Greetings, folks! Everyone excited with the holidays on the horizon? I wanted to get this chapter up before Christmas Day. Hey, did you all see summaries for Danny Phantom's "Flirting With Disaster" and "Micro-Management"? Check out TV . com for them.

Here we go! Chapter 7 is here!

Ghostly Competition

Chapter Seven: Steve's Story

Danny, Sam, and Tucker continued staring at the building in front of them in awe.

Danny said, "I can't believe it."

Sam shook her head, "I know. No wonder he never wanted us over to his place."

Tucker looked at Sam and said, "So…what do we do now?"

Danny said, "Should we still give him his homework?"

Sam responded, "Er…I'm not sure that's such a great idea. He probably won't want us to know he lives here."

Just then a voice rang out, "You're darn right I didn't want you to know."

The three of them gasped. Danny's ghost sense went off as Steve appeared in front of them. He had been invisible, listening to them ever since they had arrived at the building.

Steve glared at them for a few seconds, and then he frowned and sighed, "Well congratulations, you three. Now you've figured out that I don't have a home."

Looking rather grief-stricken, Sam asked him, "Uh, you don't have a family or anything?"

Steve hung his head and didn't answer.

"Oooh," Sam said, "I'm sorry."

"That's okay. You didn't know."

Seeing that he probably didn't want to discuss the matter any further, Danny handed him the papers, "Uh, Mr. Lancer wanted me to give you this. It's today's homework."

Steve took them and muttered, "Thanks."

Tucker said, "Right. Well, see you tomorrow then!" They turned to leave, but then Steve called them back, "Hold up."

The trio turned around and Steve said, "You probably want to know why I live here, don't you." It wasn't a question; it was a statement.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh, we didn't say that."

"But you were thinking it."

Tucker whispered to Sam, "You know, I'm getting the freaky feeling that this guy can read minds."

"I heard you, Tucker," said Steve, "No, I can't read minds. I could just tell by your expressions. Look, I haven't told anybody the story of what happened to me, but maybe if I told you, you might understand why I am the way I am."

Slowly, the three of them nodded.

"Very well. First, let's go inside. Don't want to be overheard." Then he went invisible and flew up into a second story window. Danny did the same and flew Sam and Tucker up through it.

When they got in, they saw what Steve's room looked like. There was a long bed with red blankets, a small lamp in the corner, a dresser, a pair of roller blades in the corner, a bowling ball bag in the other corner, and the bottle he had used to trap the Box Ghost that one day, along with other items.

Tucker said, "Kickin' place, dude."

Steve shrugged, "It suits me well."

Sam said to him, "So you were going to tell us why you came here."

"Right. Well, it started a couple weeks before I moved here…"

Tucker interrupted, "Is this going to be a flashback?"

"Yes! Don't interrupt. As I was saying, I was a member of Phillipsburg High School's bowling team…"

Tucker again interrupted, "Your school had a bowling team?"

"Who's telling the story here!"

"Um, you are."

"That's right! Now sit down and shut up, or I'm gonna have to kick all three of you out!"

Tucker was silent.

"Thank you. Now then, my team consisted of my two best friends, Michael and Jeremy, and my girlfriend Kelly. We had just won the state semi-finals for the first time in our school's history, and were heading to dinner with my parents and my sister Trisha…"

Flashback:

A happier Steve Reynolds sat in the back of a large van. In seat next to him was a very pretty brunette girl of fourteen. In the seat in front of them were a freckle-face boy of fifteen, a tall girl with red hair who looked seventeen, and a short boy of fourteen. Steve, the brunette, the freckle-face, and the short boy wore red shirts with the words "The Spirits" across the torsos, and black shoes. A man sat driving up front with a woman in the seat next to him, who were obviously Steve's parents.

As it stormed outside, Steve yelled, "Whoo! We're going to the finals! How awesome is that, Mickey?"

The freckle-faced boy responded, "Awesome, Steve! You think so, Jeremy?"

The short kid said, "You know it!"

"Yeah!" the girl in the back screamed, "No one's stopping us!"

Steve yelled, "Straight up, Kelly!"

The redheaded girl scoffed, "Oh, please. It's just some bowling tournament."

Steve scowled, "Must you be such a killjoy, Trisha?"

Up front, Mr. Reynolds said, "Now kids, please quiet down. I'm very proud that you guys won, but there's a bit of a storm outside and I need to keep my eyes on the road."

