WoM- Wow, you guys accepted this fic with open arms! Here's Chapter Two for all you kind, ego-boosting reviewers out there. Also, I'd like to take the time to say that (If you haven't already noticed) the quotes I put up aren't just random things I enjoy, but tie in with the chapter.

"My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying."

-Ed Furgol

Scene 2

"So let me get this straight; You're about to become a household name across the United States, and get to spend time around one of the hottest award winning actresses our age, and you're upset?" Tucker frowned, cocking his head, "Am I missing something here?"

"Tucker, this is serious," Danny glared at his friend, "There are gonna be cameras everywhere, including my house!"

The three friends where hiding in a secluded part of an old park in Amity, discussing the recent turn of events and comparing answers on their latest homework assignment. Danny didn't want to risk saying anything at school, since cameras were being set up all over the place there due to the excessive ghost attacks centering around Casper High. (most especially by the elusive Danny Phantom.)

Jazz was busy trying to get more information on what was going on, and (Hopefully,) A layout of where all the cameras were, so Danny knew the places to avoid when going ghost. Luckily, no one seemed suspicious about the girl's inquiries, since almost all of Amity was excited about the prospect of famous stars shooting a big movie in little ol' Amity.

"Well, your parents are the local Hunters," Sam smiled sympathetically, as she dug through Danny's backpack for his notes "Other then Valerie, anyways. And since no one except us knows about her, of course they're gonna put a lot of focus on your parents." Sam stopped, wide eyed. "What is this doing in here?" She asked, gingerly holding up an ecto-blaster.

"Mom insisted," Danny shrugged, "She thinks the ghosts are gonna attack us more now that this movie's being made. Jazz has one, too, but she's keeping it in her room." Sam cringed and put the blaster back into the book bag delicately. "Relax," Danny told her, rolling his eyes, "The safety's on. I'm not gonna risk getting shot it the back like that, and I do know a thing or two about weaponry thanks to my parents. Anyways, Mom and Dad are helping Mr. Grey with the security for the film crew, equipment and actors. Meaning if I try anything, they'll be the ones who suffer, and If I don't do anything, I could be exposed to the entire country over the big screen!"

"Maybe you can just lay low," Sam suggested. "If what you said about Walker is true, I'm guessing the ghosts aren't too thrilled about this thing, either. If you just stay fully human as much as possible and the ghost attacks slow down, I'm sure the crew will get bored and leave. That way, no one's a fault."

"I wouldn't count on that theory if I were you," A cool, cultured voice said behind the trio. Danny froze, recognizing it in an instant.

"Plasmius?" He jumped to his feet, going ghost, "Why are you here?" Narrowing his eyes, he added, "Did you have anything to do with this mess?"

"Oh, please!" Vlad snorted, "Do you honestly think I'd risk that kind of exposure? Use your head, Daniel, I'm here to stop this ridiculous venture from my incompetent rival,"

"Rival?" Danny repeated.

"Marcus Kimbers, owner, founder and CEO of Kimbers Inc, a company in dispute with my own." Vlad explained. "Kimbers is a fool, though, so I never took the proper steps in eliminating him and preventing this disaster."

"Why do you care?" Danny's eyebrow kicked up, "I'm the one at risk here. I don't think even mom and dad would make the connection between your accident and mine, on the chance I am exposed,"

"It's not a chance I'm willing to take," Vlad said grimly, "Not all ghost hunters are as inept as your father, and my ecto-acne was a major case in the paranormal world back in my day. If anyone revisits that, exposure will become the least of my fears."

"But if the other ghosts don't want this movie, either-!" Tucker began.

Vlad snorted, apparently more irritated that he was reduced to actually speaking to Danny's friends (He'd always avoided it in the past. Danny was the only one worth his time.) "Smarter ghost like Walker, Skulker and Fright Knight all see this for what it truly is, a threat to their very existence. Stupid or daring ghost on the other hand--"

"--will see it as a way to get attention," Danny realized, his mood souring. "Great. As if I didn't have to put up with the Box Ghost enough before,"

"You're not to fight at all, Daniel," Vlad said sharply, "These ghosts are hopeless fools. If you try and fight them, you'll make yourself a focus of attention, and thereby risk your little secret getting out even more. Your friends here and young Jasmine may keep your half ghost state to themselves, but do you honestly think someone as money hungry as Kimbers would, with as big of a discovery as this would be to the Paranormal world?" Danny scowled. He wanted to ask how Vlad knew that Jazz knew about the halfa thing, but decided he had bigger things to worry about.

