The Apprentice of Thanatos

Chapter 25: Ultimate Enemy Part 5

     First, he needed to find Vlad. Jazz believed that the man was still alive, so it was up to Danny to somehow locate him. But then what? Even if he did find Vlad, who knew if the elder halfa would be of any use? Just because Vlad could help Danny didn't mean that he would.

     Danny shook his head before starting off again, flying through the Ghost Zone with renewed purpose. There was no way Jazz could fight Dan on her own, so he couldn't waste time being pessimistic and thinking about the what-ifs. He needed to find Vlad's portal, if it was even still in use.

     Even though Danny hadn't had any idea of where to start looking for Vlad's portal, he found it rather quickly.

     He had hesitantly started off in a random direction (it wasn't like he could get any more lost) and he hadn't been flying around for more than half an hour before he happened upon a massive, totally conspicuous, floating purple football.

     No way... Danny thought to himself. It can't be that easy.

     It was indeed that easy. Danny pushed the football away to reveal a swirling green ghost portal.

     "That's Vlad for ya," Danny muttered. "Subtle as a flying mallet."

     After a moment's hesitation, Danny flew through the portal.

     Danny wasn't sure what he had been expecting to find on the other side of the portal, but it certainly hadn't been a dark and musty cave. He landed on the floor of the cavern with a wince; his injuries from his fight with Dan and his other enemies were far from healed, and they were making sure to let him know.

      Looking around, Danny saw an assortment of machines in various states of disrepair scattered around the spacious room. The edges and walls of the cave were adorned with old and worn Green Bay Packers paraphernalia. Fluorescent bulbs lit up the cavern, flickering ominously as they cast long, dark shadows over everything and added to the already dark and dreary atmosphere.

      Danny's eyes were drawn to the far end of the cave, where a wall of computer monitors stood, highlighting the room in a garish, sickly green glow that contrasted harshly against the dark shadows.

      A swivel chair sat before the displays, its presence casting a large shadow across the floor, and although the chair was facing away from Danny, he could see that it was occupied from a gnarled hand tapping languidly against the armrest.

     "Come to finally put an old man out of his misery?" A rough and grating voice called from the chair.

     "Old man?" Danny repeated questioningly as he took a cautious step forward.

      The chair spun around, and the man occupying it was every bit as weathered and disheveled as the room around him. Sunken blue eyes glared at Danny from a gaunt and sullen face. Long, greasy gray hair hung over the man's shoulders and clung to his chin in the form of an unkempt beard. His clothes—a once formal black suit—were old, dusty, and torn. Had Danny not seen the man move, he could have easily mistaken him for a corpse.

     But as the man lifted his head, there was no mistaking who he was.

     "Vlad?" Danny gawked, his voice full of disbelief. "What happened to you?"

     If Vlad was surprised by Danny's presence, he didn't show it other than through a raised brow. Vlad's gaze was cold and cruel as he leaned back in his seat and glared at the younger halfa. "I could ask you the same thing, Daniel."