#Vlad Masters POV

[darthfrodophantom]

Family Traditions (We Are a Family...Right?)

Summary: Summary contains AGIT spoilers! Inspired by the Christmas season, Vlad takes his two charges Dan and Dani to select a Christmas tree for their first Christmas together. Dani is thrilled by the outing, Dan...not so much. And Vlad is left to ruminate on his nostalgic memories and the meaning of the word family.

Happy Holiday Truce @northerngrail! I'm your Secret Santa! I really hope you enjoy your gift this year! Thank you for the wonderful prompts! I decided to go with this one for your gift:

Prompt: The Masters family (Vlad, Dan, Dani) doing something incredibly stereotypically "family bonding" ie: fishing, road trip, etc. And suffering through it (happily)

AO3

CW: AGIT Spoilers!

Family Traditions (We Are a Family...Right?)

He didn’t know what drove him to think this idea would go well. Maybe he thought this living arrangement meant more than it actually did. Maybe he finally had some hope that something would change. Or maybe he was just getting soft and senile in his old age. Vlad realized with a sharp jab of annoyance mixed with pain that it was probably the latter. 

He couldn’t really put a name on what living situation he had now with the young Danielle and the redemption-seeking Dan. Parent? No, that felt far too familiar. Warden? In the case of Dan that sometimes felt appropriate. Caretaker? He certainly did watch out for them, but even that seemed a little distant for the paternal relationship he’d started to build. Guardian? That seemed to fit the best as a good mix of responsibility and affection. 

But would that make them a family? He felt loath to ascribe that much affection and companionship towards what they had. He could catch a glimpse of it sometimes, especially from Danielle, but he didn’t feel that quite met the criteria for family. Then again, he didn’t have the best example of that growing up, but when he looked at what the Fentons had…he didn’t see that in his current living situation. 

So if he didn’t see them as a family, then why did he think it wise to embark on something that most would consider a family tradition? He still couldn’t rationalize those competing principles in his mind, just like he still couldn’t explain the pull he felt towards this activity. He could say he got caught up in the infectious holiday spirit surrounding him, or the yearning for a family tradition, but in reality it had been a thought: a simple thought that pushed him to change his entire approach to the month of December. This was the first Christmas he would spend with children under his roof - and he painfully realized it would be the first Christmas he would spend with anyone under his roof since he was a teenager - and he needed to make that special for them. Whether he was their parent, warden, caretaker, or guardian, that meant he bore the responsibility of giving them a Christmas and rolling out all the stops. The decorations. The stockings. The presents. The Christmas meal. The Christmas movies. And that also meant…the Christmas tree.

Wrangling them into the car proved to be a challenge. Dan was a malevolent, violent ghost stuck in a teenager’s body, which proved to be a disastrous combination on the best of days, and Danielle was mischievous and far too inquisitive for her own good. Neither of them responded well to the idea of an unannounced drive to an undisclosed location for an activity. His suggestion was met with suspicion and questions, and even though he managed to convince them to join him in the car, the suspicious and inquisitive questions had not ceased. 

Christmas music crooned out of the stereo to set the mood as Vlad turned off the highway and onto a country road. Sure some people sold suitable trees in the city, but this was less about the tree and more about the experience, and he wanted to find a small local shop off the beaten path. As they pulled into the small dirt parking lot, Dan’s eyes focused on the large cars with cables and trailers and harnesses already equipped. He watched as a family walked out from under a white canopy strung up with warm Christmas lights as they pulled something heavy behind them.

Dan shook his head as he frowned. “No…no wait no. I see what you’re doing here. Are we–”

“Picking out a Christmas tree!” Dani interrupted in sheer joy as she pressed her face against the cold car window to look out at the selection of pine trees that covered the snowy ground. 

“Yes, that is what we are doing,” Vlad confirmed as he out-maneuvered someone to get a close parking space. They didn’t need a closer parking space - all of them were fit and able to walk and carry a tree a long distance - but this was about the principle and the status of managing to find and obtain a closer parking space.

Dan groaned as he slumped into his seat with his arms crossed over his chest. “Why can’t we just get a plastic tree from Target like everyone else? Or better yet, none at all.”

“Because that’s no fun,” Dani pouted as she turned around in her seat to face her…sibling? Herself? Her future? Vlad wasn’t quite sure how to quantify and label their relationship either. “This is so much better! I’ve seen this on TV. You run around and look at all the trees and pick the best one. Don’t you want to do that?”

“No,” Dan quickly retorted.

“Really?” Dani pressed. 

“I would rather be in the thermos.”

“We can arrange that,” Dani muttered under her breath as she turned to look back out the window.

Vlad took a moment to build his patience (a patience he’d been working incredibly hard to develop after finding himself a guardian) before he turned around to look in the back seat. “No one is being sucked into a thermos. Now we are going to look at some Christmas trees. Maybe we don’t need to look at all of the trees,” he conceded. Dani opened her mouth to protest but Vlad held a hand up. “We can find a perfectly good tree without looking at all of them. But we are going to look, understand?” 

Dan and Vlad locked eyes for what felt like minutes to Vlad, but he knew in reality it only lasted a few moments. He’d engaged in his fair share of these battles of wills with the malevolent ghost before (and he’d lost his fair share as well), but he had a purpose this time and the genuine hope this would do them all some good, and that pushed him to stand his ground. 

Finally Dan huffed out an annoyed breath and stepped out of the car. Vlad slumped in his seat in relief. He really didn’t want this argument to escalate further, but with Dan he never knew. He genuinely felt that the ghost was trying to make good on his second chance, especially since they both knew Clockwork kept his eye on them, but sometimes he acted out in anger and it turned violent. Vlad could take the abuse until he could calm him down, but he preferred not to cause a panic in public around so many families.

Dani seemed to sense their victory. The tension bled out of her and a smile returned to her face as she jumped eagerly out of the car. He had originally been wary of bringing Danielle into the house after he took charge of Dan’s rehabilitation, but she had actually proven to be a stabilizing force in the house. Maybe she served as a gentle reminder of Dan’s prior innocence, Vlad couldn’t quite say, but in the absence of Jazmine (who Dan surprisingly listened to), Danielle could hold quite a bit of sway. They still argued, but she could hold her own and put him in his place when needed. Sometimes they even teamed up, and while Vlad appreciated seeing them working together, that never bode well for him.

He followed his two charges out of the car and led them towards the first row of trees as the snow crunched underfoot. What a stereotypical sight they must make: the single parent leading a sullen teenager and a wide-eyed younger child to pick out a Christmas tree. It felt reminiscent of those horrible Hallmark channel movies that he absolutely did not hate-watch in secret, but how wrong anyone would be to think that their arrangement was anything close to that stereotypical display. 

“Don’t even look at the prices,” he instructed as they reached their first row of trees. Wafts of fresh pine scent assaulted them, and Vlad took a moment to breathe deep of the nostalgic smell. He couldn’t wait to have it spread through the living room once they installed the tree. “Just pick out a tree you both like.”

Dani clapped her hands happily and ran off down the row to look at trees further in, but stopped short as soon as Dan spoke up and pointed ominously at the very first tree. “This one.”

Dani stopped and turned around as she stomped her foot. “Ugh, you dummy! You didn’t even look at the rest of them!” Vlad raised an eyebrow because Danielle may very well be the only being in both the realm of the living and the realm of the dead who could get away with calling Dan a dummy.

“I didn’t need to. I like this one,” he said firmly.

Dani opened her mouth to argue again, but Vlad spoke first. “And why do you like this one?” Maybe he had a genuine reason for liking this tree, but he doubted it.

“Because it’s the first one.”

Both Vlad and Dani groaned. “We’ll keep your preference in mind, but we’ll keep looking at other trees,” Vlad decided. He didn’t want to dismiss Dan’s preference if he truly felt a connection to that tree, but he had a feeling the only positive quality that three possessed was being the first of the lot.

Dan retreated further into his sulk as he bowed his head lower, but he trudged after them as Dani ran through the trees. They had their work cut out for them, because all the trees were lovely. The recent snow dusted the branches with white powder and it looked like a perfect winter wonderland; he would be happy taking any of them home. Thankfully Dani seemed to have a vision and she inspected trees that caught her eye with an expert, critical gaze.

“What about this one?” Vlad suggested as he pointed at a well-shaped tree that Dani walked right past.

She turned to give it a second look as she placed a gloved hand to her chin, but she shook her head. “Nope. It’s too…piney.”

“Too…piney?” Vlad asked in confirmation.

“What the hell does that mean?” Dan asked as he raised an eyebrow.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s more of a feeling. It’s just…too much pine.” And as if that statement cleared everything up, she dashed off to another tree.

“She’s drawing this out,” Dan complained.

Vlad sighed. “We’ve barely been here five minutes; this is hardly being drawn out.”

“There was nothing wrong with that tree,” Dan pointed out. “She shot it down because she doesn’t want to be done.”

“And what’s the harm in that?” Vlad probed. “Let her look at some of the trees, get a feel for what’s out there, and then we can press her into choosing one.”

Dan rolled his eyes and trudged after them as he scuffed his boots stubbornly through the snow. Occasionally he’d kick the trunk of a tree just to watch the snow shake and fall from the branches, but mostly he sulked behind them while Dani debated the features of different trees and the quality of their pine needles.

“Oh stop looking like you’re being tortured,” Vlad finally spoke up. “This is far from the worst thing you’ve ever had to endure.”

“Don’t you remember I hate Christmas?” Dan pointed out.

“Part of you may,” Vlad conceded. He remembered hearing Jack complain incessantly about how young Daniel could not get into the spirit of Christmas. He’d planned to use that at some point to his advantage in recruiting the young Daniel, but now…well he had enough versions of the boy that he didn’t need to add another under his roof. “But the other part of you secretly loves Christmas. I know because that part is me. So maybe you should listen to that other part.”

“I usually lean towards hatred,” Dan quipped sullenly.

Dani poked her head out from behind a nearby Christmas tree, her hat covered in snow. “Well, then maybe you shouldn’t.” She gave Dan a pointed look and a shrug before she disappeared back behind the foliage.

Vlad had to hide a chuckle behind a gloved hand at how simple the suggestion seemed. Danielle had a way of cutting through the attitude to find the cheery solution. He didn’t know where that quality came from, because while Daniel could be overly hopeful at times, he wouldn’t necessarily describe the boy as cheery. She hadn’t had a cheerful existence so far (he meant to change that) so he couldn’t say that positive outlook came from her prior experiences. Maybe she forced herself to adopt that perspective specifically to deal with her experiences? He’d have to ponder that a bit more. But whatever the explanation for her optimistic demeanor, he appreciated her view on the world and tried to adopt a little of it himself now and then.