Steve muttered, "Sorry, Dad," with Trisha doing the same.

While the others up front talked amongst themselves, Steve said softly to Kelly, "You were awesome today, Kelly."

Kelly grinned, "Oh, like I'm not awesome other days?"

"No, no, I just, I mean…you're…"

Kelly laughed, "Calm down, Stevie. I'm just joking with you."

"You know I don't like being called 'Stevie.' You must be punished."

Kelly giggled, "Oooh, I like being punished by you." They leaned in to kiss…

Just then, Mr. Reynolds burst out screaming as a truck started skidding right towards them!

Mr. Reynolds tried to swerve out of the way, but it was too late. The truck rammed into them and sent the van into a series of flips. In one flip, Steve, who wasn't wearing his seatbelt as usual, was sent crashing through a window and out.

The truck and van smoked for a few seconds before they crashed into a telephone pole, bending it and snapping the wires off. Electricity sparked from the ends and they dropped downward…right onto a trail of gasoline next to the automobiles.

In an instant, a large fireball went off as the gas tanks were ignited by the wires, engulfing everything around it.

Just as Steve had landed, something spilled out of the large truck and drifted underneath him. This turned out to be ectoplasm. Steve didn't feel anything from this. He was just going to turn to see what was going on when another wire of electricity hit the ectoplasm.

A second later, Steve started screaming as he felt his body burning all over. He thought his skin was going to fry. He saw flashes going before his eyes as he continued screaming…

Very slowly, Steve opened his eyes. He looked around and saw that he was in the room of a hospital. He looked up and saw a female nurse looking down at him.

She said, "Steve? Are you awake?"

Steve said weakly, "Yeah. I'm awake. What happened?"

"You were electrocuted. A trail of ectoplasm got on you and it was zapped by a wayward electrical wire. You're lucky to be alive, son."

Steve gave a small smile, but it disappeared as he asked, "What about my folks? And my friends? Where are they?"

The nurse frowned and she hung her head.

Steve stared at her, shaking his head, not daring to believe it…

End Flashback:

With tears approaching his eyes, Steve said, "I didn't want to believe it. I kept telling myself it wasn't true, that I was going to see them, alive and well. But I had to succumb to the facts. Mom, dad, my sister, my friends, Kelly…they were all gone. They were killed instantly in the explosion."

Sam sniffed back a tear, "Goodness, Steve. That's awful."

Danny hung his head, remembering what had almost befallen himself not too long ago.

Tucker asked, "So what happened after that?"

Steve went on, "Well, not long after that, I realized that the shock I received from the ectoplasm made me half-ghost. Fortunately no one found out."

Danny asked, "Your ghost costume sounds different than your old uniforms."

"Well, I'm excellent at sewing, so a few adjustments," he transformed into Steve Spirit and back, "Made me what you see here."

He went on, "After I got out of the hospital I went to their funeral. I almost killed myself on the inside, but I was able to stick it out. Then social workers wanted to place me in a foster home in that town. But I refused."

Tucker asked him, "How come?"

"Too many memories. Everywhere I went had something that reminded me of them. I demanded that wherever I live, it would have to be out of Phillipsburg. They obliged, and took me where I am now. Since I got the powers, I've been practicing with them in secret."

Sam asked, "Why exactly?"

Steve sighed, "I wanted to be a hero. I wanted to make them proud. I wanted to prove that I could be great to help others for them."

Danny said, "No wonder you tried to show me up. What happened to the bowling team?"

Steve sighed, "Well, I was the only remaining one on the team, so it's not much sense playing when your teammates are…permanently incapacitated. So I forfeited."

Sam put her hand on Steve's shoulder, "Steve…that's terrible for you."

Steve scowled and tugged his arm away. He then shouted, "Why did that have to happen? Why did I have to survive! Why couldn't I have just died with them! WHY!" Then he broke down completely and started crying into his pillow.

Danny walked slowly toward Steve and said, "Steve…I…"

Steve pointed to the door and said, "Just go. Now."

"But I…"

"GO! Or I'll make you leave, Fenton!" He powered up a ghost ray as he said this.

Choosing not to argue, Danny grabbed Sam and Tucker and phased them out of the building, leaving Steve to continue sobbing.

Aw! What a sad story! What will unfold out of this now? Find out in Chapter 8! Please R/R! But until then, have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!