Chapter 17: Reunion Revelations

The following week had come and gone, and the college reunion was now about to begin. Danny had to admit, with tailor-made suits, his parents actually looked respectable in a formal setting. With Jack's large stature, it's not easy to find business clothes like the black and grey suit he wore, but it did make him look rather professional to the people attending, especially with the Reed Richards style graying he had going on. If only something could be done about his boisterous, child-like personality, then his big build would actually look good in the suit..

His mother had chosen to go with a teal dress, most likely because like her hazmat suit, teal was her favorite color. The difference between Maddie and her husband is that unlike Jack, she had manners and knew when to use them. Jack even had the gall to call his old classmate, Harriet Chin, 'Harry Chin'. It was mortifying to be his son at that moment, and Maddie had blushed in embarrassment and profusely apologized to her college friend. A tactical retreat was necessary at that point.

Danny had promptly left, deciding it better to try and find his sister and hang out with her. He kept the suit on, partly because he thought he looked good in it, and another part of it was that he never got to wear nice clothes like these. The black and blue suit jacket fit like a glove, and the undershirt and vest were made of the finest materials, and were probably the most comfortable thing he owns. It's soft as hell, and it breathes like a lung.

As he walked down the hall, Danny's mind wandered over the past week. He had done a lot. It took two days to learn how to use ocular blasts. There was a downside Vlad hadn't told him about it though. It's not comfortable at all to fire energy through your eyeballs. It felt like having a sunburn on his eyes. After using them the first time, he had even gone blind for a few minutes, much to Vlads amusement. Even now, after days of more practice, they still stung a little, but his uncle had assured him that the side effect would fade.

That wasn't the only thing practiced. Vlad had shown him just about everything he could do, and it was a… humbling experience to see the sheer skill the older man had. The difference between them is vast. Vlad could manipulate ectoplasm to such a fine degree, with such in-depth finesse, that when he constructed a rifle out of the energy, he actually threaded the barrel. Serial numbers above the trigger, bolts had threads, firing mechanism actually worked, the trigger and spring worked in tandem, and the final product was a completed AK-74. It was so life-like, that if it wasn't glowing pink, it could be suspected for an actual firearm, and not an energy construct. Every tiny detail was put on there, and since then, Danny had come to respect the man's skills with his powers far more.

Respect.

It's not an easy feat to respect something, Danny realized. As dumb as it sounds, he could be impressed, think something's cool and awesome, or he could be absolutely stunned, but respecting something or someone took time. Danny respected himself, his friends, his mother's intellect, his sister's intuition and to a certain degree, he respected his father's technical skills. Even though it killed him. Danny respects space, the planets beyond, cosmic forces unseen, and the vast void of infinity just as much as his friends and family. There aren't many people outside of immediate family and friends that earn his respect though. Mr. Lancer is a smart man, and he's lenient in class and watches out for students as well; he had earned at least a fair amount of regard from the young man.

And to Danny's surprise, Vlad had earned more respect than any of them. His business alone was a prominent figure in the world, compared only to enterprises like Wayne Industries and Lexcorp, and the sheer amount of money the man had at his fingertips was frightening. But there's no one else in the world like them, no one else who's half-dead, and having been a hybrid for twenty years, the man had ample time to harness his abilities.

Clearly, that wasn't for naught.

Pyrokinesis, electrokinesis, telekinesis, augmented strength, enhanced speed and reflexes, those are all things the man could do with astounding levels of control. And he had even more powers that impressed the young Halfa. Umbrakinesis is apparently a thing, and his uncle could use the ability to do things he's never seen. It was the reason why he didn't glow like him or other ghosts. Vlad passively absorbed light into his form, whereas Danny unconsciously radiated light, and normal ghosts were just beings made entirely of ectoplasm. It was unnerving to see shadows come to life, but Vlad had assured Danny that while it was a rare and rather taxing power, it wasn't impossible to find others that had it.

In his time as a half-ghost, Vlad had grown, flourished, and advanced faster than normal ghosts. That was apparently a perk of being a Halfa, one that he himself has. He had explained it in detail, but the simple explanation was that the life in him fueled the dead. His ghost half didn't eat away at his living half, and the easiest comparison Danny had thought of was that Fenton was like an XP boost to Phantom. And in return, Phantom was a buff to Fenton, which explained why his human side was getting stronger as well.

This was a whole new experience to Danny, being mentored like this. He never had a need for tutors before, and any help he got from Jazz were simple explanations on how formulas worked. But Vlad gave him tips on how to properly use his powers. He showed him how to make ectoplasmic manipulation more efficient. Gave a different mindset when turning intangible that made it so much easier, and explored the limitations of his invisibility and how to properly use it.

Then there was overshadowing. It's hands down the creepiest power Danny has, and for good reason. It basically amounted to possession. Vlad had shown him how to do it, and it summed up to turning intangible and overpowering someone's will with their own. Which was apparently an easy feat for Halfas' and ghosts in general. It's a little hard for the living to out-will a being who defied death and came back to life, and that doubles for those who died but continued to live. As Vlad had put it, 'If death couldn't overpower our will to live, what can a human do to overcome what is basically death-defying?'

To be honest, the sheer amount of power he was setting up for himself was starting to scare him. It excited him, yes, but Danny's been paying attention to the world. Metahumans were coming out of the woodwork left, right, and center. And they normally only had one or two powers. Danny had, at the moment, eleven and according to Vlad, those would only continue to grow. Those were just the base powers, and he wasn't counting the ways he could combine them to further enhance his firepower, or the unique applications that could be done with them.

Danny sighed and closed his eyes as he continued his walk through the castle. This was getting surreal, but fun all at the same time. But his old life was getting further and further away. He wasn't blind to it, Danny could see that he was pushing away his personal life in favor of his… afterlife? And how could he not? This was all comic book level stuff, and he absolutely loved it… aside from the pain. He hated that, but no one ever said that being a hero was easy.

One thing that had been worrying the young Halfa was… what if he fully died? What if his ghost half eventually took over his human half? But Vlads' existence at the moment, that even after two full decades of being a Halfa, he was still human, seemingly blew that worry away. It's like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and ever since the first night of his… apprenticeship, he had decompressed considerably. Even with all the training, it was fun and relaxing, and knowing that he had another week of it made him both happy and sad.

Danny's truly been enjoying his stay here, and he's had vast improvements with the use of his powers. He even knows of several that he's going to develop, and with that knowledge alone, he can prepare for them! But he's sad because he really doesn't want it to end. Because immediately after this, he'll go back to ghost fighting, and he knows for a fact… that there's practically going to be a horde waiting for him when he gets there. "Tsk." That's going to be so fun to deal with.

When he turned a corner, Danny paused to remember where he was. If his sister was still in the theater, then he was… still two floor downs. Although annoying, he continued on his way in his human form. One of the things Vlad had been teaching him was to not forget to be human. He stressed it, and put emphasis on the half of Halfa. According to him, they're both human and ghost, and it's important not to neglect one half over the other. And Danny was taking his advice to heart, especially since he's spent so much time as Phantom lately, instead of Fenton.

The weight in his coat pocket caught his attention, and it took a few seconds to retrieve it from the inside of the jacket. A small orb the size of a half dollar, green in color, and pulsating slightly. A core. The same trophies he's been collecting from his ghost fights. Danny didn't know why he was collecting them initially, but it had felt instinctual. Like he needed to, like it was essential, but he didn't know why… until two days ago.

He still hadn't tried it yet. It was a little disconcerting to basically eat the heart of another creature, even if that creature had already died once. Actually, maybe that made it worse. Vlad had explained that eating the cores of ghosts would give him a small boost in power, nothing immediate unless the ghost the core came from was really powerful, but a power boos all the same. There was an attraction to the core that went previously unexplained, but now, it seemed his fangs really did have a purpose. Halfa's are similar to vampires for ghosts apparently, and Danny promptly stopped his uncle when he started going into detail about how kinky the ghostly ladies found it.

That was not something he wanted to hear.