Dan also seemed intrigued by her suggestion because he grew quiet and pensive. It wouldn’t last long, it never did, but maybe he took some of what she said to heart.

Suddenly a tree caught Vlad’s eye and he stopped in front of it. A wide base with a tapered point, taller than him, no patchy spots - it resembled the quintessential tree from any holiday catalog. “Danielle, what about this one?” Vlad suggested as he inspected the branches. He gave them a good shake and they seemed sturdy and capable of holding even his heaviest Packers ornaments.

Dani doubled back and gave the tree some serious consideration. She walked around it a couple times and even got down onto her knees to look up under the tree at its bones. She scooted out from under the branches and shook her head. “No, that’s not our tree.”

“Are you kidding me?” Dan snapped. “It’s perfect!”

“That’s the problem,” Dani stated as she lifted up one of the branches. “It’s too perfect. You want the tree to have some character.”

“I can’t believe this,” Dan groaned as he looked up at the sky like it held some kind of salvation.

“Well, then we’ll keep looking,” Vlad agreed, though it pained him to walk away from this picture-perfect tree.

“I still don’t understand why we’re doing this,” Dan spoke up.

Vlad took a moment to close his eyes and collect his patience before he spoke up again. “Because we need a Christmas tree,” he tried to say through a controlled, even tone.

“Okay, but why are we doing this?” Dan asked with added emphasis on his real question. ”Why not just send Skulker to grab one? You send him on all your other mundane errands.”

“Because he wouldn’t grab the right one. And he wouldn’t take the care needed to transport it back. And he’s on a date.” There, three practical reasons that should hopefully quell Dan’s query and avoided the true emotional reasons for the trip.

Dan stopped abruptly as he blinked a couple times. “He’s what?”

Vlad turned around and quickly noticed the shocked wide eyes and gaping mouth, and he took the slightest bit of delight that he could catch the ghost off guard like that. He actually greatly resembled Daniel in that moment in more than just appearance. He didn’t often see pieces of the Daniel he knew in Dan - he must have torn it all out when he rid himself of his emotions - but occasionally they would bleed through. It was refreshing to see. “Well, he didn’t call it a date. He’s off destroying the world with Technus. But it’s a date. We all know it’s a date.”

Dan shook his head minutely as a look of revulsion colored his shocked expression. “I don’t want to hear that.”

“What, do you have a problem with love?” Dani asked as she emerged from behind them. She had clearly been crawling around under trees because pine needles stuck out of her hat and jacket.

“No - I mean yes,” he countered quickly. “Yes. I hate love.”

“Riiiight,” Dani said as she rolled her eyes. She gave a slight wink to Vlad who hid a chuckle behind his glove. “Hey, shouldn’t we be worried about the ‘destroying the world’ part?”

Vlad waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, I wouldn’t be too worried. It’s Skulker and Technus after all: hardly a pair to be concerned about. Besides, I’m sure Daniel will find a way to ruin their fun.”

“First good thing that brat’s done,” Dan quipped.

Dani put her hands on her waist as she leaned in close to Dan’s face. “Why are you so against them dating?” she asked as she squinted to study his face.

He took a step back and lightly shoved her out of his space. “Because I’ve seen them in the future. Look, can we talk about anything else? Like what about this tree?” he asked as he tapped the tree next to them.

Vlad smiled that Dan seemed to be getting into the spirit enough that talking about a tree was an acceptable alternative. It also seemed to work because it completely distracted Dani who rushed over to examine the tree.

“Nah. This one sheds too many needles,” she decided as she pulled a handful of needles off.

“You can’t–every tree will lose its needles if you pull on them like that!” Dan argued in exasperation.

“Yeah, but this one lost more,” she countered. “So there. Not a good tree.” She scampered off before Dan could get another argument in.

He clenched a fist and breathed out a long, slow breath. Vlad hiked an eyebrow in interest because it looked like some of those anger management techniques were actually working. He’d have to thank Jazmine later. “She’s being unreasonable.”

“She’s just having fun,” Vlad sighed. “I promise, I’ll make her select one soon enough, just bear with her.”

“Oh I’m bearing with her alright,” Dan muttered through gritted teeth as he watched Dani dismiss another perfectly good tree. 

While Dan might be suffering watching her traipse through the rows of pine trees, Vlad actually found the whole event quite enjoyable. The whimsy of watching Danielle play around amongst the trees and inspect each one filled him with a paternal glow. Watching a Christmas tradition unfold through the eyes of a child filled him with a happiness he couldn’t really explain and renewed his Christmas spirit more than any other activity could. Now if only his other charge would find the tender happiness of the moment with them, then it could all be perfect. Alas, that seemed to be too much to ask for.

“If none of these trees are right, then why can’t we just get a plastic one? It would save us all a lot of time,” Dan pointed out.

“The plastic ones just don’t have the same feel to them,” Vlad explained as he stretched the limits of his very limited patience to stay civil. How he longed to turn around and brandish the ‘because I said so’ that all guardians use at some point, but he knew that would only end in conflict and would force Dan to pull away even further. But god would it be easier. “A real tree has a scent and a presence that the fake ones don’t have. And the experience of selecting a tree is far more thrilling.”

“I can’t say I agree with the ‘thrilling’ part of that statement,” Dan grumbled.

“Because you’re not letting yourself. But selecting a tree for Christmas…why it’s one of the few happy memories I have of Christmases past. My parents were usually too busy for their trophy child, but Christmas seemed to be the time when they remembered why they had a child in the first place. Every Christmas we would pick out a tree from some small lot like this one here. Mother would watch and smile as I picked out a tree. I could actually hold my father’s attention for a time. We had no distractions or anything else demanding their attention. It was us as a family picking out a Christmas tree.”

A soft smile settled on Vlad’s face as he thought of those happy, nostalgic memories. He didn’t have many happy memories of his childhood as they were mostly filled with loneliness and boredom, but the few he had of Christmas he held very dear to his heart. And being back amongst the trees, with the snow and the pine and the excited squeals of children pointing to trees brought him right back to the happiest of his memories.

Dani stopped her inspection of a tree’s branches, and when she turned to look at him, Vlad could see the sympathy creasing her slightly teary eyes. He wasn’t really trying to get that reaction from her, but he wanted to share how much the nostalgia of this trip meant to him. She reached a comforting hand out towards him, but stopped when Dan’s harsh voice cut through the silence left by Vlad’s story.

“You forget old man that I have those same memories too,” Dan growled with a slight edge to his voice. While Vlad clearly drew warm feelings from these memories, Dan’s reaction gave him the distinct impression that he was not as pleased to be reliving those old memories. “I don’t need the reminder. So I ask again why are we doing this? And I want a real answer this time.”

Vlad opened his mouth with a quick businessman answer full of bluster and smoke and mirrors, but faltered when he realized that this wasn’t a business meeting. This wasn’t some pitch that he needed to sell to a stranger whose feelings and opinions didn’t matter. This wasn’t some cut and dry business proposal that most people would forget about two days later. No, this was his ward and he owed him more than some superficial response. He deserved to hear the real reason, even if Vlad still didn’t know what that real reason could be. How was he supposed to explain to the ghost who tore out his own feelings a decade ago that he did it because he yearned to give his wards a warm memory to hold on to in the cold and lonely months that seemed to come for everyone in their later years, like he had of his own Christmas traditions. He couldn’t rationalize it or explain it in a logical way that would make sense to him, because all he had were feelings and a hope, and he could hardly find the words to explain that to himself, let alone to the other ghost.

Dani, however, seemed to have no problems putting that feeling into words. She stepped in between them and looked at them both with that infectious smile of hers. “Because it’s what family does.”

A silence fell about them as the word ‘family’ rang in their ears. Dan stared down at the snow-covered ground and refused to meet either of their eyes. He slid his foot in the snow just to make some kind of noise to fill the awkward silence. Vlad also shifted uncomfortably as he grabbed his other arm and ran his hand along his sleeve as he lost himself in thought.

Family. So Danielle somehow believed they were a family? Why was he so shocked to hear that? He’d thought it earlier that night and even multiple times before that as he planned this out. This was the sort of activity a family did together. He wanted to share this with them because he saw them as family. It all made sense in his head, and yet for some reason the word never felt right when he rolled it around in his head. He always felt it wasn’t quite right for what a family should be, but maybe that had been his problem. For Danielle to say it so plainly…well it made it all the more plain to him too. Maybe it wasn’t the family everyone else had, but it was the family the three of them got, and didn’t that make the word all the more meaningful? The fact that three outcasts who never really belonged to anyone had found each other (sometimes in very strange circumstances) and managed to make it work meant something to him, to Danielle, and hopefully to Dan based on his reaction.

Dani must have realized she said something poignant because she let the other two sit in their thoughts for a long, awkward moment before her eyes grew wide. She pointed into the distance as a huge grin spread across her face. “That’s it!” she cried out before she shot off down the row to the tree that caught her eye.

Dan glanced up from the ground and took a step forward to follow after her, but Vlad held a hand out to gently stop him. He knew Dan didn’t like being touched and he was putting his own safety in danger by doing so, but he had a feeling he would allow it this time. “Wait. You want to know why I’m doing this?” he asked, which turned Dan’s warning glare into a look of curiosity. “I’m doing it for her.” 

Vlad gestured towards Dani who jumped about her newly selected tree with excited hands clasped together. “Maybe you don’t care anymore, or maybe even can’t care anymore, and that’s fine. Maybe you don’t think we’re a family, and that’s fine too. But she does. And she has known very few Christmases since she…well since I brought her into this life. I wasn’t ready to make them good Christmases before…but I am now. And I want her to have a good memory of this, like we did.”

He gave Dan one last little nod before he met up with Dani at her chosen tree. Dan fell silent and stayed behind, but Vlad didn’t mind. Giving him a chance to think and ponder those thoughts seemed like it would be helpful in the long run. “Well now, let’s see this tree.” Like many of the others they’d pointed out, the tree had a good wide and full silhouette and was tall enough to fit the ceiling of its destined room. He nodded his head in approval as he circled the tree and studied it from all angles, but his inspection unfortunately uncovered a gap in the tree. And not just a gap, but it appeared all the branches below that gap seemed to be drooping, like something heavy had pulled them down. He grabbed those branches and tried to move them up to see if they were broken, but the branches still remained firm. So they were attached securely to the tree but had just been shaped improperly.

