Full Summary: The Curator to the most prestigious and honorable ghost museum in all the Ghost Zone is tired of collecting simple artifacts of art and history. He's not satisfied with interesting, important ghosts that enjoy being on display. His new sights are set on collecting humans. Most recently, his eyes have fallen on a match set of Halfas, and he has finally decided to collect them.

A/N: So excited to start this fic! That's why I shoved all the explanations and stuff to the latter author's note. I just wanna hop right into this thing. So to all those readers who know me, Pixiegirl13, I'm glad to see you aboard! And thanks for reading to all you new readers! Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: This will never get old. Mutantlover and I don't own any Danny Phantom characters.

The Collector

By: Pixiegirl13 and Mutantlover09

Chapter 1 The Capture

"If you really don't like my method of ruining your town, Danny, maybe you should form and sign a petition like a real citizen," Vlad Plasmius said with a mocking smirk. "Not behave like a criminal and attack me in the middle of my dinner."

Danny Phantom laughed without humor as his fists shone with an unearthly, green glow. It was safe to say the young half-ghost was pissed.

"You're one to talk about being a criminal, Plasmius," Danny growled back at the man. "Last time I checked, robbing banks is against the law."

The teenager was furious. Not twenty minutes ago, he'd gotten the scare of his life. One moment, he'd been hanging out with his friends at the mall. The next, his ears had been assaulted by heavy alarms and screams of terror as loud sirens went off throughout the entire building at sensing his ghost form. Apparently, the Mayor had installed them to "protect the wonderful citizens of Amity Park from ghostly threats."

Danny crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at his archenemy. "You ruin my hangout time, I ruin your dinner," he said, flashing an angry smirk. "I think that's fair, Mr. Mayor."

The two adversaries were hovering over a turned over table in Vlad's second home in Amity Park. The mayor's dinner had been flung all over the wall and scattered across the floor. Some of it had hit Vlad in the process of Danny suddenly storming in with fists blazing. This was the second time Danny had acted upon his anger that month, so Vlad wasn't too surprised to see him there. Nevertheless, it was a big inconvenience.

Vlad was still brushing splattered food off himself as he addressed Danny with a pleased smile, "I was wondering when those monitors and alarms would be installed. I'm delighted to see that they work properly."

Placing his hands on his hips, the man asked the boy, "Daniel, what do you intend to do now that you've properly destroyed my dinner? Do you want to talk about it? You know this won't get you anywhere, but I guess some children must learn the hard way."

Danny's fists tightened as Vlad spoke to him. He was using that tone of voice that clearly stated just how young and childish the man thought he was. It was infuriating! He hated to be talked down to by Vlad. Not to mention, he was way passed talking at this point. His day off had been going so well until Vlad found some way to ruin it. Vlad always found ways to ruin his relaxation days. Always.

First, he has the nerve to move here and mess with my head. Now he's actually messing with my life. It's not fair! Danny seethed inside his head as his teeth gritted together, jaw locking stubbornly.

Anger reaching its boiling point, Danny flung his glowing hands forward and yelled, "I'll let my fists do the talking!" Twin blasts of ectoplasm shot from his palms and flew steadily towards Vlad the second his shout ended. Still smiling in amusement over Danny's obvious anger, Vlad brought up a protective shield and easily avoided the blasts aimed at him. Flying sharply to his left, Vlad threw a ball of ectoplasm energy at the teen experimentally.

Danny's eyes widened at Vlad's quick return attack, and he turned himself intangible to dodge the ectoblast. He sunk down into the table to avoid anymore blasts and, after a moment of silence, the teen blasted up from beneath Vlad. He let out a furious shout as he slung a punch into the man's jaw. Vlad rolled with the punch, recovered almost instantly, and came back with a kick to Danny's exposed chest, coupled with an ecto-ray for good measure.

The kick succeeded in driving most of the breath from Danny's lungs. As he stumbled back from the blow, the ray of energy slammed into his gut and threw him to the ground several feet away. If he hadn't had trouble breathing before, he certainly did now.

Danny curled in on himself and rolled onto his knees as he sucked in air to fill his abused lungs. He felt like a gasping fish. Crap, that hurt. He shook his white-haired head and glared back at Vlad as he shoved himself up to a crouch, holding a hand to his bruised stomach.

