Hello readers! This plot bunny has been biting me for the past week. This was all started when my friend Fiona asked the question "What superpower would you have if you could have one?" In a nutshell, I answered that I wanted to go into books/movies/tv/cartoons and have powers similar to the Reality Gauntlet. This sparked this story. It's the first in a series called A Teenager's Guide to Dimensional Travel. There are technically two OCs, but they are just me and my friend Stormy, also known as AnythingButRegular. They're just us and our personalities. For simplicity's sake, Stormy will be going by Aaron. This is because I don't want to use his real name. Plus, Stormy is considered a weird name in most cultures.
Allie: And in the opinion of most people other than hippies...
Me: Not even gonna comment. I'm trying to keep from hitting you with the Anti-Creep Stick... And those books. And that toaster...
Allie: Yeah. The toaster hurt. So, do the disclaimer before you do something you'll regret.
Me: Right! I don't own Danny Phantom or anything else recognizable. Here we go!
"Why am I here? And what's with the... oh dear god, you made a Fenton Anti-Creep Stick." Aaron said, whining. I was forcing him down the sidewalk, using the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick I had made.
"You forced me to watch that idiotic Regular Show. That was torture. I am going to show you the error of your ways and how amazing Danny Phantom is." He started to walk down the street away from my house, then sighed in defeat when I glared at him.
"I've seen the show before, you know. And you can quit glaring at me, we're at your house." I grinned and stopped glaring.
"I know you've seen it before. That's why I have hope for you. Lizzie... I don't think she'll ever get it. But you might, as you're just as nerdy as I am, if not more so." I explained. Lizzie was my best friend, a witty girl with a talent for writing. She was sitting at home, and had turned down my offer of coming to my house when she figured out my true motives. She was more of a Spongebob fan. I didn't get it, but we put up with each other.
Aaron sighed, submitting to this fact. I unlocked the door to my rust-red brick house in the suburbs, the only distinguishing feature being the midnight black roof and burgundy shutters, which usually reminded people of the Addams Family. I waltzed inside, excited about bringing my friend into my favorite fandom. He stared at the features of my living room. I raised a brow at this.
"Um, why are you staring at everything in my living room? You look shocked." I inquired, confused by, and slightly weirded out by, my friend's strange antics. He shook off his stupefication.
"Sorry, It's just... It's so normal. I expected something darker. Gothic." I whacked him on the back of the head for that statement.
"You're a riot. Dad was a techno geek, and Mom is a little more mainstream, so they chose a pretty normal house. I became more of a goth in the last few years, so I wouldn't have swayed their opinion toward decorating in a darker way. My upstairs shows my interests. It's my Fortress of Solitude. Plus, my aunt's house is the gothic one, or close to it. She's always been into that stuff. Aunt Nene is a little more... off the beaten path." I said, trying to find a way to call her weird without saying that. I mean, I love Nene, and weird is awesome in my opinion, but most people consider it an insult. Aaron nodded.
"Well, thanks for clearing that up. But hitting me was entirely unnecessary, Diana." I rolled my eyes, leading him to a recliner. I sat in the one next to it, where I usually sat while watching TV. I picked up the remote, and pressed play.
Over the next... 20 hours and 19 minutes, we watched all of Danny's adventures and trials. By the end, Aaron was gaping. I had answered all of his questions that weren't too clear in the show while watching it ("Why don't Sam and Danny end up together after *insert Sam and Danny blushy moment here*?" "How does Danny's evil older self still exist?" "How is Valerie that dense to try to protect Danny by hunting him and not letting go of her hate?" "How could they end it right there?" "Why doesn't Dan [I had told him the fandom-approved name for Danny's evil older self] ever show up again?" "How old are they by series end?" "Why are there 3 different summer vacations when 2 of them are only a few episodes apart?") so he was just gaping at the moment.
"Wow. Just... wow. That was... amazing." I grinned in satisfaction.
"You finally understand." He slowly nodded.
