So, uh...here's part two?

The Origins of Danny Phantom

By FlikFreak

Part Two: A Rude Awakening

On any typical Saturday, Danny would have probably come home from the mall, the arcade, or the movie theatre by now and be hanging out with his friends. But his friends had not been around today, and thus he was stuck at home doing anything to occupy himself. When this happened, he would go and play video games. Instead, however, he had decided to satisfy his curiosity by getting an up-close look at his parents' new invention. Not only did he sate his curiosity, but he had been nearly frozen to death, numbed, and thrown across the room, not to mention knocked out cold.

And speaking of cold, he thought as he slowly regained his senses, I feel like I've been stuffed into a freezer.

He was still lying on the floor of the basement lab, his head against the wall nearest the door. For some reason he didn't hurt, but he quickly attributed that to the fact that the pain had probably subsided while he wasn't fully awake. As he dragged his eyelids open, he noticed that the room was completely dark aside from the odd green glow that was everywhere he looked. He felt like he was watching one of those old exorcism videos that his father used to watch; only it was in his vision rather on a screen. Maybe it's from whatever concussion I had when I hit the wall, he thought firmly.

He glanced around, hoping that everything was still in order in the house, aside from the lights being unnaturally dim. The portal doors were apparently closed, which was different, but the device seemed to be off, so he didn't worry about it. Besides, it doesn't work. So long as I don't walk inside it, nothing would go wrong. None of the other objects in the room seemed to be harmed, and the wall behind him didn't seem damaged, so Danny began heading upstairs. The portal was obviously a bit too dangerous to investigate, and he resigned himself to needing some sleep to clear up his vision.

He was nearly to the staircase to his bedroom when he passed by the clock in the living room. Danny quickly did a double-take. Five-nineteen?! How long was I out? He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was barely ten-o'clock when he woke up, and it hadn't been that long after when the incident occurred. How hard was I hit anyway? I was out for…he counted mentally…seven hours? Geez, no wonder it's so cold in here. The power's been out all day; I bet the heater was fried, too.

Danny was nearly to his bedroom when two soft glows from nearby caught his eye. Looking to the side at one of the family photos hung on the wall by the stairs, he noticed two bright, green orbs staring back at him. When he inspected closer, he noticed that the two orbs were not only eyes, but they were also part of his reflection. Screaming in shock, he tumbled backward, aiming to grab onto the hand rail behind him, only to find that he fell through it and onto the floor below.

"Geez," Danny grumbled out loud. "What gives? The house is freezing cold, the picture frame is haunted, and I'm falling through a staircase. This has got to be the world's worst concussion…" Continuing his mumbling, he headed upstairs, straight for his bedroom. I should probably get a shower before I get into bed, he thought, exhausted. Who knows how dirty I got when that thing blew me into next week?

But when he reached for the door to the bathroom, nothing happened.

Danny did a double take. Not only was his hand going through the doorknob to his bathroom, but the glove he had been wearing before was white. To top it off, the rest of the hazmat suit he had been wearing had completely reversed colors. He rolled his eyes. Great. I'm seeing myself in negative now. Is there anything worse that could happen?

After a few more tries, Danny finally managed to open the bathroom door (after making a mental note that something so simple shouldn't be such a chore to pull off) and stumble in, but before he could even make his way to the shower faucet he caught another pair of green orbs in the mirror. Though once again startled, Danny didn't fall over this time. He instead stood perfectly still, eyeing the green orbs in the mirror suspiciously. They didn't move.

Okay, this is creeping me out. With a deep breath, Danny slowly inched toward the mirror. The green glowing orbs moved with him, and at the same speed. It was only when he got close enough to the mirror that he realized that the orbs weren't orbs.

They were his eyes.

Danny could hardly believe what he was seeing in the mirror. He knew he was seeing himself, but he was…different. The Hazmat suit he had been wearing was in reverse of what it had been when he put it on, white turned black and black turned white. His eyes were green – a glowing, neon green – and his hair was stark-white. He was even had a subtle white glow about him. Danny blinked in disbelief. "This can't be me!" he exclaimed. "It's impossible!"

The sound of the front door opening suddenly became Danny's worst nightmare, and when that sound reached his ears he yelped. "Danny! I'm back! Where's Mom and Dad?"

"Oh great," he muttered. "Jazz is home…" Not that he minded his big sister, but he couldn't let her see him like this. The girl's footsteps echoed as she climbed the staircase. Danny pressed himself against the door, hoping to keep his sister out, only to fall through the doorway as though the door wasn't even there. He scrambled to his feet and was about to head back for the bathroom when his vision faded out again, leaving him in total darkness. Two seconds later, the light flipped on, and he saw his sister standing in the doorway, giving him one of the most puzzled expressions he'd ever seen in his life. Instantly, he waved his arms in front of him. "S-Sis! This isn't what you think it is!"

Jazz only stared at her brother in disbelief. "Well, it looks to me like you were either sneaking around the lab or you decided that jumpsuits were your new fashion statement."

Danny blinked, glancing at his hand. The glove was black again, and the rest of the hazmat suit was the way it truly was. His sight was even back to normal (which nearly gave him a reeling headache), and it wasn't quite as cold in the room anymore. Looking back at his sister, he smiled sheepishly. "Actually, I-"

"Oh, forget it," the girl mumbled, heading down the hall. "I have research to do. Get some rest; you look like you've seen a ghost."

