He was a little worried he would have to drag him alongside him but it seems that they will just barely be able to handle it. He hears the whinny of that blasted horse behind him and grimaces. 

"Why's he so mad??" Danny yells, jolting to the side as Fright shoots an ectoblast towards him. "We said we'd give it back!" 

"I imagine being woken up to a thief isn't exactly the most enjoyable thing." He says back, shaking his head. Maybe he should have pushed back a little bit more against the idea of Danny just stealing the sword...Sure, this is how it goes in the plot, but that doesn't mean it's right to do. On the other hand, Danny likely would have gone and tried it himself later on, so maybe it wouldn't matter in the end...? He idly dodges another blast as he thinks. He'll be fine, after all. 

They manage to fly out of the Keep easily, thanks to Vlad remembering the way they came in. He can hear the roar-whinny of the nightmare behind them and scowls a bit. He knows that they'll be able to lose Fright Knight if they just keep going, but since he wasn't involved in the original, there's a nonzero chance that that may have changed. The last thing he wants is for Danny to get hurt just because of a stupid side plot like this. 

"Danny-" He says, whipping around midair to stop. Danny, because he's a good kid but stupid, also stops. "I'm going to hold him off a little bit more. You have somewhere to be, don't you?" 

"Wh- Vlad! You're nuts! There's no way-" 

"Go on then. I've handled stronger ghosts than him plenty of times." He makes a shooing motion, knowing it's likely to annoy the crap out of Danny. It does, and he scowls at him exactly as planned. 

"Fine! But if you die I'm going to kill you!" He shoots off in the direction of the portal before Vlad can point out that they're both already dead. Well, at least that's one issue helped with. Now, to handle the Knight... 

He turns towards the nightmare, eying the large horse up as it approaches. He fully expected that he would have to stop it physically, but it pulls up to him without him having to say anything. Fright Knight looks down at him, and without a face Vlad can't really...tell...what he's thinking. That's fine though, he doesn't need to know. 

"Interesting! I had pegged you as a coward who knew only how to flee. I suppose allowing the whelp to flee before you is indicative of a chivalric spirit." Fright Knight grips the reins tighter, and Vlad feels like he's being sneered at. "But it is all in vain! You will not be able to stop me for long. I shall core you and once I regain my sword I will show you exactly what true horror is!"

Vlad takes all his possible energy to not roll his eyes. He already knew that Fright Knight wouldn't think much of him- When the original goods had tried to coerce him into working with him to become the Ghost King, Fright had been rightfully unimpressed. But that doesn't mean that he should put him down quite so easily when they've only just met, and Vlad isn't trying to convince him of anything except to stop harassing Danny. 

"I understand your concern, but might I suggest you allow the boy some time to have fun with the sword?" He says, not powering up at all yet. He doesn't feel fully confident in his abilities to convince, but he also has no interest in starting a fight if he doesn't need to right away. He knows that this is going to be a mess but there's always going to be the slightest, slightest possibility that it would end up peaceful. 

"Psh! What will that whelp be able to achieve with my blade that I could not do better? I will not be swayed by your pitiful attempts." 

"Well. Can't say I didn't try." He sighs and summons a wall of fire behind him, casting an eerie pink glow over the surrounding Zone. He knows that Fright Knight is most likely some manner of fire core, sure, but Vlad knows that this body is way more powerful than your average ghost so...they're probably on pretty even footing. That'll make things easier for Danny, and Vlad can get some fighting in for fun as well. Sure, there's always the possibility that he might get cored, but it's so difficult for halfas to actually properly die he isn't that worried. 

He doesn't know exactly what the Knight would fight with if not a sword, but that's answered pretty quickly when an armored fist comes right for him. He dodges, trying to think quickly. He isn't going to make it very long if he doesn't think this through as much as possible. He might be able to coast on surprise at first, but someone as experienced as Fright Knight will see through anything repetitive quickly, and then where will he be? Danny had trouble with him too, and he's the fucking protagonist. 

He takes a deep breath and sends out three clones. He's gotten a little more used to using them, although it's not perfect. It's incredibly surreal, especially when they're like this. He can see into each one individually and control them at the same time. It should take up a whole lot of information in his brain but it's kind of like doing two different things with both hands at once- difficult, but not impossible. 

As he expected, Fright Knight blocks the ectoblasts from his clones and turns his attention to them, however briefly. Vlad isn't going to not take that moment of distraction, creating a sword of pure ectoplasm and slicing down. Not at the Knight, no. He's wearing heavy armor and would probably be able to tank anything Vlad threw at him. No, even though it makes him feel guilty for doing it, he slashes at the hindquarters of the nightmare. 

"Augh!" Fright Knight yells as his steed makes a high pitched shriek and starts rocketing off into another direction. Certainly, it's an intimidating animal, but Vlad knows enough from the comics that nightmares are just horses with extra steps. And as much as it might be loyal to Fright Knight, that doesn't mean that it's not an easily frightened animal. "You cur! I thought you were going to fight with honor, but to play such an unfair tactic-" 

Vlad doesn't get to hear any more ranting from him because the horse is fast. As much as it'll come back to bite him later, he doesn't regret it. Sometimes fighting a battle means fighting with everything you've got, even if it's incredibly unfair. He's kind of glad that Danny ran off, because he doesn't think he would be able to come back from using tactics like that. 

He lets the fire die down and turns, flying as quick as he can back to the portal. It won't be calm forever, and Fright Knight is eventually going to find his way there. So he wants to get a moment to enjoy the horrors that the sword will unleash face to face, at least for a little while. He's sure that he's going to be facing worse horrors once Fright Knight gets out. 

Chapter Text

Vlad can start seeing the effects of the sword on the city when he's still on the outskirts. He notices things changing into horrifying creatures, and a general miasma hanging over Amity. Honestly you would think it would be incredibly obvious to anyone who took a moment to look around, but he's found that most Amity Parkers are lucky if they can even notice a wall right in front of them. Sometimes he's wondered if it's something baked right into their personalities because of the will of the world, or if it's a direct poisoning of the water. He'd like to know if it's the latter so he can fix it and get some points towards being actually a kind of good guy. 

He lands at the back of the house the competition is being held at and debates on changing back. It is Halloween, after all...Everyone will be dressed up, so why would it stick out if he was Plasmius? Then he decides against it and changes back- knowing his luck in this world he's more than likely to be caught if he presses his luck too much. He won't be able to do really outrageous things until after the next few arcs, anyhow...

Stepping inside, he can't stop the shiver that comes from the feeling creeping out of the room Danny's working in. He doesn't know how it must feel to humans, but as a ghost he can feel the vicious power running in the air, and it makes his instincts tell him to run. 

Of course, he doesn't get what he wants by listening to his instincts. 

"Ah, the room is looking much more intimidating, Danny. Good." He says as casually as he can. Hands in his pockets and everything. Danny glances up from where he's standing with Sam, and Vlad doesn't miss that half second of relief on his face. It's nice to know that his work hasn't gone entirely unnoticed. 

"You're not dead?" Danny says, pouting. He can use as much biting sarcasm as he wants, but Vlad has learned to know when he's just hiding his genuine feelings. And the way that the System pops up with information about how points have been scored helps as well. 

"I am, just perhaps not as much as you would wish." Vlad fires right back. He enjoys the blink from Danny for a moment before walking over to study the sword. The Soulshredder...One of the more powerful weapons that're well known in the Zone. It's eerie, honestly, and the skull on the pommel isn't exactly helping. But as a total worldbuilding geek Vlad appreciates that it's just as cool as it was drawn to be. "It seems to be working well." 

"Yeah, I'm definitely gonna win this way." Danny grins. 

"Normally I'd say this is totally unfair and against the spirit of All Hallow's Eve..." Sam starts. "But since you're going up against Dash I think this is more than fair. I just wish the cheerleaders were involved too." 

"I'm surprised that you're still here, actually." Danny looks at her. "Don't you have like, a big goth meetup to go to tonight or something? Like, cackling witches above a cauldron?" 

Sam shoots such a venomous look at him Vlad has to grimace a little bit. He wonders why Danny never tries to understand Sam's goth side more honestly. It isn't that strange...Or maybe that's just him talking from a more modern perspective. And a geek perspective. 

"For your information, cauldrons cost a lot of money." Sam says, crossing her arms. "...And I do, but it's not until midnight. And it's not going to be that dramatic..." 

"Wow, your parents are le- What am I saying. Of course they aren't, you're just gonna sneak out huh?" Danny snorts. 

"Of course I am. I have to do it for you all the time, it'll be way easier to do it for non ghost stuff." Sam flicks his forehead and Danny makes a face. 

Oh, this is...honestly such a delight. Amethyst Ocean was never his most favorite ship in the world, but that doesn't mean that it's any less cool to see the blossoming of a canon relationship right in front of him. He's just smart enough not to comment on it, because that would quickly turn it from heart warming to extremely weird. 

"I should get going." He says. "I think I've helped you quite enough for the evening. Don't forget to return the sword once you're finished, Danny." 

