Chapter Text
“I think I’m about to die the rest of the way, but from boredom,” Danny groaned.
Tucker snickered while Sam scowled and punched him in the arm. “Don’t be such a doofus.”
Danny mocked a scandalized expression. “Name-calling, Samantha? What would your parents say?”
“Low blow, Danny. For that, I’m not going to give you that extra soda I brought for lunch.”
Danny gasped. “You wouldn’t.”
“I would.” She leaned past him, “Hey Tuck, would you want a-”
Danny smirked, putting his hands up in mock surrender. “All right, All right. I hereby swear to not reference the existence of your parents for the rest of the day.”
“Make it a week, and I’m sold.”
“Done.”
Sam and Danny shook hands, using their best caricature of professional etiquette.
They continued walking down the room, Tucker trailing a few steps behind. It was a smaller space, with low ceilings and worn carpeting. Shadowbox cases lined the perimeter of the gallery, showcasing brittle-looking scraps of yellowed paper. Danny could acknowledge that these fragments must be historically interesting, but there was simply not enough to look at in this room to justify Lancer’s choice to linger in the space for what must be going on 15 minutes now. They passed a piece which had been written in a striking shade of green ink that reminded him of ectoplasm for the 4th time. Danny was using that as his lap marker. He wondered if Lancer would keep them in the room long enough for them to walk an impromptu 5K.
Sam looked sideways at him. “I don’t see why you’re complaining. At least we’re mixing things up with a field trip. I don’t know how many more of Mr. Lancer’s lectures I can sit through before I-”
Tucker suddenly interjected, throwing his arms around his two friends, “Gosh guys! Isn’t this place just the best! Who would’ve thought our little old local museum would have so many medieval manuscripts!”
Danny raised an eyebrow, and turned to say something just as their teacher approached the group. “Mr. Foley! I’m glad to hear you’ve taken such a keen interest in literary history. Unfortunately, it is time for our group to move on. You can always come back on your own time if you’d like to see more.” Based on the look the man gave Sam, Danny was fairly sure Tucker had been too late with his cover-up attempt.
The three of them meandered back to the double doors connecting the side gallery to the main showroom of the museum.
The group fell back in step with the rest of their class as they moved into the next exhibit. They stepped into a large atrium, sparsely dotted with glass display cases along the outside edges.
Mr. Lancer cleared his throat. “Now this exhibit is the most exciting, in my humble opinion. Here, you’ll find examples of different protest literature from the first half of the 20th century. There is a wide assortment of examples from fliers, pamphlets, and even a few zines. You’ll recall our lesson last week about the background of zines, and how they were often used to approach complex social issues through the lens of science fiction. Over here are fliers that were disseminated in Axis territory during World War 2 with the goal of…”
Danny looked to his friends. Tucker had also started to zone out, but Sam actually seemed interested in this part of the tour. He figured she was probably looking for new ways to spread the word at her next demonstration. He had resigned himself to waiting quietly, not wanting to interrupt a topic that his friend genuinely cared about, when a wisp of white mist escaped his lips. Tucker noticed, a mischievous look on his face. “Looks like we-”
Danny was on the far side of the room before he could register what was happening. Something had grabbed him by the back of his neck and was now pressing him headfirst into the wall. He heard gasps and shrieks from his classmates. Sam and Tucker called his name. His stomach twisted. He hadn’t transformed, and the list of ghosts willing to come after Danny Fenton was short and unpleasant. He tried to kick out at whatever ghost was behind him, but met only air.
“Ah ah ah, little badger. Wouldn’t want to put up too much of a fight in front of your little classmates, now, would we?”
He grit his teeth. Vlad. The teen tried to squirm out of the ghost’s grip, only to be pressed harder into the wall. He gasped as the plaster cracked under his skull. This made no sense. Was the other halfa really about to blow their truce in front of his entire class?
