A/N

This is a small brainchild of mine that I've been wanting to write for a while. Believe me or not, I wrote all of this in two days and I've already brainstormed how everything will tie into each other, but I'm not going to waste my time and write this if no one wants to read it, so please enjoy this (possibly the last) entry into this idea.

Xenophobia

Prologue

Everything was perfect in the Fenton household. Until the day it wasn't.

Maddie and Jack Fenton were finally making a name for themselves in the science community after so many years. Their research in the science field about the supernatural. No one took them seriously for years and years, especially after the accident involving one of their old friend in their very last year in college. Ever since the accident, the pair parted ways with their friend and tried to regain their reputation in the science community.

All it took to reclaim their names was to write a very detailed thesis about the effects and common occurrences of the supernatural. It took years after publishing it, and the new couple -who grew closer over the years- until a branch of the government became interested because of a new case which was given and only disclosed to them.

Apparently, there was a string of robberies and each one was linked with the same culprit. It appeared to be a blueish-gray skinned man with black hair styled in a way so that the edges of the hair stand on end in the shape of a 'u', dressed in a white suit that included a cape. 'He' seemed to be based upon a Dracula-like figure, but as many similarities it posed, there were also many differences. The very limited security footage showed the man stealing bags upon bags of money, lifting them with inhuman strength, and then seeming to walk through the walls.

This was what the pair needed. They grew excited upon the offer to help them solve the case, and they dived head first into it.

They discovered so many clues that explained so many of their theories, confirming them to be true. Every new discovery earned them a paycheck of a lot of money, encouraging to dive deeper and truly work on snagging the culprit once and for all, considering all of their earlier attempts ended in failure.

It finally prompted them to stop focusing on the theories of the ghost in general, but to make weapons to dispatch and even possibly capture them. This was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity that anyone in their position would never miss, but only some would stay employed by the government for over ten years.

The government grew impatient and almost withdrew the contract from the newly wedded couple, but whenever they wanted to pull the plug, the Fentons came back and showed them a new breakthrough.

Then after years of the Dracula-like ghost plaguing certain parts of the United States, the supernatural being seemed to disappear after a last final battle where the 'Guys in White' finally managed to hit their one and only shot with the third version of a weapon that was built to disrupt the molecules of a ghost and slowly erode the ectoplasm within a supernatural being.

The government broke the contract, as they had no more need of the Fentons and their research, but they humbly accepted any parts of research or new ecto weapons that they designed.

As the Fentons no longer had the government paying them for their work, they moved to a small town named Amity Park and started to slowly release their research to the outside world. The internet gobbled up every new theory or thesis they released, and they began to gain fame for their hard work. The couple didn't want to sit around the house and began to tinker on a larger scale than just weapons. After a new theory entered their brain, they decided to see if they could make a hole through the worlds and finally touch the other side, as they theorized that since ghosts could come over to their world, then they should be able to do the same.

They settled down slowly and finally decided to begin a family, but they never stopped working on their new and sadly, last project. They still lived in their colorful jumpsuits that they bought soon after first working with the government. Their first child was a girl that took over most of her mother's traits, with vibrant red hair and teal-blue eyes. After the child reached the tender age of three, they decided to have another child, who turned out to be a boy, and just like how his sister took over her mom's traits, he took over his dad's.

Everything was perfect for the family, and everything seemed to be going their way, until only a couple days after their son, Danny's, third birthday. From a scientific point of view, one could say that with every positive comes an equal negative, thanks to Newton's Third Law of action-reaction. Some could even say it was a small amount of payback for their mistake in college that cost their friend his late 20's and early 30's.

Either way, the Fenton family threw a small party for the success of their project that the adults worked on since college, which was the same dreaded project that hurt their friend. In a way, they never truly stopped working on the project. It became their obsession, and if their theory on obsessions in ghosts was correct, then that would be the driving goal for the couple if they ever died.

They threw the small celebration when they successfully turned on the machine down in the basement, but their kids never were allowed down there in the fear that any of them would hurt themselves since they had a small collection of dangerous inventions they decided to keep for themselves and not give the government. They already had enough money to live out the rest of their lives if their children were able to get a full-ride scholarship.

The complications started when they decided to cut the cake. Red flashing lights and sirens blared through the door that separated the living room from the basement steps. The couple quickly sprang to their feet and flung the door wide open, and dashed down the stairs. Jack almost tripped on the last step because almost all of his attention was captured by the overflowing containment unit that was supposed to only gather a small part of ectoplasm so they could test and create better inventions. It was bubbling and spilling over, contaminating all of the connecting cords, as the ectoplasm seemed to be defying the laws of gravity, and climbed up, traveling quickly across the cords. Jack quickly raced over and tried to help the flow channel away from any major cords or machinery with his hands when he quickly realized it would be impossible for him to stop the flow with only his hands.