"Yeah yeah." Danny shrugs. "Thanks or whatever." 

Vlad rolls his eyes lightly before leaving the room. He doesn't... leave , though. Not just because he knows that Fright is going to reappear soon, but also because he does like this scene from the comic. It's fun! It's something that doesn't really stick due to the nature of comics! Maybe in this world it'll actually be an enduring lesson! 

And it is a bit fun to stick around such an energetic place during Halloween. He has no idea what Vlad does during this holiday normally, so it's safer to just...not stand out too much. ...Okay so maybe stealing an ancient, powerful sword from an ancient, powerful ghost isn't exactly not standing out too much, but really what is he supposed to do? Say no to helping Danny and set himself up to get killed later on- or worse, have to face his disappointment? No, no thank you. He's willing to get into a bit of trouble if it helps him avoid his bad end. 

He feels Fright Knight before he sees him. There really was a reason that he was one of the most feared ghosts besides Pariah Dark. He always had the ability to back up his threats, no matter how much Danny didn't take things seriously. He watches, warily, through the wall as Fright arrives. He could run in and help quite a bit, but...there is the unfortunate fact that he really wants to see the important friendship changes in this story! You can't blame him for wanting to keep certain things stable, even if he could probably gain brownie points by helping. 

And, he guesses, it wouldn't be very IC for Vlad to run right in when Danny can take care of this all on his own. 

That way of thinking lasts him all about thirty seconds when he gets briefly blinded by smoke from Fright Knight, only to feel a heavily gloved hand gripping onto the back of his suit. It's a good thing that he's a halfa, because if Fright tried to toss a human through the wall like he does Vlad right now, then they'd probably be dead. 

"Aha! The other thief! Burrowing away from your responsibility like a rat, I see. It suits your countenance." 

"Hey." Vlad says, groaning a bit. He hadn't expected to be taken by surprise (duh) so he took a nasty hit to the head. But it's not so bad that he can't see Danny's disbelieving expression from nearby. 

"Vlad?? What are you DOING here, I thought you were gone??" He sounds like he can't decide whether to be just plainly confused or outright pissed. Which is...fair, and unfair at the same time. Vlad groans in response again, and Danny scowls harder. 

"I had a...feeling that something like this would happen." He says, getting up to his feet and grimacing. 

"You knew?! Oh, of course, this  was all just some trick- I bet you didn't even actually go after this guy and get rid of him-" 

"Oh honestly Danny don- Watch out!" Vlad moves before he really thinks about it, which he thinks he'll regret later. He just wants to try and help Danny stay out of trouble, he wasn't planning on getting this involved in this fight. But as the Soulshredder falls down on him he squeezes his eyes shut, knowing that he's chosen a stupid, stupid path. 

To his surprise, nothing hurts. Not immediately, anyhow. Maybe that's part of the sword- You can't be properly scared if you're too busy being in pain? It was never expanded on. 

He carefully opens one eye, then the other, and for a moment doesn't understand what he's looking at. Mostly because...there's nothing there. It's all pitch darkness, and if that's supposed to be his greatest fear- Actually. Come to think of it. Will this be his greatest fear or that of the original Vlad? What happens if there's a soul to shred that doesn't match up with the body that it's in? He guesses he's about to find out, and goes to sit up. 

Except...he can't. There's no way to move any part of his body, except for his head. Turning it reveals a small amount of ground around him, and his arms chained down tightly. His heart falls down into his stomach. This is...definitely his greatest fear, not Vlad's. 

The thing about the ending of Dark Phantom was that, as seeing that it was one of the longest and most grimdark comics out there, was that of course it was miserable and horrific for everyone who wasn't either the MC or one of his allies. Most people lived in a nightmare realm that was ruled over by a completely insane ghost king, the world only had bits of it that were habitable by the living, and even ghosts weren't safe from the terrifying rule. There's a reason the ending is so controversial. 

But the worst ending that any character got had to be that of Vlad Masters. 

In his final attempts to gain power and take over the world, he had ended up in outer space. And Dan, having finally grown tired of his evil antics and interfering with his flowery ending (again, only for him and his), had trapped him there. By chaining him to an asteroid made of anti-ghost minerals so he couldn't escape, and forcing him to stay there in only his ghost form because if he changed into a human he would suffocate over and over again. Because of course, killing a halfa is in no way easy. 

Of course Vlad had thought that was appropriate for the original goods. The things he'd done to Danny, the plans he'd worked on and pushed through....of course Danny deserved to get all the revenge he could out of the man. However, as he was now living in that body, the biggest fear in his life is reaching that horrible bad end no matter what he does. Being stuck on a blasted rock in the middle of space and forced to constantly die over and over while also being tortured by a total psychopath obsessed with revenge does not sound to him like a good time. 

It's fine. It's fine . He just has to remind himself that this is, besides being temporary, just an illusion. It feels real, sure, everything feels as real as it had a minute ago in the haunted house. But that doesn't mean it is real. 

He has to keep telling himself that even as he hears footsteps behind him. Logically he shouldn't be able to, because space doesn't carry sound, but when does this fucking comic ever follow perfect logic? And there's only one person who would be out here with Vlad. Well. Two. But he knows which one it is. 

"Plasmius." 

It might be an illusion but the low, self-satisfied timber of voice from just out of his line of sight makes him shiver. The comic had a few cartoon and live action adaptations, but they hadn't gotten all the way through to Dan, so there had never really been a canon voice to put to the character. Hearing what the Soulshredder has made, Vlad thinks it's pretty damn close. 

He yelps a bit when his chin is grabbed, and he's forced to face Dan head on as his face is yanked to the side. He knows it's useless to hide his terror, and he doesn't think he'd be able to anyhow. 

Dan looks extremely unlike Danny does currently, which isn't a surprise when you think about all the trauma he's gone through. His skin is a warm blue, and his white hair has turned into white flames. He's also got a goatee, which Vlad thought would make him look too much like a traditional comic book villain but seeing it in real life is really...Well, it works for him unfortunately. 

He tries to speak, but finds that his throat is far too sore and raw to do so. Maybe not as much of a surprise as he feels, since he's sure this is set after Vlad's died countless, countless times. 

"Sorry to keep you all on your lonesome for so long...I know you miss these visits." Dan sits down next to him, grinning sharp and wide, showing off his glistening fangs. If he could just tone down the obvious evil, he would be such a handsome young man! "How have you been, huh? Same as ever, I bet. Stopped struggling though, I see." 

Vlad stares at him, and he isn't sure what the feeling in his gut is. Besides fear, obviously. Maybe this is taken from his knowledge of the book...? Sure it never went into detail on Vlad's original feelings in the torture scenes, but with the drawings it was honestly made obvious. You could figure out a lot from just a facial expression after all. Maybe some of that is leaking into him, because he has no reason otherwise for why he'd feel so much loathing towards Dan. This isn't something he earned, sure, but right now he's not himself, he's the original villain. And this is an illusion. Even if it feels- So real- 

"Haha. Look at that expression on your face..." Dan snarls and lashes out, and Vlad feels his head snap to the side before he even feels the pain of the slap. "You shouldn't feel so confident you bastard! And here I'd thought you'd gotten it beaten into your thick skull that you should be grovelling every time I come by...Maybe you need a refresher?" 

Vlad had thought earlier that, even if he ended up getting trapped in his worst fear, he would be able to handle it. It's just an illusion after all, and there's nothing serious that could happen to him. It is painfully, agonizingly obvious to him right now that he could not have been more wrong. He had hoped that Danny would be quick about it, but the way this is dragging on he wonders if time is different in the illusions than it is in reality. How long might he be stuck here, if that's the case? How much time is he going to spend, suffering through Dan's torture, and what will happen once he's out? He's not a particularly strong man, not his true self, and he doesn't think he'd be able to be the same after the fact. 

"I think we should start with your hands this time. I'm sure you want to hit me again after all this time..." Dan says, sounding weirdly cheerful about the whole thing. Of course he does, he's a noted sadist. Vlad grits his teeth and shuts his eyes tightly, bracing himself for what's sure to be a horrible experience. 

Except...It doesn't happen. It's strange, but there's a very distinct change in the air around him, and when he finally has the guts to open his eyes he's back in the house. He could cry from the relief that washes through him. It's actually a really near thing. 

"Vlad!" Danny jogs over, looking equal parts guilty, relieved, and concerned. He comes too close too fast, and Vlad can't stop himself from the flinch. Danny blinks wildly and opens his mouth, likely to ask Vlad a very personal question with all the grace of an idiot 14 year old. 

"I'm fine. I'm alright." Vlad says quickly, heading off the awkwardness at the pass. He doesn't want Danny to know what just happened, and he extra doesn't want him to put his foot in his mouth right now. "Did you take care of the Knight?" 

"Oh uh." Danny fumbles with his words for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, we did. It turns out that if you put his sword into a pumpkin it seals him again. Which like, jeeze, would've been good to know ahead of time, am I right?"

