Summer Bummer

by rugphan

A Danny Phantom/Rugrats Crossover. When 5 year old Danny wins a trip to Lake Eerie for him and his friends, he is convinced that this will be his best summer vacation ever. Little does he know, that this trip will change his life, for him and and the babies, forever. The 1st story in my Danny, Tommy, and Friends story series.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: "I own the characters S.T. Sohg and Steve. I do not own any of the other characters." Butch Hartman owns the characters Danny, Sam, Jazz, Vlad, and Maddie. Paul Germain owns Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Angelica, and Didi.

Summer BUMMER

(Based on the Rugrats and Danny Phantom.)

Written by Rugphan

WARNING: There are some pretty scary stuff happening in this story!

Please, try not to cover your eyes!

Chapter 1: The Last Day

Five-year-old Danny Fenton sat up in his bed, stretched, and yawned. He was very happy this morning. He had just woken up from a good dream. Danny always liked waking up from pleasant dreams because that meant something great was going to happen.

Danny opened his window curtain. The sun was shining brightly, making the light reflect off his bedroom wall. Danny smiled. He loved making shadows on the walls. Danny was doing just that, when it hit him.

"Oh no!" he cried, dashing toward his alarm clock. Danny panicked when he saw the time. "It's 7:40?" he exclaimed. "I've only got ten minutes until my bus comes! I'm gonna be late for my last day of school!"

Danny ran toward his closet, grabbed some clothes, and quickly got dressed. He put his bright blue vest on as he rushed down the stairs.

"Thanks for waking me up Jazz!" Danny said sarcastically to his older sister as he ran into the kitchen.

Jazz lifted her head up from her bowl of cereal to look at him. "Oops!" she cried, "Sorry Danny! I guess I forgot that your bus comes earlier today!"

"Yeah," Danny exclaimed grabbing a poptart from the toaster, "well now thanks to you, I'm in a huge rush!"

Jazz smiled at him. "Yeah, I think I figured that out!"

"How?" Danny asked. " Are you just saying this just because I'm running all over the house right now?"

"Well, for one thing," Jazz said pointing at him, "your shirt is inside out and you're not wearing any socks or shoes!"

Danny looked down at himself. "Oh man!" Danny groaned dashing up the stairs, "Jazz, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Jazz laughed and shook her head.

As Danny was fixing himself up in his room he glanced out the window. He noticed that his bus pulled up in front of the house. "Oh no!" he cried grabbing his backpack and rushing down the stairs, "The bus is here!" But just when Danny got outside, the bus was already driving away.

"WAIT!" Danny yelled, "STOP!" But the bus driver didn't hear him. He just kept driving. "So much for the last day!" Danny mumbled.

"Hey Danny!" a voice called from behind him, "Did you miss the bus too?" Danny jumped and turned around. It was one of his best friends, Sam Manson. "Jeez Danny!" she cried. "It looks like you've just seen a ghost!"

Danny frowned. "Ha. Ha. Very funny, Sam! How did you miss the bus?"

"Well," Sam began, "my Mom woke me up about ten minutes before my bus came, then I had to quickly get dressed, then I had to run down the stairs, I barely got any time to eat my breakfast, then I had to run back up to my room because I put my clothes on really weird, then when I was in my room the bus came, and by the time I got outside the bus was driving away, and I yelled for the bus driver to stop, but he wouldn't, so I started walking to school, and now I'm here!" Sam sighed. "Man!" she cried, "So much for the last day, huh?"

"Funny." Danny exclaimed, "Where did I hear that story before?"

Chapter 2: Bullies

As Danny and Sam walked to school, they had a good long talk about what they were going to do for their very first summer.

"I'm not sure what I'm gonna do yet." Sam was saying to Danny. "I'll probably just sit around the house all day I guess. What about you Danny?" she asked. "Do you know what you're gonna do this summer?"

"Oh, I don't know!" Danny answered. "I guess I'll be playing with Tommy all summer!"

Sam had a puzzled look on her face, but it quickly disappeared. "Oh yeah!" she cried. "Isn't he your new playmate?"

Danny nodded. "I'm going to his house right after school. I'm sure you and Tucker can come with me as long as your parents says it's okay!"

Sam smiled and nodded. "Sounds like fun!"

Danny and Sam chatted some more about summer plans until they got to school. Aside from the behavior of the students, Ghoul Elementary was a great school. Danny liked his kindergarten teacher, Ms. Robinson, and all of the different things he learned in class that year, except for math.

The only thing Danny didn't like about this school was the name. It reminded him how everyone here constantly teased him about his parents' job. Danny's mom and dad fought ghosts. Amity Park had a lot of 'ghost activity'. So once a ghost invention was finished, it was never forgotten.

Danny was always nervous before he entered the school building. Usually a group of four or five kids were waiting on the other side of the front door waiting to start picking on him, and occasionally his two best friends.

But each day before Danny started pulling the door handle, he always thought back to what Tommy said to him when they first met.

"Danny, I don't care what other peoples think! And you shouldn't neither!"

Danny also remembered something else Tommy had said to him before he left yesterday afternoon.

"Danny, if any of those kids at your school tease you at all tomorrow and a ghost actually does come someday, they'll be sorry they ever was mean to you!"

'That Tommy,' Danny thought happily, 'he's always giving out great advice!' After quickly taking a deep breath, Danny and Sam walked into the school building.

"Danny, Sam, I need a little help here!" Danny's friend Tucker cried. Two of the school bullies, Dash and Quan, were trying to put Tucker into a fight. Danny and Sam walked in just in time.

"Dash," Danny cried, "leave Tucker alone!"

Dash turned to look at Danny and smirked. "Or what Fenton?" he asked smugly, "Are you gonna shoot me with a ghost ray or something?"

"Yeah," Quan laughed, "are you gonna-,"

Dash shoved him. "Listen Quan," he cried, "I do all of the talking around here! Got it?"

"Yes sir!"

Dash helped Quan get back on his feet. "As for you Fen-toenail," he cried, "you're about to get a taste of your own medicine!"

The two bullies marched toward Danny, but both stopped when Dash started screaming. Sam had stomped on his right foot. Tears were now streaming down Dash's face and he was wailing in pain.

Sam smiled and turned to face Danny and Tucker who were staring at her with their mouths open, dumbstruck. "That," she said happily, "is one of the reasons why I don't wear flip-flops during the summer!" Sam turned around and looked at Quan. "Do you want a good stomping too while I'm still in the mood?"

Quan quickly shook his head. "N-No thanks!"

Sam smiled. "I thought not!"

Once the pain left Dash's foot, he ran toward Danny and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "You win this time Fenton!" he said angrily. "You might've saved you're nerdy friend from getting a beating. And you're little girlfriend might've just saved you from getting your butt kicked. But remember this," Dash leaned his face in toward Danny's. "You're not a leader or a fighter and you never will be!"

Danny winced as Dash threw him to the ground. Dash and Quan laughed. "C'mon Quan, let's get out of here before their geekyness rubs off on us!"

Chapter 3: Summer's Here!

"Five more minutes you guys!" Tucker cried running over to Danny and Sam. Danny was sitting at his desk and staring at the floor. Sam was trying her best to comfort him. Tucker was watching both of them. "Okay, you guys are really bumming me out!" he exclaimed. "It's almost summer! You know, the day we've all been looking forward to for weeks!"

Sam glared at Tucker. "Can't you show a little respect Tuck? Danny's a little upset right now!"

Danny sighed. "Don't worry about me Sam. I'm okay."

"Really?" Tucker asked, "Because you don't sound okay!"

Danny was silent for a while. All he wanted to do now was go to Tommy's house and explain what had happened. He would understand how Danny felt. Then Tommy would give some advice to make him feel better and then he and Danny would play a fun game to help him take his mind off of what had just occurred hours earlier.

Danny sighed once again. "Are you guys going to Tommy's house with me?"

"My Mom said it was okay when I talked to her on the phone," Sam said answering Danny's question. "I have to be back by three o' clock though!"

Danny smiled at her and then he turned toward Tucker. "What about you Tuck?" he asked. "Are you ready to meet Tommy?"

Tucker suddenly frowned. "I'm sorry, Danny!" he cried. "I can't go! I need to get home and pack up my things for California!"

The grin slipped from Danny's face once again. "You're leaving?" he asked, disappointed. "When are you coming back?"

Tucker shrugged. "Somewhere between July and August."

"You're going to be gone practically the whole summer!"

"Sorry dude, but this is the only time of year I can visit my Uncle!"

Danny was so sad that he didn't here the school bell's final ring.

"Man," Danny exclaimed, "some summer vacation this has turned out to be so far! It's only been two minutes since the bell rang and I've already had to say goodbye to Tucker and I feel like I should crawl into a hole and not come out until summer's over!"

Danny and Sam were waiting for Tommy's mom to pick them up in the school parking lot. They had been waiting for five minutes and over half of the kids were gone already.

Sam smiled. "Ah, come on Danny! Don't listen to what Dash and Quan said! I think you're a leader and a fighter!"

"Well I don't think so!" Danny said sitting down on the pavement.

Danny and Sam were silent until the Pickles' van drove up the road. Tommy was trying to look outside, but he was too short to completely see out of the car window.

"Sorry I'm late kids!" Didi Pickles cried as Danny and Sam slid into the back seat. She looked at her son. "I don't know what's gotten into Tommy today. It's like he knew you were coming!"

Danny looked to his right. Tommy was staring at him with a huge grin on his face. Danny smiled back at him. "I hope you don't mind that I invited my friend Sam over to play, Mrs. Pickles!"

"Oh, not at all dear!" Didi exclaimed, as she drove out of the parking lot. "Your mother said that some of your friends might be coming. Besides," she added, "it's just the four of us today!"

Danny nodded and looked back at Tommy who was still trying to get a glimpse out the window. "Wow, Danny!" he exclaimed. "From what I can see, your school looks really big! I bet' cha at least three Reptars could fit in there!"

Danny laughed. Tommy was good at making people laugh, although sometimes he wasn't trying to.

"Oh, I remember Reptar!" Sam cried. "Danny and I used to watch it all the time when we were younger!"

"Really?" Tommy asked leaning forward so he could look at her. "How long have you guys played with each other?"

"Since before we could talk to grown ups actually."

Tommy smiled. "It's Sam isn't it?"

She nodded.

"I'm Tommy, or as like to call myself, Tommy Afully Bald Pickles!"

Sam laughed.

Tommy grinned, but it quickly disappeared when he saw his playmate's face. "Hey Danny, what's wrong? Your firstest baycation's started already!"

"Oh, he's just bummed because he had a rough day at school!" Sam said, answering Tommy's question. "Trust me, he'll get over it!"

Tommy frowned. "Were those biggerer kids mean to you again, Danny?"

Danny nodded without looking at him.

Tommy's brows furrowed. "Oh, those meanies are gonna pay someday! Just you wait!"

Danny grabbed Tommy's arm. "Calm down, Tommy!" he cried. "Sam's right, all I need to do is think for awhile and I'll get over it!"

"Are you sure?" Tommy asked.

Danny smiled and nodded. "Besides," he added, " at least my summer can't get any worse!"

Chapter 4: Things Get Worse

"I'll see you later, Tommy!" Danny cried happily, jumping out of the car. "Thanks, Mrs. Pickles!"

"Your welcome, dear!" Didi said happily. "We'll see you tomorrow!"

Danny waved to both of them as the van drove away, and smiled. He felt better after going over to Tommy's house. Sam had to leave early, but she seemed to like getting to know Tommy and that made Danny even happier. Sam was going to go to Tommy's with Danny again tomorrow.

Danny started toward his house. It was a tall brick house, with a bunch of windows all over the sides. A huge yellow sign with large letters spelling Fenton Works stood on top, made the house stand out of all the others in Amity Park. Danny hated that sign. It was like it was calling out to the whole city, saying to come and taunt his family some more. There was going to be even more teasing, when the new improved op-center was going to be built on the roof of his house.

Danny walked up the front steps, opened the door, and stepped inside. "Mom," he called, "Dad, Jazz, I'm home!"

Danny looked around inside. He heard the normal sounds of his parents working downstairs in the lab, and he also heard his sister doing her summer chores, but something was missing.

Danny was trying to figure out what was different about the sounds in his home. Then it hit him. His pet hamster, Speedy, wasn't there to greet him! Whenever Danny would come home from a long day, he would hear Speedy get on his exercise wheel, and he would run and run until he either got tired or until Danny came into his room and gave Speedy a hamster treat.

Speedy was a very intelligent hamster.

Jazz rushed down the stairs. "Hey, Danny!" she cried. "How was your last day of school?"

"It was okay." Danny answered. "Yours?"

"Actually, it was-,"

But before Jazz could answer his question, Danny exclaimed, "Hey, you cleaned out Speedy's cage for me! Thanks, Jazz!" He took Speedy's cage out of Jazz's hands.

"I know you were going to clean his cage out today, but-,"

"Thanks again, Jazz!" Danny interrupted, dashing up the stairs.

"But Danny," Jazz said weakly, "there's something I have to tell-,"

"Jazz!" Danny cried facing his bedroom door. "You shouldn't have left my door open! If Speedy is in his rolling ball, you should leave the door closed! He could be anywhere in the house now!"

"Trust me, Danny! Speedy's not going anywhere for a long time!"

"Jazz, Speedy's gotta be around here somewhere, help me look for him!"

