"Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Hardy brothers. Have Bayport’s youngest detectives, teen heartthrobs, boys who have been in more danger than an experienced FBI agent been reduced to mere babysitters?" He and his buddies laughed. Frank sighed and got up, as did Joe.

"Rex, do you need something, or are you just making trouble?" Frank asked him, fixing him with a pointed glare.

"Oh, Frankie, I’m sorry. I forgot to bow down to you, O Great One," he said, jealousy and contempt in his voice. He bowed in front of the brothers mockingly. Joe took a deep breath, and glared at Rex, while clenching his fists.

"Go away, Rex," Joe said in low, menacing voice. "No one wants you here."

"Yeah? Well, punk, I can stay here if I want to! It’s a free country."

"Well, this is private property, and you’re trespassing," Frank shot back.

"So what are you gonna do?" Rex demanded, trying to goad the Hardys into a fight. "Kick me out?" His pals all stood around him, and glared at the Hardys. All this time, Jason had stood there, getting angrier and angrier with the dumb bully. Before anyone knew what had happened, Jason rushed towards Rex and gave him a good, solid punch in his gut. Rex doubled over and groaned. Frank and Joe stared at Jason for a few seconds, the stared at Rex, and then turned back to Jason in disbelief. Slowly, a chuckle escaped Frank, and then Joe started to laugh. Jason looked up at them grinning, and pretty soon they were all cracking up, while Rex and his buddies stood there glaring at them. The laugh was contagious, and soon, Rex’s buddies were laughing too. Only Rex stood there, glaring at everybody. Soon Frank and Joe calmed down.

"So, Rex," Joe said slowly. "Do want more of where that came from?" he and Frank raised their fists. Rex gave them one last menacing glare, and ran off, followed by his buddies. Frank grabbed Jason and swung him in a wide circle.

"Jason, that was terrific! We’ll make a great detective and fighter out of you yet!"

"Not that violence is good, kid." Joe said. Then he grinned. "But in this case, you were terrific!" He also took a turn hugging Jason, then sat down next to the babies.

"Wasn’t your big brother terrific?" he asked the twins. They grinned at him and cooed. "Yes, I know they were. Right? Right?" Joe tickled the babies. Just then, their friends pulled up in two separate cars.

One was Chet’s old junk bucket, The Queen, and the other was Vanessa’s metallic blue Mustang convertible. Frank and Joe picked up one baby each and went to greet them, followed by Jason.

"Hey guys," they called in unison. They were greeted by many wassaps, and hellos.

"Are these the twins?" Vanessa asked. Joe nodded, and both Callie and Vanessa took a baby from their boyfriends and started fussing over them.

"My god, they are sooo cute!" Vanessa squealed.

"I know," Callie said, in the same pitch. They’re perfect little things." Frank and Joe looked at each other and smiled. They totally agreed with their girlfriends. Then they glanced at Jason and saw Tony, Chet, Phil, and Biff were chasing him, and they were all giggling.

"Hey, boys!" came a voice. Frank and Joe looked around and saw Mrs. Rawlins, Jaime’s mom, coming down the street along with Jaime, and all the other little kids.

"Hi Mrs. Rawlins. How are you doing?" Joe greeted her.

"Hello Joe. I’m fine, how are you?"

"I’m fine." Joe replied.

"Well," Mrs. Rawlins said, "the kids told me about a new brother you had and how he was their age, so I decided that I would bring the kids over so they can play, and I could chat with your mom, since we haven’t talked in quite a while."

"That’s a great idea!" Frank proclaimed. "Mom’s inside, you can go on in."

"Thanks," Mrs. Rawlins replied. "Kids, why don’t you go and play with Jason?" The kids ran off and Mrs. Rawlins headed inside. The Hardy’s friends came over and sat on the grass to play with the babies and just talk. Frank and Joe told them about the incident with Rex and everybody cracked up.

"Well, I hope Rex learned his lesson," Phil said. "He certainly got it this time, though!" Everyone laughed again. Suddenly, Callie’s eyes got wide.