“What do you want, Vlad?” Danny gritted out, quiet enough to prevent the other students from overhearing. He was still holding out hope that he’d find a way out of this with his secret intact. Being on a first-name basis with the Wisconsin ghost was not going to help with that.
“Oh, nothing you can give. Though, it is something you can help me get. But, first things first.”
Vlad suddenly spun him around, and he only had a second to register the silver handheld device before it connected with his stomach. Danny cried out as electricity coursed through him. He heard several students' panicked yells, but for some reason Mr. Lancer’s startled “The Tell-Tale Heart! Daniel!” stood out to him. Blearily, he wondered how he was going to explain all of this to his teacher. Vlad caught him under the arms as his knees buckled. He thought to himself that he should try to fight back, to move away from Vlad, but his brain and body seemed to be operating in slow motion.
He felt himself being thrown over Plasmius’s shoulder. That seemed like a bad place to be, but he wasn’t quite clear on why. Details were feeling… fuzzy. He heard Sam call his name, but it was so far away. He wondered when she had left the room. Why did she go without him?
Vlad spun to face the frightened class, and Danny was certain he’d never stop spinning.
“Pass along a message to Jack and Madeline Fenton. If they wish to see their dear boy alive again, they’ll answer when I call on them.”
With that, he shot upwards, phasing through the skylights and out of the building.
As soon as they were airborne, Danny senses clicked back into place. He scrambled away from Vlad with a shout and pushed out into the open air, calling on his ghost powers. They didn’t come. Gravity snatched him, and he started to plummet towards the ground below.
“Foolish boy,” Vlad said, swooping down and catching him by the back of the shirt. Danny let out a startled yelp as the fabric constricted around his neck. His hands came up, fingers scrabbling to make space between the hem and his windpipe. A laugh rained down on him from above. “Have you forgotten the sting of the Plasmius Maximus already? It’s a rather distinct feeling, as you so kindly demonstrated to me the last time I used it. Though, I’ve given it a few upgrades since then.”
Danny’s stomach twisted. The Plasmius Maximus. That was the (stupid) name of the taser Vlad had made with the sole purpose of shorting out his powers. He fired off a quick mental inventory. Did he have any weapons on him? A thermos? Anything to level the playing field? He cursed himself internally as he realized he’d left anything that could have helped in his backpack, which was sitting uselessly back on the school bus.
“What do you want, Vlad?” Danny finally managed to choke out. He scowled at the ghost, but took as deep a breath as he was able given the circumstance in an attempt to calm himself. The ground was a long way down, and he couldn't access his powers. The last thing he wanted was to stay in Vlad’s clutches, but getting dropped from 200 feet up was not exactly an appealing alternative.
“So much bravado! But have you considered that I want exactly what I’ve asked for?”
Danny craned his neck up and furrowed his brow, trying to recall what the man had said in the moments after the sudden attack. “My parents? What do you want with them?”
“That, dear Daniel, is none of your concern. I simply need you out of the way while the adults conduct business.” He grinned down at the dangling teen. “But you will make such a convenient bargaining chip, in the meantime.”
Danny opened his mouth to argue, only to have his vision swallowed by a burst of magenta ectoplasm, and then darkness.
*****
“Did Fen-turd just get kidnapped by a ghost?!” Dash said, breaking the stunned silence. “Was that for real?!” Sam could hear the hysteria starting to edge into his voice. It took all of her willpower not to grab him by the front of his ugly red letterman jacket and scream in his face.
Mr. Lancer, to his credit, quickly attempted to regain his composure and take charge of the situation. “Everybody, remain calm. Mr. Foley, do you have a cell phone with you?”
“Well, um, I mean-”
“The Catcher in the Rye, Mr. Foley! This is not the time to worry about your repeated violation of our school’s policy on cell phone usage during academic events. Do you have a phone that you can use to call for help?”
“I- Yes, Mr. Lancer. I have my phone.”
“Good. I want you to call 911 and let them know what happened immediately.”
