Chapter Text
Daisuke paused as he passed a big charity event happening on the outskirts of Elmerton—he had passed it on the way in, but it had started out as a quiet event at the local museum. Apparently some rich guy had shown up while he was running errands in the town, and apparently he was a big deal, because now there were cameras and reporters everywhere.
Normally he wouldn’t have paid any mind to such a thing—cast it a glance, sure, because he always did like a good museum and would have gladly helped out the charity—but the charity event itself and the news crews weren’t what drew his attention.
No, his attention was on the old rich man who had taken center stage, just like everyone else. And it had nothing to do with the man’s charisma, strange accent, enunciated way of speaking, what he was talking about, or even his nice suit.
That man… Daisuke had met him before, hadn’t he?
He frowned, an uneasy feeling tying his gut until he turned away, briskly making his way down the street and out of sight of the charity event. Had he stayed a moment longer, he got the feeling the pepper-haired man would have seen him—and that didn’t bode well to be a good thing.
~~~
"Hey, Daisuke!"
The redheaded artist startled, falling out of his chair when he leaned back too much at the sudden sound. He yelped in pain and Danny laughed, lifting his cloak of invisibility.
"Wow, didn’t think I could actually scare you this time." Danny offered the man a hand, which he took gratefully, shivering a little at the ghost boy’s touch. "You looked like you were concentrating on something pretty hard though… do you have art block or something?"
Daisuke gave a shy grin as he greeted the boy, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. He straightened himself, setting his chair upright and sitting back down on it. He motioned to the bed, and Danny casually took the seat.
"Oh, it’s nothing much, I was just… thinking about something." Daisuke’s expression dropped and eyebrows furrowed, "It’s had me… unsettled."
Danny’s face quickly turned to worry. It wasn’t often that Daisuke looked this serious—the only other times he had seen Daisuke like this was when he was stitching Danny up the first time and when he was trying to apologize for the most recent fight between them.
"What’s wrong? Did something happen?" Danny asked quietly, feeling the tension in the air.
"No, nothing happened, but…" Daisuke hesitated. "Danny… do you remember that mansion you had me break into? The one with the ghost shield?"
"…Y—yeah?" Danny suddenly felt dread churning in his stomach. Oh, he suddenly realized where this was going and he didn’t like it at all.
"I just… it’s been bothering me for some time, but I didn’t want to ask you since you didn’t seem to want to talk about it—the person you called ‘Vlad’ who you said was your arch-nemesis."
Danny stiffened.
"You said he was a human, and I understand he must have something against ghosts if he has you as an enemy and the means to keep you from his home. Yet he had ghosts at his mansion, acting as if they lived there. And while I don’t know your history with him, nor do I need to, something just doesn’t add up."
Danny gulped. “Uh, well, I know I haven’t been completely honest with you, but…”
He was interrupted when the older man held up his hand. “Just… let me think out loud, okay? I don’t have to be right about this, especially if you don’t want to tell, but let me think.” Danny nodded mutely, watching intensely as the redhead got up and began to pace. Daisuke didn’t seem to mind Danny’s silence, tapping his chin.
"I didn’t really understand why Plasmius was at that mansion, nor why he later tried to kidnap me. I mean, I know it was to get to you, Danny, but it was really weird for a ghost to target me specifically—I’m sure you have closer friends than me, like Miss Fenton and those others who help you in ghost fights. And it was especially weird since he said he’d been watching me for a long time. I would have sensed him before then, if that was the case—as you know, I’m pretty sensitive to environmental changes, and anything supernatural near me for that long a period would have been noticed by—well, let’s just say I have a sixth sense for knowing when I’m being tracked."
The white-haired ghost boy blinked slowly, watching as Daisuke stopped pacing. He finally dared to speak. “Is this a thief thing? Or a magic thing?”
"A bit of both." Daisuke shrugged, "I mean, I usually sense you pretty easily, using both of those things. But I’ve gotten used to you by now.”
Danny coughed, blushing shyly. Daisuke gave him a little grin before he resumed pacing, folding his arms behind him thoughtfully.
"If I hadn’t sensed him, it means that he was using a non-supernatural bug. Which means he had help—human help, likely, and the only human relative to Plasmius with that kind of technology is the ‘Vlad’ with the ghost shield in the first place."
"…Why exactly are you worried about this? He’s not watching anymore, is he…?" Danny looked around cautiously, gripping the edge of the bed.
"If he is, he wouldn’t get anything, I jammed any micro-signals in this general area. I set that up shortly after you warned me about Plasmius the first time—I had thought it was suspicious that he hadn’t attacked after some weeks."
Danny’s eyes went wide, and he whipped his gaze back to the redhead. He was still pacing. When the ghost boy recovered himself, he asked, “Thief thing?”
"Thief thing." Daisuke nodded. "It was actually my mother’s idea, she sent over the program for me to run from my laptop—it’s riding on the wireless connection here, so it’s not affecting anything but unwarranted bugs and the rest of the building can’t complain the internet isn’t working."
"That’s… so subtle. Your mom must be brilliant." Danny commented, "I think our mothers might have gotten along."
Daisuke stopped and turned to look at Danny quizzically, tilting his head. Finally, he managed a small smile. “Remind me to tell you about her later, then.” He offered, then sighed and plopped back down in his chair.
