Here's the next chapter for Masquerade, where the plot suddenly emerges (Jeez, a plot? Really?) and well, the expected tension between Sam and Danny (and, unfortuantely for Sam, Dash.) Enjoy!


You know those moments when suddenly you just realize that you were wrong about everything, and your best friend was actually right all along, and now you just want to jump up and hug him?

Well, how sweet for you. But, for the rest of us, especially me, we'll be content with wanting to strangle our best friends most of the time.

"Danny," I said, grating out the words like they were painful. Valerie just raised an eyebrow. "What a surprise." Actually, not too much. Stalker tendencies much?

Danny's usually twinkling blue eyes were narrowed and cold. "Sam. Trying to turn my other friends against me?"

My jaw dropped, but I closed it and smirked, trying to get the best word in here. "Right, Danny. Unlike you, I don't overreact, or blow up in other people's faces—" Danny cut me off with some witty remark that would have no doubt left me speechless, but I ignored him and looked around him. I really hoped Tucker wasn't listening in on our, er, conversation. Just because he was both of ours' friends, didn't mean he had to be involved in both of ours' arguments.

But nobody was at our table, just Tucker and Danny's lonely trays. My brow creased as I frowned. That was weird.

But my eyes did find Dash a couple of tables away. Dash was frowning, looking like he was thinking hard. (I could just hear Danny snorting: Dash? Thinking? Who would've guessed?) But when he glanced up and saw me looking, he grinned and waved.

I grinned back, all the while thinking, I'm going to kill him.

"Hey, Danny," I said, completely ignoring whatever one-sided conversation he was having with me right now. "Where's Tucker?" He twisted his head to look behind him, his long, messy black hair shifting.

Danny frowned too. "That's weird," he remarked, echoing my thoughts. Valerie shrugged.

"Why is it weird? He probably just went to the bathroom or something." Danny and I exchanged worried glances. Valerie didn't know Tucker like we did. He always spent his lunch time gorging himself to the limit with the cafeteria's all-meat buffet, much to my chagrin. Didn't move an inch the whole time—and honestly, I doubt he ever would unless his meat was on fire, or if Tucker himself was.

"Or there's—" Danny was interrupted as a frightened yell echoed from the hallway outside, silencing the whole cafeteria.

"Trouble," Danny and I said at the same time.

-------

A moment later, that all-too-familiar blue mist came out of Danny's mouth. Valerie looked tense as a red-and-black watch on her wrist beeped loud and clear in the quiet air.

Wasn't quiet for long, though. As usual, there was that "huh, what?" feeling, than the startled panic that came just a few seconds after. Perfect for Danny to transform. Ignoring his vendetta against me, Danny grabbed my wrist and ran, pulling me through the door and into the hallway. It was safe in here—teachers would be ushering students through the back door in the cafeteria, and plus; what idiot would run toward whatever was making someone scream?

I eyed the doors as the blue and white rings passed over his body, making Fenton into Phantom. Glittering emerald eyes glanced at me. "You're safe in here, right?"

"Don't know why you care," I muttered, but he just flew off toward…well, whatever it was.

You know, I've always kind of wondered how the families of firefighters and soldiers and all the other everyday-heroes feel when they go off to do their job, save the day. I mean, here I was, mad at him as heck, and I was still worried about him. Scowling, I pushed my hands down into my skirt pockets.

Suddenly, I heard a sort of banging sound. I frowned. Probably the fight or something. But there it was again, louder and definitely close to me. Ignoring Danny's advice, I slowly crept along the walls trying to locate the sound. I yanked open three broom closet doors before coming to the last one in the hallway.

If this one is empty, too, I thought, already in a sour mood, then I'm getting my ears checked. I yanked it open, and—

"Tucker?" I said, and his eyes widened as he looked up at my startled face. He was bound and gagged, currently all tangled up with a broom. I raised an eyebrow. "Jeez, Tuck. What'd that broom ever do to you?" He just glared at me.

I let out an exasperated sigh. "Alright, alright," I grumbled. Crouching, I quickly unknotted the gag and the ropes. Sheesh. Whoever tied these obviously didn't have a sailor uncle who had, as he constantly reminded me, won the Florida Knot-Tying Competition sixteen years ago.

Well, at least he had a shiny trophy. Or, rather, sixteen of them.

Tucker coughed, shakily standing up. At first it had seemed kind of funny, but looking at Tucker right now, it seemed a little…well, sinister. Sure, this could just be a "friendly" jock trick, but what kind of trick was that?