"So you expect me to sit around and do nothing while ghosts are attacking innocent people?" Danny demanded.

"If you want to protect yourself and those you care about, yes," Vlad snapped, "It's clear you're close to these two, and your family. If you expose yourself, you expose them. Everyone after you will realize the easiest thing to do is target those you love. With the right hostage, they can get you to agree to murder if they felt so inclined." Tucker and Sam stiffened.

"We've been helping Danny since he became half ghost," Sam told him, "We know how to protect ourselves."

"Yeah!" Tucker agreed. "What she said!"

"What about your useless father, hm? Or Jasmine?" Vlad said, narrowing his eyes at Danny, "They'll be put at risk as well, you know." Danny scowled.

It was true he'd never thought of putting his family in danger when he first got involved in this whole ghost thing. Especially Jazz, who had tried to keep herself as distant from the family profession as possible. Vlad, however, was always good at hitting the right spot to make people do and say as he pleased. But Danny was through playing by Vlad's rules.

"I can protect them," Danny told Vlad, "I've protected everyone else for this long, and I'll protect them too," Vlad sighed.

"Stubborn fool," He grumbled. And, after shooting Danny one last scathing glare, Vlad quite literally disappeared right in front of their eyes.

"Okay, show of hands. Who thinks Spooky Multi-billionaire's gone for good?" Sam asked sarcastically in the surprised silence that followed Vlad's abrupt exit.

No hands went up.

Vlad reappeared a little outside of Amity, where his limo was parked and waiting. His driver, a ghost himself, was unfazed by his boss' means of entrance. Very little could surprise Vlad's ghostly servants, though a few had raised an eyebrow when hearing about the powerful halfa's battle with a fourteen-year-old boy.

Lately, though, fewer and fewer ghosts judged Danny by his age, as his strength and powers were growing at a remarkable rate. This hadn't seemed to surprise Vlad, who instead of being upset, was greatly pleased with the boy's power.

"Did the boy agree, Master Plasmius?" he asked as his boss transformed into a human and entered the car.

"No," Vlad said shortly. "There's been a change of plans. Take me to the Fenton's household." A little puzzled, the servant did as he was told.

Vlad brooded darkly as he watched what was becoming familiar landmarks pass. It seemed his trips to Amity were getting more numbered by the day lately. And with each one, his knowledge of the people in Amity grew.

For example, the girls laughing outside the Nasty Burger right there were Star Rayon and Paulina Sanchez. Star was useless, but Paulina's infatuation with young Daniel's ghost form could prove advantageous at some point in the future.

And over there, talking to the camera crew, was Damon Grey, Valerie's father. Remembering to have constant 'accidents' take place in the man's workplace was a minor hassle, but very necessary. If Grey was left on his own, he'd quickly regain his lost fortunes, and Vlad could risk losing a very important pawn in his plans.

'BOOM!'

'Speaking of the young Miss Grey…' Vlad thought in amusement, glancing up to see the girl fly overhead, apparently chasing the Box Ghost yet again. Vlad looked back to Damon, to find him considerably paler (and clearly angrier) as he watched the girl, the crew around him bustling to get her actions on film.

He had to admit, it was an ingenious move on Danny's part to reveal the girl to her father. Damon was able to restrict Valerie far more then anyone else, and that made moving about easier for the young halfa. This way, he didn't have to fight his little friend or worry about her as much.

Still, he made a mental note to speak with her privately later about toning it down in front of the cameras. He couldn't risk someone tracing her equipment back to his company. Even though Dalv, the branch of his company devoted to Ghost Hunting, was kept on the low, he'd made enough enemies in the human world to know they'd be clawing for a chance to call foul play.

Humans were like that. Fueled by greed and desires for self-preservation. Ghosts were as well, but the fact that they were less subtle about it made them somewhat less dangerous on that effect. So many humans were petty and self serving, Something Vlad had learned well before the incident with the Proto-Portal.

He had no doubt Danny would someday see it too. It would take a while since Danny was so stubborn, but someday the ones he protected would betray him to serve themselves, opening Danny's eyes to the real world. He couldn't play 'Hero' forever, and Vlad was a patient man.

"We're here, Sir," His driver said, stopping the car, "How long will you be?"

"Head back home," Vlad told him, ignoring the question as he got out of the car, "I will call you when I need your services again." Not troubled by the demand, The ghost driver obediently pulled away, heading back to the city limits so he could phase the car and fly it home.