Maddie tried using the technical approach and tried to shut down the future portal. The sirens were still blaring, making it impossible for her to try to communicate to her husband, so instead of wasting time and words, she tried to think of a new way to shut it down, but it seemed as if some of the ectoplasm spread so far enough to reach the plug in the wall that powered everything- wait, the plug!

Maddie's eyes widened as a sudden idea sprung inside her head. She abandoned the vast wall of computers and raced- almost slipping- across the new puddle of ectoplasm that almost spanned across the entire floor of the lab, which was no easy feat. She skidded to her knees and immediately tried to unplug the plug. She used all of her strength, but it didn't seem to budge, and a small scary thought entered her mind.

What if this is it? What if this is how I die? Oh, please not now! I haven't even seen my last baby enter school! I haven't seen them both graduate yet!

With renewed vigor, she pulled and tugged, trying to get the plug to unlatch itself from the wall. A weird, unearthly green glow traveled along the wire until it finally reached Maddie's black-gloved hand. When it made contact, electricity traveled through her hand and spread throughout her body. With a small "Oh!" Maddie collapsed.

Jack shouted Maddie's name, but with the overall blaring noise of the alarm, his cries went unheard. She lay sprawled on the ground, unresponsive, laying in the ectoplasm covering the ground. He wanted to race over towards her and save her, considering stopping the flow was a lost cause. He almost did too, but then he remembered his children. He was always the less responsible adult in their life. Maddie was and has always been his better half. She was always amazing at anything she ever tried, and Jack felt that in some ways he was always holding her back.

He was never enough, and in his last moments, he realized that he was always a failure. He failed to be there when his son had his first crush. He failed to be there for when his daughter found her first boyfriend. He failed to teach his son how to play ball and to shave. And he failed to see both of his amazing children graduate from elementary, middle school, high school, and especially college. In his last moments, a tear slid down the side of his face, falling into the valleys of 'wrinkles' from his laugh lines.

Then the column of ectoplasm finally crept up to the big hole in the wall. It dripped down and crept through the cracks of the safety shield that was supposed to protect the lab from the radioactivity and harm from the home of the ghosts. When it connected, it sent electricity racing through the room and raced through the ectoplasm on the floor. Usually, ectoplasm was a poor conductor, as the Fenton's previous experiments proved, but this time, with that much energy crossing the division between the worlds, the ectoplasm exploded, blinding the room and contaminating everything down in the lab, especially anything organic.

Unbeknownst to the adults, before Maddie got zapped, and before even Jack shoved his hands in the pool of ectoplasm bubbling out, their children crept down the stairs. Danny already proved himself to be the most adventurous of the Fenton children- even though he was only three years old- so it was only natural that he was the one leading his sister down into the lab, following their parents who rushed off with no explanation towards the loud noises and scary lights.

What Danny saw made no sense in his young mind. He may have been a 'young genius' as his mother liked to call him, but everything that was happening down in the lab overloaded his brain. There was a green liquid that seemed to be like a more-liquidy jelly than water that his dad was currently trying to stop. His mother was over by a wall of computers, frantically trying to stop what was happening, but the thing that caught the young child's mind the most was a weird see-through shape that hid in the far corner.

It seemed to be floating off of the ground, and if Danny's eyes weren't playing tricks on him, he would guess the strange figure was wearing a purple cloak with a weird, square hole in his chest filled with cogs and gears. The most notable things about him was an impressive staff he kept in one hand, and a scar that ran across his left eye. A notable thing to mention about him is that his form seemed to… change appearances. 'He' would look like an old man one second, then change into a floating baby, or even change to a young man form.

It perplexed Danny's mind and kept him entirely focused on only that one figure until a loud zap and a white flash of light that only momentarily blinded him. He turned towards the source and saw his mom laying on the ground as if she was sleeping. Danny wanted to run to her, but a hand grabbed his arm and stopped him from running to her.

Jazz then let go of his arm and quickly ran up the stairs, leaving Danny alone with his father and mother in a lab where everything was chaos

The last thing that registered in Danny's mind was how alone and scared he felt even though he was in his own home and his parents were just in front of him. He started to call out to his dad when everything went white and the little three-year old felt a pain that he never felt before.

It was as if his very molecules were split apart. The pain became too much for him, and he fell, hitting his head on a step, and started to fall unconscious. Even though his closed eyes, he saw a blinding flash of light, until he was overtaken by the pain.

A/N

I probably won't write any more of this if I feel like no one will read this. There are just so many stories written for Danny Phantom and I don't want mine to go down into the deep end with no one remembering it or realizing just how much effort I try to put into every word I write.

Please write a review if you enjoyed it and please theorize if you think you have any idea about how this will all tie together.