Panting softly, Danny muttered, "You kick like a girl." Before Vlad could comment, Danny shot several green discs at him, followed quickly by a round of chunks of ice just to mix it up.

Swiping a palm through the air, Vlad easily conjured another shield to avoid the attack. Now that things were picking up, Vlad swiftly flew back down to the ground, heaved into his hands his giant oak table that Danny had ruined, and proceeded to use it like a bat on the boy. As he hit Danny and flung him across the room, the man shouted back, "At least I don't swing like one!"

Danny cried out as he was smacked across the room like a human baseball, and he slammed into a glass display case before flopping to the ground on his stomach. The boy groaned, trying to regain his bearings as Packers memorabilia fell to the floor around him. He shook his pounding head again, frowning sourly when a grinning picture of Vlad shaking hands with one of the Green Bay players landed in front of him.

The teen slowly pushed himself back to his feet, grimacing when his vision swam momentarily. Man, Sam would kill me for that kicking like a girl comment, Danny realized as his eyes locked with Vlad's again. The boy's green eyes momentarily flicked down for a moment before he grinned evilly. There was more than one way to get revenge on Vlad.

Turning swiftly on his heel, Danny raised his hand and shot an ecto-blast directly into the picture, destroying it instantly . "Whoops," Danny commented as if he'd just done something particularly clumsy. He put a hand against his face in mock woe. "My bad, V-Man. I guess I still don't have very good control of my powers."

Now, it was one thing interrupting Vlad during one of his meals. It was an entirely different matter when you messed with the man's prized possessions. Especially when it came down to the Packers. Face instantly losing its smirk and adopting a hard frown, Vlad narrowed his red eyes at Danny.

"Don't be a sore loser, boy," Vlad said with extreme annoyance in his voice. "Just because I'm trying to make this town safe and ghost-free the legal way (unlike you, might I add) doesn't mean you have to take it so personally." Vlad grinned inwardly, proud of his little jab at Danny. It was sure to set the boy off. Such a fun and easy game for the mayor.

Danny's hands instantly curled into fists at hearing Vlad's response. That wasn't what he'd been expecting. He'd been prepared for anger and maybe some sort of comment about 'making him pay for that.' He'd gotten none of that. Instead, the man just gave him that smug grin that he'd always been giving him since the day they'd met. The smirk that made his teeth grit together and blood boil.

"Don't try and act like you're doing all this for the good of the city," Danny growled out, eyes glowing brighter along with his anger. "You're just here to mess with me and make my life harder because you've got nothing better to do!"

All rationality was thrown out the window as Danny leapt into the air and flew towards Vlad, shouting as loudly as he could, "Get your own life, fruitloop!"

Unfortunately, the move was predicted way before Danny had thought of it. Vlad was already in position to face the teen's charge head on. Seconds before Danny plowed into him in his fury, Vlad used the boy's momentum against him by grabbing Danny's shoulders, leaning back to avoid a a collision, and pulling Danny and himself into a backwards flip. The move disoriented the teen enough for Vlad to slam him into the ground by his shoulders, successfully pinning him there.

Danny did not like the way his head was spinning. He'd smacked it against the floor when Vlad so irritatingly easily threw him down, and now it looked like there was three Vlad's floating above him with that mocking smirk. If his head hadn't been throbbing so badly, he probably would've been more annoyed by his position. He couldn't exactly move, and Vlad had totally kicked his butt in this fight without even breaking a sweat. And they both knew it.

"Did you ever consider that I mess with you and your silly, pathetic town, not only because it's fun, but because it's so ridiculously easy?" Vlad sneered into Danny's face, flashing a triumphant grin.

Danny was definitely upset by the man's comment, but he shoved the feeling away and struggled to get out of Vlad's pin. He wouldn't call it quits yet.

Squinting hard to return his vision to normal, the boy sarcastically growled out, "So I guess you just gave up on that whole not sounding loopy thing, huh?"

Vlad opened his mouth to reply with an witty comeback, but someone's voice prevented him from continuing by cutting him off.

"Stop," the voice said calmly and evenly, as if quelling the wails of a crying baby. The mysterious voice was cold and stern yet undeniably mellifluous, to the point that it was very hard not to obey such a command.

