#I don't know what it is with me and throwing Vlad and Jack into the woods & making them work together

[satureja13]

Winter Solstice Since Summer Solstice in June, the Night has stolen a few minutes of light every day - until today. Therefore today is the longest night of the year - and the beginning of the long, cold winter. But - just like a miracle - from tomorrow on, the days are getting longer. Leading us through the darkness until summer starts again. This is my favourite festival throughout the whole year. Because even when you hit rock bottom and you think you will never see the light again - there is still hope. And the sureness the light will come back. And the best thing: You don't even have to do anything to get the light back - it just happens! A happy Winter Solstice, y'all - may the light come back into your life <3

At Batuu, the light comes back even three times stronger with it's three suns. Saiwa, Jeb and Jeb went back to the woodlands, where they'd left the stolen borrowed shuttle. Lt. Agnon and Kylo Ren already arrived for the handover.

Lt. Agnon: "B.D will be here soon and we'll make a short briefing. Then we start the broadcast and tell the folks how we solved this diplomatically and peaceful." Saiwa nodded: "Sure." It's hard for all of them to remain professional to not endanger their mission. How hard must it have been for Albaleyh!

And finally the shuttle from Belsavis, the prison planet, landed - with B.D on board! Lt. Agnon had kept his promise.

And Saiwa is glad they'd left Vlad, Ji Ho and Jack at the cantina. They are still a bit dazzled. But Vlad would have made a huge fuzz for sure if he'd been here...

But they sat quietly at their table, trying to process everything. They don't remember much. Vlad had been shocked by the Stormtrooper after throwing a tantrum, Jack had collapsed because he can't stand being locked up and Ji Ho shut down completely, overwhelmed by their feelings that had hit him through the Bond... Ji Ho: "Why are these people staring at us?" Jack: "I don't know!"

But then the broadcast started. Jack, still a bit out of it, dreamily sighed: "Look how hot Kiyoshi looks..." Vlad was having a hard time looking at the man who had tried to take Ji Ho from them - him - and avoided to look at the screen...

None of them has an idea how it had happened that all of them and B.D are free now. Cantina Guest: "They are friends of Lenny, the Legendary, you know? He made all this possible! Lenny finally brought peace to Batuu." Cantina Guest 2: "You sure? They look a bit - drably..." Cantina Guest: "Pshhhhh! If Lenny hears you!" Vlad: "Tch."

Vlad, Ji Ho and Jack left the cantina. Too much commotion for their still dazzled brains. The fresh air will do them good. And Jack was still hungry, so they sat at a food stand. Vlad and Jack are still utterly amazed of how stunning it is here. They don't want to leave Batuu - ever.

Jack: "I mean, we're drinking Bantha Milk while looking at a TIE Echelon in a Galaxy far far away!"

And that was when Kylo Ren and Lt. Agnon returned from the broadcast... Master Ren looked longingly over to Jino... Of course he'd seen them.

Whether Vlad didn't understand how fragile this new peace was - or he just couldn't contain his anger. He never can when it comes to Ji Ho... "Hey, you!" he yelled in Kylo Ren's direction.

Before Jack could stop him, Vlad ran over, still a bit wonky on his legs, but he has to make a point. Master Ren and Vlad produced their lightsabers. Vlad: "This is for what you did to Jino - and Ji Ho!"

Master Ren: "You should have left him with me - you have nothing to offer him! He should belong to someone who loves and cherishes him."

Ji Ho: "Vlad is so hot..." Jack: "I know, right?! Damn - even I think he's hot!" Ji Ho: "Eh - did I say that out loud?" Jack: "What do you mean?"

Vlad: "Ji Ho belongs to no one! He's free to make his own choices!"

They kept on fighting for a while until Lt. Agnon cleared his throat. Lt. Agnon: "Master, it's time to end this if we don't want to taint our new found peace."

But before they ended this, Vlad took one last strike. Vlad: "And this is for Han!"

Spoiler: Kylo Ren killed his father Han Solo in 'The Force Awakens'. And neither I nor Jack and Vlad will ever forgive him! (I didn't even watch those movies ^^' They didn't happen ö.ö')

Kylo Ren and Lt. Agnon went back to the First Order Building and Vlad back to Ji Ho. Ji Ho: "I wouldn't mind belonging..." Vlad: "To him?! Fine! If that's what you want!"

Ji Ho: "I want to belong to you." Vlad: "Oh..." Jack: "Aouwwwww!"

Let's cherish this as long as it lasts and they're still dazzled ^^'

Vlad, Ji Ho and Jack eventually arrived at the campsite by the shuttle where they are supposed to spend the night. B.D will leave early tomorrow morning to meet his kids, he'd already called them. And as soon as the Boys found a hike to the orbit, where Great A'Tuin is waiting for them, they will leave Batuu too.

'Later on, we'll conspire, As we dream by the fire To face unafraid, The plans that we've made, Walking in a winter wonderland.'

Macy Gray - Winter Wonderland (This is my favourite version of this song)

Jack and Vlad wanted to know everything about B.D's adventures and they chatted excitedly - when B.D suddenly looked up: "Now these are some weird meteorites!" Jack: "Meteorites? Where?" B.D: "Over there, above the trees!"

Jack: "The meteorites! They are back! And they're leading us the way!"

Meanwhile at the First Order Building - at Kylo Ren's apartment. After the fight with Val, the Master felt the need to use Lt. Agnon again. To help him to forget about Jino. The Master even left his mask on! A secret little kink of Lt. Agnon :3 Lt. Agnon: "Master... the shaft of your lightsaber is poking me. You should set it aside." Master Ren: "This isn't my lightsaber..." Lt. Agnon sucked in a breath: "Oh, Master! *Lt. Agnon's hand wandered down beneath the blanket* Is this - all - for me?" Master Ren: "It is, Tarek. You did well today, bringing peace to Batuu - and for me." The Master also never called Lt. Agnon by his first name before - Tarek.

The Master usually took Lt. Agnon in the closet when he needed to use him to forget about Jino. This was the first time he took him to his bed. Hope is the last to die. The Master has a lot to forget about this Boy and Lt. Agnon has a lot of hope...

(The meaning of the name Tarek is: Quote: 'Tarek is a masculine name of Arabic origin. A variant of Tariq, this name translates to “night visitor” or “knocker at the door,” referring to visitors travelling at night. In the Qur'an, it also means “bright star,” which leads the way through the darkness.') (Lt. Agnon has no confirmed first name. Tarek is non-canon only for us ^^' I think it matches him, and for this Winter Solstice episode that wouldn't have went so well without his help.)

From the Beginning 🔱 Underwater Love 🔱 Latest

Current Chapter: starts ▶️ here Last Chapter: 'Here comes the Sun' from the beginning ▶️ here

📚 Previous Chapters: Chapters: 1-6 ~ 7-12 ~ 13-16 ~ 23-29

[lilianade-comics]

It occurred to me how incredibly chaotic and delightful Cheese Melt would be when put in the same room as Danny and Jack, so yeah. More silly comic doodles.

Jack, Vlad, Danny, and Danielle go camping! Vlad only agreed to this because he's frustrated and jealous of how much Dani seems to like Jack despite his best attempts to brainwash her into hating him, and he's sure that two nights in the woods will prove to her that Jack is an idiot and not nearly as good of a parent as Vlad is. Vlad knows he can't simply forbid Dani from ever talking to Jack again, because she's already such a free spirit who barely listens to him. So it's obviously the best plan to ensure that Dani comes to the correct conclusion all on her own. Unfortunately for Vlad, he yet again has utterly played himself (or rather, has let Dani play him like the master of psychological manipulation she is).

Meanwhile, Danny is just here to hang out with his dad and Dani, and point and laugh at Vlad's rising blood pressure while ALSO ensuring Vlad doesn't end up legitimately killing his dad. And Jack is of course utterly oblivious to the intensely complicated dynamic of his three half ghost companions. He's just happy to go hiking (they immediately get lost) go canoeing (they immediately capsize) and share a tent with his best friend (who immediately politely declines)

Dani and Danny then encounter a small army of blob ghosts in the woods and Dani convinces Danny to pretend to get captured with her, in the hopes that it will force Vlad to work with Jack to rescue them (and maybe fix some of the tension). Comedy and vaguely heartwarming moments ensues.

[confessedlyfannish]

Writing Prompt #14

"You foolish, stupid child," Vlad hisses, pinning Danny to the wall. Danny's eyes turn green as he wraps both his fists around the one Vlad has clenched in his collar, his feet dangling in the air. Vlad leans in, his own eyes burning red.

"When, exactly, did you plan on telling me your biological father was Bruce Wayne?" he says furiously.

Danny's hands drop in surprise. "W-What?" he gasps.

Vlad drops him unceremoniously and he lands on the floor in a heap. Vlad claws at the air in frustration.

"Don't lie to me, boy." Vlad says, omitting his often used possessive "my" in front of "boy".

"How do you know that?" Danny asks warily, propping himself up. He watches Vlad push a shaking hand through his hair. The man looks down at him before dropping in an ungainly squat beside him.

"Of all the sperm donors, Bruce Wayne, Daniel? Really?" The man asks, despairingly.

"I didn't exactly choose him, Vlad."

"No, I suppose you didn't."

"Seriously," Danny says, watching the man rock back on his heels as a growing pit forms in his stomach. "How did you know about him?"

Vlad's mouth twists bitterly. "Because he now knows about you."

"What do you—"

"Vladdy! Danno! What are the two of you doing on the floor?" Jack flops down beside them, a tray of freshly prepared fudge in his hands. "We having a heart-to-heart boys? Let me in on this!"

"Jack," Vlad says. "If you truly want to have a heart-to-heart with your son, I suggest you tell him the real reason I've come over today."

Jack's face falls.

"Vlad," Maddie says from behind him. "Thank you for coming. We're grateful for all you've done, but I think we can handle it from here."

"Madeline," Vlad says, rushing to his feet. "I must insist—"

"And I must insist you see yourself out," Maddie smiles tightly. "You know where the door is, don't you?"

"Mads," Jack says gently, looking between the two.

"I can show him out," Danny says, getting up as well.

"That's alright, Danny," Maddie says. "Why don't you go get your sister? We need to have a talk...as a family."

Danny glances at Vlad.

"Now, Danny," Maddie says. Danny heads for the stairs, pit growing ever larger.

--

The next time they meet it is Danny who has Vlad pinned, the gaudy chandelier above him shaking with the force of his rage.

"You should've told me," Danny growls.

"I thought your parents had you informed," Vlad says, utterly unbothered by the teen cracking what is thankfully not a load-bearing wall of his mansion. "Honestly Daniel, we could throw around allegations of deception on both sides, particularly mine as I assume you've known for quite some time now, if not the entire time, about your father hmm?"

Danny's eyes flick away in an obvious tell.

"Yes, I thought as much. But rather than whinging about being blindsided, I suggest we focus our energy on the solution."

Danny drops Vlad, barely biting back a snarl when the man lands gracefully on both feet.

"Which is?" Danny asks.

"First of all, your well-meaning but frankly moronic parents seem to believe that they can make a case for your custody without the assistance of my legal team. It is in both of our best interests to dissuade them of this."

"They don't like feeling indebted, Mom in particular."

"Well, to be crude for a moment Daniel, tough shit. Yes," Vlad says in response to Danny's widening eyes, "I said it. Bruce Wayne has the best of the best on his payroll and your parent's rinky-dink attorney from the local practice won't stand a chance against Friedman & Sons. Especially once he establishes paternity."

"He can do that?" Danny asks. "I mean I'm almost eighteen, can't I just refuse?"

"The keyword here, Daniel, is almost. As in, you are not. The judge can take your wishes into consideration, but I suspect Wayne will make a case for an unsafe living environment alongside his paternity to win his petition for full custody."

"Un-unsafe living environment?" Danny sputters. Vlad eyes the boy dryly before gesturing to all of him, currently clad in silver and black hazmat. Danny drops the transformation with a wince.

"In fact, I suspect that's the main reason the man filed in the first place," Vlad continues. "Lord knows he doesn't need anymore heirs to fight over his fortune once he passes—"

"Jesus, Vlad,"

"—so I believe he did some digging and found your home to be, well, wanting. On paper, Daniel, your parents sound eccentric at best, dangerous at worst. Pull the right strings, and hospital records just fall into laps. He probably thinks he's rescuing you." Vlad sneers. "If only he knew how quick you are to spit in the face of one offering you a comfortable and wealthy home."

"Fuck off," Danny says. "Is that what this is about? If you can't have me, no one can?"

Vlad rolls his eyes. "Come now, Daniel. Are you really intending to keep up this pretense?"