"Oh yeah! Did you guys hear about the talent show the mall’s having next weekend?"

"The mall’s having a talent show?" Biff asked. "Well, that’s a first," he said in surprise.

"Yeah, it’s supposed to be really good. The winner gets a two hundred dollar gift certificate to anyplace in the mall! If it’s a partner act, then they get two hundred each!" Callie said, excitement filling her voice.

"Two hundred dollars?" Joe’s eyes started to gleam, and he jumped up and ran towards Jason.

"Hey guys, I’m going to borrow Jason for a while, okay?" he said to the little kids. "You guys just playing!" He took Jason’s arm and ran into the house.

"Do you know what’s he doing?" Vanessa asked Frank.

"I have no idea," Frank said, mystified by his brother’s actions. Then shrugged. "Oh well! You know Joe. He’ll tell us when he is ready." Everyone agreed and they went back to talking and playing with the babies.

*************************************

A little while later, Frank saw a funky looking guy coming towards him. He was walking awkwardly, as if he was hiding something behind his back. Frank got up, as did his friends and stepped protectively in front of Callie and Vanessa who were holding the babies. He also called to the little kids, who came over quickly, and told them to stay behind the ‘wall’ the boys had made. Frank studied the man as he came forward. He was wearing black leather pants and a black t-shirt. He had on a black leather jacket and lots of silver chains and one big silver medallion. His blond hair was spiked, and he wore black sunglasses. He strolled right up to Frank and looked at him.

"This the Hardy house?" he asked coolly.

"What’s it to you?" Frank asked careful to sound nonchalant, but ready to take action if needed. Just then the man burst out laughing and took off his shades.

"Joe?" Frank asked, his eyes wide in surprise. "Joe!" he yelled, taking a playful swing at his brother.

"What’s with the weird get-up?" Biff asked.

"It’s for the talent show! I’m gonna rap!"

"Rap?" Vanessa asked, her eyebrows raised in question.

"Yeah, rap. Wanna hear?" All this time, Joe had been talking in his biker voice, his biker slang, and his biker attitude.

"All right," everyone agreed. They all sat down and waited for Joe to begin.

"Puk-pachu, puk puk pachu. Puk pachu, puk puk pachu." Joe started making a drum voice with his mouth. Then he started his song.

"Yo, yo, yo, my name is Joe.

I solve mysteries with my big bro

I got a lil bro

As well as two sisters,

All of ‘em are mischievous lil critters!

Puk pachu, puk puk pachu. Puk pachu, puk puk pachu!" Everyone started cracking up. Then to their surprise out darted Jason from behind Joe.

"Yo, yo, yo, my name is Jase.

My big bros are teachin’ me to chase.

I pack a mean wallop

With my mighty lil fist

But I always know how to give a sweet kiss.

Puk pachu, puk puk pachu. Puk pachu, puk puk pachu!" Then Joe started up again.

"We got another bro,

Who’s the oldest of us all.

He’s also the one with a serious flaw.

He cannot rap, even for his life,

But all of us love him with all our might." Then Jason and Joe started singing together.

"That’s us, as well as our family.

If you ever need to investigate a serious crime,

A murder, kidnapping, or even a threatening valentine,

Then call us; we’re the Hardy bros,

We’re on call morning, day, and night." They finished their songs and stated bowing as everybody burst into applause as well as laughter.

"My god," you guys are too much!" Biff hooted.

"A brother that can’t rap? I agree with that," Tony said, teasing good-naturedly.

"I bet Rex would agree with Jason," Callie said, "He does have a mighty little fist!" Everyone laughed at the remembrance.

"A threatening valentine?" Frank asked his eyebrow raised. "When did you investigate a threatening valentine, Joe?" he asked his brother.

"I never did. I just couldn’t find anything that rhymed with crime!" Everyone shook their heads and laughed again.

"You made this all up in the one hour you were gone?" Chet asked. Joe nodded.

"And what about the getup, Joe?" Vanessa asked him. Where did you get all of that?"