Danny walked into his room, crouched down, and looked under his bed, but Jazz picked him up by his vest. "Danny," she said, with a tone of sadness in her voice, "I don't know how to tell you this, but Speedy's gone!"

"Gone?" Danny asked, surprised. "Gone where?"

Jazz hesitated. "Gone as in up there." she said pointing to the roof.

Danny's eyes suddenly widened. "No." he cried. "No, your lying!"

"Do I really look like the type of person who would lie about this, Danny?"

"If this is some sort of joke Jazz, it's not funny!"

"This isn't a joke Danny!" Jazz walked to the right side of Danny's bed and grabbed Speedy's empty ball with both hands. "See? You know I would normally put Speedy in here when you weren't home. You told me to feed him his special nuts and oats if you ran late this morning, and when I went to do that Speedy didn't look like he was feeling all that well. When I got home from school, I went to check to see how he doing, and he was… well, you know!"

"B-But," Danny cried, tears forming in his eyes, "Speedy couldn't have died! He just couldn't have!"

"I'm sorry, Danny." Jazz said sadly as she watched her little brother climb onto his bed. "I know how much Speedy ment to you."

"Thanks." Danny said wiping the tears off his face. "And Jazz?"

"Yeah, Danny?"

"Tell Mom I'm skipping dinner tonight. I'm not hungry."

Jazz smiled at him. "Of course."

"Wow," Tommy's best friend Chuckie Finster cried, "that's just sad!" He was playing a game called 'Don't Drop the Ball' in the Pickles' backyard with Tommy and Sam. The point of the game was to catch the ball as many times as you can without dropping it. Tommy made the game up. The high score so far was four in a row.

"So, Danny just came home from my house yesterday, and then he finded out that his hamster died?" Tommy asked, trying to catch the ball but missing.

Sam nodded. "He called me last night to tell me about it. I think he might've been crying." She caught the ball when Tommy tossed it to her.

"Danny was crying?" Chuckie asked, missing the ball once again, and watching Tommy run over to retrieve it.

"That is sad!" Tommy cried.

Sam nodded again. "Right! That why when Danny gets here, we've gotta be extra nice to him! Play any games he wants to play, and whatever you do," she continued, "don't mention anything that will remind him of you-know-who!"

"Who?" Tommy asked.

Sam sighed. "The hamster Tommy!"

"Oh, right! Got'cha!"

Just as Tommy said that, Sam noticed Danny was in the Pickles' house. "There he is!" she cried. "Act natural!"

Tommy started bouncing his ball, while Chuckie took his glasses off and cleaned them on his shirt. Sam didn't have anything to do, so she quickly leaned against a tree that was in Tommy's backyard. She made it to the tree just when Danny shut the sliding glass door.

"Hey, you guys!" Danny exclaimed.

"Hi'ya, Danny!" the three of them replied.

"What's new?" Chuckie asked.

"Nothing really."

"Oh. Well, what'cha wanna do?" Tommy asked.

"I don't know." Danny answered, looking around. "Do you wanna play in the sandbox?"

"Sure, sounds like fun!"

The four of them walked toward the sandbox. When they got there, Danny asked, "What are you gonna build Tommy?"

"I don't know!" Tommy exclaimed. "I guess I'll dig a hole to New Seal land!"

"Why there?"

Tommy shrugged. "To meet all the seals!"

"What are you gonna build, Danny?" Sam asked.

Danny paused for a moment. "I'm gonna build a sandcastle!"

They started working with the sand. When Danny finished his work of art, Chuckie exclaimed, "Wow, great sandcastle Danny!"

"Yeah," Sam complimented, "very nice!"

"I don't see what the big deal is you guys!" Danny cried. "It's just a sandcastle!" He didn't get why they were being super nice to him all of a sudden.

"I know Danny," Tommy said happily, "but it's a big sandcastle!"

Danny waited a few minutes before asking, "So, do any of you guys want to do something else?"

"Sure!" Tommy exclaimed.

"We can do anything." Sam said. "We could play tag, or hide and go seek-,"

"Or your favorite game," Chuckie interrupted, "silent speedball!"

Danny suddenly burst out crying and ran into the house.

"Wait a minute!" Chuckie cried, running after Danny. "What did I say?"

Sam stopped Chuckie by putting a hand on his shoulder. "His hamster's name was Speedy!"

"Well, you could've told me!"

Chapter 5: The Television

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"Gee Danny," Chuckie said sadly, "I'm sorry. Sam told me and Tommy what happened to your hamster, and we was only trying to make you feel better, but I guess I made it worser, huh?"

Tommy, Chuckie, Sam, and Danny were in Tommy's living room, sitting on the couch. Danny was still upset after what had just happened, but he was a little better now knowing that his friends were there for him.

Danny sniffed. "It's okay, Chuck. This isn't your fault, it's mine."

"How is this your fault, Danny?" Sam asked.

"Because," he answered, "I said my summer couldn't get any worse, and whenever someone says that, something bad always happens!" Danny suddenly started yelling. "I JINXEDS IT! I JINXEDS IT! AND NOW SPEEDY'S GONE!"

Tommy looked away from his playmate, at the remote control, then at the clock, and smiled. "I know what'll cheer you up Danny!" he exclaimed, "Some good old Reptar epleesodes!"

Danny grinned. "Sweet! Well, what are we waiting for, Tommy? Let's watch some Reptar!"

Tommy smiled even bigger as he turned on the television. "Hey!" Tommy exclaimed when the picture came on. "Where's Reptar?"

"Maybe you gots it on the wrong channel, Tommy." Chuckie suggested.

"It can't be!" Tommy cried. "My Mommy always leaves the channel with Reptar on for me. And this is the time Reptar is always on!"

"How do you know?" Danny asked. "You can't tell time!"

"When the clock points at the same two numbers I know Reptar's on!"

"According to this," Sam said, flipping through the TV paper, "a show called 'The Rock Stars' is on right now."

"Ah, man!" Tommy groaned. "I forgotted it was summer! All the olderer kid shows are on right now!"

"Great!" Danny cried, jumping off the couch. "Just great! Reptar's not even here to save my summer now!"

"Don't worry, Danny." Sam said cheerfully, as she put the TV paper back on the coffee table. "Your summer will turn around somehow!"

"How do you know, Sam?" Danny asked, madly. "I've been picked on by bullies, Tucker is in California, Speedy died, and now Reptar's not on! I just wish our summer could get a little better." He paused, and then continued. "I want you, me, even the babies to have a fun summer we'll never forget! I wish we could all be part of the action!"

"Don't forget the adventure!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Oh, and don't forget the nice hole to crawl under if any of us gets ascared!" Chuckie cried.

"And it has to be fun too!" Sam added.

Danny smiled. "Yeah, we need something with all those things! Something like-,"

"Hello." said a voice.

Danny turned around. He had forgotten that the television was still on.

A man on the television was sitting on a chair, with his hands folded on a desk. He had smooth, long, black hair tied in a ponytail and a long, curly, black mustache, blue eyes, and thick eyebrows. He wore a nice, black suit, with a tie and dress shoes. The man was also smiling, like he just won the lottery.

"My name is S.T. Sohg, and I have a question for you."

"S.T. Sohg?" Sam asked, puzzled. "What is he, some kind of sponge?"

"Has your summer turned out poorly so far?" S.T. asked.

"Yes." Danny answered.

"If it is, you must be very bummed."

"Tell me about it!"

"Well, then do I have good news for you!" S.T. Sohg exclaimed. "Call this number at eight o' clock tonight, and you could win eleven plane tickets to Lake Eerie! Kids twelve and under ride for free! Remember many will enter, but one will win!"

"We want something like that!" Danny exclaimed. "Quick, Sam! Grab me a piece of paper and something to write with!"

Sam ran into the kitchen, and a few seconds later she came out with a sheet of paper and a pencil. Danny quickly took them from Sam, and wrote down the number:

1-800- SUMMER-BUMMER

"Why are you so eggsited, Danny?" Chuckie asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, Danny," Tommy exclaimed. "Why are you writing down that phone number?"

Danny finished writing, stood up, faced the babies, and smiled. "Don't you see you guys? We can finally have a great summer!"

"With a television advertisement?" Sam asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"No!" Danny cried. "With this phone number! Didn't you guys here what S.T. Sohg said? We could win eleven tickets to Lake Eerie! That's enough tickets for all of our parents, including Phil and Lil's and Angelica's. Plus," Danny continued, "we kids can ride for free!"

"Do we really have to invite Angelica?" Chuckie asked, nervously.

"Yeah!" Tommy exclaimed. "She's my cousin!"

"What's wrong with her?" Sam asked.

"She's like a miniature Dash!" Danny explained. "But still, I have to agree with Tommy, she is family. We'll have to invite her-,"

"Danny," Sam cried, "there are a ton of people entering this contest. Just, how do you know if you'll win?"

Danny smiled. "I have a hunch!"

"Yeah," Sam whispered, so Danny wouldn't hear, "because your luckhas turned around so many times in the past two days!"

Tommy and Chuckie snickered.

"I heard that, Sam!" Danny exclaimed, staring at the piece of paper he held in his hands.

Chapter 6: Keep Your Fingers Crossed

"Mom," Danny called, searching through the kitchen cupboards, "where's the box of popcorn?"

A few seconds passed before Maddie responded. "In the bottom left cupboard, sweetie!"

Danny walked toward the cupboard his mother had indicated, opened it, and rummaged through until he found the popcorn box. He quickly grabbed a bag out of the box, took the plastic off the bag, and set it in the microwave.

Just as Danny was about to press the start button on the microwave, Jazz walked into the kitchen. "So," she said smiling, "I heard Mom and Dad talking upstairs. You've basically lost all of your hope on having a fun summer-,"

"Yes." Danny replied.

"-so now you're going to call some phone number you saw on the TV-,"

"Uh, huh."

"-to try and win tickets to a camp you never even heard of until just this afternoon."

Danny nodded. "Yep! You've got that right sister!"

Jazz laughed. "Danny, you're so strange!"

"It may sound a little strange, Jazz, but I gave Sam a copy of the number. She's gonna try to win too!"

"Wow," Jazz said sarcastically, "that'll really increase your chances of winning!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Danny asked, madly.

"It means, you'll have a point two percent chance of winning the trip. That also includes the time it takes for you to dial the number."

"Don't worry, Jazz! I have speedy fingers!" Danny wiggled his thumbs.

"Yeah, speedy thumbs from playing all those Reptar video games!"

"Hey!" Danny cried. "Those are Reptar collectables! You can't just buy the video games and not play them!"

"Whatever, Danny!" Jazz said, grinning, as she started walking out of the room. "Just don't get your hopes up!"

Once his sister was out of the kitchen, Danny turned back toward the microwave. "That's weird," he exclaimed, staring at the fully popped bag of popcorn, "I don't remember pressing the start button!"

Danny suddenly remembered that the microwave was having problems ever since his dad had 'fixed' it. Danny had heard his Mom talking about it the other day with Jazz. Whenever someone would leave something in the microwave for a few minutes, it would start automatically. The only thing was, he didn't hear the microwave go off.

Danny looked at the clock and shrugged. He would worry about that later. There was only five minutes until he could call in and try to win the contest.

Danny quickly took his bag of popcorn out of the microwave, ran into the living room, and plopped on the couch. Reaching over to a small round table to his right, Danny grabbed the phone off of the receiver, and dialed Sam's number.

Three rings went by before Sam answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, Sam, there's only," Danny checked his watch, "four more minutes until we have to call S.T. Sohg! Are you ready?"

"Don't worry, Danny, of course I am!"

There was a pause.

"Danny?" Sam asked. "Are you still there?"

"Oh, yeah," Danny said, twisting the phone cord with his index finger, like he always did on the phone when he was anxious or nervous. "I'm still here. I was just thinking, what if we don't win? Then what will we do for the rest of the summer?"

"Don't worry about that right now! Just do what I do when I'm in doubt."

"What's that?"

"When you call tonight," Sam said slowly, "just put your chin up high, close your eyes, and keep your fingers crossed until your call is done!"

"That's all I've gotta do?" Danny asked.

"Yep!"

"And you really think this will work?"

"I don't know! But you can at least try it. It sometimes works."

"I'll try it, Sam! Thanks!"

"No problem!"

Danny put the phone back on the receiver and picked it up again. There was now only one minute until calling time. He quickly dialed the number.

First ring….

Danny was looking upward.

Second ring….

He closed his eyes.

Third ring….

Then he finally crossed his fingers.

The forth and final ring…. "Hello?"

Danny opened his eyes. Did he actually make it through? "H-Hello?"

"Congratulations!" S.T. Sohg cried. "You've won eleven tickets to Lake Eerie!"

"ALRIGHT!" Danny cheered, into the phone.

"What's your name son?"

"Danny Fenton!"

"Well, Danny, thanks for calling, and you and your family and friends have a safe trip!"

"We will!"

Danny slammed the phone down on the receiver, and dashed upstairs to Jazz's room. His sister looked at him when he appeared in the doorway.

"Sam was right." Danny said trying his best not to smile.

"What?" Jazz asked, looking back at her book. "That you couldn't win this contest?"

"No." Danny said grinning. "She gave me some helpful advice, and I won."

Jazz lifted her head back up to look at him.

"We should be leaving in about a week, so start packing!"

A smile appeared on Jazz's face when her brother said that. "Unbelievable!"

