It was their first lesson, and Dash was already regretting his choice to listen to Paulina.

He was in the ugliest hazmat suit…EVER, covered in slime, and he hadn't even come close to touching an ecto-gun. All they had done all afternoon was take notes on various ghost facts and watched Mr. Fenton blow up some invention that did who knows what. Now, they were both (except Mr. Fenton, ironically) covered in green plasma, and Dash had to listen to Paulina complain about how long it would her to get it out of her hair.

All in all, he wasn't having a very good evening. Hell, he wasn't having a very good day. And when you heard something like that from Dash, you knew that things weren't going very well. Ever since everybody's parents had been kidnapped by those ghost pirates, he had taken a page from Danny's book and tried to be more optimistic.

Danny, Das thought. Geez, ever since I realized how I (MIGHT!) feel about him, I've worried almost him more than anything else. I'm starting to wander into dangerous territory, but I can't get Danny out of my head, no matter what I do.

Luckily, that hell was over for the day. He could go home, kick back, and finally see if Isabella was realizes that she was being a bitch and apologize to Ricky (from his soap opera).

But still, even as he thought that, Dash knew that that wasn't what was going to happen when he got to his house. He was going to heat up some left-overs, lift some weights, and stay up all night thinking about every single little thing that had to do with Danny. Things like, 'I wonder what he's doing right now', and, 'he always smells really nice, what soap does he use'. Or sometimes he got a little bold and played with the idea of asking Danny out, right in front of Danny's goth friend.

Oh, imagination. Why do you hate me?

Sure, now that he was becoming more and more obsessed with the smaller boy, there still was the fear. Fear of rejection. It could come from anybody at any time. Dash's parents, friends, and even complete strangers might shun him for feeling the way he did. Or Danny could refuse to go out with him and Dash would be all alone in one-sided love...if the worst possible thing were to happen, it would be that. It was this fear that kept Dash forever the bully, and never the boy-friend. It was safer for everybody if he just admired from a distance- at least that what he told himself when Danny and him got a little too close.

Cursing, he dropped his car keys and leaned down to pick them up.

And that's when he saw it. The note, that is.

Come to my mansion tomorrow evening.

We have something important to discuss, involving your interest in ghost hunting.

Come alone.

-Mayor Masters

Vlad Plasimus smirked as he landed and transformed back into his human form, both feet back on the ground of his monster of a home.

I am truly a genius. Only a clever man like my-self could ever cook up such a brilliant plan. I am amazing.

Of course, devious was a better adjective to describe the half ghost. After all, he knew that the golden haired jock was one of Danny's many obstacles and Vlad planned on using that to his advantage. He could see that passion in the teen's eyes when he was shoving poor, poor Danny into lockers. And if Dash were to use that same passion, and Vlad's various weapons, while fighting both Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom, the smaller boy's morale would diminish until his will to fight was gone all together. Of course, he wasn't just counting on that small-minded boy's skill. Doing that would be too risky. Vlad had many plans to make Danny's life painful to bear. That's when Vlad would swoop in, "save" Danny, and take control over the Amity Park…or the world. Whichever one would make Maddie fall in love with him, and give him the power to destroy the idiot, Jack Fenton.

Oh yes. Vlad Masters was defiantly devious.