Nevertheless, his mind debated. It said 'no' on the sheer principle that the core came from an undead, and that he shouldn't put strange things in his mouth. That made sense, the rational side of his brain concluded, but no one ever said getting stronger didn't come without sacrifices. But how much was he willing to sacrifice? Already half dead, his high school life set up to be ruined, social life destroyed years prior, and his trust in his family and friends were already being tested. Rather, seeing as how he couldn't tell them about his death, he already couldn't trust them 100%.

That seemed to make up his mind. With so much already sacrificed… his life, his social life, his comfort, his trust… What was one more thing? He flicked the small core in his hand up into the air, caught it, then popped it into his mouth as he rounded a corner. His fangs pierced the small orb of power, and the condensed ectoplasm burst into his mouth with a startling amount. Danny flinched at the feeling, his tongue tingles and his teeth felt like he was biting down on electricity.

Then a feeling of lightness came over him.

It's comfortable, relaxing, and invigorating all at the same time. The taste of core ectoplasm wasn't as nasty as he thought it would be. Actually, it tasted sour, but a little sweet. Like an airheads candy. When the energy trickled down his throat, his core swelled in power and glee, pulsing erratically through his body. Danny had to lean on the wall to maintain his sense of balance when he stumbled, and small sparks of green energy danced along his body. His eyes flashed back and forth from acid green to ice blue. Electricity flickered from his fangs, going out of his panting open mouth, and giving small shocks to his lips that he barely registered. Green fire sparked along his hands momentarily, but went out in seconds, and his breath was an icy cold that left vapor clouds with each exhale.

Then it ended, and reality returned to him.

"Wh-... what the hell?" He barely muttered. That was… a rush like no other. It lasted maybe ten seconds, but it felt so much longer. He swallowed nervously, not entirely sure how to feel about what happened.

Danny looked down at his hands, flexing them and testing manifestation. It didn't seem any easier, he didn't feel any more powerful. He felt a little energized, yes, but not supercharged. Maybe he should have asked Vlad more questions about it, instead of trying to coast by on the topic. It made him uncomfortable, but it was something that he needs to know since it pertains to being a Halfa.

Danny took a moment to collect himself, he straightened his suit, fixed his tie, and brushed his pants off. A quick look around told him that no one was around to see… whatever just happened, and then he was on his way. Maybe he could catch the last half of whatever movie Jazz was watching.

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

The party's in full swing, the music, even if a little old fashioned, was enjoyable to the attendees, and Vlad is more than satisfied with his meticulous efforts. People are impressed, they're having fun, and no doubt his reputation will go up with this. As usual. Jack's being restrained by both him and Maddie, on multiple occasions, and while the little… mishap with Harriet was unfortunate, she didn't seem to mind too much. Maybe she was used to his antics since they had dated in college, though if memory serves, that amounted to three or four dates, tops, before she couldn't stand it anymore.

Truthfully, Vlad barely recognized these people. None of them were actual friends, hell, none of them had even visited him when he was in a coma, but they were invited nonetheless. It was a college reunion after all, it would seem as if he was singling out these people if he hadn't invited them. And while he didn't particularly like them, he didn't hate them either. They were… neutral, he supposed.

No, no, it's more like…

They just didn't matter. Like specks of dirt. A cold thought for sure, but it was true, and Vlad didn't particularly care. The only reason he knew their names was because he graduated with them, despite the coma. That, and he had read over the invitation list when he sent it.

"So, Masters, how long till you finally get the Packers?" A twitch of his lips was all that showed his irritation visibly, and the sheep in front of him didn't seem to notice, too focused on the glass of champagne in his hand. There weren't many things that could truly piss off the older half-ghost, but this man had somehow done it. Yes, he was still sore that he didn't own the team. Why couldn't they understand that he could ascend the team to permanent glory and everlasting Super Bowl victories.

If only they sold him the team. Green Bay Packers, Inc. took pride in being the Packers being the only publicly owned franchise in the NFL. That meant that they wouldn't sell him the team, no matter how much he offered. Not even providing scholarships for the entire city of Green Bay would sway them, much to his annoyance. He was starting to think that possession might be in order soon…

Still, this was a public event, and while most knew not to bring up that obvious… sore subject, this man had apparently had too much to drink. So Vlad smiled, and laughed it off. "Soon, soon. I've made many offers, but it will be mine. Eventually." And he really did believe that, even if he bit out the last part.

Before the man in front of him could annoy Vlad anymore, the sight of his only actual friends caught his eye. As usual, Jack was stalking the buffet table, no doubt going for his third, possibly fourth, helping. There were a few people nearby, but the large man didn't seem to pay attention to them. His wife was off to the side, at the other end of the table, talking to Harriet Chin. Vlad frowned at the rather… insulting nickname his friend had for her, it wasn't flattering, and was honestly juvenile. Then again… Jack was rather childish.

After bidding a quick farewell to- Jim? Tim? One of the two, he didn't care now or ever, and the man quickly followed after a passing waiter to drown himself in more high quality alcohol. It didn't take long to make his way over towards his friend, and he was rather pleased that Jack seemed to be alone. There were a few questions that he needed answered, especially concerning Daniels ridiculous levels of residual ectoplasm in his body. It's a good thing that it was actually there, his nephew would have died most likely without it, but the matter still stands. The young teenager would have had very adverse effects in the coming years with the amount that was in his body.

"Jack!" Vlad called.

The large man turned, mouth full of horderves, and quickly swallowed it all and grinned. "Vladdie! Great party, my man!"

Surely, had he not been a Halfa, the large pats on the back would have knocked the wind out of him. They had in college, but a far, far more durable body now allowed him to easily shrug off the hits. "Thank you, Jack."

Vlad paused for a moment, looking around to the people around him. They had a wide berth, whether that's because the party goers were unconsciously being courteous to their host, or because the large frame of the Fenton beside him warranted it, he didn't know. But with a space of almost six feet between them and the crowd, and Maddie not here to stop Jack from spewing something he shouldn't, Vlad decided now was the time to ask some questions. Social events like these can be good times to harvest information, even if only gossip and rumors.

"Old friend, I have some questions, and I'd appreciate it if you answered them." Vlad gestured him closer, the three foot gap closed to one, and he said, "And it would be best if this was kept quiet, so no loud boasting, please."

Although confused, Jack nodded along. "Sure thing, ask away!"

As Jack stuffed his face once again, Vlad took a moment to think of how he wanted to phrase this that aroused the least suspicion, but decided that he didn't need to. Both Jack and Maddie knew that he continued his research by himself, although they probably don't know just how much further ahead he is of them, neither blamed him for it, and they even had several pieces of equipment he made in their lab. Their own portal uses the superconducting ectoplasmic coils, as well as the ectoplasmic energy conversion adapter he made. His questions shouldn't raise suspicion in the least.

"Well the first is: how is the portal working? Are there any issues with it?" He kept his face neutral and voice low. No need to for others to know about it until the people themselves reveal it.

Beaming with pride, Jack was ready to say it to the heavens, but remembered that this was a discreet conversation. "It's running great, and the parts you gave us were the final pieces we needed." He finished with a grin, and Vlad returned it. While he was happy to help them, there were now circumstances that needed answering.

"Hmm. That's good. I'm glad I could help, but now that you have such a… innovative piece of technology in your…" Would it be more apt to call it a lab or basement? "basement," he nodded, "you need to think about security. What's your current situation looking like?"

Jack put the fork down and tapped the piece of food on it lightly. It was hard to ignore the sound of squishing food, and Vlad was glad when Jack finally decided to say something. The sound was infuriating. "We have a few security insurances. Cameras along the house and by the front and back door. Alarms in case of break-ins, and locked doors. Automatic turrets set up for ghosts, and we're currently in development of something we're gonna call the Fenton Ghost Shield." Jack waved his hands back and forth, "We've barely started that though, not even done with the right calculations."

