This one took some time. I've been distracted. Those who poke around my deviantart account might see why. There are scenes there from after Vlad's accident. There's a (creepy semi-real) scene there set between last chapter and this epilogue. And I've been immersed in the Through Danny Phantom project. I swear, one good challenge and I'm churning out fics right and left. Just... not this one.

There's more planned for this AU. About half of the Through Danny Phantom fics I write fit into this AU, filling in some of the holes between canon and story. Many of the bits I write I feel no one would be interested in so they get put onto deviantart. There's even some hentacle porn that I wrote on a bet that fits into this AU, go find it on deviantart or Y!Gallery under the same name I use here.

Anyway, here's the epilogue. It took me two months to write this. That fact feels wrong somehow.

This chapter is rated T for innuendos, gross food, and a reference made of religious backlash.

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As Satan may use scripture for his own purposes so too can the Denizens of Hell lend their strength to save the world if it furthers their own evil gains. The lack of Holy Presence within that realm proves the true nature of the Ghost Zone and its inhabitants. This Ghost Zone is none other than the Realm of Hell and its inhabitants are the Damned.

It is henceforth Mortal Sin to willfully open or maintain a portal to Hell. Its denizens cannot be Saved and therefore must not be contacted, harbored, or studied by any member of the Faith whether he be Priest or layperson. Any such creature that declares itself a Master of ghosts is a Demon of the Pit. Unwillful contact with the Damned is Venial Sin and may be Forgiven with Confession. Willful contact with the Damned and falling prey to Possession is Mortal Sin.

-Papal Doctrine issued August 2007

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October 2007

Halloween was approaching and Vlad Masters wasn't entirely sure what to do. The events of this past year left him mentally and emotionally exhausted enough to honestly consider throwing himself a funeral. Take a few weeks off, be lulled to sleep by the sound of the gravedigger's shovel, wake up surrounded by the softest red satin six feet under while the insects burrowed through the wood...

He sighed wistfully. But no, he didn't have time for that. Here he was, stuck behind the mayor's desk for three more years. In addition he had companies to run and a multitude of shareholders still angry about the severe losses VladCo soaked during the entire disasteroid incident. On top of it all it was football season and no matter how tired he felt he wasn't going to miss a Packer's game just because he was taking a dirt nap.

What he wouldn't give for a good thunderstorm.

Vlad leaned back in his chair and absently rubbed at his shoulder, a habit he picked up after Maddie tried to eat him.

Maddie...

He hadn't seen her since that day. At first avoiding the Fenton household was difficult, especially after reconnaissance told him Jack was having trouble trusting her at night. It would have been so easy to swoop in and offer comfort but, well... He told himself it would ruin the chase. A more pressing reason might have been the fact that he trusted her as little as Jack did right now. Rare was the individual, ghost or human, who was willing to sleep next to a woman who might end up turning cannibal in her dreams.

And yet... Perhaps seeing her might assuage some of his concerns.

At least that's what he told himself as he clocked out early, completely blowing off both public and private obligations. So VladCo shareholders had found out that he held the world for ransom in order to offset the costs soaked by his companies during the whole saving-the-world fiasco. So his desk was covered in petitions with a certain Ms. Manson's stench all over them demanding unreasonable changes to the way he ran this city. So Congress was trying to revoke some of his more lucrative patents because of loopholes involving prior art. So he'd had to relocate his main Dalv facility to Malaysia to avoid another GIW raid as for some strange reason the US government was suddenly interested in enforcing their laws against human cloning.

So what? None of it mattered right now. Right now Vlad loped over to the sleek black machine, running his hand over her smooth flanks, her shiny coat, the soft curves of her beautiful body. He sank into soft leather, running long fingers over black wood and red copper accents. A long sigh flowed out of him as he brought her to life. She snarled before settling into a gentle purr that sent shivers up and down his body.

He needed to find something sufficiently decadent to reward Technus for fixing his car.

-00000-

Danny flew home from school, using height and speed to avoid the random roving weirdos that stalked his walking route. It was a weird happening, this influx of ghost hunters and important-looking priests. They always seemed to be following him for some reason. One time a priest even threw a vial of water at him and started chanting things in some strange language.

He should probably talk to Vlad about it. He hadn't seen the man since his mom was exorcized. Life was getting boring without evil plans to thwart and he still felt he needed an excuse to go invade the elder halfa's time.

Hey, speak of the devil. Danny saw the shiny black car tucked in the driveway, tire marks suggesting some fruitloop had taken the corner at high speed and drifted into the parking space. He flew down, landing without a sound on the front porch before turning human and phasing through the front door. He headed for the kitchen.

"Hi Dad," Danny said before rummaging in the fridge. He found a block of cheese in the back, its surface growing fuzzy green and white. Danny thought about it before grabbing the bread, the fuzzy cheese, and some leftover hot dogs. He started making an epic sandwich, first cutting off the heads of the semi-mobile hot dogs before tossing them in the microwave. He sliced the mold off of the cheese, contemplating it. Something told him to try it, just one bite...

