1Authors Note: A brief explanation for you readers

Okay, everyone, I have been silent enough! It is time for some talking before this chapter gets on its way. First off I want to let you all know that I receive all of your reviews and thank you so much for the feedback. It is the only thing keeping me going on this story sometimes. Also I must explain myself. When I first began this fic I had a very short attention span and I never noticed that Danny's town was called Amity Park and not Amity Ville. I realize that mistake now but it is not something that I can easily fix. In order to do that I would have to screen each and every chapter for it and change it then upload all new chapters and I am sorry but that would simply take too much time and I haven't the patience. You guys are already aware of what the correct name is and now, with this message, you know that I have realized my mistake so can it slide just this once? Just pretend that the Ville is Park:D Okay, any other errors that you guys see, please let me know in a review and I will try my best to fix them.

Danny Phantom:

Sinners, Saints, and Sadists

Chapter - 18, Atonement

"No, no, no!" Vlad repeated in disbelief as he cut through the crisp, clear sky. "Daniel Fenton…a mere child…has turned the tables on me? Vlad Masters?! Impossible! I must return to the mansion. I must mend this situation before things get out of hand!" He cried, increasing his speed.

Arriving at his mansion in record breaking time, Vlad quickly rushed inside. Leaning against the door so that he could try to catch his breath, he couldn't help but notice that something felt very wrong.

"He-Hello? Is someone there? Show yourself!" He commanded, trying to sound brave even though his tone came out uneven.

"Oh, so you do feel it?" someone answered, their voice seemingly projecting from the shadows. "That little tickle that starts in your lower back before dancing up your spine? That chill in the air that makes your blood run cold? The voice in your head telling you…begging you to run like hell and never look back?"

"Who…Who…are y-you?" Vlad stuttered, clearly shaken. The voice seemed to hold a certain familiarity, but his entire train of thought was being interrupted by fear. Who the individual was and what they wanted were topics he just couldn't get his mind to focus on.

"I am no one. The person I used to be is dead." The being announced, gravely. In the darkest part of the gigantic entryway, a silhouette separated itself from the impregnable gloom that surrounded it.

"Look, you need to leave. I no longer care to know who you are, I just want you out of my house! Now!" The intruder, obviously ignoring his demands, began to come closer. Vlad's heart stilled. It was becoming increasingly obvious that doing nothing could lead to physical harm, but if he tapped into his ghost powers for what could be no more than a mere burglary might cause his secret and entire lifestyle to become exposed. The time for thinking was running out.

"Vlad Masters…you have ruined my life…" The figure stated flatly as it approached. Vlad took a step back only to run right into his front door. He began to feel for the handle but stopped when he heard laughter. "Do you really think I'm going to let you just run out of here like the coward you are? Ha! Go ahead and try!" The entity dared. Vlad obliged by turning around, grabbing the knob, and flinging the door open. One step forward, however, proved that the figure was right. A force, easily comparable to a brick wall, prevented his escape.

"How does it feel to have your own home-made barrier used against you?" Vlad looked down and noticed that another shadow had appeared right behind his. Slowly; hesitating until the very last minute, he let himself look at who, or what, was standing behind him. He gasped when he realized that it was Danny. Hair completely white and eyes fluorescent green, his expression emanated deep rooted hatred and contempt. "The time has come…" He warned. In one flash movement Danny grabbed Vlad by the collar of his shirt, pulled him out of the door way, and threw him across the room into a china cabinet full of Green Bay figurines. Kicking the front door closed with his foot, he smiled. "Now…we settle this…"

-0-

"What do you mean the hospital can't find him!?"

"Just what I said, Tucker! They can't find him! Danny's missing! I was there with him this morning when his mother dropped the "I'm having you committed" bomb, but that was the last time I saw him." Sam cried. She was already beginning to regret knocking on Tuckers door in the first place.

"Well, what do we do? He could be anywhere!" Tucker replied, stepping outside and closing the door behind him.

"Not anywhere, Tucker. Danny isn't that hard to figure out." She resolved, sitting down on one of the cement steps.