Chapter 7 Part 1: The Fun Finally Begins

While his parents were putting their luggage onto the airport conveyor belt, Tommy and his identical twin friends Phil and Lil, were looking around the airport.

They had never seen anything like this before. There were all sorts of machines, bags and suitcases, beeping things, loud speakers, and people, lots and lots of people.

"Our firstest time on an arrow plane!" Tommy cried, excitedly. "Thinks about it you guys! We can watch the clouds go by, and we can eat what the arrow plane peoples eat, and we can play all sorts of fun arrow plane games. Oh! And I can also take pictures with the new clamra my Daddy gave me!"

Tommy pointed to the blue camera that hung around his neck by a red string. "See? All I have to do is press this pretty red button here, and the picture comes out here!"

"That's cool Tommy!" Phil said, happily. "But me and Lillian are looking forward to eating the stuffs that's under the seats!"

Lil nodded. "It's nummy!"

"Wait a minute!" Tommy cried. "You guys have been on an arrow plane afore?"

"No." Phil answered. "But we figured that since the stuffs that we have founded under the car seats tasted good-,"

"The stuffs under the arrow plane seats will taste even betterer!" Lil said, finishing her brother's sentence for him.

Tommy grinned. Phil and Lil loved finding and eating gross things. Bugs, worms, mud, anything they could get their hands on. The twins would eat it all!

"Hey," Phil suddenly cried, "isn't that Danny over there?"

Tommy looked over to where Phil was pointing. Danny and Sam were glancing around the airport, trying to find where the babies were. Tommy waved over to them, and Sam eventually spotted him.

"Hi'ya, Danny!" Phil and Lil chorused, when Danny and Sam were within earshot.

"Hey, you guys!" Danny replied. "Are you ready for your first vacation?"

"Boy, are we ever!" Tommy exclaimed. "This is gonna be fun!"

Danny laughed. "Oh, Sam, this is-,"

"Wait," she cried, looking at Phil and Lil, "don't tell me!" Sam pointed at each of the twins as she tried to guess their names. "You're Phil, and you're Lil."

"How did you know?" Lil asked Sam.

"Danny told me about you guys."

"No. I mean, you can tell us apart?"

"Yeah, it takes more than just that pink bow in your hair to tell you two apart, right?"

"Finally!" Lil cried, happily. "Someone who understands me other than Phil! It's a mirrorable!"

Sam giggled.

"Oh, sister!" Phil mumbled, so Tommy could only hear him. But he was still smiling anyway.

"Hey, Chuck!" Danny suddenly called out. "We're over here!"

Sure enough, Chuckie came toddling over. "Hi'ya, guys!" he cried.

"Hi'ya Chuckie!" Tommy replied. "Why do you gots a paper bag?" Tommy was indicating to the paper bag his best friend was holding in his left hand.

"Well," Chuckie started, "my Daddy says since I'm afraid of high places, I should hold this bag on the plane just in case I get air sick."

"Don't worry," Danny exclaimed, "we'll remember to move out of the way in case you start throwing up!"

"Danny!" Sam cried, giving him a warning glance.

"Don't worry about me Sam," Chuckie said, grinning, "that actually made me feel a whole lot betterer than I felt afore I gotted-,"

"HEY YOU DUMB BABIES!"

"AAAHHHH!" Chuckie screamed, running to hide behind Tommy.

Angelica laughed hysterically. "Man, I can't believe you babies didn't see me coming! Especially you Fenton, I at least thought you'd have some common sense!"

Danny sighed. "Angelica, while we're on vacation, can we at least try and get along?"

"Let me think about that for a moment!" Angelica said sarcastically. "No!"

She spotted Sam, and walked toward her. "So, it's Samantha right?"

Sam's eyes widened. She was trying her best to not burst out yelling at Angelica. Sam absolutely hated being called by her actual name. Whenever someone would call her Samantha, she would get so angry at whoever called her that, she would make them take it back the hard way.

But Angelica seemed like the kind of person who wanted someone to get angry, so Sam pretended that she wasn't bothered by it.

"Yes. But most people call me Sam."

"I see!" Angelica said, smugly. "Do you like it when I call you Samantha?"

"I don't see why you can't call me that."

"Okay, well do you like it when I do this?" Angelica took Tommy's camera off his neck.

"Hey!" Tommy cried, jumping up and down, trying to reach his camera.

Sam grimaced. "I don't think Tommy really appreciates that."

"Well, how about this?" Angelica clunked Phil and Lil's faces together

"Ow!" Phil cried.

"Angelica!" Lil exclaimed, rubbing her head.

Sam was starting to get a little mad now. "No, not really!" she said, trying not to sound angry.

"Oh, fine!" Angelica cried. "I guess nothing really makes you upset!"

"Nope, nothing!"

"Ah, well." Angelica sighed. She started walking back toward her Mom and Dad. Suddenly, "HEY FENTON, THINK FAST!" She pushed Danny, and made him fall to the ground.

All of the babies stood dumbstruck. Tommy and Sam ran over to Danny to make sure he was all right.

"Someone looks angry now!" Angelica said, smiling and looking at Sam.

Sam glared at her. "You are one twisted, mean, little girl, you know that?"

"Yeah," Angelica answered, happily. "I know!" She skipped toward her parents, who were now loading their luggage onto the conveyer belt, and hummed happily to herself.

"Are you okay Danny?" Tommy asked, as he and Sam lifted him up.

Danny nodded. "I'm okay. Man, for a three year old girl, Angelica can push hard!"

"There are so many things I could say about her right now!" Sam cried, while watching Angelica. "But, I'm not going to!"

"I still can't believe she's my cousin!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Wow!" Tommy cried. "There's all sorts of neat stuffs in here!"

The plane hadn't even lifted off the ground yet, and the babies were already excited. Angelica was sitting in the front of the plane, with her parents at her right. Phil sat behind Angelica looking out the window, while Lil and Sam talked. Chuckie sat directly behind Phil, looking around nervously, while Danny glanced up. Jazz sat in the middle seat behind the boys, reading a book. The rest of the parents sat across from the babies.

"Tommy!" Danny gasped, when he saw him sitting in the luggage holder. "Get down from there, you could get hurt!" He paused. "How did you get up there anyway?"

Tommy giggled. "I stood on one of the seat arm resting things, jumped up, hung on the handle, swung around to open the door, and climbed in!"

"Well," Danny said smiling, "I know you're a master at unlocking things and opening doors, but I don't think we'll be needing it for awhile! Now, let's get you down!" As he lifted Tommy off the luggage holder, Danny smiled and said, "You're just lucky your parents didn't catch you doing that. They would've freaked out!"

"Ah, my parents won't freak out!" Tommy exclaimed, grinning. "What does that mean anyway?"

Danny laughed. "It means they would've gotten scared because you've might've fallen. Now, promise me you won't do anything too dangerous while we're on vacation. We can't have you keep getting injured for two months!"

"No problem, Danny!" Tommy cried, plopping down on the middle seat. "You can count on me!" He turned around to look at Jazz. "Hi'ya Jazz! What'cha reading?"

Jazz looked up at Tommy. She understood some baby talk, but all she got out of that sentence was, "Daba Jazz! Goo da reading?" Jazz smiled, like she knew what he was trying to say, and tried her best to answer him. Once she finished, Danny burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Jazz asked.

"You told him you were reading about pigs fighting the British at the Battle of Jupiter Hill!"

Jazz blushed. "Hey, I got most of it right! Let's just face it Danny, I can't speak to babies anymore!"

Danny frowned. "Tell you what, I'll be your speaking person."

Jazz chuckled. "Do you mean an interpreter?"

"Yeah, that's right!"

"Fine by me! I need all the help I can get!"

Danny felt a tap on his left shoulder. It was Tommy. "Danny, the plane's making noise! We're about to take off!" he cried excitedly.

Danny turned away from Jazz and listened. Tommy was right, the plane was making huge screeching sounds. Danny quickly buckled up Tommy, Chuckie, and himself securely. Sam did the same with her seatbelt, along with Phil and Lil's.

"Oh, no!" Chuckie cried. "The plane's gonna start flying soon?"

"Don't worry Chuck," Danny said, grinning, "nothing is gonna hurt us this summer!"

"Yeah!" Tommy exclaimed. "So, hang on to your diapies babies, we're going on bacation!"

Chapter 8: Welcome to Lake Eerie

Lake Eerie was exactly like its name, eerie! The only thing that was perfect at the camp was the welcome sign and the boss's office, and that wasn't much. All of the cabins had little electricity, some of the windows were broken, and some of the doors hung on one hinge.

The woods at the right side of the cabins looked cold, dark, and creepy all at the same time. From only a few feet away, you could hear the birds screaming and the growling animals searching eagerly for food.

The lake didn't even look clear, and blue like in the brochure. It was green, brown, yellow, black, and mucky like someone had dumped something into it. It stunk too. Danny didn't want to know what was poured into there, and hoped he would never find out.

There was only one bathroom, and it was an outhouse. Danny groaned as he glanced at the card to where his cabin was. If it was nighttime and he had to go really badly, he would have to walk all the way from the back row of cabins to the front just to get to the outhouse. Danny also realized that it was a huge problem for Chuckie, who only had one month of experience in potty training.

'If I have to go at night,' Danny thought, 'then I'll head to the bushes if I have to.'

Before Danny could even tell Tommy, Chuckie, and Phil where their cabin was, Tommy suddenly cried, "You guys, look! It's that S.T. Sohg guy we sawed on the TB!"

Danny looked to where Tommy was pointing. He was right. Sitting at a picnic table, near one of the cabins, was no other than S.T. Sohg.

The man sitting across from him looked awfully familiar to Danny. He had a similar look to S.T., except he was a slight bit taller than him. The man had a square chin, with a white beard and long white hair tied back into a ponytail. He was dressed nicely, and he had a big smile on his face.

"What'cha looking at Danny?" Phil asked.

"That man sitting with S.T. Sohg. I think I've seen him somewhere! Don't you think he looks familiar?"

"No." Phil answered.

"Nuh, uh." Chuckie said, shaking his head.

"Not really!" Tommy exclaimed.

Sam and Lil walked out of the camp's main office and joined the group.

"Guess what," Lil cried, "me and Sam have to share a cabin with Angelica!"

"I'm just glad you're gonna be there with me Lil." Sam groaned. "I won't be able to sleep for the next two months!"

"If she says something mean to you guys," Tommy lectured, "don't hold back! Look her straight in the eye and tell to stop whatever she's doing!"

"It really works?" Sam asked, with a surprised look on her face.

Phil smiled. "It only worked for Tommy a buncha times!"

"Well then, we'll try it!" Sam exclaimed.

"Hey, Sam!" Danny cried. "Doesn't that man S.T. Sohg's talking to look like anyone you know?"

Sam looked at where Danny was pointing. "Oh, yeah! That's Vlad Masters. You know, that billionaire we learned about in school?"

"Wait a minute! Did you say Vlad Masters?"

"Yes."

"That's my Dad's old college pal! I've seen lots of pictures of them together. I thought I saw him somewhere!"

"Wow, Danny!" Chuckie exclaimed. "I'm sure your daddy will be happy to see him again!"

Danny hesitated. "Well, um, I'm not sure if that's a great idea you guys!"

"Why not, Danny?" Tommy asked. "Don't you want your daddy to see his friend?"

"Well, yeah, I want him to. But-,"

"Then why don't you want them to be happy?"

"I want them to be happy. It's just that-," Danny paused.

"It's just that, what, Danny?" Chuckie asked.

Danny glanced at his friends. They all had puzzled looks on their faces. He wanted to tell them what happened that fateful day, but he wasn't sure how the babies would handle it.

A few minutes passed before Danny finally spoke. "Guess what, I'll tell you the story."

His friends cheered.

Danny held up both his hands. "But, not right now. This story can't be heard by anyone else. Besides, we all have to get settled in our cabins before we can have any adventures!" He motioned the babies to come closer toward him. Danny's voice then became barely more than a whisper. "Meet me inside our cabin after dinner tonight. You'll hear the whole story! Bring no one else!"

With that, Danny grabbed his bags, and started his long walk toward his cabin, leaving the babies to wonder what his story was all about.

Chapter 9: Danny's Story

"I thought I told you guys not to bring anyone else here!" Danny cried, when he saw Angelica enter the boys' cabin with Sam and Lil.

Lil grinned nervously and shrugged. "She overheard us talking about what we were going to do tonight, and kept begging us for her to come along. We really didn't have any choice."

"Yeah!" Sam agreed, nodding. Then she whispered so only Lil and Danny could hear, "We had to bring the witch here!"

"HEY!" Angelica yelled. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A WITCH?"

Sam and Lil giggled.

Danny turned on his flashlight. "Keep it down you guys! It's eight o' clock! Some people are already asleep!"

"Wow!" Tommy exclaimed, as he pulled something out of a bag and stuffed it into his mouth. "Whatever this stuffs is, it's nummy! What's is it Danny?"

"Popcorn." He answered.

"Oh! What's it made of?"

"Corn kernels."

"Wow!" Tommy cried once again. "Poofy, soft things made out of corn! What other good foods will the snack peoples come up with next?"

Danny laughed. "Okay, we'd better all grab a seat and start the story now!"

"How do we grabs a seat?" Phil asked, puzzled.

"Just sit somewhere!" Danny answered.