"Vlad Masters?" A surprised female voice said loudly behind Vlad. His smile was warm when he turned to face her, but couldn't help but take on a more sadistic edge as he acknowledged the greeting, taking in the girl's pale face.

"Jasmine, how wonderful to see you again…"

"What are you doing here?" Jazz took a deep, calming breath and mentally patted herself on the back when her question didn't come out as suspicious as she would've made it had she met up with the billionaire alone.

"Just thought I'd stop in," Vlad said airily. "I hope your mother's doing well?"

"Fine," Jazz said, her voice becoming a little tighter. Derris seemed to notice this, as he shot her a curious look. Wincing, Jazz decided to distract both her brother's archenemy and the super cute mega hunk next to her with an introduction. "Mr. Masters, this is Derris Brown, an actor in the Documentary that's being made here," Little in her doubted that Vlad didn't know this already, "Derris, this is Vlad Masters, a friend of the family."

"And the head of Masters Incorporated," Derris said warmly, moving to shake the man's hand, "A pleasure, sir. I've actually been considering a part in a movie Masters Media is planning on doing. It'll be my first movie debut, not counting Living Spirits," Jazz flinched slightly at the title of the documentary, a little uneasy about exactly how appropriate it was for a film focusing on her brother.

"Have you?" Vlad said with equal warmth, if not more, "Well, I'm sure you'll be excellent for whatever role you try."

'Apparently Derris isn't the only actor here…' Jazz thought dryly, frowning at the sharply dressed man in front of her. 'Lousy, evil…'

"Well! I bet you're tired after such a long trip, Mr. Masters!" Jazz said sweetly, "It's not good to neglect your health. Maybe you should just check into your hotel and get some rest. I can tell mom and dad that you're in town when they come back later tonight."

"Hotel?" Vlad repeated in amusement, "Now, why would I stay somewhere so impersonal when I have such good friends right here? Your father did invite me to stay whenever I wanted, after all. I believe he even went so far as to promise me young Daniel's room…?" Jazz stiffened.

Having Vlad in Amity was bad enough, she was not letting him within ten feet of her brothers room, where he stashed all the ghost hunting equipment he and Jazz had created or improved upon. Thankfully, Jazz was good at thinking on her feet. (Though she wasn't exactly to Danny's level. Sometimes she was amazed with the whoppers her little brother could tell in a bind…)

"And I'm sure Dad would love to come through on his promise, Mr. Masters." Jazz said, her tone never losing it's honeyed quality. "It's just I didn't think you'd enjoy living in a house where your every single move and word was caught on film…" Vlad's eyebrow twitched.

"…You've put camera's in your house…?" Vlad said in a calm, even voice.

"For the documentary, sir," Derris piped up, smiling, "Cameras in every room, even the bathroom. We didn't want to miss a minute of Ghostly action." Okay, that one caught even Jazz off-guard. Her parents let them put cameras in the bathroom? Man were they gonna catch it from her!

"…Well, I suppose I'll just have to live with it," Vlad said with a tight smile. "After all, Jack's family is practically my family-" (Jazz couldn't restrain a snort of distain at that one) "-and I have a much clearer head for business then they do. I merely wish to stay and make sure my dearest friends and their children are protected from the cruel, unforgiving world of greedy money sharks. I'm sure you understand, Mr. Brown?"

"Of course, Mr. Masters," Derris said, his smile never wavering, "It's great that you've got someone you care so much about."

"Yes," Vlad chuckled, "Well now, I think I'd better retire until Jack and Maddie come home. Like Jasmine said, I've had the most tiring trip coming here. The guestroom is still next to Daniel's right Jasmine?"

"Of course, Mr. Masters!" Jazz said, her voice a bit higher in her anger towards her parents and the billionaire. "Let me show you…"

"No, no, Jasmine, I know the way," Vlad said warmly. "I wouldn't want to tear you away from entertaining your guest," Jazz usually wasn't a violent person, but she suddenly had to resist the urge to sock Vlad for that one. And Danny put up with this every time he saw Vlad? No wonder he hated him so much…

"You know," Derris said casually as Vlad entered the Fenton's home, "You have the face for TV, but definitely not the talent. No offence,"

"None taken," Jazz sighed, "It was that obvious?"

"If that's how you treat a family friend, I truly pity your enemies," Derris laughed warmly. Jazz blushed.

"Yeah well… Vlad has a way of getting to people," She muttered.

"Noticed that," Derris smiled knowingly.

