Disclaimer: I do not own anything that I reference

Chapter Five: Freaks Come Out At Night

"Are you guys ready?" Danny said as he looked around the circus. The ringmaster was friends with their evil history teacher so who knew what was waiting in the shadows. It was best to follow all the horror movie rules if they were going to survive this. Check every shadow, make sure that no one was following them, leave no one to wander off on their own. There was no telling what awaited them in there. Being prepared could mean the difference between life and death.

"Do you not think that you might be overreacting?" Sam asked while trying to seem like she was not judging him as paranoid.

"No. Otto was clearly shaking hands with the ringmaster. Anyone Otto considers a friend is someone that needs to be dropped into the nearest black hole." Danny said.

"You could send duplicate to spy around." Paulina said as she got out from the back of the car and walked towards him.

"That is a great idea." Danny said giving Paulina a smile and glancing around while laying his head on top of her head.

"Then let's go and see what going on around here while they are doing that." Sam said pulling his arm dragging him and Paulina along with her.

"Very well." Danny said letting himself be pulled while creating a few invisible duplicates to see what was going around in the places that people were not allowed to go. They were weaker than him but it would not matter if they stayed hidden. He would also gain their memories if they were dispelled.

Looking around Danny could see some of his classmates walking around. Kimmy was hanging with her boyfried Newton, Ilana was walking around without a care in the world while her brother Lance was walking around with a frown on his face and hands in his pockets. Kitty was walking Jay while her older sister Emma was talking to Noah. Were they on a double date?

"While your duplicates are spying we can have some fun and enjoy the park." Sam said pulling them to a picture stand with cut out faces. One was Frankenstein and the other was a succubus.

"Paulina take a picture." Sam said as she took her place and Danny took his beside her.

"Gothca." Paulina said taking out her phone and capturing the both of them.

Danny knew that Sam had been waiting a while for this circus and it was easy enough for them to do both things. So until he found something that showed how evil this place was they could explore and have fun.

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"Here." Sam said dragging them to a ring toss booth. Looking at the prizes he could tell what type of prizes that she would like most. Instead of adorable cartoon characters the stuff toys here were definitely something that would give little kids nightmares. Goths like Sam were probably the only people that would like them. There were also elephants, rhinos, and they looked like they were either stitched together from different parts.

"You seriously want them?" Paulina asked.

"They are adorable." Sam said staring at them. He and Paulina looked at each other showing that neither understood before shrugging and going along with it.

"Very well." Danny said cracking his fingers and getting ready to win this thing before Sam grabbed his arm.

"No Powers." Sam said.

"What? Why?" Danny asked her. If he used his powers he could get her every one of those stuffed animals that she seemed to want.

"If I wanted to cheat to win it I could have done that myself. It only counts if you actually put effort into it." Sam said.

"So sweet." Paulina said with stars in her eyes.

"Very well. No powers." Danny agreed as he held out his pinky showing that he was very serious about this. Ever since they were kids they all swore to never break a pinky promise. The most serious of all may seem ridiculous now but it did not at the time when they made the promise to each other. Even years later he still remembered that day in the park. Clear blue skies and the sun shinning down on them. Sam had wanted to do it at night but Paulina thought that it was too scary.

"Good." Sam said as she took his pinky with hers.

"How many young man?" A tall man in a black suit with an orange bowtie. Danny had to admit that the bowtie looked cool. He could never pull it off but he had to admit for the guy working the booth that it did.

"Six." Danny said putting the money on the table. Picking up the rings Danny took a deep look at the bottles. He gave his word to not use his powers and so that meant that he had to get the angles exactly right. There was something he wanted to get alongside Sam's present. Even though he was certain this circus could be a center of supernatural and inhuman evil that black fez looked really cool. He could probably get it embroidered with his symbol on it later. Well more accurately that the robots in the mansion could embroider it.

"Go Danny!" Paulina cheered for him causing a smile to grow on his face.

"Good luck young man." The man in the suit said with a smile. Danny narrowed his eyes making sure that this man was not going to cheat him while he did this. Circus games were almost as rigged as claw machine games. The way he usually played them was to use his powers to make sure he was not getting cheated. Right now he only had hope and skill on his side.

"Here I go." Dany said holding up the rings and giving them a toss one at a time. There were some close calls but his luck held out and each one landed safely on the target.

"Pick your prizes kid." The man said waving his hand toward the wall.

"Give me the black fez and the stuffed bear." Danny said as he looked at the other two.

"Thanks Danny." Sam said holding the zombie-looking bear in her hands.