Tommy, Chuckie, and Angelica sat on the bottom part of the right bunk bed, while Phil, Lil, and Sam sat across from them on the other bunk bed. Danny grabbed the desk chair and set it down near the edges of the bunk beds so he could face all of his friends.

"Before I start telling you guys the story," Danny started, "remember what I said earlier. This story is for your ears only! If anyone thinks they're going to speak about this to someone else after I finish, I'd suggest that you leave right now!"

Danny looked around. No one was getting up to leave. "All right!" he sighed, holding the flashlight up to his face. "Angelica, uncross your fingers!"

Angelica groaned, while the babies giggled. "Fine!" she cried, rolling her eyes. Angelica folded her hands onto her lap. "Are you happy now?"

"Yes. Now I will begin telling the story." He paused. "It was many years ago, before you babies, before Angelica, even before Jazz and Sam and I were born!"

Suddenly the cabin door opened. It was Jazz. "Sorry I'm late you guys!" she cried, grabbing a chair and setting it next to Danny, "I lost track of time!"

Danny frowned, and pointed the flashlight at Sam and then at Lil.

Sam sighed. "She wanted to hear the story again too! Can you really blame her?"

"Is there anybody else coming that I don't know about?" Danny asked, annoyed.

Sam shook her head.

"Good!" Danny cried. "Anyway, what I was about to say before I was interrupted, it happened in the college science lab. My Mom and my Dad were working on their newest invention, the ghost portal…"

Vlad was my Dad's lab partner, so he came to check out the designs for the cool new thing they were going to build for the science fair together. My Mom was very good with parts and stuff, so she was going help them out. I think Vlad was happy that Mom was going with them. They were really great friends. That and he really didn't know what he was expecting.

"Now Vlad!" Jack said, as he, Maddie, and Vlad entered the science lab. "Open your eyes!"

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" Sam cried.

"What is it Sam?" Danny asked, pointing the flashlight toward her.

Sam squinted as the light shone on her face. "Why were his eyes closed in the first place?"

"Dad wanted the science project to be a surprise."

"Okay. Carry on then!"

"Well then…"

Vlad opened his eyes, and stared at Mom and Dad's blueprint for a long time. He didn't know what to say. I think he might of thought that their idea was crazy or insane. He thought my parents' idea would never work. Yet, Vlad still was supportive about it.

"It's um, great Jack!' he cried, still looking at the blueprint. "What is it supposed to do?"

"From my information, it's supposed to open up a new dimension like we've never seen before! A dimension called the ghost zone!"

"Are you sure this will work?"

"Sure! Maddie's got all of the things we need to build it, and the calculations to get it up and running!"

Maddie showed him the notes with all of the equations, and held up a box of tools.

Vlad smiled uneasily. "Alright, let's get to it then."

"So, what eggzactly is a ghost zone?" Phil asked.

"It's the place where all the ghosts live." Danny answered.

Chuckie dove under the bunk bed. "T-They're really are ghosts that haunt places?" he asked, poking his head out from under the bed.

"Yeah!" Angelica said happily. "And they're under that bed of yours right now!"

"AAAHHHH!" Chuckie screamed, jumping back onto the bunk bed, and hiding behind Tommy.

"One more word, Angelica," Sam started, standing up and walking toward her, "and you'll get clunked in the side of the head and pushed into the mud!"

"Yeah?" Angelica asked, smugly. "You and what army?"

"Me and this army!" Sam cried, pointing to her right arm.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"OH, YEAH?"

"YES, ALREADY!"

They stuck out their tongues out at each other.

"Ooh!" Tommy exclaimed. "Who do you think is gonna blow up firstest?"

"I think Sam's going to firstest!" Phil cried.

Lil frowned at her brother. "No way! Angelica's going to blow up afore Sam!"

"No, Sam is!"

"Angelica is!"

"Sam!"

"Angelica!"

"Sam!"

"Angelica!"

"SAM!"

"ANGELICA!"

"You guys!" Chuckie said, nervously. "You guys! We really shouldn't be yelling at each other like this!"

Danny and Jazz watched the babies arguing. The whole plan of telling the story to them in secret had gotten out of control!

Jazz looked at her brother. "You'd better do something quickly, Danny, before the whole camp wakes up!"

Danny nodded. But before he could say anything, they heard a huge screech coming from the woods, then a loud crash. The babies gasped. That silenced them.

"W-What was that Danny?" Chuckie asked, shaking.

"I-I don't know!" Danny answered, gripping his flashlight with both hands, his eyes darting around the cabin. The wind blowing in from the cracked windows made him shiver. "Maybe we should continue the story later. You know, when it's not so dark and scary out."

"Fine by me!" Chuckie cried, crawling under his covers.

"Sure!" Tommy cried nervously, as he climbed to the top bunk on the right bunk bed.

"Alright!" Phil and Lil chorused.

"Whatever you want to do!" Sam said, pulling a flashlight out of her shorts pocket. Jazz, Angelica, and Lil followed her out the door.

"Good night, boys!" Jazz said, before she closed the door.

"Good night!" they all mumbled.

The guys all laid in silence for a while. Danny was about to turn off the light on the dresser next to his bed when Tommy stopped him.

"Danny, wait!"

Danny glanced up at Tommy from his bed.

"I need to know." Tommy said sternly. "What happened to Vlad and your Daddy? Why aren't you sure you want them to see each other again?"

Chuckie and Phil were also looking at Danny now. He sighed. Danny had to tell babies about what happened in a way so they would understand it.

Finally, after a few more minutes of silence, Danny finally answered. "The portal didn't work. My Dad's invention gave Vlad a ghostly disease. They haven't spoken to each other since that day."

Danny turned off the light, leaving the babies to think about this situation in the dark.

Chapter 10 Part 1: Steve

Chuckie gasped and quickly sat up. He looked around alarmingly to find that he was safe in his cabin, in bed. Chuckie sighed. 'It was only a dream!' he thought, happily. He had a nightmare about two ghosts breaking into the cabin and taking him away. No matter how much he called his friends for help, they couldn't seem to wake up.

Chuckie glanced out the window. It was still dark outside. Chuckie smiled. He was glad that morning hadn't come yet. He needed rest.

Chuckie was about to go back to sleep, when he saw all of the crunched up juice boxes on the floor from yesterday evening. Chuckie cringed and carefully, but quickly climbed up to the top bunk, where Tommy was sleeping peacefully.

"Tommy!" Chuckie whispered, gently shaking his best friend. "Tommy, wake up!"

"Er… Take that you aliem peoples!" Tommy grumbled in his sleep.

"Tommy!" Chuckie whispered once again, shaking him a bit harder this time. It was no use. Tommy just wouldn't wake up.

Chuckie groaned. He climbed back down the ladder, and quietly walked over to Danny's bed. "Danny! Danny, wake up!"

"Huh? What?" Danny asked, sitting up. He sighed when he saw it was only Chuckie looking up at him. "Chuck, what are you doing up? Don't you know what time it is?"

Chuckie shook his head.

"That's good." Danny answered. "I don't either! Now, what do you need?"

"What I really need, is for you to take me to the potty place."

"Oh man!" Danny cried. "I'll come with you too! I drank a lot juice last night as well. Just let me grab my flashlight." As he searched through his top dresser drawer, Danny added, "The outhouse is way too far away from here, but there are some bushes close to our cabin we can use."

"That's good!" Chuckie exclaimed. "Besides, I'm ascared of the dark!"

Danny nodded. "Now, close the door quietly on our way out. We don't wanna wake Tommy or Phil."

Chuckie did as he was told, and slowly closed the door. He trembled once he stepped outside. "It's really dark out here!" he whimpered.

"Don't worry Chuck!" Danny whispered. "You'll be okay. Just stay behind me!"

"Don't worry, Danny!" Chuckie said hysterically. "I know I'll be okay! You're here. You have a flashlight. There are no amimnals to eat us. Plus," he added, "I'll try to be cool, calm, and-," CRACK! "WHAT WAS THAT?" Chuckie screamed.

Danny laughed. "You stepped on a twig Chuck!"

"Right. Right." Chuckie sighed. "I'm okay!"

"Good!" Danny exclaimed. "Now, let's go to the bathroom and get back before-," Suddenly the flashlight flickered and went off. "-the battery dies!" he groaned.

"Great!" Chuckie yelled. "Just great! I'm outside in the cold, the flashlight is broked, and I gots to go potty real bad! What are we gonna do Danny?"

Before Danny could answer, a huge noise came from the woods.

"Did you hear that?" Chuckie asked, nervously.

"Uh, huh." Danny answered. "Come on!"

"Danny, where are we going?"

"We're gonna follow that noise!"

"What? Are you crazy?"

"Come on Chuck! It's bound to lead us somewhere…"

"Hey Tommy, Phil, you won't believe what Chuck and I found last night!" Danny exclaimed.

Tommy and Phil were eating their favorite breakfast, Reptar Cereal. Chuckie didn't really like the cereal very much, so he ate a bowl of Dummi Bear O's.

Tommy finished chewing his last bite, and swallowed. "You guys went aploring without us?" he asked, sadly.

"It really wasn't apposed to be an adventure." Chuckie answered.

"Yeah." Danny said, nodding in agreement. "It was supposed to be more of a potty break."

"What's this about potty breaks?" Sam asked, as she and Lil entered the cabin.

"Chuckie and Danny founded something really cool last night." Phil explained.

"What is it?" Lil asked her brother.

"We don't know that yet!"

"Well, what is it Danny?" Tommy asked eagerly.

Danny smiled and walked over to his bunk bed. "You'll see!" he answered. He slowly ducked, reached under his bed, and pulled out a sleeping baby owl with a bandage rapped around its right leg.

"An owl!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Oh, it sooo cute!" Sam cried, happily.

Danny nodded. "We found it in the woods last night. Its leg was injured and it really didn't look like it was doing so well, so we brought him back here, and bandaged him up."

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Phil asked.

"We don't know that yet neither!" Chuckie answered.

"Here," Sam said, pulling a tiny book out of her left skirt pocket, "let me check!"

Danny looked at Sam strangely. "Why do you have that with you?" he asked.

Sam smiled. "It's just a little wildlife book. You know, for just in case we needed it."

While Sam flipped through the pages of her book, A Guide to Wildlife by David Smith, the baby owl slowly opened its eyes. It flew up on Danny's left shoulder and gave a cheerful hoot.

Tommy smiled. "He says thank you Danny and Chuckie!"

Danny glanced at his playmate. "Since when do you speak owl?"

"I don't! I just have a way with amimnals!" Tommy giggled when the baby owl flew onto his right shoulder.

"Did you find the page Sam?" Lil asked.

"Yes." she answered. "Now I just need to see from its appearance if it's a boy or a girl owl." Sam compared the baby owl to the pictures of male and female owls in the book. Finally, after a few minutes, Sam put the wildlife book back in her left skirt pocket. "This is definitely a boy owl!"

"Cool!" Danny exclaimed. "Now, what should we name him?"

They all thought in silence for a moment. What would be a good name for their new friend?

"What about James?" Phil asked.

Danny frowned. "No. James doesn't sound like the right name for a baby owl."

"How about Bob?" Chuckie suggested.

"No." Sam said, shaking her head. "That name is too common."

"Wait a minute!" Lil cried. "How about Hannah?"

"Lillian!" Phil said, rolling his eyes. "That's a girl's name!"

"Oh. Right."

"Come on you guys!" Danny cried. "Think about it! What is the one perfect name for this owl?"

They all thought in silence for a few more minutes, until Tommy exclaimed, "I gots it! Let's names him Steve!"

"Why?" Danny asked.

"Because," Tommy answered, glancing at the owl on his left shoulder, "he looks like a Steve!"

"Hmm." Danny thought, putting his thumb and index finger under his chin. "Steve. It's not a dumb name. And it isn't as common as the other names we thought of." Danny put his hand back down, satisfied. "I like it! What about you guys?"

Chuckie nodded. "I can remember that name!"

"Yeah!" Phil and Lil cheered.

Tommy glanced at Sam. "C'mon, Sam! What do you think? Don't you think Steve's a good name?"

Everyone was looking at Sam now, anxious to hear what she had to say. Finally, after a few minutes of eager anticipation, Sam spoke. "It's fine by me! After all, Danny and Chuckie were the ones who found the owl, so they should be the ones who get to name him."

"Alright!" Danny exclaimed. "Steve, welcome to our cabin!"

Steve gave another cheerful hoot, and flew back to rest on Danny's left shoulder. The babies cheered along with their new friend.

Chapter 11: Microchips, Jetpacks, and

Pictures

"C'mon, Steve!" Tommy cried. "Eat your lunch!"

It was still that same day. The sun was shining high in the sky, the birds were singing their songs, and Tommy told Danny that he would feed Steve his lunch that afternoon. He thought it would be fun to get Steve to himself for a while. It was harder than Tommy thought.

"Please Steve! It's good! Here I'll show you!" Tommy pulled a small piece of the stuff he was trying to feed Steve out of a bag, and popped it into his mouth. Tommy chewed it happily. "See? It's nummy!"

Tommy and Steve turned when Danny entered the cabin door. Once Danny saw Tommy's face he chuckled. "Tommy," he said, amused, "I thought you've been feeding Steve for the past half hour, not yourself!"

"I've been trying to feed him!" Tommy cried. "But he just won't eat!"

Danny grabbed the bag Tommy held in his hands. "Is this what you've been trying to feed him?"