"Did you try his house?"

"Yeah, that's where I learned that Danny was reported missing. The place is covered in cops and his mom is hysterical."

"Where's Danny's Dad?"

"Don't know…he hasn't been seen or heard from all day…" She explained.

"That's probably my fault." Someone nearby admitted. Tucker and Sam looked up to find Jazz standing in front him them. She tossed them a sad smile while her hands busied themselves with a set of keys.

"Jazz?" Sam began. "Where did you come from?"

"I guess you could say I was in the neighborhood and decided to stop by..." She replied, sitting on the step closest to the sidewalk.

"How did you get here?" Tucker inquired.

"The Fenton RV."

"What?! How did you get your hands on that?" Sam demanded, looking around for it.

"Well…that's another story that we won't get into right now." She tried to laugh but it sounded too fake.

"Well, have you heard the news?" Tucker asked.

"About Danny's disappearance? Yes, I have. That's why I'm here. You two know more about Danny than we could ever hope to." Jazz complimented.

"Not so true. We're stumped on this one." Sam admitted, placing her head in her hands.

"Not even the slightest clue?" She asked, saddened.

"Nope." Sam and Tucker replied in unison.

"Damn, then I guess its back to the house to fish for info." Jazz resigned, standing.

"At least you wont have to worry about Vlad hindering your investigation." Sam added.

"What do you mean?" Jazz queried, confused. Tucker shot her a look of bewilderment as well.

"There's a warrant out for his arrest. Apparently they have enough evidence to convict him of Danny's rape" Sam explained triumphantly. Jazz's face turned pale and Tuckers eyes grew wide.

"I-I don't understand…? How? When…?"

"You didn't tell me that, Sam!" He shouted, rising to his feet.

"When would I of had the chance to? Honestly, Tucker, I only arrived at your house 5 minutes ago." Sam whined defensively. Tucker, accepting her explanation, sat back down.

"Well, where is Vlad now? Do the police know?" Jazz asked, anxiously.

"Nope. They thought they had him cornered at Danny's house but somehow he escaped and they have no leads as to where he could have went." Sam shrugged.

"Did they try his mansion?" Tucker suggested.

"That's a little obvious, isn't it, genius? Of course they tried there! Or, at least they are going to. Vlad's mansion is definitely a good distance from here meaning that that area is out of their jurisdiction. They are probably going to have to go through different channels to get someone out there."

"So it could be a while, then, right?" Jazz inferred.

"Quite possibly. I'm not sure how the cops work." Sam replied, distantly.

"Then why don't we speed things up a bit and go check out that creeps place for ourselves! I could probably get there faster than the cops will." Jazz offered.

"Jazz…the man lives in Wisconsin…That's a pretty good stretch from here." Tucker reasoned.

"Not with my driving it isn't. I could get us there in no time at all."

"And just what will we do once we arrive? There is absolutely no guarantee that Vlad will be there. We could waste time and gas on a wild goose chase that leads us no where." Sam said bluntly.

"Well there is no guarantee that he won't be there either. Look, guys, we could sit here twiddling our thumbs while we wait for the incompetent police to attempt to solve this problem or we could at least put forth a little effort and show how much we care about Danny by doing some searching on our own. Whether Vlad is there or not, it wont hurt us any to try. We might even be able to find out something about Danny and where he went off to as well. I just have this feeling; Intuition…a hunch…whatever you want to call it that we need to go there." Sam and Tucker looked at one another for a moment and then rose to their feet.

"We're in." They announced in unison. Jazz smiled and hurriedly led the way to where she had parked the RV.

-0-

The sound of glass breaking echoed throughout the empty corridors of the Masters mansion as Danny sent Vlad flying through a window. He laughed to himself when the older man's body came in contact with the barrier causing it to bounce back inside. Landing in a pool of glass shards, Vlad moaned in agony.

