Okay, I'll give this another try. I have a lot of inspiration for this one and summer's coming up, so I think it's a good time to start a new fic! Yay! I'm really trying not to rush this like I did on my other ones, but I started right where the action started....I hope you enjoy.

Prologue

Danny drummed his fingers quietly against the metal lab table, his other hand supporting his chin. His parents had called Jazz and him down here ages ago to show them their newest invention, the Ghost Portal they'd been working so hard on lately. However, they first had to go over every little detail to make sure everything was in perfect working order. Why he and Jazz had to be here for this, he didn't know. He shifted slightly in his chair to see if his parents were almost finished yet.

"The generator can't be over 15 degrees celsius, Jack." His mother read from the sheet of paper in her hand.

Jack looked closely at a little thermometer attached to a big hunk of metal that was apparently, the generator. "It's fine Maddie! Can't we turn it on yet?"

"Be patient Jack, we're almost finished," she looked at her list once more. "Just check the ecto-filtrator and then we can turn it on."

Danny's attention sparked at the mention of finally turning this thing on. They had been working on this since their last one in college had failed and Danny couldn't wait to see what all the fuss was about.

"Looks fine to me..." Jack said, looking closely at a tube of suspiciously glowing goop attached to the wall.

"Well okay then, I suppose we can plug it in now." She said, her excitement only now becoming present in her voice.

Danny loved when his parents finished their inventions. Inventing made them so happy and it warmed him inside to see the people he loved happy. So now, with the almost-completion of their greatest, most worked on invention ever, their happiness was so real that Danny could practically reach out his hand and touch it.

Maddie picked up one side of the cord and held it out readily.

Jack picked up the other end, almost ready to burst with excitement.

Danny sat up straighter in his chair, not taking his eyes off the gaping hole in the wall just past his parents.

Even Jazz looked slightly more interested than she should, considering her disbelief for anything her parents believed in.

Anticipation was high as they put their hands together and so plugging in their latest machine. A mechanical whirr sounded through the lab as electricity flooded into the machine, bringing it to life. They all watched, excitement at its peak until... A spark ran across the machine and fizzled out before it reached the outer edge of the octagonal portal. Nothing more.

Everyone stared expectantly for another moment while still nothing happened. The energy slowly died more and more with the seconds ticking by and still nothing happened.

Finally Jazz's voice broke through the stunned silence with a slightly smug tone. "That's what I thought"

She stood up impatient once again with her parents incompetence.

Danny had more sympathy and stayed silent. He couldn't comfort them after twenty years of hard work on their beloved machine, they failed. He just let them walk away in defeat, at a loss for words. He spun in his chair awkwardly for a few moments after they left and bit his lip.

"That would have been cool..." he mumbled to the empty lab. He stood up and approached the portal, none too carefully now that he knew it didn't work. He looked along the inside walls remembering how they looked at every stage of the process of being built. His parents would never let him help fearing either he or their portal would get hurt, but Danny had spent many hours watching his parents work diligently ever since he was a small child, putting it together piece by piece. To discover it didn't work made him a little depressed inside too.

He stepped inside the portal curiously. He had never been inside before although it didn't matter too much, as the hole in the wall was big enough to see almost everything from the outside as well as if you were in there yourself.

He turned around half way to the back of the portal to face out toward the lab. Something about this new point of view struck him as odd, like he had been missing a lot more than he'd thought by never being inside the portal. Including...

His eyes flickered to the tiny few inches of space on the inside of the door where one on the outside could not see. Blue eyes rested on the 'on' switch and with a curious grunt that echoed in the small space around him he went over to press it. Nothing would happen, of course, because the portal didn't work, but curiosity got the best of him and he walked over slowly and pushed.

Jazz, wondering what could possibly be keeping her brother in the lab so long, and worried he might be doing something dangerous or idiotic, ascended the bottom step just in time to see Danny push a button, hidden to her but obviously a button nonetheless, and, not as blind to the danger as her brother apparently was, she took a breath to stop him.

Too late.

She watched in horror as the whole world slowed down for a moment. Danny and her eyes met for a millisecond that seemed like and eternity. His confused blue met her fearful teal. His gaze was cut off when the portal came to life and power shot through the small octagonal space in the wall and continued to flow through the boy by the 'on' switch. He screamed loudly as pain coursed through his bones, his mind and every single separate strand of his DNA.

Unfortunately for the Fenton family that day, The portal couldn't handle all the power much better than Danny could and it exploded, the house shook violently, and Jazz watched the spot where her brother was, disappear behind rubble and dust. Traumatized, Jazz merely stood there staring for quite some time before her parents got there. It was only when they asked what happened to Danny that she broke down into tears, but her eyes were still glued to the demolished portal. The eldest Fentons, following her gaze, didn't need to be told.