Drake and Morgana smiled at each other as they reached the door of McCawber Manor. Morgana had never been to a carnival before, at least not a normal carnival. Drake had fun watching her as they rode the roller coasters, ate cotton candy and played the games. He had won her a teddy bear by hitting a bell with a hammer. The best part for Morgana was that there were no crimes committed that they knew of, so he wasn't distracted. For once, she had his undivided attention.

"Morg," Drake said, as if struck by a sudden thought, "you said you'd never been to a normal carnival before tonight. What are your carnivals like?"

Morgana smiled. She loved their carnivals, but she wasn't sure Drake would at first. She thought once he got used to them they would grow on him, though, and she knew Gosalyn would love them. "Launchpad wouldn't like them at all," she thought sadly. "I'm not even sure he likes me. I wish he did; I would like to be his friend. After all, I'm in love with Dark and Launchpad is his best friend. Besides, I'm fond of him."

"Well, the biggest carnival we have is on Halloween. All the ghosts, ghouls, witches and sorcerers come."

Drake fought down the urge to ask if normals were turned into anything freaky. That was exactly how he would have worded it. He liked Morgana; he thought he was actually in love with her, but some things about her were just weird. It wasn't her fault; it was just the way she was brought up. He was glad she didn't seem to notice the look on his face. Morg had a nasty temper.

By the time she finished telling him about all the activities at a magical carnival, Drake was sure he wouldn't want to go to one. He'd had enough experience with magic, and particularly with Morgana's father, to want to stay as far away from a gathering like that as possible. He hoped she wouldn't invite him. Maybe the thought of her father's reaction would prevent her from asking him to come.

Maybe if she did invite him he could say Halloween was one of the busiest nights of the year for him. That wouldn't exactly be a lie; with Gosalyn trick-or-treating, regular crimes of mischief and Quackerjack apt to turn up at some point, Halloween was never boring. He pushed away the thought that Gos would enjoy a completely haunted carnival even more than she would a whole bunch of candy.

Morgana's clock struck midnight. Morgana looked at it briefly, then her face paled.

"Oh, no!" she said, alarmed. "Dark, you have to leave now, quickly! Don't you realize what today is?"

"It's the thirteenth," he said, puzzled.

"Exactly! It's Friday the thirteenth!"

"So?"

"It's a day of nothing but bad luck!"

"What?" He couldn't keep the characteristic squeak of disbelief out of his voice.

"Surely you know Friday the thirteenth is a day of bad luck. Nothing good ever happens on this day!"

"Morg, that's just a stupid superstition! Only an idiot would believe in-" he broke off, too late. He had lost the argument at the word "stupid" and he knew it, even before he saw the anger fill her face.

"Stupid, huh? Idiot, huh? Well, at least I'm not a closed minded, egotistical pudding!"

She was so angry she couldn't think of anything better to turn him into. Gosalyn had actually given her the idea once; the idea of someone being turned into pudding had fascinated the little girl.

There was one problem. Her anger clouded her thinking and she barbecued his feathers instead of turning him into a pudding. She pretended that was what she meant to do and fought the urge to apologize. After all, Dark had brought this on himself. She never made fun of his normal beliefs, so why did he always have to make fun of her magical ones? It wasn't fair.

Drake was angry now, too. How could he have a conversation with someone who caused him physical pain every time he said something she didn't like? OK, so maybe he could have been a little more diplomatic. Maybe he should be more tolerant of her magical beliefs, but it wasn't fair of her to win an argument with magic. A verbal argument he had a chance of winning, but he had no defense against her magic.

"Well," Morgana continued, "if I'm a stupid idiot, then maybe you shouldn't be going out with me!"

"I never said you were-"

"You're exact words were stupid and idiot!"

"But all I meant was-"

"I know what you meant! Only an idiot would believe in a stupid superstition! You won't even listen to the facts!"

"What facts?" Drake's tone was sarcastic, as if he didn't believe there were any facts surrounding Friday the thirteenth.

"Nothing good ever happens- on"

"You said that already, at least twice!"

"Will you let me finish! Relationships break up on Friday the thirteenth. People disappear, or die, or have a chain reaction of events that happen to wreck their lives, or at the very least their entire day."

"Morgana, that's no different from any other day!"

"Evil magic is stronger than ever on Friday the thirteenth. Thirteen is a very powerful evil number, and Friday the thirteenth is the most evil day of the year!"

"What about Halloween? Evil is strong then, too. Ghosts, ghouls, witches, you said so yourself!"

"I never said they were evil! Yes, there are evil creatures of every sort, including normals, as you yourself know all too well!"

"Yeah," Drake said before he could stop himself. "I fought you, didn't I?"

He knew it didn't make any sense and he knew Morg wasn't evil anymore, but he was so angry he spoke without thinking. He ignored the fact that he often spoke without thinking, even when he wasn't angry.

Morgana looked as if he'd slapped her. Drake immediately regretted putting that look on her face.

"That's what this is all about, isn't it?" she asked quietly. The hurt in her voice made Drake want to hug her and make it all better. "You think I'm still evil. You don't think I've changed at all, do you?"

"No, Morgana, I-" Drake began. He really hadn't meant to hurt her and he really did know she'd changed. He wished he had better control over his tongue.

"Well, if my being a Justice Duck, helping you defeat the Fearsome Five and helping you beat Nodoff hasn't convinced you, I don't know what will! I deserve better than someone who's going to use my past against me when we have an argument! I don't need a boyfriend who throws my past up in my face!"

Drake was angry again. He didn't need a girlfriend who barbecued him or turned him into something awful either.

"I wouldn't have had to beat Nodoff if you hadn't gotten him to supply you with the sleep sand that made it possible for you to rob people while they were sleep walking either!"

"Shut up and get out!"

"Well, if that's the way you want it, fine! Maybe I can find a nice normal girl!"

Drake regretted saying that, too, but he was furious and didn't stop to apologize. The last thing he saw before he slammed the door was Morgana's eyes filling with tears.