"If that things come to life and tries killing us in our sleep I want you to know in advance that I blame you." Paulina said.

"This guy looks like he could barely hurt a fly." Sam said hugging the bear so close that Danny was convinced the two might combine into a zombie girl fusion.

"Do you want anything Paulina?" Danny asked as he turned to his other girlfriend. Just because this circus appealed more to Sam's taste it did not mean that he was going to ignore Paulina.

"Let me see." Paulina said as she started taking a look at the booths and their prizes. Her eyes eventually stopped at the high striker board were black while the words were in a dark green.

"There. Come on." Paulina said as she dragged him towards the game. Danny could hear Sam walking behind them at a leisurely pace.

"You should walk away kid. I seriously doubt that you can lift that hammer." The booth operator said.

"What do you want?" Danny asked as he put the money on the booth and lifted the hammer. The hammer was definitely not normal. Judging by how it felt in his hands it would take a body builder to be able to lift this thing never mind striking so hard that the ball would reach the bell all the way at the top. Looks like he was going to have to use his powers. He knew that Paulina would not mind. She was unlike Sam in that when she wanted him to win something she did not want there to be even the chance of failure. She wanted him to go all out from the start.

"You make the bell ring and your girl can pick anything she wants little man." The Operator was lucky that Danny was still observing everything around the circus otherwise Danny would have just overshadowed him and taken everything for free. The man would think it was all his idea even if he would not know why.

"I want the nunchucks." Paulina said point at the purple nunchucks connected by a black colored rope. It should not be a surprise. Paulina loved her kung-fu movies. She had spent years studying Re-Taekwondo. She was waiting for her eighteenth birthday so she could travel to japan and participate in the Mortal Kombat martial arts tournament.

"It is time to go beyond. PLUS ULTRA!" Danny yelled as he lifted the hammer and took a swing. The ball flew through the air taking the bell along with it on its sudden trip. It eventually disappeared in a twinkle. With a smile he turned around to see Sam shake her head, Paulina jumping up and down with a smile and the booth operator slack jawed. That expression brought him the most joy. Danny took out his phone and took a quick picture with his phone.

"My friend can take whatever she wants right?" Danny asked with a smile.

"Sure." The booth operator said sulking. He might not have Spectre's ability to feed off of misery but right now he was feeling like he could accomplish anything. Like he could lift the entire Casper High building.

"Danny." Sam said gaining his attention.

"You are acting like a super-villain." Sam said. That stopped him in his tracks. This was not the first time it happened. He has spent a majority of his life with super-villains. Vlad was a member of the guild of calamitous intent and so he had met many super-villains. The Monarch, Wide whale, Blarney Cock, Whackjob, and many others. Spending years around villains had messed with his morality which only added to his confusion.

"Thank you." Danny said to Sam.

"Alright how about we go see the main attraction." Sam said.

"What do you mean?" Paulina asked while swinging her nunchucks around her.

"The reason I wanted you guys to come was for the people that star in this circus." Sam said taking a poster from her hoodie and unrolled it for them. In the center was the evil ringleader that he met earlier. The name Freakshow was a very good name for this pale freak. Thinking on it he finally remembered where he knew him from. He was from the original's universe. A circus leader that could mind control ghosts. He had almost got the original to kill Sam with the mind control orb. Looks like he still had Elastica and Goliath with him but the other three were in his center show were new.

Frightwig, Thumbskull, and Acid Breath were new members that he knew nothing about. Given that they were center stage it probably meant that they were ghosts that had powers that Freakshow found useful. They would probably scatter the moment they were released from his control. He should warn Vlad about what was going on.

"I will admit to being curious." Paulina said as she laid her hand in his.

"Very well." Danny said as he created an invisible duplicate and sent it to call Vlad's duplicate. It was also to do further spying around the circus. If Freakshow and his assistant Lydia were at the center tent performing than that meant there would be no one able to find his duplicate if it was invisible.

"Come on then." Sam said as she took the lead. It was rare for him to see her so excited about something that Sam actually broke into a run.

"Keep up." Paulina said as she took after Sam. She may not have the same interest as her cousin in all things dark ans spooky but coming in second was something that she could never accept.

"Wait up." Danny said as he ran after the two of them. As he was moving he could see that Kitty was talking to Noah about something and given the looks on their face that they were worried. Possibly something that his duplicate might want to look into. Clues were everywhere in this place.

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"Welcome one and all." Freakshow said as he stood on his small podium. There was smoke filling the circus ring coming from the small smoke machine underneath him. "Whether you have come to be amazed, see the bizarre and impossible, or to be terrified out of your skull do not be worried. All outcomes are possible. This is Circus Gothica and when the lights go down that is when the freaks come out."