"Indeed. But you did it in good time." He stands up slowly, feeling his heart still trying to jump out of his chest. He's fine. He's safe. Nothing bad has happened and nothing bad will happen. "I'm glad. So as for Lancer-" 

"Mr. Fento- Oh! Mr. Masters!" Lancer walks up to them, smoothing his hand over his head as soon as he sees Vlad. Vlad nods to him. "I wasn't expecting to see...you." He glances at Danny, but Vlad knows how this goes. Still, 

"Oh yes, Danny told me all about his haunted house bet with his classmate, and I do love Halloween. He's done such a good job, hasn't he?" Vlad says, not even bothering to hide the genuine pride in his voice. Even if Danny did do some bad shit like stealing and uh, putting several people into the nightmare dimension, he didn't do any lasting damage. And it's not like this was for a fully selfish reason, either. 

"Indeed, that was one of the most frightening experiences I've ever had! Congratulations Mr. Fenton, you win." Lancer looks extremely excited to have finally won one over on Tetslaff, which Vlad can't help but to think is kind of a joke. If he really wanted to do something he should have done it himself... "Now, let's get this party started!" 

Huh. Strange. Danny should have admitted to using the Fenton's inventions in order to get this haunted house in perfect form. He glances over at Danny for a moment, and is surprised when he's looking back at him with obvious worry. Ah, right. Right. It would make sense that he's more concerned about Vlad than being fully honest. Hm. He'll accept that for now. 

Wait, he feels like he's forgetting- Aw shit. 

He reaches out and grabs Lancer by the back of his shirt as he opens the front doors, yanking him out of the way just in time for him to avoid the Fenton brand foam that comes shooting through. Lancer yelps in surprise, but considering what he's avoiding Vlad thinks it's worth it. 

"Danno! Are you-" 

"What in the Great Expectations-" 

Vlad pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs heavily. He sets Lancer down properly and claps his hands sharply. 

"Excuse me! Hello, yes. Maddie, Jack, what have I told you about barging into homes and shooting before making sure there aren't any people in the way?" 

"Oh, Vladdie! Uh, er..." Jack at least looks sheepish, as does Maddie. "We were just worried about Danny!" 

"And I fully understand that, but considering how much hard work he put into this haunted house room I don't think it would be fair to ruin it for him, hm?" Vlad glances off to the side. Luckily it seems that Danny took the momentary distraction to get the green gunk off Tucker and Sam, and what fell into the room actually makes it look a little eerier in his opinion. "Not to mention, I'm here, and I would never let anything bad happen to Danny." 

"Right-o!" Jack claps him on the back and grins brightly. Danny is giving him a look again, but it mostly seems to be shock. Vlad winks at him. 

"Well, despite that startle-moment, I don't think that changes my mind too much. Your room is still the best, Mr. Fenton, and therefore we should really rub it in Tetslaff's face!" For a moment Lancer rubs his hands together and chuckles, before seeming to realize that he's surrounded by people. He clears his throat. "In the spirit of the season, I mean." 

"Right, of course. I think I shall stay a bit, it's been awhile since I got to enjoy candy and the like." Vlad says, smiling a bit. "Maddie, Jack, why don't you spend some time relaxing as well? I know you two have been hunting for ghosts nonstop tonight, but you deserve time off as well don't you think?" 

"Well..." Maddie looks uncertain but Jack nods eagerly. Always taken by the promise of sweets. "I suppose it would be a good idea to wind down. We haven't found anything too intense tonight, even if the readings said..." 

"You should tell me all about what the readings said, actually, I-" Vlad pauses and glances at Danny, who's tugging on his sleeve lightly. "-Just as soon as I finish talking to Danny! One moment if you will." 

He takes a few steps away from the crowd starting to form, and raises an eyebrow at Danny. He has a few...thoughts as to why he'd be approaching him, and he hopes that none of them are as dramatic as he thinks they are. 

"...Thanks." Danny mumbles after a moment. "For uh, sticking up for me. And the thing with Lancer. And I guess you probably didn't plan all this with that weirdo ghost." 

"Of course not, Danny. It may have seemed that way, but that was just because there was no way I would have been able to defeat him on my own." Vlad shrugs. "I had thought that you'd be able to finish the night before he arrived, and that was my mistake." 

"Oh. Right. Well, uh, thanks anyhow. You were kinda cool or whatever." Danny shifts his weight from one foot to the other, not looking up at Vlad. "Okaythanksbye." Then he goes running off, and Vlad is left standing there, kind of amused. 

He didn't really expect much more out of Danny, but it's still entertaining...And now this has been successfully passed, and without Danny getting horrific food poisoning from losing the bet! Vlad can spend the rest of the night enjoying himself, now that his worries have all passed. He'll just...deal with the memories of the fear later, and stuff himself with candy in the meantime. 

Chapter Text

Frankly, after all of that, Vlad needs a break. 

There's a lot that he should be planning, sure. There's plot points that'll happen in a few days or weeks that will influence him and make things a lot more difficult than he wants them to be. But...He needs a break. Surely Amity and Danny won't explode if he spends a little bit of time trying to relax, right? 

Of course all of that is a lot easier said than done. In the first place, what really are his hobbies beyond trying not to die horribly? Is there really something that he could do that the original Vlad also did, that would be interesting? ...Besides the Packers. As much as the original goods loved them, Vlad currently can't manage to feel much more than vague okayness towards them. If it wouldn't completely ruin his character he would have moved all the collectibles down into a safer spot where, critically, he wouldn't have to look at them all the time. 

There's knitting but he doesn't have a lot of places to put that...And he doesn't actually own the famous MadCat yet, so he can't make any sweaters without looking completely insane. More than usual. 

In the end, he turns to the Zone. 

One of the big things that always entranced him about the comics was, of course, the fact that the Ghost Zone was so fleshed out in its worldbuilding. The ghosts were, of course, part of that. But so were the flora and fauna that were in no way sentient enough to even fill out a half page of personality. Even though a lot of the information would come from supplemental materials like books, Vlad always made sure to buy them and take notes- If asked why he would usually just say that it was because the worldbuilding was more interesting than the constant will-they won't-they of the main canon. 

Now he's glad that he spent all that money. 

He's ended up at Skulker's island Lair today, enjoying the sounds of the jungle around him. Most ghosts wouldn't spend even a second longer than they needed to with Skulker, but Vlad knows very well that the original goods and him had their little relationship, whatever it was. And Skulker has extended invitations to him in the while since he finished up their official business, and Vlad is nothing if not someone who's eager to take a hand offered to him. 

Well, that and the fact that Skulker's island has some of the most unique ecto specimens around. What with him being a hunter of the unique and all, it makes sense, but...Vlad hadn't actually been expecting the animals to be taken care of. The comics never really went into detail unless it was for a joke or for a particularly ominous show of strength, but he supposes...it makes a certain amount of sense? They're ghosts, not living creatures that will eventually die off. He's pretty sure that even if Skulker did have a few pelts or bones of the creatures he takes care of on his walls, they would just eventually come back anyhow. 

He's dressed down a bit, compared to normal. He knows that Vlad is a fire core but really, there's that and then there's standing in the middle of the jungle in full science lab fashion. He would probably melt before he got to really relax. And besides he doesn't really know why original Vlad kept to this fashion anyhow...Just like any other ghost Plasmius has always been able to change his looks. Vlad wonders if he didn't just because of vanity. That wouldn't shock him, actually...

"Plasmius!" 

He looks up, a bit startled for a moment before relaxing. There's Skulker, looking as annoyed and huffy as ever. Of course he would be, Vlad just came out here without actually giving any warning ahead of time...But honestly he'd thought he'd be able to get a bit of time alone without bothering someone else. 

"Hello Skulker." He says, from where he's crouched on the ground. "I didn't realize you'd know when I'd entered." 

"Of course I did." Skulker says gruffly, looking annoyed. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? And what's with sitting around in the mud?"

"You worry too much." He says before he can stop himself, and bites his lip when Skuker just looks more annoyed. "By which I mean at all. Do you think that I'm going to be in danger out here?" 

"Wh- Of course not. Obviously." Skulker glares at the ground like it personally offended him. Vlad really wishes that he was the type of guy who would just...say things straight out. "But you poking around out here is strange. Especially in that getup." 

"What, you don't like it?" He stands and does a little twirl, unable to help himself. He looks a lot more Dracula right now than before, having even gone far enough to comb his hair down and tie it back. He figures it's better than it constantly getting squished against things while he's out in the jungle. "I figured that it would be smarter to dress differently when I'm here. If a fire core gets heat stroke that's just embarrassing." 

"...I've never seen you change your clothes so easily." Skulker says. He looks like he's about to get concerned about Vlad again, and he decides to head him off at the pass. 

"I know it's not usual, but as I said, this is a special occasion. As seeing that I'm half human, I can't exactly trust that my body will always react normally to things, correct?" Vlad is talking fully out of his ass, but he hopes it comes across as his regular self being too smug for his own good. Skulker sure looks annoyed enough that it might be working. "In any case! Do you really want to focus on my fashion choices, or would you rather show me around with all your new pets?" 