Oh, the irony, Danny thought, disgruntled, standing warily and heading for the bathroom again. He reached cautiously for the door, eyeing it as though it would lash out at any second, before grabbing it with a death grip and wrenching the door open. Thankful that the doorknob had not evaded him as it had done earlier, he made his way inside, once more looking in the mirror. Nothing was different; he was looking at the same Daniel Fenton that had gotten trapped in the Fenton Portal and nearly killed when he was hurled across the room.

"Well, I guess the concussion wore off," he muttered, partially glad and partially still freaked out. He knew in the back of his mind that whatever had just happened was real. Groaning, he headed for the kitchen. Injured or not, at least the food in the fridge wasn't a hallucination.

The rest of the evening, much like the morning, was exceedingly dull. Danny ended up cleaning his room purely for lack of anything better to do, though he was slightly less depressed. At least Sunday was consecrated in its own right, but he still had to go to bed on time. Danny was actually, for once, looking forward to going to bed. He still had a bit of a headache, and every now and then he would get those same chills from the incident.

Fortunately for Danny, Sunday was a bit more eventful. The movie theatre was still closed for renovations and wouldn't be open until later that week. Sam and Tuck, however, were free of their other activities and the group decided to head to Nasty Burger for lunch.

"Rebecca is such a pain to babysit," Sam practically wailed before taking another bite of her burger. "By the time I was done I would have taken some peace and quiet as payment."

"Tell me about it," Tuck groaned. "Grandma went on for ages about the old days and stuff. She still can't figure out how to set the time on her VCR, either."

"Didn't she read the instructions for that?"

"She thought they were some kind of advertisement and threw them out."

Danny barely had a grasp on the situation. He sat with his head propped up on his hand, staring blankly into open space. It didn't take long for his friends to notice. Sam casually waved a hand across her friend's face. "Hello? Earth to Danny?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, that's great…"

Tuck rolled his eyes momentarily before eyeing his friend in suspicion. "Um…Danny? Are you feeling okay? You haven't even toughed your lemonade."

Yeah, I'm fine. In fact, I'm so fine that last night my eyes were glowing green, my hair turned white, and I kept running through stuff. I couldn't even open the bathroom door because my hand went right through it. Yeah, I'm perfectly fine, guys! "Not really…"

"You don't look so good," Sam commented. "What's going on?"

"My parents finally got the Fenton Portal finished," Danny explained mildly, "But when they tried to start it up they thought it broke so they left to go to the store and get a few parts. I went to go take a closer look and apparently, they hadn't even turned it on."

Tuck laughed. "I can't say I'm surprised," he said. "Leave it to them to forget something so simple."

Danny nodded. "Well, I went to turn it on and I got stuck inside. I think something hit me and I ended up with a concussion. I kept seeing green and I looked really…different. I think it was just a really weird dream or something, but it seemed so real."

"Definitely the concussion talking," Sam muttered. "Shouldn't you be a bit more careful around your parents' inventions?"

"You got that right," Danny replied, groaning miserably. He reached for his lemonade and picked it up, hoping that maybe a sip or two would help ease the stress. He was about to take a drink when it unexpectedly fell out of his hand and spilled, aimed straight for Sam. What the-

Sam made a mad dash out of her seat before she became soaked in Danny's once-appealing beverage. "Danny! What was that for?"

Danny barely heard her. He was staring in disbelief at his hand, which he could see straight through. Moments later, it was back again, perfectly solid. He was snapped back to reality with one of Sam's trademark death glares, and he waved his hands defensively. "It was an accident! I'm sorry! I-"

"Danny, what is wrong with you?" Sam demanded, more concerned than angry. "You look like you've just seen a ghost!"

That's because I think I just did! "Ah, well…"

"I'm sure it was just a mistake," Tuck cut in, saving Danny the agony of explaining that his hand had somehow turned invisible when it was supposed to be the concussion that made him dream that. "Maybe he's just tired."

Danny groaned. "I have no clue," he replied, staring at his hand in a mixture of awe and fear. "I'm not even sure if I actually dropped that thing."

"Then what did you do?" Sam asked, crossing her arms.

This isn't going to be easy. Danny opened his mouth and began to explain when a cold chill ran up his spine. He jumped slightly, eyes widening as he attempted to regain composure, only to see a strange stream of mist seeping from out of his mouth, as though the room had plummeted to temperatures below zero and now he was seeing his breath. The only problem was that it was warm in the restaurant. He rubbed his head. "Great," he mumbled. "I think I've still got a concussion."

"Well, I'm done with my meal," Tuck pointed out. "You guys want to go anywhere else today?"

"I feel terrible," Danny replied.

"That doesn't exactly answer the question," Tuck grumbled, "But I'm assuming that means 'no,' doesn't it?"

Danny shook his head. "I should probably go home and get some more rest," He insisted. "I think this concussion is still affecting my brain."

"It must be affecting mine, too," Sam replied, her eyes wide in shock. "Is something wrong with your eyes, Danny?"

The raven-haired boy stiffened. My eyes…last night, they… "Let me guess," he started. "They're green?"

"Yep."

"Neon green?"

"A glowing, eerie neon green."

Danny immediately pushed himself up, making to leave. Unfortunately, his arm went through the table, causing him to not only lose his sense of balance, but also his sense of vertigo, thus he fell gracelessly to the floor. The incident was immediately followed by a short bout of laughter from the other customers, two blank stares from his friends, and a very sore back. After standing back up, Danny swiftly reached into his pocket and placed a ten dollar bill on the table. "Leave the change for a tip," he called before racing out the door.

Sam and Tuck exchanged glances.