The afternoon activity proves to be a lot of fun for the campers; their recreational event consisted mostly of sports, such as basketball, baseball, football, and soccer. Echo and Firework play with Nectar and Cyan in a two vs. two match of soccer. The four kids laugh and giggle as their fun soars to new heights. They manage to get about five games in before the whistle blows, calling for the afternoon activity to be over. The friends decide to retire to Echo and Firework’s cabin before dinner comes about, and spend time hanging out a little more. Cotton pops out of the bag just to get some attention and be part of the conversation, only to be shoved back in after being petted. On their way, the kids converse a little more about future games and ponder if they will be assigned together on their camping assignments.
Upon entering the cabin, they freeze and take notice an object in the middle of the room; a small stuffed animal, which remains seated on the wooden floor.
“Strange,” Echo comments. “That wasn’t there before.”
“Could be cabinmates’,” says Firework. “Cabinmates must brought stuffed toy with them and left it.”
“Well, we shouldn’t leave it there,” Cyan tells them. “We should put it back on their bed.” He walks over to the animal. “Question is, who does it belong to?” Nectar meets him halfway, drawing closer to the mouse.
Echo zooms in on the little toy with his vision. Upon inspection and scanning, his colors change from orange to white almost immediately after a gasp. “Wait!” He extends his arm out to the mouse. “Don’t touch that!” But, it was too late. Upon picking up the animal, the mouse had pulled on a string which was attached to the doll’s leg. With the cord jerked, the floor gives way, dropping Cyan into a small, inescapable pit.
“Cyan!” The bee floats over and looks down at him. “You okay?!”
“What’s happened?!” Cyan exclaims. “How did this get here?!”
“Hang on, we’ll get you out!” Nectar calls over to the grey dragon and robot for help. Echo begins to walk over to him, but one step triggers a pressure plate, causing a net to appear from beneath him and snatch him up. The net suspends from the ceiling, keeping the robot dangling there.
“Echo!” The bee is the next target, getting hit from the side by a small log, which had swung from the side. Nectar is knocked over into a vat of sticky, purple goop, trapping him in.
Looking with horror, Firework slowly takes one step back, activating another trap. Small rope catches his foot and hoists him in the air, upside down. His bag falls off his back and onto the floor, scaring Cotton and causing him to peek on what’s going on. The fluffball becomes shocked to see his friends have become prey to a bunch of traps. After the dragon’s the last one caught, the children hear evil laughter coming from all directions of the cabin. Appearing from hiding places are the four mischievous children they had encountered the day the kids entered camp.
“The rat pack!” shouts Echo. “It was you guys!”
“That’s right,” says Rodney. “We’ve finally got you twerps, now!”
“Just rodents wait!” Firework utters. “Firework will get down and help friends!” His breath heats up as he prepares to exhale fire.
Barry gets behind him to quickly gag the dragon before he could breathe a single flame. “Your fire won’t save you or your friends this time.”
“W-what’s the meaning of this?!” spurts Cyan from the pit. “Why have you done all this?!”
“We’re not done with you fools,” Rodney claims. “Nobody makes a fool out of us and gets away with it. And I’m afraid it’s not going to be easy for you twits. It’s time you four learned what it’s like to mess with the rat pack. Boys, tie them up!” Cotton, hearing the conversation, quickly and stealthily, leaps out of Firework’s bag and hops his way to a hole in the cabin. Just as he’s inches away from the portal, he’s snatched up by the beaver.
“Oh, look what I’ve got!” Barry implies. “A cute little fluffball. Seems like the twerps smuggled him here.” Cotton bites the beaver’s paw, causing him to drop the purple animal. The fluffball then bolts out of the cabin through the hole. Barry covers his paw, feeling the pain from the bite. “Man! That hurt! When I find that little-”
“Forget about it,” Rodney utters. “The fluffball’s not important. Just move forward with the plan. We’re going out in the woods for some ‘camping’.”
The rat pack escorts the four boys out in the forest away from camp. The rodents have them tied, blindfolded, and gagged while venturing out into the woodland. They take about a twenty-minute walk before arriving at a clearing with a few trees dotted around. The rat pack force their prisoners against the trees and anchor them there before removing their blindfolds.