Got him. He can see Skulker pretty much immediately giving in, the idea of being able to show off his Obsession overriding his concern that Vlad might be acting strangely. 

Vlad really does enjoy himself here, that isn't an act at all. He wishes he could be a little more honest about it,but there's a fine line to tread between acting like a Vlad that turned over a new leaf, and being so utterly different that people will start worrying about if he's been overshadowed or not. He hopes that paying attention doesn't count towards him acting strange. 

He's so focused on Skulker that he honestly doesn't have the attention span to pay attention to the rustling in the leaves. Well, he recognizes that it's there, but that doesn't really mean anything...Until a giant, bright green panther with three eyes comes leaping out of the leaves and tackles him to the ground. He's honestly too shocked to do anything about it right away, not even putting up a shield instantly. He braces himself, utterly prepared to have a few nasty gouges in his body in a few seconds, when instead he feels something wet and a little cold on his face. 

" Custard ." Skulker sounds exasperated. Vlad opens an eye. 

Instead of mauling him and trying to brutally murder him, the gigantic panther is...rumbling, and licking his face. It's very close to making biscuits on his chest, honestly, but it seems to understand that to do that with the size of its paws would be...a bad idea. Vlad blinks and tilts his head a bit. 

"...Oh my." He says, because really, what else are you supposed to say during something like this? He can guess that this is one of Skulker's pets, both by how tame it is and the name - But he's surprised that one of his pets are so friendly to him. 

"She must have really missed you." Skulker says, gruff as always. "Not surprising. How long has it been since you last showed up here?" 

"I see." Hesitating for just a moment, Vlad reaches up to scratch the cat's giant head. Very solid. Sort of reminds him of a pitbull, but with scratchier fur and three eyes. "Well I don't mind. You know my opinions on cats."

"Too much, yes." Skulker walks over and picks Custard up like she's nothing more than a tabby. Vlad manages to sit up, stretching a bit. Ah, that's better. "I don't care if you're going to lay there the rest of the night, but you probably shouldn't..." 

Then why bring it up at all, Skulker? Do you have any idea what it sounds like when you say things that go against the previous sentence?? Vlad just shakes his head and goes briefly intangible so that all the mud and muck falls back onto the ground. He goes over and squishes Custard's jowls a little, completely unable to help himself. She's just so cute! And after that heart attack, doesn't he deserve to be fond of the little- er, big- bastard? 

"Don't spoil her." 

"Come on..." Vlad huffs lightly. "You name her Custard and expect me to not be affectionate? What kind of man do you think I am, Skulker?" 

Skulker sighs again and shakes his head. Vlad would feel offended if it wasn't totally warranted. At least he isn't stopping him, and he's not forcing Custard on him...

He's so distracted that he doesn't realize just where they've been walking to until Skulker suddenly sets Custard down and she bounds off into a nearby doorway. Vlad looks up and blinks. The giant skull hewn from a natural clifface is an incredibly obvious background in the comic, and Vlad can't help to feel excited. It's someplace that never got nearly enough attention in the story, but he'd always been curious about it. What Skulker's decoration sense was like...What he preferred to do...And of course, how someone who was so obsessed with hunting actually lived in his day to day existence. 

He's glad that he's good at the completely neutral expression, because he's sure it would be considered strange for someone who's likely been here a lot before to be looking agape at everything. 

He steps inside and ... honestly the first thing that occurs to him is that everything appears much more normal than he expected. For someone like Skulker, who's constantly going on about hunting, he'd honestly expected all of the halls to be completely covered with hides and for it to look a bit like a classic caveman's home. He's surprised. Sure, Skulker's a walking robot and everything, but he's so...brusque and grumpy. Or maybe it's easier to categorize his Obsession with more modern designs rather than just tossing everything everywhere. 

"What's that look on your face for?" Skulker asks, staring at Vlad. "It's not like a lot has changed since you last left." 

"Can't a man check and see if he should be commentating on anything new? What if you'd brought out something impressive just for me and I failed to notice?" 

"Tsk...As if I would bother with that." Skulker says, but he does look at least a little bit pleased. Honestly, being able to see him up close like this has changed Vlad's opinion of the ghost. He seemed so strict and no-nonsense in the comics, but as a real moving person it's...obvious just how emotional he actually is. It's kind of...charming? 

Vlad shakes his head and goes to sit on a chair (extremely plush and comfortable, but very obviously made of leather and in Skulker's Lair that's...) and blinks as Custard lays her big head right in his lap again. He goes back to petting her before looking at Skulker. 

"So why did you lead me over here? I would have thought you'd want to stick to being outside." 

"I actually have something for you. And to be honest you were looking like you were about to pass out." Skulker gives him a look before pushing something into his hands. Vlad blinks. It's just water, sure, but that doesn't make it any less baffling. "I'm not hauling your unconscious body out of here unless it's for a very good reason." 

"Er...Right. Thank you." Vlad takes a sip, humming at the strange taste of ectoplasm just under the regular cool water. It's...odd. He still hasn't totally gotten used to everything being ectoplasm or tainted with it in the Zone, and even though in his mind he thinks he shouldn't be eating anything like that, he knows that his body can handle it. "And what did you want to give me besides this?"

Skulker holds out something that is, predictably, skull shaped. Vlad takes it, studying it closer. It appears to be...a button of some kind. He can't even imagine what it goes to, so he glances back up at Skulker and raises an eyebrow. 

"This is something you commissioned from me before. And I'm aware that you said you wanted all those contracts voided, but I was already finished with this one, so." He shrugs. "If you just hit that button, you'll be able to summon up a few of my trophies. The ones that were on the contract, not anyone's at random, that would be really disruptive." 

[Ding! 

Gained Uncommon Item: 

Skulker's Summoning Button! 

Use to summon three heavy-duty, strong ghost animals that will be loyal to you for a set amount of time- Or for as long as you have the food needed to keep them docile. Overusing will annoy Skulker and make your relationship with him worse. Congratulations!] 

Vlad looks at the System message and the button for a long moment. Why does this feel like something familiar- Oh. Of course. This must be how Vlad in the comic controlled the animals when he was harassing Danny and Maddie. They must have gotten annoyed at him ordering him around and turned on him... That must have been a hell of a thing for him to have to explain to Skulker. He bets he never let him live that one down. 

"I see. Thank you, Skulker." He tucks it into his pocket and sips at his drink a bit more. "And your...trophies...won't mind too much?" 

"They don't hate you, Vlad. You're a lot better at handling animals than you like to admit." Skulker glances down pointedly at Custard, who's been purring so hard and loud Vlad kind of feels like his leg is going to be rattled to bits. 

"...That's fair enough. Thank you again." He says. He doubts he'll be using it for evil like the original goods would be, but it never hurts to have unkillable, ultra powerful animals on his side when he needs them in an emergency. At the very least if he needs something moved it'll be easier with them. 

...He wonders what Skulker is looking at him like that for. Like he's expecting more. Sure, he's given Vlad something, but that doesn't mean that Vlad owes him- he's already sent over all the necessary payments, and it was entirely Skulker's choice to hand this over even if Vlad didn't need it. Maybe he's expecting Vlad to start talking more? ...That would make sense. He's pretty sure that the original Vlad was a blabber mouth, and always about himself. While he isn't that bad at talking when needed, he doesn't need to right now he's pretty sure. He is perfectly comfortable with just sitting down and letting Custard drool all over him. 

Skulker seems to eventually get the hint that he isn't going to start a conversation, at least. He seems confused, but pleased in his own gruff way. Vlad is comfortable for the rest of the time, and it's a little embarrassing to admit but he ends up falling asleep before he's even realized it. If anyone asked, he would simply point out that he was pinned down by a very big, very cute cat and it would be illegal and hazardous to his health to leave. That and it's been a difficult last month. He doesn't remember any of his dreams, thank god, but when he wakes up and is covered by a blanket he very wisely doesn't say anything to Skulker.

Chapter Text

One of the more annoying things that Vlad had noticed in the comics was that no one ever went into any detail on what, exactly, VladCo did. He had chalked it up to lazy writing, to not wanting to get too into the reeds of information that people would unlikely even care about a little. But he did. He cared so much. Worldbuilding has always been his passion, and he isn't going to pretend like it didn't irk him not to know exactly what the big evil of the series was doing to make all that money. Sure, he made a lot of it by stealing, but you don't make it on the cover of well-known magazines just by having a lot of money. Not more than once, anyhow. 

Since entering this body, however, he's found that he just. Did not understand how the ultra mega rich worked well enough. It is, in fact, true that he has to do very very little in order to keep his portion of his company running in the day to day. The original goods delegated a lot of the things he couldn't do himself to people who are actually quite adept at their jobs, and through his studying of the reports not only are they consistently good but his money has a tendency to make money. He could, quite genuinely, take a vacation for a month and come back a hundred thousand dollars richer. And that's if that's a bad month. 