Vlad sighed as he released the branch and dusted his hands off on his jacket. “I’m sorry to tell you this Danielle, but your tree has some drooping branches on this side.” She would be crushed to hear the tree that captured her heart had such a noticeable imperfection.

“I know,” she said simply. “That’s why it’s perfect.”

“...I’m not following,” Vlad admitted. She’d dismissed so many other trees for the tiniest of details (some of which she made up) so how could she so easily ignore this one?

“Because it’s not made perfect. It’s not the perfect example of a tree, and maybe it’s not exactly what you expect or want when you think about a tree, but it’s still good. It’ll still make a good tree,” she pointed out as she held one of the branches and ran her gloved fingers over the pine needles. “And you can love the tree not just in spite of its flaws, but because of its flaws.”

Vlad quickly realized this had become far larger than just picking out a tree. Somehow she had turned this into a metaphor for herself. She wanted a tree that had its flaws just as she had, and knowing that tree could still be chosen and loved and desired was important to her. He realized he had caused that insecurity too. By chasing after a “better” clone, a clone more like Daniel, he had dismissed his other creations as failures without caring about how that made them feel. He had a lot to atone for, more than what he could do with a Christmas tradition, but he’d start that atonement by showing her that yes, she could still be chosen and loved because of who she was.

“Well, then it sounds like it’s the perfect tree for us,” Vlad agreed with a smile as he placed a hand on her shoulder. A slightly broken tree for the slightly broken family. It felt right.

Dani squealed in excitement and jumped up and down in place. “Yay! I can’t wait to put all kinds of garland and ornaments and lights and - ooh tinsel! We can put tinsel on it too!”

Vlad chuckled as he shook his head slightly. Tinsel sounded like a horribly messy thing, but if tinsel brought her some holiday cheer and joy, then he’d let her throw tinsel all over that tree. “Whatever you’d like. Now, let’s take this tree number to the–”

“Oh, sorry pal,” a voice spoke up from behind them. Vlad turned to see a middle-aged couple walk over to them. The bearded man gestured towards the tree. “We already paid for that one.”

“What?” Dani asked as she turned her wide, sad eyes onto Vlad, as if pleading for a different answer.

“For this tree?” Vlad asked in confirmation as he placed his hands on the branches of the tree.

“Yup, that exact tree. Number 251. Best bang for its buck on the whole lot. Managed to get a discount on account of the defect,” he crowed proudly.

“But…but…” Dani stammered as she looked back at her prized tree. “But I spent so long looking for this one…”

Vlad felt a frustration rise up within him, but he tamped it down as he put on his best businessman face. He didn’t need to let his temper get out of control here. He had to remind himself that this couple didn’t understand or know how much this tree meant to her, but surely they could be persuaded. And if the joy of a child couldn’t sway them, then he was sure money could.

“Any way I could persuade you to pick a different tree?” he cajoled as he took a step closer. “Pay the cost of the difference to another tree perhaps? My dau–young Danielle here, she really has her heart set on this tree.”

“It’s perfect,” she pouted as she held onto one of its branches like a young child held the hand of a beloved stuffed animal.

The couple looked between each other for a moment, but when he met Vlad’s gaze again he shook his head. “Sorry, but we worked hard for the deal we got for this tree, and as a point of pride we’d like to take it home.”

“Extra money then,” Vlad pressed. “The difference in price for another tree plus an extra hundred to spend on decorations or whatever you’d like.”

The man shook his head again. “Sorry pal, but we’d like this tree, and we did find it first.”

Vlad clenched a fist as his ectoplasm boiled in rage. Really they were just being unreasonable. The tree, while perfect for them, could not possibly be worth this much to the other couple. It seemed like the more he argued for it, the more value they found in their initial purchase. He normally believed everyone had a tipping point, but he feared that these individuals were too stubborn for their own good. Perhaps he could arrange a little…situation on the road, where the tree mysteriously fell through their car on the way home. He’d tried to handle this nicely, but he wasn’t above some ghostly trickery to get that tree. Yes, that could work. He would just need a duplicate to follow them and then–

“He made you a reasonable offer,” Dan growled out from behind them. Vlad turned to see Dan practically vibrating in his anger, like his skin could barely hold the rage building up inside him. His clenched fists shook from the effort it took to keep them at his side.

“Now Dan, we don’t need to–” Vlad tried to intervene, but Dan cut him short with a steely glare.

“I’m not talking to you, old man. I’m talking to these two,” he snarled as he focused his attention on the pig-headed couple as he took slow, controlled steps towards them, like a careful predator stalking his prey. “He made you a reasonable offer and you said no because of what? Your pride? So you can have a trophy and congratulate yourselves on how you got such a good deal at the expense of the dreams of a child? You’re pathetic.”

The man bristled and stepped in front of his wife. “We saw it first. We already paid for it. That means it’s ours.”

“Oh no it isn’t. No, this tree is ours now. You want to take this tree from her?” he asked slowly as he gestured towards Dani. “On her first real Christmas? Her first Christmas with her family? No…no you’re not going anywhere near this tree. I’ll make sure of that,” he promised as a sinister red light flared in his eyes.

“Brad,” his wife squeaked up from the back, but he shook his head and took a brave (and foolish) step forward. He took a moment to size the teenager up with his dark jacket and thick black boots. Vlad realized that the man probably thought he had this “teenage punk” all figured out - oh how wrong he would be.

“You think some teenager with a mouth will stop me?” Brad asked as he puffed up his chest with fake confidence. “I’ll call the cops and shut down your tough guy act.”

“The cops won’t save you from what I have in store,” Dan threatened as his eyes glowed a uniform red. A white ring of light formed around his waist, and as it split apart it revealed the massive, muscled form of Dan Phantom. Brad took a terrified step back on shaking legs as Dan advanced on him, towering over him. He grabbed the man’s shirt in his fist and easily suspended him in the air. The man grasped at the hand around his shirt and kicked his legs as he begged for mercy, but it only made Dan’s malicious smile grow wider. 

He flew the pleading man up into the air, higher and higher before he simply released his hold on the man and dropped him. He screamed as he plummeted quickly to the earth, but Dan swooped down to grab him again. He held him in the air and grinned at his screams for mercy. “If you think that was bad, you should see what else I have in store for you,” Dan threatened as he held up a fist wreathed with green ectoplasmic flame.

“Oh butter biscuits, we’d been doing so well for a public outing,” Vlad sighed from down on the ground. As much as he felt great pleasure (and maybe pride?) upon hearing the unreasonable man squeal in terror and fright, he didn’t actually want the trouble of having Dan hurt the man. As much as he wished for the man to suffer pain for his stubborn attitude and refusal to help secure Dani’s dream tree, as a guardian he couldn’t actually let Dan hurt the man.

“Are you going to stop him?” Dani asked with a slight tremble in her voice. She must still remember the last time he had to stop Dan and took quite a beating in the process.

“Eventually,” Vlad sighed as he kept his eyes focused closely on Dan. “If he does anything that’s actually harmful I will of course rush in.” For now though, it seemed like Dan found satisfaction enough in terrifying the man, and judging by Brad’s high pitched squeals of “You can have the tree! You can have the tree!” he had a feeling the tactic worked.

“But first, let us rescue that tree, hmm?” Vlad suggested as he smiled down at his young charge.

Dani’s smile lit up her face as she reached over to give Vlad a hug from the side. He stiffened slightly in surprise only because he didn’t expect such a physically affectionate reaction, but it melted his heart all the same in a way he’d never felt before. He placed a hand on her back and gave it a comforting pat.

He looked back over at Dan who had moved on to threatening the man by slowly sinking him intangibly into the ground and he noticed the gleeful yet sinister smile on his face. Dan reacted so strongly to the potential for Danielle’s dream to be dashed, and he had even used the word family in his threats. He admitted they were a family. 

Somehow, in their own strange way, this trip had brought them closer as a unit and…yes as a family. This off-the-cuff idea that he stitched together with a feeling and a hope had actually proven to be a happy outing that he knew generated some formative memories for all involved. Maybe he had done it. Maybe he had created a new Christmas tradition for all of them. For his family. 

Their own family tradition.

Notes: I just wanted to make a note that I don't actually have anything against plastic trees. I myself have 3 plastic trees and have never had a live tree (I'm too paranoid about the fire risks). So that was all Vlad. But I do have a romanticized idea of what selecting a live tree would be like!

Also @northerngrail I hope you noticed the little nod to one of your other prompts in there!

This is also a first for me on a lot of levels. First time including Dani in a story. First time writing from Vlad's POV. First time writing anything post-AGIT. So hopefully I did it all justice!

I hope you enjoyed your gif!

#danny phantom #danny phantom fanfiction #fanfiction #phandom truce 2023 #holiday truce 2023 #masters family #agit spoilers #a glitch in time spoilers #post agit #christmas fluff #found family trope #family fluff #minor angst #but mostly fluff #parental Vlad Masters #Vlad Masters POV #christmas tree #christmas spirit

[satoshy12]

My hero actually DID his job!

It had been a political meeting with the big media, as Vlad had to listen to other citizens talk about their heroes and complain about how they have more supervillains and damage. As a reporter, asked Vlad, the mayor of Amity Park, what he thought about it. He himself didn't talk about villain attacks or similar.

Vlad:" It's not my fault that your heroes are failures."

Yeah Vlad insulted every hero and city just with 1 sentence.

Politician angry from Metropolis:" What the hell are you talking about?"

Vlad:" How many years did your heroes fight their villains in your cities with collateral damage?"

Someone from Gotham said, " Maybe now 20 years maybe more."

Vlad:" The hero in Amity Park only took 1 year to show all his villains the right path, that they dropped being evil, and only once in a while visit to fight the hero without any damage to the city other than that place where they fight."

Vlad had built an Arena for it; it helped both Ghost and Danny fight and train.

Many of them are silent, as if they couldn't believe 1 word to say, " Impossible. Our heroes tried it for so many years."

Vlad:" If your failures did their job, you wouldn't have any villains years ago. So, yes, I don't think your heroes do their jobs."

Vlad then didn't talk anymore about this theme; he got bored of it.

And for the media and politicians, 1 online search and they saw Vlad told the truth... And they were kind of angry and confused. How comes that boy in 1 year fixed all his villain but someone like Superman or Batman wasn't able to do it for years!