Danny watched his display of exasperation, looking thoughtful. “Okay, let me get this straight. You’re worrying about Vlad’s motives? Even though he’s kinda left you alone by now? You did scare him off… I mean, you scared Plasmius off and he hasn’t really touched you since.”
Daisuke shook his head. “I don’t think I did.” He admitted, “You said that red huntress works for Vlad right?”
"Yeah…?"
"Well, she’s attacked you once while I was with you, followed me for at least two days, and attacked me without realizing it. She’s appeared a lot since that incident with Plasmius, and if they’re both working for Vlad, I get the feeling all of her appearances to me—unintentional or not—are because he sent her."
"Wait, when did she follow you?" Danny asked in alarm, almost missing the point.
"A couple of days before the first heist. Not important, she didn’t get anything useful out of me." Daisuke shrugged, "I have to give her props for not shooting you when I was teaching you how to pick locks though."
"She was there for that?!"
"She was hiding and I doubt she knew what we were doing, but yes. The glowing parts on her suit and board are kind of obvious at night. I sort of wonder how you didn’t notice her." Daisuke chuckled, "Anyway, because she was following me—and in secret, no less—I’d hazard a guess that Vlad’s developed some sort of grudge against me, and wants to do something about it. The grudge is possibly for rendering his bugs useless, but more than likely it’s because I’m friends with you."
Danny winced. “Somehow… I’m reminded of the time you said your friend’s enemy tried to kill you.”
"It’s almost exactly like that, isn’t it?" Daisuke wondered out loud, then shook his head and steered the conversation back on course, "But… the thing that never quite made sense to me was how exactly Vlad was involved in all this." He stopped, looking Danny right in the eye. "And then I remembered you called Plasmius ‘Vlad’. And you treated him like your most hated enemy too.”
Danny froze, shock still, unable to break his gaze nor work his mouth to form words.
"I understand that names can be shared, but I found it a little too coincidental." Daisuke shook his head, choosing to ignore Danny’s stiffness—it was almost as if Danny wanted to protest, but knew he couldn’t because Daisuke had already noticed. “I didn’t know who the human Vlad was. I couldn’t figure it out—and I didn’t plan to. It was just something that bothered me, but as long as nothing happened to either of us, I left the issue alone because I thought that was what you wanted.”
Danny bit his lip, averting his eyes guiltily.
"But then I saw him."
Confusion crossed the boy’s face as he looked back up. “What?” He asked in a small voice.
"Vlad Masters, right?" Daisuke leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees and letting his hands lay lax between them. "I saw him, when I was in Elmerton the other day. I found out his name and I looked him up."
Danny gulped, and had he had a beating heart in this form, he was sure it would have been going a mile a minute. “And…?” No way he could have connected Vlad and Plasmius from just looking at them right? Even if he’s super observant, Vlad and Plasmius don’t look all that much alike, and… oh, god, what would he even think of something like that? I know he’s not a judgmental guy, but what if…?
The two boys sat in tense, anxious silence for a few minutes. Then Daisuke hesitantly asked, “Danny… is Vlad Masters really a human?”
"W-what makes you say that?" Danny asked nervously, trying to squelch down any oncoming panic.
"Because… he looks just like the Plasmius I saw in my head."
Danny blanched.
"…What?"
"When Plasmius overshadowed me, I saw him in my head… He looked different. Not blue-skinned or red-eyed, but healthy and gray-haired and blue-eyed. I thought that was just what he looked like when he was alive—you said ghosts don’t look the way they did when they were alive." Daisuke’s worried gaze turned soft when his eyes landed on Danny, who seemed to be more nervous than Daisuke really understood why he would be.
"You… you saw his, uh, alive self? Was this when you were doing that… mind probing thing?" Danny was more than glad he never tried to overshadow Daisuke now. Very glad.
"No. That was just how he appeared to me—to my soul." Daisuke shook his head, "And he looked exactly like the man I saw in Elmerton."
Danny stared, completely shocked. He opened his mouth to say something, but Daisuke held up his hand again, stopping him once more. “I won’t pretend to know the intricacies of ghosts or their politics and inner workings—for all I know, Plasmius could be a shapeshifter. I don’t know what he is, and I don’t care. But if Vlad Masters and Vlad Plasmius really are one person… suddenly everything makes a lot more sense.”
When Danny didn’t say anything for a long time, Daisuke finally knew he was right. The uneasy knots in his stomach began to untangle as clarity unfolded.
"…Daisuke… what exactly are you planning to do about this?" Danny asked, fidgeting. His eyes didn’t leave Daisuke’s, awaiting an answer he would dread at worst and breathe a sigh of relief for at best.
"…You had a reason for not telling me, and I get the sense that you’re protecting him too. I’m not going to ask you why," Daisuke said steadily, meeting the glowing green gaze—Danny seemed all the fourteen-year-old he really was, frightened and anxious and a bundle of nervousness all mashed together. "But I get the feeling we’d be in danger if he knew I knew now, right?"
Danny nodded numbly. Daisuke’s trust in the ghost boy never ceased to amaze him, and despite being worried, Daisuke’s levelheadedness was calming, and it grounded both of them to the reality of the situation.
"Then for now, it’s my trump up the sleeve." Daisuke grinned reassuringly, standing up and going over to Danny, grabbing him firmly by the shoulders. "And he can’t hurt you for my knowledge—I figured it out all on my own, hm?"
