"My dear, dear Danielle. I'm positively ashamed at the way I used you in the past," Vlad mourned, shaking his head.
"A henchman? A pile of ectoplasmic samples? Is that any way to waste such a unique girl?"
Dani glared at him in silence. Though her arms were secured at the wrist, she still managed to make a rude hand gesture. She would not dignify that with a response.
"I didn't see it before. But you were the strongest of any of the clones. Not only did you survive, you adapted! My dear, you are spectacular."
Dani's anger surged.
"Shut it dad," she said, spitting every ounce of venom she could into the last word. "You didn't seem to think I was so great when you tried to murder me."
Vlad smiled that patronizing, smug, smile of his.
"I admit, I was wrong. So blinded by what you were not, I failed to see what you were. A living, breathing, healthy half ghost."
His blue eyes flashed.
"The perfect test subject for new technology."
He began to pace around Dani. She could only stare straight ahead, the binders locking her in place.
"Just imagine the possibilities. A world where ghosts could be used to find any secret, track any person, steal any object. The ghost zone is a field of opportunity waiting for the right person to harness it!"
"It won't work," Dani said flatly. "Ghosts are too unreliable. You of all people should know that personal grudges and agendas get in the way."
Vlad stopped his pacing and smiled indulgently at her.
"Which is why incentives are key. Pain. Hostages. Compromises." He shook his head in amusement. "Primitive. Danny knows where the true power is."
He lowered a helmet over Dani's immobile head and turned to the computers behind him.
"Bent willpower is the true future of ghosts," Vlad said.
"And it starts with you, my dear Danielle. We'll pave the way to the future of human and ghost relations."
He switched on the machine. When the screams started, he nodded privately and added,
"And the humans will rule."
YOU ARE READING
Dannies, Death, and Dates
FanfictionDani Phantom is finally getting used to her new life. Sure she might be as invisible at school as she is in her ghost form, but that suits her just fine. It's a good life. Fighting ghosts with Danny at night, studying for a NASA application during...