#danny phantom #vlad master #danny fenton #dp #dc #dcau #dp x dc #dp + dc #dc x dp #dc comics #batman #Superheroes #Superman #Failures #Amtiy park has no villain anymore #Disappointed other cities #What are their heroes doing all the years #Playing a game with the villains?? #Outside pov #Arena of Amity park

[whereonceiwasfire]

If you're game to write a cheese melt (Vlad & Dani father-daughter dynamic) ficlet, I'd love to read one. If not, that's cool :)

*vibrating with excitement* My friend. Your cheese melt art has been living rent free in my head for WEEKS. It's my sincerest pleasure to write a ficlet for this. I hope it's okay that it's an outsider POV, I just had an idea and my brain went brrrrrrr LOL

May I offer you a dysfunctional parent-teacher interview?

Parent-teacher interviews are always a nightmare, but there's one in particular that’s making Amity Middle School’s beloved Ms. Burnell sweat through her shirt. As the time slot nears, her gaze keeps flickering to the clock, her classroom door, back to her nervously interlaced fingers on the desktop.

It’s going to be fine. Perfectly fine.

“This one! Over here! Dad! This is my class!” The excited words, shouted in the syrupy sweet voice of a little girl, sets every nerve on edge, Ms. Burnell’s heart plummeting straight into the pit of her stomach.

Oh lord. Maybe it’s not going to be fine. 

Her student comes bounding into the classroom, eyes bright and excited, oversized blue sweater sleeves slipping over her hands, even as she gestures emphatically for her father to follow. Black hair spills out of her ponytail, whipping across her face as she throws herself into a desk across from Ms. Burnell’s with a bright smile. 

Her father, on the other hand… 

The heel of his expensive Italian loafers strike against the linoleum as the man stops at the threshold of the classroom, cool gaze doing an assessing sweep of the space, expression crinkling in distaste as it does. He doesn’t say a single word, doesn’t make any move to actually step inside the classroom. 

Ms. Burnell is the one who clears her throat, pushing to an awkward stand as she extends a hand out to the man. 

“Hello, Mr. Masters. Thank you for making the time to come discuss your daughter’s education. I know you’re very busy.” 

The man’s eyes slip to her outstretched palm, and for a motifying second, she doesn’t think he’s going to take it. When he finally does, he just gives a brief, cursory shake before swiping his palm off on his suit jacket and striding past her toward his daughter. 

Ms. Burnell’s face is all kinds of warm, chest tight with embarassment as she fumbles back to her desk, trying to wrestle herself back into some kind of composure. Still, she barely looks up as she pulls out a folder with Danielle Masters scrawled across the tab.

“Dad! Dad! That one’s mine! Do you see it? Do you like it?” Danielle calls proudly, tugging on her father’s suit sleeve and pointing toward the paintings that are spread out beneath the windows to dry, paper wavy and crinkled.

“Oh, er. That’s actually a good place for us to start,” Ms. Burnell cuts in apologetically. 

Mr. Masters gaze snaps from where he’d been examining his daughter’s project, over to her, brows dropped low. 

“Why? Is there a problem with my daughter’s work?” The question is sharp, accusatory, and she’s pretty sure her soul shrivels up a little bit at the unguarded disdain in the man’s eyes.

Swallowing hard, sweat beading against the back of her neck, Ms. Burnell resists the urge to immediately take it back. Surely he can see the problem with the piece—isn’t going to make her say it? 

It's too scary.

When his challenging gaze doesn’t waver, she forces the words out. 

“Uhm. Well. It’s just. Not quite. Appropriate for a sixth grade class?” It pitches up into a question as she gestures vaguely toward Dani’s painting. 

It’s a bit sloppy, the layers of paint caked upon each other, the lines hasty and uneven, but the scene itself is clear enough—a little, smiling, white-haired girl in the shadow of some kind of hulking creature, its skin blue, eyes red, sharp fangs bared as its cape flares out to take up the rest of the page. 

Ms. Burnell almost set up an appointment for Danielle with the school counselor when she saw it, wondering if Dani felt like she was the little girl, trapped amongst nightmares and “monsters.” She decided against it for the time being, until she could speak with the girl’s father, but that’s proving rather unhelpful so far if the contemptuous way the man is looking at her is any indication.

“Did Danielle complete the assignment?” he asks finally. 

“Uhm. Yes.” 

“And adhere to the grading criteria?” 

“Sh-she did,” Ms. Burnell answers reluctantly.

“Then I don’t see the problem,” he answers, finality in the words as his gaze turns to his daughter. He takes a much softer tone with her, brushing the disorderly strands of hair off her face, an absent domesticity in the way he straightens the ponytail gone lopsided. “I think you did a lovely job, dear.” 

“Thank you! I used Alizarin Crimson,” she answers proudly, hair flopping right back into her eyes.

“Excellent choice.” 

“Uhm. Well, there’s also the matter of Danielle’s conduct,” Ms. Burnell cuts in.    

The man lets out an irritated sigh, arms crossing over his chest as he leans back against one of the desks, one ankle crossed over the other, unimpressed gaze finding Ms. Burnell once more. 

“What?” he says, like it’s an inconvenience.

She swallows hard. “She’s been…uhm. Not getting along with some of the other girls.” 

“That is so unfair, Mackenzie started it!” Danielle shouts abruptly, popping up to her knees on her chair, palms slapping down against the desktop. 

“Well that’s not what Mack—” 

The girl keeps going, cutting Ms. Burnell off. 

“She said the only reason Eli agreed to play with me at recess was because Joshua dared him too, and I said nuh unh and she said yuh hunh, and I asked how she knew that, and she couldn’t even prove it, it was so obvious she was making it up!” 

“Mackenzie told me that you said some pretty unkind words to her, Danielle.” 

“Barely! I just said it was a bad look for her to be so jealous of me and just because she looks like she fished her outfit from the same trash bin she got her personality from isn’t any reason to be a jerk.”

Her father’s expression twists into a sharp smirk, amusement lighting his blue eyes, and Ms. Burnell thinks she’s starting to get a better sense of why Danielle is proving to be one of the most challenging students in her class this year. 

“We treat people with kindness and respect in this classroom, Dani. Do you think what you said to Mackenzie was kind and respectful?” 

“Well…” Dani’s gaze drops, expression pinching in thought, and Ms. Burnell thinks she might actually be getting through to her.

“It doesn’t sound as though this other girl was treating Danielle with kindness and respect,” Mr. Masters answers, the words coming out with a mocking turn, like he finds the concepts incidental at best.

“That’s true. She did start it,” Dani reasserts, turning her gaze up to her dad.  

“I’ve spoken to Mackenzie about her part in everything,” Ms. Burnell answers tightly. “But we’re here to talk about Danielle’s conduct. That’s not the only incident of its kind that’s occurred this year and—” 

“You know, it sounds to me as though Danielle’s doing just fine,” Mr. Masters says, pushing up to a proper stand, tugging the bottom of his sleeves and smoothing the dark, wrinkleless fabric.

“But—” 

“Did she make this girl cry?” 

“Well. No, but—” 

“And how are my daughter’s academics?” he asks, gaze fixed on hers, sending a chill creeping down her spine. 

“Fine, but—” 

“Has she gotten into a physical altercation with anyone?” 

“Not exactly, but—” 

“Started any fires?” he asks, sarcasm and derision dripping from the words. 

“No, she hasn’t started any fires.” 

“Then I believe this meeting is finished. Thank you for your time, Ms…”

“Burnell,” she answers weakly.

“Thank you for your time, Ms. Burnell. Danielle, are you ready to go?”

“Yup!” She pops up to an enthusiastic stand, rushing over to the windows to snatch up her painting, twisting it toward Ms. Burnell. “Can I take this home?”

She gives a heavy sigh, massaging her temples with her fingertips. “Sure, Dani. That's fine.” 

“Thanks, Ms. B!” As the girl traipses after her dad, a bounce in her step, horrifying painting swinging at her side, Ms. Burnell can hear the girl still chattering away, even as they pass out of her classroom, voices growing distant. “Do you think I should have made Mackenzie cry?” she asks.

Ms. Burnell is glad she can’t hear the man’s response—she doesn’t even want to know his answer.

#dp ficlet #danny phantom ficlet #cheese melt #danielle phantom #vlad masters #outsider POV #thanks for the ask! #liliande-comics

[theshadowrealmitself]

At all times I’m thinking about how Dani is different from Vlad and Danny

Like Vlad’s the ghost of a friend you lost touch with, still technically alive, still technically there, but he haunts your memory, like he can’t move on from the past (and neither can you, that’s why you never picked up the phone and called him, was it guilt? maybe, but you know either way you never would’ve reached out first)

Danny’s the ghost your kid who you don’t understand anymore, he haunts your house, drifting in and out of doorways, he looks like your kid, he sounds like your kid, but he’s,, different. changed. (more guilt, your fault again, it was your portal that keeps doing this, you know he’s only different because he went through something you’ll never experience, but you keep causing)

But Dani? you don’t know Dani, she haunts nothing, she isn’t lingering here, a bitter reminder of something that used to be nice, she’s new, and sudden, and she’s loud, and excited for life (there’s no guilt, but oddly, you still feel like you caused her in some way)

#DP #danny phantom #dani phantom #danny fenton #dani fenton #Dani DP #vlad masters #vlad plasmius #Plasmius DP #Jack or Maddie or both pov you decide #oh yeah no energy to do the drabble I’m excited about writing but this pops out when I want to talk about Dani? #lil writing thing idk #wrote this while waiting for my clothes to finish drying

[dyinggirldied]

Socialites and paparazzi are excitedly watching the battle between Bruce "Brucie" Wayne and Tony Stark aka Ironman, equally rich and both in control of innovative machinery engineering, fighting over Danny Fenton. A young but talented and secretive scientist/engineer who comes from an equally secretive and creepy small town called Amity Park.

The battle only gets more heated once Vladimir Masters, notoriously infamous (because manage to get your rivals to sign your contracts without their consents or getting blackmails from them is enough to make Vlad a terrifying business tycoon in the wealthy folks world, especially if he is originally just a normal middle class young sickly boy before) also joins in the battle.

Much to Danny's exaggeration and amusement.

#would be fun if this is done from the angle of outsider pov or social media #basically rich men fighting over danny #vlad definitely not going to be happy #pretty sure this idea has been here before but my brain is blue screen rn #danny fenton #danny phantom #dp x dc #dp x mcu #dp x dc x mcu #vlad masters #bruce wayne #tony stark #vlad plasmius #batman #ironman

[bwabbitv3s]

Good Godfather Vlad AU - Part 6

Lingering Memories and Future Plans 

Link to Index Post, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Vlad is not sure what is worse, the look of hope on the boy's face knowing he is not alone, or the horror it turns into at the revelation of what Vlad implied by it being drawn out. He is not able to ponder for long as in typical timing Jack interrupts them. Dragging Danny away to meet another old acquaintance. Voice booming out another ridiculous nickname suited more for a teen than a grown adult as they disappear into the crowd. There is an almost hollow feeling to standing there after his most tightly kept secret was finally told to someone. 