Danny blinked slowly, replaying the conversation in his head, then nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.” A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, “But, uh, just for the record… what exactly do you think Vlad is? Just to make sure he can’t use your lack of knowledge against you?”
What do you think of Vlad, knowing he’s not human in any way, shape or form… what would you think of me, if you knew I was similar?
"Hmm… a shapeshifting ghost seems more likely," Daisuke mused, taking a seat next to Danny on the bed, "though that doesn’t explain all the anti-ghost technology. So something about him is definitely not ghost… but something about him obviously is a ghost. Maybe he’s something like half a ghost.”
Danny’s heart would have leaped anxiously if it was working.
"But… with the way he acts, even his business seems as monstrous as he does. When I did research on him, he just seemed so shady. Like he lacks a moral compass completely… like he isn’t a human at all." Daisuke crossed his arms thoughtfully, then his face twisted up in disgust. "He’s like the ghosts the Fentons describe. But something about that doesn’t seem right…. Hm. Maybe he’s some sort of corpse walker."
"A… corpse walk… what?"
"A ghost possessing his old human body. Or that possibly got trapped in it." Daisuke explained, frowning deeply. "My dad told me about those once."
Judging by the face Daisuke was making, Danny could only assume nothing good came of corpse walkers, and Daisuke obviously didn’t like the idea of them.
Though he couldn’t help but wonder if that was a better description of himself than “hybrid”.
"I’m guessing you don’t like them," Danny said out loud, sighing dejectedly. Maybe he sighed a little heavier-hearted than he thought, because Daisuke fixed him with a confused stare. "Either way, Daisuke… If Vlad knew you knew his secret identity, he’ll hunt you down and shut you up. Just be careful, alright?"
"When have I not been okay, Danny?" Daisuke replied with a grin, touching his shoulder and making him look up. Even with his optimistic words, though, Danny could see Daisuke’s eyes still filled with worry. Over what, specifically, he didn’t know.
"He’s hurt my friends before, Daisuke. Nearly killed them. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to kill you, too." Danny said quietly, sighing in dejection.
Daisuke’s grin faltered. “They’re still alive, though, right?”
"…Yeah… but I doubt Vlad will make the same mistake twice."
~~~
Vlad Masters grinned wickedly as he paused the video recording of the news of the museum heist, pulling up a security footage he had kept from the boring days of Daisuke Niwa’s life—before the feeds had been jammed by some college radio tower of course.
His grin widened gleefully as he analyzed the photos. Similar facial structures—not exactly the same, but the two figures on the screen before him looked like they could be related.
It didn’t take long for Vlad to realize the connection between the two men the moment he saw “Phantom Thief Dark” on the news. A quick search had led him to learn that Dark hailed from Azumano—Daisuke’s hometown—and that was all the concrete fact that he needed on the Niwa boy.
Dark was obviously a ghost of some sort—one attached to Niwa somehow, but a ghost nonetheless—never mind the trick with the red blood, Vlad knew it had to be fake since ectoplasmic burns didn’t bleed. He was hundreds of years old, and any accounts of him all said the same thing—he never aged. All he ever did was show up and steal things.
And if Niwa had a connection to him, then obviously the boy was a criminal accomplice. Possibly a criminal himself.
A criminal and a ghost—that was one deadly combination when living in Amity Park. Vlad would know, he was both in one, though he hid it well from the public.
Niwa being related to a thieving ghost, however he managed to summon the damned spirit here, probably explained how the redhead had broken into the mansion so easily before. And why Vlad couldn’t secretly survey him—a professional thief knew better than to let himself get spied on.
Vlad smirked as he thought of the implications of that—of how good Niwa had to be.
Maybe he didn’t need to kill the boy or make him disappear—no, perhaps he would be just as useful a pawn as Valerie, given the right incentives.
A plan hatched in his mind.
Oh, yes… this is exactly what I need to make young Daniel suffer.
~~~
Daisuke frowned at the news website, replaying the video clip of the report again and leaning back from his computer, deep in thought as the anchor announced the most disturbing news.
"The Phantom Thief known as Dark strikes again! A note has been sent to the Elmerton Museum of Fine Arts, which has recently received a collection of authentic paintings, courtesy of the generous donation from Vlad Masters. It seems Amity’s new resident angel thief has moved to the next town over—and his first heist there is the Vampire Hunter painting by—”
The redhead scowled. He never did like copycats—the copy of the notice they showed on the screen looked like it was typed on plain white printer paper, and the signature was all wrong. It might have used a fountain pen, but the thickness of the stroke wasn’t right and the “r” and “k” weren’t loopy enough.
Besides, if Daisuke was going to steal again, he would have used his own personal “Phantom Thief D.” signature, not “Phantom Thief Dark”. He wasn’t Dark, as much as he had shouted it out to all of Amity Park, and he would never soil his friend’s record by giving credit where it wasn’t actually due. If he was going to do a heist, he would take credit for it in his own way, even if no one else knew.
Whoever did this was an amateur. And it pissed him off.
How dare they use his name.
A chill permeated the room. Daisuke’s eyes widened and he whipped around, expecting to see Danny—last time Danny found out he stole, the ghost boy had been pretty mad. He really really hoped Danny didn’t see this and automatically assume it was him. Daisuke had promised not to steal again if he could help it—and this time, he could definitely help it. He just hoped Danny would trust him this time—and believe him when he would explain that the thief in this case was a copycat.