"Yeah!"

"Well," Danny said, grinning and showing Tommy the bag, "I don't think owls eat cheesy puffs!"

"I thought he would like a snack for lunch!" Tommy explained. "Spike eats them!"

"Well, Spike's a dog!" Danny paused for a moment, and then said, "Why don't we go into the woods and look for some food. I'm sure there's something there that Steve will eat!"

"That's a great idea Danny!" Tommy exclaimed. "What do you thinks Steve?"

"Hoo! Hoo!" Steve hooted happily.

"Steve thinks it's a good idea too!" Tommy said, happily. "Just lets me grabs my clamera and then we can go!"

Danny nodded. "Why don't we also see if anybody else wants to come with us."

'Why did I ever suggest going into the woods?' Truthfully, Danny was trying to avoid the woods ever since he first arrived at the spooky camp. Now that Steve was here, Danny had no choice but to search for food.

The woods were dark, gray, and scary all at the same time. Danny hated places like this. He had seen the Indiana Jones movies. Whenever someone entered the dark, spooky cave, or the eerie wilderness, eventually something bad was going to happen.

Danny glanced at his friends. Tommy didn't seem to care what dangers lurked ahead of him. He was toddling as fast as his legs could carry him, and snapping pictures everywhere he turned. Sam was right behind Tommy with Steve on her left shoulder, trying to find more things he could take pictures of.

Danny sighed deeply. His best friends were having the time of their young lives, and here he was trudging along nervously behind them. Danny thought back to what Dash had said the morning before school ended. "You're not a leader or a fighter and you never will be!" Danny sighed again. 'Maybe he's right.'

"DANNY! DANNY! DANNY!" a voice suddenly cried. Tommy was running toward his playmate excitedly with his arms flapping up and down like he was trying to fly. Tommy's camera was banging against his chest as he ran.

"Tommy what are you-," Danny started.

"THERE'S A THING IN THE WOODS!" Tommy cried jumping up and down. "SAM FOUNDED IT! IT'S SO COOL! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS! SHE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS NEITHER! SHE SAID YOU WOULD KNOW, SO I CAME TO GET YOU! COME AND SEE IT! COME AND SEE IT! COME AND SEE IT!"

"Jeez, Tommy!" Danny exclaimed. "Stop jumping and take a breath!"

Tommy did as he was told. Once he calmed down, Tommy looked up at Danny and cried, "Follow me!" He ran deeper into the woods.

Danny ran as fast as he could to catch up with Tommy. The woods were getting darker with each step he took. Danny stopped once to catch his breath and then continued running again.

When Tommy finally came to a stop, Danny slowed to a walk. He could hear Steve hooting loudly in the distance. "Hurry up Danny!" Tommy cried excitedly.

Danny picked up his pace a bit. When he got close enough, Danny could see Sam kneeling against a tree looking at, what? Nothing in particular he could tell.

Sam stood up and faced Danny. "I know it's really dark here," she started, "but there's a little thing on the ground and I don't know what it is. It looks familiar though."

Danny had to kneel down by the big tree and squint to find out what Sam and Tommy were talking about. After a few minutes of careful searching, Danny thought he found what they were looking for.

"Is this it you guys?" Danny showed them a tiny metal square in the palm of his right hand.

A wide grin appeared on Tommy's face. "That's it!"

"What is it, Danny?" Sam asked.

"It looks like a chip!" Danny answered.

"Oooh!" Tommy cried. "A chip! Can I haves it?"

Danny laughed. "It's not a food chip, Tommy! It's a chip for computers and gizmos and stuff."

"Oh!" Sam exclaimed. "I remember where I saw them now! They were on the counter, in a bowl, in S.T.'s and Vlad's office!"

"Well," Tommy started, "I guess compoopers has to eats something every once in a while!"

Danny was about to say something, but shrugged instead. "I guess." He looked at his friends, glanced at the microchip in his right hand, and then at Tommy and Sam again. "Come on! We'd better take this back to S.T. and Vlad."

"But I founded something!" Tommy cried, sadly. "Can't we stay a little longer?"

Danny shook his head in response. "Sorry, Tommy. I know you and Sam found something cool, and you did the right thing by telling me. But we still haven't found Steve any food, and-,"

"No!" Tommy interrupted. "I mean I just founded something else!"

"Huh?" Sam asked, with a puzzled look on her face. "What are you talking about Tommy?"

"There's something behind that tree over there!" Tommy was pointing to a tree not far from where the microchip was.

Danny squinted to where Tommy was pointing. He was right. There was something sticking out from between two huge trees, but he couldn't quite make out what it was. Danny cautiously walked toward it.

"Danny," Sam suddenly cried, "what are you doing? That thing-whatever it is- could be dangerous."

"Don't worry, Sam!" Danny exclaimed. "If it looks dangerous, I won't touch it. I promise." He edged closer toward the object, until his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he could see it. "Cool! Tommy, Sam, get over here quick!"

Tommy and Sam ran as fast as they could toward the scene.

"What is it Danny?" Sam asked.

Danny pointed to the gizmo hidden between the two trees. "A jetpack!" he cried, excitedly. Steve hooted madly once Danny had said it, and flew onto his left shoulder.

Tommy's eyes widened. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "Can I touch it?"

As Tommy's right hand reached out toward the jetpack, Steve glared at him, gave an angry hoot, and snapped at Tommy like a mad dog. Tommy quickly backed away.

"Steve!" Sam cried, surprised. "What are you doing?"

"Hoooooo." Steve said, shamefully.

Tommy glanced at Steve, and gave him a big smile. "It's okay Steve! I forgives you!"

Steve hooted happily.

Danny grinned. "It was probably a good thing Steve did that Tommy. We don't know where that jetpack came from."

"Actually," Sam stated, "we do!" She was looking at the left side of the jetpack. Danny kneeled beside the trees, and squinted to read the huge bold letters:

If lost, please return to

S.T. Sohg and/or

Vlad Masters.

Lake Eerie, Big Red Office

Behind the Cabins.

"Well," Danny said, smiling, "at least now we know where it came from! But what is it doing here?" He turned to Sam, who shrugged.

"Hey, Danny!" Tommy cried. "Puts the jetpack on and I'll takes your picture!"

Danny looked at his playmate, and then at the jetpack. Now that he knew it was S.T.'s and Vlad's, Danny didn't see what the harm was. "Okay, sure!"

Danny slipped the jetpack onto his back. It wasn't very heavy. Actually, it didn't feel like there was anything in it at all. Once Danny made sure the jetpack was comfortable on his back, he glanced up just in time to see Steve pecking him. "OUCH! STEVE, WHAT ARE YOU- OW! I'VE BEEN PUNCHED ENOUGH TIMES! DO I REALLY NEED TO BE PECKED TOO? OW!"

Sam ran toward Danny to try and calm Steve down, while Tommy stood watching the commotion, with his mouth in a tight O. About five minutes later, Sam finally got Steve in a weird position, in her arms. "That's it!" she cried, madly. "No dessert for you!" But Steve was hooting too much to pay any attention to what Sam said.

"You'd better take the picture quickly," Danny said breathlessly, "before someone calls for animal rescue."

Tommy nodded. He put his eye on the camera hole and took a few steps back. "Say cheese, peas!"

"Cheese please!" Danny exclaimed, giving Tommy a huge smile.

CLICK! The flash came. Not more than five seconds later, the picture came out of the front end of the camera.

Tommy grinned. "Now let's see how this picture turned ou-," There was a slight pause. Tommy stared at the picture, his eyes wide with fear. His eyes darted to Danny, back at the picture, and then to Danny again. Danny, Sam, and Steve were all watching him.

"DANNY!" Tommy suddenly screamed. "LOOK OUT!"

"Tommy," Danny started, "what are you-,"

But before Danny could finish his sentence, Tommy ran up and jumped on top of him. Danny grunted as he fell to the ground. "Tommy! What was that all about?" But Tommy had already gotten up.

"BACK!" he was yelling. "BACK YOU FIENDS! I GOTS A CLAMERA, A STEWDRIVER, AND A DIAPIE, AND I'M NOT AFRIAD TO USE THEM!"

"Tommy!" Danny exclaimed once again. "What is with you? I've never seen you like this!"

"The picture!" Tommy cried, shaking with fear. "It-it-it-well, just look at it!"

"Tommy," Sam said calmly, "there are a lot of things to be scared of. Spiders for instance. But I don't think pictures are something to be afria-," Tommy held the picture up to her face. "Holy cow!"

"You guys," Danny stated as he walked up behind his two friends, "everyone gets a bad picture every once in awhile. I'm sure it's not-," Once he saw the picture, Danny froze. "Whoa."

The three of them stood in silence as the ghost in the picture stared back at them.

Chapter 12: A Game of Charades

The same sentences ran through Danny's head as he headed toward S.T.'s and Vlad's office. 'My parents were right. Ghosts do exist!'

Danny had already told Tommy and Sam to head back to their cabins, but not before Sam told him to take Steve and keep a lookout for anything suspicious. Danny agreed, as long as Sam and Tommy didn't tell anyone about what had happened. "In other words, stay out of trouble!" he had said earlier.

Okay. So there were ghosts at Lake Eerie. As long as they didn't come near Danny or his friends, he would be all right. Right? Right.

On the other hand, that ghost had come up behind Danny. It was so close to attacking him from behind until Tommy had saved him. A shiver ran down Danny's spine. What if the ghost or one of its pals came back?

'Stop it!' Danny's mind yelled at him. 'After Jazz, you're the oldest kid here! You have to be brave for your friends!'

But Danny had never been brave in his entire lifetime (besides the time when he and the babies had tricked Angelica with Danny's gadgets). How could he start now?

Danny's grip on the jetpack's handle tightened. What he really didn't get was why Steve was acting so weird when they found that jetpack in the woods earlier that day. 'He did try to save me before Tommy took the picture.' Danny thought. 'But that still doesn't explain why he snapped at Tommy like that.'

He took a quick glance at Steve on his right shoulder. The little owl's head was moving back and forth like he was searching for a mouse or something. A mouse.

"Steve!" Danny suddenly cried.

Steve looked at him with his big, wide eyes. "Hoo?"

"I just remembered you haven't had anything to eat yet. You must be hungry!"

"Hoooo!"

Danny paused for a moment. He also realized he didn't have any food for Steve either. "Well, what do like to eat?"

Steve flew off of Danny's shoulder and landed on the ground. He faced Danny and made a circle with his right wing.

Danny smiled. "Great idea, Steve! Let's play a game of charades!"

Steve held up one wing.

"Okay. So it's one word, and they're round, right?"

"Hoooo!"

"Alright, then!"

Steve pointed up.

"The sky?" Danny asked, puzzled. "What about the sky?"

"Hoo!"

"The clouds?"

Steve shook his head.

"Rain?"

Steve hooted deeply.

"The sky itself? The sun? Blue?"

"Hoooo!" Steve cheered.

"Blue?" Danny asked. "It's blue! But blue what?"

Steve looked to his right and found a small stick in the grass. He walked over to it, picked up one end of the stick with his beak, and dragged the stick toward Danny. Steve carefully started drawing something in the grass. Once Steve was done, Danny glanced at the picture. It was a bear.

Danny was confused. "Blue bears?" he asked, puzzled.

"Hoo." said Steve. He picked up the stick again and put four letters next to the drawing of the bear:

ries

"Blue-bear-ries." Danny mumbled to himself. "Bluebearies. Blueberries. BLUEBERRIES! Steve, you like to eat blueberries!"

"HOOOO!" Steve shouted.

"I figured out something!" Danny cried. "Sweet!" He smiled to himself. He felt like he accomplished something. Danny suddenly frowned. "The only problem is that I didn't bring any blueberries with me."

Steve looked disappointed. "Hoooo."

"But don't worry!" Danny said quickly, as Steve flew back onto his shoulder, "I'll find you some blueberries no matter what!"

Steve hooted happily.

Danny smiled. "That's the spirit! Now let's get to S.T.'s and Vlad's office!" He started walking. About five minutes later, Danny and Steve stood in front of the camp's office.

It was a big, wide office, painted red, with a grayish colored roof. It also had wooden doors (like most of the cabins did), brass doorknobs, and little round windows. Not only the office had stood taller than the cabins, but it was also cleaner and had had more repairs than the cabins also.

"You may wanna stay out here Steve." Danny said before entering. "It would look a little strange that a kid is carrying a live owl into a store with him."

Steve frowned.

"Not that I'm trying to offend you or anything!" Danny added quickly. "It's just that people would think it's unusual. Anyway, I'll explain later. Right now I need to return the microchip and the jetpack to their rightful owners!" He ran into the office.

The inside of the office was way different than the outside. It was cold, dark, and damp. Like most of the cabins, there was no electricity, except in the back corner of the office where a small light bulb was flickering on and off.

Danny quickly put the top of his shirt in front his nose. It smelled really musty, like one of Tommy's dirty diapers, mixed with the stuff in the lake. 'How can S.T. and Vlad stand staying at this cruddy camp?' Danny wondered.

"Mr. Sohg?" he called through his shirt. "Vlad? It's Danny, the boy who won the contest. I found some things of yours, and I'd like to return them!"

Silence.

"Well, I guess they're out doing something important." Danny said to himself. He walked toward the counter in the center of the office, stood on his tippy toes, and slid the jetpack and the microchip on top of the counter.

