CHAPTER 1: A BIRTHDY BRAWL

Danny looked around for a weapon, waiting for Skulker to show his face again. He found an old, discarded lead pipe in the corner of the school's basement. He looked at a puddle in the corner, and saw his reflection. Sweat poured down his face, a small cut on his forehead that turned my snow white bangs into a pinkish-hue. His heart skipped a beat every few seconds. His green eyes were glowing with excitement. 'What a great way to spend my 16th birthday, huh?' He thought to himself. 'Chasing down Skulker in a moldy old basement.'

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard heavy metal clanging against the floor, and chains rattling. He turned intangible and stalked him with great secrecy.

"COME OUT! You pathetic child! I look forward one of these days to mounting your head on my wall..." He laughed with a maniacal smile. Danny crept up behind him, his pipe in hand...

"SURPRISE!" He yelled as I dug the pipe into the back of his head armor. He screamed as his armor fell to pieces, then disintegrated, and his true form was revealed. The tiny little green ghost that inhabited the head of his suit of armor fell with a splat onto the concrete floor. He picked him up with two fingers as if he were a Polly-Pocket.

"Awww... you're so cute when your tiny like this."

"Let me go!" He yelled as he squirmed around in my fingers. Danny smirked and pulled out his Ghost Thermos and sucked Skulker into it as he screamed. He put the thermos back onto his white belt and became intangible as he flew through the basement ceiling up to the 1st floor, then out into the city. The specter removed his intangibility and looked down at all the people who realized Ihewas overhead and started waving to him.

He finally reached his house and flew through the walls, down into the basement where the lab was. He landed only to be greeted by his parents and overly-hugging sister.

"I missed you sweetie!" His mom exclaimed while hugging me.

"Mom, I've been doing this for years. You don't need to freak when I go off to a fight."

"I know, but a mother can't help being worried for her little boy..."

"Who just turned 16, I might add," His dad said proudly, walking over to him. His dad smiled as Danny looked at him, then his sister, then he turned towards the Ghost Portal.

"Thanks, Dad. Just let me dump out the thermos," Danny replied. He walked over to the large station set up by the ghost portal. He removed the thermos' cap and screwed it into the base hole on the machine. With a flip of a switch and a simple thumb-print scan Skulker was sent screaming back into the Ghost World. Danny hooked the thermos onto his belt, then turned back into his human half as his suit and thermos disappeared.

Jazz was so proud of her little bro. Not just because he managed to beat the crap out of another ghost, but how he gained the strength and courage to protect the entire planet...

But that was another story. Tonight was Danny's 16th birthday. They'd argued with him for weeks to let them throw him a sweet 16, but Danny doesn't really like parties that much, go figure.

"So, when are you leaving to meet Sam and Tucker?" Jazz asked Danny. "I just wanna know so I know when we can give you your presents."

"Well..." He trailed off as he gazed at his watch, "it's 5:00 now, and we're meeting for dinner at Sam's house at 8:00 for a sleepover... so I guess I should leave at 7:30."

"Let's go ahead and give you your presents now then," Mom said with delight as she pulled her blue suit's hood and goggles off.

"Awesome!" Danny said as his eyes lit up with excitement. "Let's go!" He idiotically said like a little kid as he bolted up the stairs with Jazz.