Notes: Answering the question posed by Luiz4200: Yes, Vlad would probably have asked Ember why she's constantly interfering in battles, but I doubt she'd actually tell him in order to save Danny's secret identity. She'd probably make up some excuse.

Chapter Twelve

"You promised!" Danny nearly screamed. Vlad sighed in annoyance, rubbing his forehead. The dark bruises under his eyes were more prominent than ever and he was slightly hunched, no longer standing tall and proud as before. It could all be traced back to the fact that he had not been sleeping very much. Danny had seen him working until early morning, talking down the phone and holding meetings with mysterious ghosts.

"That was before I found out that it started at eleven o' clock. I'm sorry, Danny, but you're not going to the damn carnival and that's final," he commanded, sitting up and storming out of the room before Danny could say anything. The next few seconds were silent as Danny nearly clenched his fists in frustration. It took all his effort not to punch the wall and instead settled for swearing.

Damn it! Damn damn damn damn damn it!

He cursed under his breath, slamming his fists onto the table. The phone rang, almost as if on cue. He ripped it off the hook and smashed it painfully against his ear.

"What?" he hissed, his irritation barely hidden.

"Danny?" The voice was tentative, and slightly scared. He forced himself to calm down, keeping his voice low and flat.

"Sam?"

"They said 'no'!" His control dropped.

"Yeah! My dad as well! It's not fair! I'm fourteen, not a baby! And the carnival's not gonna be here tomorrow!" Danny steamed, glaring furiously at the doorway that Vlad had just disappeared through. His face was scrunched up in a sulky pout that he was glad Sam couldn't see. "I can't believe this!"

"I'm surprised you weren't allowed. I mean, you're the safest out of all of us, with your ghost powers and experience in ghost hunting."

"Quiet, Sam!" he shushed, looking around nervously. There was no one in the room, but he glanced at the doorway, certain that someone would pop up and immediately interrogate him. His paranoia was stemmed from the close calls he'd had recently with some of his schoolmates and his father.

"Why? It's not like he can hear me from here."

"You'd be surprised. Dad has really good hearing. I can't risk him finding out about…you know. But enough of that. Think you can sneak out tonight?"

"Duh. You know how early my parents sleep. They're morning people. One of the reasons I keep my doors locked at night. It's so irritating when they come barging in, complaining about the color of my walls and bed sheets and then running around the room opening the windows and-"

"Yeah, Sam. I've heard it before," he said exasperatedly, but she had already begun to rant about her parents and their evil perkiness and love of sunshine and pretty things and so on. He felt a familiar warmth rise up as he listened to her voice and couldn't help but smile slightly. "Look, just…remember. Meet me at the entrance at eleven, okay?" He heard Sam sigh and he was willing to bet money that she was rolling her eyes right now.

"Fine." Then she hung up, leaving him staring at the phone.

That was strange. That weird warmth inside of him when he heard her speak.

He shrugged it off quickly and hung up the phone.

He was worried that his father would discover that he had gone to the carnival. It was a near certainty. His father had ghost minions everywhere, and one of them would most likely notice that Danny wasn't in his room.

Nosy little bastards.

But Danny would face whatever came. If his father grounded him for a year, he'd deal with it. Plus, it wasn't as if he couldn't sneak out using his ghost powers. His father wouldn't be able to stop him from using them. Probably because he didn't know about them. And Danny hoped it stayed that way for a long, long time.

00000

"Look at all the rides!" Sam shrieked uncharacteristically, dragging Danny and Tucker along. Tucker was too busy looking at the rows of prizes on the shelves and Danny was enthusiastically trying to free himself in order to buy cotton candy. "This place is amazing!" She shrieked with excitement once again and took off to the scariest ride.

Danny followed reluctantly, deciding to give up his dream of cotton candy. Perhaps it was better to eat after going on all the rides.

"Let's go to this one! No, wait, this one! Oh no, this one is so cool!" she screamed. For a second she seemed to be a shadow of her former self, the hyper little blonde. She looked excitedly at all the rides and then finally decided on the Ferris wheel. Tucker stared at her.

"The Ferris wheel? Why not one of the more exciting rides?" he whined.

"Because I want to see how big the carnival is. And you always have to go onto the Ferris wheel!" Sam said, pushing them into the queue, which was relatively small. Most of the people had gone for the more exciting rides, but Sam hated the longer queues.

They crowded into the Ferris Wheel, Sam staring out the window, eyes bugging out with amazement. Danny had never seen her so excited, not even when she was talking about how they should hold a protest against the companies that used animals to test make up, or how they should tie themselves to trees in order to stop people from cutting them down.