"C'mon Vlad! Aren't you going to at least fight back?" Danny teased, pulling Vlad's head up to face him by his pony tail. "Or can you only attack me when I'm defenseless and completely at your mercy?" He spat. Vlad, aggravated by his mocking words, fisted a shard of glass and in one swift movement slashed in Danny's direction. The halfa recoiled, his arm now deeply gashed from his shoulder to the back of his hand. He hissed in pain as Vlad grabbed his newly injured arm with death-like grip. Using it as a crutch he pulled himself up and used his free hand to grab Danny by the throat.

"You have no idea who you are messing with, child…" He growled, tapping into his powers. A split second later, Danny was thrown through two walls with in-human force. Landing in one of the mansions bathrooms, Vlad was back, and on top of him, before he could even think of retaliation. Wrapping his slender, yet powerful fingers around Danny's neck, he smiled. "Thought you could take me out with the element of surprise, Daniel? Surely, you jest!" Danny began to claw at his throat, but it had no effect. "You've ruined everything for me! All you had to do was stay out of my way!" His grip tightened and Danny saw stars as he heard something in his neck crunch.

Realizing that unconsciousness was slipping its way in, Danny had to think fast. Slipping one of his legs in between Vlad's, he reared back and kicked him as hard as he could in the groin. The older man cried out in agony, instinctively reaching for his crotch, and giving Danny time to get up and run out of the room. Once in the hallway, he pulled a small device out of his pocket. Oval in shape with a dark blue metallic design, it had a button in the middle. Pressing it, he threw it into the darkness of the passageway, and then flew up and through the ceiling.

Vlad, struggling to get to his feet, stumbled after the halfa; his temper had reached its limit.

"God Dammit, you little bastard! When I find you, you're going to wish you had died like the piece of shit you are back in that alley! I swear on my life!" He raged, going intangible and soaring through the ceiling after Danny. Overcome by his anger, he had failed to notice that tapping into his ghost powers had been a bit more taxing than usual. Briefly looking into every single room on the second floor, he immediately ascended to the next and repeated his search. "You can only hide for so long, Daniel…" Vlad practically sang once he finally reached the attic. The loft was completely devoid of light, but he knew Danny was there hidden in the shadows.

Opening his palm to focus a beam of light for guidance, he was shocked when absolutely nothing happened.

"What in the hell?!" he snorted, trying again and again.

"That's not going to help anything…" Danny commented, stepping into the pale moonlight coming from the attic's front window. Vlad shot Danny a look of pure contempt.

"What did you do to me!? You-You, little fuck!" he accused, coming closer. Danny remained relaxed.

"It's not just you. I am affected as well." He admitted coming closer. Vlad's eyes widened as he realized that Danny had all but returned to normal except for his eyes. "I amplified the barrier outside with a little mechanism I found in your basement. It's amazing what can be accomplished by crossing a few wires…"

"What? What are you saying?!" he demanded.

"That we're going to end this here and now just as we are. No ghost powers, no bullshit."

"God Damn you!" Vlad lunged for Danny, arms outstretched to once again capture him by his throat. At the last minute, the young halfa stepped aside and instead punched Vlad as hard as he could in the side of his face. The older man stumbled and fell into pile of old books and antiques. "I will kill you…I will kill you…" Vlad began to recite the words like a prayer. With one hand on his jaw and another searching for something to help him gain his bearings, his breath caught when he found an old sheathed sword wedged underneath some boxes. Smiling, he pulled it free and jumped to his feet. "I'm going to enjoy this, child…"

Danny panicked. Looking around for something to defend himself, he was caught off guard when Vlad lunged once more, sword aimed for his heart. Somewhere in the house, a clock chimed; its sound drowning out the drops of blood now dripping on the hardwood floor. Danny tried to take a breath, but the excruciating pain from the stab wound was borderline unbearable. Vlad missed the young teens heart but had instead drove the sword up from his abdomen and through his back in a somewhat vertical impaling. Danny took a step back, falling into more clutter. Ragged, pained gasps filled the room as he slowly began to understand that Vlad had probably punctured one of his lungs. Blood gushed from the wound.

