Prologue
Danielle, or Dani for short, sits on a chair, tapping her foot on the floor. She's thirteen and has shadow-black hair, bangs that cover her right eye, icy blue eyes, and is wearing a two-piece jumpsuit, following her family's safety rules. Her shirt is gray with a mixed DP in the middle that means Dark Phantom, the name of her favorite band. She is wearing white jeans with black stripes down the legs, and black boots. Her dad, Rafael Fenton, the brother of Jack Fenton, is a muscular man in his early thirties with brown hair and blue eyes, like her daughter. He wears a red shirt underneath his lab coat and blue jeans. Like Jack, he's interested in ghosts. His wife, Veronica Fenton, is a beautiful woman, with long, jet-black hair and hazel eyes. Like her husband, she wears a shirt underneath her lab coat, and jeans. The family lives in Indiana in open land, a couple miles from a city, so the experiments don't disturb anybody, and in a ghost hot-spot.
As her parents do some finishing touches, Dani yawns and asks, "So why did you call me down, Dad?"
"I thought you wanted to see our latest invention that my brother emailed me. It took a year, but it will be all worth it." Rafael said.
"I cannot tell you how much that means nothing to me." The teen said sarcastically.
Veronica says, "C'mon, sweetie. We've been dying to show you this."
"Fine. I guess I'll see what it is."
"Now I present to you…" her father grabs the cloak. "The Ghost Portal." He removes it to reveal an octagon metal ring in the wall, with control panels inside as well as wires, and a meter on the side. Dani examines the machine and guesses, "An octagonal hole in the wall?"
Chuckling, her mom says, "No, sweetie. It's a portal to let humans travel to a world called the Ghost Zone and back with ease. It may not look that great, but wait till we charge it up."
Why couldn't I have a regular family like everyone else? Dani thought to herself for the millionth time.
"That's right baby." said Rafael. "So let's power this up." He types a password on a keypad and picks up two large plugs. Raising them close together, he says, "Bonzai!" and plugs the charger together. The machine starts to hum to life. A white light starts in the middle, growing larger, and Dani's curiosity grows. As a green light replaces the white, the teen gets up and walks back, remembering a few experiments gone wrong.
The green glow grows until it fills the hole, then it vanishes in a blink of an eye. They look at the portal confused, and the dad asks, "What's the problem now?"
Veronica picks up a few pieces of paper and checks them over. "This is strange. According to this, all systems should be fine."
"At least it didn't explode like the other times." Dani said. "Now if that's all, I'll go back upstairs."
"Hold on, Dani. I'll just check the systems inside and see if all of them are online." Rafael starts to walk toward their machine when suddenly a person floats through the floor and stops in front of him. "Hello, Fentons." He fires a black beam and Rafael flies to the back. "Daddy!" yelled Dani. She turns back to the stranger and gets a better look at him.
He is a tall, pale, muscular man with green hair and blood red eyes. He is wearing black armor and a black sheath on his back and a sword. Dani looks down at his boots and sees them floating a couple inches off the ground. "A ghost?"
The phantom turns his head toward her, and a chill runs down her back when he smiles. She backs up, and her mom runs in front of her with a ghost gun. "Back off, ghost."
He chuckles and asks, "Do you really think that a wimpy gun can stop me from completing my mission?" A beam flies and blasts the ghost back. He shakes his head and looks at Rafael carrying a bazooka-size firearm. "I suggest you listen to her. She can be uncontrollable when angered." The parents fire their weapons, but the ghost phases through the floor, making the beams hit the metallic walls. Dani backs up, afraid where he could be, and feels a hand grab her neck. The ghost floats up, a menacing grin on his face. "Mom!" Dani yells.
She turns and sees her daughter in the clutches of the trespasser. "Put my baby down!"
"Why would I do that?" he asks, chuckling.
Struggling to get out of his grasp, Dani asks, "Who are you?"
"I guess introductions should be named. I am Zepherus."
Charging her weapon, Veronica orders, "Put Dani down. Now."
Zepherus chortles and says, "Alright. I'll put her down." He throws the teen into the not working Ghost Portal. Veronica runs to her, but the ghost fires another beam, stopping her from continuing. Rafael shoots, but Zepherus dodges and fires at the man. The dad flips up a piece of metal and holds it like a shield. The ray bounces off and cracks the roof. Rafael grabs a couple of small toys and throws them at the ghost. They explode, letting out greenish smoke and minimizing everyone's' vision.
Dani gets up, having a headache, and sees her parents in danger of the ghost. "Mom, dad…" Her hand slides against the metal walls and she feels something get pushed in the wall. A humming sounds around her, and the portal starts to glow. Uh oh.
Green electricity shoots out, making the portal glow and shocking the teen. She screams as she feels every cell in her body being ripped apart and put back together. She feels something meld inside her as power flows in her veins. Her hair turns from shadow black to snow white, her skin turns tanner, and her suit changes color to a black and white color theme.
Veronica hears the screaming and notices that there is a soft, green glow coming from the portal. She turns and sees a silhouette in the radiant portal. "Dani!"
Rafael turns and Zepherus uses the distraction. He shoots him back, and was about to fire the mom when something slashes his arm. He grabs it and sees Rafael holding a glowing green shuriken. He growls then says, "Until next time, Fentons." He phases through a wall, and Rafael checks on the portal. "Veronica, that's going to blow!"
"But what about Dani?"
They look at the portal, and Veronica runs to the control panel. "Veronica!"
Suddenly, the whole ghost Portal detonates, sending waves a fire and green light all through the house, and the house blows up. Fire blazes across the wood and what's left of the house, and a trail of smoke shoots out. Dani crashes onto a tree and slides down to the ground, unconscious. A white ring appears around her waist, and splits down her body. Her costume is replaced to her regular suit, and her hair turns back to its regular color.
Fire trucks, Ambulances, everyone heads for the ruined house, the TV announcer talking about the unexplained explosion. One woman walks around, notices the comatose girl, and takes her to the doctors.
In the sky, a small figure watches the doctors lay Dani on a stretcher and puts her inside the Ambulance. "So, one of the Fenton's survived." He senses a presence, and turns to see a faint black form floating next to him. In a voice as cold and smooth as ice, he asks, "Did you finish your mission, Zepherus?"
"I got rid of two of the Fentons, but one survived the explosion, somehow."
"Then finish her. I don't want any Fenton left alive."
"Yes sir." The shadow vanishes, and Zepherus flies toward the nearest city.