It was better than he thought, but that obviously wasn't all of it. Daniel had somehow gotten down there, and that needed answering. "Well, that's good. But you could do better. I do have to ask, just because I know you very well, did you lock the doors when you left?" Vlad would bet money that his guess would be correct.

Jack bit his bottom lip, clearly thinking very hard, then grinned. "Nope. I forgot to lock the lab. It should be fine though, Amity's doesn't have that high of a crime rate." And he would have won that money too.

Vlad inhaled deeply, annoyance rising, and sighed loudly. As a Halfa, emotions ran high and were always a risk to run rampant, especially strong ones like anger. He would need to praise Daniel later for keeping it together so well, he was only fourteen, hormones and all that were making it worse, and the older man found it impressive that he was going so strong. "Did you at least lock the front and back door?"

Although he looked a little affronted, Jack nodded vigorously. "Of course we did. I'm not that scatterbrained."

A pointed look was all it took for him to rub the back of his neck sheepishly, and Vlad couldn't resist the sigh that escaped him again. "Well that's good," he started, "but I must insist that you perhaps increase your cautiousness. This isn't cutting edge technology, nor is it next generational. This is world splitting, dimension hopping tech, Jack. Please, I implore you and Madeline to take this far more seriously."

Jack looked straight into his eyes, something that neither man could admit doesn't happen that often with their extreme heights. Vlads words held truth, and they were doing rather well with their other inventions. With money to spare, it wouldn't hurt.

For the final nail in the coffin, Vlad had one more thing to add to that. "Plus, you have children in the house, Jack. While both of them are exceedingly smart, they are, in the end, children. They're curious, my friend. And with some of the things I've seen you and Madeline make, it would behoove you to think more about it."

That really did seem to do it, Jack took out a notepad and scribbled some notes down. He looked up expectantly to his long time friend, "Got any recommendations? Everything is home built for us, but having actual professional expertise would be best."

Vlad smiled, "Of course, but that can wait for later. I do have other questions that need answering."

Although confused, Jack clicked the pen and attached it back to the small pad. After putting it away, he turned to Vlad again. "Go ahead, V-man."

"Good." He nodded, then cleared his throat in an attempt to brave this coming conversation. "Why does Daniel have such high levels of residual ectoplasm in his body? I haven't gotten a chance to test Jasmine yet, but the sheer amount in his body is… unnerving, to say the least."

If the gulp was anything to go by, or the 'deer in the headlights' look Jack had on his face, then the man knew about it. And if he, Jack Fenton, is this uncomfortable with the subject, then it can't be anything good. Silently, Vlad grinds his teeth, careful to keep his fangs retracted. "Well?" He pushed.

It's not often that Jack Fenton is scared, unholy and monstrous ghosts tend to make fear shirk away from the most mundane. But there's always been a few exceptions. His wife, for one. She could put fear into him, and she knew she could do it too. His daughter, under certain circumstances, could as well. He'd never seen Danny angry, but based off the rest of his family, he wouldn't put it past the possibility for his son to be scary when he's enraged.

And then there's Vlad. Oh, he could scowl, scoff, glare, or outright threaten someone, look intimidating and nice about it, and he could push people into corners with ease. Like what he'd done now. And among those glares, Jack had been on the receiving end of them numerous times over the course of their friendship. But there's always a special kind of glare his white haired friend could produce that trumped everything but his wife's glare.

He was receiving that glare now, it scared him to the bone, and the large Fenton found it difficult to answer the man. Mainly because the answer could throw him into a rather deep rage. Jack placed the plate down on the table behind him, knowing that a caterer would come by and pick it up in seconds. He took a look around and decided that, if Vlad really did blow a gasket from what he's about to tell him, then this wouldn't be the best place.

"We should find somewhere a little more private for this." Jack said, and Vlad did not like that for an answer. If it was so serious that Jack, of all people, wanted privacy for this kind of talk… then it's possible that it's worse than he thought. Well, his only nephew had been turned into a half-ghost, so it's hard to imagine that it gets worse than that.

Unless they had been experimenting on their children behind his back. But that's possibly the worst case scenario, and there's no reason to assume that right off the bat.

As they walk, presumably to one of the rooms a little away from the party, Vlad continues the conversation. "Surely, it's not because you two leave ectoplasm lying around, right? You two always did have that habit in college, but since you've had children, naturally you've…" The look on Jacks face was all he needed to know for that answer, and while even if they left a batch of it uncontained in their son's room for years, it still wouldn't explain the sheer amount of ectoplasm in Daniel's body. So much that the boy could hold onto life, and cling to death, all in one body.

That didn't mean this new revelation didn't piss him off. "Are you serious, Jack?" He hissed. "You've left dangerous, otherworldly chemicals from a different dimension, just- just- lying around?!" It's a good thing they were out of the main hall now, because he had said that far louder than he wanted to.

Vlad's eyes narrow, and it's difficult to stop the red attempting to take over his blue eyes. "How long has this been going on for?!" The silence that answers him from his, presumably ashamed and irrevocably irresponsible friend, is all the answer he needs.

Unable to take it anymore, Vlad grabs by the back of his collar with one hand, and opens the nearest door with another. An empty store-room greets him, and before Jack can protest, he's shoved in there with righteous irritation. When the door slams shut, Vlad can't hold it in anymore. "Answer me Jack! Are you and Madeline, to this day, still leaving dangerous equipment and chemicals around in the open?!"

Unable to hide it anymore, Jack nods. He's not a lying man, never was, never will be. And there's no way Jack could ever lie to his best friend's face, even if he was beyond irate and the answer would egg him on more. Jack is startled by the next two questions, "For how long? Where?"

Although he struggled to come up with an answer that would please Vlad, because there really wasn't one at this point, he could only sigh as he says, "It depends. I know there's a few spots around the house that we've left it around for years, and-"

"YEARS?!" Vlad practically screeched.

Jack winces, but nods along and continues, "I know there's a decent amount in our bedroom, bathroom, the living room, the kitchen, and uh…" He really didn't want to say this next part, "Honestly, anywhere we can put it. It's never been harmful to us after all these years, and you were blasted by a portal point-blank so, we kinda just figured…"

'Kinda just figured'. What. The fuck.

The look Jack was getting from Vlad made him flinch back, and if they weren't best friends, even with Jack's blatant ghost racism, then the man would have been dead. But even then, that didn't explain the amount of ectoplasmic contamination required to become a Halfa. Not one so… complete. Whole, if that made sense. Vlad had been borderline Halfa, requiring years in a coma to get to a reasonable level of balance.

Daniels took hours.

Hard breathing was loud in the quiet room the duo shared. Jack took a seat on one of the many chairs stored inside the room. He rubbed his face, his emotions a swirl of confusion, guilt, and frustration. Was it really so bad? They've been exposed to ectoplasm for years, decades, and so was Vlad. Clearly the stuff wasn't terribly dangerous, and the tests they've done show that, so far, it doesn't endanger human life. Unless it was weaponized, like they had used it for. For the most part, at least. There was that ecto-acne that Vlad got. Nasty stuff, right there.

Livid? No, no, that didn't feel right. Infuriated? Maybe. Boiling? A bit closer. It's hard to describe the anger Vlad feels right now, the sheer negligence on Jack and Madeline's parts would be astounding, if it didn't involve his nephew and niece. Oh, how he so wanted to throttle the man in front of him. This bumbling oaf, and his wife, who was easily thrice as smart as him, had somehow done the impossible for a pair of scientists. They're absolute idiots, and Vlad's articulated brain found it difficult to call them anything else at the moment.

Idiots. Idiots, idiotsidiotsidiots. IDIOTS!

"You two might be some of the biggest idiots I know, despite the sheer pedigree of your accomplishments." The hurt look on Jack's face didn't even register to Vlad, he was too busy rubbing his temples. The growing headache was only making his anger more volatile.

Jack could only remain silent. This wasn't how he thought the night would go, and if this was anyone else besides Vlad, he'd have no problem avoiding the subject matter.

"Still," Vlad's voice caught his attention and he looked back up, "that doesn't explain the amount. I tested it Jack. It's more than the amount in your body, and Madeline's, combined."