It is hard the rest of the night trying to socialize for long enough for it to be acceptable to slip out early. Only getting glimpses of the Fenton family in the now crowded room. Drifting away from them to mingle and get his thoughts and emotions under control with frivolous small talk. The last hour has been a whirlwind and he has a lot to unpack in private and some very creative allegories to work out for his therapist. He is not quite ready to face any of the Fentons anymore tonight. 

It won’t leave him alone as he tries to talk about useless things like the frogeye salad at the buffet, how the gym still has the old mascot mural, and listens to people talk about their children when he can’t even remember if they were in his classes. The thoughts on his mind keep sliding back to what his old friends would do to him being part ghost. What they could do to their own son trying to understand.

What ghosts had they interacted with to colour their impressions of ghosts? Had they faced only the emotional blobs of animated ectoplasm that were the jellyfish of the ghost world? Leaving them thinking ghosts are just thoughtless creatures barely intelligent and driven by instincts. Maybe the half formed ghost animals that were next most common. He knows his first few encounters had left him with a poor insight to them. While the most populous of the ghosts he had encountered were not a true representation of what ghosts are in general. It would be like judging all the animals of a forest by just garden snails and slugs you find under one rock. 

Memories drift to his first few encounters with sapient ghosts. Ones that seem to line up more with the ominous phrasing of having to deal with the ghost from Danny. Had they faced any of the aggressive ghosts that were never human or living creatures before? The ones that don’t understand the fragility of life or danger they could inflict. Or almost worse the ones that were stuck in an endless loop of their death unable to understand what had happened and doomed to linger until they run out of energy and end. It was almost enough to make him actually drink tonight. He downed his fizzy mocktail almost wishing he could let himself have an actual cocktail, but no drinking never made things better for him. 

 Maybe he could try and introduce them to some of the more friendly and harmless ghosts he knew? Slowly get them to see the ghost animals when not aggravated and just acting the same in death as life. If he got it just right he could easily convince them to come visit as a favour for advice on their expertise in ghosts. Sighting that he is a bit out of practice after switching to business. After all his home is haunted by the Dairy King he could probably work out a deal with him to help slowly change their minds over the course of a few days. Then once they are in research and observation mode over hunting help ease them into it. 

The start of the plan begins to form from there as he watches the lights get switched from mingling with buffet food to the evening dance as the live band takes over. Miraculously the evening continues without any emergencies and he is able to leave without it looking odd. The last thing he sees before slipping out of the gym is a set of glowing green eyes and a timid wave. Vlad offers a very small wave of his own as his eyes glow red briefly. In the cool evening air he lets out a sigh. It is going to be a long night and he needs some time to unpack things with his therapist before he should make any actual plans. 

~ ~

Whoo, that was hard to get ironed out. I had to keep wrangling it back into place as I got Vlad's train of thought right. Next chapter or one soon will likely dip into Danny's or Jazz's POV. As always the Tags have my thought and stuff that would not fit into the post.

#good godfather Vlad AU #good godfather vlad #Danny phantom AU #danny phantom #danny fenton #vlad masters #This is a very Vlad heavy installment #The reunion could only last so long #Vlad's mind is his own worse enemy here #He is used to having so much control and plan for things #Not being able to know just what the assumptions they have is hard on him #Danny meanwhile is having a little bit of dissociation over this #He might not be alone and someone knows what he is going through first hand #Also the overwhelming need to know just if Vlad can help him with his powers #I might just make the next chapter from Danny's POV #That or it might dip into Jazz

[goodfish-bowl]

Fevour

Ectoberhaunt Day 6: Burn

AO3 Link

Summary: Fevour, an intense and passionate feeling; an intense heat. It took Vlad three years to find something worth coming back to life for.

Warnings: Long-term hospitalization, major depression.

Words: 1069

Notes: We see a lot of Danny coming into being a halfa, but what about Vlad? I always enjoyed the headcanon that Vlad has a fire core.

@ectoberhaunt

It had been three years since Vlad Masters had seen the face of another person. Three years since he was admitted into a specialized, medical research facility, though it felt closer to a prison. Three entire years since anyone had reached out to him at all. He had only seen the distorted sheen of his own reflection in the hazmat the doctors wore when entering his room, and the horrific, pock-marked reflection he now sported in the mirror, growing thinner and sicklier with each passing month. The only people he had spoken to were the doctors and himself. They’d address him through the intercom system, or send him paperwork through the fax machine, which he would have to fax back. He was also allowed to be sent or request items from the outside world, but he rarely did. No one had thought to contact him in three years, and he had no reason to contact anyone in return.

Since his admittance, Vlad had maintained a fairly consistent schedule. He’d spend most of his time asleep, either completely unconscious, in operation, or under the intense painkillers fed to him through an IV permanently taped to his arm. Most of his time awake was spent in an uncomfortable stupor, trying to escape back into his dreams. His dreams were chaotic and mishappened things, often closer to the plague on his skin than anything pleasant, but they were better than the pain and the sickness. He knew, almost intrinsically, something was happening to him, and Vlad decided he’d rather not be awake for it. He didn’t want to be awake as he knew he inched closer and closer to the edge of something for his first year, then somewhere over it during his second. He didn’t want to be anywhere near conscious as that warm, sickly feeling, like an oppressive, tropical heatwave, spread through him, limb to limb, swimming through his veins, and finally infecting his mind.

There was something wrong with him, the doctors always said, when they thought he was completely under, but not quite (he’d been much more resistant to their drugs after the first few months). Vlad was intimately aware of his vitals, and how they’d fallen, leveling out by his second year here, but only at about half of what they were supposed to be, and his temperature always ran dangerously high, only a degree or two away from a deadly fever. He found new sensations pulling at his fingertips and the tips of his toes, like being submerged into too warm water. Sometimes the face staring back at him in the mirror wasn’t his own, but sporting pale blue skin, and the dark hair he thought he’d lost during his stay here. The eyes staring back at him were a bright red he’d rather forget.

Vlad noticed it halfway through his second year, when he was starting to spend more time awake than asleep. He found his hands and limbs, sometimes his entire body, able to slip through things and vanish from sight. It was difficult, and he had little control over it, and he quickly wrote if off as delusions due to his isolation. But something else begun to build in his chest, making his anxious and fidgety, eager to do something, but he had no idea what. He knew he needed to do something, but he could never find a direction for his energy. Nothing seemed to satisfy that itch in the back of his mind and the irritation in his chest. This sent him spiraling into a depressive state, desperate to return to the sweet unconsciousness that graced his first few months here. His twisted dreamscape was better than the discomfort and flickering of his own limbs.

It was on the verge of his third year that Vlad received a piece of mail for the first time that pulled Vlad out from this state. It was a card, an invitation of all things, to an event he couldn’t possibly attend. A wedding between the woman he had once loved, and the man declared as his best friend. It was written in Jack’s horrific yet perfectly characteristic handwriting Vlad had long since grown accustomed to during their college days.

Something sparked in Vlad then, that simmering heat finally decided to burn. It tore at his throat, and his monitors started to shriek at the sudden skyrocket of his temperature and spasm of his vitals. Steam billowed from his form and hissed out between his breathes.

How dare he? Jack, marrying the woman Vlad had loved? Jack knew he had feelings for Madeline, as well. This was the ultimate betrayal, wrapped up into a sick insult. It blazed through him, powered by his righteous fury. It grew and billowed out, filling his veins with liquid fire. He wanted to see Jack suffer for this. He wanted him dead.

The invitation in his hands burst into flames, bright fuchsia and more intense than anything Vlad had experienced in years. His eyes widened, and the paper was reduced to less than ash before it even reached his lap. It startled him, leaving crisp burns on his fingertip from where he had held the paper.

Vlad’s mind suddenly clouded, overcome with exhaustion and spiraling from the heat. He could hear the doctors rushing in, along with something trying to cool him down. His heat had surpassed what his body could possibly manage, effectively giving himself heatstroke in the process.

 In his dreams, Vlad dreamt of everything he could possibly do to enact vengeance upon the man who had once been his best friend, and then possibly reclaim Madeline’s heart for himself, having the life he had always wanted. Money and power were the key to all of that, weren’t they? That was what his parent’s had always told him, how he’d go nowhere without it. So, he outlined ways to seek it, and from there he could have whatever else he desired until fulfilled. With his new set of skills, he could easily obtain all the money he needed, but it was how to apply it that took the planning. And so, he schemed within the confines of his mind.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, the irritation and itch faded, burnt away by the flames of his rages, replaced by a burning fervor that brought him back to life as a spirit of wrath and vengeance.

#danny phantom #Ectoberhaunt22 #EH Chaos #Day 6 #Burn #goodfish writes #Vlad Masters #Vlad POV #Vlad loosing his shit to become the fruitloop he is today #actually did some research for this one #i should traumatize Vlad more often

[flamingpudding]

The first part of this Au that I went out with so funny thank you for answering it I hope you were able to rest and stuff but anywho

I feel like after those first two parts I feel like RedRobin and Batman have questions about the Ghost King and Vlad relationship like they're asking questions

And the Klarions / Phantom children and the kids keep just dropping he with to college with our mom's parents, he would take kidnap mom and locked him in a basement, he's legally mom's godfather, he tried to marry grandmother on multiple occasions

I just feel like Dan anytime he gets the moment gets mad at him and goes like until you pay the 8.5 million you owe mom in child support is the day that you can call me your son ectoplasm donor.

Also I would find it so funny if outside of their Klarion thing they live with Vlad time from time again when Danny is overwhelmed or need someone to watch over them and the the rest of the people he's friends with in the Infinite Realms can't do it and are friends with the Wayne children

I feel like Duke will be having a heart attack when you realizes that he goes the same high school class as Dan or that Ellie and Dick best friends back when they were children for funsies

Also the reveal of Teekls has never been a cat it's going to get on doctor fate's nerves cuz he knows damn well that things never been a cat also I feel like all of them have the power to rip Dr Fate out of whoever he's possessing body and always he's pulling that power on him anytime they get the chance

Also a review of the fact that Teekl has never been a cat until when like Batman or Red Robin pov

Have I ever mentioned I love your ideas and how fun they are? Cause damn this had me laughing while reading it already.