Danny snorted inwardly. As if he'd ever tie himself to a tree. The idea was laughable. A tree. Ha.

"Hey look, there's Dash and Kwan and Paulina," he pointed out, blushing slightly. He did think Paulina was very pretty. The Hispanic girl was currently tossing her hair around and smiling flirtatiously at the other two.

"Oh, who cares about them," Tucker said, waving his PDA in Danny's face. He shoved him away impatiently.

"Can't you get rid of that for a least ten seconds?" he grumbled.

"No way. This is my heart and my soul," he said, clutching to his chest. Danny rolled his eyes. "What's up with you? You're acting whiny. It's about your dad isn't it? You always act whiny when it's about your Dad."

"Well he's an evil bastard," he hissed.

"Dante Rio Masters!" Sam snapped furiously. He stared at her.

"Did you just middle name me?"

"Of course I did! You can't speak that way about your father! You're the one who's being a stubborn ass by always being cold towards him!" she scolded. He frowned. Why was she defending him? Unless…

"Oh please, you're only defending him because he donated nearly half a million dollars to Greenpeace," he said. It was true. Sam had been bugging everybody to donate money to Greenpeace in order to save endangered animals. She had especially focused on Vlad because he was so rich, and although it had amused the man in the beginning, after three days of her pestering he was so fed up he began to complain to Danny about his 'mildly overbearing and pushy friend'.

When Sam had come bounding into their house on the fourth day he'd ripped out a check, scribbled the first sum of money that jumped into his mind and handed it to her, forcing her to promise that she would never ever bother him again.

"Your father is a wise and caring man-"

"He only cared in order to shut you up," he retorted. She huffed angrily and crossed her arms, glaring at him. Her eyes were dark with irritation and the Gothic makeup didn't help matters.

"What's wrong this time? What did he do to piss you off?" Tucker asked curiously. Danny rubbed his eyes exasperatedly.

"Same old. He's never at home. Not that I mind that much, but when I ask him for help he tells me he's too busy. And I've seen this weird ghost hanging around lately. This bald, black guy with white symbols on his body. It's so weird, but I feel like he's important. And familiar. I think my dad hired him to do something. I'm not sure. But it's just weird, you know? Now that I think about it, a lot of the ghosts I've been fighting all know my dad."

"Well, didn't you tell us that your dad's cronies were almost all ghosts?"

"Yeah, they are. Skulker and Technus work for dad. They cause a hell of a load of trouble, but ever since they found out that I'm Vlad Masters' son it's like they're…careful. I never really paid attention to it before, but I've just noticed that most of them are connected to dad somehow. Even Ember does some errands for dad once in a while. They all know him…" he paused, and the other two looked at him curiously, the carnival long forgotten. "And Plasmius…"

"What about that jerk?" Sam spat, her obvious dislike for the power hungry ghost coloring her voice.

"I know he's connected to dad. I know it. But I just can't pinpoint how," he said, angrily banging his fist against the wall. His fists went straight through and he blinked in surprise. He hadn't lost control of his powers in quite a while. After all that training he was able to control his powers, but once in a while his emotions just broke that control and he found himself falling through floors unexpectedly.

"Are you sure? Maybe Plasmius is just one of those…loner ghosts, you know? No connections or anything? You might be over thinking this," Tucker reasoned. Danny shook his head.

"I've seen that guy with the symbols before. He looks so familiar. And I feel like he's connected to Plasmius. And my dad as well. I just…agh! It's so frustrating!" he cried, slamming his hand against the wall again.

The whole Ferris Wheel rocked violently to the side and the fell unceremoniously, Sam tumbling onto Tucker and Danny thwacking his head against the back of the seat. The Ferris Wheel heaved upwards and then back down. The sheer suddenness of the movement sent them flying sideways and they all screamed as the whole world seemed to rock and swirl. Danny felt his head swimming with confusion and dizziness and he tried to pull himself together but the movements were making him nauseous.

The contraption shuddered and then finally was still, leaving an ominous, tense silence as they waited for the next movement. Danny and Sam and Tucker stared at each other in complete shock, gasping for breath and unable to think clearly.

"Whoa…you must be stronger than you thought," Tucker joked breathlessly. Danny frowned. Something had been familiar about that situation. He struggled to stand on wobbling legs and leaned against the door of the shaking contraption. His eyes traveled to the bottom of the Ferris Wheel, where two very familiar ghosts were standing.