Okay, Jack could say he didn't know that. His eyes widened in realization, he didn't know it had raised so much. That was… startling. The patriarch of the Fenton family couldn't respond, unsure of how to.

The silence was raising his anger even more, it was deafening, and Vlad was afraid that he'd go over the edge soon. And Jack knew it too. Slowly, carefully, Vlad took a seat in one of the chairs. As expensive as it was, he only felt discomfort from it, and Vlad made a mental note to toss all of these out.

Leveling a glare, Vlad bit out, "Enough beating around the bush. Tell me the answer, and I know you have it. It's written all over your face."

A sigh escaped his lips, and Jack straightened his back. Oh, how he wished his wife would come and save him right now. He was also pretty sure he was going to get the couch for telling Vlad this without her, but that was fine. Since he found out, and obviously had questions, Jack could only answer them as best he could.

"You've known us a long time, right Vladdie?" The older Halfa looked at Jack strangely, but answered nonetheless. "Since high-school, yes. Unless that doesn't constitute a long time anymore."

Ignoring the sarcastic mark at the end, Jack continues with uncharacteristic seriousness. "Well, even when you had your accident, we didn't stop working. At least not until Madz was pregnant with Jazz."

Vlad nodded along, he would hope so, but he didn't know what this had to do with Daniel's ridiculously high levels of contamination.

Seeing that Vlad was understanding, and calming down, Jack prepares himself for the bomb. "Well, with Jazz, we didn't know if our exposure to ectoplasm would be harmful to her, so both of us stopped working all together."

That made sense, Vlad would have been worried if they just continued. Even he didn't know what would happen to a fetus if it was exposed to ectoplasm at such a crucial stage of development. "Okay, but what does this have to do with my question Jack?"

Jack tiredly put his hand up, "I'm gettin' there, V-man. Don't rush me."

"Well, after we had Jazz, we did some tests, and she came out fine. After that, we hired a nanny to take care of her since we would be busy working. Somewhere along the line, two years later, Madz got pregnant with Dann-o."

Vlad gave him a look of confusion. 'Somewhere along the line?' That made it sound like-

At the revelation, his eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. He's lucky Jack was looking at the ground in shame, because the fangs that popped out were completely involuntary.

As Jack continues his story, Vlad begins a snarl. "Madz has always been a small woman, so it was hard to tell when she's pregnant. It was like that with Jazz, and after the first birth, she kinda kept some of the thickness that came with it. That made it even harder to tell the second time. It wasn't until the six month mark that we found out she was pregnant again."

Silence returns, and Vlad honestly doesn't know what to say. Six months? SIX MONTHS?! For almost the entirety of her term, Daniel, as a fetus, was exposed to ectoplasm on a daily basis for six months?!

Vlad stands up with force, knocking the chair over. "You idiots! How could you not tell?! What about morning sickness?! No cravings?! There are plenty of tell-tale signs Jack! And every woman shows earlier than the six month mark, especially if they've been pregnant before!" While running a hand angrily through his hair, the billionaire heatedly adds, "Just how absorbed into your work were you two?!"

Jack takes a breath, and just accepts the lecture he's receiving. Because that's not the worst of it.

Seeing Jack so quiet, Vlad's ready to explode. Before he can continue on a tirade, Jack stops him again. "Hold on Vlad. There's more."

"THERE'S MORE?!" Vlad shouts in horrored anger.

Although he winces, Jack nods. "When we found out that Madz was pregnant… we wanted to see what the effects would be if we continued. He was already exposed to large amounts so…"

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

No. They didn't. Vlad recoiled, taking a step back away from Jack.

"We just continued on. The project we were working on at the time couldn't be stopped. We were exposed to large amounts of ectoplasm each day as we worked, and when-"

"You experimented on your child." He whispered harshly. "Jack! Your unborn child!" Vlad paced around the room in an attempt to distract him. It didn't work. "You two turned a colossal mistake that should have been rectified immediately, into an experiment. How could you? To your own child?"

Jack stands up and puts a hand on Vlads shoulder, "Vladdie, we tes-"

Vlad slaps the hand away in blind fury, glaring at his friend. "Don't touch me! How- how could you?! You're own son! You and Madeline… I-" His hands are clenching so hard, it feels like it's entirely possible that they'll break soon, which is saying something considering his durability.

He just didn't know what to say. Not to that. That was worse than anything he could have thought of. For his best friends to do that to their own son, his nephew, it was-

"Disgusting." That was the word. It fit too, too well. "I can't stand to look at you right now Jack. I'm too thoroughly disgusted. Leave. Now."

Trying again, Jack took a step forward. "Vladdy, we didn't experiment on him, we-"

"Yes you did!" Vlad shouted. "You two should have corrected your mistake, not continue on! Not continue to expose your unborn child to hazardous interdimensional biohazards!" Biting his lip in frustration, a new worry comes to mind. "Jack, is that everything you two did? Or is there something even worse?!"

The older Fenton looked to the ground, hurt and mortified. Silently, he answers: "No, we didn't do anything else. The tests showed that there wasn't even that much in his body when he was born."

"Good." The white haired man bites out, "It better be. Now, get out."

Jack closed his eyes, thinking maybe he deserved this. That was his and Maddies most shameful secret, and the reaction seemed to be spot on. Sure, Danny turned out fine, and there's been no visible side effects yet, but it's never been something either of them are proud of. As he trudged away towards the door, he turned back to his friend. Vlad was sitting down, with his head resting on his hand. If the veins on his hands were anything to go by, he was squeezing his own skull to calm himself.

"I'm sorry, V-man." He whispered.

It came as a shock when an enraged Vlad somehow heard him, and shouted back: "I'm not the one you should apologize to!"

He couldn't really say anything to that, so Jack walked out the door, closing it softly behind him. He sighed, feeling more tired than he's ever felt before. Like his age had finally caught up with him. "Damnit." He muttered.

How was he supposed to explain this to his wife?

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

She couldn't really say she was enjoying the video playing in front of her. It was an old Packers playback that Vlad had stockpiled in this particular theater, and she had the unfortunate luck of going to this one instead of the one on the opposite side of the castle. Four floors up. That was far too much of a walk to watch a simple movie in silence; actually, she just wanted background noise while she read that wasn't people talking.

Another touchdown and the crowd goes wild! And so did her annoyance. Maybe a trek to the other side of the building wouldn't be too bad, and she really didn't know why the people watching this with her were getting so excited either. The footage was easily over twenty years old, and held no relevance to any current events. Even her psychology didn't seem to help analyze these people, whos' fascination with football seemed to be almost obsessive. Nothing as bad as her uncles, but still not healthy.

Danny entered the room with all the silence and grace a Halfa could manage, going completely unnoticed. It's easy to spot his sister, who despite being the more mannered and articulated of the siblings, chose to instead wear her normal clothes. She stuck out like a sore thumb, even more so since the other watchers were in formal suits and gowns. And judging by the sour expression plastered on her face, she was not enjoying the showing… of a football game? That explained it.

Deciding to get a little mischievous, Danny lets his feet hover off the ground. Not by much, a mere inch, if that, but his expensive black Armani's no longer clack on the ground with each step. He still imitates the act of walking, and it's not like he could hover any higher at his current level anyway, but this was all he needed for a good laugh.

"What's up?!" Jazz jumped in fright when her brother dropped into the seat next to hers, from the row behind. She had managed to not make a sound from the surprise, but her heart was certainly beating quite a bit faster now. She aimed a mean glare at Danny, and smacked him on the arm. "You ass. I almost had a heart attack!" She would have raised her voice if they weren't in a theater technically.

Danny giggled up a storm, holding his mouth in a firm grip lest it come out in full laughter. "Sorry," he coughed out, "but I couldn't resist. You looked like you were gonna beat someone if the Packers made one more touchdown."

