It was another beautiful day in Amity Park; only a week before Summer Vacation ends and school begins once more. So far today we: went swimming, played video games at Tucker's, and fooled around at the local mall. Sam, Tucker, and I stopped at my apartment-like house real quick before going to the last event that we had planned to do today; going to see the midnight showing of Dead Teacher III in theaters. I opened the front door into the livingroom, which Jazz was currently occuping, the coffee table covered with her homework (don't even ask me why she's doing homework during summer vacation).
"Hey Danny." Jazz said to me, her torquise eyes still on her book. Her torquise long sleeved shirt was crumbled up on her forearms due to the stuffiness in the livingroom. Her black pants hung and her squinty turquise shoes were on the floor besides the modern couch.
"Hey Jazz." I replied as I climbing up the stairs to go into my room. "I'll be in my room with Sam and Tucker." I told her. Her orange hair with her torquise ribbon bobbed in understanding as me and my friends climbed the stairs.
"Dude, who does homework during summer vacation?" Tucker asked me, making me sigh. I turned to my Techno Geek friend.
"I don't know, Tuck." I said with esperastion as we approached the white door that leads into the realm of my room. I twisted the bronze knob and opened it, letting my friends enter first before I followed them in, shutting the door behind me. My room is in many different shades of blue (including my rugs), minus the white trimming along the floor and around the doors and windows. NASA space shuttles and models are randomly spread out around my room. My twin sized bed is placed in the middle with a night stand on each side. A dresser was against an adjacent wall with a white door to my personal bathroom (one of the perks of living in an-once was-apartment building). The wall adjecent to the hallway door has my desk along with another white door-like time, to my closet.
"Dude, hurry up, grab your money, and let's go!" Tucker said, pulling out his brand new purple Blackberry to play on an app or something. Tucker my African American friend with green eyes (we've been best friends since forever). He wears a yellow long sleeved shirt with forest green cargo pants and brown boots. Oh, and let's not forget his black framed glasses and his red berret. He sat in my desk chair, swirling it around to face Sam and me. His stomach grumbled. "I'm starving!"
"How can you be starving? You just ate not even an hour ago!" Sam huffed out. Sam is more like a gothic queen than anything (she's been hanging out with me and Tuck since Junior High). Her short straight black hair has a little ponytail at the back of her head. She wears a green crossed black skirt with purple stockings undernearth. Black compact boots hide her slender feet. And black belly tanktop with a horizontal purple oval in the middle completes her outfit. Her lavender eyes were scrunched up in annoyance, along with her purple lips.
I chuckled as I went to my nightstand to grab some money for the theaters. I pulled out a twenty when a shout reached our teenage ears.
"JAZZ! DANNY!" Called my father's unmistakable voice. I groaned. Not now, I thought to myself. "Come down to the lab, pronto!" Sam and Tucker shot me looks of concern and curiousity. Oh great, they're interested. I ushered them out of my room and led them to the kitchen, where Jazz was waiting for me.
"What's going on?" Sam asked, excitement nearly bursting from her. Jazz raised an eyebrow at her, confused by her excitement. I waved a dismiss hand jesture to Jazz. I then went besides the door opening (we used to have a door, but it kept on being blown to bits) to the basement-lab-whatever it is.
"Sorry, but I'm going to the movies with Sam and Tucker!" I shouted into the lab. I heard a scruffle and something like a metal pipe clacked against the tiled floor.
"Sam and Tucker are here?" Asked my mother; I can hear the barely repressed excitement from her voice. Obivously, they have deluded themselves into thinking that one of their inventions was actually working. "You can bring them down along with you and Jazz sweetie!" I was stunned. Normally the lab-basement-was off limits to everyone except family members; and now they're going to let my two best friends down there? And what if their invention decided to blow up and ended up hurting Sam and Tucker? That'll be a disaster for sure! But before I had a chance to reject her offering; Sam grabbed my hand and tugged me down stairs along with Tucker. Jazz followed shortly behind.
The basement-lab-was in complete disarray. A splatter of stains covered the counters and cabinets. The beakers' contents were spilled everywhere. Crumbled pieces of paper littered the floor. Wires crisscrossed the floor; some were completely bare in some spots, all leading to a massive hexigon hole into the far wall of the lab.
Hm...that's new. The hexagon tunnel was made out of scrape pieces of metal and seemed almost endlessy (at least, back where it's dark it seemed endless). Frankly, it looked like an enterance to a coal mine to me; threatening to collaspe and trap someone inside. To its left is a very large chart with a doodle of a 'human' and a 'ghost' was sitting on top of an easel. I sighed, knowing what's about to come next.
"Here kids!" My mom said cheerfully as she shoved each of us teenagers a black and white jumpsuit...complete with my father's smiling face on it. "Make sure you put those on before we begin." She was wearing her usual blue jumpsuit with black gloves, boots, and belt; her hood covering her face and her short brown hair. Red googles hid her purple eyes. Her hourglass figure trot away towards my father, who was busy weilding a piece of metal onto another.