Still it seems that the original goods kept only the more interesting information for himself. Vlad wouldn't admit it out loud, but it's a lot more interesting reading reports relating to ghost defenses and weapons and studies than it'll ever be going to another board meeting again. And that was with the ability to overshadow the entire board and rush through it. He's just not the type of person who finds the grind very interesting- he wasn't a prolific commentator on a comic book made mainly for edgy teens because he had a flourishing career and home life. 

He leans back in his chair and wonders why things have been so quiet lately. It's not because of a lack of ghosts harassing Amity, he's sure of that. His ghost sense goes off now and again, and sometimes Danny accidentally brings the fighting to his front lawn. Though, since Vlad has proven that he isn't being a raging douchebag anymore, Danny has at least shot him apologetic looks now. It's nice. 

But this is strange...Maybe he's missing something? From what he knows, the next to happen is going to be the whole issue with Johnny 13 and Kitty. Annoying, but not something Danny can't more than handle on his own. He's a strong boy, and it'll build their rapport even more. 

There's a loud crash outside from the streets below his window, and he damn near jumps out of his skin. His ghost sense starts going off before he yanks the blinds open, and honestly he's tempted to yell at whoever it is for a split second before he realizes who it really is. 

Flying in the streets, causing a mess and frightening the humans out of their minds are Walker's goons. Vlad stares for a moment before rubbing his eyes, but no, nothing changes. They're still there, audibly laughing even through the closed window, and he doesn't know why. Did he manage to miss the whole Johnny and Kitty thing without realizing? ...He guesses he has been a little bit distracted by reading the reports lately. If he'd known that this would happen though he would have paid more attention! 

Immediately he shuts the blinds and hurries out of the room, grabbing his cell phone on the way out. He knows what's about to happen, and even though he would like to pretend that Danny could take care of all this stuff himself, he at least wants to warn him. Sure, it might mess some things up, but Walker really could use being taken down a few pegs- 

He walks down the stairs and freezes at the foot when his ghost sense goes off again, stronger this time. Damn it. Of course he has no idea if anything would happen to Vlad in this arc, because Vlad wasn't in Amity at this time! He was still lording it up in Wisconsin- something he's currently regretting not doing. He'd just wanted to watch over Danny and make sure he didn't die, is that really such a bad thing?! 

He creeps across the floor, wondering if he'll be able to escape cleanly or not. It entirely depends on who it is that's here. If it's just some of the mooks, they can be pretty easily fooled, but if it's Bullet or heaven forbid Walker himself... An alert sign pops up in the corner of his vision. He shuts his eyes, as if trying to will it away, before opening them and turning his head slowly. 

[Warning! You are about to meet an important plot character! Good Luck! ^w^] 

Ohhhh if he could strangle the metaphysical concept of a System. He would. He really, really would. Well, that gives it up for any hopes of just getting out of here easily- but maybe if he's smart about it he can still escape with all of his wits about him and a relatively light sentence in the prison. 

See, the issue is that there wasn't that much detail about Plasmius and Walker's relationship, if there even was one. The Warden mentioned him in passing a few times, but that didn't really mean much. Plasmius was an incredibly prolific ghost who did incredibly stupid things that were against the rules of good taste, not to mention the stupid ones Walker cooked up in his mind. There's no doubt in his mind that Walker will want to do something to him that will end with him imprisoned at best. 

Still, avoiding it isn't making things easier. He takes a deep breath and steps into his kitchen. 

There are, in fact, two ghost guards looking around at his things. He feels annoyance creep into his expression before tamping it down hard. He doesn't want to give them an excuse to be aggressive- and he knows Walker wouldn't give one good goddamn if he ended up with a few broken bones on the way. He takes a step further and their heads snap over to look at him. 

"...Gentlemen." He says, allowing each word to absolutely drip acid. He'll stay polite, but that doesn't mean he has to act like a pathetic little worm. "To what do I owe the pleasure? I don't recall hearing the doorbell." 

They glance at each other. It seems that even with Walker's permission to go completely ham they aren't entirely willing to outright piss off a ghost that they know can flatten them into goo. Good. 

"Warden wants to talk to you, Plasmius." One of them says, grinning lopsidedly at him. Vlad does not like the tone he takes, but he has to ignore it for right now. 

"Is that so?" 

"Yeah. And we're authorized to use force so-" 

"Well, at least let me get dressed." He says, sighing and running a hand through his hair. This seems to surprise and absolutely confuse the guards, which isn't exactly surprising but... It is a little bit embarrassing. You would think that Walker would take the time to make sure that the people he hires aren't complete morons, but maybe it's easier for him to exert his control like that. And he doesn't need a ton of intelligent workers- Just one, and a bunch of jerks who can follow instructions. 

"Uh. Don't try to run away!" The guard says, jabbing a finger in his direction. He's clearly trying to come back from being thrown off, and normally Vlad would pity him but right now? He's just fucking annoying. 

"I won't. But being indecent is most certainly against one of the Warden's rules, and I'm not keen on breaking any of those knowingly. Understand?" He looks at them and they hesitate just long enough for him to turn and swan back up the stairs. 

He needs to be quick about this. The last thing he needs is for either of those jackasses to get curious about what's taking him so long and decide to use their right to violence. 

He takes out his phone once he's in his room and shoots Danny a quick text- nothing fancy. Just a "Walker wants to see me. Don't do anything stupid." 

Yes, he's fully aware that a text like this is likely to make Danny do something stupid. But it's fine. He'll probably think that Vlad and Walker are working together, and that will lead him to being a bit aggressive against Vlad for a while until he can explain- Or more likely, until Danny decides that he's iced him out for long enough. Sigh. It's so difficult dealing with teenagers. 

And then he really does get dressed, because the last thing he wants to face Walker in is a Packers' nightgown. There's sticking to your personality, and then there's humiliating yourself. 

They don't take him to the prison, which is one nice thing. Vlad supposes it's probably because it'll be easier to go around the human world without having to constantly rely on Wulf to get them to and fro. Besides, they won't be able to rely on Wulf for much longer...

He shakes his head, trying to clear his mind of anything weird that might give him away. Walker is a smart man, and if there's one thing Vlad doesn't want to deal with when it comes to him, it's a cross examination. He isn't sure he'd be able to keep his wits about him without making a stupid mistake that ends with Walker getting an idea that something weird is going on. 

He's walked through a few hallways in...somewhere, he actually isn't totally sure where they're at, and then one of the guards opens a door. Walker's sitting behind a desk in the room beyond it, and Vlad has to tamp down his instinctive reaction to fanboy. 

Look, he's never been subtle about how much he loves the villains of this series. It just helps immensely that Walker is one of the more...classically handsome ones! Which is what he tells himself and told everyone on the internet whenever they asked why he liked going to bat for a literal skeleton so often. He also objected to anyone's accusations of him actually finding Walker (or any of the other villains) hot, because obviously and objectively a handsome character. They draw him handsome, people cosplay him handsome, it's just logic! 

It's different seeing him face to face. He's pretty sure he's still straight, but if there was ever a man currently who he'd go briefly gay for it'd probably be Walker. He isn't going to tell him that any time soon though. 

"Plasmius." The Warden drawls at him and he tries to keep himself calm and casual and not immediately straighten up like a schoolboy who's about to get scolded. "I'm awful glad you were able to come by. Boys, close the door behind you when you leave." 

And just like that he's alone in a room with Walker. He looks at the man for a long moment before going to sit across from him. His mind is kind of working on autopilot right now, and he figures that it won't be the most insulting thing he'll do during this conversation. He's just going to hope that Walker has a sense of humor about the whole thing.

"What do you need from me on such short notice, Warden?" He says. There's a fine line to tread here between genuine sass and amusement, and he is not at all confident he can tread it carefully. 

"Right to the point then. That's fair enough." Walker stands and walks towards Vlad with his hands tucked behind his back. He seems smug, but not in a way that's directed at Vlad. "As you may have noticed, my employees and I are taking the time to have a little bit of fun in your city. Normally I wouldn't need to ask for permission, since it's work related, and to be honest I still really won't...But I am askin' if you're going to get in my way." 

...Interesting. He had thought for sure that he would start all of this by threatening him...Maybe this won't go as badly as he was worried it would.

"May I make a guess that this has something to do with Daniel?" He says, and when Walker looks annoyed but nods he sighs. "No, of course I won't get in your way Walker. Honestly that boy could do with a bit of a scare, considering what he's been up to all this time. Though I wouldn't mind knowing a little bit more, so that our paths don't...cross in the wrong way." 

For a moment he really thinks he said something wrong, by the way Walker is looking at him. It's a calculating, judging gaze that he's positive has all sorts of ghosts shaking in their boots the second it's aimed towards them. He might have to act like he isn't at all affected, but on the inside his heart is pounding. Is it really so bad for him to just want all of this to pass over without issue? 

"I see. I s'pose that punk has a lot more serious enemies than he thinks." Walker chuckles and goes back over to sit, folding his hands in front of him. Phew. "We're gonna overshadow a few of the folks closest to him- Not too close, mind, but enough to get under his skin that something ain't right- and we're gonna ruin his reputation in this town." 

"I see. That's certainly very clever...And should I assume that you and yours are going to be doing your very best to arrest him as well?" 