Plus, Dash was usually the one who did most of the pounding and brainless tricks on Danny and Tucker, and I knew he hadn't done this. Well, at least, song writing and Sam-Manson-kissing Dash hadn't done this.

"Plasmius," he choked out, and my eyes widened as I backed up. "And Skulker. Came and nabbed me while Danny was talking to you." He coughed again. "They're planning something, Sam. I think they're after you, too."

"Talked about that thing that Vlad used on Danny before in Colorado with his mom and all—the Maximum, or something." Plasmius Maximus, I corrected silently. I would've forgotten it too, since he had only used it once as far as I knew, but Danny talked about it sometimes. I guess I would've been worried too if I knew my arch-enemy had something that could completely strip me of all my defenses.

"Danny," I whispered. If Vlad had that…well, who knew what he was already doing to him right now?

I gripped Tucker's shoulders. "Try to get into the cafeteria and outside," I advised. "Go out the back door, and you should be with the rest of the student body. You'll be safe there."

Looking at him again, I winced as I saw he had a black eye. Obviously, he had fought back—Go Tucker!—but Skulker was, well, Skulker. Tucker just stared at me.

"What are you planning, Sam?" I rolled my eyes.

"On saving my best friend who probably hates me right now," I replied. "Anyway, there you go." I pushed him toward the doors.

"Wait a minute." Tucker chucked a Thermos at me. "Didn't get a chance to use it," he explained. "Get one of them for me, will you?"

I looked at him, grinning, before running toward the front doors. I could hear punches being thrown just outside. Who knew superheroes—and supervillains—could be so loud?

"Oh, believe me," I called over my shoulder, "I will!"

-------

Yeah, that probably was a cheesy exit on my part. But with Danny and Tucker, I'd kind of gotten used to it.

I threw open the doors and skidded to a stop on the pavement. I swept my gaze over the ground, then in the air, where the real fight was.

Vlad was smirking at Danny. "What, Daniel, too tired from our little chat in the Ghost Zone yesterday?" Danny was holding a hand to his side, scowling. I winced as I saw ectoplasm, ghost blood, seeping through the cracks in his hand. "You've barely thrown a punch at me."

My eyes widened. The Ghost Zone? Oh, right. Danny's little expedition.

Ignoring any common sense I had left, I called up indignantly, "You said you were mapping it out! How could you forget to mention you found Vlad on the way?" All three of them froze—Danny and Vlad across from each other, Skulker floating by Vlad's side. Danny had a look of horror on his face, while Vlad and Skulker had twin smirks on their faces.

Danny zoomed down, grabbing my arm. "Sam, you've got to get out of here," he said quickly, and I looked worriedly at a fresh cut on his face. "Plasmius will—"

"Ah, so this is the Samantha Manson I've been hearing so much about." Danny stood in front of me again, like always, and for the first time I didn't mind. Vlad looked more than a little creepy as he floated and bit off the ground, grinning evilly at me and Danny. "I hear you and young Daniel here are quite close."

Danny emitted a low growl as I glared at Vlad, not saying a word. "Stay away from her. And Tucker." Skulker, still high in the here, chuckled.

"A little too late for that, whelp." Danny's face paled.

"What have you done with him?" He looked furious, and I could feel his grip on my arm tighten. "If you've hurt him, if you try to hurt Sam, if you hurt anyone else, I'll—"

I spun Danny around to face me. God, why couldn't he just shoot Vlad already? I'd never understand the whole "witty banter" thing. "Tucker is fine," I whispered into his ear, and I could see him relax. "But you're not. We think Vlad and Skulker are up to something. Tucker thinks he has a Plasmius Max—" But I was cut off by the worst sound I could have possible heard at that moment.

The crackling sound of charged electricity mixed with Danny's anguished yells scared me more than I'll ever admit (and you can count on that). He pushed me forward to get me safe and out of the way, and I stumbled, falling to the ground. I watched in horror, my eyes flitting from Plasmius's self-satisfied smirk to Danny as electrical charges ran up and down his body, electrocuting him to the bone. He still hadn't stopped yelling.

Getting over my shock, I lunged for the Plasmius Maximus, trying to get it out of Vlad's hands. He just caught my arm and held it as, unwillingly, the twin rings passed over Danny's body and he collapsed to the ground in human form, passed out.

Vlad looked at his device thoughtfully. "Perhaps I gave him too much for his young body to handle this time," he remarked. "Oh, well. At least he'll shut up for once." I glared at him.