Her glare lessened, as did her foul mood, but it was still there. "I'd thank you, if I didn't know that you did that purely for your own entertainment." Jazz was quiet for a moment, before asking, "Was it that obvious?" She thought she had better control than that.

"Mm-hmm." He nods at her question, "I don't blame you though. I know exactly how much you hate football. Why'd you pick this theater though?"

Crossing her arms over her chest, she's quick to defend herself. "I thought there was only one theater, how was I supposed to know that he has four in this place? I'd have left for the other theater already if I wasn't sure I'd probably get lost."

Danny smirked in triumph, before getting up and holding his hand out. "Well, if you're not enjoying this theater, I bet I can help you get to the other one. I have been exploring the place a decent amount." While it wasn't a lie exactly, since that's what he's been telling his family for the most part, he wasn't as familiar with the place as he was currently boasting. Most of the time not training with Vlad had been spent training by himself, or wandering around. Not like there's much else to do in a castle, and even if there was a game room with every console known to man, it's not like he'd keep his progress. It'd be a waste of time, and why play a game where you have a superpower, when in reality you have a bunch you can play with?

Although surprised, Jazz is quick to respond, taking his outstretched hand and quickly pulling herself up. "I'd love to get out of here. I don't think I can stand staying another minute in this… this… " she struggled to find the right word, before outstretching her hand towards the screen, "hell."

Danny laughed while making his way towards the door he had just come in from. "It's not that bad, Jazz. You just hate the sport because the bullies from our school play it."

Jazz huffed indignantly, "That's not true. I dislike all sports in general. They're a waste of time."

He raised an eyebrow in amusement, silently telling her to go on.

Taking the que, she raises her arms into the air a little. "We could be expanding our minds, and furthering our knowledge on- on- anything!" An arm rested on her hip as her monologue continued, "But instead of people putting their heads together to solve the problems of mankind, we have people bashing their heads together to score a touchdown."

As they rounded a corner, Danny laughed at his sister's reasons, much to her annoyance. He waved it off, unconcerned. "That's a personal opinion Jazz. Sports are entertainment, and despite how much you want it to be, humans aren't always smart, nor do they always get enjoyment from reading, studying, and learning like you do."

Their pace slowed slightly as they ascended the winding stairs. "People need entertainment, and with a majority of our population…" What's the correct phrasing? "Too stupid to derive entertainment from the accumulation of knowledge, that leaves physical contact as their means."

The final steps of the fourth floor came under their feet, and Danny was happy that he could change his sister's mood for the better. "I suppose you're right."

Walking down the green and gold halls, Jazz turns to look at her brother with a smile. He looked good in a suit, and she could only imagine how well he'll look in the future.

"Those were some rather big words you were saying there, little brother. Is your brain okay from so much articulation?" She teased.

He didn't fall for her sarcastic jab, instead, he chose to go on the offensive. "Says the woman who wound up in the theater playing one of the things she hates the most. Is your brain okay?" He flipped his hand back and forth, "I can only imagine how awful it must have been to watch other people crash into each other like cars."

"Hmph!" She turned her head, "I'll have you know that my brain is just fine. Just because I was watching people bash their brain cells out of their head, doesn't mean mine got knocked out from the sheer idiocy of the sport."

They turned another corner, and if memory served him well, the theater should be at the end of the hall. "Just don't let Uncle Vlad here you say that. He'd go on a crusade till you admitted that at least the Packers were great."

Jazz chuckled in response, "I'll keep that in mind."

Danny opened the door for Jazz, and after some thanks from her, Danny was following right behind. She sighed in relief when she saw that it wasn't a sports playback.

As he followed Jazz up the seats to the upper rows, Danny finally realized what it was that he was seeing. "Sweet! It's one of the new Star Wars!"

Now comfortable in the fancy recliner, Jazz focuses on the movie a bit more. "Didn't the reviews for this episode say it sucked?"

Shrugging in response, Danny smugly responds: "It's Star Wars. How badly could they fuck that up?" He waved his hand back and forth, "Lightsabers, blasters, and spaceships. Everyone loves those. It's not that hard."

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

How was he supposed to explain this to Daniel?

He'd been keeping the test results a secret, had said they would be done in a week instead of the day they actually took. And beyond his wildest dreams- no, nightmare. Beyond his wildest nightmare, Jack had revealed their biggest shame. Using their unborn child as an experiment. With inter-dimensional energies they knew barely anything about at the time, and if he had to bet, barely knew that much more about now! No wonder the results were so high, Daniel had been exposed to the stuff since conception.

It took all the restraint he had to not break the chair he was sitting on. It's not even comfortable, it's ugly, it's there at a bad time, and-

Actually, they're getting tossed anyway.

Vlad stands up, and with righteous fury, throws the chair with all of his might. All of his strength is quite a lot, ghost powers and all that, and the wooden chair explodes on impact with the wall. What was once hard mahogany, now remained as splinters and sawdust. But that slowly falling pile seemed to piss him off more, and two beams of pink fire shot from his eyes, turning the chair to ash for good measure.

When that was done, Vlad wanted to scream. He reeled himself in, but the anger didn't fade. Only simmering under the surface, ready to be released. His eyes flickered back and forth from red in blue; damn it all, he hadn't had trouble controlling his emotions for years.

He didn't know what to do. There's no way he could take Daniel away for what they did. They wouldn't allow it, and despite learning of this… atrocity they've committed against their own son- his nephew- he still viewed them as friends. He couldn't do that to them… unless they did something more extreme. They've always been a little off-kilter with their desire to understand ectoplasm, and their methods for ghost hunting are cruel and unusual.

Vlad just never expected them to go so far down the rabbit hole that is 'Mad Scientist'. Sure, he had ventured there a few times, and his plans for the future definitely required him to dig a little deeper in that hole, but nothing that bad.

"Daniel, your parents exposed you to ectoplasm when you were unborn to see what would happen- as if I could just say that!" He threw his hands up in frustration. This is ridiculous. Who has to deal with this sort of stuff, on top of being one of only two half-dead hybrids in the world? There's already so much on his plate, all the time, that Vlad just wants to stop and take a break.

For like five minutes.

And then someone knocked on the door.

"Oh, for fucks sake." He muttered. It's not often he swears, maybe once a year at best, but now felt like an opportune time. To be honest, he felt he might set a new record this year.

Growling, Vlad trudged over towards the obscuring wood, glaring so hard that it might catch fire, which it actually could if he didn't control himself more. He took a breath and attempted to clear his head. It didn't work of course, but he was able to remind himself that the most recent revelation, in regards to quite literally the only people he cares for, happened years ago. Yes, he would be angry about it for a while, but acting on it wouldn't do any good.

Taking just one more moment to tighty up his appearance, Vlad quickly straightened his pants and tie, and brushed any dust off of his clothes. There wasn't any obviously, he didn't hire incompetent people after all, but it's a habit he still has to this day.

Thoughts on who would be at the door- someone knocking on the door to a storage closet had to be looking for somewhere private, or looking for him specifically. Considering the company at the party right now, none of them had the audacity to try and do something like that in his house. That means someone is looking for him, and there's only one person who knows where he is right now.

The person who was on the other side wasn't someone Vlad had any desire to talk to at the moment. "Hello, Madeline."

Maddie tensed, the hostility in his voice so foreign. She's never been on the receiving end of it before, and it hurts her to think that this may be the way she's treated from now on. But she had a reason for being here. Jack may have spilled the beans, but she had to make sure that Vlad wouldn't be going to child services.

It felt cold, to have that as the reasoning. Even if both her and Jack deeply regretted what they did to Danny… before he was born, she couldn't have Vlad telling the authorities. Not when they had just reached a breakthrough with their research and development.

"Hey Vlad." Of all things to happen, this is not what she expected to have to confront. Damn it Jack, this was supposed to be a night of celebration and reunion. Not confrontation and angsty arguments.

Vlad glared at her, snarling at recent memories. "I'm pretty sure I told Jack that I didn't want to see him right now…" He could see the big oaf in the background, maybe thirty feet down the hall, peeking around the corner. His glare sharpened on his other friend, "That includes you. If anything, I want to see you the least right now."