Danny was about to exit the creepy little store, when a small sign caught his eye:

Blueberries

25 cents

per lb.

Danny smiled, ran behind the counter, and grabbed a plastic bag. He took the scoop and got as many blueberries as he could until he reached about two pounds. Danny dug into his pocket, pulled out two quarters, and put them on the counter. He carried the almost full bag of blueberries and headed out the door.

Steve's eyes widened even more when he saw the bag of blueberries. "Hoooo!"

"I told you I would find some blueberries!" Danny said happily. "Now, let's get back to Tommy and Sam and see if we can figure out what those ghosts are up to!"

About ten to fifteen minutes later, Danny and Steve were back at the boys' cabin. No more than two seconds later, Tommy burst through the door. "Danny!" he cried. "Did you return the jetpack and the chip thing yet?"

"Yeah, Danny! Did you?" Sam asked, with a fearful expression on her face. Danny glanced over to see Chuckie, Phil, and Lil standing nervously behind her.

"I thought I told you guys not to tell anyone about this!"

"Sorry Danny!" Tommy started. "Phil and Lil came, and they sawed the back of the picture and wanted to know what it was."

"Yeah." Sam said quietly. "Then Chuckie came, and they all kind of wore us down. They're our friends, Danny! We had to tell them!"

Danny sighed deeply. "You didn't tell anyone else about this, did you?"

"Don't worry, Danny!" Phil said boldly. "We didn't tell nobodys!"

"Promise?"

"Promless."

"Good." Danny looked at his friends. They still had nervous and awkward expressions on their faces. "C'mon you guys, cheer up! I'm sure those ghosts are long gone by now. We can celebrate! Let's grab those juice boxes and some popcorn and have ourselves a good time!"

Before Danny could even take a step, Sam put her hand on his shoulder. "Danny, there's kind of something we have to tell you."

The babies glanced at one another. None of them said a word. Tommy was even silent.

"Well," Danny said, impatiently, "what is it you guys want to tell me?"

Everyone was still quiet.

"Okay, then. Steve fly onto someone's shoulder, and they'll tell me!"

"Hoo?" Steve glanced at them all, nervously.

"Go ahead, Steve!" said Tommy. "Pick someone. We promless our feelings won't gets hurted."

Steve flew up in the air, looked around, and closed his eyes. He flew around in small circles and kept landing until he was sure what he landed on was a shoulder. Steve opened his eyes and softly hooted. He had landed on Chuckie's shoulder.

Chuckie's eyes darted around nervously. All eyes were on him now. 'Why did Steve have to choose me?' he thought. Chuckie's eyes kept darting back and forth, like he couldn't control them. Danny was getting even more impatient.

Finally, after another minute of silence, Chuckie closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and quickly said, "Danny, we thinks S.T. Sohg is taking Vlad captive."

Chapter 13: Across the Lake

"What?" Danny exclaimed.

"It's true, Danny!" Lil cried. "Sam was the one who figurered it out!"

"Actually," Sam stated, "Chuckie was the one who came up with a good solution."

'Chuck?' Danny thought, glancing at Tommy's best friend. 'He's just full of surprises today!' "How did you come up with an answer like that?"

"I didn't really." Chuckie said quietly, his cheeks turning red. "I just told Sam to look up Mr. S.T. Sohg's name in the phone books cause that's what my Daddy does when he wants to find peoples names."

"We quickly thought about this," Sam continued, "and decided go check the phone book by the payphone near our parents' cabins. And get this, S.T. Sohg's name wasn't even under the S list! We tried other sources too." she stated. "He wasn't in the old newspapers that were out for recycling or in Jazz's famous people books. He isn't even in any of the magazines with Vlad!"

"So we gots to thinking," Tommy added, "what if S.T. Sohg isn't real? What if he was something else other than a human bleeding?"

"Then we all gatherered in our cabin," Phil explained further, "and put all of the puzzle pieces together."

"And we camed up with this." Lil finished. She reached onto her diaper, pulled out a small, folded, rectangular piece of paper, and toddled over to Danny. He took it with both nervous and eager anticipation.

Danny slowly opened the piece of paper. He really didn't want this to be true. I mean, S.T. Sohg? The kind and friendly man that gave Danny and his friends a chance to fix their summer? He was holding Vlad hostage? It couldn't be true.

On the small piece of paper, in Sam's neat handwriting, stood one word:

GHOSTS

The big letters staring back at Danny confused him. "It's the word ghosts." he said dumbly. "How is this helpful?"

"Hold it up to the windlow." Tommy answered.

'The window?' Danny thought. 'How is that gonna help me?' But he did what he was told, and slowly walked toward the busted up cabin. Danny held the piece of paper up to the window. What he saw shocked him. The word that stood in front of him now was:

STSOHG

"See, Danny?" Sam asked nervously. "S.T. Sohg isn't real. He's a ghost. He's been taking advantage of Vlad and us this whole time, and we didn't even know about it until just now!"

But Danny barely heard her. Sam and the babies were right, S.T., or whoever he was, was taking Vlad captive. S.T. was no friend. He had never wanted to help Danny or Vlad. All S.T. wanted was to get some help from the best, well known ghost hunters in the world and their kids. Danny felt like he was going to throw up, but he held back.

"Wait a minute!"

Danny's friends lifted their heads up to look at him.

"What is it, Danny?" Chuckie asked.

"I just thought of something!" he answered. "If there are ghosts here, there has to be ghost portal near the camp!"

After a few seconds of silence, Tommy exclaimed, "You're probably right Danny! That's why the ghostys keeps coming here!"

"Okay," Sam stated, "so we know now that the ghosts are coming from a portal. The question is, where is it?"

"Well," Danny explained, "my Dad says anything ghosts require usually comes from a huge power source. But there's nothing electric around here, so I'm not sure where we should look first."

The babies were silent for a moment.

"You know," Chuckie said after awhile, "I think someone would want to build a portal where no one would eggspect to look or somewhere that they wouldn't wanna go to. And that lake looks pretty yucky so-,"

"Wait a minute!" Danny cried once again, "So you're saying you wanna go across the lake and see if we find anything suspicious? Are you really Chuckie Finster?"

"Hey," Chuckie said, shrugging, "it's not that I wanna go to where all of the ghostys might be comin' from. You told me the firstest day we met that life's all about taking risks. And I'd better start taking them, one step at a time!"

Danny was surprised that Chuckie was going to take a huge risk like this. Normally he would've panicked and said something like "I'm not sure if this is a good idea you guys!" or "No way! I'm not gonna do this!". Then once the babies started off for their new adventure, Chuckie would hesitate and then run after them calling, "You guys, wait for me!" But this time, he was actually ready to go some place without worrying what was going to happen. And Danny thought that this was the wrong time for Chuckie to think so.

"Chuck," Danny hesitated, "you're taking a huge risk here. All of you guys in fact. I'm not sure if this is the best idea." He turned around and entered the boys' cabin. The babies followed.

"Danny," Tommy asked his playmate as he slipped his feet into an orange jumpsuit, "what are you doing?"

Danny zipped the jumpsuit up comfortably around his neck. "I'm going across the lake to save Vlad."

"HOO!" Steve cried.

"By yourself?" Sam asked, with a scared look on her face. "Danny, you can't!"

"I don't want to do this as much as you don't want me to, Sam. But Vlad was like a brother to my Dad and Mom. And he still is! Don't you guys get it? If Vlad never comes back, my whole family will be devastated!"

"We gets it all right, Danny." Phil answered.

"We just don't wants you to goes and risk your lives!" Lil said finishing Phil's statement for him.

"Please let us goes with you, Danny!" Chuckie pleaded. "We promless we won't be in your way."

Danny put his hand lightly on Chuckie's shoulder. "I know you guys wouldn't be, Chuck. But this is something I have to do on my own."

Danny quickly walked over to the small refrigerator near his bed, opened it, and grabbed three juice boxes that were still kind of cold. He put them in his blue gym bag with all of his ghost equipment and zipped it up. Danny was about exit the cabin, until Tommy stopped him. "Danny, wait! Peas don't goes!"

Danny froze, but didn't turn around. He couldn't bear looking at his playmate for possibly the last time ever. Danny especially didn't want Tommy-or his other friends for that matter- to see him start crying. Tears were already brimming in Danny's eyes. But he held them back.

"You've always told us to stand up for what we believes in." Tommy started. "You tolded us that whenever bad things happen, we'll makes it through together. All of us babies believes that. And we always will."

Danny slowly turned around to glance at his friend.

"You've taughted us a lot of stuffs, Danny." Tommy continued. "And we can't go on learning new stuffs without you. I may not knows much, but I know leaders and fighters-," he paused for a moment to find the right words and then explained, "Leaders and fighters always stand by their friends' side. At least," Tommy added, "that's what I believes."

Danny looked into his playmate's eyes. He could tell by Tommy's expression that he really didn't want Danny to go across that creepy, murky, lake by himself.

'That's probably Tommy's worst fear.' Danny thought. 'Losing someone he cares about.'

Danny suddenly thought back to two weeks ago. Dash almost beating up Danny and his friends on the last day of school, Tucker spending his summer in California, Speedy dying, Angelica trying to anger Sam, Tommy up in the luggage holder on the airplane…Then it hit him. Danny really didn't want a perfect first summer; he had only wanted to make sure his friends didn't get hurt with all of the excitement.

'Wow.' Danny thought. 'I guess I've spent so much time with my parents in the past five years I've become a little overprotective.' He glanced at his friends. They all looked like they wanted to join in this adventure together, like they always did. Danny sighed. He wasn't sure what to do….

Once he reached the other side of the lake (which wasn't a very pleasant boat ride for him by the way), Danny quickly hid behind a bush nearby, for Chuckie was right. There was something suspicious here, and that was the building standing right in front of him.

It was a very tall, dark brick building. There were barbed wires covering the many square windows and a huge gate surrounded the giant building. Plus, there were two huge guards in big metal suits standing in front of the entryway with spears. Their guard dogs stood boldly in front of them, ready to attack anyone who got in their masters' way.

"How did we not notice that before?" Sam asked.

Danny shrugged. "I guess none of us ever bothered to look across the lake."

"I can see why." Lil said holding her nose. "It's stinks over here!"

"Sorry." said Phil.

"You guys," Danny whispered sternly, "be quiet! We can't just let the guards see us. We have to get inside that building!"

"G-Goes inside?" Chuckie whispered, fearfully. "Are you crazy? We can't goes in there!"

"We have to Chuck. It's the only way this camp will ever be safe again."

"Hoo?" Steve asked.

"Yes, Steve." Tommy said, looking at the owl on his left shoulder. "He's sure. But, Danny's right. We can't just walk through those doors. I gots a plan!" He paused. "Danny," Tommy asked, "do you gots any more of those jumpy suits?"

Tommy's plan was a brilliant one. The only problem was that Danny wasn't sure how they were going to convince the guards that they were grown-ups. After all, they were only two and a half feet tall. Or at least Danny was anyway.

He sighed, pulled the hood of the jump suit over his head, and secured the red goggles over his eyes. Danny had used these goggles before when he had first met Tommy. When you put them on and pushed the little red button on the left side, the goggles, along with the person who was wearing them, turned completely invisible. If you pushed both buttons, you could see things before the event that occurred happened. Danny had brought it on the trip with him because he would never know if he might need them.

Danny turned to his friends. They were all wearing orange jump suits and goggles just like his. "Are you sure you guys want to do this?" Danny still didn't think this was a good idea.

"Are you kidding, Danny?" Sam asked. "We're here, we're wearing jump suits, and we have a plan to get inside the building already. We're not backing out now!" The babies nodded in unison.

Danny gripped onto his sky blue gym bag that he carried ghost equipment in, and sighed again. "All right then." he said nervously. "Let's do this."

Danny lifted the bag over his left shoulder, with Steve on his right, and headed toward the building. His friends followed.

Right on que, the guards spotted them. "HAULT! WHO GOES THERE?" The guards dogs started growling.

"You called for an exterminator?" Danny asked uncertainly.

"What?" one of the guards asked, with a puzzled look on his face.

"I asked if you called for an exterminator."

"No."

"I beg your pardon?"

This time the other guard spoke. "My brother said no, we did not call for an exterminator. Move along now."

'Brother?' Danny thought trying hard not to laugh. "I'm sorry sir, but my address paper says you called for an exterminator. It says right here: Lake Eerie, across the lake, brick building, cockroaches and rats everywhere."

"What?" the first guard exclaimed. "Let me see that!"

Danny handed the paper to the guard, and he read it thoroughly. Once he finished, the guard started questioning Danny. "So, you're exterminators, eh? Are you sure you guys are qualified for this job?"

"Of course I am! Here's my card!" Danny pulled a small square piece of paper out of his right pocket and handed it to the second guard who read:

"Jimmy Johnson and Jenny Johnson

"We eliminate! We exterminate!"

1-800-222-4444"

The guard looked up from the card and glanced at Danny's right shoulder. "What's the owl for?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh, you mean James here? We take him anywhere where there's rats. He just can't get enough of them!"

"Hoo!" Steve replied, happily.

"And where's Jenny Johnson?" the first guard questioned.

"She's right here!" Danny answered, pointing to Sam.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you sir!" she exclaimed, holding a hand out to him.

"Look," the first guard suddenly cried, "I've had enough of this! We didn't call one, two, or-," he paused and counted them, "six exterminators!"