Also glad the first two parts were still fun despite the mishaps that happed while writing :D

Also I skipped over the Teekl Part for the moment since I didn't know how to tie it in at the moment...

Sooooo anyway.... here we go again~ (sorry if its a bit short...)

Part 1 Part 2

------------------------

Red Robin was intrigued, worried and on several levels suspicious as he watched the interaction between the ones that had been Klarion, the current Klarion and Vlad Masters. He had also a lot of questions, he really wanted answers to but for now he held back.... partially. Vlad Masters was a contact Batman had brought in when the situation with the Demon became more dangerous than they originally expected.

John Constantine had mentioned they would need a even stronger force to really drive that Demon back and off handedly mentioned that something like an Ancient or a Ghost King would be needed. And wouldn't you know, Batman knew someone that claimed to have contacts with a Ghost King or rather THE Ghost King. And as luck would have it, Vlad Masters was in Gotham because of one of his relentless attempts at striking a business deal with Bruce Wayne. (That really had been an unexpected luck but by now Red Robin was also suspecting something else was at play.... [Like a bored Ancient of Time])

Well either way now he was watching, just a step behind his mentor, how Batman was grilling Vlad Masters on his relations to the Ghost King, since apparently they (the hero's assembled) wouldn't need to do anything anyway since the Ghost King was handling the demon threat. Red Robin did realise that not all heroes present were convinced but what else could they do but wait right now? Since according to Klarion their Mom aka the Ghost King was already dealing with the situation.

So with that happening, the well known bat-paranoia, curiosity, suspicion and need to know every good damn detail of a situation arose full force. Not that Red Robin minded, as mentioned before, he had a lot of questions too. Plus he wasn't so sure if the other Heroes had caught it but there were some disturbing things Klarion and is siblings sort of dropped that really needed clearing up.

While Batman was grilling Vlad Masters, Red Robin listened in but then decided to his own sort of questioning with Klarion, the current one.

"So... you called Vlad Masters 'old man'? And your suit is in the 'old man's style'?" the question was asked directly to the current Klarion. Since they were apparently here just to watch Red robin was sure he could just try having a sort of civil talk with his questions.

Klarion on the other hand grumbled crossing his arms, before uncrossing them again to pet the demon cat on his shoulder. "I just went with his dumb vampire look but more fancy and classic and less insane colouring."

The arched eyebrow stayed sort of hidden under his mask but it was there and Red Robin knows that tone Klarion used. It's the same Red Hood has when he begrudgingly admit do doing something the way Batman would. Which raises the a question he already had on his mind, how he could interpret Klarions use of 'old man'. Which would give Batman even more incentive to question Vlad Masters on his relation to the Ghost King. Also for now he was going to ignore the 'dumb vampire look' part, but he did note it down in his mind for later.

"Vlad Masters is your 'old man'?" There probably was a way to ask a little more subtle or nice but they were waiting for the Ghost King to beat up a Demon and he was making small talk with subtitle questioning with Klarion. So sue him for being blunt after all. Also the face Klarion was making right after he said.

"Well Far Frozen gets a hot summer." Was the instant reply and Red Robin blinked unter his mask. There probably was some information he was missing behind that reply.

"Ew no! He wishes though. But Vlad is like double or triple our Mom's age! He even went to collage with Grandpa Jack and Grandma Maddie!" Misrule suddenly interjected apparently done pestering Nightwing as she leaned over Klarion, resting her head on his and causing Teekl to hiss at her. Well that certainly got his attention now and with the way he saw, form the corner of his eyes, Batmans head wipe their way and then back at Vlad Masters it certainly also got his mentors.

"He wishes...? Triple your Moms.... age? The Ghost King?" His mental information board was getting more and more chaotic with the information he was getting.

"He acts like we are his kids and has a right to be called Dad by us." Misrule shrugged dismissively to which Klarion growled, he growled! Red Robin was tempted to check his ears because this was the first time he heard Klarion growl towards his sister.

"The day I call your DNA and my ecto donor anything with the context of father is the day he pays Mom the millions of child support he owns him and additional pays for emotional and physical distress." Okay, Red Robin was not ashamed to say he did a double take at Klarions growl and the fact that several alarm bells went off hin his mind with that one sentence alone.

"Mom has his own castle and riches from the previous King. Not like we would actually need that money. Plus Vlad does pay for your school tuition." Misrule answered her brother, complete ignoring the fact that Red Robin was having a mental crisis and thinking that Vlad Masters might even be an even greater threat, then just a weird and suspicious potential business partner and that the reason he has a summoning stone for the Ghost King might be a custody thing regarding Klarion and his siblings.

So with all these things what did Red Robins brain decide to focus on? "Vlad Masters pays your school tuition? No wait you go to school?"

There was an awkward moment Red Robin received two very similar looking deadpan stares from Klarion and Misrule, the first Klarion.

"Of course I go to fucking school Mom would kill... well no thermos ground me if I didn't." Another drop of information Red Robin didn't know how to handle, what the hell does 'thermos ground' even mean? Was that like their version of grounding?

"Oh isn't today like a school night?" Misrule suddenly piped up pinching her brothers check and Red Robin felt weirdly reminded of some of the interactions he used to have with his siblings. It was strange to see Klarion like that.

"Shit... I forgot to do my part of my group project with Duke..." Klarion grumbled and Red Robin did a double take once more, blinking several times as there was a very very important information drop here, his head snapped towards Nightwing in hopes that the other had also caught it and thankfully, he had and while Signal wasn't present at the moment because he had done day patrols already and had been barely awake anyway when this whole Demon mess started.... they had gotten a hint of figuring out Klarions identity, they were certainly going to use later.

For now they had some more red flags to investigate in regards to the relation of Vlad Masters, the Ghost King, Klarion and Klarion's siblings.

---------------

Little Bonus (Next day after Demon Crisis):

"Hey Duke, who are you working with in a group project?"

"Huh oh that is Dante Masters-Nightingale."

"Masters-Nightingale? As in Vlad MASTERS?"

"Yeah, that what he said his temporary guardian's name is that pays for his schooling."

"Wait didn't I go with Danielle Nightingale-MASTERS to school too? We were like besties in school!"

"Oh god...."

"Tim, you okay you look very pale. Are you okay? Dick too..."

"BRUCE! VLAD MASTERS NEEDS TO BE PUT ON THE RED WATCH LIST AND WE NEED TO TALK WITH THE GHOST KING ASAP!"

#dp x dc #danny fenton #danny phantom #dpxdc #dcxdp #crossover #tim drake #dan phantom #ellie phantom #dick grayson #Klarion is a title passed down like Robin #Ellie was the first Klarion #Dan is the current Klarion #Tim wants answers #he is trying to question Klarion using small talk #there are a lot of red flags in his opinion #oh the misunderstandings.... #Mom Danny #Ghost King Danny #His kids need to learn to not info drop without explanations #poor Vlad he might be a redeemed man but the bats will still put him on the red watch list #Part 3

[hello-eden]

Master post

Dc x Dp ideas

1 Fenton's work for LOA

2 clone body misunderstanding

3 JL meets everlasting trio misunderstanding

4 deaged Damien meets alt Bruce/Danny

5 Ancient royal family misunderstanding

6 Danny and Kon rise Elle/Dani

7 DID/twin misunderstanding

8 dan is Ras

9 is T!danny part 1

10 Danny is Damien

11 Danny and Damien time travel

12 Jason is Danny and Bruce's bio kid

13 medieval misunderstanding

14 Tim! Danny and Ras! Vlad

15 Mara! Dani and Dan! Damien

16 mother of evil Dani misunderstanding

17 late to the prophesy

18 Dani is Kon

19 Amity Park illusions 

20 Selena, taila, Danny and Bruce used to be a squad

21 fake villain Danny

22 Damian is phantom's human half - story post

23 Jason is dan

24 Jason is Danny

25 Ambassador Danny

26 Sam is Damien

27 Tim is Danny

28 Danny is a clone of Hal Jordan and Bruce Wayne

29 failed Danny clones bat kids

Danny as Janet drake

Dead Tired

Scandal

one night stand baby

second chance

Dead Serious

pit demon Danny

Dani/Elle is Danny and Damien's kid

Dead on Main

Elle/Dani is Jason and Danny's kid

crime boss Danny

Danny phantom

outsider pov Vlad and Danny

fake human au

family tree

Vlad is to raise Ellie and Dan

dan and Danny co parenting

Pitch Pearl misunderstanding with Dani

pjoxdp

T!danny Al Ghul au

part 1

part 2

sub au

sub au #2

sub au #3

Talia's nightmare

T!Danny meets Bruce

Damian meets Elle

Reverse Robins au

first post

second post

#dc x dp #danny phantom #dp x dc #dpxdc #dc x dp crossover #T!danny al ghul au

[anjanahalo]

Wayne vs Fenton 2

start of the madness

Here's the actual blurb I wrote. It's from Damian's POV, post him punching the seemingly stalking Daniel Fenton in the face while they stand in an alley. ~*~

Fenton made for, in many ways, an infuriating opponent. It became obvious quickly that any formal training he had involved only the bare basics. Everything else drew from a street brawler’s efficiency, tactics used to strike fast and hard but without finesse. Between the two, Damian was the superior fighter. His training allowed him to dodge most attacks and connect more hits, and Fenton appeared rather weak when it came to avoiding throws. Logically, the fight should have ended quickly and cleanly in Damian’s favor. It didn’t. Fenton’s clear advantage laid in being able to take Damian’s hits and continue advancing, often with a laugh and a genuine smile. Damian started the fight filled with irritation and rage. Fenton engaged with what appeared to be genuine delight. The way Damian literally almost threw Fenton off a rooftop once they somehow ended up ascending a fire escape and began combining their brawl with skyline parkour, for example, lead to Fenton only grinning and bounding back into the fray. It utterly confused Damian. The confusion changed to matching delight as he realized how fun this was. A no holds barred martial battle unlike anything he ever received from his family, and one that didn’t hold any of the pressure of his League training for perfection. Just an exchange of punches, hits, and laughter. Damian hadn’t felt so free in ages, nor so fulfilled, as though he’d quenched a long lasting thirst he didn’t realize plagued him. He didn’t even think about the state of himself or Fenton when Alfred opened the door to Wayne manor to see the two boys covered in scrapes, bruises, and school uniforms torn from their hours long tussle against each other. Alfred stared, most surprised by the matching smiles Damian and his apparent classmate shared. “Welcome home, Master Damian. You are a bit late for dinner, but I saved you a plate, and can easily provide something for your guest.” “Oh, it’s that late already?” Damian asked. “Sorry, Alfred. We, ah,” Damian faltered in coming up with a reasonable explanation for what just happened. Fenton pulled out his phone from his bag, checking the time. “Oh, shit, I have like a million missed calls from Vlad.” Alfred glared a bit at the foul language, but allowed it to slide considering the two looked as though they’d been tossed in a hurricane. “Do you require a ride home, Mister…” “Oh! It’s Danny. Sorry, sir. Um, maybe?” “Fenton, you must stay for Alfred’s cooking at least. You can explain you’re visiting your friend at the Wayne manor. I can’t imagine him being upset at your becoming familiar with me.” “Wait, you’re a Wayne? Like ‘Brucie Wayne’ Wayne?” “You didn’t realize this?” “I barely managed to figure out your first name! How would I know that? Wait, we’re friends?” “After that fight? Of course we are. Please, accept my invitation for a visit. I believe it is also Friday, so perhaps you could spend the night, as well?” “Like a sleepover?” “If you wish to call it that,” Damian acquiesced. Danny tilted his head in thought, then quickly sent a text before silencing his phone. “Vlad’s a fruitloop anyway."