"Well, we have all of this at home for me, because of our undercover work. And, I called Mr. Rawlins and asked him for a ride to the mall. I grabbed my clothes and stuff and went through backyards to get to his house. On the way there, I told what we needed, which was all of Jason’s clothes, and he took me to this store and helped me get all the stuff I needed. Then he helped me get ready and helped me get Jason get dressed, and then we walked over here. Don’t you just love Jason’s getup?" he asked. Jason was wearing black leather pants, a black t-shirt, a black leather jacket, one silver chain, and a red bandana. His brown hair was spiked and sunglasses covered his eyes as well.

"Why were you walking so funny when you were coming this way?" Frank asked.

"Well, partially because I was carrying Jason backward, but mostly because these leather pants really hurt!" Everyone started laughing again.

"Also, I showed Jason how to stand, so he couldn’t be seen behind me at all when I put him down," Joe added.

"Well guys, I think you may just win first price," Frank said. "Now, maybe you should go get changed!" Jason and Joe nodded and started towards the house.

"And be sure to use the back stairs!" Frank shouted after them. "You wouldn’t want Mom to see you like that, especially when she has company!" Joe flashed Frank the thumbs up sign and went into the house.

"Man, that sure was something," Biff said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Leave it to Joe to think of something like that!" Then Jason and Joe came back out, this time dressed in regular jeans and shirts. Joe was carrying two baby bottles as well. Jason ran off to his friends, and Joe headed towards the group of teens.

"Mom said we had better feed the babies," he reported. Vanessa and Callie each took a bottle and started to feed the babies. The teens sat together and just talked. An hour went by, and the babies were asleep. Vanessa and Callie took them inside, while the boys stayed out. Mrs. Rawlins came out to leave and took all the kids home. Jason sat a few feet away from the group and played with a dumpster truck. Just then, they heard a screech of rubber. They all looked up in surprise in time to see a car speed down the street. Just then the window opened and a hail of bullets swept across the boys.

"DUCK!" screamed Frank. The all dropped to the floor, Frank falling on top of Jason to protect him from the bullets. The car screeched away, and Biff, Chet, Tony, and Phil got up to chase it. Joe ran over to Frank and Jason and helped them up.

"Are both of you all right?" he asked them anxiously. They both nodded, Jason staring up at them wide-eyed. Just then, the four boys came trudging up to them.

"Sorry, he got away," Phil reported dejectedly. The front door opened and Laura Hardy ran out, followed by Vanessa and Callie.

"What happened?" They all yelled. "Is everyone okay?" Laura shouted. She ran to her boys.

"Shh, Mom, it’s okay. We’re all fine," Joe comforted his mother. He explained what happened and convinced her to go inside. Callie and Vanessa stayed out, as did Jason, although they all tried to convince the trio to go in. Frank and Joe started looking on the ground for the bullets. They all got caught up in their work, and so did their friends. They told Jason to sit down on the grass and started to look even more closely. They were looking so intently; they didn’t even notice the car that came up slowly. It wasn’t until they heard a scream that they turned around. A man in a black ski mask was trying to pull Jason towards the car idling on the curb! Frank and Joe quickly ran forward, as did their friends. The man finally just picked Jason up and started running. Joe poured on more speed and ran straight towards the man with Frank behind him. The man with Jason reached the car and threw Jason in, and started to get him himself. Just then another man got out of the car and stood in Joe’s way. Joe tried to punch him, but the man blocked the punch and whisked out a gun. Joe went at him again, trying to grab the gun. Meanwhile, Frank was running towards the car, but stopped short when he saw the other man pull out a gun at his brother. Then the man pistol-whipped Joe, and Joe pitched forward. The man jumped in the car and it started to race away from the curb. But not before Frank jumped and landed spread-eagle on the roof. He dug into the crack between the roof and windshield with his fingertips and tried to hang on. But the man in the passenger seat reached up through the window with a baseball bat! He slammed into Frank’s fingers once and then again. Frank felt fire rip through his arms, and had no choice to jump off. Hr jumped off, and the kidnappers made their getaway. As Frank watched the kidnappers get away, he had one thought on his mind.