Oh, he remembered them clearly. The only two ghosts, besides Plasmius, he had never defeated. They had left a lasting impression despite only having fought him once, one that wouldn't fade away until he finally crushed them with his powers.

"It's those two. Edmund and Rosie," he snarled.

"I think it's Eduardo and Rosalie," Sam corrected. He sighed, exasperated. Okay, well maybe the 'lasting impression' hadn't made that much of an impact on him.

"Well, who cares? I don't need to know their names to hate them," he snapped. The Ferris Wheel rocked against, but this time it wasn't from an earthquake.

A lilting, sweet note tore through the air and sending them collapsing onto the ground, clutching the sides of their heads and screaming from the sheer agony of the single sound. The voice rose in pitch and Danny's squeezed his eyes shut as they stung with tears of pain that threatened to overflow. The voice itself was musical, beautifully wavering up and down and each note would have been beautiful if not for the havoc it caused on their delicate ears. But as it continued the voice became shrill and began to form a hellish scream that was even more agonizing.

Sam sobbed, a trickle of blood running down her upper lip. Danny turned into his ghost form and fell through the floor, flying unsteadily until he managed to get a good look at what was happening.

Eduardo and Rosalie were floating a few feet off the ground next to the Ferris Wheel, watching the crowd of people writhing pitifully on the ground. Rosalie had a looked of sheer joy on her face as she observed the people, fingers tapping her lush, pouting lips. Her partner looked bored, the cruel mouth of his pulled into a reluctant grimace. Danny floated towards them, intangible, and then froze.

Plasmius was there. And the black man with the white symbols. The black man was facing the Ferris Wheel, eyes closed and chanting loudly. His voice seemed to echo and it sounded as if hundreds of people were chanting together instead of just him. Plasmius was watching him, but occasionally glanced around to make sure there was no one to interrupt. He caught sight of Danny who was hovering dizzily and snarled with displeasure. He didn't attack though, simply flew up to where Danny was and faced him.

"Why, oh why must you always be around when I'm conducting a master plan?" he said dramatically, only half-mocking. Danny shrugged.

"Because it's my life's purpose to beat the crap out of you," he said.

"If my memory serves me well, you have yet to 'beat the crap out of me' as you so elegantly put it. Unfortunately for you I'm simply stronger, faster and more intelligent."

"More arrogant too," he quipped cheerfully once the world had stopped spinning. Plasmius scowled irritably, then gazed down at Magik. "I'm going to stop whatever stupid plan you've got going right now." And he shot forward, but Plasmius simply dodged him, looking amused.

"I wouldn't do that, Phantom. If you interrupt Magik, you will be unleashing all chaos onto Amity Park. You don't want that, do you?" he asked innocently. Danny paused, unsure as to whether he was faking or telling the truth.

"And why will that be?" he asked.

"You see, Magik is conducting a spell that will release the Titans from the prison that has held them for centuries. And in this spell, he releases them, and then puts a spell in order to allow me to control them. Necessary, because if not, they would have free reign. And they are known as the Gods of Destruction, or the Titans, so giving them free reign would not be in your best interests," he said calmly, though he was constantly glancing at the black man.

"So, either I let you have complete control over a bunch of psycho ghosts and destroy Amity Park or I let them destroy Amity Park," Danny said dryly. Plasmius' smirk froze on his face as Danny scoffed. "Nice try, but I think that if I had to choose…"

And he sent an ectoplasmic blast towards Magik, who was too caught up in the spell to notice.

"No, you fool!" Plasmius cried, but he was too late. The blast grazed Magik, who had jumped back just in time, but the spell was interrupted.

The ground under the Ferris Wheel, which was heaving upwards – and not because of Eduardo, Danny assumed – cracked and shuddered. The people inside the Ferris Wheel screamed as it tilted sideways, metal clanging loudly. Danny hesitated, realizing with cold shock that Sam and Tucker were still inside.

"Damn!" he groaned. The earth was still shaking, trembling, roaring and a white light burst from the cracks in the ground. Screams burst from the holes and, with a growing, sickened horror, Danny watched as a pale, bony hand peeked through the cracks and grasped the edge of the earth. An inhuman shriek was emitted and more hands scrabbled at the broken ground.

"Close the gate! Magik, close the damn gate!" Plasmius was screaming. The ghost, stunned from Danny's attack, swayed and began to chant with a shaky voice, gesturing grandly. Danny wondered if his attack had been wise.

"What the hell are those?" he cried, pointing to the hands. The crack was slowly closing, forced shut and the hands were pulled back inside. Angry howls pierced the air, even louder than the screams of the people running around below. The panicked men and women and children were running around, as far away from the Wheel as possible while the police tried to keep everyone in order. They were failing miserably and as they caught sight of the huge, jagged scar in the ground they faltered and took off along with the ground.