In Danny's opinion the pale skinned freak gave all people with red eyes a bad name. He would like nothing more than to charge right at him but as long as he had that orb that allowed him to control ghosts he would have to be careful. Not to mention all the innocent people around here looking at the show. All it would take was one stray ecto blast and scores of people could get hurt.

"Let's start this night off with our Flexible Frightwig." Freakshow said and out of the smoke came Frightwig. She was an attractive ghost. Pale blue skin, long red hair in a black bodysuit with separated sleeves that were black and yellow alternating down.

"You may be wondering what this young woman's skills are well sit bat and watch my soon to be astounded audience." Freakshow said and Goliath came bringing forth a spinning board with what looked like Emma on it. Thumbskull brought a table filled with sharp knives.

Looks like Freakshow had taken some of the people that came to the circus as a hostage. Emma from what he remembered from before she went off to college was the serious type and would never take part in something like this. Kitty maybe but Emma no way in hell. There was a very good chance that right now she was being overshadowed by Lydia given that he had yet to see her. His duplicates memories had just gotten to him and he had seen that some of her tattoo ghosts had been watching people visiting this circus.

The reason was probably nothing good.

"This is not something the lot of you should try at home." Freakshow said said with a smile before waving his wand/staff at the direction of the wheel. Given the signal Goliath began to spin the wheel faster and faster. Danny again doubted that Emma was actually capable of free will because at the speed she was spinning she would have thrown up right over the crowd.

"Emma came back from college?" Sam asked. She had met Emma a few times given that Kitty was also in drama club.

"I saw her earlier with Noah and her sister." Danny told her.

Freakshow placed a hoop on the floor a few feet from the tables with the knives.

"College sure has changed Emma. I did not think that she would be brave enough to try this. I can't believe I did not hear of this." Paulina said possibly annoyed that she was not aware of all the information at school whether it was gossip, rumor, or fact.

"I did not think she would be into this kind of place." Sam said.

"Probably because she is not in control." Danny said.

"You think something suspicious is happening?" Sam asked.

"As sure as the Action Man was a sadistic asshole." Danny said.

Frightwig did not move an inch but her hair extended to reach and grabbed the knives. Each knife was held by a tendril of hair and it was clear that she was taking aim. This was clearly going nowhere good so it was time for him to intervene. This performance could not go past the opening act.

"I am going to have to ruin these people's night. Sam I need cover probably a dark fog. Then I need the two of you to help people evacuate and try to find ..." Danny trailed off because at that moment he felt his duplicate dispel and had to groan in annoyance.

"What is the matter?" Paulina asked.

"It looks like Emma is not the only person that Freakshow has decided to take." Danny said remembering the last thing his duplicate learned before it evaporated to give him the knowledge.

"Who else does he have?" Paulina asked.

"It looks like he might he be after our teachers and classmates. Sam I really need the spell now." Danny said watching as Frightwig's hair tendril launched forward as it was about to release the knife.

"I can do better than fog. Hsinav Thgil." Sam chanted causing the tent to darken until people would not be able to see the hand in front of their face. That was the perfect time to transform into his ghost form. The bright light of the rings were not visible even in this darkness.

"This is good too." Danny said as he prepared to deal with this situation.

"I do not know how long this spell will last so you should move fast." Sam said.

"AAAhhh." Cries of fear and confusion rang out in the darkness as people dealt with the fact that they were blinder than bats. Danny did not have that problem and could see where everyone was and so while the others were dealing with this situation he charged right at Freakshow. It was better to take him out while he was unaware of what was happening. Get rid of his mind control and the others would be easy to be dealt with. At least that was how the plan was supposed to go. Use the darkness to catch Freakshow off guard then hit him with something hard enough to have him unconscious and then capture the rest of the ghost. Then send him off to prison where he never bothers him again. It seems that Goliath had a problem with letting him have his easy victory.

The green brute came in with a strong punch that sent Danny skidding back.

"Master in trouble need backup." Goliath growled causing the others to try and come forward but their steps were more hesitant and confused. It was weird because if they were ghost they should have been able to see perfectly fine in the dark. Either way he would have to deal with them.

The forced darkness around the camp lifted and eventually the remaining people in the circus tent could see what was happening.

"Flee for your lives!" Paulina shouted causing the crowd to finally flee and leave the tent.