"What are you talking about?"

"We agreed a long time ago that no matter the nature of our quarrel, we would leave the Justice League out of it," Vlad says, taking a menacing step forward. "You think I, running in the circles I do, would have no knowledge of Bruce Wayne's alter-ego?" He takes another step, voice rising. "I have avoided drawing The Batman's attention for years, no matter how often our paths crossed. I stayed under his radar for decades, and now, BECAUSE OF YOU, I AM ABOUT TO BE RUINED."

With a creak and a groan, the chandelier drops, landing between them with a crash. Danny coughs from the dust as Vlad takes a heaving, calming breath.

"Then why get involved at all?" Danny asks, staring at the ground.

Vlad sighs, clapping his hands twice. Several ghosts dressed in service uniforms fly out the woodwork, gathering up bits of chandelier as others begin to mop.

"Because, little badger," Vlad says, walking away from the mess. "If we lose this, he'll have you in the palm of his hands. Which is infinitely worse."

Entering the kitchen, he pulls an open bottle of white out of the kitchen fridge and pours himself a glass, throwing a Fiji water to Danny who takes it for the peace offering it is.

"He won't."

"Won't what, Daniel? Please speak in full sentences."

"Won't have me," Danny says, letting a thin coat of frost spread over the bottle. He tips the freezing cold water into his mouth and wipes his face with his sleeve, mostly to see Vlad grimace.

"Why, because you'll run away if he wins? Until you turn eighteen? I won't have you fail to complete your education because of a cockamamie scheme, Daniel—"

"Because I have a solution, Vlad, one that doesn't involve the courts or running away."

"And what is that, exactly, Daniel?"

--

"You're going to leave my family alone."

"Danny," Mr. Wayne says, blinking in surprise at the boy on his doorstep and miles away from Illinois.

"I mean it," Danny says firmly. "You're going to drop your petition and whatever smear campaign you were planning on and leave the Fentons alone."

"Danny...why don't you come inside?"

Danny takes a step back from the manor's large doors. "You want a relationship with me? Brute force isn't the answer."

Bruce takes in the teenager, lanky but almost to his eye level. His eyes are clear and sharp, his demeanor forcibly calm.

"I debated whether going through the court was the right thing to do," Bruce says slowly, matching calm with calm. "But I wanted to be above board."

"Because my adoption wasn't?" Danny says, arms crossed. "Yeah, I'm aware. Kinda hard to adopt a kid that doesn't legally exist. And I know what you're going to say, the Fentons should've reported me to the system, but they didn't do it because I begged them not to. Because I didn't want my biological parents to find me."

"Danny..."

"You can swing your dick around and get your way, exactly the way I thought you would do things," Danny says, "Or you can have a relationship with me on my terms. A relationship where I don't despise you because you took me away from the people who've loved me no matter their faults."

"You're asking me to choose your happiness over your safety." Bruce says carefully.

"That's bullshit," Danny says. "I had a lab accident when I was fourteen and went directly against my parents' instructions. They trusted me, and I made a mistake."

"It's not a matter of trust. You were a child, Danny, and you almost died." Bruce says, not bothering to feign ignorance. Footsteps echo behind him.

"Bruce?" A voice calls. "Is that..?"

"Your son did die," Danny says. "He took a flight with your credit card to Ethiopia and got blown up. I bet you trusted him too."

Bruce reels back as a hand lands on his shoulder, the other on the door.

"Whoa, whoa, uh, Danny, right? I'm Tim, I'm—"

"I know who you are," Danny says, clenching his fists. Powering through the hurt he is causing. "I didn't come here to point out what a total hypocrite you are. I just want you to back off. And if you give me your number, we can text and I'll come to Gotham for Thanksgiving or the ski chalet in Vermont or your villa in where-the-fuck-ever and you can be Uncle Bruce that I maybe even tolerate being around once in a while. Just leave my family alone."

"Bruce, what is he talking about?" Tim asks. "Back off of what?"

"Your Dad is suing my parents for full custody," Danny says when it becomes clear Bruce isn't answering.

"What?" Tim hisses, turning to Bruce. "That isn't what we talked about!"

"Danny. I..."

"Here," Danny says, thrusting an index card forward that he's scrawled his phone number and email onto. On the other side is the past participle conjugation for 'venir'. "I won't answer until you drop the custody petition. Which I expect you to do by tomorrow morning."

"Done," Tim says, stepping past Bruce and taking the card. "Give me about noon to get it all squared away with the lawyers. Do you have a hotel? A way home? I'd be happy to reimburse your flight and accommodation."

"Overstepping already."

"Fair enough," Tim says coolly, raising his hands. "Our lawyers will reach out when it's settled."

"Great. Bye." Danny says, turning to leave. He waits until he hears the manor door close behind him before pulling out his cell phone.

Ring!

Ring!

"Hello?"

"It's done."

"What's done? Again, little badger, full sentences, I beg of you."

[vm-haunts]

Make Love Not War... Or Something Like That

During yet another hindbrained plot from Vlad to get to Maddie, a frustrated Danny yelled "Start a polycue you coward! What even is your problem!!!"

He's not expecting the blue screened look on Vlad. Or the blush. Ewwww not the blush he's gonna throw up-

...

Well the good news is Vlad stopped trying to off his dad. The bad news is he wanna woo him instead.

Danny is gonna die again.

Vlad, having a heart to heart with Danny that makes him squirm: it's not that I... but how can...The portal incident ruined my life and Jack is so-

Danny: pfft skill issue, Sam and Tucker dared me into the first accident and you don't see me complaining.

Vlad, indignant then alarmed: it's not the- wait first?

Danny: yeah? She dared me into it again a second time too. Desiree, you know how it is.

Vlad:

[hallowsden]

DC x DP idea thing #1

Uncle Scarecrow Au

Essentially, in this AU thing, Maddie, and Jonathan Crane are cousins (their moms were sisters) that often see eachother when Maddie's family visits Georgia before contact was cut due to Grandma Marion and Great-Grandma Keeny

Jonathan and Maddie managed to reconnect for a year or two through letters when Maddie started college and Jonny boy is in the middle of getting his doctorate but lost contact after Maddie got busier with studies and Jonathan went to Gotham. They're on good terms with each other and once in a while in recent years, they'd give each other updates (and gifts. Danny and Jazz grew up hearing a bit from/about Jonathan when they were younger but stopped hearing about him around the time when he became the Scarecrow. So, let's just say when Danny's... 6? Ngl, DC timeline is messy and confusing at times)

Maddie and Jack only recently learned that Danny's a halfa, the ghost king at that, and accepts it. They start helping him wrangle up some of the rogue ghosts and throw them back to the GZ when not even a week later, the GIW started swarming Amity Park immediately.

This causes the Fenton Family to escape (though not unscathed) and end up going to Gotham, not just cause Jazz is studying there, or the fact that there's enough ambient ectoplasm energy there to cover up Danny's signature, but because Jack's apparently from there, has connections too, while Maddie knows that Jonathan could help. She's his favorite cousin after all and adores Danny and Jazz from the bits and pieces she sent him about them.

"Madeline," The man in the burlap mask nodded to her.

"Jonathan," she nodded back.

Danny can't help but feel tense and wary as he stares down at the tall figure in front of him. This was Uncle Jonathan? Don't tell him he's as big of a fruitloop as Vlad.

Maddie stares at him before raising an eyebrow, "I see you still aren't taking care of yourself as you should, huh, Jonny?"

He scoffs, southern accent becoming a bit more prominent as he spoke, "like you're anyone to talk about habits, Maddie. Intellect may run in our blood but having normal, sane habits aren't. Don't you remember Great-Grandma Mary?"

The two burst out into some chuckles.

"Glad you're still alive and well, then, cousin," Maddie says, taking the hood of her jumpsuit off along with her goggles.

"Likewise," Jonathan replies, taking his ratty hat and burlap mask off revealing a sharp, gaunt face with a long, hook nose, pale blue eyes, and rusty auburn-colored, bordering brown, hair, "Now, what's this about a government branch coming for little Danny, and how... Sensitive are you to gore and other graphic imagery of sorts?"

"I mean, I already died and have to fight ghosts-..." Danny piped up immediately, only to shut his mouth up just as quickly.

"... Remind me to set up a proper therapy session for you later, child."

[nobodyfamousposts]

How does Littlebug even know how these men are Bad Dads?

I mean it seems, to me at least, that she learned about them before she went to their universes.

Another day, another upload from Littlebug.

No one knew how she or Chaton got the doll avatars to work or look so lifelike, but their avatars were adorable and THEY were adorable and everyone went nuts over them.

It was especially fun to be there for her livestreams. Sometimes she asked questions from the chat. It was pretty evident from some of these questions that she was quite young and some of the viewers were a bit worried about her being safe and what she could be exposed to, but most of the audience seemed on board with protecting the little virtual stars, so they all seemed to have made an unspoken agreement to avoid more mature or inappropriate things.

Not that they had much to worry about. Mama Noire had apparently set a filter on the chat to keep it child friendly. And anyone who started getting too mean for Littlebug's taste would be quickly booted from the livestream. For a kid, she certainly knew how to manage things. And she certainly didn't tolerate bullies.

Though it seemed there was something else she didn't like if her recent query to the chat was any indication.

hello Frends Outside! i hav a qestion?

She was adorable and still learning. And of course they all wanted to help where they could.

wat are some Bad Dads you know of?

The chat was confused, but of course wanted to help.

Loveybug997: Bad dads? Like real or not? DJhatman: If we're talking real, then Gabriel Agreste for sure. Captain56: Let's not go real or we'll end up in a flame war and Mama Noire will be unhappy. Nachohead: Yeah, Papabug JUST got released and is able to play Animal Crossing with the kids again! Don't take that from us! kimjustkim45: Are we talking like in cartoons and anime? Or games? ninjapaste2: Oh! Then Mr. Doofenschmirtz! Definitely! adrienagresteishawt00011: ooh ooh!! yeah he is the worst! insertnamehere2823: Ozai! From avatar! He burned his son's face in an "honorable duel"! SupermanFTW: Do they all have to be villains? Because I gotta say, have a bit of a beef with Son Goku for some of his stunts. I mean, throwing his son into a fight against Cell with NO warning? COME ON! Vladdyfan37: Jack Fenton!I mean he keeps making things that can kill his son! And was responsible for his son dying! # Vlad would never GokuIsBetter: @ SupermanFTW You just mad because Goku would kick his butt. AND be a better dad than he was to Superboy. Captain56: Guys no, this is the opposite of what we want. Let's just focus on the question.

And so answers poured in.

A List was forged.

And Littlebug smiled.

[radiance1]

I cANNOT believe this thought has escaped me for so long.

Okay so, you know my phoenix Vlad au I created, where he's the Duke of the Black Flame and by extension, one of or THE Duke of the Ghost Zone? (Honestly haven't decided yet heha)

Yea, ok so.

I don't know how it escaped me for so long, but y'know how Phoenixes are immortal right? By how they get reborn anew from ashes, yes?

(Idea territory btw)

So, I'm just gonna say that Vlad experiences that, because unlike Danny, he didn't stop aging at the ripe age of (really can be anything, but for the sake of this specific idea I'mma go with with) 40. He's envious of this, because he didn't like the brittleness and fragility of the human body when it's reaching its last legs.

Not even his ghost form was safe from the effects of aging, which baffled him, truly, it did. Probably had to do with his status as a halfa, which he disliked but what could he do about it, really.

So when he was finally on his last legs age wise, he practically welcome full death with open arms, ready to fully die and not be impeded by his human body.

No longer would his bones be break so easily! No longer would he need to use a cane as a walking aid in human form! No longer would his back scream at him from the slightest of inconveniences!

He would miss the ability to spawn candy from out of nowhere, however. That was nice.

So when he died, he was fully at peace with it and was ready to embrace full ghostly hood.

Then fate just decided to do a "FUCK YOU" with all caps to him in particular, because when he reopened his eyes, he was not met with the being a full ghost, no.

He was met with short limbs, a high-pitched voice, and the appearance of a 5-year-old.

You have got to be kidding.

He did NOT outlive Jack Fenton (out of spite, really) and Maddie Fenton just to have to relive his child years all over again.

He was a Duke for Observants sake, he couldn't be seen like this. The reputation he worked so hard to build, the respect he clawed into his talons and the awe he stole would go down the drain if this got out!

So he discreetly made his way over to the Master of Time and demanded he age him up to a respectable degree!

.

Perhaps he should reword that.

He politely requested the Master of Time to age him up back to adulthood, it didn't even have to be him in his forties! He would take even a goddamn 20 for Ancients sake!

Clockwork said no.