"You should see my brother fight with him," Jazz could stop the grin that begged to come out at that thought, "That's entertainment in it's most glorious form,"

"Any reason he's still considered a family friend when so much of your family hates him?" Derris asked, amused already.

"Yes, but it's a long, complicated story," Jazz sighed.

"Another day, then," Derris said, extending a hand for Jazz to take, "Care to give me the grand tour?" Jazz grinned.

"I'd be delighted to!" She said, about to take his hand when the control panel for the house caught her eye and she smirked evilly, "But first…"

Rushing over, she opened the panel with her key and flipped the one for the second floor from OFF to ON.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Oh, Mr. Masters, did I forget to tell you about the anti-ghost energy shields mom and dad put up around all the bedrooms?" She called up innocently, "They're not exactly stable yet and keep shocking Danny so we usually have them off, but I figured we didn't want to take any risks while we had guests." Jazz ducked to hide her grin.

She had lied about two things in that statement. The shields were perfectly stabilized (Though Jack and Maddie didn't realize that, and were confused at why Danny and Danny alone couldn't get into his room whenever they were on.) and so far Maddie and Jack only put them around theirs, Danny and Jazz's rooms. Turning back to Derris, who was trying desperately not to laugh, Jazz's grin widened.

"Ready for that tour?"

"Derris is really pushing my buttons lately…" Electra grumbled, brushing back some of her short blonde hair in annoyance, "And you, would you stop jumping around? You're giving me a migraine!"

This last comment was directed at Mandy, who wouldn't sit still as Electra rested at an outside table at the local fast food place ('Nasty Burger' Electra made a disgusted face at that name, making a mental note never to eat there, though it didn't matter since she never ate fried foods,) to try and catch her breath from all the walking around they did that day. Mandy looked back at her, unfazed. Everyone from the staff to the cast was used to Electra's temperament, which could change drastically in the span of a sneeze.

Electra was naturally stubborn and distrustful, and often resorted to mocking other people's beliefs. Though she'd accept Christmas presents, Electra didn't practice any particular religion, and refused to believe that which she couldn't see.

"Derris wanted to get a better look of the Fenton house," Mandy said, sitting down across from Electra. "We'll be doing a lot of filming there, and besides, he wanted to see real ghost hunting weapons." Electra rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right," she snorted, "Derris tells people what they want to hear, and that's what the Fentons wanted to hear. Only thing he's interested in is turning that red head know-it-all into his next arm trophy." Mandy shrugged, kicking her feet back and forward to amuse herself while waiting for Electra, since she was forbidden from moving around anymore.

There was definitely truth to Electra's words, bitter as they were. Derris was smart, with a honeyed tongue and sharp eyes. He knew what the people wanted to see and hear and gave it to them. It'd worked in their favor with the show, but as far as real life went, both Mandy and Electra found his behavior immoral and manipulative. He wasn't a bad guy himself, just… sneaky.

"It's not gonna work on her," Mandy said casually, "Maybe at first, but Jazz is smart, she'll see through him after a while, and Derris will regret it," Electra shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

Mandy was always making all sorts of crazy predictions about people, even if she only knew them for less then a day. The creepy thing was, she was always right. It was a fact that had many members of the staff bringing lotto tickets and such to the girl in hopes of a clear prediction, but whenever something like that was in front of her Mandy would only giggle and dodge away, never telling them anything.

"Didn't I tell you to stop the psychic mumbo jumbo around me?" Electra said irritably, "You know I don't like that stuff," Mandy opened her mouth to respond when their attention was diverted with a loud yell.

"HEADS UP!"

'CRASH!'

Electra and Mandy screamed in union, ducking under their table. Electra gasped and stared wide eyed as a bizarre looking machine floated over the table a little ways down from theirs, where some poor kid had crashed when the… thing had knocked into it.

"Behold! Fear my power! For I, Technus, Master of All Things Electronic and most Hip Ghost in the World, cannot be stopped by mere mortals!"

"How 'bout an ecto-blaster?" the boy snapped, firing a laser-like weapon at the ghost. Technus yelped loudly when it struck him, pinning him against a nearby wall. He looked startled when the components to his machine fell apart, revealing the ghost underneath.

"Curse you!" he yelled, floating up, "I, Technus, will be back after I find a form that can stay stable under the power of your weapon!" and with a bright flash, what was left of the ghost's machine suit blew up, and the ghost himself was gone.