"I realize why that you said would've been your superpower when Danyealle asked. That is awesome." He was referring to a question that our constantly joking friend Danyealle had asked one day at lunch. We were sitting, eating in awkward silence because Lizzie was absent, so she sprang out with the question of what superpower we would want. My answer was, in a nutshell, to be able to travel to worlds that don't exist (Harry Potter, Danny Phantom, Percy Jackson, etc.) and control them as I wished.
"Well, what would you do if it was possible?" I asked, genuinely curious. I'd been thinking about it a lot. Aaron looked deep in thought.
"Well, I'd want to see what Danny is like to those who aren't the A-list or the losers. Plus, I'd like to see the different areas of the Ghost Zone." I nodded, liking those ideas. I remembered something I had been working on, and I had an epiphany, suddenly grinning like a psycho. Aaron saw this, and shrank back.
"Uh, Di? Are you ok?" I nodded, the beam on my face growing wider. He looked at me in a way that suggested that he was worried for my mental health. I let the smile shrink down to a smirk saying "I have an idea and you'll think I'm a genius."
"I think I can make that happen!" I sang, my tone slightly childish and in the same tune as Jazz's and Danny's when they said "We know something they don't know!" and "I get it. Can we let it die now?" His expression turned quizzical and slightly interested.
"What do you mean? Unless you have the Reality Gauntlet or superpowers you never told me about, it's not going to happen." I chuckled softly at how close he was to the truth.
"You know how I told you about my Fortress of Solitude? It holds my computer, drawing supplies, and... blueprints for my inventions..." He gaped at me, getting the implications.
"You mean you..."
"Invented a wormhole generator able to travel to and influence cartoon and fictional universes and alternate timelines? Yes." He looked like he was having difficulties processing that. I sighed. "I built a portal combined with a Reality Gauntlet." A look of enlightenment and excitement grew on his features.
"Where can we go to?" I smiled faintly at his expression, which was reminiscient of a child on Christmas morning.
"I have a few preset locations, and then I left 2 slots open. One is of your choosing, and the other is interchangable. The three presets are Danny Phantom, Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson. You can pick yours now, but I will have some say in whether or not we will be going there. And I refuse to allow that idiotic drivel you call Regular Show." His joy faltered for a moment, then picked up again.
"I choose Adventure Time." He said smugly. I gave him an irritated stare, then sighed heavily.
"Still not that great, but better than Regular Show. I'll program the device to have that as a setting. But if we end up going there, I will not, and I repeat, will not, use those idiotic and completely illogical sayings that they use." Aaron grinned.
"Good enough for me." I set it into the device, that was rather like a cuff bracelet with 2 buttons and a touch screen. The original device was very large with a big control board like the Ghost Writer's keyboard and what looked like the Fenton Portal. It wasnt exactly good for travel, so I'd been converting all the equipment to microtechnology over a few weeks. I bet you're wondering why my mom never noticed this? My "Fortress of Solitude" was the top floor of the house, and she never went up there. She prefered TV over computers. So, she never saw my equipment.
My musing was soon interrupted by a voice. I blinked, shaking myself out of my thoughts.
"Um, what was that?" Aaron chuckled softly.
"I said, does the device thingy have a name?" I thought about it. I hadn't given much thought to a name. I came up with one off the top of my head.
"Let's call it the... TIARA. Travel and Influence Across Realities Accessory." He looked impressed.
"Nice acronym. So, when are we going? Actually, where are we going?" I grinned.
"Wanna make bets on which ghost we'll see first?" He smiled at my response.
"I say Danny. He's always there." I laughed at his naivete.
"You're on. Box Ghost. I swear it." I glanced worriedly down at the TIARA, but quickly hid my apprehension. "We've only got enough charge for a single transport and 4 influences. I know how to work with that." He looked slightly worried, but quickly covered it. I gave a mad scientist laugh, causing him to give another stare questioning my mental health. I pressed Danny Phantom on my presets, and clicked the green button. A green, swirly, cartoonish ghost portal appeared. We stepped through, and all there was was green.
So, exciting first chapter, right? I know a few things I'm going to do with this story, but I'll mainly be writing from suggestions. Don't worry, the issue of "one way in, no way out" will be solved. What do you think of the story so far? I'm going to have a fallback list of things to write about if I don't get suggestions. And I meant to do the cliffy. So, please review! ~Di