Breath Vlad. You cannot burn away the literal manifestation of time itself. You cannot burn away the literal manifestation of time itself. You cannot burn away the literal manifestation of time itself.

Then he noticed Clockwork's cheeky grin.

.

The more logical, sensible side of himself told him that no, do not try and fight the literal Master of Time, he would lose, and he still needs something from him.

But the more irrational, noticeably more feral part of his brain demanded that time burn for its insolence.

And, well.

The irrational side won out.

So of course, of course as soon as he acts undignified.

One Danny Fenton has to appear at the exact moment.

This was not a good day for him.

And of course, being the worst brat on the planet and the entire Ghost Zone, he had to make fun of him. Now, normally he would not react as strongly as he did, because of logical thinking and how he was just better than the brat, but was he feeling as logical then?

No, not really.

For the last time, he did not throw a goddamn tantrum, he's above that.

So of course, what two braincells he currently had access to came up with a solution to this current problem he was facing. The solution?

The Observants.

Appearances be damned he was not going to be taking jokes related to his current age any day of the week. So he flew over to them, dragging both the Master of Time and the Ghost King (yes, shocker I know coming from me.)- both of which, much to his charging seemed to be humoring him like one did a child- and demanded they do something to fix this.

And their solution was that he, now as a young child, would have to be taken care of due his current situation.

Vlad bluescreened.

Then calmly rebooted, and when he finally did so. Well, he very not so subtly decided to burn the Observants to the ground.

Unfortunately, Danny- who was practically his total opposite in nature due to his ice- put a quick stop to his attempts to burn those floating eyeballs to the ground. Then they had the absolute gall to act as if what he did wasn't at all reasonable and proceeded to use it in evidence for why he needs a guardian of all things.

He didn't need such a thing, he was perfectly capable of making logical, rational decisions as he was before his... 'rebirth'. Unfortunately, his statement apparently wasn't enough for them, because they very obviously, and very physically showed their doubt for such a thing.

And then, and then they did the absolute worst, most utterly reckless decision they could have possibly made in his decision.

The Ghost King (who was very smoothly made king after the previous one stepped down to live on a farm) was made to be his 'guardian'.

He's doomed.

The man wasn't even able to take proper care of himself on a good day, what do you mean he's going to be the one to (forcibly) take care of him!?

Ok, breath Vlad. He is the smartest (now that Maddie's dead), most logical and persuasive person he knows, surely, surely, he could find a way to get himself out of this predicament like any adult would.

Some small, tiny part of his brain, one not run by logical and getting increasingly bigger, whispered that he could always just. Run away.

The thought was getting more and more tempting the longer this went on with him not getting away, so you know what?

He did just that.

And now he's wandering the streets of some random world where goddamn heroes roamed about, living the life of an orphan and wondering how the hell he managed to fuck himself over so bad.

...He blames fate. It's always fates fault.

Also, what the hell is a meta and what does his wings have anything to do with being one???

[imekitty]

Danny confronts his parents about the clones they've been experimenting on.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23

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"Have you heard from Vlad at all?"

Jack followed Maddie out of their bedroom and shut the door behind him. "Why would Vlad say anything to me?"

"He said he'd send a text when he finalized all the configurations for the new Danielle clones." Maddie looked at her blank phone screen. "I guess I'm just excited."

Jack's shoulders fell. He did not want to think about the new set of clones Maddie had ordered from Vlad.

They walked down the hall, past Danny's and Jazz's bedroom doors.

"Danny's home already," remarked Maddie as she held up an ecto-scanner. Danny's ecto-signature appeared in two locations on the screen, one in his bedroom and the other in the basement lab. "That's good, he really needs to get a good night's sleep. He's been going through a lot lately."

Jack held his tongue, knowing it was no use to remind her that she was the one orchestrating almost everything that had been happening to their son.

Down in the lab, clone 26 was lying on the main examination table right where they had left him earlier, wearing a hospital gown with his wrists and ankles secured in belted restraints. The clone stirred and groggily opened his eyes as Maddie approached. Jack hung back as he usually did. He hated this part, when the clone begged to be freed and Maddie told him no, no, he had to stay here and die.

The clone's eyes widened as Maddie hovered over him, her hood down and goggles up on top of her head. The clone began pulling against the belts, throwing his head wildly as he lifted his upper body off the table as far as he could. Maddie pressed one hand to his chest, forcing him back down.

"Sweetie, calm down," said Maddie, her voice hushed. "I know you're very confused and scared right now, but you're just going to hurt yourself if you struggle."

"What do you mean? What's going on?" The clone's breathing was erratic. "Why am I here? Mom? How did I get here?"

"We have a couple procedures planned for you tonight," said Maddie. "Just a couple, don't worry. Then we'll let you rest until tomorrow night."

The clone stared at her, all fight stopped for the moment. "Procedures?"

"Yes," said Maddie. "Because you're a ghost hybrid, and there is so much more about you that we want to learn."

The clone's eyes widened with shock and panic, as they always did. "You know I'm a ghost?"

"We do," said Maddie, taking the clone's hand in hers.

The clone's gaze moved to Jack. Jack looked away, squeezing and massaging his jaw with one hand.

"What are you going to do to me?" asked the clone, struggling more against the belts. "Why have you brought me here? You know I'm your son, don't you?"

"No, you're not," said Maddie.

The clone froze up. "I am. You know I am."

"No, honey, you're a clone," said Maddie, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. "You're a nearly perfect clone of our son."

The clone stared at her in dumbfounded silence.

"We're going to tell you the truth before we start tonight's work," said Maddie. "You can ask any questions, and we'll answer them. You deserve that much, at least."

Jack grimaced. He hated when she included him like that, using the word "we" when he didn't want to be here at all. At this point, the only reason he continued to join Maddie in this cruel line of experimentation was to ensure she didn't take it too far.

Or at least, that was what he kept telling himself.

"The truth about what?" asked the clone.

"Your ghost powers," said Maddie. "The reason you're a ghost hybrid is because we configured the ghost portal to rearrange the molecular structure of your DNA."

"What—no, you wouldn't do that." The clone fiercely shook his head.

"We had to," said Maddie, her tone soothing. "You had the right DNA that could be stabilized after an ectoplasmic mutation. We tried looking for others, but you were the only one. We had no choice."

"No choice?" spat the clone. "Why did you need to turn me into a ghost at all?"

"For our research, sweetie. You know how crucial our research is."

"Crucial for what? How is this going to help anyone?"

"Oh, so many ways! Health care applications for improved surgery that uses invisibility instead of invasive scopes and expensive MRIs and CT scans, intangibility instead of incisions that can get infected. Military applications for super soldiers enhanced with ghost powers—"

"You can't be serious," said the clone. "You're experimenting on your own son so you can find ways to sell ghost powers to other people?"

"You are not our son," said Maddie. "You remember how Vlad attempted to clone you and created Danielle, right? Well, he didn't actually fail. We asked him to clone Danny so we could experiment on his clones without harming the real Danny." Maddie ruffled the clone's hair. "You are one of those clones, sweetheart."

The clone jerked his head away. "I'm not a clone."

"I know you don't believe it. You're not supposed to believe it," said Maddie. "You're supposed to believe you're the real Danny. That's the only way we can get the most accurate data for our research. And you want to help us with our research, don't you?"

"I'm not a clone." The clone shook his head. "Let me go, let me leave."

"We can't do that," said Maddie. "There can only be one Danny. You have to stay here, and you can't leave."

"I'm Danny," the clone insisted with tears in his eyes. "I am your son."

"Danny is upstairs in his room." Maddie pointed to the ceiling. "You're down here in the lab because you're his clone."

"No, you're wrong," said the clone. "I'm not upstairs. I'm here with you. I've always lived in this house with you."

"Sweetie, those memories you have of living here before today aren't real," said Maddie. "You didn't exist until this morning. You had never been to this house before until this afternoon when Vlad brought you here."

"They're real memories," asserted the clone. "I was hanging out with Dad in the lab earlier today when he showed me the Ecto-Dejecto."

Jack's brow creased. Yes, he did indeed show Danny the Ecto-Dejecto that very day so he could later use it to stabilize Danielle, but it was impossible for the clone to know that. The last time Vlad took an updated DNA sample from Danny was over a month ago. The clone's last memories should not and could not be this recent.

A sinking weight dropped deep into Jack's gut as he stared at the clone, noticing for the first time a scar right behind his ear, the same scar Danny had. But the clones were supposed to have unblemished skin, untouched and new.

The clone continued speaking, "And then I went to hang out with Sam and Tucker—"

"No, sweetie," said Maddie. "Those memories you have aren't real. The only reason you have them is because you're an almost perfect copy of the real Danny, including his memories."

"I am the real Danny."

"No, you're not."

"How can you say that? How can you know that for sure?"

The clone's expression was angry, something Jack had never seen before. The clones were usually frightened or hurt, not angry.

"How do you know I'm not the real Danny?" demanded the clone.

"Because of the tattoo on your arm," said Maddie. "Here, let me show you."

Maddie pulled up the right sleeve of the clone's hospital gown, just as she had done twenty-five times before. But there was nothing but skin, no tattooed 26 on the clone's upper arm that Jack definitely remembered seeing when Vlad first delivered the clone.

All blood drained from Jack's face as Maddie screamed and jumped back, her hand clamped over her mouth. Danny's angry expression broke into a wicked smile.

"I told you I was the real Danny," he said.

Maddie's other hand shot up over her mouth as she shook her head furiously. Jack was frozen in place, unable even to tremble.

Danny sat up, slipping out of all four belt restraints and jumping off the table onto the floor. He changed into his ghost form, black and white jumpsuit replacing the hospital gown.

"Did you really think I wouldn't figure it out?" he asked. "Did you really think you could make Vlad clone me twenty-six times and I would just never know?"

He started walking toward Maddie with slow steps. Maddie stepped back each time, still covering her mouth as she watched him come closer.

"Did you think I was too stupid to figure it out?" Danny paused, chuckling darkly. "I guess maybe you're right. I guess I was too stupid to figure it out. You were able to experiment on me and torture me and—and kill me twenty-five times and I was too stupid to realize it until now."

Maddie cowered, hunching her shoulders and covering more of her face with her hands.

"And you were going to kill me a twenty-sixth time tonight," yelled Danny. "And you—" He turned to Jack with a snarl. "You were just going to stand there and let her."

Jack held up his shaking hands in defense, but he could not think of a good reply. He could only meet Danny's hate-filled eyes, trying to somehow communicate just how sorry he was.

"You and Vlad both," muttered Danny. "You'll both just do anything for her, won't you? You'll even kill for her."

"Danny," Maddie gasped out. "Danny, listen, I'm sorry—"

"No, you're not sorry," roared Danny, turning and pointing an accusatory finger at her. "Don't say you're sorry. If you were sorry, you would've stopped a long time ago." He choked, his voice losing strength as he stifled a sob. "If you really cared about me—" He sucked in a deep breath. "If you really loved me, you would've never done this."

"Danny, I do love you." Maddie clasped her hands as tears streamed down her face. "So much."

"How can you say that?" demanded Danny. "How can you look me in the eyes after everything you've done to me and say that?"

His fists glowed with ectoplasmic light as he stomped toward Maddie, backing her up against a wall. Maddie whimpered and curled in on herself.

Jack stared at her, frozen with shock.

She was scared.

He had never seen her look so scared before. In fact, he wasn't sure he had ever seen her show any sign of fear at all.

And Jack realized he was also afraid, because Danny could very easily kill both of them right now and they would be powerless against him.

His gut sank and twisted with the horror of what they had turned their son into.

"Danny, please," bleated Maddie. "I'm your mother."

"You're right, you are my mother." Tears began falling down Danny's face. "Which is why I can't believe you would do this to me. My life has been hell ever since I became—this." He used one gloved hand to gesture to himself, top to bottom. "Fighting ghosts, protecting the town—it's been painful and terrifying and exhausting."

Danny's tears were coming fast and hot now. Maddie continued to whimper while Jack stayed still.

"But I kept doing it because…I thought I had to," continued Danny. "I thought it was my fault that all of these ghosts were coming in through the portal and invading our town. But now I find out that…you did this to me. It was never my fault; you set me up to do it. You wanted me to do it—you were counting on me to do it."

Danny sobbed, covering his eyes with his hands as his body shook. Maddie looked at Jack, begging him for help. But Jack could only stare back.

"This whole time." Danny uncovered his eyes now swollen with ectoplasm. "You've been pulling strings, watching me like I'm a marionette in your sick puppet show. And you made me afraid of you. You pretended to hunt me down and you would actually shoot at me so I would believe that I really was a freak and I could never trust anyone with my secret."