Oh wow that was good... Danny cut off all the mold from the cheese and put it on his sandwich. The headless living hot dogs, some moldy cheese, a big squirt of ketchup, he had the perfect sandwich. He plopped down at the table across from his father and was eating before he realized the disturbed, disgusted, thoroughly fascinated look his dad was giving him.

"I saw Vlad's here," Danny said, mouth full. He swallowed and wiped his face with the back of a hand.

Jack nodded, too busy observing his son. He held a crumbing sandwich filled with strange, obnoxious food-like things in one hand. Ketchup and hot dog juices dripped down his arm to his elbow. His mouth was smeared with crumbs and smudges as he ignored the napkin right next to him, instead wiping his face with his bare hand. His plate was forgotten on the counter, drips and crumbs littering the table as he demolished the sandwich with all the grace of a shark tearing up a seal. If one ignored what was in that sandwich then Danny... looked just like any other normal teenager.

"He's in the lab," Jack said, gesturing to the open lab door. "Your mother's down there."

Danny swallowed loudly before going still. "Is she okay?" he asked.

"You know her," Jack admitted. "She doesn't want to be left alone down there anymore but once she gets working on something she won't quit."

"And what's she working on now?"

"A paper. She wants to publish something on imprints and the danger they cause. Or something like that. I still say Vlad shoulda let me rip that thing apart molecule by molecule."

Danny went quiet. He took a bite of sandwich, chewing thoughtfully. He could hear Vlad and Maddie downstairs, their voices drifting up the stairwell.

"You just had to publish first, didn't you?" Maddie snapped. "Didn't you! Ugh, you always had to be the first!"

"If by 'first' you mean fifteen years ago then yes!" Vlad defended.

"This doesn't sound good," Jack admitted.

"Should I... you know... get the muzzle?" Danny asked.

Jack opened his mouth to say something when a white blur distracted him. Plasmius paused in the kitchen, his staff missing and evil glee painting his face. He glanced around, his red eyes flashing with something like triumph as they lingered on Danny. It was a rather long pause considering the pounding feet that bounded their way up the stairs to storm into the kitchen wielding a rolled up journal in one hand. Vlad gave an exaggerated look of fear before shooting off out the front door.

Maddie growled and shoved her hand down the back of Jack's jumpsuit. She ignored his squirming and shocked sounds as she groped around for the biggest ectogun she could find. She pulled out a large two-handed model before running right after Vlad.

Vlad lifted easily into the air, watching the door so as to not be taken by surprise. He grinned with anticipation as Maddie vaulted down the steps and hit the sidewalk running. The first few blasts did nothing to wipe that grin from his face, instead egging him on toward a demented giggle.

Maddie snarled at her prey and his inability to take this seriously. She aimed carefully and fired, hitting him square in the back.

Vlad careened out of the sky, guiding his descent directly at a conveniently placed group of bystanders. He dove right into one of them.

People jumped away from the overshadowed in their midst. Red eyes glowed as they took full control of the body provided. It was a strange sight, some grungy-looking skater kid standing straight and regal. "Nothing to see here," Vlad said in his best mayoral voice. "Move along."

The whine of an ectogun charging was what finally dispersed the crowd. Vlad looked over the business end of her rather large piece into the red-ringed violet eyes of the woman wielding it. "It's been far too long since I've been properly chased, my dear," Vlad purred. He gave her a look that might have been seductive if he wasn't currently wearing the body of a high school teenager.

Maddie growled and cocked the gun.

"Capture me if you can," Vlad purred before leaving the kid's body, shooting off into the sky with a crackle of electricity.

The teenager shook his head to clear the cobwebs before realizing he was currently looking at a very big gun. He screamed and ran.

Maddie pointed her ectogun upwards, carefully tracing her quarry. She fired but he dodged at the last minute, toying with her. Toying or not she wasn't going to take this lying down. She ran down the street after her prey, firing whenever she could get a good shot.

If Vlad wanted to taunt her about being chased then she was gonna chase him. Even if he was enjoying it far too much.

-00000-

Jack and Danny watched from the porch. The rolled up journal laid abandoned on the steps. Danny picked it up as he and Jack watched Vlad swooping around, angry shots from Maddie's ectogun singeing the air right behind him.

Jack couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. Oh, this was too weird. Too funky. And altogether normal. Sure they were traitors. They weren't human anymore. But he could accept that. Danny was still his son. Vlad was... okay, Vlad still hated him and Jack wasn't too keen in return. Maddie had her bad days but she was slowly returning to normal.

He could accept it. He was proud of Danny. Proud of what he's done for the town, the world, their family, even their enemies. He was a good kid and nothing was going to change that. Not even turning half ghost.

He clapped a beefy hand on Danny's shoulder and pulled him close as they watched Maddie chase the insane fruitloop through the skies.

End