He did not, however, expect to see Plasmius.
The blue-skinned ghost was leaning in the doorway, smirking his fanged smirk. The redhead bristled warily, his eyes narrowing.
"I thought I made my message clear last time." Daisuke hissed venomously. "Leave me alone."
Plasmius pretended to examine his nails nonchalantly, unfazed by Daisuke’s tone. “I don’t particularly care about the words of someone like you… unless they’re helpful to me.”
"Why are you here, Plasmius?" Daisuke demanded, shifting into a defensive stance.
"Oh relax, I’m not here to kidnap you again—don’t get me wrong, that would be most entertaining. No, I’ve come across something far more interesting about you, and kidnapping you would be a poor business decision." The ghost’s grin grew fiendish.
"What are you talking about?"
"You know what I’m talking about… phantom thief."
Daisuke frowned, but didn’t flinch. “And what exactly makes that interesting?” He inquired suspiciously, as if it meant nothing to him.
The ghost was amused to find no denial. “Oh, plenty of things, but most of all… I wonder what dear Daniel would think if he knew his friend was a criminal? He does feel quite strongly about these things.” Plasmius chuckled. “You two seem close—you wouldn’t want to lose him, and by your own hand too, now would you?”
Daisuke hid a smirk. Obviously Vlad wasn’t aware that Danny already knew about Daisuke’s little secret. He decided to play along.
"Are you blackmailing me?"
"That depends. Are you a thief-for-hire or some punk out for a thrill?" Plasmius straightened, trying to loom over the redhead intimidatingly, "Either way… you and your ghost friend can either work for me, or I reveal your existence to the whole town."
"…Ghost friend?" It took a moment before it clicked, and Daisuke had to hold back a laugh. He managed to hide his loud mirth with a small mischievous grin, and the lie easily passed his lips without his good conscience stopping him: "Sorry pal, he’s back in Japan."
He could have corrected the older ghost, but where was the sense in that? Besides, it was more fun letting Vlad make assumptions.
"Even if there’s only one of you, it’s still enough. You just do as I say, or else Daniel will know of your illicit activities—as well as the rest of the town." Vlad leaned closer, his completely red eyes locking onto Daisuke’s fiery red orbs. The light of determination the white-clad ghost saw there pleased him.
"The town won’t believe you. You have no proof. I’m just a foreign exchange student." Daisuke argued, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
Vlad knew he was right—there wasn’t much proof that Daisuke himself was a thief, other than video footage from Vlad’s own mansion. And he wasn’t about to release that—people would start asking why he never reported the robbery in the first place. Even if Daisuke did have any incriminating stolen goods around, if he was as professional a thief as Vlad thought, then there would be no trace of them anywhere.
"Besides," Daisuke continued, breaking Vlad from his brief train of thought, "If you reveal me or my friend for what we are, I’ll just reveal you, too.”
Vlad was caught off guard by this, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. Daisuke grinned victoriously. “Come on, you came in right as I was watching a video of Vlad Masters making a donation to the Elmerton Museum. You really think I wouldn’t recognize you?”
Plasmius looked taken aback, then he scowled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
"I was in your head—I know what you really look like, under all that ectoplasm. I know what you really are," Daisuke smirked wickedly for effect—he was totally bluffing on that last one, but Vlad fell for it. “Do you really think you could keep fooling me with your cartoon vampire look? It’s a ridiculous look by the way, has anyone ever told you that?”
Vlad’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Daisuke didn’t lose face.
Oh, he had underestimated this boy indeed.
"You’re… you’re lying. Daniel told you, didn’t he?"
"What are you talking about? Why would I lie? And why would Danny tell me about you? He told me Masters was a human and referred to Plasmius as someone completely different." Daisuke shrugged. "It was almost like he was protecting someone—but now I know, for whatever reason, he was protecting you."
It was then that Vlad realized that Daisuke didn’t know Danny’s secret. Danny didn’t tell him—about himself, about Vlad, about hybrids or anything.
"Im—impossible…"
"That I don’t have Danny’s complete trust? Man, your judge of character sucks," Daisuke laughed, "if you thought we were something like best friends right away. No, we’re just friends.”
Plasmius took a step back. This was the second time he underestimated Daisuke—he really needed to stop doing that.
"So, still want me to work with you, Masters? Because you know, if I really am the thief you think I am, I’m going to steal all your secrets and show the world. Do you really want me that close?"
Vlad paled, his blue skin whitening enough that it was visible on his cheeks. Daisuke’s smirk grew.
"You can’t. I’ll tell the world who you are. Who you’ve been working with."
"You can try—I’m actually retired, and there’s no proof. So really," Daisuke leaned toward Vlad this time, "even if you do tell the world… who will believe you? My record is clean—I know you’ve done enough research to know that’s true. And I haven’t played the clumsy idiot all these years for nothing—no one suspects a thing, and no one ever will."
Daisuke played a good villain when he wanted to. The best part was, he wasn’t lying that much—everything was either harsh truth or white half-truths. He might be playing the antagonist right now, but he knew better than anyone what was wrong and right. Blackmailing was usually wrong—but he didn’t have a choice in this case.
And if he was honest with himself, watching the look of horror dawn on Vlad’s face was fun.