“Well, we’re a long way from camp, now,” states Rodney, sneering. “And there’s no one else here to help yous. Yous better get used to this spot, because this is where you’ll be; forgotten, abandoned. But don’t worry, we’ll inform the scoutmaster everything; how we saw yous get carried away by those awful shadow lurkers, never to be seen again. However, yous do need to be taught a lesson for embarrassing us! Boys, let’s rough them up, shall we?!” He cracks his knuckles.
Larry takes notice of some amber eyes darting at him and the group through the forest. “Uh, Rodney…?” The rat tells him to quiet. The lemming spots more glowing orbs appearing around him. “Rodney…” Rodney, nearly shouting at him, orders him to silence again. “Something’s not right… Maybe we should just get out of here…”
“Shut up, I said!” Rodney spurts. “I want to enjoy this!” He approaches the four kids with two of the rat pack behind him. Larry stays close as well. “I never saw my mother again. Looks like yous four aren’t going to, either.”
Carl starts to learn what has Larry on edge, seeing some more spectacles around them. “Erm, Rod, I think we may have a problem...” Barry starts to know, too, becoming slightly unedged.
“You babies shut up! Come over here and help me pound these dwebs to a-” Another pair of eyes illuminate in front of him, showing behind the restrained kids. Rodney freezes and his expression changes to uneasiness. “Oh… I see what you mean…” The glowing orbs get closer to the bunch, revealing themselves to be shadow lurkers. The rat pack back up into each other, forming a tight formation as the creatures slowly converge on them.
“They’re all around us!” Barry juts. “What do we do?!”
“Stay back!” shouts Rodney. “Stay back, yous hear! I’ll burst yas!” He raises his fists. “Who wants go?!” One shadow lurker growls and deploys his claws. “All right, you there! Let’s go!” The creature pounces and pins him to the ground. It roars in his face to assert dominance, scaring the rat. Larry tries to defend himself with a stick he found to fright one away, but it fails as another shadow lurker swipes at him and breaks the stick. The creature grabs the lemming and carries him away. Barry and Carl try to get away from the area, however, they, too, are grabbed and whisked into the trees. Rodney, after seeing his friends, turns to the shadow lurker that has him on the ground. He’s then clutched by the shirt. “No… No…!” The four restrained boys watch as he’s carried off into the night with the others. “No!!!”
The shadow lurkers then approach the friends and arm their claws. Nothing can be done by the kids for what’s about to happen next. As the creatures are close to them, they slash at them with their sharp talons. The rope holding the children the trees break and drop to the ground, freeing them from their bounds. The shadow lurkers also help remove their gags from around their mouths. One of them step closer to the four, making sure they are okay.
Echo’s colors remain white with shock, learning of who’s in front of him. “It’s you again… H-how did you-” The creature reaches around it’s back and pulls out a small, fluffy animal, holding it in the palm of its paws. The little being smiles to see his masters are well.
“Cotton!” Firework takes him from the shadow lurker’s grasps and holds him up. “Cotton went for help! Firework happy Cotton okay.” He hugs him. “Firework thank Cotton for getting help.” The dragon then looks up to the shadow lurker. “Firework thank shadow lurkers, too.”
“I get it,” Nectar begins. “The shadow lurkers were returning the favor for us. We helped their friend, so they helped us.” The bee looks at the creatures. “I guess this means we’re all friends now, right?” The shadow lurker nods.
“The shadow lurkers are not so bad,” states Cyan. “They’re just misunderstood… We’re very grateful for your help. Really, we are.” The animal holds out its arms and brings in the children for a friendly hug.
“We should get back to camp,” Echo utters. “It’s not safe to be out here, especially in the dark.” He looks to the shadow lurkers. “No offense, of course.” The animal takes him by the hand and lightly tugs him. “Oh… You want to bring us back?” The creature nods. “Well, lead the way, then.” The being smiles and heads off. The four boys trail it through the woods, on their way back to camp.