She flinched, but there was a purpose to visiting Vlad right now. Maybe she should have let him cool down a bit though, his still seemed rather volatile at the moment. "I understand that you don't want to see me or Jack at the moment, but there are some things we need to discuss. From what Jack told me, he didn't get to explain some things to you."

Growling, he's quick to respond. "I don't want to hear a thing from either of you! You treated the conception of my nephew as an opening to an experiment! Who knows what may happen later on down the line!" Well, Daniel's a Halfa now, the ectoplasm in his body is crucial to his survival from this point on. And while he's probably only half-alive because they did that, that didn't mean it was any less ethically and morally wrong.

Which is a riot coming from him, not that they know that.

"Please Vlad!" She pleaded, "Just hear me out. This isn't about the reason behind it, it's about how much we regret it." It's the black mark on the record of their entire lives, they hated how… rash and enthralled they were at the time, but she had to try and make him understand that!

Her somber tone tells how she feels about it, pretty bad if he had to guess, but this issue is monumental in size, and it can't just be solved with an 'I feel bad about it now' excuse.

"Really?" He sneered, "This isn't something you can just take back, my dear. You and Jack have screwed up. Big time." And how did they rectify it? By way of negligence, to the point that Daniel had wandered into the unlocked lab with a portal in it, and activated said portal with the 'ON' switch inside the damn thing!

His knuckles cracked in anger, his recollection of how Daniel's accident happened playing in his mind. There are so many, many things wrong with the way it happened, and none of them are as simple as Jack pushing a button ten seconds too early. An unlocked door, an activation switch placed inside, a two way authorization left on, no safety locks for activation. So many things went wrong for Daniel at once, and for Vlad it was an over-excited buffoon with a trigger finger. He supposed the anger he was feeling right now was leftovers from Daniel's revelation, on top of the newly acquired rage.

Maddie withers slightly, "I know. We know. But we've never tried outside of that, not even pushing Danny or Jazz to take up the family business."

Quick to respond, Vlad replies: "That doesn't make up for it." He leans his head back, now flush with his straightened back, "And what family business? If I remember correctly, neither of your parents hunted or researched ghosts. Am I correct?"

She bit her lip in frustration; he was right. Neither of their parents were ghost hunters, but both Jack and her had ancestors that hunted the undead going way back. John Fentonightingale was one of Jack's old, old precursors, and she had one of her own as well. Charles Constantine, if she remembered right, it had been a while since she looked up her ancestry, but he had apparently been an exorcist who went around battling demons before and after World War 1. It's been in their blood for years… but if she said that to Vlad right now, he'd flip his shit, putting it bluntly.

The man cared greatly for his nephew and niece, despite how much he tried to hide it. She imagined that came from a lack of many people to care for, considering he's been a bachelor all his life and his family… didn't exactly see eye-to-eye. Rather, his mother and father sued him after he made his first billion, and he's been a little distrustful of people since. With their family being the only exception, and him bonding so much with Danny, it's not hard to see why he's upset.

But it's a mistake they regret so, so much, and they want him to see that. "Please Vlad." She begged, fear on her face and lacing her tone. "It was… a radical and rash decision, one we both wish we never made."

Vlad walked out of the room, brushing past her and back towards the main room, where the party is being held. Briefly, he looked over his shoulder. "I don't care, Madeline. It's still a decision both of you made. You two zealously pursue the unknown that is the Ghost Zone and ectoplasm." Another glare is sent down the hall at Jack, who flinched around the corner. He growled at the cowardice, before fully turning towards Madeline, his voice low and menacing. "And because of it, you two did the unthinkable. So please, leave me alone for the rest of the night. We'll discuss this another time."

Maddie wanted to shrink away, not because Vlad scared her, but from shame. Yes, Vlad could be intimidating, but he's always been a good friend, and it hurts her to think this is happening because of one rash decision. "We'll give you that Vlad, but I want you to promise me something."

Immediately, he enraged further. "Pardon me? You have the gall to ask me of anything right now?! After what was revealed to me?!" Vlad's unable to contain himself at the end, practically screaming. Luckily the halls are empty, and there are no witnesses. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

Calm thoughts. Calm thoughts. Calm-

"Please promise me you won't tell our kids what we did." Eyes snap open, momentarily burning red with anger, literally, before swiftly changing back to a not-so calm blue. So much for calming thoughts. He takes in her small form, biting her lip in fear? Frustration? Shame He's not sure, but it's the most vulnerable he's ever seen her, and it makes him pause.

For a moment, Vlad thinks. Debating on the promise doesn't take long, really, but they're his friends- his only friends at that. Then the absurdity of the situation and what's been asked of comes back in full, he scoffs condescendingly and turns around without another word. Not even deigning to respond to her, he walks off with a perpetual scowl on his face. They would have to take his silence as an answer, but at least he finally had answers.

Even if they weren't what he wanted.

Maddie outstretched a hand towards her friend as he walked away. They needed that promise of secrecy… but she couldn't find it in her to say anything at the moment. Her eyes cast down, ashamed and attempting to think of any time they had angered Vlad so much before. The portal incident two decades ago is the only thing that comes to mind, and back then they were barely able to hold onto their friendship. Now…

She chuckled weakly; horrifying ghosts both big and small? She could fight them with a smile. A ninth degree black belt, there's not many people who can stand up to her, much less frighten her. But the idea of her friend hating them… scared her, and she didn't know where to go from here. And if he told Danny or Jazz… that was worse.

A hand on her shoulder made her look up hopefully, but her husband was the one to greet her. She accepted the hug, even if she was pissed at him for spilling the beans on something like this. Especially without her. That pissed her off more, and after a minute or two of silent sobbing, she jabbed him in the side with her small fist. "You're sleeping on the couch for the next month."

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

The night ended without any further events, and the following day came just as quick. If Vlad could have gotten drunk off of simple wine or champagne, he would have, but the ectoplasm in his blood makes it annoyingly difficult to get even the slightest buzz from alcohol. Besides, none of it really holds a candle to the stuff available in the Ghost Zone, both in taste and effectiveness.

Vlad frowns as he dodges another punch from Daniel, they'd have to go to the Ghost Zone soon. The first time he went, it was rather harrowing, but with a guide, hopefully Daniel can reap more benefits from it than him. The first time is the worst, but the sooner he gets used to the Infinite Realms, the better.

Another kick aimed low forces Vlad to jump up, and he smirks when Daniel pivots his body low to let him do a follow up kick. Vlad pushes his hand down, resting his palm on the bottom of his nephew's foot for a brief moment. The younger Halfa is quick to kick him off, spinning his body down and forcing Vlad into a roll.

"Very good Daniel. You're getting better while in your human form." They had been training every day, for close to eight hours a day. Several hours of ghost to ghost combat, followed by lunch, then two or three hours of human to human training. After that, it varied really. From common knowledge for the undead, to different applications of powers. There were even a couple sessions where he showed Daniel some of the technology he'd developed so far, though the boy could understand how to use it, deconstructing and constructing seemed to be beyond him at this point.

Danny's fingers dig into the ground, forcing the ectoplasm in his blood to spark and provide him his boon. Strength enhances for a brief second, but it's enough to let him explode towards Vlad. He goes for a feint, raising his leg a little on arrival, but his punch is caught, then his arm is twisted and he's thrown across the room they're sparring in. Vlad smirks in victory, "But you still have room for improvements. The feint was smart though, using your own repetitiveness to confuse your opponents is an excellent strategy."

The youngest Fenton frowns with a pout, "It's not repetitiveness. I just like kicking more than punching." He flexes his legs a little, before adding to his case, "Besides, my legs have more reach."

Momentarily forgetting about the events of last night, Vlad chuckles at his charges excuse. "Sure thing, little badger. Just make sure you don't let your opponent memorize your patterns."

