The next morning was a Sunday and, keeping with a tradition that was many years old, Danny, Sam and Tucker buzzed through the town on their motorized scooters, making their way to the park. At that moment in time, they were going through small streets that housed many small shops and privately owned businesses.

"...then the animals just shrank down to a manageable size," Danny said, explaining to his friends what had happened after both of them had left due to phone calls from their parents, asking them to return home. "So I just-"

"Woah. Look at that," Tucker said, pointing with one hand to a large crowd forming in front of a shop.

"It's a crowd, Tucker. It's not like you've never seen one before," Sam said dryly.

Tucker ignored Sam's comment and turned his scooter towards the crowd. Also ignoring Sam's comment, Danny trailed after Tucker. After a second, Sam gave a small sigh and followed.

The three friends pulled to a screeching halt near to the growing crowd. Each demounted their scooter and pulled off their helmet.

The crowd was gathering around a small shop called "Paws and Claws". The crowd consisted mainly of students; many of them attended Casper High. Danny, Sam and Tucker instantly recognised some of their classmates in the crowd.

"Look, there's Paulina," Danny said, pointing Paulina, who was holding a poodle puppy that looked almost exactly like her

"And it looks like she's carrying a miniature version of herself," Tucker continued.

"That's not a mini-Paulina, that's a puppy," Sam said, but quickly changed her mind to insult Paulina. "No, wait it is a mini-Paulina."

A man appeared at the front of the crowd. He had black hair and dark grey eyes. He was wearing baggy dark green trousers, a pale grey shirt, shiny black shoes and, as if this outfit wasn't bad enough, a bright white apron. He was talking to a girl with blonde hair and green eyes that was holding an almost identical yellow cat.

"Hey Fen-toast," a familiar voice, that made the three friends jump, called.

"Oh no," Danny grumbled. A boy with blonde hair and blue eyes stepped into view. The boy was the same age as Danny but twice the size of him. "Dash."

"Have you met my new dog, Fenton?" Dash asked, yanking the leash that he firmly gripped forward. A dog that, once again, looked like its owner stumbled into view. The dog was quite muscular and it was wearing the same maniacal grin as its owner.

"I don't believe I have met your dog," Danny said.

"His name's Spike and he's much tougher than-" Dash paused to give a mocking smile. "-you." With that, Spike started to growl.

Danny withdrew his body away from the reach of Spike. "And that's supposed to mean?" Danny asked, slightly intimidated by the appearance of the gigantic dog.

"You're so weak even a dog could beat you up!" Dash laughed and walked away.

Danny slouched dejectedly. "Pay no attention, Danny," Sam said, trying to comfort him.
-----
The next morning, Danny and Jazz were sitting in the kitchen, minding their own business, when their parents burst up from the lab.

"Danny!" Jack said excitedly, rushing to Danny's side. "Wait until you see the latest innovation in Fenton ghost hunting technology."

Maddie appeared beside him. "It's called the Fenton Thermograph!" Maddie said, holding up the invention.

The Fenton Thermograph was a small metal rod that seemed to have a green tinge to it, attached by a thin, plastic coated wire to the main part of the invention. The main part of the invention was a small control with a screen and three buttons.

"It can detect a drop in the temperature and warn us if a ghost is near. The metal rod has been treated with ectoplasm to pick up the smallest ghost-related change in temperature," Jack said. Maddie switched the invention on. "And it displays the temperature over a few hours in a graph."

"Hm. That's funny," Maddie said, waving the rod around.

"What's funny?" Jack asked.

"It shows a temperature drop around Danny." Maddie held the rod next to Danny and showed the screen to Jack.

Danny panicked. "Would you look at the time? It's time for school." Danny sped off, leaving only a cloud of dust and a wobbling bowl behind.

"If he can move that fast, he should try out for track," Jack said with a large smile.

-----

As usual, Danny walked to school with Sam and Tucker. As soon as they got there, all three gasped. Banners that were strung to the front of the school declared (in red and blue writing) that it was 'Pet Week' at Casper high.

"Why doesn't this sound right?" Tucker asked.

"It sounds fine to me," Sam said. "Think about it. He's a quarterback on the football team. He can convince Mr. Lancer to give him straight A's on his report card if he wants to. And, ever since Mr. Lancer got the teacher's lounge an all-meat lunch buffet, he's been on the principal's good side."

"Good point, Sam," Danny agreed.

"But these animals seem to have something funny about them. They even look like their owners. Just look at Paulina's dog," Tucker said, sounding slightly frightened.

"Tucker, how many times do I have to tell you," Sam said. "That's not her dog – it's her daughter."

"Don't you think you're a little too harsh on Paulina sometimes, Sam?" Danny asked, staring at Paulina; she was parading around with her new dog, showing it off to everyone she saw, including the unpopular students.

Before Sam could answer, Paulina noticed Danny. "Hey, Danny! Check out my new dog. Her name is Fluffy," she said in an overly-accented voice, guiding a poodle puppy in front of her with the pink leash that was attached to Fluffy's collar.

Paulina scooped up Fluffy and held her out so Danny could get a closer look. The puppy had a thin coating of light brown fur. It also had long ears covered in coal black fur and puffs of the coal black fur around the tip of its tail, its neck and its hind legs.

Danny stared at Fluffy for a minute. Fluffy gave a high-pitched squeaky bark that snapped Danny out of the trance.

"Well I guess I'll see you later, Danny," Paulina said and strutted off to show the rest of the school her new dog.

"I'd hate to live next to her – Fluffy's bark is annoying," Tucker commented.

"And yet, the owner is still more annoying than the dog," Sam retorted.