Chapter Text
When morning came the next day, the two Fentons had started working on fixing the Fenton Finder. After hours of no signal appearing and them running out of Phantom’s ectoplasm, they decided to search for him the old way, asking others if Danny had been seen. It was easy for them at least, to act as worried parents when their child had not come home from school. The town knew that the Fenton children were often doing things on their own, either it being just hanging out with their friends, or buying stuff they needed.
They didn’t always like the way the older Fentons barely noticed their own children, even less worry about them. It came as a shock to most people when they had asked if anyone had seen Danny, stating that their son had not come home from school. They couldn’t ask Jazz as she was away with her friends for the weekend and Danny would have come home after she left.
Many of the people that they had asked stated they had not seen Danny. His teachers last saw him at school with Sam and Tucker, the three seemed to be heading to the Nasty Burger for food. That’s where the two decided to search next with Sam Mason and Tucker Foley. Surely they would know or possibly hide Danny if he did come to them.
They first started with Tucker, asking the boy various questions about Danny’s whereabouts. Tucker never told them about the fight with Skulker. Only letting them know that the last time he saw Danny was at the Nasty Burger, where they were doing last minute homework assignments. Seeing they would get nothing out of the boy, they thanked him and headed next to Sam’s home.
Just like Tucker, she had told them the same story. She had seen Danny last at the Nasty Burger, working on school assignments before each of them departed home. Sam as well did not tell them about skulker, though she gets bad vibes from the Fentons searching for Danny. In all the time she has known him, not once has she seen the Fentons be worried.
Both Fentons were not only angered but disappointed in not having any leads. Their one live specimen had escaped their grasp with no clue as to where they are. As they reached their home, a sleek black Rolls Royce was parked in their driveway. They didn’t know who the car belonged to until the driver door opened and Vladimir Masters, their old college companion, stepped out.
Jack parked the GAV behind Vlad’s car, greeting the man with a smile. It slowly faded when he noticed how stoic his college companion was, more than usual. Maddie was the first to greet him but his demeanor did not change.
“Vlad, what a pleasant surprise to see you. We weren’t expecting you”
He only sighs, they notice he isn’t wearing his usual suit. Instead it is replaced with navy blue pants and a plain white t-shirt. Without the suit he looks just like any other person and not a billionaire
“I only came here to speak with Daniel, though judging by how no one is home. I assume he is not here?”
He doesn’t want to tell them that Daniel is with him. Especially not after how the boy arrived at his doorstep. Luckily, he was still asleep when he had left the house to meet with his parents.
“No, we’ve been searching for him since he didn’t come home last night after school”
It's a lie, he knows it is
For Daniel’s sake, he’ll fake not knowing where he is
“Have you asked his teachers and friends about his whereabouts?”
“We did but no one has seen him, Jack and I have been searching for him all over town.” states Maddie with a saddened look, though Vlad can easily see that it is fake
“Oh but where are our manners, would you like to come inside? Surely we can speak to see if we can come to a solution in finding him?”
He hesitates but if it allows him to enter the home to inspect the damage then he can’t deny
“I have some time to spare”
Maddie smiles and leads him inside Fenton Works after unlocking the door. Entering the home, he spots a broken panel by one of the walls leading down to the basement.
“It seems you had some trouble last night?”
“Hmm oh! Yes we had a ghost and it escaped our grasp, we’re not sure how it knew about our fuse box but it destroyed it in the process of escape”
“That ghost sure was a hassle to capture and it went and escaped, V-man! Though we did learn some things from it!” Happily exclaimed Jack, which sent a burning sensation to Vlad’s core
One filled with rage and protectiveness
Before he can utter a word, he’s ushered down, Jack wrapping an arm around him so he can’t escape.
“Man Vlad, it was so similar to a human’s, it’s inside were exactly the same except that they were green! And where a heart is supposed to be is this orb shaped thing, we wanted to look at it closer but then the darn ghost fled before we could”
Vlad’s starting to feel uncomfortable at hearing what had happened, sure he heard Daniel’s side though his was more fear induced than Jack’s all too cheery tone.