Dad wore the same thing as Mom, except that it's orange instead of blue and that he has a lot of pockets. His figure is the complete opposite of mom's; chubby and as broad as an ox. His chin is very square and his dark blue eyes were small compared to his face...and his nose. Gray hairs are beginning to become a threat to his black hair. He grinned at Mom, and almost burned himself with the torch.
I sighed, and looked down with a digusted looked on my face at the stupid black and white jumpsuit in my hands. It was a spandex jumpsuit, the soles of the boots were rubbery. I grumbled; unwillingly putting it on over my regular clothes. The jumpsuit was tight on us, showing our teenage figures to everyone. Mom and Dad rubbed their hands together and beckoned us over to the hole. I supressed a shiver of...of...
A shiver of what exactly?
A shiver of forbearing?
Whatever is was, it completely left my mind once my Dad started talking. To tell ya the truth, I wasn't even paying attention. I've heard this lecture about ghosts so many times that it might as well be a nursey story for Jazz and me. I didn't begin to listen until my Dad said something about a portal to another dimesion.
"Wha?" I mumbled out. Dad glanced at me, grinning so broadly that all I saw was his brillant white teeth.
"I said that this portal will bust open a door into the Ghost Zone." He retold us. Oh. That. Now I remember. Our parents have been trying to build a portal-wait, a WORKING portal-for the past twenty years or so. And you wanna know what happens every single time? Well, there IS a reason why there's now a huge gaping hole in our wall. I sure hope that this 'portal' doesn't cause the wall to collaspe. "Here we go." My Dad said, regrabbing my attention.
All of a sudden, the room became tense; as if someone was declaring who won the grand prize and everyone is praying that it'll be them who is the winner. Sam and Tucker watched in awe while Jazz masked her mild excitement behind a careful placed face. And me? Well, I've been lying if I didn't tell ya that I was somewhat excited about this. Somewhere deep inside of me, I knew that this invention will be different from rest. That this one isn't going to fail like the rest. That something's gonna happen...
Something absolutely wonderful and mysterious at the same time...
Dad had two plugs that would interlock with each other; one in each hand. Our attention was glued onto my Dad's hands, waiting to the plugs to connect. He flashed Mom that stupid grin at her before he connected the two plugs together.
A spark appeared deep inside of the hole, lighting up the tunnel. Joy fluttered in my chest as a humming sound came from it. Dad and Mom's faces were in pure pleasure as their invention was warming up. Sam and Tucker's mouths were opened slightly in an 'O' shape. Jazz's face was absolutely in disbelief. We began to celebrate for their invention-a WORKING invention. My parents were about to kiss when the humming instantly cut out. The light gone out like a light bulb (which I wouldn't be surprised if there was one in there).
"Huh?" Dad mumbled as he unplugged the plugs and replugged them. This time, the machine didn't even sparked. My joy disappeared as disappointment settled in once more. A frown appeared on my father's face as he tried again. Mom went over the to the many power outlets to make sure that all the plugs were plugged in, which they were. Jazz's face was in annoyance once more. Dad tried one more time...
Nothing.
"B-b-but..." My Dad mumbled out. I could tell that he was taking this hard. Mom wrapped him up in her arms and leaned in close to him. Jazz huffed and climbed out of the basement and back into the livingroom once more. A couple of seconds later, her white and black jumpsuit flopped onto the basement floor. Mom and Dad rejectedly slumped towards the stairs and began to-almost painfully-climb them into the kitchen.
"Wow." Tucker said, causing me to flinch. I had completely forgot that my two best friends were here. "That, that was-"
"Terrible." I grunted. Tucker looked at me as if I was crazy as I undressed myself from the stupid jumpsuit.
"No, I was about to say awesome." He said. I raised an eyebrow at him as he-too-began to change out. Sam had hers already off and was folding it up neatly.
"What are you talking about? If you hadn't realized, there's not really any ghosts around." I said, shrugging to the air around us. Tucker frowned.
"Okay, other than it not working; don't you think that it'll be cool?"
"That what would be cool?"
"About a portal to another world!" Sam exclaimed as she took a picture. "Why don't ya come over here so that I can take your picture?"
"What for?" I asked.
"My scrapbook." Sam answered automacially. Huh, never knew that Sam scrapbooked... I sighed, frowning as I walked towards her, carrying the stupid jumpsuit with me still.
"Just one picture?" I asked, somewhat holding up the jumpsuit. Sam snapped a picture of me and glanced at it.
"Just one." She said. Then she glanced at me, realization lighting up her lavander eyes. "Hey Danny! Why don't ya go in there yourself?" I gave her a look of confused concern.
"Why the heck would I want to go in there?" I asked her, my face scrunched up in confusion. She gave me those puppy dog eyes; Tucker was right besides her, doing the same thing. Great, they both want me to do something stupid. "No way." I said somewhat firmly, but unforunately for me, my curiousity is starting to get the better of me-and Sam knows this.
"Oh come on!" Sam said. "Aren't ya just a bit curious to what's on the other side?" I stared at her before I glanced at the rundown portal, excitement building up inside of me. Of course I wanna know! After all these years of hearing stories about ghosts and what-not, I thnk I get to at least deserve to see one! A smile tugged at the corner of my lips.