"Mhm. He may have gotten away the first time, but that was just sheer luck." Walker's hands ball into fists despite his placid expression. Vlad swallows hard. "Eventually he'll walk right into my trap, and that's when I'll get him proper." 

"Right, of course of course." Ugh, he feels like he's trying to reassure a shareholder that he absolutely understands how the market works. "Er...Are you using any big names for this? Besides Bullet of course." 

"Hm. You've met Bullet?" 

Shit. Had Vlad not? He has no idea! No one ever mentioned it one way or another! 

"I have heard plenty of him. Don't forget, I regularly speak with Skulker." He says, hoping that he isn't speaking too fast or frantically or panicked or- At times like these he really wishes he had some way of hiding his face and his reactions. Walker watches him for another moment before sighing. 

"Of course you do. You're not getting up to anything against the rules, are you now?" 

"What! Absolutely not, perish the thought!" He hopes he sounds insulted enough. Maybe he's putting it on a little thick, but really as far as he's aware he isn't doing anything illegal. But then again, there was once an extra for the comics that involved a whole story about Walker's rule book, and some of the rules in that story... well. He wouldn't be super shocked if he managed to accidentally break one or twelve. But knowingly, purposefully? ...Not since he arrived in this body, to be sure! 

"Mhm. Alright, I'll trust you for right now. Don't break that trust, you hear?" Walker shakes his head. At least with Vlad appearing kind of weak-willed and flighty means that no one takes him seriously as an actual threat. It makes his life so much simpler. "But to answer your question- Yes. I'm bringing Bullet along. And as a special...performance, I'm also going to be bringing out Wulf." 

"Oh?" Vlad tries to sound like he didn't know and has no idea who Wulf even is. He's not totally sure how successful he is... "Is there something special about Wulf?" 

"Mhm. He's an awfully strong ghost- Too bad he's a complete troublemaker." Walker shakes his head as he speaks. Vlad knows a little bit about his grudge against Wulf, though because they were side characters of side characters, there was never nearly enough information. "You don't have to worry about him. I'm sending him to deal with Phantom, and if he knows what's good for him he won't let his attention stray." 

Isn't that just as good as saying that if he gets screwed over, Vlad will only have himself to blame? Ugh. At least he knows that so long as he stays in Danny's good graces he'll be able to keep Wulf from turning his strength and powers on him. 

He's not exactly filled with confidence, but what choice does he have? 

"I understand. I may step out of my house but if any of your men see me I'm not there to cause any trouble." A pause. "By the way...Who exactly are you planning to overshadow? The teachers, the Fentons?" 

"Eventually, sure. But frankly, the people who're gonna be easiest to get physically close to Phantom aren't any adults." Walker must see the look on Vlad's face, and chooses to fully ignore it. About this, at least, Vlad isn't bothering to make his emotions subtle. "Besides, the kids will be more difficult for him to fight against efficiently. It's one thing when faced with someone who you don't properly know, but if it's a classmate..." 

"Right....." He decides to give up trying to explain how many things are insane about that. Walker won't care, and it'll seem all too suspicious that Vlad does. He always thought it was insane in the books and he thinks it's even more insane now that he's face to face with it. But at best Walker would laugh off any concern he has and at worst he'd get suspicious or change his plan without mentioning anything, so... 

"Actually, there is one more thing that I might ask of you." Walker says. "Phantom has those human parents of his...I haven't seen them in action too much, but I don't want them to become a problem. Unfortunately, we all know that they're unlikely to be easy to overshadow. So if you're able to, I want you to distract them." 

"Is that so?" Vlad hesitates, and it feels weird to just...say yes or no so easily. On the one hand, he would be using his slightly repaired relationship with the Fentons in order to make their lives a little bit harder. On the other, they're kind of incompetent, and he doesn't want them getting hurt. And if he distracts them he can frame it like Jazz does- He's trying to help Danny by giving him more room to freely work, instead of being stressed out by the likelihood of his parents shooting at him. Yeah. Okay. He can do that. "Alright, I can come up with something. But you'll have to tell me when, specifically. It's somewhat difficult to guess at the right time." 

"I can arrange that." Walker leans forward, offering out one of his hands. "I look forward to workin' with you, Plasmius." 

"Likewise, Warden." He replies, shaking his hand and trying not to feel too much like he's signing his own death warrant.

Chapter Text

Getting back home is easy enough. No one bothers to escort him back, and he is grateful for that. He doesn't think he would be able to handle the awkwardness- Or worse, that the stupid cops might get him to be a little too sarcastic and he'd end up in prison despite all his work. 

Despite coming alone, he isn't that surprised when his ghost sense goes off. It would be more shocking if no one had followed him honestly. Sighing, he opens the front door and braces himself for...nothing? He opens his eyes and studies his quiet foyer with something like disapproval. It would be so much easier if people would just make themselves known right away. He doesn't understand why they have to make a whole dramatic thing of it. 

"Whoever's here, I'm not really in the mood." He calls out, stepping inside and bending down to remove his shoes. "So can we leave this for later?"

"I'm worried about your health and that's all you can say?" Danny comes into view, hanging upside down from the rafters and damn near giving Vlad a heart attack. He prides himself on not screaming like a little girl, though it's definitely very close. 

"Ah. Hm." He coughs in order to calm himself a little bit. "I should have known it was you Danny. What do you mean, worried about my health?" 

"Uh, hello?" Danny raises his phone and Vlad recalls the text he'd sent before being bustled off. "You send something that vague and I'd be worried about even you, Vlad. What did you plan with Walker- I know he's causing a bunch of issues in town and I'd like to kick everyone's butts before my parents make a huge mess of things." 

"I planned nothing. Walker, on the other hand..." He shakes his head. "Well, you must have already known that you're not in the Warden's good graces, Danny. And I'm sure you know that he's going to try and arrest you again- most likely for good this time."

"Ugh...Yeah... I do know that." He sighs and finally rights himself, standing next to Vlad. It's kind of painfully obvious that he still doesn't really trust him, but at the very least he's not making a huge fuss. Small steps. "But why would he want to go after you?" 

"He wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to get in his way. And I'm not." He regrets saying this as soon as he does, but he has to put down the facts somehow. Even if it's really not a good idea to get on Danny's bad side. 

To his surprise, though, Danny just snorts. 

"Yeah yeah...you're all about self-preservation and whatever. I guess even you must not want to get on Walker's bad side huh?"

"Not particularly, no...I don't enjoy being jailed for nonsense reasons." Vlad looks at him for a long moment. He isn't sure how to feel about Danny taking his proclamation in stride. Should he be happy? Worried? Because worried is just about all he can ever feel nowadays. "He seems very serious about this, Danny. You should be careful and mind the people around you as well." 

"...You don't think...He'd try going after humans??" Danny sounds absolutely horrified and Vlad has to remind himself that at this point he's an innocent, gentle do gooder whose worst crimes involve tripping his bullies invisibly. Of course he wouldn't understand why Walker would go so far to get back at him. 

"Yes, I do. He all but said as much. You have to understand that you dealt quite an embarrassing blow to Walker, and he doesn't take hits to his ego very well. At best he might be willing to leave it if you were to turn yourself in, but...He's already sent his officers around, hasn't he." 

"Ugh...Yeah, you're right." Danny has started to pace, running his hand through his hair. He looks so anxious now, like he hadn't at all considered just how bad things could get. "And you really can't give me any hints?"

"I apologize. If it helps, the plan isn't so sophisticated that you can't figure your way out of it. It isn't as though Walker is known for using a delicate touch." 

"Yeah...you don't gotta remind me of that." Danny rubs at the back of his neck, clearly remembering something unpleasant. Vlad has been here long enough that he knows very well just how real everything is- And being beat up in a prison full of your worst enemies isn't something easy for even the strongest people to go through, let alone a teenager. "Why'd you agree to deal with him if he's doing something stupid?"

"Oh honestly. Can you not guess at the reasoning?" When Danny just stares at him blankly he sighs. "Walker is more trouble than he's worth. If you want someone to leave you alone despite their...insistence on bothering you, what's the smartest way?"

"Uhhh... I mean I usually just beat them up-"

"And that goes well for you, does it?" Vlad raises an eyebrow and shakes his head at Danny kink of mumbling his answer. "No, the smartest thing to do with these sorts of people is make them believe that you're giving in to their demands when you're actually simply playing along until you can change things to your liking. Agreeing to work with Walker isn't because I actually agree with his insane plans, it's because not agreeing to work with him would mean he'd become suspicious and determined to keep a leash on me. Instead, he believes that I am fully on his side and won't make a whole thing of it." 

Danny is making that face where he clearly doesn't have much understanding of what he's saying. But that's okay, really. He doesn't need to understand the intricacies Vlad uses to try and keep himself alive. He just has to get the gist. 

"So...You aren't acting evil just because Walker wants you to?" 

"Wh- No. I dare say I'm a fair sight stronger than Walker if I really put my mind to it...But not only that, I just don't want to have to sit in his awful prison for however long he thinks is appropriate for backsassing him." 

