Chapter Text
In between a flurry of paper that resembled snow and a slew of curses, Vlad hurried across the room.
Finally pulling a book off the shelf, he sighed, almost relieved as he flipped through it. Pages and pages of ancient text zipped past as he scanned through the tome, eyes narrowing with each one that did not hold what it was he sought. He stood next to his portal to the ghost world, the electric green of it flashing as though it were a lightening storm. In the resulting power surges, his hair was standing on end, shoulders tensed against some unknown worry.
The book fell open, as if manipulated by unseen hands, to a page with a portal looking device drawn on it.
"Ah." he hissed, thin lips drawn back as his eyes lit up. Turning to look across the room, he bared his teeth in a spine-tingling grin, more of a threat than a smile. With the book in hand, he made his way across the room, towards the device that matched the drawing on the yellowed paper. "So it is complete."
It stood before him, a vast maw of wood and metal, hand assembled over many nights, nights that he had spent awake and consumed by the project.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, a small voice tried to protest as Vlad wrapped his fingers tightly around the mechanism that would open the new door. He ignored it, the dark circles under his eyes telling of how far gone he was. "At last," he whispered, "Access to the Nightmare Throne."
A wisp of hot air tumbled over his lips and he snarled as he turned around, the tail of hair that he normally kept fastidious swirling around his face. "Daniel Phantom, how wonderful of you to stop by."
Danny floated back a little, eyes wide as he stared at the scene before him. "Vlad- What's going on here?"
"A chance for real power," Vlad hissed the words, the teeth of his ghost half showing through. "Access to the Nightmare Throne, the chance to be a king of a world without you in it. My dear boy, what do you honestly think is happening here? Do use your brain, what little of it you have left after fighting for so many years." he paused to take a breath, then snarled again as the black rings of his transformation swept over him. Plasmius stood in front of Danny now, his purely red eyes pinned to the young adult.
"Vlad, please, lets talk about this." Danny dropped to the floor, hands held up in a gesture of peace. He swallowed nervously, bright green eyes focused entirely on the older halfa. "Please." he begged, one hand held out as he stepped forward. "Just, just take your hand off the lever, we can talk about this."
"It is six years too late for you to talk me down, Daniel!" Vlad scowled at the younger man, claws digging into the metal handle, denting it slightly.
Before either of them could say anything else, the door opened on it's own, spitting a cluster of people out onto the floor of Vlad's laboratory. Startled, Danny zipped away from them, towards Vlad, both of his eyebrows arched. With the older man distracted, Danny managed to slide his hand off of the lever, pulling him away from the machine entirely.
"Oh, that was far from pleasant." one of the people muttered. "William?"
Another one of them groaned, proving that he was still alive, and flopped his arm out to the side. The action seemed to release something that seemed to be made entirely of hair that jumped on the first speaker until he set something on the ground and scooted over to the other man. "Can you speak or has the trip robbed you of that?"
"I can speak, and I must say that that was the most unfortunate way of travelling that I have ever had to experience." he shuddered as he sat up, rubbing carefully at the back of his neck. "It seems that we have made it?" he cast a glance around the room, eyes landing on the fourth member of their party. "Willow?"
The third human didn't stir, and Vlad's eyebrows were arching up ever higher to meet his hairline. Danny took charge instead, guiding the older halfa away from the machine. "Excuse me?"
The two men paused in their inspection of the unconscious companion, the shorter one looking up at Danny. "Oh, hello. I must apologize for the intrusion."
"No, you're fine, you just stopped Vlad from doing something he shouldn't be doing...I think." Danny gestured at Vlad, who was still frozen in confusion. "What exactly brought you here? From what I can tell, the thing you came through isn't good."
"You are correct about that," the man stood slowly, rubbing at his knees. "But I must beg you to believe that we are not of the same caliber as what lies beyond the Door."
"Vlad built the thing, and he hasn't been-" Danny cut himself off with a shake of his head. "Anyways, can I get your names? I know that the girl is Willow, and I think he's William, but I'm not entirely sure and things are kind of weird right now."
"Ah." the man extended his hand. "My name is Wilson Higgsbury. The two travelling with me are William Carter and Willow Amadeus." he gestured down at the hairy beast that was holding a bone in it's mouth. "And that is Chester. It's short for Chesterfield, which is simply one part of a much longer name."
Danny shook Wilson's hand, smiling. "Nice to meet you. Next question is, why did you come through the scary looking door?"
"It was how we exited the world we were trapped in." Wilson explained immediately, turning to help William stand. Vlad watched all of this in silence, his jaw slack as he saw Wilson's hand come to a stop on William's chest, a soothing circle of his thumb over the taller man's collarbone. "It appeared and freed us, so I must ask that you forgive me and my friends for our unscheduled arrival in your home."
With a bright red flush on his cheeks, Danny shook his head. "It's not my house, it's Vlad's. I just came to stop him from doing something kind of insane an-"
"Did you say 'William Carter'?" Vlad interrupted, finding his voice.
William nodded, meeting Vlad's eyes. "Yes. Is there a reason you object to my name?" he studied the black hair that spiked out from Vlad's head, an eyebrow arching smoothly as he took in the cape and the color of his eyes. "You seem to be a specter of some kind."
Not saying anything just yet, Vlad transformed back, blue eyes almost as big as saucers. "William Carter, the older brother of Jackson Carter?"
"...Why do you know my brother's name?" William stepped closer, leaning down just enough to meet Vlad's eyes. "Setting aside the questions I wish to ask concerning your appearance just now, you seem oddly compelled to know my name."
Vlad swallowed, his throat making a clicking noise. "Did you have a niece named Wilhelmina?"
"Yes."
Blinking rapidly, Vlad slumped down on the ground, his hands coming up to cover his mouth. All the fight seemed to have left him, his arms shaking even as he tried to still them. A few minutes passed, all conscious eyes on him as he breathed shallowly. "Wilhelmina Abigail Carter."
Nodding again, William approached slowly. "Why do you ask?"
The question seemed to trigger something in Vlad's brain, and he stuck his hand out. "Vlad Masters." he waited until William shook it, then looked up to meet his eyes. "And I ask because that was my mother's maiden name. When she had me, she was married to a man named Edward Masters, who was my father, making her Wilhelmina Abigail Masters."
The thud that followed as William dropped unconscious to the floor beside his nephew shook the lab.