"I never did like that man," Drew grumbled as Damon Gray and the Fenton parents rushed off at Vlad Masters' request.

"You don't?" Zak asked. It usually took a fair bit for his mom to openly dislike someone. Those people tended to be criminals, but Masters had seemed very open and friendly.

"You always made him out to be more… slimy," Doc agreed.

"Wait, hold up," Danny pointed at Drew. "You actually saw that? As in, who he really is and all that?"

"Yes?" Drew answered, extremely confused.

"Sorry," Danny rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm not used to people actually picking up on that much less saying anything about it."

"So, he's actually a creep?" Zak asked.

"Oh, God yes," the trio of teens grumbled. Valerie was starting to look a little concerned.

"I mean, his obsession with my mom is enough to make me want to get far, far away from him," Danny grumbled.

"I would've thought he'd have moved on by now. I know he was going to propose the day of the accident, not that she would have said yes, but after all these years he's still after her?"

Jazz nodded, "She's made her position on that matter pretty clear, too."

"He just doesn't know how to take no for an answer. And that's not just for my mom, that's for anything," Danny added.

"Yeah," Tucker jumped in, "I mean, his businesses are about as shady as they come!"

"The election!" Valerie exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with sudden understanding.

"That's another one. He started running not even a week before Election Day, with no campaign promises or anything against the incumbent. And he managed to win with 68 percent, I think. Not a landslide, but enough to make it pretty clear," Sam explained for the Saturdays.

"Why don't you say anything?" Zak asked.

"With what proof?" Danny challenged. "Everything is circumstantial at best, and with how he's got everyone wrapped around his finger, that's not even going to come close to cutting it."

Jazz nodded, "He doesn't leave evidence that can be used against him."

"Doesn't stop him from being a creep and dropping not so subtle hints where we can't use them," Danny grouched. His friends murmured in agreement.

"So, you guys have known since…?" Valerie trailed off.

"Well, I didn't like him from the beginning just for hitting on my mom," Danny answered. "Then we started to pick up on other problems and it kind of snowballed pretty quickly."

Tucker nodded along, "By the time Sam and I met him we were pretty dead set against him."

"I was willing to ignore the flirting so long as Mom didn't consider it," Jazz admitted. "But as soon as I heard about everything else… all bets were off."

"What about you?" Danny asked, turning back to Drew.

"He was friends with Van Rook back in college, so I got a pretty good look at his lack of morals back then. I tried warning Maddy, but she wasn't exactly listening at the time."

"Who's Van Rook?" Valerie asked.

"Mercenary," Zak answered, "and my mom's ex."

"Did he have a lot of money back then?" Sam asked, suddenly looking a little excited.

"Well, yes," Drew responded, "he comes from a fairly well-off family and was already taking jobs back then."

"I think we found his startup money," Sam grinned.

"What does that mean?" Zak asked. He was getting annoyed at not being able to do much other than ask questions.

"Vlad wasn't rich until he started buying up businesses. And he didn't start small, he would've needed someone to give him the necessary money," Jazz told him.

"We should probably catch up to my parents," Danny said, starting to worry about his dad's safety. Jazz and his friends nodded, as they all rose.

"It was nice meeting you guys," Jazz said, "but Danny's right, we should be going."

The group quickly said their goodbyes and parted ways. As soon as they were out of sight, Team Phantom started sprinting after the Fenton parents, hoping Vlad hadn't taken advantage of the situation.