"You on the other hand… I’ve done my research on you. Though you might not have a criminal record, your rise to power is a bit spotty, wouldn’t you say? I think Plasmius explains those spots pretty well, Masters." Daisuke smirked knowingly, "So yeah, if you reveal me, I’ll reveal you.”
Vlad had said it right the first time—he really didn’t know who he was dealing with. He had no leverage against the boy—Daisuke didn’t even seem to care that Vlad would reveal him, even openly inviting him to. Of course, the accompanying threat was very real and gave Daisuke every confidence in his words.
The redhead’s voice lowered to a threatening whisper as his eyes flashed darkly. “So I want you to think very carefully… who has more to lose with this gamble of a ‘business deal’? Me, a normal foreign exchange art student… or you, a multi-billionaire with a secret ghost on the side?”
At Vlad’s speechlessness, Daisuke turned up the charm, his sweet smile somehow more threatening than his malicious one. “I thought so. Now…”
He clenched his fist, cracking his knuckles with his other hand, “I believe that,” he pointed to his computer screen, where the article detailing the fake notice was open on a web browser, “this was your doing?”
Vlad opened his mouth, but found he didn’t quite know how to answer that without putting himself at a dangerous disadvantage. He might have had ghost powers, but he got the feeling that Daisuke had more tricks up his sleeve than a devilish side and unexpectedly good blackmail material.
"Neither I nor my friend appreciate a sloppy fraud. At least do it right if you’re going to forge a heist." Daisuke huffed, "But that’s not in your control, is it. Anyway, as long as people know it’s a fraud, I won’t come after you. So make sure people know it. Understood?"
Plasmius broke from his stupor, scowling. “Come after me? You brat, you don’t even—”
Daisuke ignored him. “There are two things we can do tonight, Masters. You can leave, take your stupid bugs with you—I know you planted some here—and forget I ever existed. Never come back, leave me alone for good. Or you can make the ‘poor business decision’ and continue trying to argue and get me on your side. I couldn’t care less. I will reveal you if you continue to harass me, blackmail me, use me as a pawn, or try to hurt me or my friends—like Danny. I don’t have much else to lose. You, on the other hand, have everything to lose. So don’t try my patience—scram if you know what’s good for you. And take your lackeys with you—I never want to see them or you again.”
Plasmius growled deep in his throat. “No one tells me what to do,” He spat out, and tried to blast Daisuke with a fiery magenta ray from his hand.
Daisuke easily sidestepped, and Vlad continued to fire at him. Daisuke’s eyes narrowed calculatingly as he ducked to avoid the second blast, rolled to the side to dodge a third, and used the crouching position he had come into to launch into a high jump—narrowly avoiding Vlad’s fourth ectoplasmic energy blast. His attacks were too powerful, unfocused—nothing like Danny’s, which were powerful but sharp with precision even in a rage. Vlad had lost his cool, just like Daisuke had wanted.
Still in mid-air, he used the weight of his jump to propel himself forward, bringing up his knee and landing it square on Plasmius’ shoulder, sending them both to the ground.
He cried out in pain, then gritted his teeth, flipping Daisuke off him, sending the redhead crashing into a stack of art bins.
"Who are you to make demands of me, boy?" The blue-skinned ghost gave a feral growl, floating up and righting himself, his posture straight and rigid as he glared down at the ex-thief, "What makes you think I’ll let you live long enough to let anyone know my secret?”
Daisuke scrambled to his feet, cursing to himself. Danny was right, Vlad was definitely serious business—and even if he had expected this sort of reaction, he wasn’t sure if his little plan to provoke Vlad would work.
"I won’t, if you just leave." He said resolutely, his legs shifting for fight or flight.
"You already know too much." Vlad sneered, lunging after him.
Once again, Daisuke twisted out of the way, and Vlad flew past him and crashed into a chair in the kitchen. Using the brief distraction to his advantage, Daisuke grabbed something off his bed, making a beeline for the window. If Vlad wanted to fight, then Daisuke needed a field advantage.
Plasmius’ voice came from the kitchen doorway, “I had just wanted you to work for me. But it seems now, you need to be out of the picture.” A subtle tremble gave away the fact that he knew he had lost control of the situation—and now he was going to do his damnedest to regain that control.
Daisuke shoved the window open before he turned to face Vlad, careful not to keep his back to his enemy for too long. He didn’t even get a word in as Vlad shot another magenta ray again. The redhead stepped backward and jumped up to dodge it, pulling his legs up just in time for the shot to whiz past him and fly out the window. And in that single action, he had reached up beyond the window frame, grabbing a hold of the ledge and hoisting himself seamlessly onto the rooftop.
Vlad phased through the roof, and Daisuke was once again face-to-face with him. Daisuke scowled, his mind going a mile a minute, formulating a new plan.
"You’re as stubborn to live as Daniel. Except," Vlad’s eyes glowed dangerously, "you can actually die."
Daisuke leaned to the side, Vlad’s energy beam grazing him. He used the momentum to flip backwards, throwing out his hand to spring himself upright again. He winced—he had put just a little too much pressure on his whole arm, trying to use it like that.
"Sorry, but," Daisuke shook the thoughts of pain away, rushing forward and dodging another ecto-blast, "I promised everyone I would live. So I’m not going to die today."