"Annoying little…" The boy grumbled under his breath, standing up and working the kinks out of the arm he'd fallen onto when he crashed into the table, "Guess it's a good thing mom made me take this…"

"Fenton?" A surprised Chinese teenager in a letterman jacket said, approaching the boy with a perky looking blue eyed blonde attached to his arm, "You okay?"

Next to the couple, an uncaring Latino girl ignored the conversation, apparently impatient for the two to stop talking to the black haired boy so they'd start listening to her again.

"Fenton?" Electra repeated under her breath, her eyes darting back to the ecto-gun the boy still held in his hand.

The boy, now revealed to be the youngest child of the ghost-hunting couple that had been driving Electra insane since they got to the set of the shoot for the introduction to the Documentary, (The reason Electra had jumped at the opportunity to scout for people to interview,) wince slightly and blushed at the boy's question, his eyes darting to the Latino girl quickly before returning to the football player.

"Ah, y-yeah!" He stammered, apparently nervous. Glancing at the broken table, he added, "That didn't hurt as much as it looked like it did… Sorry about the table," The apology was directed at the manager, who came out to see what the commotion was about.

"Relax, kid," he said, "Amity Clean-up will take care of that. It ain't the first time we've had an attack,"

"Thanks," The Fenton boy said, "I'm just gonna head home now. According to Jazz, I've got a visitor and she's busy," Electra rolled her eyes, wondering for a moment exactly how busy Derris had her.

"You!" Mandy yelled excitedly, grinning at the boy and gaining the attention of the entire crowd. Electra bit back the misery-filled moan that wanted so desperately to escape.

"Uh, do I know-?" Fenton started, only to cut himself off with a sharp gasp. Electra barely heard it, though, over the Latino's high pitch, excited scream that had everyone in a mile radius flinching.

"ELECTRA LUNETTE!" She screamed, "OhmyGodI'myourbiggestfan!" Electra forced herself not to shoot her young co-star an evil look as she laughed and smiled, working furiously to decipher exactly what the girl had screeched. If there was one thing that annoyed her, it was obsessive screeching fans.

"Thank you," She said warmly, "It's great to be in Amity. All the people here are so nice!"

"I bet…" Danny muttered under his breath. Electra shot him a curious look at that.

"Don't worry," Mandy whispered to him, though only Fenton and Electra caught it over the crowd's babbling (And Electra only because she found this boy more suspicious then the mass of people fighting to talk to her.) "I won't tell, I swear!"

"Tell what?" Danny asked, confused. Mandy just giggled and fell back into place beside Electra.

"Have any of you had a run in with Phantom?" She asked loudly before Electra could demand what that was about. "We need to find people who know him pretty well."

"Ooh, ooh, I have!" the Latino said excitedly, "The Ghost Boy's saved my life! Loads of times, too! It's our connection, you see, he knows we're meant to fall in love with one another!"

No one saw Danny's face turn a shade of scarlet not yet discovered by man. A good thing, too, lest anyone become suspicious. Sometimes being invisible (Metaphorically speaking,) was actually pretty useful.

"He's saved you, huh?" Electra said, "And more then one times?"

"Uh-huh!" Paulina said, nodding vigorously, "Did I mention I got the lead in all my school plays since grade school?" Electra forced back the sigh that wanted to escape.

"Well, then, think you can come to this apartment around eight tonight?" She asked, holding out a business card. It was snatched away with a speed that shouldn't have been humanly possible.

"Yes!" Paulina squealed, "Thank you, Electra! You know, if this goes well, maybe I can get a part on Spirits!"

"Well, we'll see," Electra said, her smile becoming a little more strained.

Danny flinched as he watched the crowd swallow up around the two actresses with more questions while he walked back to Fentonworks, his depression over the whole documentary thing becoming even deeper.

Even Paulina, his supposed soul mate, would sell him out in a heartbeat for fame. Right now the security of his secret rested with his two best friends and his sister. And every other single person in town would bring him straight to the director of the film for recognition. Four teens, including himself, trying to protect a secret from the prying eyes of cameras, actors, and neighbors.

Maybe he should just move to Canada or something until things cooled down…

WoM- That's all for today! I've gotta get to a Meet-And-Greet with Butch Hartman at MCC in a few hours.

Thanks to;

Bluemystgirl

Skye-chan

Sparky

Dark-Sephy

Shell

Anomaly25

Purple Person

Flairi Blue

IwuvMyKenshyPoo

the sleep warrior

SummerSixEcho

The Great Susinko

leilanisangel

Next update- November 17th