Danny lowered his eyes, his face drenched with tears.

"You made me believe that I couldn't trust you, my own parents," he whispered. He then raised his eyes, which flashed green. "But I guess I was right about that after all, wasn't I?"

He came close to Maddie, raising both of his glowing fists. Maddie pressed her back to the wall and held up her hands in front of her face.

"Are you going to kill me?" blubbered Maddie.

Danny stared at her for a long, long time.

Then his fists opened, their green glow disappearing as his whole body relaxed.

"No," he said with a soft shake of his head. "Of course not. Because you are my mother."

Danny glanced up at the ceiling, more tears glistening on the lower edge of his eyes. He sniffled and brought his gaze back down to Maddie.

"I hate that my own mother could do this to me," Danny continued, his words strangled, "but I can't hurt you. Obviously you're more than willing to hurt me, but…I can't." His eyes hardened. "But I'm not letting you hurt me ever again. Whether it's the real me or a clone of me, I won't allow it."

Danny looked up at the ceiling again, but this time in a very particular direction, up toward his room. Jack took notice of the look, and he could see Maddie also noticed, her brows drawing together in scrutiny.

"Where is the clone?" Maddie's voice was suddenly much stronger as she straightened her back and stood taller. "Clone 26, where is he?"

Danny's eyes once again returned to her. He frowned but did not reply.

"Vlad delivered him this afternoon," said Maddie. "I saw the tattoo on his arm with my own eyes. Where is he now?"

Danny stiffened. "You don't need to know that."

"I do," said Maddie. "You won't let us experiment on any more clones, fine. We'll stop. But that clone cannot be allowed to exist."

Danny's eyes twitched, his jaw clenching.

"We have to kill him, Danny," said Maddie.

"No," said Danny with a firm shake of his head. "You are not going anywhere near him."

"We can't let a clone of you run around freely, Danny," said Maddie. "People would notice. How would we even explain that? It would only be a matter of time before the police or the Guys in White figure out that you're a ghost hybrid, and then you'd be taken away for far worse experimentation."

"Don't pretend like you care about what happens to me," spat Danny. "You just don't want them to find out what you've been doing."

"You know I'm right," retorted Maddie. "There can't be two of you."

"Then kill me." Danny held out his arms in offering. "Do it."

Maddie's mouth fell open. "Danny—no, I'm not going to kill you."

"Why not?" asked Danny. "If only one Danny is allowed to exist, then why does it have to be me?"

"Because you are Danny. The clone is no one."

"But isn't the clone a perfect copy of me? With all my memories?"

"Most, not all of them."

"He's good enough, isn't he?"

Danny glared at Maddie, still holding his arms out, ready and waiting for her to come at him. Maddie did not move, simply stared back in tense silence. Jack watched, wondering for a moment if she might actually do it, if she might actually grab an ecto-gun and blast a hole through Danny's chest.

Jack was ready to throw himself in front of Danny if she tried.

"The clone must die, Danny," said Maddie. "That's why he was created. That's his purpose."

"So now you think you can just assign people purposes?" asked Danny. "Does this sick little game make you feel like God?" Danny pressed a palm to his chest. "What's my purpose, Mom? Have I been giving you everything you wanted? Or am I a failed experiment now?"

Maddie narrowed her eyes. "The clone has to die, Danny."

Danny shook his head. "No."

"Danny."

"No."

Danny shot up into the air, soaring straight through the lab ceiling and disappearing. Maddie bolted toward the stairs to follow him.

"Maddie." Jack grabbed her arm before she could get too far up the stairs, forcing her to stumble back down onto the main floor.

"Jack." Maddie struggled in his grip. "Let me go, Jack."

Jack kept a tight hold on her, using all his strength to keep her from getting away. "Maddie, what are you planning on doing?"

"We have to kill the clone, Jack," said Maddie, sounding panicked. "We can't let Danny help him escape."

"But why? Why do we have to kill the clone?" asked Jack.

Maddie glared at him. "You know why. I shouldn't have to explain this to you."

"Maddie." Jack took hold of her other arm and forced her to face him. "But maybe we shouldn't, Maddie."

Maddie stopped struggling and became still, unblinking.

"Maybe we shouldn't kill the clone?" said Maddie. "Are you saying we should kill the real Danny? Like he asked us to? Remove the clone's tattoo and just rewrite our son with a copy?"

Jack balked and slacked his grip on her arms, but she did not try to break away.

"The clone's earliest memories will be from a few weeks ago." Maddie nodded as she spoke. "Clone 26 won't remember any of this. We could continue our experiments and Vlad could continue creating new clones and we'd just have to be more careful and watch the new Danny a lot more closely, make sure he never discovers the truth again—"

"Would you listen to yourself?" Jack shouted in her face. "Are you fucking insane? We are not going to kill the real Danny just so you can keep fucking with his clones."

He shook her, causing her head to snap back, her eyes wide as she stared up at him, frozen.

"It's over, Maddie," yelled Jack. "It has to be over now."

Maddie stayed frozen a little longer. Jack waited for her to move, to respond in some way, never letting go of her arms.

"You're right," murmured Maddie. "He's my baby. I carried him inside of me—he was part of me for nine months. The clone was never part of me no matter how much he looks and acts like the real Danny. I can't kill my boy, never."

She started crying. Jack felt a twinge, a strange urge to comfort her even though he knew she didn't deserve it.

"But the clone still has to die, Jack." Maddie used the heel of her hand to wipe her eyes and locked her gaze with Jack's. "And you know it."

Jack stared back at her, the scientist inside of him activating. Because as much as he hated to admit it, he did know it. The clone was an abomination, an affront to the natural order, an entity that was never supposed to exist in the first place.

And Danny himself would be in danger of being discovered and taken away if the clone was allowed to exist as its own person.

Yes, the clone did have to die. It was the only way to protect the real Danny.

And the only way to stay out of prison.

Jack loosened his hold on Maddie and watched as she ran up the stairs, numb and empty.

And then he breathed deep and ran up after her.

Just one last time. One final murder.

Part 25

[storm-driver]

ep 16 : i'm actually gonna write down my thoughts as i watch this one compared to just compiling everything afterwards. reiterating, im watching these in PRODUCTION order, rather than their seasonal order, so this is maternal instict rather than lucky in love.

the cold open makes me wonder why the fentons have like a whole training course in the basement with the ghost portal, and its a training course that seems specifically built for danny, or just another ghost to use? like hoops hanging from the ceiling, giant steel walls that are otherwise impassable. idk, i know it's supposed to showcase danny is getting the hang of his powers and thus he's working on improving his performance, this is probably just for fun more than anything and im jaded for thinking deeply on it

also ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE FUCKING MILES PER HOUR????? GIVE HIM A FEW YEARS AND HE'S GONNA BREAK THE SOUND BARRIER (i cannot remember for the life of me if he ever does that, and i feel it'd be really cool if he does, but that does mean he'd have to go like 7 times his current top speed, which is probably insane)

the gag at the start where jack doesn't fucking notice the mailman is a ghost and throws the dude a nickel, only for it to fly through his hand made me spit out my drink.

danny's physiology is so fucked by the ectoplasm infused in his body that it literally just does whatever he wants if he focuses hard enough and that is a special kind of horror reserved for fanfics. it's wild to see the show just casually do it. i never wanna see it again but also im VERY interested in seeing it again.

i fucking forgot this show made the "SHE'S A MINOR" line before phineas and ferb did, the way i WHEEZED as it hit me, holy shit.

im obsessed with the way danny and vlad throw their powers at each other when maddie isnt looking, like the hatred is painted on the WALLS, and they have to try and play it chill when someone else is in the room. it reminds me of trollhunters when jim and strickler were fighting, and every time barbara looked back, the two were just chilling. but then she'd look away, and suddenly there's a sword-wielding boy and a demon in the living room.

the backwash incident is something i need to know about, but i absolutely do not and i don't know why.

it's actually sad to watch danny repel maddie's affection, but not because he's actively upset or doesn't wanna spend time with her. but she's literally wearing a device that electrocutes him every time she comes into contact, and he can't explain why he needs the space outside of masking it as that "moody teenager" outlet. it does make the latter bits of the episode where his powers are gone feel better, since he isn't being injured by being in contact and actually gets to give his mother physical affection, which is just fucking sweet???? im a sucker for family stuff bro what can i say

the fucking "those are gonna be the worst two minutes of my life" line has the same delivery as the "dude it's an espresso machine" line from the nicktoons unite games, this is just a dumb observation.

the fact that danny gets to sic all the ghost animals on vlad at the end by making them remember that vlad had them all killed and mounted on the walls of his house was fucked up in a fun way, but also, yet another jab at butch hartman's "THEY'RE NOT GHOSTS :c" thwarted again by apparently his favourite episode???? bro literally just ignored his own show's canon ig

overall fun antics episode, the fact that danny got to wail on vlad for making fun of his dad felt earned, especially for getting to bring him down to a level where danny actually stood a chance. it's nice to see maddie and danny bonding, while jazz and jack got a fun B plot in the background.

yknow what I'm cataloging my feelings as i rewatch every danny phantom episode, here we go

[satureja13]

Since Ji Ho and Jack practice yoga and meditate to ease Jack's pain, they spend a lot of time together these days. And since Jack loves games so much, he teaches Ji Ho Sabacc. Usually Jack plays with Saiwa or Vlad but now that they are all so tense since Kiyoshi is back...

Jack: "Would you accompany me to the Temple later to let Arturo treat me? I can't wait to get rid of Kiyoshi's influence over me and all this pain. Tomorrow it's been a year since he became my Alpha and it went utterly downhill with me." Ji Ho hesitates, but he promised to be honest: "Um Jack, are you aware that it isn't Arturo who heals you? It's the magic of the Temple - and the Tree. And the Tree is Kiyoshi. He's the diety who gives Arturo his powers." No, of course Jack hadn't been aware of that.

Jack: "Very well then. I will avoid the Temple. And Kiyoshi. I can do this by myself. It already got a lot better, even though Kiyoshi is back and always around."

Ji Ho: "Are you sure? You live with this pain for months now." Jack: "Thanks to you I can almost do anything here. The yoga, meditating... I will set up a hot tub and skip the massages." Ji Ho: "I could ask Vlad if it's ok for him when I give you the massages?" Jack: "You would? I know this must be hard for you given that you learned how to do it at 'The House of the rising Sun' (the brothel where Ji Ho's mother used to work). But Vlad will be ok with it, I'm his best friend. Don't worry."

Speaking of Vlad. While Jack and Ji Ho play Sabacc, he, Jeb and Kiyoshi gathered with Saiwa to finally tell him the whole truth about 'Bird'...

Vlad: "... and then we found out that Kiyoshi didn't say 'I love Bird' but 'I like Fur' because his last blurred thoughts were about Jack, his real fated mate. And not about you. *Vlad sighs from the dephts of his soul before he's able to continue. He hates to hurt Saiwa* So it wasn't necessary to have a fake relationship with Kiyoshi to bring him back..."

Saiwa exploded. His head was spinning. Jeb and him put their whole relationship on a risk for a misunderstanding of a muffled word and Jack's weird theory and a tattoo? Arturo already told them that Kiyoshi and Jack are fated mates but it seemed so weird that someone like Kiyoshi would love someone like Jack so Saiwa too thought there must have been something between them so Kiyoshi's last thoughts were about him - and that he were so special to him and the fake relationship needed to be done to help him come back... And now this! Since the Lab Saiwa hadn't felt so humiliated. He was only able to say one word, and that was: "RUN!"

And they ran... They know Saiwa well enough that nothing they could do or say now would be able to calm him down.

Saiwa even started to throw things at them!

Vlad is familiar with Saiwas temper and he knows he needs his time to cool down. And so they decided to go the only other place in Tomarang where they could stay - the Temple. There's always some work to do and they could also spend some time on their secret project which is supposed to help to make it up to the others. Now more important than ever.

Poor Jeb. What have they done. That's the first time Saiwa is mad at him after they broke up - because of Jack - and he doesn't know what to do. What if Saiwa leaves him - again. He wouldn't survive this. Vlad: "Let's leave before he hits us with something painful - or comes after us!"

And in the evening, when they came back from work, Vlad caught Ji Ho massaging Jack.

Vlad knows there is no reason to be jealous. Jack is his best friend and even the Bond lets him know that there's nothing to be upset about.

But it hurts. It reminds him of the times Ji Ho massaged him to charge the bond and he wishes his relationship with Ji Ho was different. That they finally could be together. His head knows how wrong this is and he wants to give Ji Ho all the time he needs and he would even give up on love if that meant Ji Ho could be happy without him. But his heart wants what his heart wants...