Plasmius, having not expected the sudden change from defense to attack, turned intangible as Daisuke’s leg came up to his chest and the redhead proceeded to send his foot through it, instead of impacting like he thought he would. The redhead gasped and shivered, his eyes wide, and Vlad smirked, coating his hand in pink energy and creating a fist. Daisuke had had only a second to gather himself, retracting his leg just in time to throw his weight to the side—but not in time to completely avoid the attack.
"Augh!" Daisuke cried out in pain when Vlad’s fist connected with his bad shoulder, and he tumbled back, holding it gingerly. There was no visible burn on his clothes, but he could feel the wound hidden underneath being agitated by the presence of the hot, supernatural energy.
Vlad chuckled, finally feeling like he had the advantage. “You might be sneaky, but you’re only human, Niwa.” He leaned down, his still-glowing hands lighting up his face in a sinister way. “Maybe you’ll become a ghost when I kill you—but even if you do… I’ll come and destroy you again. And I’ll look forward to it.”
Daisuke gritted his teeth, staggering to his feet. He didn’t give Vlad the pleasure of an answer, because he let out a frightening, angry roar, charging Vlad again even if he was injured. Vlad, surprised by the move, barely had time to turn intangible before Daisuke could tackle him.
Unfortunately, this was exactly what Daisuke had wanted him to do—the earlier display of that ability had inspired Daisuke’s crazy and unlikely plan, and the only thing Daisuke could do was hope it worked.
The moment Vlad went intangible, Daisuke planted his feet firmly to the ground where the ghost stood, forcing Vlad to overshadow him.
It wasn’t as easy as taking over Daisuke’s body, this time—no, Daisuke had been prepared, not taken by surprise like last time. There was no fight for dominance, and the first thing Vlad saw when he realized what happened was the black abyss of Daisuke’s mind.
~~~
"I’m not dying today." Daisuke’s voice, dark and determined and rage-filled, echoed around him menacingly.
The redhead stood before Vlad, just like last time, but he wasn’t calm and relaxed as he was before. His shoulders were tensed, raised like a cat on its hackles, and his eyes flashed violently—actually, when Vlad really looked, it almost seemed as if they had turned a shade colder.
"What—what is the meaning of this?" Vlad tried to pull himself out, but he found himself trapped. He couldn’t walk out of Daisuke’s body—this had never happened before!
"Most people try to kick ghosts out of their bodies, so I’m not surprised it hasn’t happened to you before," Daisuke smirked, "I’d be surprised if any ghost has come across someone who wanted the ghost to continue overshadowing them. Not that I want you here—but, like I said last time, this is my territory—it’s my advantage. So now we’re playing by my rules, Plasmius.”
Vlad growled. “Just because it’s your mind, doesn’t mean you have the advantage. I’m not falling for the same trick twice, boy. Now that I know how your mind works, I can just…”
He was cut off by a barrage of attacks from the darkness around them, shadowy tendrils constricting Vlad’s entire form—suffocating him until he gasped and choked for air, tears involuntarily forming at the corners of his eyes.
"You were saying?" Daisuke tilted his head in mock innocence, falling quiet as Vlad screamed. Daisuke knew those screams—they were his own, after all. This was his mind, and the darkness encompassing them were his thoughts—he knew how painful they could be. He knew how many times he had wanted to scream and cry and die because of them. But he was stronger than them now—he was alive, and he would continue to live.
Briefly, he entertained the thought of not letting Vlad do the same.
"I’m not here to play around, Vlad. You can’t kill me in here—you have no power here." Daisuke stepped up to the man after waiting several moments, his voice low and serious. The shadows receded as he came closer, obeying his silent command to hold off for now, and Vlad dropped to the ground. "I don’t care what things you can do to me physically, because I’ll live. But how many things… can I put you through… before you break till you don’t want to? If you’re even still really alive.”
He punctuated his pauses by giving Vlad a good kick in the chest, then he bent down and pulled the man up, his breath short and haggard and his gray hair mussed up like he had just run a mile.
"To think you’re in this kind of shape… when I haven’t even gotten started.” Daisuke mused, smiling wickedly. Vlad’s eyes widened—he knew his fear wasn’t his own. It was just Daisuke instilling it into him through the power of this environment, but it felt real to him right now. “I’m not letting you out until we come to an agreement.”
Vlad took a breath, pushing Daisuke’s hands off of him. “I’ll kill you first.” He snarled. “I’m not letting you walk away with my secret, and since you didn’t agree to work with me, I have no other option.”
"No, I think you have it wrong," Daisuke tilted his head, crossing his arms behind him—Vlad’s eye twitched, because Daisuke was clearly mocking him. Vlad himself often used that pose—it was a pose of power, straight-backed and exposed and showing control. Something Vlad didn’t have right now, and Daisuke had completely. “Like I said, we’re playing by my rules now. And they’re new rules, Vlad. With new options.”
Vlad blanched.
Daisuke grinned darkly. “See, since we’re in my head… I can see any and all of your memories, should I choose to. So it wouldn’t be just who you are that I find—it would be all of your dirty secrets.”
The once-blue-skinned ghost regained himself, his eyes narrowing. “All the more reason for me to kill you.” Vlad hissed.
"That isn’t the only thing I can do, though," Daisuke continued, "Like I said before, I can easily trap you in here, and you can spend an eternity in my head, surrounded by the pain I keep in the hole where someone important used to be. You don’t deserve his spot, but it was a prison for him—it might as well be for you too."
