Danny groaned as he opened his eyes; his head hurt, and he felt like he’d been beat across the head with a bat. “Ugh…” he moaned, as he pushed himself onto his arms. He saw Tucker talking quietly with Sam on his bed, and that’s when he realized something; they were all teenagers again! “Guys?” Danny said.
Tucker and Sam turned their heads to face Danny. “Hey!” Tucker said. “Finally awake, Sleeping Beauty?”
Sam, however, had a different way of saying hello. She jumped off the bed and onto the ground before wrapping Danny in a hug. “You’re okay!” she cried, beaming. “We were so scared!”
“Scared?” Danny asked. “Why were you scared? There wasn’t a ghost attack, was there?” he asked, suddenly jumping up.
Tucker got off the bed and walked over to Danny. “Danny?” he said. “What’s the last thing you remember?” Sam’s smile faded; she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer.
“The last thing?” Danny replied, rubbing his head. “Hm… I think it was when we were still 6, and in the ball pit. Why? Come on, guys, you both look freaked out. What happened?”
“Well…” Tucker started. “Vlad kinda snuck up on us at Chubby Cheeses, remember?”
“I think…” Danny said, scratching his head. “I remember asking you 2 about hearing someone, you said something about the vents, then I kinda passed out, but I didn’t see who did it. Wait,” he said. “Is that why I was just on the floor?”
“No,” Sam laughed. “Do you remember later on? We woke up in Vlad’s jail cell thing at his mansion.”
“Oh yeah!” Danny said, nodding. “We crawled through the vents, and tried to escape, but Vlad got me, and you guys went ahead. Then he took me in some room below with a weird machine in it, and strapped me in this chair with lasers.” Danny sat for a second, racking his head to try and remember anything else. “And that’s all I can really remember,” he said, shrugging. “Next thing after that that I remember is waking up in here, and now this.”
“Danny, there’s WAY more to this story, and I doubt you’ll believe any of it, either,” Sam said, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Sit back, and we’ll tell you everything, okay?”
Danny, very confused by now, walked over and sat on his bed as Tucker and
Sam stood in the middle of the room.
“Well, after Vlad put you in that chair,” Tucker said, “we think he brainwashed you into thinking you were actually 6-years-old, and that you were…well…his son.”
“WHAT?!” Danny blurted out, standing up from the bed. “No amount of brainwash is going to make me call that man my dad!”
“Well, you were sure screaming ‘daddy’ to him when we came to rescue you,” Tucker snickered. “You were all, ‘DADDY! HELP ME!’.”
“Tucker!” Sam said, hitting him in the ribs, before turning to face Danny again. “I’d like to say he’s lying, Danny, but, well… he’s not. You really did think you were his kid.”
Danny sat down on the bed slowly, and rubbed his head, trying to make the pain go away. How could he have ever called Vlad his dad? It just wasn’t right…
“We came back after we came here to get some ghost weapons and some sleep, then we found Desiree, and wished we were at the mansion again,”  Sam continued, while Tucker massaged his rib. “When we came back and found you, you were still 6, but you thought you had always lived in Wisconsin, your name was Daniel Masters, your dad was Vlad, and you had no idea who me, Tucker, Jazz, or your mom or dad were.”
“Forget you guys?” Danny said. “That’s impossible!” He got up and hugged them. “I love you guys, you’re my best friends!”
“Well…” Tucker started.
Danny let go of them. “Well what?” he said.
“You did say something about seeing us in your dreams,” Tucker finished. “So I don’t know if you totally forgot about us or not.”
Danny just stood there. How could he have seen them in his dreams, but not have remembered consciously?
“Well, after we got back,” Tucker continued, snapping Danny out of his thoughts, “We had to force you back in the chair, and we got your memory back. Then you passed out, and I had to help you and Sam out from Vlad. I put him in the Fenton Thermos.”
“You had to help Sam, too?” Danny asked, confused, looking at Sam. “What happened to her?”
“Mental breakdown,” Tucker said.
“Well, I was scared for you!” she said, blushing; Danny blushed, too. “I couldn’t help it. You just looked so miserable.”
“Well, before you two lovebirds go and ignore the rest of the story,” Tucker started.
“We’re NOT lovebirds!” Sam and Danny yelled together.
“Right,” Tucker said sarcastically. “Anyways, we got Desiree to get us back here, make you a teen again, send Vlad back to his house, and, well, here we are!”
“But…” Danny said, scratching his head as he sat down on his bed again. “If this all happened to me, why don’t I remember any of this?”
“Well,” Sam said, “when we gave you your memory back, it kinda covered up what happened at Vlad‘s house. So in your mind, it kinda never happened. Make sense?”
“As much sense as everything else you guys just said,” Danny said, still kind of in a daze. “Hey, look guys, I appreciate everything you supposedly did for me, but I’m kinda tired. Can we just talk tomorrow? My head hurts.”
“Sure,” Sam said, understanding fully. “See ‘ya, Danny.”
“See ‘ya, man,” Tucker said, following Sam out the door. A few moments later, though, Danny heard Jazz say, “You’re not little anymore?” to them in the hallway. He heard both of them laugh as they left the house, and a laugh escaped Danny from the bedroom, too.
“What a day,” Danny said, flopping out on his bed. “Or, at least, as far as Tucker and Sam said. I can’t believe I don’t remember any of that…It’s like I’ve been asleep for a day or 2. But how could I have called Vlad dad? Or have forgotten my family and friends?” He shut his eyes, tired. “You know what? It’s done, so I don’t care.” Danny turned over, ready to go to sleep, but something small and pointy kept poking him in the belly. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a folded piece of paper…