cheetahs-spirit: Thanks alot! I'm glad my story isn't boring!

AvidReader123: Yay! I'm not very good at riddles, but that one kinda made since.

the sleep warrior: Sorry, I can't tell you that, you'll have to wait until later!

pottersparky: Wow! A part two before this one's even done? That may be a possiblity...

slade1021: Don't worry, chapter five is a decent length.

Riverfox237: Thanks for the reviews, and replying to them is one of the most fun parts:)

Mina-chan AMD: Thank you very much! Writing is my passion and I love to hear that people like it!

I Break For Ghosts: Thanks for reviewing and yes, LotR is awesome!

Spiffy McFloogan: Yeah, i love to keep people hanging, but to be left hanging drives me crazy!

box-lunch: Only time will tell...

diamond004: Of course Danny's not dead, we all love him too much!

Inumaru12: Thank ya for reviewing.

xheartkreuzx: No, Danny es no muerto... whoa, spanglish there!

Chapter Three: The Mission

It took a moment for he statement to sink in and when it did they all started talking at once

"Are you sure?"

"We have to find him, then!"

"What if you're wrong?" They continued in this vein for sometime. It rose to a fever pitch and Sam could barely discern one voice from another. Then...

"Quiet!" Jack shouted, apparently, for once, the only one thinking sensibly. "Give her a chance to answer, don't keep bombarding her with more questions." The other three fell silent and looked to Sam for an explanation.

"Well, it just makes sense, doesn't it?" she started, her voice slightly higher than usual. "Clockwork is responsible for Danny–he changed the future for him. If Danny were dead why would he bother with us? He needs us to find Danny."

"But he knows everything." Tucker pointed out. "Why couldn't he find Danny himself? Or at least talk to us in person."

"Maybe he tried." Sam suggested. "But something stopped him."

"It's possible someone is doing just that." mused Maddie. She seemed to be following the conversation extremely well for someone who didn't know all the details; she didn't even know who Clockwork was. "But they would probably be half-ghost, too."

"Why's that?" Jazz asked, exchanging a glance with Danny's two best friends. They were stepping into dangerous territory here.

"Because it would be nearly impossible to block this Clockwork from both sides of the ghost zone if you didn't have some ghost and some human in you." Maddie replied as if it were obvious. "The only problem is, I don't know of any other half-ghosts. I just now found out Danny was." she added as an afterthought.

"Is." Sam corrected. She gave Jazz and Tucker a guilty look. "Besides, there is another half-ghost we know about."

"Who?" Maddie questioned. There was an awkward silence.

"He calls himself Plasmius." Tucker replied unhelpfully. Maddie frowned, beginning to get frustrated. None of the kids seemed to want to answer this, for some odd reason.

"Who is he as a human?" she repeated impatiently. Sam and Tucker took a step back and looked at Jazz.

"Your turn."

"Vlad Masters." she answered sheepishly. The explosion was immediate and predictable.

"Vlad Masters?" she exclaimed, rounding on her husband. "I told you that man was no good, and you didn't believe me! Now he's done something to our son!" Jack quailed under her glare. They other three sat down quietly and didn't look at each other, but Tucker apparently couldn't resist saying something.

"We don't know for sure if that's true." Tucker said. Maddie gave him a murderous look. "But, then again, we don't know it isn't."

"We're going to find him, Jack!" Maddie commanded. He nodded, wanting to be agreeable.

"We're coming with you!" Sam, Jazz and Tucker said in unison. Maddie's face softened, but she shook her head nonetheless.

"It's too dangerous." she told them. Sam raised her eyebrows skeptically.

"We help Danny fight ghosts!" she said dryly. "Do you think this is anymore dangerous?"

"I can't–" she protested.

"We don't care anyway." Jazz interrupted her.

"I can take you, Jazz, but Tucker and Sam aren't--"

"They care about Danny just as much as we do!" Jazz snapped, standing up for them before they could even open their mouths. "And they've been through a lot more with him than any of the rest of us have." Sam looked over at Jazz, who had her hands planted on her hips in a stubborn fashion and felt a newfound surge of respect for Danny's older sister. She had never really liked her much before, but now she realized what a good person Jazz truly was.

"We're going." Tucker repeated. Maddie looked into all three determined faces and sighed, she knew she'd been outvoted.

"This doesn't mean you can be careless." she warned. "You must do exactly as I tell you." A somber mood settled over them as they pondered what they were about to do. Only Jack seemed to miss the seriousness of the moment.

"Come on!" he cried, apparently having gotten his ghost hunting spirit back. "To the RV!"

"You mean the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle." Maddie corrected him, with a wan smile.

"Of course I do!"

A/N: Well there you have it, another chapter down. Thanks again to all you reviewers—you rock out loud! Oh, and yes, the whole thing with Sam respecting Jazz and yadda-yadda will have something to do with the story later on, it's not just random, I promise. Until next time, au revior!