Growling, Danny launches to Vlad, his hands glowing green. The older man raises an eyebrow, but the audacity that he has, to put a hand behind his back spurs his anger forward. It's difficult for Danny to access his ghostly powers when he has a heartbeat, but Vlad had explained that strong emotions can enhance a ghost's already strong natural abilities. And using that anger, ectoplasm leaks from his hands to form a blade in each hand. There's no handle or handguard, the blades are just extensions of his hands, a little over a foot long of sharpened ectoplasm. Exceedingly simple, but effective nonetheless.

The same smirk that's ever present on Vlads face gets deeper, and the only sign of acknowledgement he shows that Danny's a threat is he repositioned his legs. Danny's on him instantly, crossing twenty feet in a second thanks to his enhanced speed.

Vlad jumps back, swinging his leg upwards and releasing an arc of pink energy. At point blank range, it's not possible to dodge, but Danny leans left and following the wave of energy, uses his own bladed hands to chamber the attack. The momentum of the attack lets him spin at a higher speed, surprising Vlad and forcing him to raise a shield to block the energy blade thrusted at him. Green and pink energies spark against each other in the collision.

Grinning, Danny kicks off of the flat shield before it dissipates. Vlad has a matching smile, "Impressive! Very good, Daniel, very good! Using your enemies' own attacks against them to enhance your own, and kicking off my shield was a great way to make some distance."

Danny blushes red and green at the praise, but having his efforts acknowledged like this is thrilling, and makes him want to improve even more. It's not like the ghosts he's fought would show him respect for improving, mainly because they're all mindless animals or monsters, but Box Ghost doesn't count and Skulker is an ass that wants to skin him. He wouldn't be happy with either of them being impressed with his improvements.

As Vlad parries and dodges more of Daniels attacks, he can't help but be amazed at the progress of the young half-ghost. Every aspect of combat, he grasps with ease. He adapts on the fly, incorporating what he's learned just minutes earlier, and advancing his powers seems to come second nature to the boy. He's improved on everything he's trained in since they've started this apprenticeship, and the progress the boy is making is baffling. It takes weeks or months for people to become this good at hand-to-hand combat, much less at the speeds they're going at, and yet… Daniel somehow surpasses the norm. A mere fourteen year old. Like a sponge, he just learns and learns, soaking up any techniques, tips or tricks taught to him. He's got a rather accelerated learning curve when it comes to his ghost powers- or maybe his body?

Fascinating.

The Fentons are clearly a family of geniuses, but of all of them so far, it's Daniel that seems to have taken the best piece of the genius pie. To think that this brilliance would never have been explored had he not become a Halfa. He's got a knack for conflict, and his rate of advancement is almost frightening. It'll be interesting to see just how strong the boy becomes in the future. With actual tangible power at his fingertips, a genius to advance it, and an ever improving tactical prowess, Daniel is sure to ascend. And if, for whatever reason, he ends up against the heroes of the world…

He would back the boy up. Vlad's pretty sure that Daniel could take a majority of them, even at his current level. He's just too versatile, and in a mere year, he'll have even more powers. And ten years from now?

The boy may just become unstoppable.

Vlads grin is ear splitting, and deciding to test the boy a little, throws a quick jab at him. Danny's startled by the sudden attack, but is able to knock the blow up. A kick lands on his stomach, but even as he's pushed away, in a split second he moves his hand up and repurposes the blades into blasts. Even if the attack is much weaker because he's in his human form, it still blows him back, and he skids to a stop a few feet away. His stomach hurts much more than his back though, and as expected, his uncle walks out of the green smoke moments later. Completely unscathed.

"It's astonishing how good you are at this Daniel. It makes being your teacher much easier though, so keep up the good work. Makes me look all the better." Danny rolls his eyes, but the smile never leaves his face. Vlad offers him a hand, which he accepts, and half a second later he's on his feet.

Danny moves to get back into position, ready to go again, but is interrupted by Vlad. "I do believe that is enough for today. We have a few things to go over besides combat as well."

His posture relaxes, no longer in battle mode. Danny raises an eyebrow at his uncle, "Is it the test results?" He asked.

Vlad nods, though that's the only response Daniel receives. As Vlad begins to walk away, with Daniel following behind, the older man ponders exactly… how, or if he should tell his nephew. There's a lot going on in Daniel's life at the moment, and having such a thing revealed… would strain him. But keeping it secret would only harm him in the long run, and Vlad is positive the only side he wants his nephew to be on, is his side. Even if he believes that they are rather close, subtle lies and misplaced truths can destroy a relationship.

"The reason you were able to come out of the lab accident, relatively unscathed, is because of the residual levels of ectoplasm that was in your body at the time." Danny nods in agreement, Vlad had explained that a bit before, but never the details to it yet.

"Is it because there's so much ectoplasm in my house?" Danny asked.

The door to the decontamination chamber closes behind them, forcing a lull in the conversation until the two Halfa's are freed from the cleansing chambers. The second the door opens, a remote is already flying across the room into Vlads open hands. "Yes and no. I've asked your parents some questions to get clarifications, and I know why you have such high levels of contamination."

Only three screens turn on, each one containing a chart with different results. "The graph on the left is a normal human's results. As you can see," Vlad clicks a button on the remote, and a laser pointer turns on, pointing to the peak of the human results. "There's barely any ambient ectoplasm in a normal person's body, most likely because there are very few interactions with the stuff in the first place. No ghosts, no ectoplasm, no contamination. "

Vlad clicks the remote again, and the results they were just looking at are minimized and replaced. Two split data sheets now occupy the screen, with familiar names at the top. "I tested your parents to see how far the contamination has come, and while it increased, it's not by much. Even combined they don't match yours or mine."

The laser pointer drags across the screens, pointing to a file labeled 'Daniel Fenton' at the top. "While it's true that just having the ectoplasm in the house would increase your amount of contamination, but it wouldn't be anywhere near what yours was."

"Was?"

The older man nods, "It's far more now. Before, it was almost entirely dormant. You were just a human with traces of it in your body, but thanks to the portal, it fused to your DNA, changing you." Vlad turns to the young man, his attention fully on him. "As we've discussed over the week, you're not entirely human anymore. When that portal activated, all of the energy in your body activated, supercharged, and changed you. It was a quick process compared to mine, which took almost two years for the changes to occur, but the proceedings of how it happened are relatively the same." Being inside of an actual portal when it turned on also, no doubt, sped up the process and magnified the amount of ectoplasm in his body. While his accident was just a small, experimental portal, the ones Daniels parents built no doubt had a far higher energy output.

"Wait." The young Halfa interrupted, "You still haven't told me why it was so high in the first place." The teenager crosses his arms with a frown.

Vlad grimaces, dreading the coming conversation. It's clear the boy isn't going to drop the subject anytime soon, and his attempt to skirt by the issue was thwarted quickly, whether intentional or not, it's hard to tell. He carefully debated on how to articulate to the young boy that his parents used him as a test subject to study the effects of ectoplasm on humans.

Before he was even born.

Nope.

There's no way he can say any of that with aplomb. Maybe, for now, it would be best to delay telling Daniel. At least till after his trip to the zone. The boy has a lot going on for him at the moment, and in the coming future. Vlad glanced at his young apprentice, noting the annoyance that was rapidly being built. He shook his head, Daniel was more mature than he let on.

"Fine." The teenager has shown, despite obvious signs of immaturity characteristic to those of his age, that he's mentally sound. His mental fortitude, like his aptitude for fighting, is more than he's giving credit for. Still, it's a delicate subject, and there's two ways that Vlad can think of to break it to him. The first is to treat it like a band-aid: tell him exactly what happened, verbatim, and try to calm him afterwards. The second option is to prepare him mentally, slowly explain it, and gauge a reaction afterwards.

Seeing as how their time is limited, the first option sounds far more appealing. With less than a week of training left, at least until Vlad can procure a place of residence for himself in the Amity Park vicinity, there's so much to go over and with so little time.

Hesitantly, Vlad began. "First, tell me how you think it happened. I want to hear your guess." This has the possibility of blowing up in his face more than Daniels own parents at the moment, especially since he knows that the boy has rather impressive powers at his disposal to express his anger.