Tucker pulled out his cell and flipped it open to make the call. Lancer assessed the remaining teens.
“I want everyone to return to the bus while we wait for the police. WALK, do not run. Stay together as a group. Tucker, you can talk and walk. Let’s go.”
Sam numbly did as she was told. She could barely process what had just happened. Why had Vlad attacked? And why did he do it while Danny was in his human form? She thought they had worked out some sort of truce. What changed?
She stepped out of the air conditioned building into the sticky heat of a too-warm May afternoon. The bus lacked air conditioning, but at least all of the windows were open. Danny had complained the whole way there that he couldn’t use his ice powers to cool the bus.
“You could always come clean about being Phantom. It’d probably make everything a lot more convenient for you. And then you could use your powers all you wanted.”
He hadn’t appreciated her suggestion, even if it wasn’t genuine.
While everyone else dutifully filed on, Sam snuck around to the far side of the bus. Tucker wasn’t the only one to ignore the “no phones” rule on school trips. She snapped hers open and speed dialed Jazz.
“Hello? Sam? What’s going on? I thought you guys were on a field trip today.”
“Vlad took Danny.” She didn’t know what else to say.
Jazz wasn’t going to waste time with any more words than necessary. “I’ll be right there.”
*****
Tucker watched as the Fenton’s RV came screeching into the parking lot of the town museum. Guilt swirled inside his stomach as he watched Danny’s parents jump out of the vehicle and run to where the police had cordoned off the front entrance. He let out a deep breath. Would it change anything about the current situation if they knew? He didn’t think they could take on Vlad. What he did know was that Danny would be furious if Tucker did anything to put them in that kind of danger.
He watched as the two ghost hunters spoke with a detective that was clearly in over her head. Maddie Fenton responded to something the woman had said, gesticulating wildly as she spoke. Jack put a hand on her shoulder. She turned and buried her face in her husband’s chest, shoulders heaving. Tucker felt his throat constrict as he looked away.
Jazz pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later. He knew Sam had called her before he’d finished with 911 and the police had notified Danny’s parents, but she was far less willing to flaunt traffic laws than her father. She parked and came running up to her parents, who wrapped their daughter in a bear hug. The family spoke for a few minutes before Jazz looked over to Sam and Tucker. She said something else to her mom, who nodded. Jazz turned and walked over.
“That’s a conversation I would like to never have again.” Her voice wavered. She quickly wiped her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. “I got the ‘official’ story. Now tell me what actually happened.”
Sam and Tucker took turns explaining events, but it didn’t take long to catch her up to speed. Everything had happened so quickly that there wasn’t much to tell.
“Tucker and I were talking about taking the Specter Speeder and going after him like the last time Vlad nabbed him, but..” Sam trailed off.
“Mom and Dad have it locked down because of the last time you stole it.” Jazz replied.
Tucker nodded. “That, and this is way more public than the last time. It’s not like we could just leave. We’re witnesses at a crime scene.”
Jazz bit her lip, thinking. “The police want mom and dad to wait at home. Based on what Vlad said to everyone, they’re expecting some sort of ransom demand.”
Sam snorted. “It’s not like Vlad needs any more money.”
“Maybe he needs something else.”
The two girls turned to look at him. He waited as they considered his words.
“Do you think this is like the time he infected us with ecto-acne?” Sam said. “Maybe he needs some sort of help from the Fentons, so he kidnapped Danny to force them to help?”
“It makes more sense than anything else I can think of right now.” Jazz turned to look back at her parents. “Look, I have to go. With Danny getting taken, my parents don’t want me out of their sight. I’ll let you know as soon as we hear anything. In the meantime, I’ll try to see if there’s any way around the new security features on the Specter Speeder.”
They watched their friend’s sister as she walked back over to her family. The three Fentons finished their business with the police and climbed into the RV, leaving Jazz’s car behind. Then the vehicle pulled away, with much less enthusiasm than it had arrived.