"Those are the Titans, and a few minor ghosts also imprisoned within," Plasmius snarled through gritted teeth. "And you nearly freed them!" He swung at Danny furiously and he was sent flying back, jaw throbbing.

"Me? You and that Magik moron were the ones trying to open the gate!" he retorted. Plasmius was too angry too answer. Eduardo and Rosalie floated behind the older ghost, watching, stunned and confused.

"Plasmius, what do we do now?" Eduardo asked, his voice cold and soft.

"We retreat." And he was gone, his two cronies beside him. Danny snorted and began to fly towards where Sam and Tucker were.

He would have to keep an eye out for Plasmius, deliberately seek him out to make sure he wasn't trying to release the – what was it, Titans?

He sighed wearily, wondering when the hell he'd finally get a break and just have some fun.

00000

"You're ill."

"No I'm not."

"You're shaking, you're shivering and you have a fever. Not to mention you've puked three times already."

"No I haven't. I'm not sick."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

But Danny was sick. He was pale, clammy and sweating and wrapped in a jumper that was twice his size. His mouth tasted disgusting and was burning painfully. He had never felt so sick in his life, but he didn't want to go home.

"I have to finish my homework," he whined. But the truth was he just didn't want to admit he was sick. Danny Masters did not get sick. He fought evil ghosts and once in a while got a few bruises and minor cuts, but he didn't get sick. Jazz snorted impatiently and began to pack up his things, stuffing them into his bag.

"This is useless. We're not going to get anything done if you're sick. I'm sending you home," she said. "And don't bother me with petty arguments. You're sick, and I say you're going home." Her tone implied it was final and Danny relented, not feeling well enough to retort. He stumbled out of the chair, feeling nauseous and tired. His legs trembled under his weight and he felt what was left of his lunch churning in his stomach. Jazz caught him and helped him out the door. "I'll get my dad to drive you back."

"No, it's fine. Dad was going to pick me up anyway. I can ask him to pick me up a little earlier," he mumbled, fiddling with his cell phone. Jazz watched as he called his dad and then sat down on the ground, sighing in relief as the queasy feeling subsided. She sat next to him, still fretting in a motherly sort of way.

"No ghost hunting this week, okay? You'll just get even sicker and it won't do you any good," she ordered.

"I highly doubt I can kick any ghost's butt in this condition. Even the Box Ghost could beat the crap out of me like this," he moaned.

"Why do you even continue ghost hunting? If you gave it up you could concentrate on your schoolwork and lead a regular life."

"Yeah, but someone has to stop the ghosts."

"But why does it have to be you? Why can't it be someone else?" Jazz reasoned.

"Know anyone else with the ability to transform into a ghost at will?" he asked dryly, then slowly stood up. "My ride's here." He smiled gratefully at Jazz. "Thanks for trying, though."

"Yeah, well…goodbye Danny and get some rest."

Danny collapsed in the backseat of the car, exhausted. Vlad, who was sitting next to the driver, turned to look at him, concerned. "You look terrible."

"Thanks, Dad. It's just the flu. It's not the sickest I've been; it's no big deal," he said, wincing at the nasally sound of his voice. Vlad nodded thoughtfully.

"I guess that's true. I mean, there was that time you got food poisoning from that seafood I warned you not to eat," he pondered. Danny rolled his eyes, feeling nauseated as the car began to speed down the road. He was never car sick, but right now even the slightest movement made him want to puke. "Or that time the cook left that salad on the shelf for a day and then served it to us. Even I got sick from that one. Or how about the time-"

"Dad!" Danny snapped. The memories weren't making him feel any better. The amused look slipped off Vlad's face and was replaced by a serious one.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'll let you get some rest. Good thing today's Friday, or you'd miss out even more on school."

"Wouldn't that be a tragedy?" Danny grumbled. Vlad snickered as they arrived at their house.

He helped Danny to his room, occasionally stopping at a bathroom in order to let Danny empty his stomach. Danny felt grateful for once that Vlad wasn't busy; it meant that he wasn't constantly rushing off or dumping him with the maid. He even attempted to make a hot sup for Danny, and after three tries Danny finally managed to keep down some of the food before flopping back onto the bed. They talked, swapping stories and laughing hysterically at the funnier memories.