#dpxdc #danny phantom #damian wayne #here i go writing again #wayne vs fenton

[cry-ptidd]

Nev, you absolutely brilliant and beautiful and talented mastermind!

I need to hear about your thoughts and opinions on pre-canon Alucard aka Dracula!

First of all anon I'm gonna kiss you and hug you and serve you burek with a warm drink and a smooch on the forehead

Second of all,

Long, long yapping below 👇 🗣️

Now, I don't know if you meant Dracula as in in-canon Hellsing Dracula or Bram Stoker's Dracula, so I'll do both thanks to the power of autism. Vlad III isn't included bc I don't wanna.

Also this is just my opinion and mild analysis of both medias, not a properly structured essay.

Dracula (1897) - Bram Stoker

Ok so first of all, Dracula is one of my favorite books. I adore gothic horror and the spooky melancholic supernatural atmosphere of most gothic novels. I consider Dracula a masterpiece of horror, even with its faults, idc.

The epistolary structure of it makes the horror progressive and building, despite the fact that alarm bells ring out every single second of Johnathan's stay at Chateau Drac. The various themes of temptation and danger and oh my god the danger followed me home oh god oh fuck are fascinating, and the human group is interesting (also Mina was done dirty).

But also, it's an inherently queer novel, which, as a queer person who loves horror, i adore. Bram Stoker was really fucking queer, but that's something he hated about himself and suppressed; it's no surprise that the count's entire character is so fruity in itself, he represents Stoker's own repressed queerness. Drac is, in the book, inherently sexual - the exchange of fluids to turn pure, virginal ladies into hot deadly sexy vampire seductresses, and the fact that he protects Johnathan from his brides and is always so... Like That with him makes him so interesting.

The scene where the count takes great offense at being told that he has never loved by one of his brides is one of my favorites in terms of characterization, because Dracula doesn't have any need to bullshit at that moment. He could've just told her to stfu and back off, or even let them eat Johnathan. But instead he gets offended because the remark hit a nerve. He wants to love and to be loved, but his methods are rather... unconventional and predatory to the Proper and Orthodox humans of the story. Rip Drac, you would've loved (and been loved by) today's monsterfuckers.

We're gonna ignore the fact that the supercool and awesome expert amazing professor Abraham Van Helsing is Stoker's self-insert and that he's the one that (or at least greatly helps the group) hunt down Dracula, the representation of unorthodox desire and sexy, vampiric existence.

Dracula in the Hellsing universe

Ok so this one is interesting.

First of all I want to address how fucking funny it is that Alucard tried to fuck both Mina and her husband and fumbled them both but that's a topic I think he'd get mopey and very bitter about so let's not.

Hellsing Dracula is really interesting. In the novel, we're not given the count's pov (why would we? He's the villain anyway.) but in Hellsing we do, and we get it very often. We know his childhood, his identity, but most importantly his philosophy and personality.

Alucard's personality changed a bit over the years:

Vlad was arrogant out of desperation and survival; he had to be strong, because if he's not then he'll be crushed and his prayers won't be heard by the god he worships with battle, and he "can't be defeated, ever." He can't afford to be.

Dracula was arrogant because he was powerful and unchained. He was the master, he was a monster not leashed by morality or conventionality and religion and even his body was above what a human could ever do. He knew he was a threat and he relished in it. How could any of those puny humans beat him? The Count Dracula? But they did.

Alucard is a snarky asshole that didn't lose any arrogance but it changed shape; it's not that he can't be defeated, it's by whom. He carefully chooses his fancied opponents and clings to them like a leech, at least emotionally, and puts them on this pedestal where they're the only ones who may. Any other fight is just to pass the time. Those sniveling cowards can't defeat him, but those proud human warriors can. And he's the one who decides what's worthy or not, because he's a top-tier level threat. (When he tried to stop Anderson from using the nail, he basically told him Anderson was created just to defeat him.)

But let's get back to Dracula here for a sec. That arrogance comes with any vampire because that's what they do, they're hot and sexy and broody and egotistical, stealing blood and beauty for their own sakes. But he's also really damn sad. I imagine that he gets bored after a while, after the novelty of cool supernatural tyranny wore off. The count has all reason to be confident; he's on top of the food chain in all aspects.

But what do you do when you're at the top?

You don't have anyone with you. Those brides are companions, not significant others, hell they're not even named in the novel or barely acknowledged by him. Those humans are prey, not equals. He can try to portray himself as basically animalistic, he has emotions and he doesn't like that he has emotions. He's just really fucking sad.

Like. This is literally the most pathetic man I've ever seen.

The fact that he doesn't seem to hold a grudge against Abraham and his crew - on the contrary, he seems to admire them and puts them on a pedestal - shows that he longed to be beaten. He was tired. He needed novelty.

Now i don't know what fucked up experiments Abraham did on that poor thing but clearly he wasn't as powerful as Alucard is, but I doubt that increase in power changed much of anything to be honest. Man is just as miserable as he was before, but now he actually has a purpose - he has someone to serve, a master, someone to cling to.

And boy does he cling to them.

He respects Abraham and Arthur, both men who've undeniably hurt him, Abraham with the experiments and Arthur by leaving him to rot for 20 years (understandable, yes, but still I wouldn't like it if that was me) and yet he's shown them great respect. It's almost Stockholm syndrome (something that I don't believe in and isn't backed by science, but the idea stands) and his idea of any kind of functional relationship is unfathomably fucked up.

I won't dwell on Alucard too much since this is about Dracula, but it's actually rather easy to piece together his mental state and outlook on life with the few pieces we got. Someone please come help this man.

That's that!

I would also like to shoutout to @catsvrsdogscatswin for their wonderful characterization of Dracula and Alucard altogether, but mostly in their fic Kaleidoscope, which is unironically and not hyperbole my favorite fic on ao3 up to date.

Seriously. Go check it out.

#hellsing #alucard #long post #dracula #bram stoker #ask response #i don't know if I got my point across

[sporesgalaxy]

"made silences blazer brown so she and vlad dont look like a black blob" see a group of goth people call that shit the void

pov you encounter Vlad Masters, Silence Alexander, and Sam Manson in the dark

#LAUGHING OUT LOUD FOR REAL. THANK U #dp #silence alexander

[escaped-cryptid]

POV I redesign Vlad Masters but his re design is just the scrapped version of Dracula from hotel Transilvania

#cryptid posts #danny phantom #it’s done! #look in the reblogs #enjoy 😘

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Aftermath of Arrogance

by Augustus_Rok The Justice League have arrived in Amity park a year after the opening of a portal by the Doctors Fenton. They come in believing themselves well informed, though the are aware of the broad sweep of scientific bias that will need worked through. Things go from rough for their inductee Red Huntress to worse, Valarie Gray when her promotion into the team causes the native and priorly misidentified Gate Keeper spirit to shift its, his, focus. On the other side of the equation, Danny's life is picked up and moved inches to the left as the Justice League fix the ongoing mistakes in the Fenton household, securing the portal against humans and ghosts alike, moving him and his sister into a local hotel under hero watch, shutting down the GIW, and putting his parents in a separate location. It's... Actually quite nice. Calmer. But as things progress, from letting his rogues lay siege to Valarie in a soft attempt to show just how little she can handle, to her joining Team Phantom, he finds that as Amity is brought under scrutiny properly the feeling of danger grows. Only this time instead of Pariah Dark emerging from his portal it seems the feeling is strongest on the edges of his city. He doubts it's any good. Words: 5466, Chapters: 6/?, Language: English Series: Part 1 of Tumblr based works, prompt fills, and dabblings Fandoms: Danny Phantom, Batman - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen Characters: Danny Fenton, Valerie Gray, Barry Allen, Bruce Wayne, Diana (Wonder Woman), Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Vlad Masters Relationships: Danny Fenton & Tucker Foley & Sam Manson, Danny Fenton & Jazz Fenton, Danny Fenton & Vlad Masters, Danny Fenton & Justice League (DCU) Additional Tags: Ensemble Cast, Justice League goes to Amity Park, plans gone wrong, Ghosts, ghosts that act like fae, gate keeper Danny, JL recruit Valarie Gray-Red Huntress, Valerie Gray as Red Huntress, Identity Reveal, Secret Identity, Valerie Gray Knows Danny Fenton is Danny Phantom, Powerful Danny Fenton, Smart Danny Fenton, Eldritch Danny Fenton, Strategy & Tactics, Tired Danny Fenton, Mystery, Consequences, Introspection, POV Outsider, Accelerated Timeline, Timeline What Timeline, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence via https://ift.tt/oCrnLDg

#IFTTT #bruce wayne #batman #the dark knight #the caped crusader #gotham #dcu #dc #ao3 #ao3feed

[mutable-manifestation]

Part 2 of The Gotham Puddle Boy: Danny Fenton

Danny wasn't too concerned about getting in a car with a stranger in what may well be the crime capital of the world. 

If he got weirdo - or Dash-like - vibes he could just slip out of sight and vanish into the wind. Being half ghost made a lot of human dangers less so.

Plus, perks of being a Fenton: riding in the car with a stranger wouldn't make him nervous about their driving. No one in the world was worse at it than his dad.

So a few minutes of trading jokes and a promise of video games was all it really took to get Danny to say "sure" to going back to Tim's house. 