'It's savage and it's cruel And it shines like destruction Comes in like the flood And it seems like religion It's noble and it's brutal It distorts and deranges And it wrenches you up And you're left like a zombie

And I want you And I want you And I want you so It's an obsession

It's guilt edged Glamorous and sleek by design You know it's jealous by nature False and unkind It's hard and restrained And it's totally cool It touches and it teases As you stumble in the debris'

Love is a stranger - Eurythmics

Outtakes

Vlad in his room looking at his plasmafruit tree. He's so happy that he can finally eat real food! Plasma fruit are delicious - but having them day for day...

Jeb and Kiyoshi after teleporting ö.Ö'

From the Beginning  ~  Underwater Love ~  Latest 🛺 'Home happy Home' from the beginning ▶️ here 📚 Previous Chapters: Chapters: 1-6 ~ 7-12 ~ 13-16 ~ 17-22 ~ 23-28

[redrobin-detective]

You know, it’s actually hilarious that if Vlad hadn’t hosted the reunion that he and Danny might have remained blissfully unaware of each other for a good while. Plasmius will be out there continually sending ghosts to kill Jack, not understanding how the man manages to survive (40% Danny fighting them off, 60% Jack Fenton is just That Bitch). Meanwhile there’s this goodie goodie ghost out there in Jack’s town that just annoys Vlad on principle. Maybe he goes to bully the strangely powerful newly formed ghost not knowing it’s his enemy’s son.

Then for Danny’s perspective you have this smarmy asshole ghost who is scarily powerful and keeps whooping Danny’s butt. Dan is genuinely scared of this ghost so actually makes an effort for him not to find out he’s human and where he lives. So Danny always disappears mid-fight before he passes out. (Vlad thinks he’s gone hiding in the Zone, Danny meanwhile is bleeding out in a nearby alley). Also apparently the ghost has a massive grudge against his dad so he’s like subtly asking his folks if any of their good friends died horrifically also were assholes who beat up kids.

The ghosts, meanwhile, are looking back and forth at the two halfas like “I’m not gonna tell them, why would I tell them? You tell them! No way I’m not getting involved in their stupid human squabbles, you tell them!” 

To make things even more hilariously complicated, Vlad gets so fed up he takes a long vacation to Amity Park to “reconnect” to his old college friends. He’ll kill Jack with his own two hands and figure out why that white haired ghost boy confuses him so. Vlad Masters and Danny Fenton meet face to face for the first time and their is instant animosity neither can explain. You know the Love Square for Miraculous Ladybug? Get ready for the Hate Square. Vlad Masters/Plasmius and Danny Fenton/Phantom hate each other in all their forms. Danny is trying to be polite but wondering why mom and dad’s creepy friend is setting off his fight or flight and Vlad is just rubbed the wrong way by Jack and Maddie’s creepy, sullen son. They enter a room and both their ghost senses go off and they just swivel their heads around like absolute idiots. 

Let’s make this even funnier and say all this goes down during Reign Storm. Vlad awakens the ghost king who promptly drags the whole town into hell. The annoying little hero wannabe Phantom ghost is fighting him for causing trouble also stopping him killing Jack p l u s Jack’s equally annoying son will not stop bothering him. Danny is at his wits end fighting this Wisconsin Ghost and then going home to the smug billionaire in the guest room. Of course there comes a point where they both de-power in front of each other and it’s just the Spider-Man pointing meme. Both Danny and Vlad are standing there like “are you saying we’ve been going around and around each other for months and not realizing we’re both the same freaky species??”

The ghosts are watching all this drama unfold with ghost popcorn, this is better than cable. 

[minnesota-fats]

Also its okay that the DP x JL x MLB isn't your cup of tea, so whenever I ask about what I'll call the Halfa-Siblings au ( heh ) it'll just be in the JL x DP world.

With that out of the way, I was reading reading family reunions but at the worst time au, and I wondered about how that must had went down in the Dark Dan timeline 😬.

Because despite being willing to kill his own family and friends again to ensure his existence, I'm sure when Dan found out that his bio dad was Bruce Wayne, he was stunned because to him, Jack is his dad, full stop. And Maddie isn't the type to cheat, how how did this happen?

Also, if he found out as a late teen, then he might jump to the wrong conclusions and because of bad experiences with Vlad, thinks that Bruce could have taken advantage of Maddie, since he is a powerful rich man and then gave his family hush money, and if they complained, who will believe them?

*The part that got Vlad's intelligence thought that maybe he could be a baby from an open relationship but that thought never took root because despite being evil, there are things not even Supervillians want to think about what goes on in their parents bedroom, thank you very much*

And the JL would have tried to stop Dan at one point since he's causing so much damage and getting more powerful, so a fight had to happen( and they probably either lost horribly or even died, ) Dan finds out about Bruce being Batman because that tech is expensive and he'll need money and connected the dots, and blows up at him, revealing that he is his long lost son that he never even cared about and how he treated his mother like a used toy.

If Dan did kill Bruce with the League, the Batfam, including Damian would tried to get revenge. Dan sees they he has a younger half-brother and goes ballistic and yeah I don't see that ending well for them either.

Maybe Damian did get away and he was leading some resistance out there, and he and Dan despite knowing their blood bond, hate each others guts.

What do you think went down during that Father-Son confrontation? And what did the Dark Dan timeline Bruce think about Dan, and then finding out that's his son?

—I made a short bit of how i would write that interaction cuz I couldn’t help myself cuz I LOVE angst at the best of times!—

Dan held the man by the throat and glared up at him, teeth bared, “what do you have to say for yourself?” Bruce—even while being held like this—looked down at Dan with sad eyes. He was confused and in pain and this young man who was going to kill him was another son he knew nothing about. “I asked you a question, old man!” Dan growled, tightening his grip ever so slightly.

Bruce gargled before finding his voice, “I’m. Sorry.” He says softly, “I didn’t know about you. If I did I would have done everything in my power to have met you…” Bruce’s vision began to blur, “I failed you, son….”

Dan stares up at Bruce, eyes wide and full of dangerous human emotions. But it didn’t last long, Dan throws Bruce onto the ground and puts his foot on his head. Dan looks up at Bruce’s family and smiles wickedly before putting pressure on the man’s skull and crushing it beneath his foot. The screams of anguish that came from his so-called siblings was music to his ears.

How dare they live here and be happy while I had to suffer, how dare they call him a monster when the world made him this way! Dan stalked forward like a wild animal walking up to its corner mes prey. “Now what to do with you brats?” He asked, looking at all of them bound by his ecto energy.

Unknown to Dan however, Jason managed to free himself and was working on freeing Damien. But in typically Damien fashion, the kid jumps up and tries to attack Dan. Dan sidesteps the kid and smirks when he hears the other bat kids gasp and shout for Damien to just run away. Dan picks the kid up by the scruff of his robin suit and growls when he can’t see the kid's eyes. He rips off the kids domino mask, expecting fear. But he froze when he saw looking up at him with big green emerald eyes so much hatred. even with tears falling like waterfalls Damien glared at him. Frozen in that moment, Dan could only look at this kid. So similar to him—his human half— lost so much in a single day and it was only going to get worse from here on out.

Jason took the opportunity to rush forward and deck Dan in the face, causing him to drop Damien. In one fluid motion Jason houists Damien onto his shoulder and runs out of there. The whole time Damien cursed and demanded to go back, calling Jason a coward and screaming at how he was going to kill Dan. Dan smiled and watched them go, Dan had made a decision and he was excited to see how this would play out. But for now he turned to look at the remainder of the bat clan and smiled a fanged grin before he began ripping into them like a wild animal.

—

This whole scenario gives me JLD: Apokolips War vibes! If you haven’t seen it I recommend it! Its about the JL fighting Darkside and losing and the whole movie takes place after a two year timeskip where Constantine and the remaining JL band together to fight Darkside.

But if you dont like gore dont watch it! Its SUPER dark and there are many on screen deaths, such as: Nightwing getting impaled protecting Damien, Koriand’r getting ripped in half and so on!

(It also has Dami throwing Dick into the Lazarus Pit and it not working like it did for Jason and Dick comes back wrong and insane!)

Anyway, moving on!

—

Damien resents Jason and will call him a coward for the rest of his life.

Jason couldn’t care less, he was just glad he was able to save one of his siblings.

Damien will try and run off on his own but Jason isn’t far behind.

After the fall of humanity they are left in the wreckage until they find Amity Park the last city still standing, protected by a tall shield that northern Jason or Damien could get through.(because of the Lazarus pit)

Valerie and Damien bond over losing people they care about (he doesn’t tell her that mother he nor his brother can’t go through the shield after she explained that Dan couldn’t get in because he was a ghost)

Damien and Jason decide that they will go around the world to see if they can find any survivors and bring them back to Amity Park.

Jason becomes a better big brother and takes care of Damien (similar to how Jazz took care of Danny)

They meet Vlad who almost has a heart attack cuz Damien and Danny look so similar.

Dan appears and asks how his toys are doing (because he is creepy like that!)

Damien tries to kill him again but is yeeted into a wall and Dan leaves cackling.

Vlad tells his story

Damien nearly beats the shit out of him before Jason can stop him

Vlad believes he deserves it and moves on

Vlad offers them some weapons that work against ghosts

They take them cuz yay weapons!

Vlad helps supe up their suits with ghost tech like Valerie’s suit and makes an ecto dampener so they can go into Amity through the portal.

—10 years later—

Amity Park falls and Damien, Valerie, and Jason are all that’s really left.

Past Danny comes to the future to stop Dan and he meets Damien (who almost kills him but is stopped by Valerie when she finds out phantom is danny)

Damien explains that they are half brothers which throws Danny for a loop.

Meets Vlad again who nearly cries when he sees Danny. (Danny clocks him in the face and Jason is like, “I like this kid”)

Damien and Danny bond over fighting ghosts. Damien actually starts to like Danny as a brother

Danny finds out that he is technically the older brother and is like “I’m an older brober!” And Damien tells him to shut up and Jason and Valerie laugh! Cuz holy shit Dami is a baby!!!

When Danny is about to go back in time and Damien pulls him aside and is like “it was nice knowing you kid! But if you fail I’m gonna go back in time myself and kick your ass!”

Danny hugs him and Jason, and promises that he wouldn’t.

Then some happy bittersweet sibling banter and Damien warning Danny that if he ever meets Damien like, “bother be warned, if you ever meet me in the past, he will most likely try and kill you.”

Danny laughs thinking it’s a joke and Jason is like, “no seriously! He was raised by assassins for the first 10 years of his life.”

And Danny gets sent back to the past with SO MANY QUESTIONS! Like what the hell

Danny will have a heart to heart with his mom, calming that he just had a feeling and she will then explain everything to him (including his parents open relationship)

And Danny wanting to meet Damien and Jason again goes to meet his bio dad because he wants to be a good big brother!

(This is just a random thought but what if future Damien and Jason are brought back in time too and are tasked by clockwork to look after Dan in the GZ as the more human than ghost protector’s, just a fun thought!)

[five-rivers]

Gosh darn it, I'm going to have to write something.

.

"Ooooh, Maddie! It came!" Jack picked the thin package up and spun around.

"What is it?" asked Danny around a spoonful of cereal (Cosmic Crunch, now with extra marshmallow stars!), mildly alarmed. It probably wasn't anything inherently dangerous, he'd sense it if it was, it was unlikely to be anything nice, either. Best case scenario was some kind of Vlad Masters fan boy merch. Which. Barf. Worst case, well...

He didn't have a good track record with his parents' packages.

"Just some nonsense your father picked up online."

Ooh, they were fighting. Good to know. Hopefully it wasn't Santa-related. He'd die. Literally, if temporarily. It was way too early in the year.

"It's not nonsense!" protested Jack, tearing into the package to reveal an... oversized manila envelope. He held it up, as if it refuted Maddie's point entirely.

"Magic isn't real, dear."

"Yes, it is! There are wizards and magicians in the Justice League!"

"There are wizard and magician themed superheroes in the Justice League. That one girl does stage magic, sleight of hand, publicly. They're almost certainly aliens or metas."

Well. Danny didn't know about the guys on the Justice League, but he knew for a fact that magic was real, dangerous, and not always detectable in the same way ghost stuff was. So that little manila envelope might have something more dangerous in it than he'd initially assume.

"Okay, but that doesn't answer what it's supposed to be," he pointed out, lowering his spoon to his bowl.

"Oh, yeah! It's a soul contract! It gives me ownership of a human soul!"

"... Huh?"

Maddie was wearing her goggles, but even so, it was obvious she was rolling her eyes. "A man claiming to be a demonologist said he'd gotten it in a bargain with a demon."