Danny was always very careful when talking to his father. Unlike with his friends, he couldn't just blurt out the first thing that came to mind. He had to make sure he gave nothing away and he was also very careful about not mentioning the carnival. He didn't want his father to know that:

he was a half-human, half-ghost hybrid

he had gone to the carnival without permission and seen Magik working for Plasmius

He deduced that Magik was connected to both Plasmius and his dad. Which meant that Vlad must be connected to Plasmius. But how? Did Plasmius work for Vlad, or was it the other way around? Or were they working together? Frustrated he waited until his dad had left before slamming his hand against the wall.

"Damn it! All these stupid puzzles and ghosts and spells. What the hell are the Titans?" he hissed, his vision swimming. He sat on his bed, trying to think, but his mind was fuzzy and once again his stomach lurched painfully. He stumbled towards his bathroom, then stopped, remembering that the toilet wasn't working.

Instead he tottered out into the hall and went to the bathroom next to his father's study. As he passed the half-open door he could hear Vlad talking to someone, his voice angry and bitter:

"…Phantom appeared at the…"

"He interrupted the spell."

He stopped, crouching next to the door, intent on hearing this. The voice was deep, with a hint of an accent. He frowned, peering through the crack, the his eyes widened with surprise.

It was Magik, floating a few centimeters above the ground and speaking to Vlad, who was leaning against the table. He was scowling furiously, the white symbols on his body glowing dimly.

"Yes," Vlad said. "Once again, he's interfered with my plans. I'm getting a little tired of him, and I plan to get rid of him as soon as possible." Danny frowned. Vlad's plans? Did that mean that Magik, Plasmius, Eduardo and Rosalie worked for Vlad? They were most likely talking about the incident at the carnival, but Danny had never imagined his father was behind that.

"I can put a spell on him, to-"

"No. I wish to deal with Phantom on my own. I want the satisfaction of crushing him," Vlad stated simply. "But back to more important matters, we have the problem of the Titans. Did you manage to reseal the gate?"

"Yes. Thankfully I managed to close the gate before they escaped, but it was a close call. If Phantom's attack had hit me dead-on I would have been too weak to perform the counter spell, but the Titans are still safely under lock and key."

"Not for long," Vlad chuckled. "In a few days we shall attempt to open the gate again. I'll bring Eduardo and Rosalie and warn them to keep a lookout for Phantom. So far they are my most powerful associates and I plan to make full use of them."

"When I chant the second spell, remember, you must be present. If Phantom arrives, you cannot be distracted by him. Let the other two take care of him. This is much more important than you little rivalry, and if you are not present I will not be able to complete the spell and-"

"Yeah, I get it, the whole world will be in chaos."

"The Titans have abilities beyond my own, and I will not be able to help much if they are not controlled," Magik warned. "I will leave now. I need to replenish my strength." Vlad nodded.

"I need to contact Eduardo and Rosalie. They will reach you when I have figured out what date we shall carry out the plan," he said.

Danny's head was whirling with all this new information, and the dizziness wasn't making it any better, but what happened next shocked him to the very core and made his insides freeze until he felt like someone was gripping him tightly, paralyzing him.

Two black rings appeared around Vlad's midsection and traveled upwards, revealing a very familiar person.

Plasmius.

And suddenly everything made sense again. But despite the frustration of his confusion and ignorance, Danny suddenly wished that the truth had never been revealed to him. He wished he had remained completely oblivious, unaware of the true identity of his father and of the ghost that plagued his daily life.

Plasmius had tried to kill him.

His father had tried to kill him.

As Vlad – or Plasmius – and Magik flew out of the room through the roof he stood there, completely unable to move. He felt numb, slightly cold as a chilly silence fell on him. He didn't know what to do, what to think.

Then a wave of queasiness slammed into his gut like a punch and he bent over, suddenly reminded of why he'd even come into the hallway in the first place. He staggered drunkenly to the bathroom, heaving and gagging, suddenly plagued by more than just the flu.

He had never realized that all the while, when he had been fighting Plasmius, he had been fighting his father. His father was a half-human, half-ghost hybrid who was planning on unleashing powerful 'Gods of Destruction' and using them to take over Amity Park, and possibly the world. His father was a merciless, tyrannical ghost who crushed those that got in his way and used dangerous spiritual henchmen in order to get what he wanted.

In his state, it was too much for him to handle and he collapsed onto the floor of the bathroom and remained there for the rest of the day.

00000

And once again, I apologize profusely for taking so long to update. Hopefully, since it is almost the summer holidays I will have more time to write.

I know I said Danny will discover Vlad's identity in chapter thirteen but I guess I felt bad for making you wait so long.

Please review, I value your opinions

- Speeddemonrox