"You have returned. You will regret that. No one interrupts my show." Freakshow said the orb on his staff beginning to glow red and swirl which caused him to jump in the air and fire two ecto blasts at him. Goliath was able to stop one but the other was able to throw Freakshow to the ground in surprise. The moment Freakshow dropped to the ground he let go of the staff.

"Let's just deal with that early on." Danny said using telekinesis to bring the staff to him.

"The lot of you crush him!" Freakshow shouted to his henchman.

"You might want to think this over." Danny said looking at the ghost that were glaring at him.

"Protect master" Golaith growled as he flew away with Freakshow.

"Come back here." Danny said as he charged at the retreating ringleader. Freakshow was his lead into Otto. About their suspicious past and the evil plans that were being plotted. He was so focused on Freakshow that he ignored the other ghost around him. Being knocked out of the sky was a quick reminder that he still had to deal with these freaks.

Danny had to take a step back to avoid Emma's punch. Looks like the ghost overshadowing Emma had decided to take part in this fight.

"You are in for a world of hurt kid." Thumbskull growled at him as he raced forward at him. His name really suited him. He was a big man probably over six feet, with pale green skin and instead of hair he had a fingernail on his head.

"I doubt you have the skill." Danny said using his powers to create a huge flash of light. While the ghosts in front of him were distracted. He created a duplicate with half his power to fight them while he would go on to chase Freakshow and Goliath.

"You know what to do." Danny said to his duplicate before taking off.

"Die." Thumbskull growled charging right at him like a bull to a matador. Danny just a strong stance and let the charging ghost come right at him. The moment Thumbskull got in range Danny used telekinesis to pull on his leg and drop him to the floor. Before Thumbskull could do anything he found himself frozen and stuck to the ground.

"That should keep you busy for a while." Danny said as he charged at Emma intent on freeing her from the ghost controlling her.

"Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Danny said as he walked towards her. His hand was glowing with ecto energy. A good enough blast should knock out Emma and allow him to remove the ghost possessing her. There were other options like having Sam cast a spell to remove Lydia but that would take time and neither he nor the original knew where Sam was so this was the way it had to go.

"You will not save the girl." Lydia said clearly choosing the hard way. Danny was about to blast her when he noticed that her eyes were darting to the left. Danny turned to see what she was looking at and had to become intangible to avoid the incoming knives.

"Whether it is one vs one, one vs two, or one vs three the lot of you will not win." Danny said as he looked at Acid Breath and Goliath. Looking back at where he had left Thumbskull he could see that the ice was melting. Looks like this goon deserved his name as well.

This might be a bit difficult after all.

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"Stop running." Danny said firing an ecto blast at Goliath. The ghost dodged a few of them which caused Freakshow to start flapping in the air and slip out of one of Goliath's arms.

"Damned child! Leave me alone." Freakshow said as he regianed his balance and Goliath's other hand.

"You tried to kidnap the hurt the people of my town. More importantly you have the answers to my questions. There is no way that I am letting you go." Danny said.

"You will never catch me kid. I don;t know what you want but you are not going to get it out of me." Freakshow said as Goliath flew them over a Ferris wheel.

"We shall see about that." Danny said pouring more energy into his ecto blast. The blast sent Goliath crashing to the ground and created a crater from the impact.

"You are not escaping me." Danny said fully prepared to freeze the crater over. He could phase Freakshow out and without Goliath to protect him than he would properly question the man. He had seen that while they were falling that Goliath had shifted his body so that when they fell it was he that took the majority of the pain from the crash.

Before he could even do that though he felt two hands wrap around his body and try to restrict his movements. Freakshow's staff fell out of his hands and to the ground.

"Good work minion." Freakshow said as Elastica bound his hands and feet.

"You are going to pay for all that you did to me. You ruined my show, assaulted my minions, and cost me a lot of business. You will be regret that for the rest of eternity. I will enjoy making you my slave." Freakshow said lifting up his staff.

"Hahaha. You should have been a clown in your circus instead of ringmaster." Danny said as he could not help but chcukle hearing that.

"What is so funny?" Freakshow asked insulted that someone was laughing at him.

"I am sorry but I just find it so funny that the lot of you still underestimate me so much." Danny said before bursting into electricity shocking Freakshow and all the ghost around him to fall to the ground.

"Now let us deal with this." Danny said destroying Freakshow's staff.

"No! Do you have any idea what you have done?" Freakshow asked horror clear in his eyes.

"Yes now let us talk. Tell me the truth or I will let those ghost you called minion have their revenge on you. After what has happened to them I doubt they would be in a very forgiving mood." Danny said with a smile on his face as he looked down on the terrified man.