"Let us go," I demanded, and he looked at me, amused. "Aren't you late for your counseling sessions, Vlad?"

Vlad laughed. "Hilarious, really. No wonder Daniel likes you so much. You're practically twins." He glanced at Skulker and let go of my arm, thrusting me at him. "Grab the girl, Skulker, and let's go." His mouth opened into a wide smile, and I shuddered when I saw his fangs. "Now we can finally engage in the second part of my plan."

Skulker glared at him. "I mean, our plan, of course."

Great. Swell. Wonderful. Danny was unconscious, probably still hating me. I was being taken hostage by a clearly psychopathic fruitloop, and Tucker was the only one who knew. You know, maybe it would be better if this was one of those crappy Romeo and Juliette stories.

"Sam!"

I looked up hopefully, grinning as Skulker, who had been about to fly up, scowled. If I was actually lucky for once, it would be Tucker, waving a Thermos and a Fenton Bazooka in his hands.

Of course, this is my world, where luck and all the good, happy things that happen to normal people don't really exist.

Dash came charging down to us, armed with—well, his ferocious face expressions. "Let her go!" he demanded, stopping right in front of me. Conveniently forgetting Danny, I acknowledged.

I glanced dubiously between Vlad Plasmius and Skulker. "Uh, Dash," I said in a low voice, "I appreciate the effort and bravery and all, but I don't think there's much you can do right now. Why don't you just go to the Fentons and—"

But clearly, my opinion on these things doesn't matter much, because Dash ignored me and stepped up close to Skulker, who was just looking rather amused.

"So, the whelp's girlfriend is rather popular," he acknowledged, and I stared at him. "Stand down, you little—"

Of course, Dash took that as an opportunity to punch Skulker right in the face.

I winced, expecting Dash to howl in pain and then Skulker to send him to kingdom-come. Blinking, I watched as a small green charge passed from Dash's fist to Skulker, making the mechanical "wonder" yelp in surprise as he was shocked. He probably didn't even notice the huge dent in his face.

I didn't waste any time, yanking my arm free and grabbing Dash's. I looked around desperately for Danny and Vlad, but they were no where to be seen.

I stopped still, trying to search every cranny with my eyes and dang-it, find them, but Dash just ran and pulled me through the doors, collapsing against them when they closed.

"You know, I really didn't need saving," I said, straightening up, just making it for the point. Another thing Danny and Dash were in common—overprotective. "My plan was working just fine!" Or at least it would've, if I'd actually thought of one yet.

Dash straightened up. "Yeah, I know." I blinked. Whoa. I'd expected him to be demanding gratitude, or just stalk off angrily. He actually agreed? "It's just kind of scary to see your girlf--, I mean your friend being kidnapped by some metal ghost with weirdo flaming hair." I shrugged uncomfortably.

Dash's face brightened. "Though it did kind of remind me of Ember." I rolled my eyes.

"And Sam?"

"Yeah, what?"

"I was thinking about, uh, yesterday, and well, I wanted to tell you that—"

"Maybe later," I interrupted hastily. Right now, all I could think, or should be thinking, was save Danny. "How did you do that? You know, the weird green electricity shock?" I demanded, putting my hands on my hips. Because, seriously. Not natural.

Dash sighed. "Few days ago, me and Kwan were stuffing Foley into his locker." He lifted up his trademark letter jacket to reveal the all-familiar green-and-white metal belt. "We found this in there, and since he wouldn't fit, I took it out and kept it." He shrugged sheepishly under my withering glare.

"Ignoring that," I muttered. "But we've got to save Danny!"

Dash looked confused. "Who? Fenturd?" He looked kind of angry at the thought. "Why would I want to—" I gave him another death glare.

"You don't have to," I replied, sighing. "But I do. Where's Tucker?"

"Oh, yeah! His parents came by and picked him up as soon as they heard." I growled. Well, there's goes my help from him. And with Jazz out on a college-scouting trip…

"Looks like I'm alone on this one," I muttered to myself, but Dash heard it and gulped.

"You're going to face them? By yourself?"

"Don't really have much choice. I've got to get him back."

"Then…" Dash looked like he'd just swallowed a lemon. "Then I'm coming with you. We'll have a better chance, together." He gave me a huge grin, pumping his fist into the air. "Field trip!"

I let out an exasperated sigh. This was just swell—me and Dash, out on a quest to defeat Plasmius and Skulker and save Danny, only armed with a Thermos and a Specter Deflector. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that it was me and Dash.

Oh, joy.