Chapter 1:
A New Kind Of Trouble

"DANNY-BOY!" Danny's father shouted, running up the basement steps. Danny's little clone/cousin flew up the stairs, (literally,) shutting herself in Danny's bedroom, just as the boy's father bounded into the living room. The big man skidded to a halt in front of his two children and began talking excitedly, as usual. But, Danny barely had the energy to even pretend to listen.

Jack Fenton, oblivious as ever, failed to notice the frozen wall directly to his right, or the large amount of sniffling coming from his son and from his son's bedroom above him. Instead, he blabbered on for ten minutes, then shouted something excited Danny couldn't quite make sense of, before running back down to his basement/lab. All the while, Danny just stood there, sniffling and wiping his nose. He was just glad he hadn't sneezed, though he couldn't quite remember why he was glad.

Just as his dad was leaving, his mom came to the kitchen door, immediately noticing just how lousy he felt. "Oh, Sweetheart. You look awful. You really shouldn't have stayed up all night, like that. Don't think it's going to get you out of school, though, young man," She chided, playfully, tapping one finger on the tip of his nose. She pulled him into a warm hug, and it felt so good, he wished it would last forever.

But, it didn't. It didn't even last three seconds. "Danny! You're freezing! And, is that gum in your hair? You get up those stairs and take a nice, hot shower. Right now, mister," She said, giving him another hug and kissing him on the head. The boy just sniffled again.

Something crashed downstairs, and Danny heard his dad shout something. "I'll be right there!" His mom answered, before heading towards the basement door. She disappeared, but popped her head back through the doorway to say something Danny couldn't hear. He vaguely registered his sister's voice beside him, before his mom left.

Tired and sniffling, Danny made his way up the stairs and to the shower. He didn't know how long he was in there, but it was so warm, he didn't care. Then he wandered back out, wearing pajamas he didn't remember putting on, and collapsed into his bed, hugging the teddy bear he didn't remember having.

Funny. It hugged him back.

Jazz walked into the living room, intending to tell Danny something about child psychology that he probably would've pretended to listen to, then forgotten about, entirely. She never got the chance though, as she noticed that the bottom of the stairs were frozen solid. Then, Danny's clone had come through the wall and sneezed a lightning bolt.

||'Sneezed a lightningbolt.'|| Honestly, it amazed her what had become of her life. She sounded like a lunatic.

Then, her father had run up from the basement/lab, talking about his new invention that would make ghosts sick, and the lightning-clone disappeared up the frozen stairs.

Jazz wondered a moment if she had hit her head, then shook that train of thought off and turned her attention back to her father.

The big man never noticed the ice, or the fact that Danny didn't seem to be listening. Not that a lack of attention had ever been a deterrent to Jack Fenton. He just kept blathering on about how the 'Fenton BOO-ger' -

||Seriously?||

- had already taken down three ghosts, and they would be out of commission for the next few days. Jazz had a bad feeling that the BOO-ger -

||Again, seriously?||

- was the thing her mom had hit Danny with, earlier. Her theory was proven, when her father began bragging about his invention taking out the ectopus (which her parents had captured and locked in the basement Saturday) and both of the Phantom kids.

The whole town knew of the younger Phantom, now. Ever since she had helped Danny fight Desiree, a couple weeks back. Danny had told Jazz about her, but she hadn't had the chance to talk to her much yet. The little ghost-girl had flown off, dramatically, shortly after the fight. (Apparently, she had a habit of doing that.) That had been almost two months ago, and they hadn't heard from her. Jazz may not have really known the girl, but she knew she was too young to be living on her own, and she had to admit she was concerned.

The redhead snapped back to the present, when her father shouted about checking on the sick ectopus and bounded back out of the room, shaking the floor, slightly. She froze, feeling herself pale, when her mother came in.

||Weird. Mom hasn't noticed the icy stairs, either.|| Her mother might have been oblivious about some things, (like the fact that one of her children was half ghost...) but she wasn't so oblivious she would miss something sitting right in front of her.

Usually.

Jazz, watched her mother fuss over her little brother. Poor Danny seemed barely-conscious. She paled even more, when Maddie noticed Danny's low temperature. He'd been getting colder, lately, ever since his core had matured enough for him to use his ice powers. But, Frostbite had assured them that he was perfectly healthy. Up until now, their parents hadn't noticed, and Danny had insisted that he didn't even feel cold.