The car was nice, at least, and they bantered over music even as they left city limits, which Danny chose to ignore for the time being.

Around 10 minutes later they turned to approach the gates of a veritable mansion that unfortunately brought forth the memory of his first time approaching Vlad's house. 

He was silent as Tim buzzed them in, and as they crawled slowly up the driveway he took the opportunity to ask.

"You live here?”

“Yep! Bruce Wayne is my adoptive father. Welcome to Wayne Manor!"

Not long after the building’s front door was opening before they could touch the handle, with an older man in a suit greeting them. "Master Tim, welcome home. I see you've brought a guest."

A hand clapped down on his shoulder as he was introduced, "Danny this is Alfred, Alfred this is Danny. We'll be in my room playing Damned."

"It is a pleasure to meet a friend of Tim, Mister Danny."

"Ah, you too. And just Danny is fine, Mister Alfred."

Alfred smiled and secured a promise that they'd be down to at least stretch their legs and eat something after an hour had passed before Tim was ushering them through the building to his room.

Sam was a good person, but also openly hated rich people despite technically being one. Her parents, however, were a nightmare hidden behind a thin facade of civility when in public. Vlad was also a nightmare. Axion labs had been run by some tycoon and they killed their innocent dogs. Lex Luthor openly hated Superman - which would be totally understandable if it were because he never so much as glanced at Amity Park’s issues instead of because of his incredibly Xenophobic stance on any and all non-humans. All told, Danny didn’t have a good track record with -illionaires - not the adults, at least.

'...Okay, maybe I should just avoid Bruce,' he thought, settling on the floor at the foot of the bed in the enormous room they'd entered to face the gloriously massive TV while Tim booted it up.

An hour later, Alfred was knocking on the door to herd them to the dining room where he'd prepared "refreshments." It was nice to enjoy homemade food that didn't fight back for once - he hadn't eaten at Sam or Tucker's house in a while and takeout wasn't quite the same. Even if they were unfortunately healthy snacks - the strange slices he'd learned were apricot were surprisingly good.

Alfred had them stretch their legs again two hours later - this time snackless - and Tim decided to give him a tour. The house was immaculate and the kitchen would have made the Lunch Lady greener than normal with envy.

It was also empty.

"Don't you have a bunch of siblings?" he asked on the way back to the room.

"Yeah, but they're all out doing their own things until lunch." He stopped just after closing the door behind him to grin at him. "Speaking of which. Can you stay for lunch?"

Danny blinked at the sudden manic energy starkly contrasting with the incredibly normal question. 

"Uh, I don't have to be back at the hotel until like 5, so, sure?"

"How do you feel about playing a little prank?"

Danny grinned, "What did you have in mind?"

---------------------------------

POV Jason

Jason’s patience was running incredibly thin. He had been looking at tubes of water for hours while Bruce kept asking variations of the same question. His only consolation was that Duke took up half of the attention or he might have punched him by now.

The only reason he even showed up was that he’d been told there was potential Lazarus water in Gotham - or something similar. But after hours upon hours of tests by the computer and him and Duke staring at it he was certain; that was water. Bruce had lost it.

Just as he braced himself to try and knock some sense into Bruce, Alfred came to fetch them to lunch. 

‘Finally,’ he thought, power-walking to the exit.

“I’ll be up in a minute, I want to set up one more scan to run while we’re eating,” Bruce threw after them.

“It had better only be a minute.” He paused to glower ominously over his shoulder, simmering with rage at all of the wasted time - and using that to smother the concern trying to bubble up.

“Finally,” Duke said once they were out of the batcave. “I thought we were going to be in there forever!”

Jason ignored him as he fished out his phone.

“Oh hey, group text from Tim; he has a guest that fits the family theme so he’s going to try and prank Bruce to see if he’s actually ‘lost the plot.’”

Jason grimaced, “Great, so instead of a productive lunch we’ll be playing house plus ‘guest that definitely isn’t the former Jason Todd, just a very similarly looking friend of the family’ for an hour.” He ran a hand down his face, sighing in frustration. “Count me ou-”

He froze in place, every muscle flinching to a stop. 

“Uh, Jason?”

“Quiet.” He hissed, eyes darting to the stairs as voices began to drift their way. 

Every hair stood on end as he stood there, something in his blood echoing dissonant signals of danger-run-hide-flee-don’t move-stay still-stop-stop-stop even as his conscious mind demanded he confront the problem head-on. But he couldn’t move - frozen as surely as if he’d been hit by one of Freeze’s ice rays.

As the stranger came into view his mind gave up on the danger signals, finally settling on don’t move don’t move don’t move even as near-unbearable levels of anxiety bubbled up in his gut. He barely registered Tim standing next to the guy as his head turned to stare him down, Jason’s eyes widening and shoulders hunching now that this… person’s full attention was on him.

The person hesitated a moment at the top of the stairs before smiling.

“Hi! I’m Danny, you must be Tim’s brothers?” he chirped, voice friendly enough that the anxiety uncurled just a bit. Just enough for Jason to register Tim staring at him oddly and Duke looking between the two of them.

Tim descended the stairs, done waiting for “Danny” to take the initiative, perhaps, while Duke took his silence as a cue to give the guy his cover story.

“Just me, actually,” he said. “The name’s Duke. J here is a friend of the family.” 

“Oh, uh, nice to meet you both anyway. Sorry for crashing you guys’ lunch,” he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck sheepishly before following Tim down to their level, still smiling calmly. “My parents are in town for some engineering convention and Tim kind of rescued me from dying of boredom.”

Abruptly, Jason found himself completely calm - relaxed, even. Suspiciously so; all of the rage and frustration he’d felt ever since emerging from the Lazarus Pit was suddenly swapped out for a level of relaxation he could nearly call “Zen.” 

He would nearly suspect a meta had broken Bruce’s rules, but he was the only one to react. Tim and Duke were clearly unaffected and the guy was either one hell of an actor or had genuinely only noticed him when he saw him. 

Meaning this was potentially Lazarus related - and even that thought could not cut through the sheer tranquility he was feeling to cause panic. His thoughts, at least, were unaffected.

Also, he kind of just wanted to enjoy not being angry for the first time in ages. Sue him.

So he plastered on a Wayne-family PR smile and ended the second awkward silence of the day. 

“Don’t worry about it; any friend of Tim’s is a friend of ours, at any rate. We have maybe two more minutes before Alfred actually manages to wrangle Bruce out of his study, why don’t you fill me in on this prank.”

#I guess there will be a part 3 too #Not me rapidly spiraling out of control #and writing way more than intended #oop #Also not me just stealing various headcannons I've seen other people post for the crossover for myself #Danny's one braincell is dedicated to suspecting rich people of doing something fishy #The Justice League doesn't know about Amity bc the first message got dismissed as a prank #And the GIW suppressed info after that #up until Amity tech upgraded in a weird & self-isolating manner bc of changes made to avoid being hacked by Technus #They don’t assume he’s a meta bc Batman tracks all the registered metas #or something #he has a system #and he has a no metas in Gotham rule and fought Superman once so people tend to respect that #Also they’re all incredibly sleep deprived at this point so #Jason is liminal not a halfa #but like if he were a halfa he’d only be strong enough to turn into a blob ghost #Yes I gave Jason blob ghost instincts #very small therefore very angry at everything ever #(I know the feeling) #also very scared of stronger ghosts (read: all of them) #until proven friendly #because then hey free friend/safety #ghosts eat other ghosts but only when hostilely territorial/power hunger not bc they actually need to eat au #but blob ghosts don't have lairs so they tend to wander/be more at risk until a ghost with a layer adopts them #at which point they're kind of like guard blobs #intruder alert system blob ghosts #anyway #dp x dc crossover #danny phantom au #dp x dc crossovers are my only source of knowledge on dcu characters outside of like

[asjjohnson]

Part 5 of my poll adventure fic. Links: the beginning, part 2, part 3, part 4.

POV shift this time. Switching the protagonist. Shifting the story. It's a consequence of voting for Vlad to be a nice guy. (...the last poll was an extra I'd thrown in and it didn't have any bearing on this post, so... But this poll will effect the next part.)

---

Vlad shouted as pieces of the ceiling fell toward him. He managed to turn intangible just in time. Then waited for the ruin to settle.

"Mayor Masters!" The voice was shrill with panic. "Mayor Masters?!"

He found a large enough space within the debris and returned to tangibly. "Over here, Valerie," he calmly shouted back.

He pushed against the rafters tented above him, crumbling pieces of drywall falling from the pile, their pinging impacts echoing.

He soon heard the sound of Valerie's engines. "Don't worry, I gotcha! I'll get you out," she called to him.

Valerie made good progress in picking up and tossing pieces of debris to the side, managing to pull Vlad out and set him to his feet within minutes.

Of course, it was a few minutes longer than he would have been free without her help, but that was neither here nor there.

He waved away her concerned hands and worked at brushing the white dust from his suit. "Ah, thank you, my dear. I don't know what I would have done without you. Now... could you see if you can find my cat?"

"Oh! Of course, Mayor Masters!"

Vlad's thoughts turned to the grown, more-ghostly version of Daniel that he'd set free on Amity Park.

He didn't know much. Just that the being was some sort of weapon of mass destruction, capable of leveling entire cities—in the human realm or the ghost zone. And that Danny had managed to contain it—no, him—once before. Probably due to the element of surprise and happenstance rather than any actual skill. And also that he was so dangerous, Clockwork had personality taken charge of his containment.

Well.

It looked like the young Daniel was going to have his hands full for a little while.

...Or, that's what he would usually think.

Vlad frowned in thought.

The future version of Daniel was right. He did push unexpected responsibilities off on others too often. Probably a consequence of how easy it had been during the past twenty years to get out of anything... uncomfortable... with a little overshadowing. He had grown so used to such ease.

He tapped his lips in thought—and sputtered as he got the taste of drywall chalk in his mouth—how should he deal with this situation?

---

"Alert me when there's an update" list:

@charlietheepic7, @chrysanthemum9484, @mymadmedleyw, @dp-marvel94, @aikoiya, @whydouwantmyname, @cinturon-cadena, @freakofyournature, @satanicrutialspecialist (why does tumblr say some users don't exist?!)

(if you want on the list, specifically ask to be alerted for updates in a tag or comment)

#danny phantom #dan phantom #vlad plasmius #poll adventure #choose your own adventure #asj post #asj writing #Dan will be back later. ...I mean unless you guys completely change the plot again. I don't know. #But the current plan is to have some stuff from Vlad's pov and then go back to Dan's pov.