"Plus," the second guard added, "our boss is in there, and he would tell us if an exterminator was coming before hand! And how come you're so short, and your little friends don't talk?"

Not knowing what else to do, Danny cried, "Sir, I am offended!"

"Excuse me?"

"Excuse you!" Danny was yelling now. "I have been doing this job for over twenty years! These people are young trainees and they're very shy! Plus, Jenny and I are really forty years old, we just look five!"

"I'm sorry sir! I-,"

"Just open those doors and let us do our job." Danny said, madly. "You're lucky we don't sue you!"

"I'm sorry sir! Go right on in!" The guards stepped aside and the six of them entered the building.

Once they were safely inside and out of the guards hearing range the babies pulled down their hoods.

Danny chuckled softly. "Dummies." he mumbled happily.

"C'mon Danny!" Tommy cried, shaking his arm. "We gots to get outta here! The ghostys might comes here soon!"

Danny nodded, looking down one of the dark, damp halls. If S.T. and his ghostly minions caught them before they even took one step forward, Dash's message would only be clearer and more to the point.

And Danny wanted to prove him wrong. "You're right Tommy." he answered. "We'd better get going. Now, stay close behind me and whatever you do," Danny continued, "don't touch anything!"

They silently marched straight down the hall.

Meanwhile, the guards outside were talking into their walkie-talkies. "Yes, boss." the first guard was saying. "They said they were exterminators. They wore the uniforms, they had the phone number, the papers, everything."

"And," the second guard added, "those guys also had the owl. We had to let them pass."

"Hmmm." said a deep voice coming out of the second guard's walkie-talkie. "Did you see what those 'exterminators' happen to look like?"

"Well," the first guard thought for a moment, "they were all pretty short, the two who own the business seemed older than the others, and, uh…Oh yeah! The trainees didn't talk at all."

"Is there anymore information you can give me?" the man asked.

"Yes, boss." the second guard replied, proudly. "The business man said he and his twin sister have been doing this job for a little over twenty years, but they just look like they're five."

"Wait, what did you just say?"

"I said-," but the second guard didn't even get a chance to answer the question.

"YOU IDIOTS!" the deep voice yelled. "THOSE WEREN'T EXTERMINATORS! THAT WAS JACK AND MADDIE FENTON'S SON AND HIS PLAYMATES! YOU LET THEM INTO THE BUILDING? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THOSE KIDS WILL DO IF THEY FIND OUT WHAT WE'RE DOING IN HERE?"

"We're s-sorry boss." the first guard said, shaken. "W-We- We didn't mean-,"

"YOU BONEHEADS APOLOGIZE ALL YOU WANT! NOW I HAVE TO GO AND FIND THEM MYSELF!"

"What do you want us to do, boss?" the second guard asked.

The man sighed. "You two will stay in your spot in case other little children want to come and inspect the building!"

"Will do, boss!"

The two guards went back to their job, like what had just occurred never happened.

Chapter 14: Caught

Danny's teeth were chattering. It was summer and yet, the building was freezing. He didn't want to be here. Danny glanced back at his friends. They didn't seem like they were having a good time either. Tommy was rubbing his hands over his arms, trying to keep himself warm. Chuckie was shivering violently with fear. Sam was walking slowly down the hall, her eyes darting around nervously, hanging onto Phil and Lil by the hands. Phil and Lil kept glancing at each other, both on the verge of crying.

'Man you guys,' Danny thought, 'why did you even want to come here in the first place?'

Suddenly, Danny froze in his tracks. A small 'ping' had caught his ear. Normally nobody would have heard something as silent as a 'ping' bounce against their eardrums, but since Danny's parents were ghosts hunters, he figured it was a good idea to always keep your eyes and ears open.

The babies had stopped too, trying to figure out what was going on with their friend.

"Danny," Sam started, "are you-,"

Without turning around, Danny quickly said, "You guys, get down."

"But Danny-,"

"I said get down Sam. All of you. Now."

"But why do we need to-,"

"NOW!"

Sam did not argue after that. She, Danny, and the babies dropped to the ground. Soon enough a huge explosion came from behind them. Everybody, but Danny, screamed.

"W-What was that?" Chuckie asked in a scared voice.

"A grenade." Danny answered, sitting up cautiously. "Someone must know we're here. We have to be more careful."

As the babies started to stand up, a misty spray slowly started spreading down the hall toward them.

"Hoo?" Steve asked puzzled.

"Is it just me," Phil asked, "or is anybody g-getting…. sleepy?"

"Y-Yeah."Lil replied. "I guess it's n-nappy time."

Phil and Lil slowly lowered themselves to the ground, lie on their sides, and closed their eyes.

"Oh no." Danny mumbled, sleepily. "I t-think that grenade had some laughing gas in it. It's m-making us all t-tired."

Chuckie yawned. "H-How come we're not l-laughing instead?" He was starting to head toward the ground.

"No." Danny cried. "C-Chuck, don't fall asleep."

But by the time Danny got the last raspy word out, Chuckie was already fast asleep.

"Hooooooo." Steve was starting to fall into dreamland too.

"Tommy, Sam, Steve," Danny started, "t-try not to fall asleep."

"I'm trying to f-fight it off Danny." Sam mumbled. "I'm fighting. I'm fighting. I'm l-losing…"

She fell against the floor and went to sleep.

Tommy turned his head slowly toward his playmate. "I c-can't f-fights it anymores Danny. I n-needs to rest."

"Tommy, no."

"I'm s-sorry, D-Danny." He collapsed, fell on his back, and slept.

"Hooooooo." Steve fell asleep on Danny's shoulder.

Danny strained to keep his eyes open. He had to stay awake. He was on his own now. Soon, Danny saw one, no, two shadows coming down the hall toward him. They were coming closer, and closer, and closer. Pretty soon Danny could see the shadow's creepy, glowing red eyes.

That's when Danny blacked out.

Tommy slowly opened his eyes. He had just had a great dream. He dreamt that he was in his backyard and it started raining. Normally Tommy didn't like rain because that meant he couldn't go outside and play. But this was different. Instead of rain falling from the sky, there were Gummie-Dummie Bears! That was Tommy's favorite candy after Reptar bars.

Tommy was enjoying the delicious treats, until a loud noise disrupted him. It was probably just his Dad working on a new toy again. When Tommy's eyes were completely open, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

That's when Tommy remembered what had occurred earlier.

He was in a huge, dark, damp basement. There were different weapons of all sorts sitting on many shelves, along with a huge machine with giant letters on it that Tommy couldn't read. A pipe was hooked up to the wall connecting the machine to a metal frame with a swirling, glowing green vortex.

"The ghosty portal!" Tommy whispered, excitedly. "We founded it!"

Tommy tried lifting himself up, but he couldn't. He looked down at himself. He was tied to a chair with bright green cables that seemed to glow. Tommy sighed and looked to his left. Sam, Lil, Phil, and Chuckie were sitting in the chairs tied up with the same green cables that had kept Tommy from escaping. They were all still asleep.

Tommy glanced at his right. Danny was tied up and asleep also. Tommy thought about letting his playmate rest until he woke up. But what if the ghosts came? He couldn't take any chances.

"Danny." Tommy said softy, nudging his friend. "Danny, peas wake up. We founded it!"

Danny grunted and slowly opened his eyes. "Tommy?" he asked, yawning.

Tommy nodded. "Yes."

"What's going on?"

"I don't eggzactly knows. But those bad ghostys took us right where we wanted to goes."

"What are you talking about?" Danny asked, with a puzzled look on his face.

"Look!" Tommy pointed to the ghost portal.

"Whoa!" Danny cried, excitedly. "Good going Tommy!"

"Ah, it was nothing really." He paused. "Hey Danny, how did we gets in here anyways?"

"I don't know, but-," Danny gasped.

"Danny, what's wrong?"

"You just reminded me of something!" Danny exclaimed. "Just before I fell asleep, there were two shadows coming toward me. They must've been S.T. and his ghost friend. They probably took us down here and tied us up so we could watch their evil plan unfold right in front of our faces! The question is," he continued, "what are those two planning to do?"

Tommy looked to the ghost portal on his left. "Well," he said, studying it carefully, "there's the portal, which is connected by that tubey thing that goes into the machine, and there's two other tubey things. One goes into that wall on the left, and the other is just laying theres."

"Hmmm." Danny paused for a moment. "That machine is going to open the portal, so that means the pipe on the left generates the machine which means the power source must be in that room. Then the other pipe…." Danny gasped again. "Tommy, they're gonna let all the ghosts out!"

Tommy gaped at Danny, his eyes wide with fear. "They-They can't do that! What's gonna happen to our homes, and our famblies, and our friends, and Reptar? Think of all the ascared peoples there are gonna be!"

"I know." Danny sighed. "But we're not gonna let that happen. You wake up the others, I'll get Steve to-," Danny cut off, his eyes darting around the room. "Uh, Tommy?"

"Yeah, Danny?" Tommy asked, trying to shake Sam awake.

"Where's Steve?"

"Huh?" Sam mumbled, rubbing her eyes and blinking. "Danny? Tommy? W-What happened?"

"We'll explain as soon as you wake up the others." Danny answered. "We need to get out of here as soon as possible!"

"What? Why?"

"Just wake up Lil, and tell her to wake up Phil, and he'll wake up Chuckie. We're kind of tied up at the moment."

Sam nodded and started shaking Lil.

"Come on you guys!" Danny cried, dashing down the hall. "It can't be too far now!" After Danny had explained the whole theory to his friends, he eventually found a big, rusty old nail nearby that could free them from those glowing green ropes.

Danny had searched for his blue gym bag before they had left, but he couldn't find it. And honestly, Danny really didn't care. That bag had caused him many misfortunes all through preschool and kindergarten. He was actually glad that it was gone. The only thing Danny was worried about was what the ghosts were planning to do with the bag and all of the useful weapons that were in it. But he would worry about that later. Right now, he and the babies had to get to the main power source. All they had to do was follow the giant pipe down the halls and they would get to the room soon enough. All they had to do was keep running.

In just minutes, Danny and the babies turned into a doorway with the huge pipe connecting to a small glass dome. Steve was looking at them with his wide eyes, flapping his wings wildly while jumping up and down, and hooting loudly as if crying for help.

"Be quiet, Steve!" Tommy whispered, sternly. "We can't let the ghostys find us heres!"

"How are we gonna gets him out of theres?" Phil asked.

Danny shook his head. "I don't know Phil. We'll think of something." He started pulling on the glass with all of his might. Suddenly, a robotic voice came out of the bottom part of the dome.

"KEY CODE PLEASE."

"Key code?" Sam asked. "What's a key code?"

Danny looked at her and shrugged.

"KEY CODE PLEASE." the robotic voice repeated.

Danny glanced down at the bottom of the dome, and sure enough there was a small keyboard in front of him. He sighed deeply. Did villains always have to make things so complicated?

"Okay." Danny mumbled, aloud. "So, we have to enter a password in order to set Steve free." He turned to his friends. "Got any ideas?"

They were all silent for a moment.

"Um, a ghost?" Chuckie finally responded.

"A machine?" Sam asked.

"A portal?" Lil suggested.

"One of those tubey thingys?" Tommy said, hopefully.

Danny shook his head and sighed again. "No. None of those would work."

They all thought for a few more minutes.

"I gots it!" Phil suddenly exclaimed. "The password is Reptar, the biggest, bestest dimnosaur in the universe, that smashes cars, eats buildings and-,"

Phil cut off, noticing his friends were looking at him strangely.

"What?" he asked. "I'm only trying to help. After all, it was a good idea!"

"Yeah," Lil whispered, so only Sam could hear, "now all we need to do is to learn how to spell all of that!"

They both snickered.

"Come on, you guys!" Danny cried. "We don't have much time! We've got to focus! Now, if I was a villain, what would I put as a password to lock a dome with a power source in it? It would be something that I would expect the least. Something really mysterious."

Danny thought for at least two more seconds, and grinned. He leaned toward the keyboard and read aloud the letters as he typed:

"O- W- L"

Danny pressed the enter key on the keyboard, and a few seconds later, the dome lifted up over Steve's head.

Steve flew onto Danny's shoulder. "Hoo! Hoo!" He was glad to be with his friends again.

"You're welcome, Steve!" Tommy answered happily.

"Now come on!" Danny cried, quickly walking toward the door. "Let's get out of here and destroy that machine once and for-," he gasped.

The babies shrieked loudly. A lot of scary things had happened to the six of them before, but nothing quite like this. Standing right in front of them were two ghosts, grinning evilly.

The ghost on the left leaned toward Danny and whispered loud enough so the rest of them could hear. "Very clever, Daniel! Now give me my pet!"

Chapter 15 Part 1: Bye-Bye, Bad Guys!

Danny stared at the ghosts in front of him in shock. This wasn't happening. This was all in his imagination. This just couldn't be happening.

The ghost on his right was a big green blob of some sort. He was smiling proudly at his master. It was sort of like the look Tommy gave him when he accomplished something he had tried many times before. The blob had big, round, red eyes and no legs. It also had darker, green splotches all over its body.

The ghost standing directly in front of Danny though, was much different. Other than the fact than it had same red eyes as it's friend's, it was much taller than him and had light blue skin. The ghost also wore a jumpsuit and a cape. His black hair was shaped upward, kind of like two bullhorns. An evil grin still sat upon its face. Danny recognized him from the picture.