"Well…" The boy looked down for a moment in thought, racking his brain for solutions. An idea came up soon enough. "Ever since I can remember, whenever my parents made an invention or showed it off, a lot of times it wouldn't work or it would backfire."

Vlads eyebrow arched up slightly, but he gestured for Daniel to continue. "Most of the time, they just blew up with me or Jazz- normally me- being right next to the thing, and since mom and dad both use ectoplasm in everything they make, it's possible for that to be the reason?"

"No, no it's not." But that's another tid-bit of seething information that he hadn't known. He had known since college that their inventions tend to blow up in failure, quite literally. That wasn't what was surprising; it's the price paid for using unknown and often unstable energies as a power source, it even happened to him on a few occasions. No, what angered him more is hearing that both of their children would actually get caught up in these failures and explosions.

"While it would increase the amount of ectoplasm in your body due to exposure," the billionaire ground out through grit teeth, "it wouldn't sky-rocket them to the levels you had in your body."

Danny shifted in his chairs, making a face as he thought through his brain for a reason. "If it's not the constant exposure…" Still nothing. "Not the wayward accidents…" What else could it be? "And normal people don't have the amount I do…"

His breath hitched in fright, a sudden thought crossing his mind like a saw on wood. Or maybe the screech of a nail on glass was more accurate. But the thought was tossed out immediately, even his parents-for all their overzealous pursuit of the unknown knowledge of ectoplasm and the Zone- wouldn't stoop so low as to- to-

Experiment on their own child.

His complexion turned green, and not because of the ectoplasm coursing through his veins. Danny can truly say he's never experienced fear so palpable before, nor has he ever felt it so physical. Not when he was inches away from having his throat ripped out, not when he was millimeters away from being vaporized by an attack that most certainly would have ended his half-life. Not even when he was facing off against Vlad, who he could practically feel was way more powerful than him at the time.

But his shoulders relaxed when he, again, told himself that even if they went off the deep end sometimes, even they wouldn't go that far. Eventually his musings ended, and tensely, he looked back up at Vlad.

"I dunno." He flatly answered.

Vlads eye twitched in annoyance, or maybe it was exasperation, or both. He sighed, but even with the truth was right on the tip of his tongue… he found he couldn't. The pleading look Madeline had given him, genuinely asking that he keep this- this- horrible secret for them. It revolted him to do it, to keep such a… life changing secret about his nephew- one he deserved to know, especially with how good of a kid he is.

His anger roared to tell the boy, to tell him of the injustice that was done to him while in the womb. His calculative side whispered to tell him, to get leverage, to get pull on the decisions of the impressive young man. Another part of him, a softer side, argued that he already had that pull. The boy trusted him as only another member of an impossibly small species could; the clout he held with the boy's decisions as his mentor and uncle was already in place.

He knew, one day, he would have to tell Daniel… or did he? A calculative look passed across Vlad's face for a moment, he turned around and eyed the monitors. The keyboards came next, and as his eyes scanned the room, his mind rolled with a scheme. It pieced together, bit by bit, but the full idea eventually came to fruition.

Yes. Oh, yes. He wouldn't be breaking the silent promise he may or may not have made to Madeline, and Daniel would find out the truth. Hopefully it took a little bit of time, the more the better since the boy, while more mature than most his age, still needed to grow up a bit more.

"I know what happened Daniel, but I've decided not to tell you." When he turned around, Vlad wanted to chuckle at the look his charge gave him. Confusion turned to anger quickly, but the billionaire held his hand out to stop him. With a smirk, he continued, "Listen all the way, boy. I'm going to give you a task."

Confusion is back in full force, and Danny rasps out: "A task?"

Vlad takes a seat, crossing his leg over the other. "Yes, a task." Seeing the look he gets makes him laugh, "Oh please, Daniel. What kind of teacher would I be if I didn't give you assignments?"

Danny bit his lip in frustration, not even bothering to stifle a groan. He hated being jerked around like this, because despite knowing one of the things Danny wanted to know most, Vlad refused to give it to him. Yes, teachers gave out homework. But come on, this is his teacher on the… afterlife! His afterlife teacher, and he's getting a task instead of an answer.

Feeling crossed, his features form into a scowl, and he growls out a response. "You know the answer Vlad! Come on, tell me!"

The smirk on the older man's face falls slightly, "There's no need to whine like a child Daniel. It's nothing unreasonable. Teachers in school do it, teachers in those trashy cartoons you watch-"

"It's called anime." Danny interrupted.

"And I don't really care, it's a cartoon to me." Vlad waved off the boy. "Where was I? Oh, yes, so I do believe that I'm well within my margins to give you tasks." He leaned back in his chair as he finished,

The younger Halfa frowned and huffed, but conceded to his teachers point. Even in TV shows, movies, and the anime that he watches, teachers would give out tasks for their students to do, as a kind of milestone. To show how far they've come.

And when he thinks like that, it makes it a little more bearable. Almost exciting even, like a checkpoint to show how far he's come. Not that he'd tell Vlad. "Okay. I give. What is it?"

With fangs on full display, the grin he gives to the apprentice is a tad bit discomforting. "The task is: find out what happened." Vlad began, "There should be records of what happened in your house, somewhere. You can report back anything you think is conclusive evidence to me, and I'll tell you if it's right or not." In a way, this is spying, but after everything he's been told, Vlad feels justified just a little.

The room is quiet, with the only sounds coming from the tapping of fingers on metal. Vlad breaks the silence shortly after, "Well? How does it sound?"

Danny gulps, both in nervousness and anticipation. It sounded… like bullshit. It irked him that with the answer so close, he still had to go searching for it. But his parents had notes on it? Then… it would either be in the lab, their personal bedroom, or… if in none of those places, possibly a storage warehouse. It's not a terribly hard task, and with ghost powers, it'll be a cinch.

"Fine." The teenager responded. A sudden idea popped up in his head though. "But if I can do it, I want you to teach me duplication."

Vlad raises an eyebrow in intrigue. A sense of pride pervaded him for a moment- here was his student, already attempting to get more out of a deal. As a businessman, it makes him happy. "You do know that I told you that it's still too dangerous for you, correct? I have no qualms teaching you it, but until you're more… stable, it's better for you to not attempt it."

The boy sighed in resignation, but pushed ahead anyway. "I know, you told me before. I just want you to teach it to me, and I'll try it when I'm ready. That way, when I know I'm ready, I can start immediately."

He chuckled in amusement. "If that's what you want, little badger, then okay. I was planning on teaching you anyway, but I guess doing it a bit early won't hurt." Vlads gaze became pointed, staring directly into his nephew's own blue eyes. "Heed my warning though. I'm not saying it to hold you back, wait at least six months. At that time, maybe, just maybe, you'll be stable enough."

Danny grinned victoriously. "Deal!"

The older man rolled his eyes, but snapped his fingers in remembrance. "Ah." Vlad muttered. "That reminds me, we're going to the Ghost Zone tomorrow."

All excitement left the teenager. "Uh- what?"

"Do I really have to repeat myself Daniel?"

Hurriedly, he answers: "No! It's just- uh… isn't it kind of sudden?" His eyes dart over to the portal on the other side of the room. A spike of fear races through his heart for a moment, memories of his death resurfacing in vivid detail. His back flares in pain for a brief moment, but he doesn't flinch. Even Danny knows that what he just felt was psychological.

The nervous stare is obvious to someone as observant as Vlad, and a pang of sympathy does make itself known, but he hardens it soon after. The boy needed to know the Zone, too many resources that could help him lie in there. Besides, he's a half-ghost. He can't ignore the call forever, especially when his realm forms. "It's not too soon Daniel. It's better with me, than by yourself, no?"

Danny had to agree with his uncle, despite his hesitance when it comes to the interdimensional instrument. It would definitely be better to have a guide when exploring a different dimension.

For ghosts.

…What has his life become for that thought to actually occur?