“Sorry it’s still a mess, we haven’t had a chance to clean it up. We were busy working on upgrading the Fenton Finder to track the ghost”
Inside the basement, he can see just how cruel his parents truly were towards Danny. Ectoplasm is splayed all over the lab, more is staining a metal table in the middle of the room. Various sharp materials littering the floor and a cart fallen to the ground, hastily pushed out of the way.
The elder halfa is not fond of the scene, a massacre is all he can describe it as. Treading carefully around the lab, he notices the fried wire. Most likely Danny’s doing to escape the place and he wouldn’t blame him.
“So V-man what do you think!”
Turning to Jack, he grimaces at his all too happy face.
“It.. it is hectic, you two really need to work on lab safety. This place is atrocious and quite dangerous…”
The two fentons only look at Vlad with a confused look
“We thought you might like it since you still have an interest in ghosts” States Jack, walking closer only for Vlad’s hand to stop him, using his other to rub his temple
“A curiosity to study their nature and being not experimentation! This!” He motions his hand to the ectoplasm filled lab
“Is cruel even for a ghost, I apologize but I must leave. I will not stay here any longer, as for Daniel, I will search for him on my own. I do not want him returning to a place such as this”
“Wait Vlad! You must understand! We can learn so much from them! Ghosts don’t listen, they just want to cause harm! I-if we can capture Danny again we can finally learn more about that orb we saw! It may be our key to finally stopping ghosts! We can save Danny from the ghost possessing him!”
Shouts Maddie, a thrill to her voice until she realizes her mistake. She didn’t intend to mention Danny, or about the orb. Jack gently places his hands on her shoulder, a worried look on his face. Both looking up at Vlad, who is trying his darndest to calm down Plasmius. He had only come to see the extent of the damage that they had done but now that they had revealed their plan.
He’ll ensure they never see Daniel again
“Did you not say that Daniel was missing? That you had no idea as to his whereabouts? Are you lying to the town just so you can continue this experimentation when you do find him? ”
“No! We really are worried! We…. We just…” Both Fentons are speechless, they can’t do anything to change Vlad’s mind, especially after he saw the state of the lab. They look up when footsteps, loud and hard, stop a short distance from them. Vlad’s icy blue eyes are replaced with scarlet red, and suddenly they feel helpless under the billionaire’s gaze.
“Did you even care for him…?”
A simple question, one the Fentons couldn’t answer. For all the time the younger siblings have lived, rarely have they ever been taken care of by their parents. Jazz possibly when she was an infant but when she turned two and Danny came along. She took the role of parent, taking care of her little brother as best as she could until he could do things on his own. Even then she worried about him constantly.
“How could we love a ghost, that vile creature took our Danny and we intend to free him from it! This is the only way to do so!” Replies Maddie, a hardened and hated stare looking at Vlad. He lets out a low growl, his eyes turning back to an icy blue
“Then I will ensure Daniel will never return here. I am not letting him return to a place such as this and to such neglectful parents.”
The billionaire states retreating towards the stairs, ending the conversion. He doesn’t want to ever see his two ex friends anymore. Their rational mind had ended long ago and all that is replaced is an obsession with the extermination of ghosts.
“V-man wait! You… You can’t just take Danny from us! We’re his parents!” shouts Jack as he follows Vlad outside to his car
As he heads down the stairs and towards the driver side door, he gives the two fentons one more hardened look
“Parents that dissected their own son… I am done having this conversation. When Daniel is found, he can decide what he wants to do but I am not letting him do it by himself”
Maddie and Jack watch as Vlad’s car leaves their home in a rush, intent on not staying any longer. They however are worried, not for Danny’s health or well being no. They no longer will have their live subject and save their son
Though was Danny ever their son if they were rarely in his life?