"Y-Your pet?" Danny asked, shaken. "I d-don't understand. What are you t-talking about?"

"Ah, yes. Leo." The ghost with the cape replied.

"Leo? W-Who's Leo?"

The ghost sighed. "The owl, Daniel. The owl."

"Hooooo." Steve was trembling with fear.

"His name is not Leo!" Danny yelled. "His name is Steve! And don't think I don't know who you are!"

"Really, Daniel. You know who I am? I'm touched." The ghost's grin grew wider. "Now tell me, who exactly am I?"

"Don't worry, I know exactly who you are, S.T. Sohg!"

The ghost gasped, his eyes wide, its cape flapping up and down in the cold, windy room.

"Ah, ha!" Danny cried, smiling big. "I caught you red handed!"

Suddenly, the green blob ghost started clapping, with its eyelids shut. It had an amused look on its face. He chuckled. "Very good, Danny!" he said happily. The blob ghost started shifting in weird positions. "But you're not close enough!"

Soon, S.T. Sohg stood before them.

The babies gasped.

"Wait," Danny said with fear in his voice, "if you're the assistant, then who's-,"

The ghost with the cape stood up straight and tall, letting two black rings slide up and down its body. In just a moment, standing in front of the babies was….

"UNCLE VLAD?" Danny cried.

The babies gasped again.

Vlad Masters nodded. "That's right, Daniel. Are you surprised?"

"B-But why, Uncle Vlad? Why?"

Vlad leaned in toward Danny. "BECAUSE YOUR FATHER RUINED MY LIFE!" Saliva bounced out of Vlad's mouth and landed on Danny's face. Danny turned his face away angrily.

"But he didn't mean to!" Danny exclaimed. "He was your friend!"

"He stole the love of my life." Vlad said quietly.

"Are you talking about my Mom?" Danny asked, with a disgusted look on his face.

Vlad ignored Danny, and turned to face the babies. "WELL? AREN'T YOU GOING TO SAY SOMETHING?" He paused for a minute before yelling again. "SAMANTHA? THOMAS? CHARLIE? PHILIP? LILIAN? IS ANYONE GOING TO SAY ANYTHING?"

Sam gulped, and nervously spoke. "Mr. Masters, sir? I'm sorry, but you know babies don't talk. That's a little ridiculous, don't you think?"

Vlad grinned once again. "Did you actually think I was that stupid, Samantha?" he asked. "I saw all of you playing your dumb little games, keeping secrets behind your parents backs, and causing trouble. I could hear you all talking in your special, little language, and telling ghosts stories while I was plotting. I made Danny win this contest, and launched Steve into air on a microchip-powered jetpack, so you would be distracted from my plans."

"So that's why Steve was so upset when we found the jetpack!" Danny cried. "That was the huge explosion we heard in the woods the other night! That's why Steve broke his leg! You've been torturing him!"

Vlad grinned. "And what are you going to do about it Daniel? You're just a kid! A puny, wimpy, defenseless kid! All of you are! What do you say to that?"

Danny looked up at him, tears brimming in his eyes. "I say," he said quietly, "just because we're kids, doesn't mean we can't stand up for ourselves. Just because we're kids doesn't mean we can't protest, lead, or fight for our beliefs. Just because we're kids doesn't mean we can't stop you. You don't deserve all the credit you're getting!" Danny continued. "You don't deserve this camp! You don't even deserve to be my Uncle! You are not a fighter or a leader and you never will be!" He wiped the tears off his face.

Vlad chuckled. "How can you say that Daniel?" he asked. "I made many accomplishments in my life. I made this machine. I'm going to kill your father. I'm going to take over not just Lake Eerie, but the whole continent, and possibly the world!" Vlad and S.T. both laughed evilly.

S.T. Sohg leaned in toward Tommy's face. "Any last words, little one?" he teased.

Tommy grinned. "Actually, yeah!" he said happily. "You guys are really stupid!"

The six of them started giggling.

Vlad and S.T. didn't get what was happening. "W-What's so funny?" Vlad asked madly. "I demand you tell me! Now!"

"I can explain this!" Danny said, smiling. "Before we escaped the room you two put us in, we did a little experiment on your machine."

Vlad ran up to Danny and gripped him tightly on the shoulders. "What did you do?" he yelled.

Danny didn't panic. He just simply looked Vlad in the eye and said, "Oh, we didn't do anything. We just happened to notice that your machine charging switch was pushed the wrong way. And," Danny continued, "we also noticed on this radar that one of the shelves that was down in that room said your machine stopped working hours ago. It's not gonna be running anytime soon. It probably won't work at all. The machine is filled up with ecto-plasmic goo. No ghosts will be escaping from the ghost zone today!"

The babies cheered.

"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!" Steve cheered along with them.

"NO!" Vlad cried. "It-It couldn't have stopped working! It just couldn't have!" He turned to his assistant. "Quickly, S.T., we need to get to that machine!"

The two of them started running toward the door. S.T. Sohg suddenly stopped underneath the doorway and turned around to face the six babies. "Stay here!" he said sternly. Then he ran after Vlad.

Once she was sure Vlad and S.T. were out of earshot, Sam asked Danny, "So, what did you really do to that machine?"

Danny grinned. "I turned the switch to reverse on the machine, then opened it up with Tommy's plastic screwdriver, cut all of the wires in it, and filled the machine up with mushy blueberries and some of that goop from the lake." He rolled his eyes. "They won't know the difference. Now, come on, we'd better get out of here before those idiots get back!"

"Then," Danny continued, holding the flashlight up to his face, "the boy slowly walked toward the door." He made soft footsteps with his feet on the cabin floor. "He heard the thing behind the door. It was watching, waiting, plotting, through the keyhole."

The babies were in the boys' cabin once again, telling scary stories, sitting on the edge of the bunk beds, eager to hear what would happen next in Danny's story.

"Then what happened, Danny?" Jazz asked.

"Do you guys really want to know?" Danny asked.

"Yeah!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Are you sure?"

"Uh, huh!" Phil and Lil chorused.

"Are you positive?"

"JUST TELL US ALREADY!" Angelica screamed.

"Okay, then!" Danny said happily. "The boy walked closer to the door. Closer. Closer. Closer."

Chuckie shivered with fear. "Oh, no!"

"Next, he slowly opened the door." He made a screeching sound.

Steve covered his eyes with his wings. "Hoooo!" he groaned.

"Then he pulled the door open! And inside the closet was…."

"What was it?" The babies cried. "What was it?"

Danny smiled. "Dash Baxter!"

The babies burst out laughing. Soon, Danny started giggling along with them. They laughed for about two more minutes, when Chuckie spoke.

"Man," he cried, panting between every few words, "that- was the funniest- scary story- I ever heared!"

"Yeah!" Sam exclaimed, still laughing. "That story was great!"

"Hoo!" Steve cheered.

"It was okay." Angelica mumbled. "It could've had more scary things in it though!"

"Tell us another one, Danny!" Tommy exclaimed.

Jazz grinned and lifted Tommy up onto her lap. "I think we all should get to bed, you guys." she said, softly. "We're leaving early tomorrow morning."

Danny nodded. "Jazz is right. Besides," he added, "I'm kind of storied out!"

"Ah, man!" Tommy groaned. "Can't you just come up with one more story?"

Danny shook his head. "Tell you what though, I'll come up with some more scary stories. My Mom said you guys can come over to my house tomorrow. We'll have a fire, roast some marshmallows, and I'll tell you some scary stories then! How does that sound?"

"Marshmallows!" Angelica cried happily. "I'm in!"

The babies cheered.

Jazz stood up, stretched, and yawned. "Well, I'm going to bed." she said tiredly. "Good night, you guys!"

"Night Jazz!" the seven of them replied.

"Hoo!" Steve cried out.

When Jazz had shut the door, the babies continued chatting.

Danny was having a good conversation with Chuckie about scary story ideas that weren't too scary, when he noticed Tommy. His playmate was shifting on the bed, not saying much, with a very uncomfortable look on his face.

'That really isn't like Tommy.' Danny thought. He turned back to Chuckie. "Hey, Chuck?"

"Yeah?" Chuckie asked.

"I'm sorry about interrupting you during the middle of our conversation but, can I go over and talk to Tommy really quick? It's kind of important."

"No problem, Danny! Go ahead!"

"Thanks!"

Danny turned away from Chuckie and casually approached his playmate. "Hey, Tommy!"

Tommy looked up at his friend. "Oh. Hey, Danny." he said quietly.

"You seem upset about something." Danny said, pretending he had just notice this. "Is something wrong?"

Tommy nodded. "But, I'll be okay." he added quickly.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Danny asked.

"No." Tommy was silent for a while. Then suddenly he whispered, "What if Vlad and S.T. figure out what we did to their machine. Then they'll fix it, let all the ghostys out, and the ghostys will come after us! What will we do if that happens?"

Danny looked at his playmate. Tommy was right, what would they do? After choosing the right words, Danny answered Tommy's question. "If that happens," he said, "I'll be prepared for it, and so will you."

"Really?" Tommy asked, turning to face him. "How?"

"Because we're playmates," Danny answered, "and no matter what happens, we're in this together. All of us." he added.

Tommy smiled at his playmate and nodded. "Yeah. We are!"

Danny grinned.

Tommy was about to say something else to Danny, when the door burst open. It was Jazz.

"You won't believe it!" she exclaimed. "You really won't believe it!"

"What is it, Jazz?" Sam asked.

"There are a bunch of fireflies outside!" Jazz cried. "Hundreds of them! On our last day at camp!"

"Did you say fireflies?" Phil asked with excitement.

"Neat!" Lil cried happily.

"Well," Tommy started, "what are we waiting for? Let's goes!"

They all ran out into the night and looked up. Jazz was right. There were a bunch of fireflies flying around the cabins, spreading in and out, with their back ends flickering like the stars above. It truly was a wonderful sight to see.

The eight of them ran onto the grassy fields, jumping up and down, laughing, and having a blast. Steve soared above his new friends, hooting happily.

Danny was having a contest with Tommy for 'Whoever touches a firefly first' when someone tapped him on his right shoulder. Danny quickly turned around.

"Way to go! You didn't jump out of your skin this time!"

"Very funny, Sam!" Danny said, rolling his eyes jokingly. "You're a real comedian!"

Sam shoved Danny playfully. "Hey, Tommy!" she asked. "Can I talk to Danny in private for a moment?"

"Sure!" Tommy exclaimed, stopping to catch his breath, and then started jumping again. "Whatever private means!"

"Thank you!"

Danny and Sam walked a few feet away from their friends.

"Tommy's a funny baby." Sam said as a compliment.

Danny nodded. "Yeah, he is."

"I'm looking forward to hanging out with him and his friends this summer."

Danny nodded again. "So am I."

"And I kind of overheard your guy's conversation a moment ago." Sam said nervously.

"Oh. Really?"

"Yeah. Sorry." She paused for a moment, watching the babies, and then asked, "So, do you think Vlad and S.T. Sohg will come after us? After what we did to them?"

Danny sighed. "I don't think they'll come after us. I know they'll come after us."

Sam glanced at Danny with a straight face, and nodded slowly. "How do you know?"

"It's kind of hard to explain." Danny answered. "It's like my instincts are pulling on my brain, telling me that something is gonna happen, or I have to do something bizarre to solve my problems. Sort of like when I knew I would win the contest. In this case," he continued, "my instincts are telling me Vlad and S.T. will be coming back. And with some fresh, new recruits too."

"Aren't you going to tell anyone?" Sam asked, indicating her head toward the babies.

Danny watched his friends. They were all laughing, jumping, talking, having the time of their lives…. "Nah." he answered. "Let them have their fun. If we tell them now, they'll be worried for a long time."

"So, that's it? We just wait for Vlad, S.T., and a whole bunch of other ghosts to come by, and we won't even be prepared?"

"No." Danny said, answering Sam's question. "I mean, don't worry. We'll be prepared."

"How, Danny?" Sam asked. "How will we be prepared if we can't even fight back? There are six of us, and only like a thousand ghosts. If not, more!"

"I know. That's why we're gonna need an army."

"Danny, look at us! We're just kids! 4/6 of us can't even talk, and half of us aren't even potty trained! How are we gonna get a whole army to protect us?"

"We're not. That's the problem." Danny sighed again. "Look, if we're gonna get an army, we're gonna have to make one on our own."

Sam was silent for a moment, before she started nodding. "Okay, then. How are we gonna do that?"

"We'll figure that out along the way. Trust me, this isn't gonna be easy. And we're definitely not gonna keep this a secret from them." Danny glanced at the babies as he said that. "This battle isn't happening soon." he said after a few minutes of silence. "This battle has already begun."

You would not believe your eyes

If ten million fireflies

Lit up the world as I fell asleep.

'Cause they'd fill up the open air

And leave teardrops everywhere.

You'd think me rude,

But I would just stand and stare.

I like to make myself believe

That planet Earth turns slowly.

It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep.

'Cause everything is never as it seems.

'Cause I get a thousand hugs

from ten thousand lightning bugs

as they try to teach me how to dance.

A foxtrot above my head.

A sock hop beneath my bed.

A disco ball is just hanging by a thread.

I like to make myself believe

That planet Earth turns slowly.

It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep.

'Cause everything is never as it seems when I fall asleep.

"Fireflies" -Owl City

TO BE CONTINUED….