Danny blinked. "Isn't that usually the other way around?"

Maddie shrugged.

"Well, yeah, but the demonologist had something that pesky demon wanted!" said Jack, beaming. "So it had to pay up! Apparently, the soul belongs to some hotshot wizard!"

"It's a scam, Jack."

"Well, spell scam backwards and you get macs! As in, take it to the max! Bonzai!" He opened the envelope with a flourish, and pulled out a piece of yellowed but otherwise normal-looking paper.

Emphasis on looking, because now that Danny had his eyes on it, he could tell it wasn't normal. The power in it was faint, but it was there.

"I'm going to go run some tests on it!" declared Jack, taking off into the basement.

"It's just old printer paper, Jack!" yelled Maddie, before returning to her coffee with a huff.

"Uh," said Danny. He looked at Maddie, who still had a sour expression on her face. "I'm going to... uh... make sure he doesn't set anything on fire." Or summon a demon, accidentally or on purpose.

.

"Aw," said Jack, after several nerve-wracking (for Danny) days. "I guess Maddie was right. It is just a normal piece of paper. I'm sorry, Danno. I know you were real interested."

"Uh huh," said Danny, still a little burnt out from destroying the automatic demon summoning machine Jack had built and promptly forgotten about in a corner. "So, uh. I guess you don't need it?"

"Eh? Well, no, I guess not. Might as well chuck it!"

"Actually, I was wondering if I could have it!" said Danny, quickly, before Jack could crumple up the contract.

"Really? Why?"

That was a good question, honestly. It had caused him a lot of trouble, and he didn't really want to own a guy's soul, but the idea of just throwing out something like this struck Danny as a bad one. Maybe he could track the guy down and give it back to him, assuming he wasn't an evil bastard. Which he might be, if he did things like making deals with demons.

"I don't know," said Danny, shrugging. "It's kind of funny, isn't it? Like, I own this guy's soul now. It's in writing and everything."

Jack chuckled. "That it is! Sure, you can have it! Maybe we can even get it framed or something."

The small power in the paper shifted slightly with the change in ownership. Danny didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Ha, maybe," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's fine the way it is for right now, though." He slid over to the table the paper was on, and gently tugged it out of the ecto-measurement apparatus. "I'll just put this away!"

And try to learn more about it.

.

Johnny Thirteen simultaneously gave off the vibes of being someone who Knew Stuff and the vibes of someone who had never had a thought in his life. As such, when Danny saw him standing in the middle of the mall, obviously freaking out, he knew he was the perfect person to ask about the whole 'owning a soul' thing.

So, Danny slowly sidled up to him.

"Trying to find a gift for Kitty?"

"Ohholysh--! Phaaaenton! The hell are you so sneaky?"

Danny shrugged. "You need help?"

Johnny squinted. "What's it to you?"

"Come on, I offer to help you all the time."

"Yeah, sure, usually followed by the whole 'get out of my town' speech."

"Gasp," said Danny, pressing his hands to his chest. "I'm so offended. Yeah, dude, I want you out of town when you're breaking the speed limit by eighty miles an hour and Shadow is destroying everything you touch, putting dozens of people in danger of injury or death. Shocker. But I've got some questions about this thing I found, and I'm willing to deal with whatever Shadow's doing to get answers. As long as he isn't about to hurt someone."

"What makes you think Shadow's doing anything?" demanded Johnny, right before a set of shelves in the nearby candle store collapsed.

Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, fine. Mine and Kitty's anniversary is coming up, and I dunno what to get her. What do you want?"

"I need to know if soul contracts are a thing and how they work. Like, what they do and stuff like that."

"Holy crap, did someone try to buy your soul?"

"No," said Danny. He made a face, then admitted, "My dad bought one and when it looked like it wasn't going to do anything ghostly, he gave it to me."

Johnny's eyebrows flew up. "Jesus Christ, you're involved in the soul trade."

"Don't say it like that," said Danny, masterly ignoring the sounds of a twenty-four lunch pileup from the food court. "I just didn't want to leave it lying around. It's not going to corrupt my soul or anything like that, is it?"

"Nah," said Johhny. He reached into his pocket for something. "I'm not philophical or anything, but even when you're dealing with magic there's wayyy more nuance in good and evil than people like to think. Smoke?"

"Stop that, you'll set the smoke alarms off. What else do you know about this stuff."

Johnny stuck his cigarette into his mouth and held up a finger. "Gift for Kitty first, then answers."

That was about what Danny expected. "Okay. Which anniversary is it for you guys, anyway?"

Johnny shrugged. "Dunno."

Yikes. He wasn't as bad as Jack, who could probably take Olympic gold in time blindness, but still.

"Well," he said, summoning years' worth of his mother's lectures on the subject, "flowers and chocolate are always good. So's jewelry. But they have to be quality. Then there's, I don't know, hobby stuff? Does Kitty have any hobbies?"

"She's been on some kinda fitness kick lately. Maybe I can get her some diet shakes or something like that? Maybe a scale? Ours broke."

"Absolutely not. I'd ask how you were still alive, but you're not, so. Anything else?"

"What's wrong with diet shakes?"

"Dude. Are you trying to call her fat? Move on. What else does she like?"

"She used to do some knitting?"

Wow, Danny would never have thought that.

"Okay, I guess you could give her some yarn, too? That's not enough on it's own... Maybe take her out on a fancy date, too? Or," he continued, think things through from a more ghostly perspective, "you could do like... a gesture? Like, beat up an enemy for her or something. But a date, definitely."

"I know about dates," said Johnny. "It's the present that's trouble!"

"Well, I've given you options."

"Yeah, sure, options, as if I'm made of money."

"You're saying you're dead broke?"

This isn't funny, you twerp! This is my afterlife on the line!"

"Oh my gosh, calm down. If you can't pay for it, just fight someone for it or steal it or something."

Johnny eyed him doubtfully. "You'll be me up if I do."

"I'll beat you up if you try and do it here," clarified Danny. "Walker has a bunch of stuff. So does the Box Ghost. And I know for a fact Bertrand and Spectra have a bunch of wedding rings."

"Why would they-?"

"Wedding counselor scam. Don't ask. It sucked. Anyway, go fight one of them instead of involving humans. I know you can at least take Boxy."

"Yeah, great idea! I'll just go-!"

Danny grabbed the tail of Johnny's leather coat before he could fly away. "Your side. Now. And let's get out of the mall before Shadow sets the candle store on fire or something."

"He wouldn't do that, he hates fire!"

The fire alarm started going off. Danny spared a minute to stare at Johnny flatly. "Don't go anywhere."

.

Johnny did go somewhere. He didn't get very far.

.

"You know, this makes me much less likely to make deals with you in the future, right?" asked Danny from his perch on Johnny's back.

"Aw, come on, you didn't even have to 'go ghost' or whatever to find me."

"I did to put out the fire, though. Do you know how fast a candle store can go up? Do you?"

"No," admitted Johnny.

"It's fast. Really fast. Buildings in general burn fast. I prefer fighting fires to murder attempts, but that's like comparing getting shot with a shotgun to getting shot with a pistol. They both suck. You get me?"

"Uhh..."

"Never mind. So. Selling souls. Soul contracts. Whatever. What can you tell me?"

"It's like, a thing some demons and devils do with humans. Pretty much what it sounds like. Power or favors for the soul upon death. Or when they're dead."

"Bit of a weird distinction to make."

"Yeah, well, believe it or not, it's come up. And Ancients only know how you'd count with either of those."

"Hm," said Danny. "I probably count as having died, but am I dead... I guess it matters for people who are only temporarily dead? Like, people who get resuscitated? Or whatever the JL has going on."

"Yeah, that's it exactly. But basically, if you have a contract with one of those guys and you die, it's a one way ticket to the Unworld. Hell. Whatever you want to call it. No chance of forming a normal ghost or getting into the nice afterlives. Unless someone intervenes for you and they pack a big punch, it's eternal slavery, torture, or being eaten. Sometimes all three."

"What if someone who isn't a demon has the contract?"

"I dunno, it doesn't come up much, man. Heard about some angels shredding a few a while back, and there've been rumors about where Nocturne gets his sleepwalkers for ages, and about Pariah's army, too, but nothing solid. I guess you'd own them. Thralldom. Maybe their soul would get suctioned to you instead?"

Danny grimaced. He didn't want to own anyone. So. "Any way to safely get rid of one?"

"Sell it?"

"No, I mean, like, destroy it. So it doesn't hurt me or the other guy."

"Dunno. Try and find an angel, I guess."

"Johnny, where am I going to find an angel?"

"Pft. It's not like they live on another planet or anything."

"No, just in another dimension."

"Hey, it's called the Infinite Realms for a reason. But, like, are you sure you want to free up someone who made a deal with a demon for power?"

See, this is why Danny got Johnny for advice. Other than him just being available.

"Yeah, okay, you have a point there. I'll come back to that. You ever see a soul contract before? You could tell if it was a real one?"

"Uh, maybe?" Johnny shifted slightly. "I only ever saw one, and it was for this weirdo named John Constantine. You'd get a real kick out of his story."

Danny stiffened slightly, recognizing the name. "Yeah?"

"Oh, yeah. Like, I don't know if the man is big on balls or short on brain cells, but you've got to admire it anyway." Johnny chuckled. "So, get this. The guy's dying. And, you know, he sucks, so he's convinced he's going to Hell, right?"

"Sure," said Danny. He didn't really get how people were sorted into afterlives, but, for obvious reasons, it wasn't a problem he was going to personally face.

"He doesn't want to go to Hell."

"Reasonable."

"He picks a fight with Satan."

"He-- Like, the actual Satan?" The Infinite Realms being what they were, names from mythology tended to have a lot of different claimants.

"Don't know, don't care. He's a tough dude, anyway. So, Johnny C, he picks a fight with Satan. Which, again, respect. Gotta beat up the biggest guy in the prison yard. And Satan's all like, ooh, now I've got to have your soul and torture you for all eternity. God, demons are so boring. Then our boy goes and sells a his soul to two biggest, nastiest demons he could find. Like, you'd call them Ancients if they ever took a break from torture."

Wow, Danny wasn't liking the revelation that demons could be as strong as the Ancients. "Okay, so far I'm leaning more towards the dumb category rather than the bold category for this guy, but continue."

"Right, so here's the genius part: He sold it to both of them."

"Yeah? You said that."

"Without the other one knowing. So, when it started to look like he was going to kick it, they all showed up to his deathbed and started fighting, including good ol' Satan."

"Why'd they have to go to his deathbed?" asked Danny. "I thought the soul just went swoop to them." He made a sort of sweeping motion with his hand, not sure how truly disembodied souls should move.

"Don't ask me, man, this is all third hand. Fourth hand? Whatever. Point is, since demons are all assholes, they'd fight each other if his soul was up for grabs, and none of them were too sure about their chances, what with all of them having armies or whatever, so they shoved him back in his body, healed him, and went on their way."

"They can do that?"

"Yeah, like I said, they're almost Ancients."

"So... It's an immortality scam," said Danny.

"Yeah, and, guess what, he's still doing it. Like, the guy sells his soul like it's going out of style, because it can't get much worse for him, right?"

"Okay," said Danny, "but it sounds like he's well known, so... Why would anyone buy his soul, if it's a scam?"

"Clout, probably? They get passed into the Zone sometimes, and I don't know how demons see it, but it's got to be a big boost being able to say you've got the soul of someone who's in the Justice League."

Danny was about to make a comment about a guy like that getting into the Justice League, but then he remembered something terribly important. "The Justice League, you say?"

"Yeah, wild, right?"

"So, uh. I guess the contracts he made with the big demons said they'd get his soul when he was dead?"

"Yeah, probably. Why?"

"What'd happen if he made a later contract with someone else and it said after he'd died?"

"Well, unless they wanted to piss off the big demons, they'd leave it."

"Uh huh," said Danny, rubbing his lower lip. "And, hypothetically, what would happen if someone... collected all those different contracts?"

"Holy crap, you really are getting into the soul trade."

"Hey! I'm just trying to help out a fellow hero!" said Danny, who absolutely had an ulterior motive, even if it was mostly benign. "It's not very useful to just give him back one contract, is it?"

Johnny, uncharitably, snorted.

"So, do you know who has his contracts?"

.

"You want to do what?" asked Jazz, a spoonful of yogurt hanging forgotten in front of her mouth. "For what?"

"I want to collect all of John Constantine's soul contracts so I can blackmail him into taking me to the Justice League's super secret space base."