"How pathetic…" The superior halfa mused, a small laugh escaping his lips. "You came all this way just to be defeated. To die by my hands…" He continued, walking over to the loft's window. Leaning against the glass, he seemed to be admiring the full moon. At some point, his hair too had changed back from black to purely silver. His eyes still as bright as Danny's. "Now that you're out of the way I have get started with cleaning up the mess you've made of my life." Grabbing the handle of the sword, Danny slowly started to pull back. Biting his bottom lip to stifle the scream that was nearing escape, he gambled with the fact that he might pass out before removing the blade. "I'll have to find some way to retrain your mothers thoughts towards me. I can't have her hating me, now can I? Then there's your bumbling father I still need to dispatch. Perhaps his death will be enough to break her spirit. If not I can always nab that nosey sister of yours as well. Maybe I can give her the same treatment I gave you eh, Daniel? Only this time I would have to make sure of a death to follow such a splendid assault."

Danny had heard just about all he could take. Without another moments hesitation he ripped the sword from his torso and charged at Vlad. Tapping into all of the strength he had left he dug the blade deep into Vlad's chest before they were both sent flying out of the window. With a loud, bone crushing thud they landed on the hard ground below. A collection of glass shards breaking their fall. Parting his eyes, Danny realized Vlad had cushioned most of his landing. The fiend was lying face down beneath him; motionless. Lifting his head a bit, he rolled over so that he could lie on his back on the cool grass. His leg was broken and he could feel that a few pieces of glass had found their way into his flesh. The night sky was spinning and in the distance he could've sworn he heard sirens.

"I'm sorry…" Danny managed to rasp, swallowing hard. "I'm sorry, everyone, but…I don't think I'll be making…it home…this time around…" Closing his eyes, he took one more breath before allowing his body to relax. He could've laughed if he'd had the energy. The eccentric actors in action movies hadn't been lying when they promised their loved ones that their wounds no longer pained them in their last moments of life.

-0-

"it's a real tragedy, wouldn't you agree, Detective Zale?"

"Yeah, Sparks, something tragic, indeed." The kneeling man agreed, zipping up the black body bag and standing. The paramedics instinctively stepped in, and began to load it onto a stretcher.

"You can't save them all though right, sir?" Officer Sparks asked.

"Exactly, Sparks. You can't always arrest them, and you cant always save them. I think our work is done here. Forensics should be coming soon to handle the rest. Get Amity PD on the dispatch. They are practically waiting on the edge of their seats to know what we've found I'm sure." The man ordered, refusing to meet his subordinate's gaze.

"Yes, sir." The smaller officer replied, turning around and walking towards the nearest police car." Detective Zeal reached into his coat pocket for his pack of Marlboro's. Slipping one into his mouth, he began to feel his pants for a lighter. Locating it, he lit the end in one swift movement and took a long drag.

"That's the problem with small towns these days. No justice; none whatsoever. Just a lot of time wasted doing pointless paperwork for more senseless crimes." He resolved before heading to the police car as well. As he opened the door and sat down, he was able to catch the tale end of Sparks' report.

"That's right. Of course it needs to be confirmed by autopsy, the corpses face was damaged badly by the fall, but its him alright. Face or no face, that stiff is the Vlad Masters wanted out of Amity."

("And about the missing boy? Daniel Fenton? He's dead as well?") The dispatcher inquired.

"There's a lot of blood all over this scene. He may have been involved in the suspects fall; we haven't found his body yet, but I know one stiff cant leave this much of a mess. We have other officers in the area on a search but for now we have no other choice but to say that he is still missing." There was a brief silence in which only static cracked in on the line.

("Affirmative. We will send someone out to alert the parents. 10:4")

-0-

Authors Final Notes:

Wow…can we say one hell of a delayed update? Haha, I know a lot of you will be unsatisfied with this ending, but hey! You never know. There could be a sequel! I mean what happened to Jazz, Tucker and Sam? They were on their way to Vlad's mansion weren't they? Where did Danny go in his condition? Did someone take him? Is he really dead? Anywhoo. Read and Review and maybe…just maybe! I will divulge some of these answers in another fiction. :D Till then don't forget about me! I plan on coming out with another story soon and I would love everyone's support again!

VashTSGirl45.