Danny looks confused for a moment more, before it seems that something at least clicks and he nods. Vlad seriously doubts he actually understands anything, but this is good enough for right now. At least Danny won't be breaking in to try and kick his ass for going back to being "evil".

"Good, glad to know we understand each other. Now, may I request you leave?" Vlad gestures towards the front door. "As much as I doubt he cares about what I'm doing, he's not going to take it kindly if I said all that just to hang around you. Besides, shouldn't you be trying to smoke him out?"

"Ugh. Can't you say it in a nicer way?" Danny says. Well, really, he whines it with all the energy of a grouchy teenager being told that he's wrong. Sigh. Vlad is terribly fond of him even if all his appreciation for him as a fictional character is being washed away. 

"Yes, of course. Dearest Daniel, my beloved nephew. Get out." 

Danny laughs before he can stop himself, and Vlad considers it a win even as he's being flipped off. 

Well. There's nothing else to do for this storyline but to wait, he supposes. Danny will figure things out, and he'll come out the other end stronger for it. He'll apologize for putting him in danger later, if Danny ever figures out that Vlad probably could have helped him the whole time. He's sure he'll forgive him. 

For all that he's been worried about his impending doom, it really feels like...Danny isn't going to hate him to the ends of the earth. Sure, there's still the...really awful plots in the future that he'll have to worry about. But maybe he can figure out a way to deal with them... In a way that won't make Danny want to kill him horrifically. He thinks he could handle a little bit of torture if it makes Danny feel like he got revenge! Hell, he knows very well that this body won't die all that easily. And it has a concerning level of pain tolerance. He just, he can handle it. So long as it doesn't end in his eternal torment or death. 

The fact that he can consider all of this without the System blaring warnings that he's going to destroy the plot and he had better watch himself means that it isn't against the rules to just plan things like this. He knows better than anyone that the plot will likely happen with or without his plotting...But it still feels better to know that he won't be murdered just for thinking about saving his skin. 

He goes to sit down and scroll through his computer, thinking. When he realizes how long he's been thinking about the plot, he quickly switches the tab to the siamese adoption center he's been staring down like the barrel of a gun. He thinks that this might be a canon-dependent action, to adopt Madcat. But god. He wants the fan favorite so badly he could throw up. Just LOOK at these cats. Their faces are so horribly smooshed, they have absolutely no brain in their heads. He's certain he could put all the brain cells of all persians together in the same room and still have room for an elephant. 

He's so utterly enraptured by the thought of a kitten it takes him a good few minutes to realize that the strange uncomfortable heat he felt in his throat earlier wasn't because he was on the verge of tears about cats. It was his ghost sense going off. 

He sits there for another minute, both to berate himself mentally for getting distracted and to try and figure out who it is exactly that he's feeling. It isn't Danny, there's a very specific ecto-signature of his that's always familiar. But he actually doesn't recognize the ecto-signature...Which is concerning. Just because the cops are spending the most time harassing the humans today doesn't mean that there aren't other ghosts causing issues. 

Standing, Vlad sighs. He really doesn't want to deal with any trouble. But the fact of the matter is that whoever it is has been patient enough to wait for him to notice them- Shouldn't he then at least do them the favor of meeting them? Ugh, though. It's going to be so annoying. 

From what he can sense they're down in the drawing room, which is at least a slightly better show of politeness than he expected. He doesn't bother taking the stairs, instead going intangible and slipping down through the ceiling. He swears, if it's the cops here to be a problem again, he's not going to be nearly as polite as he was earlier. 

...And yep. There's Bullet sitting on the couch. It's interesting recognizing him from his basic comic appearances, because although he didn't get nearly as much attention as he should have (his design is so cool, after all) he's very unique. Ther'es almost no other fishmen ghosts, and the ones that are around are more literal fish than Bullet is. He's also just as much of a hardass as his design suggests, causing trouble under Walker's name all the time in the original plot. His character was never really explored to Vlad's liking, but the fandom did more than their fair share of that, eager to make as much yaoi as physically possible. 

Now the question is: why is he at Vlad's home? 

"Officer." Vlad makes himself visible again, looking at him. It's clear that Bullet knew he was there already, because he doesn't look remotely surprised to see him. "I didn't know that you were going to arrive. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Hey Plasmius. Glad you asked..." Bullet sits forward, grinning at him sharply. It's strange, and definitely meant to be a little threatening. Vlad doesn't let it bother him, and is in fact a little over distracted by his accent. Fascinating . He would not have pegged Bullet as being from Jersey. "I could use your help with somethin' really important, actually." 

"Well, as I told Walker, I am ever eager to assist." He steps closer, and that's his mistake. Bullet moves too quickly for him to catch, and jabs a needle into his arm before he can react. "What-" 

"Sorry about this, Plasmius." Bullet grins again and it almost does look a little apologetic. Vlad wants to kick his ass, but suddenly his head swims hard and he stumbles forward. Bullet catches him, which makes him feel more than a little pathetic. "But this is the only way that this'll work. I'll make it up to you later. 

Vlad thinks he might have said something in reply, but all that comes through his mind is an increasing fog and panic that's quickly being dulled with whatever it was that Bullet hit him with. It must have been specifically tailored for ghosts, because he can't imagine any other way that this would be happening. 

How embarrassing. The ever so powerful Vlad Plasmius, getting taken down by a single needle and a character that can barely even be called "filled out". When he wakes up, he's going to scold himself harshly.

Chapter Text

Vlad doesn't realize it immediately when he wakes up. Not just because his brain feels like a bunch of cotton being spun slowly by hand, but also because he's apparently been blindfolded at some point in between being kidnapped and ending up...wherever he is. 

He can't quite think clearly just yet, but he's absolutely sure of the humiliation he feels. Getting caught so easily...And by a total idiot who gets his ass kicked more than once in the background, not even a main character! But is it really his fault for putting a little bit of trust in Walker's underlings? After all it seems insane to make an agreement of not interfering and then going out and causing problems for Vlad anyhow. Which means...Bullet is probably working on his own. This does not mean anything good for him! At least if Walker was behind this Vlad would be able to expect some amount of decency! 

Hey System, can't you try and help me out here? There's no way this plot will go well with what you have planned! 

[ Responding: 

No strong changes in the plot direction. +40 Protagonist Complexity Points. +20 Side Character Complexity Points. Keep up the good work! ]

God damn this System. He'd be doing so much better if he was running this alone but nooo, he has to handle an annoying digital jackass telling him incredibly unhelpful point amounts. What can he even do with those? This System doesn't even have a shop feature! 

Someone walks over and yanks off his blindfold and he has to pretend like he wasn't five seconds away from cursing out a projection of godlike abilities in his head. Bullet's crouched in front of him, looking kind of amused. 

"You're shockingly quiet for a man who got kidnapped." 

"I'm simply not an idiot. Now. What is the meaning of this?" Vlad still feels kind of groggy but he can still appear at least somewhat intimidating. Bullet doesn't seem very affected...but he also doesn't seem to be taking Vlad lightly... 

"Look, it's better if you don't know. Just sit there and be good bait and this'll all be over soon." He says, standing up. Vlad glares at him hard, but isn't fully willing to commit to causing issues just yet. But still, he could probably-

...

He can't access his ghost powers. Oh no. No wonder Bullet doesn't look the slightest bit concerned. Fucking hell. 

"Oh, you noticed huh? Yeah, I figured you'd be a pain in the ass so I slapped some power dampeners on you. It won't hurt so long as you don't try anything." Bullet shrugs, smirking a little bit. Ohhh Vlad wants to punch him right in his stupid fish face. But he knows how this goes. These power dampeners probably also have electric shocks built into them, and if he tries anything Bullet's got his hand on the trigger. Vlad is a lot of things but he doesn't think he's that much of a masochist. "Oh don't give me that look Plasmius. I just gotta catch the little bastard and then I'll let you go." 

"...You mean Phantom." He says with no small amount of distaste. Damn it. 

"Yeah. And Wulf if I can swing it, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm probably gonna have to deal with him after all of this." Bullet sounds so casually annoyed. Vlad can't help but to wonder how often the bastard has to go through these motions of catching Wulf and dealing with things- One would think that maybe if it keeps happening it would be better to give up on Wulf completely. 

Haha. As if. Walker is worse than a bloodhound with a steak. 

"And does the Warden approve of this sort of thing?" He says, huffing a little bit. 

"...Well, he will when he gets here, I'm sure." Bullet shrugs. Shrugs! Vlad wants to strangle him. As if this is something you can so simply ignore! "He understands that sometimes you have to do things that bend the rules a little bit." 

"I highly doubt that. Walker doesn't seem the type at all."

"Please. As if you know him that well. I'm his Deputy." Bullet grins sharply. Vlad doesn't want to admit that he's kind of right, so he just sniffs and turns his head away, studying the area they're in. 

Where the hell are they, actually? He doesn't recognize it, only knowing that it's probably a basement of some sort. He can try and remember the details of the comic, but it's not like they were always...very specific about where the scenes were taking place. Sure, continuity was nice and all, but sometimes entire floors would materialize if it made the scene look cooler. 