"Danny..." said Jazz. She finally lowered the spoon, then looked around the kitchen as if their parents might pop out of one of the cabinets, despite being off installing ghost shields around a private kindergarten on the edge of town. "Don't you think buying someone's soul is a little..."

"Hey, he's the one that sold it."

"Probably for a good cause, if he's in the Justice League."

"Sure," said Danny, "and I'm going to give them all back to him, really, but between this and me managing to get past the NASA health checks, which is more likely?"

He really was going to give all the contracts back to Constantine, or at least destroy them, renounce them, void them, whatever, but the guy clearly needed an intervention. Stat. Plus, secret space station base.

It wasn't like he was going to make him do anything bad. And he'd make a proper appointment and everything, back off if there was a Justice League emergency, that kind of thing. He was sympathetic to the plight of the overwhelmed and formerly-dead superhero! He was one!

"Danny, if you..." she sighed heavily, "blackmail this guy with his soul contracts, don't you think he'll wonder how you got them? You don't want to be investigated, right?"

"Yeah! That's why I'll get all of them as a human! It'll be like a hobby. A personal challenge!" He pumped his fist.

Jazz stared at him with a mixture of resignation and horror. "Danny... you know that's worse, right? That's going to make them investigate you. As opposed to Phantom."

"Yep! And then they'll find the portal to the afterlife in our basement, and maybe they'll finally take us seriously." His eyes briefly flared green.

"Right," said Jazz. "Okay." She picked up her spoon and continued eating her yogurt with an air of extreme exhaustion. "As long as we're going all-in on the lunacy, sure. Fine. Whatever. Don't sell your soul or your firstborn by mistake."

Danny gave her two thumbs up. "I won't!"

.

"You want to what?" asked Sam.

"I want you to help me buy this guy's soul."

"From ebay?"

Danny nodded. "From ebay."

"I thought they didn't let you sell souls on ebay."

"Yeah, the seller is using a loophole, where they're actually selling the contract, but that seems to be good enough for the magic."

Sam stared at Danny for a moment, then shrugged. "You know what? I'm in."

.

"Okay," said Sam, dropping a huge book on the table, forcing Tucker to scramble to save his lunch, "this spell isn't specifically for soul contracts, but should let you find 'similar magic.'"

"Sweet," said Danny, pulling the book over. "You think I'll be able to do this?"

"If not," said Sam, "I'll help you out."

"Well," said Tucker, "can you do it somewhere else? That thing is dusty, and I need protein to survive seventh period!"

.

Danny walked around the circle of mushrooms three times before closing his eyes and stepping into it. When he opened his eyes, he was somewhere else, but there was the thin silver line of magic, leading onward.

So far, so good!

.

"Oh my gosh," groaned Danny, sprawled on the couch, "there's still so many. Why are there still so many?"

"Well," said Jazz, "it's possible that he's still selling his soul. So you might never be able to get all of them."

"Gross," said Danny. "I want him to stop." Something tingled, and Danny sat bolt upright."

"What is it?" asked Jazz, reaching for her wrist ray.

Danny focused, but... "Nothing. I guess I just got a chill."

"That's unusual."

"Yeah."

.

"Okay," said the minor demon from inside the summoning circle, "you drive a hard bargain, human. I'll sell it to you, on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You cause that bastard magician problems."

"That is the intention."

.

Danny sized up the demon in front of him, then raised his modified ectoblaster. "Well," he said, pleasantly, "if you don't want to sell now, I guess I can beat you up until you change your mind."

"And what can a human like you do? You aren't even wearing a symbo--"

Danny shot the demon in the face with holy-water-infused ectoplasm.

.

Danny set his homework down on the table and stared at Clockwork's extremely smug face. "What do you mean I could have just been stealing them the whole time?"

"Well," demurred Clockwork, his voice oddly synchronized with the ticking clocks of his lair, "not all of them. Some of them are only transferable through willing trade, not through possession of the physical version of the contract. But I'm sure you're well aware of how demons are at this point"

Danny groaned. "I've been trying to figure out what I can trade them or threaten them with all month."

"Indeed. But do be aware that stealing from demons is risky business."

.

It evolved the demons did not guard their vaults against living human incursion as well as they should have. Danny had lots of fun.

.

"Look," said the demon, "I don't even want it anymore." It snapped its fingers, and a... thing... appeared in a burst of gray smoke. "Look at it! I feel like it's looking at me!"

Danny examined the admittedly creepy but not at all haunted baby doll the contract was written on and sensed an opportunity. "Good point. You know what, I've changed my mind. You can keep it."

"No! Wait! Human, take it! Take it! I'll pay you!"

.

"Hey, Sam, I got your money back."

.

With a triumphant smile, Danny added the last of the contracts to what he'd dubbed 'Constantine's pile of bad decisions.'

It promptly exploded.

.

On reflection, Danny thought, staring dazedly around the room, it hadn't really been an explosion. Not a very big one, anyway. His room was completely intact. Except...

Except the contracts were gone. Shredded. There were little bits of paper (and doll stuffing) strewn around the room like confetti.

Danny screamed internally. What. Had. Happened. Had Constantine booby trapped his contracts somehow? Jerk. That was so unfair!

Except... He rubbed his eyes, as if that would do anything. The magic was very clearly still there. He hauled himself to his feet, tapping into his flight just a little bit, and stumbled forward, glaring at the drawer he'd kept everything in, as if it had answers to whatever had just happened.

His sense of the magic-- It very clearly moved with him. Oh. That wasn't great.

.

"Great one," said Frostbite, pressing his icy hand to his ectoplasmic one, "why didn't you come to us sooner? Or at least instead of Johnny Thirteen?"

"I don't know," said Danny, "I thought I had a handle on it! And, I, um, maybe... didn't have the right, or, uh, pure intentions."

Frostbite made a ice bench behind him without looking back, which was pretty cool. Danny wished he could do something that specific without looking. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Danny bobbed in the air, uncertainly, "he has access to this really cool space station that I wanted to go to... Like it would have been a win-win, though! I was going to give him back all of the contracts... So I guess it would have been a reverse soul contract, but..." He shrugged. "Now the contracts are gone, but I can feel the magic, and I don't know what went wrong!"

"Ah," said Frostbite, "well, nothing wrong with indulging your passions, especially not when you can do both at once, but I'm not sure if anything did go wrong, in the way your thinking of. Given the unique nature of Mr. Constantine's contracts, and your complete and rightful ownership, I suspect that the magic in all of the contracts simply merged, destroying the physical manifestations of the contracts and simply anchored themselves on you."

"Okay," said Danny, "so... what does that mean? Can I get rid of it?"

"Great one, I am afraid you are going to have to get used to the idea of, well..."

"No," said Danny, "no, no. It was going to be temporary. I was just going to-- It was going to be like a prank! I'd show up, boss him around a bit, teach him a moral lesson - like what Clockwork does, you know - then give it back! I can't for serious own someone! That's slavery! I can't do that to a person!"

"You don't have to do anything with it," said Frostbite, trying to be comforting. "You can ignore it completely... Although, I suppose it'll be a bit harder after he dies..."

"What happens when he dies?"

"Well, I suppose I should congratulate you on your first, ah, sworn vassal?"

"Are you just saying vassal to avoid saying thrall?"

Frostbite shrugged.

Danny groaned. "What am I going to do?"

"Perhaps tell Mr. Constantine his immortality scam is no longer in effect," suggested Frostbite. "And enjoy yourself. In the meantime, I will look into... potential solutions."

"Okay," said Danny. "Okay. I'll... do that."

.

Danny exited the portal and immediately realized that he had no idea how to contact John Constantine. Curse his inability to think things through or plan ahead. He thunked his head against the side of the portal.

He had a lot of work ahead of him.

"So," said Jazz, spinning on the computer chair, "is this when I tell you I--"

"You told me so, I get it, I get it. Ughhh."

"Yeah, yeah, sorry, even I have to gloat now and again. How can I help?"

"You'll help?"

"Yeah, if you tell me what went wrong."

Danny cringed. "It's more like what went right."

.

"I can't believe you actually own a dude now," said Tucker, tapping away at his computer.

"Don't say it like that. I was going to give it back to him! And I'm not going to, like, make him do anything... except maybe show me the Watchtower... At least this way he's not going to get tortured when he dies?"

"That's real thin, dude, but I forgive you. I know you don't want to own a dude."

"I really don't want to own a dude. It was supposed to be a joke, and now it's a magically binding nonsense thing."

"Yep. Sounds like the story of our lives. Maybe next time don't mess with demon stuff."

"I was going to give it back!"

"Uh huh, I know you were buddy," said Tucker. "Wow. This guy is more of a ghost than you are."

.

Eventually, Danny decided the best course of action was to take a bus down to DC and walk up to the reception desk. It was also the worst course of action, because it meant he had to go to DC, and all the planning and excuses involved in that, but beggars can't be choosers.

"Hi," he said, pasting on his best smile. "I'm, uh, I'm looking for John Constantine."

"Okay, do you know what tour he's with?"

"No, he's a League member, um. I need to pass him a message."

"Oh," said the receptionist. "I'm not sure if anyone by that name is here right now. If you have an emergency, or need to report a crime--"

"No, no, I just need to send a message. Here. Please?" He handed over an envelope that contained a letter that should explain everything.

.

John strolled into the Watchtower, having been bullied into going to a meeting by Zatanna.

"Hey! Constantine! Check your mail, it's overflowing!"

He waved them off as an acknowledgement. What could be in his mail, anyway?

An envelope thrown like a shuriken hit him in the back of the head. "Seriously, it's becoming a problem!"

John glared at the spandex-wearing idiot, but picked up the letter and made a show of opening the letter. He grabbed the piece of paper inside and froze as he sensed the faint touch of magic on it. With a somewhat greater sense of urgency, he pulled out the letter.

Dear Mr. Constantine, started the letter.

I own your soul.

"Ah," said John. "Bollocks."

.

.

.

Might do more of this later, but... I don't really know much about Constantine or DC, so... if anyone wants to pick it up... :)

I love seeing Danny Phantom showing up and being like ‘don’t ask too many questions but John Constantine I own your soul. All of it. Lmao sucks to suck bitch’, and he’s usually all Ghost King Full Regalia as he does it, at least in front of the Justice League, but consider—

He just shows up as Danny Fenton.

“yeah I got bored and collected the pieces like Pokémon. Gotta catch ‘em all” says the 5’2 teen who looks like a stiff breeze could trip him. He denies being a sorcerer, or a magician, concedes he’s maybe psychic but mostly he’s just…. The kid of two mad scientists—who have a basement lab where they opened a portal to what he SAYS is not hell but no one is frankly CONVINCED, by the way—and he hasn’t decided what to do with Constantine yet besides getting Danny into some r rated horror movies, but figures he should tell the dude probably.

“What’d you even trade for some of his soul contracts?”

“Don’t worry about it”

They worry about it

[whereonceiwasfire]

prompt: jack decides to throw vlad a surprise birthday party, and makes danny help

Help, this is a HILARIOUS prompt, I love it hahaha! Had so much fun writing this; thanks for the request!

“Danny boy!” Jack’s greeting is loud and boisterous the second Danny walks through the front door, backpack slung over his shoulder, chucks scuffing the welcome mat. “Are you busy?” 

“No. Yes! Why?” Danny asks, suspicion creeping into his voice as he pads into the entryway, peering into the living room where his dad has shopping bags scattered across the carpet. Some of them are tipped over, spilling red solo cups, paper plates, colored napkins, plastic balloons. 

This can’t be good. 

“You remember your Uncle Vlad?” 

Danny’s brow instantly drops low over his eyes, voice cold when he mumbles, “how could I forget?” 

“It’s his birthday tomorrow!” Jack exclaims, throwing his arms wide in demonstration like that’s somehow an explanation. 

“Great. So. I’m going to be in my room, working on homework,” Danny says, hiking a thumb over his shoulder at the stairs.

His dad just laughs as he approaches, like they’re in on some grand joke together. He throws an arm over Danny’s shoulders, uses the other hand to make a sweeping gesture across the living room. 

“We’re going to throw him a party.” 

Danny chokes on nothing.

“Here?” he blurts, incredulous.

“It’s going to be a surprise!” 

To himself, Danny grumbles a nearly inaudible, “Yeah, I think we’ll all be surprised if he bothers to show up.”  

“What’s that?” Jack twists a glance down at him, that ear-to-ear grin still plastered across his face. 

“Uh, I said—what did you need me for?”

“I need you to help me come up with ideas, and set up some decorations,” Jack says, not-so-subtly ushering Danny into the living room with that arm still around his shoulders. 

“Oh, I don’t think—” 

“I got all kinds of stuff,” Jack continues, as though Danny hasn’t interrupted at all. 

