Hm...I'm in a hotel room. At 9:50 am. I'm bored. Hence, I remembered to post. Yay!

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On the mountain hike, Jake was trying to stay quiet and avoid D.J.

"I spy…" D.J. started, "something green."

"No one's playing," Eric informed unenthusiastically. The guy had been at it since the hike began.

"Yeah, well-"

Slam.

And D.J. was down. Apparently, he'd tripped over his shoelaces.

"Just be glad you didn't fall off the cliff," the blonde muttered.

"Whatever. You guys go ahead, I'll catch up in a second," D.J. ordered, tackling the infernal piece of string that tripped him.

Jake and Eric walked on ahead.

"Just so you know, he's not usually this obnoxious," Eric said.

Jake looked at the older boy curiously. "What do you mean?"

"That's what he does when he's nervous. It's better to just ignore him."

"D.J.? Nervous?" Jake asked incredulously. "Since when?"

"Honestly, he probably thinks you'll rat him out to Abby. I think she's the one person he's actually terrified of sometimes," Eric replied, smirking near the end. "Not that I can blame him. No offense."

Jake allowed himself to laugh lightly. "None taken. Last time I ticked her off, my bed wound up on the ceiling."

Eric winced. "Ouch."

"Eh, I got her back for it," the younger responded with a shrug.

"Do I even want to know?"

"Probably not."

Jake stopped as heavy footsteps thudded up the path from behind him. The girl making them shouted, "Hey, Jake!"

The boy waited for Chris to catch up, Eric going on ahead of him. "That took awhile," he stated.

"Yeah," she agreed, wrinkling her nose. "How was your hike so far?"

He shrugged. "D.J. was being annoying, but it wasn't so bad."

"It's funny," Chris said, "I always thought you didn't like Abby's friends."

"Abby and I like to keep our personal spheres separate. Too many twin jokes do that to you. It's not like I have a vendetta against them."

"I guess that makes sense," Chris agreed. She looked up at the sky, dark clouds in the distance. "It looks like a storm's coming. I hope it doesn't rain while we're hiking."

"We're almost at the top, anyway," Jake pointed out. It was a good thing, too. A good portion of the group was looking exhausted.

"Break time!" Mrs. Brady shouted the second they reached the flat area on mountain top. Half of the campers collapsed. The remaining half leaned against the big boulder in front of the trench or sat on the grassy slope. Jake and Chris were among the ones on the slope.

"Wow, it's great up here," Chris commented. "Not as great as flying, of course, but still really nice."

"Flying isn't as much work, either," Jake added. "But you're right."

They were only able to enjoy a few minutes of warm sunlight when, without warning, everything got dark. The group looked up in total confusion. Ominous clouds spun over head. Before anyone could say a word, green tendrils poked up from the ground, causing it to shake. Jake's ghost sense went off just as the earth split for the biggest plant of all.

Screams filled the air, mostly of those who had never faced a ghost attack before. They were drowned out by evil cackling. Jake's eyes widened as the clouds began to spit out little raindrops. Towering in front of them were Undergrowth and Vortex, looking ready to cause some serious damage.

"Everyone, get behind the boulder!" Mrs. Brady ordered. "Into the trench!"

The group did not question her, sprinting straight there. They climbed down the waist-high trench, ducking close to the ground, as lightning split the air, thunder as its close companion. Jake helped Chris in, but did not go down himself. He gave her a small smile as he let go of her hand.

"Fenton, what do you think you're doing?!" the councilor shouted. "Get down here!"

He didn't move a muscle, just stood defiantly in front of the rock. At last, he was noticed by the ghosts.

"What's this?" Undergrowth sneered. "A mere human?"

"Trying to (gasp) protect his pathetic friends," Vortex finished. "Hah! I should show you just how weak you really are."

He held out a hand, lightning gathering around it. Jake was getting ready to discreetly use his ghost powers. Once the lightning flashed, the campers would be temporarily blinded and he could retaliate. Just one more second…

"Hey, Zappy!" a female voice called out. Abby Phantom was revealed to be the one behind it as she charged forward. "Miss me?"

While Vortex was distracted, Danny Phantom appeared and used his ice powers to freeze the hand charged with electricity and part of Undergrowth's roots. Abby fired a ghost ray to shatter that section, causing Undergrowth to become temporarily lopsided. They would have been golden if the plant ghost didn't regenerate so fast.

"Jake?" Danny asked, seeing his son on the ground. "Get out of here!"

"I can't!" he yelled back. "There are others!"

Danny finally spotted the group of teens crouched low in the ditch. He turned to his daughter. "Abby, get the campers away from here. Fast."

Hesitantly, she nodded and followed her father's orders. It wasn't for her safety anymore, it was for theirs.

"So," Danny deviously asked the larger ghosts, firing quick, icy blasts at them, "which one of you is in charge? After all, one of you has to be more powerful than the other."

"I am," both ghosts claimed at the same time. They glared at each other, the tension rising.

Danny smirked. "It doesn't sound like a very equal partnership to me. Vortex, you could easily get rid of Undergrowth's inferior plant creatures."

Vortex grinned widely at the plant ghost. "Yes, (gasp) I could. Which makes me (gasp) the most powerful!"

"If you were so powerful, then why did you ask for my help?" Undergrowth retorted.

"I did not ask for your (gasp) assistance!"

As they argued, Danny was able to glance over at the ditch. Everyone was almost gone. Good. With the two idiots distracted, he could get in at least a few hits before they came to their senses. He sucked in a deep breath and aimed it at Vortex. The ghostly wail stunned the arguing pair. Vortex was blasted back, not having Undergrowth's plant barrier to protect him.

"Who is the most powerful now?" the plant ghost taunted.

Not letting Undergrowth's head get too big; Danny used a large freeze ray. Undergrowth's bottom half froze stiff and Danny used a powerful ecto-blast to shatter it, cutting the gloating ghost down like the oversized tree that he was.

"You were (gasp) saying?"

With a growl, Undergrowth rebuilt himself. "Equals, then."

The two nature ghosts were ready to face Danny again as a team.

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Short, short, short...

Mmmm....

Now, it's time to tackle the second half of my driving vacation. Five more hours to go. Nap time!