Vlad gritted his teeth, grabbing Daisuke by the throat in an attempt to harm him—Daisuke only laughed, completely unfazed. “You cannot keep me here—it’s impossible.”
"Probably. People would notice if Vlad Masters went missing." Daisuke mused, "So there’s a third option too."
Vlad’s eyes narrowed. “And what would that be?”
"I get into your head and I erase any obsession you have with me." Daisuke smiled cheerfully, his eyes still dark with threat, "It means you’ll have never noticed Danny hanging out with me, never done any research on me, never sent those bugs to my place… of course, I’ll have to erase the physical evidence from your computer and security footage, because I know you have some,” Daisuke smirked, grabbing Vlad’s wrist and twisting, forcing him to let go, “but that’s easy work for a thief like me.”
The billionaire’s eyes grew wide now. “You—you can’t do that. It’s impossible.”
"You don’t know that," Daisuke shoved Vlad to the ground, despite that Vlad was bigger than him, "This is my mind, and I’m the one who knows how it works. Do you really think I’d bluff?"
Vlad growled angrily, pushing himself up. He wasn’t used to being looked down upon, and he didn’t like it. “So my choices are to kill you and get my revenge, walk away and both of us will keep quiet, stay trapped here for god knows how long, or forget everything about you completely. You’re saying those are my options right now?”
Daisuke hummed thoughtfully, pretending to consider. “I’m a fair man, Plasmius. I’ll listen if you do—are you suggesting you have an alternative?”
Vlad opened his mouth, but after a few moments he closed it. Daisuke had planned this out pretty well.
"You would have made a great business partner, if you didn’t have morals as stubbornly ‘good’ as Daniel’s." Vlad sneered, "You’ve given me all your options, and yet none of them are to kill me before I get you first."
"I’m not a murderer." Daisuke frowned, "Just a thief."
Vlad stood up straight, slowly brushing himself off in an attempt to recompose himself. Daisuke watched him carefully, still tense despite that this was his turf.
"…That kind of divide is what makes you weak," Vlad finally spoke after a long silence, "If I chose to walk away, what’s to assure you that I won’t come back and take my revenge later? Or even right when I get out of here?"
"All the options have their flaws—any of the new choices would result with me having you as an annoying voice in my head, whether it’s actually you or just your memory imprint." Daisuke shrugged, "But letting you walk isn’t because I trust you not to do anything. Danny will probably be here once you get out, so you can’t do anything to me then. And after that, do you really think I’d let my guard down? I won’t be so stupid as to let you get into my home practically undetected again."
Vlad clicked his tongue. Daisuke was certainly more quick-thinking, intelligent, and mindful than he had first thought. Then again, he was a criminal mastermind—a thief who had never been caught. Who was Vlad to expect any less? Perhaps Daisuke’s “normality” had even put Vlad off his guard.
He needed control of the situation again, and fast. He really didn’t like how Daisuke was consistently dealt the upper hand.
"I can hear your thoughts you know. You really should consider yourself lucky that, unlike you, I don’t want to kill anyone." Daisuke’s eyes narrowed, his hands tightening at his sides.
"Ah, ‘want to’… implies you can. Interesting. So if you were given no choice… if it was kill or be killed, I wonder if you would change.” Vlad’s steel blue eyes met Daisuke’s head-on, betraying no emotion, “Would you become a murderer to save your own skin?”
"No, I won’t." Daisuke replied firmly, a tone of simpleness in his voice, as if that was the most obvious answer in the world. "I’m not going to stoop to your level, I won’t become a murderer. If it’s just me… I’d die first."
Of course, if you were planning to hurt any of my friends after you killed me, then I’d take a different course of action… but I still wouldn’t kill you. Daisuke thought, his mind closed off from Vlad. In this case… he’s definitely planning to use Danny somehow. So I can’t give up now.
Daisuke knew that in addition to knowing Vlad’s secret, the ghost had another reason to kill Daisuke—possibly two. The first was that he now saw Daisuke as a potential threat and needed to get rid of him since he wouldn’t become an accomplice. The second reason was that Daisuke’s death would devastate Danny—it would distract the ghost boy and cause his guard to drop, leaving him vulnerable, or it would push his rationality aside so he would do something reckless.
There was no way Daisuke would let that happen.
"So, Vlad. Are you so paranoid about the fact that I know your secret that you would stoop to murder to keep yourself safe, or are you smart enough to walk away when a good opportunity is handed to you?" Daisuke inquired.
"Why don’t you care?"
The question caught Daisuke off guard. “What?”
"Why don’t you care about your identity being exposed?" Vlad’s eyes narrowed, secretly gleeful at the confused look on Daisuke’s face. At last, it seemed that Vlad had regained some control!
Daisuke stood still for a moment, before he shrugged and answered, “Because I don’t have an identity to be exposed. You can tell the police or whoever I’m a thief, but nothing I’ve ever done or been has ever led me to be a real thief.” Well, until recently. ”It was all my friend’s doing, really.”
"And you’re not worried about him being exposed?" Vlad tried to prod for more information, "You’re not worried people will connect you two as accomplices?"
"There’s nothing to connect us, he’s been dead for… well, years." Daisuke replied stonily, "And he’s a public figure anyhow. What is there to expose?"
"Public figure or not, no one knows a thing about him." Vlad countered, "That pseudonym he goes by is obviously not his real name."