He unceremoniously dumps one of the bags over, spilling its contents all over the floor. Boxes of plastic cutlery, streamers of all different colors, cheap noisemakers. 

“Dad, you can’t be serious,” Danny says, stooping to pick up a paper tablecloth with the Packers logo all over it. He turns it between his hands as he straightens, giving a bewildered shake of his head, “I don’t think the dude knows they make napkins that aren’t cloth, you don't really think he’s going to—” 

He stops himself mid-sentence, a slow grin working across his features. 

“What’s that, Danny boy?” Jack asks, chucking two rolls of paper streamers—green and gold—across the room at Danny. 

He barely manages to drop the tablecloth in time to catch them—obeys his dad’s silent gesture to twist his end of the streamers so they make one long, spiraled string between them. 

“Uh. Nothing. This is…good,” Danny says, smile cracking even wider. “What other ideas did you have?” 

“I ordered a sheet cake with Vladdy’s face on it!” Jack shouts as he clambers up on a chair to pin his side of the streamers into a corner of the roof. 

“Awesome,” Danny says with the barely restrained bubble of a laugh.

“I wasn’t sure what else to do for food though,” his dad muses, pausing a moment as he steps off the chair. He sets a palm on the backrest, features twisting up as he thinks about it. “I don’t know where to get any of that fancy stuff he eats now.” 

“Oh, you should definitely still do party food,” Danny says, bouncing on his toes. “Hotdogs, and bags of chips, and soda cans. Oh, you should get him a little plastic bib so he doesn’t spill mustard on his stupid tie.” 

“That’s a good idea!” Jack says, completely unironically, tousling Danny’s hair as he passes, taking the other end of the streamer from him so he can pin it up in the opposite corner of the room.

“Oh, and party hats,” Danny says, voice brimming with so much excitement he thinks he might explode. “He has to wear a party hat. You only turn…ah…eight-five—or whatever—once!” 

His dad misses the comment, just nods along thoughtfully.

Ugh. Danny so hopes Vlad actually comes. He would kill to see the guy in a plastic bib and a little party hat eating a hotdog. Danny’ll smile and make polite conversation and call the man Uncle Vlad all night long if he has to. As long as the dude shows up.   

“Thanks for helping, kiddo!” his dad says suddenly, jerking him out of his own thoughts. He turns a glance over where Jack’s unspooling another long stretch of streamer.  “Vladdy’s going to love it.”

“Totally,” Danny says, barely managing to keep his words from breaking on a laugh. But he can’t keep the mental picture of the billionaire, here, with paper streamers and disposable dishes, from taking hold all over again. His eyes shine, face split on a smile when he adds an amused,  “It’s going to be incredible.” 

[dannymayevent]

Hi! Connected to DannyMay... I'm not really familiar with AU names/titles, either with AUs much. Could you help me out a bit? It sounds fun, but nothing comes to my mind if I think about those. Is there a list for those maybe? Maybe about the popular ones? What those mean? Thank you for your help! :)

If you don't want to submit any AU's, you don't have to! The poll is entirely optional, and many people are just submitting 3 general prompts. When the poll closes and the calendar is posted, any AUs we choose for the event will come with descriptions for people!

But if you want to browse them to submit, here's a bunch of popular DP AUs/HCs under the cut that I got off the top of my head.

Fangs: Self explanatory. Danny has fangs because ghost.

No One Knows AU: A "what if?" scenario exploring a universe where Danny was alone on the accident (aka no Sam and Tucker). As you can imagine, this has great potential for angst.

Corpse AU: A scenario where when halfas die, they leave behind a body. Usually the plot revolves around either the DP trio hiding/burying the body, or someone/cops finding the body in the woods somehow!

Dual Obsession AU: This is a scenario where Danny has two ghostly obsessions tying him down to Earth: an obsession with protection (or something similar) and a more innocent one about space. Typically, his space obsession involves a shift in his appearance and powers as well. Great potential for both fluff and angst with this one.

Monster Appearance: Honestly not quite sure what the actual name for this one is, but a lot of people like to play with a situation where Danny's ghostly form is a lot more inhuman looking.

Hazmat AU: Along the previous lines, this is a scenario where Danny's parents actually follow lab safety protocol and so Danny dies in a real hazmat suit, hood/mask and all.

Portal AU: This is a situation where Danny becomes the portal when he dies. He essentially throws up ghosts.

Ghost King: This is a headcannon where Danny becomes the ghost king after defeating Pariah Dark.

Season 4: Not really an AU, people more just like to picture/write about their take on what the future of Danny Phantom would be like (either including or ignoring the season 3 finale episode).

Field Trip: A headcannon where people like to have Danny and his class take a field trip, usually to the Ghost Zone, sometimes to other places too. Usually involves Danny's class getting stranded somewhere and Danny secretly (with varying levels of success) try to figure out how to get his class home without outing himself.

Full Ghost AU: Also self-explanatory. During the accident, Danny turns into a full ghost.

Human AU: An AU where Danny starts out a full ghost, and the portal accident turns him into a human/halfa (Half Human AU in this case).

Halfa Jack AU: A situation based off that episode of DP where Jack, not Vlad, gets in the initial accident. Usually involves Danny being raised by Vlad/Maddie.

Dissection: A headcannon where Danny gets dissected by either his parents or the Guys in White. I like to call these "dissecc" but that's just me.

Ghost Hunger AU: A dark and typically angsty scenario where Danny must consume ectoplasm to feed his core. Some people go a less-angsty route where ambient ectoplasm, or ecto-fruits/veggies will satisfy this. Others go a more cannibalistic route.

Reverse Trio AU: An AU which "reverses" the roles of the trio. Typically portrayed as Sam being the halfa, Danny being the geek, and Tucker being the goth.

Electric Core AU: A scenario where because Danny dies via electricity, instead of developing ice powers (and a 'cold core'), he's given electricity powers (aka an 'electric core).

Well, that's all I can think of right now. I might add more to this list if it comes to me. Lemme know if I forgot anything.

[obsidiancreates]

Master's Degree (Part Two)

The RV speeds through the open gate, Jack leaning out of his seat to press on the gas as much as possible.

Danny looks out the window as the mansion- castle, really- comes closer and closer at frankly alarming speeds. He notices the front door open, and a shadowed figure waiting in the doorway.

Not surprising, given how loudly they're roaring into his driveway.

Jack screeches the RV to a halt, throws the door open, and runs up to the entrance! Vlad steps out, and Jack immediately crushes him in a bear hug! Vlad coughs, taken by surprise.

"Vladdie my man!"

Vlad coughs again, starting to turn blue from lack of oxygen.

Maddie clears her throat, tapping her husband's should. "Jack, sweetie?"

Jack opens his eyes, and laughs. "Oh, right." He lets Vlad go, leaving his old pal heaving for breath.

"Thank you, Maddie," Vlad says with a cough. "He still doesn't know how to draw the line between 'tight hug' and 'death hug', I see."

"Well, you know Jack," Maddie says, holding her husband's hand (both out of love, and to keep him from nearly suffocating their host again).

"Yes, I'm glad I still do after all these years. I was worried you'd both be so different now, after being married and having kids... speaking of, nice to meet you both."

He shakes Jazz's hand, and then Danny's. Danny's a bit surprised by how cold Vlad's hand is.

"Come inside, come inside!" Vlad steps out of the way and lets everyone in.

Jazz cringes when they get inside. "Oh wow, what's with the green and gold? You're a billionaire, sure you can afford an interior designer."

Danny looks at her like she's grown a second head. "Jazz, hello? Football helmets, jerseys, cheeseheads! He's a Packers fanatic!"

Vlad grins. "You know the Packers, dear boy?"

"Danny," he says. "And yeah. I mean, I don't watch sports super often, but Dad used to put the games on and cheer for them even though they weren't our team."

"Just wanted to support my old chum's favorite players!" Jack says, hand on his hips proudly.

"How sweet," Vlad says, his smile not quite reaching his eyes.

Jazz still looks confused. "I don't understand. You have billions of dollars! Instead of buying this stuff, why don't you just buy the team?"

"Because they're owned by the city of Green Bay, who refuse to sell," Vlad spits.

Everyone looks at him with slight shock.

Vlad laughs a bit sheepishly, straightening up. "But it's fine. Money can't buy everything one could want. Like more time with my old friends."

He puts his arms around Jack and Maddie, but his eyes focus on Maddie herself.

"Though I suppose now, it has." Vlad pats them both on the back. "And more!" He gestures at the kids. "So lovely to have you all in my home! Feel free to look around."

Jazz starts taking some notes on how she would improve the decorations, while Danny looks at all the memorabilia. He comes upon a signed football on a stand. "Whoa, cool!"

"Indeed!" Vlad picks up the ball. "This ball was signed by the legendary Ray Nitschke himself! It's my most prized possession. You have an eye for value, Daniel."

"Danny," he corrects again.

"Yes, right. I'm just so pleased to find that we have things in common." Vlad's smile is a bit... wide. Almost knowing. But before Danny can think further about it, Jack runs at Vlad.

"HEADS UP, V-MAN!"

He slams into Vlad, crushing him into the ground. Jack laughs. "I see you've still got the old moves!" He picks the ball up off the ground and stands.

Vlad stands as well and snatches the ball away. "Give me that!" he says, panicked. He checks it for damage. "I never had any old moves, all those years in the hospital robbed me of-!"

He looks up form the ball. Everyone is staring again.

He sighs, adjusting his bow tie. "Sorry, sorry. I'm just very protective of my memorabilia. I know you didn't mean anything by it, Jack, you just weren't thinking."

Jack rubs the back of his neck. "I wasn't, was I? Sorry, Vladdie."

"It's fine." Vlad carefully put the ball back on it's stand. "Like I said, it's good to know you're still the same you from college. Always so well-meaning, but not always thinking it through. Despite it all, though, things always turned out fine in the end."

Danny finds himself nodding. Yeah, that's... pretty accurate.

"And still, it gave me time to chart out a course for my life, didn't it all? Let me plan, make well-thought-put decisions that helped me become very wealthy astonishingly quickly." He smiles again. "All thanks to you, Jack. If it weren't for those calculations being wrong, my life would be completely different now."

"Thank goodness for mistakes," Jack says with a wink.

"Yes, yes. Thank goodness for them. And actually, that's why I'm throwing the reunion here. I wanted to show there were no hard feelings, and let you all stay here with me."

Maddie frowns. "Oh, I don't know. We brought the RV with us."

"But it's such a gorgeous estate, isn't it? It used to belong to the Wisconsin Dairy King, it's a very historical property. I had the guestrooms all touched up and remodels just so I could reconnect with you!"

"Aw, you missed us that much?" Jack gives Vlad a friendly noogie. Vlad pulls away, patting his hair back into place.

"Yes, I missed you both so painfully. And I thought I should get to know your children better, too. I missed out on so many years of being their honorary uncle, like we'd always talked about before The Accident."

"Honorary Uncle?" Jazz crosses her arms. "Let me get this straight, you guys were that close, but still had no contact for twenty years?"

"Well, my dear, sometimes friendships grow apart. Especially after such a horrible, guilt-inducing accident." Vlad looks at Jack, eyes searching.

"But it's all in the past now!" Jack declares happily.

Danny thinks he sees Vlad's smile drop a bit. Not that he blames him. His dad isn't the most... sensitive, sometimes. And Vlad was pretty clearly looking for an apology there.

... It makes Danny grateful for Sam and Tucker. His parents just... left Vlad on his own after the accident, and it only gave the man ecto-acne. Danny got ghost powers and his friends still stayed by his side. He doesn't always remember how big of a deal that is. How their support helps ease the isolation his powers can make him feel.

He looks at Vlad again when Vlad sighs. "All in the past," Vlad echoes from Jack. "... Anyways, I insist you all stay. We have a king-sized mattress in every bedroom, and personal space heaters and AC-"

"Let's stay here!" Jazz coughs.

Danny gives her an unimpressed look. "Smooth."

Vlad's eyes light up. "Not to mention, Jack, that the Dairy King's ghost could haunt these very halls." he nudges Jack's stomach with his elbow. "A chance to capture a royal ghost."

Jack is already to the door. "I'll get the bags!"

Maddie sighs, and then smiles at Vlad. "Well, I guess we'll be staying after all."

"I'm so glad." Vlad gives her a hug. "It's been far, far too long apart."

Maddie hugs back. "It really has."

Vlad pulls away, and looks at Danny. "And I especially look forward to getting to know you better, Daniel. It's not often I meet someone who I can relate to. I have a feeling we'll get along swimmingly."

Danny smiles a bit. "Yeah. Me too."