"You know what? You're right." I said, now completely facing the tunnel that leads in the Ghost Zone. "Who knows what kind of awesome things exists on the other side of that portal?" Plus maybe I can fix it, and make Mom and Dad proud of their only son (Jazz is the smart one here, so I'm constantly being compared to her...and not in a good way either). That's it. I've made up my mind. I redressed myself back into the white and black spandex jumpsuit. I was about to enter the tunnel when Sam stopped me.
"Hold on." She said. I turned to face her. She grabbed the sticker of my Dad's face off of my suit. "You don't want to be walking around with this on your chest." She said, rocking the sticker back and forth. I rolled my eyes at her. It's not like I'm be going out in public with this thing on. I glanced at Tucker, who gaved me a thumbs up. I nodded as I entered the portal.
Let me tell you something; imagining what you can possibly do is a lot different from actually doing it. There was so many wires that crisscrossed each other that even if I spent the entire weekend untangling them, it won't be good enough to fix the machine. I scanned the floor-which was overrun with wires, some were exposed. I gulped as I carefully picked my way through. The last thing I wanna do is to electrocute myself. Then I'm be a fried Fenton-and that won't be funny at all. The inside of the portal was much worse from what it looked like from the outside. I felt a little suffocated as my eyes picked out the hanging pieces of metal inside the tunnel. God, it really does feel like a coal mine inside. I was about to give up this mission when my foot-boot-got tangled up into the wires. Great, just great. I thought to myself as I stopped. I couldn't really see how bad I've gotten tangled (I should've broughten a flashlight, stupid me). I sighed in annoyance as I put my left hand onto the wall so that I could steady myself.
And that's when that 'something' happen.
Panic fluttered in my chest once I realized that my hand didn't land on the wall, but instead something that gave way a little. I snapped my head towards my left hand as the tunnel began to light up, a humming noise reeling into motion. My sky blue eyes widen once I saw what my hand had pressed onto.
It was a green button.
A green button with the word 'On' right below it.
Oh God, why is my Dad such a moron? Who would really put the 'On' button inside of a machine that could potentially kill you?
By now, the light was getting brighter. Electricity flowed along the wires, causing a buzzing noise. The humming was increasingly getting louder. Dread was filling up inside of me as little spects of green stuff began to appear.
"Danny!?" I barely heard Sam and Tucker. I snapped my head back at them, the light was starting to blind me.
"Sam! Tucker!" I shouted over the roar of the humming. The light was increasingly getting brighter, my raven black hair starting to flutter as green electricity began to swirl around in a mass of chaos. The tunnel was shaking slightly, causing me to go into full-blown panic mode. "Get away!" I shouted at them as loud as I can, trying to get out my boot of the tangled mess of wires. "GET AWAY!" I screamed at them as the light enveloped me.
And the first thing that comes to my mind?
Pain.
That's what I've felt as the light and electricity-and whatever else that's in here-began to attack my body all at once into every single cell. I screamed into the tunnel; not sure whether or not Tucker or Sam can hear me-but I don't care about that right now; it's the pain that I'm more worried about.
It's more of a sensation that you cannot describe with words...no matter how much you try...
But I'll try anyways.
It felt as if my body was decompositing and rebuilding inside at the same time; as if it was rearranging my DNA. I can no longer tell which parts of my body is which. I had absolutely no control over what was happening to me as energy-lots and lots of energy-bursted into my body and was buried deep inside of me. Not only that, but most of that energy felt...very powerful. This power was acting like steriods to my body, ingiting every single one of my cells. I felt my senses burned as they were becoming more enhanced; unknown power surged into every single molecule of me, causing my entire body to tingle with abnormal ablities; an eerily coldness descended into my very core; my body morphing into a more, uh, appropriate form, I guess? But what was most disturbing about this was my emotions suddenly went beserk.
Half of me seem to be very scared, the other actually enjoying this feeling. The scared half was getting so much weaker while the other half laughingly becomes stronger with each passing moment. The weaker half screams out that it's dying while the stronger half cheers in celebration that it's alive. These emotions collided inside of me, causing me to scream even more while being shocked by the green energy that has began to swirl around me.
It's starting to become funny actually. I felt like I'm drowning in a river that's frozen. Icicles puncturing my body and injecting even more power-even more energy like flu shots. I can feel my body spazzing out; like all of this is just too much for me. I tried to stop screaming so that I could breathe; but I couldn't, I just couldn't.
The pain was overwhelming me.
All of sudden, everything halted. As if a baby was born and everyone wants to see the newborn. The pain was still inflicting me, but not as severe as it was earilier. I panted, trying so hard to breathe right. My eyes scanned around me, only seeing hues of green engery swirling all around the tunnel. My entire body felt like jello. Again, one side of me says that he's exhausted while the other declares that he's rejuvenated. But there was one feeling that both were screeching out...
That they were both feeling AMAZING.
I grinned as I finally stumbled out of that horrid tunnel. I still couldn't breathe, and my sight was fading. My legs collasped and my body soon followed, slamming against the slightly chilly tiled floor. I grinned one more time before my eyelids fluttered closed, shuddering against the frostiness that has settled into my core.
And then, darkness...