"It’s as real as yours, Plasmius—as real as the you with the monster’s face." Daisuke narrowed his eyes. He knew full well what Vlad was trying to do—gain leverage on him. Not like that would ever happen. "And you’re avoiding the real question here. What option have you chosen? Because if you don’t choose… I will."
Vlad growled. “Don’t give me a false sense of control—I don’t need that, or your pity.”
"Fine. But the options are still there." Daisuke leaned toward him, his eyes flickering violet, "In every case, I just want you to leave me alone, so both of us can get on with our lives. Relatively, at least. So you either walk away here a smart man, or I’m taking your memories and you’ll walk away not knowing any better.”
"What happened to trapping me here?"
"It was a last resort." Red eyes narrowed, and the black tendrils began creeping their way up Vlad’s legs again. He flinched in pain at their touch, and they receded. "I’m sure we both know the complications of Vlad Masters disappearing."
Vlad’s lips settled into a begrudging frown. After a long, hard staring contest, he finally said, “Release me, Niwa. But rest assured, this won’t be the last of me.”
"You know, I changed my mind, I think I will take some of your memories… and remind you of what real pain is." Daisuke mused nonchalantly, challenge in his expression.
The ghost clenched his fists, glaring. “Now, now, I thought you were ‘good’. That wasn’t part of the deal.”
"I’m a lying, sneaking thief, did you expect me to play fair?" Daisuke said dryly, leaning back almost casually. However, his face betrayed his anger.
"And who are you to say that wasn’t part of the deal?" Suddenly his voice took on a dangerous tone again. "My terms were clear: you walk away, and I never see you or your minions again. If you will assure me that ‘this won’t be the last of you’, then I will assure you that you won’t be walking away from here with your mind completely intact. I will break you.”
For a moment, Daisuke recalled a time when a certain black-winged angel uttered those very same words. At that time, he had been frightened… but now—he understood it completely. Daisuke, like his friend in the past… had something he wanted to protect, too.
And he couldn’t do that if he was dead.
"So, do we have a deal?" Daisuke asked, watching Vlad as he quietly weighed his options. The tension in the air was thick, almost tangible, even in a place like Daisuke’s mind.
Finally, smart enough to realize the thief boy had left no loopholes, he nodded. He grunted begrudgingly, “Yes, Niwa. We have a deal.”
Daisuke smiled, letting the black tendrils stroke Vlad once more to remind him of the consequences of not following through, and finally released the trap of his abyss.
~~~
Just like the first time, Vlad was launched forcefully out of Daisuke’s body, coming to a skidding halt at the edge of the rooftop.
Daisuke stood there for a moment, shaking his head and blinking to clear his mind—it was always as painful for him to mentally torture someone as it was for the person he was torturing, after all. He was just more used to the pain, and most of it was numbed by now.
His eyes flickered to the rising figure of the blue-skinned ghost, and he reached into his pocket as Vlad turned to face him. Vlad didn’t seem to notice what Daisuke had brought with him, nor that he had moved it into almost plain sight.
"Don’t make me regret playing hero, even to you, Plasmius." Daisuke said quietly, locking eyes with the ghost, "Leave now, and don’t come back."
Vlad gave a fanged grin… and laughed. “You really thought I’d keep my word?” He lunged toward Daisuke, a feral snarl escaping his lips.
Daisuke only sighed, hitting the on button of the device he had been keeping in his pocket before.
Vlad shrieked in pain as his hand collided with Daisuke, an electric green shock twisting up his arm and coursing through his body. He fell back with smoke rising from his skin.
"Danny thought you might come and try something like this, so he left me a gift. A Fenton invention that repels ghosts." Daisuke smiled wryly, motioning to the Specter Deflector around his waist, "You can’t touch me. So don’t even try, or I’ll figure out a way to get into your head again—I can promise you that."
"Butter biscuits—I hate that thing." Vlad hissed, backing off, his eyes narrowed. They shifted calculatingly, before he assessed the risk of dealing with Daisuke to be too much, and he took a step away.
"Hmph… Fine. I’ll keep my word… for now. Don’t think I’ll be tricked into overshadowing you again, though, boy—I will come to silence you!” He sneered as threateningly as he could, floating up.
"I’ll make sure Danny can stop you, then." Daisuke offered a disarming smile, "So, shall it be farewell for good?"
"With any luck, you won’t be faring well at all."
And with that, Vlad waved his hand angrily and disappeared in a swirl of magenta mist.
Daisuke breathed a sigh of relief—the vampiric ghost was gone. He climbed back down to his room—wincing once he remembered his shoulder burn had just gotten worse—and then carefully made his way to the kitchen to find his first aid kit and fix up his shoulder again. At the back of his memory, he remembered that he had promised Danny he would take better care of himself. What would Danny even say if he saw Daisuke now? His burn was still mending itself after all—he didn’t have crazy ghost healing like Danny did.
He looked around his apartment and sighed once he finished with the first aid kit. This was going to be a long night, he thought as he surveyed the damage Vlad had done. The room temperature was back down to normal, but the burn marks from Vlad’s destructive energy were everywhere. He was silently grateful his roommate wasn’t home.
Getting to work on cleaning and fixing up his room, he reflected back on the whole night, debating what to tell Danny later. Just a little bit, he couldn’t help but feel bad about all his lying.
That was one of the hardest acts he had had to do yet—but, hopefully, that would be the last time he ever saw Vlad.