The effect was frighteningly instant. Vlad felt his body seize up before being frozen in place. It wasn't an uncomfortable or unpleasant feeling; on the contrary, in a way, the lack of motion felt like the right thing to do. Still, a red flag flew up in Vlad's head as he tried to stand up but simply couldn't muster the motivation to disobey the voice. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"What's going on? Is this one of your tricks, Daniel?" Vlad growled out, shooting the pinned boy a deadly glare. Though he thought he needed to ask, Vlad didn't believe Danny was behind the hypnotic voice, because the teen had suddenly ceased all squirming and struggling, becoming uncharacteristically very still just like Vlad.

"As much as I'd like to take credit for that dumb expression on your face, that wasn't me," Danny answered, his nervousness coming out in his voice. He hadn't been able to move before that mysterious voice had spoken, but now, not only could he not move, he didn't want to move. If he moved right now, he felt like he'd be breaking some sort of non-moving law.

His wide, green eyes met Vlad's, confused and worried that neither of them could move. What the heck was going on? Why weren't they able to move? Who the crap had spoken to them like that? And, most importantly, why couldn't either of them disobey that stern order? He could see it in Vlad's eyes...the man didn't want to move anymore than he did.

Danny gasped a little as his ghost sense went off, and a chill rapidly shot down his spine. If possible, his eyes widened further.

"Oh... crap."

That wasn't good. No way was that good.

Vlad saw Danny ghost sense go off, and the two shared a look of deep concern. Somehow another ghost had snuck up on them while they were fighting. Frowning as the wheels spun furiously in Vlad's head, the man tried to find a way out of their current predicament. There should have been some kind of alarm to alert the man to the ghost's presence, but he guessed it didn't go off due to Danny being there and dismantling the system.

"Rise," the voice ordered smoothly.

Without hesitation, Vlad stood up along with Danny. They stood facing each other, bewildered and worried. Vlad even caught the glimpse of fear on the boy's face. He was hiding it well, but it was still there. The man didn't blame the teen for being freaked. If Vlad had to be honest, he would admit he was feeling the same. Some unknown powerful ghost had them in its snare, treating them like living puppets for a mysterious purpose. Who wouldn't be a little scared?

"Try moving," Vlad told Danny. He hated to sound weak, but this was no time to let pride get in the way. They needed to escape. "Somehow I can't fight it," he admitted. "Can you?"

"Would I be standing here if I could?" Danny instantly snapped back before he really thought about it. He was way too freaked out to worry about being polite. Someone had just ordered them to stand up, and they'd done it! He couldn't refuse what that voice was telling him to do! And, worst of all, neither could Vlad! Anything that could control Vlad had to be powerful. That thought scared the heck out of the boy.

His eyes met Vlad's, and his heavy breathing halted a little. Danny had never been the best at reading the man, but he could see the anxiety in Vlad's gaze. Now that he thought about it, Vlad had actually sounded as freaked out as he felt. He couldn't remember the last time he'd heard Vlad sound worried about anything.

Danny bit down hard on his bottom lip. This was so bad. If Vlad was scared, this was so, so, bad. "What do we do?" he hissed to Vlad, doing his best to sound calm and steady.

"Because I have all the answers," Vlad retorted irritably. Pressing his lips together, the man forced himself to calm his emotions and think straight by closing his eyes and releasing a long, slow breath. Taking his anger out on Danny wouldn't help either of them.

Opening his eyes, Vlad told Danny with renewed calmness in his voice, "Calm down. Try to think. Have you battled a ghost like this one before? We need to find a way to break whatever power it has over us before it demands something more...drastic."

Vlad didn't want to know to what extent he'd obey the voice. Though his nerves were tight with apprehension, he was still unable and unwilling to move his body.

Danny would never admit how much better he felt when Vlad spoke to him again with that calm superiority back in his voice. It was definitely reassuring to hear, though he'd never say that out loud.

"Um..." Danny glanced down towards Vlad's feet as he tried to think. He honestly couldn't remember ever encountering a ghost like this before. It wasn't just forcing them to listen...it was making them want to listen. "N-no," the boy stammered, eyebrows furrowing deeply as he looked back up at Vlad. "I don't know. I don't think so."