It's while he's looking around curiously that there's footsteps on the stairs. He wonders if he's about to be humiliated by being found bound like a hog, when Dash appears. He looks surprised for a moment before his face twists into an uncharacteristic scowl.

Ah. That's right. That's not Dash, that's Walker. 

"Bullet," he says, striding over. "What exactly is the meanin' of this?" God it's weird to hear the Texan coming out of an Illinois boy. 

"Hey Chief. Look, uh...We've been struggling with dealing with the Phantom, right? Even Wulf has." Bullet speaks so...casually to Walker. It's respectful, but in the way you might speak to a longtime friend you respect, rather than your boss. "So I figure we hit him where it hurts." 

"You..." Walker pinches the bridge of his nose. He looks like he's trying to ward off  a headache. If Vlad wasn't currently being held hostage, he would actually almost feel badly for him. "Bullet. This is the stupidest idea you've ever had."

"So you think it won't work?"

A much longer silence than Vlad would like.

"Fine. But I don't want Plasmius to get injured during this shit. I made an honorable deal with him, and I intend on keepin' it."

"Yes sir." Bullet salutes and grins over at Vlad. Damn it. There goes his only hope, shattered by a man who absolutely could know better than to be doing this. Could he try to talk his way out of this with Walker? Doubtful, actually. While Walker is kind of honorable, he's also terribly obsessed with getting revenge on Danny. Damn it. 

Walker glances over at him for a moment, clearly something on his mind. But instead of actually saying anything like a normal person, he turns back to Bullet and starts discussing things in a quiet voice. It's definitely strange to see Dash Baxter so casually next to a ghost, but...Ugh. 

He leans back and thuds his head gently onto the wall behind him. He knows how this ends...but will Danny be able to get out the other side unscathed? He doesn't know. But he sure hopes so. 

There's no way to tell when it happened, but Vlad finds himself jolting awake a while later. Perhaps whatever Bullet had used on him was still in his bloodstream, so he fell asleep without realizing. Much to his fucking agony, he's still tied up tightly and the only movement he's managed while asleep is falling off to the side. Damn it. 

Of course he could probably try and squirm towards the door or something, because as far as he can tell no one's down here right now. Walker must have figured that it wouldn't be worth it to put guards down here, not when Vlad is trussed up like he is. He wishes he could give him any kind of reason to doubt that, but he can tell that it's going to be....difficult at best to inch his way across the ground. Not to mention it's filthy and with god only knows what scattered all around. He's liable to cut himself up and he won't even have his powers to heal quick. Ugh. When he gets free he swears to god, he's going to KILL Bullet- Twice! 

There's a noise from up above, and Vlad glances up just in time to see two people crashing through- intangibly- the ceiling. The white and black identifies one as Danny, but the other...Aw jeeze, that's right, they're still in the human suits. Damn it. That means that Danny's going to have more of an issue actually fighting them. 

"Augh-!" Danny yells as he's blasted into the wall right next to where Vlad is. Good thing he's been lying down this whole time or he would have gotten knocked around. "Ugh...You know I shouldn't hit a girl b- Vlad?!" 

For the first time Vlad realizes just how he must look in this moment. Handcuffed and bound down tightly, without his powers, in a dingy basement where ghosts have been keeping him. He knows that he wanted to come across as not a threat to Danny, but he didn't want to come off as pathetic. At least not like this!

"Danny." He says, trying to keep his tone mild and uninterested. It doesn't quite work. "Funny meeting you here." 

"What the hell??" Danny scrambles to his feet and faces the mayor, who if Vlad remembers right is being possessed by Walker. "You brought Vlad into this? You're a real piece of work, Walker." 

"Now now, I wouldn't say I had the hand in bringin' him here." Walker glances over at the group of possessed people pointedly. "But he ain't that bad of a piece." 

Vlad jolts as someone grabs him from behind: a guard that hadn't been possessing anyone and was sneaking through the walls. He's yanked away from Danny and closer to Walker, the threat obvious. 

"Hey! Let him go! Your freaky obsession is with me, isn't it?!" Danny's hands start glowing brightly, and oh does he look furious. Vlad isn't too sure why, because even if they are doing a little better in the friendliness department, are they really so close that he would be angry about something like this? ...Oh, right, of course, Danny is the type of person who finds any kind of injustice one too many. It wouldn't matter who it was, probably. That makes more sense. 

"Sure is. But something tells me that I can get a lot more out of you if I use your weaknesses against you. Call it a hunch." Walker points at Vlad, his trademark smirk looking so, so weird on a human man. "If you do anything with that little lightshow of yours, I'm gonna blow his head off." 

"What?!" Vlad yelps. That is pretty fucking rude of him! He- Does he even know that Vlad can't die that easily?! Or is he so confident in Danny's justice-obsession that he's certain he won't have to resort to that? Or is he bluffing??? Vlad is too busy trying not to get shot to be able to tell one way or another. 

"You-!" Danny's hands sputter out and he glares a bit. "Fine. I won't shoot." 

Walker smirks and moves his hand just a little bit, clearly about to give an order. 

"With my ectoblasts at least!" Danny whips out the thermos and blasts the cop holding Vlad. Vlad, who has never been so grateful for his body's built in instincts before, ducks and hits the floor. It hurts, but not more than getting blasted would. 

There's a flurry of movement as the more cowardly guards jump out of the way from the thermos. Danny chases them though, visibly determined, and Vlad is forced to sit there like a prized pig. This isn't the first time he's been forced to take a back seat to all the shenanigans, sure, but that doesn't mean he has to be happy about it. He's the adult in this halfa relationship after all, he should be the one taking care of Danny and definitely not the other way around. 

...It's all so...frustrating. 

What's the point of him being a fairly strong character if he's not able to properly access that when it really matters? He bets the original Vlad Masters could break through all this easily. No- He wouldn't have even gotten in a jam like this. He would have been able to figure out how to avoid attention and detection. It's because he's here and stuck in this body that the Vlad Masters name is being smeared through the mud. And it isn't exactly helping the plot either. Who's ever heard of a villain who has to be saved so often by the protagonist?? 

If he could rub at his face in frustration he would. He has to figure something out about this- He refuses to be a thorn in Danny's side any longer. It's just...It's not what he deserves, even as a person divorced from the character. 

There's a soft tap behind him, and when he looks up Danny's standing there, looking a little bit sheepish. 

"So uh...you need help?" He says, looking down at Vlad with a strange expression on his face. Vlad doesn't mind it though, he can certainly not blame him. 

"If you would. These power-dampening cuffs are quite annoying to have to deal with." Vlad says,and then sighs as Danny goes around him. "Honestly, who knew Bullet was going to do all that? Aha...ha...." 

"His name is Bullet? Wait, was it-"

"The fish that's strangely aggressive over Wulf? Yes." Vlad sighs in relief as Danny finally gets the cuffs off of him. He has to rub at his hands a little bit to get the feeling back in them. Ugh... "Thank you, Danny. I didn't, er, expect all of this. How did the fight go?" 

Wrong thing to say. Vlad feels awful as he watches Danny visibly deflate. 

"...Walker was just toying with me the whole time." He scuffs his boot against the concrete floor, looking extremely put out. "He made it so that the whole town saw "me" dragging him around! Now everyone's gonna hate me, and they're not gonna believe me when I said I'm not evil, and my parents tried to shoot me again-" 

"Danny." Vlad reaches up and takes his hands gently. It's at least enough to startle the boy out of his racing thoughts. "It isn't your fault, you realize? Walker is a very convincing bastard, and your parents wouldn't have shot at you if they knew who you were." 

"You sound so sure." Danny mumbles. Vlad thinks that yes, of course he's sure. He saw it in the comics. There was never a chance that his parents wouldn't love him for himself. 

"Well, they were my best friends in college. A lot of things may have changed, but they really have not." Vlad sighs after a moment and slowly stands up. He's tired, and he would dearly like to go home soon. But he can't let a teenager struggle all on their own, no matter how character-improving it might be. "Come along. You should let your friends know you're alright and what exactly happened." 

"...Yeah." Danny looks up at him for a moment and opens his mouth...But he doesn't end up saying anything. Vlad pretends not to notice, specifically so that Danny doesn't get embarrassed. He remembers being fourteen after all. "Hey, Vlad, are you okay?" 

"Me? Oh I'm just fine, really. My pride is a little bruised but that's nothing I can't handle in time." Vlad waves away the concern lightly. "I might even ask for damages from Walker later on- I think that would be very funny." 

Danny covers his mouth and visibly tries not to laugh, but fails completely with a snort. Vlad grins a little bit. Good. He's cheered him up, just a little bit. Better than before, and hopefully it'll help him more as he struggles through this arc. Honestly...Vlad is considering if it would be worth it to push his money around a little bit. Just to make sure that the town doesn't get too many funny ideas when it comes to Phantom. 

Something to consider, certainly. Once he's had a bit of time to recover from this ego blow of a shitshow.