"Don't panic, boy," Vlad ordered. "That won't get us anywhere. Maybe if we-."

"Do not talk," the voice commanded suddenly.

Vlad willingly closed his mouth, but it was clear by his wince that he was fighting the voice any way he could. Gritting his teeth, the man swept his eyes almost desperately around the room in search for the owner of the voice, but he knew it was already too late. Him and Danny were trapped like flies in a spider's web. It didn't matter how hard they struggled now. They were stuck in the trap and would have to ride it out. Vlad could only hope it wasn't to their death.

Great, now we can't even talk. Danny groaned internally the moment his ability to talk was taken away. Well, technically, he willingly gave it away, but that wasn't the point. He still couldn't see whatever ghost was controlling them. Why was the ghost messing with them like this? He obviously knew they couldn't do anything, so why drag out whatever he was going to do?

Taking one look at Danny, Vlad could see the panic seeping into the teen. All the man could manage was a grim smile to try to calm the boy down. In a small way, Vlad was glad he wasn't the only one going through the frightening experience.

Danny looked warily back up at Vlad. He wasn't sure if the man was trying to make him feel better with that creepy grin or just straight up trying to freak him out more. When Vlad smiled, bad things usually happened to him. After a confused pause, Danny decided to be optimistic and take the smile as a form of comfort, and he gave a small one in return. However, his eyes clearly said, We are so dead.

From his place only a few yards away, Danny's and Vlad's captor stood invisible, watching and testing them. He had to make sure they were truly prisoners under his captivating power, and that took time and effort. With slow, methodical head movements, he studied the two hybrid ghosts in turn as if they were intriguing specimens under a microscope or long lost ancient artifacts being examined. Every flicker of expression and twitch of movement by them was taken into great account by the invisible observer while he used his power on them.

When finally satisfied with the information he had obtained and pleased with the amount of control he had over his prizes, the ghost decided it was time to leave.

"Now sleep," he commanded with a smile.

The second the softly spoken order hit Danny's ears, he knew there was no way to refuse it. He hadn't been tired before, but now he was. Now he could hardly keep his eyes open. In fact, he didn't even want to keep his eyes open. The boy's eyelids seemed to weigh a million pounds. They slowly began to droop down over his green eyes, and he felt his body swaying unsteadily.

He blinked slowly a few times, staring drowsily up at Vlad. The man looked about as bad off as he did. His sudden exhaustion actually made him look his age. It was so beyond weird.

Danny yawned heavily, letting his eyes close and his head hang down. He didn't want to fight sleep. That voice had told him to sleep, and he wanted to listen. It didn't take long before he'd drifted off into la-la land. He didn't even feel his body hit the ground as he fell into the heaviest sleep of his life.

A/N: What's with my fan fics and making poor, ol' Danny pass out during the first chapter or two? Suspense maybe? Or perhaps I'm a little sadistic? It's kind of refreshing to make Vlad pass out too, though. He totally deserves it. Ha ha!

But Mutantlover and I have some great stuff for you guys! I'll tell you guys now that the process of writing it and brainstorming is going really well, and we're having a blast! Which means, I'm sure, that you readers will enjoy it too.

So, how this fan fic works is this: Mutantlover and I write/post to each other on a forum. I write only for Vlad and an OC, and she writes for only Danny and her OC. So every other paragraph or so is a different writer. Then, for editing, we just compile our posts together in one document, sort the paragraphs out so that they flow better, and then clean up any grammar mistakes. We take turns editing the chapters. I get the odd ones, and she gets the even ones. So next chapter will be an editing from Mutantlover, but it will still be my account that will post it.

We're thinking of posting a new chapter every weekend or two. Two weeks is kinda long, though. Maybe every one and a half weeks? Not sure. Still, the updates won't be more than 2 weeks apart.

But I'm not sure yet how we're gonna deal with responding to your reviews. Anyways, details like that can be sorted out later. Maybe if you have a question, you can address it to either of us and that corresponding person will respond. I don't know. Until we know, I'm gonna try to respond as much as I can with the time I have.

So, yeah. Lots of information in one author's note. I'm sorry! Just wanted to update you awesome readers on what we're doing. That's all! So, you guys have an awesome week, and hopefully we'll see you next weekend!