Jazz heard her dad shout for her mom, and watched the older woman head in that direction. She jumped when her mother stuck her head back into the doorway. "Jazz, Dear, you look a little pale. Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, Mom. I guess I'm just tired," She said, hoping she didn't sound as nervous to her mother as she did to herself.

"Okay, Sweetie." Her mom left, and she turned to see her brother slowly floating up the non-frozen stairs. She followed him up and into his room, afraid the wobbly boy would fall. She got him some pajamas, put them on the bathroom counter, and sent the half-ghost in to wash off. She went to her room to grab her phone and call Sam and Tucker.

When she came back, she found Danny (who had apparently phased himself dry, judging by the puddle in the bathroom floor,) and his clone sound asleep. They were huddled together in Danny's bed, hugging each other like their lives depended on it.

||Err... Afterlives... Half-Lives?|| The redhead shook her head, dislodging that line of thinking. This road only ever led to Headache-ville

Like their existences depended on it. She smiled, softly, as the little, dark-haired girl yawned and snuggled into Danny's chest.

Then, she snapped a picture. Hey, it was cute, and you never knew when a little blackmail might come in handy.

Ten minutes later, Sam stood in front of the other two members of Team Phantom, who were sitting in Danny's bedroom floor. She and Tucker had come in and snapped their own pictures of the 'identical cousins', (for future purposes,) stifling giggles along with Jazz. And, now, the three were trying to figure out a way to get Danny through (or out of) school, with his secret still intact.

Of course, at the biological age of eighteen, (and the psychological age of one hundred and three, according to Danny,) Jazz wasn't still in high school, exactly. She had spent an entire week at her dream college, before realizing that Massachusetts was just way too quiet, in comparison to Amity Park. (Seriously. One day, she was kicking ghost butt, in a haunted town. And, the next, she was studying, nearly 24/7, on a campus where the scariest thing was the near-constant string of mind-meltingly bad pick-up lines. It was too much, even for her.) Soon enough, the self-proclaimed 'sane Fenton' found herself homesick for Crazytown. So, she opted for the school's online classes. It might not be the same, but a degree was a degree, and she'd always studied better on her own, anyhow.

Upon her return, to give her something to do when there were no ghosts around and help pay off her tuition, she'd taken a job as the high school's new librarian. (The previous one had finally gotten fed up with the ghosts, and moved away.) But, with Spectra gone, no replacement counselor hired, and Jazz's personal track-record for helping other students out in the past, she had become the unofficial, replacement school counselor. She didn't get paid for it, but she didn't mind. This way, she figured, she could practice for the job she loved, while looking out for the little brother she loved.

"Okay, -" Sam began, attempting to voice her idea, but was interrupted.

"Let's drop a giant water balloon on the place," Tucker suggested, waving his arms around, to emphasize the absolute brilliance of his plan. Sam face-palmed. The techno-geek was now exhausted to the point of partial-delusion, and they were all suffering for it.

"- Or," she emphasized, slowly, looking the boy in the eye to make sure she penetrated the haze of sleep-deprivation. "You could do your geek magic, and set off the school's ghost alarm. That should, at least, give us a couple extra hours, to come up with a real plan."

Tucker gasped. "That's genius," He breathed. "Are you... a magician?" His eyes sparkled with child-like awe, and Jazz wondered if he had hit his head.

Unfortunately, Tucker could not set off the ghost alarms with his 'geek magic'. Not in his current state. But, he did manage to trigger the electronic locks on the school doors, and hack into the outer security cameras.

Normally, the doors only locked at night, to keep the (incredibly rare) human intruders at bay. But, not today. Today they earned Team Phantom a whole hour, when they locked themselves, and filled the internet with footage of Mr. Lancer pulling at their handles and shouting angry book titles. And, Team phantom had a front-row seat, via Sec-cam #6. They could all say it was to keep an eye on things from HQ, but they knew it was just because torturing Lancer was funny.

"The Forgotten Door, people! Let me in!" The students outside, as well as the few students who were currently stuck inside, couldn't help but laugh. And, pull out their cameras. Oh, this would definitely be going in the yearbook. Only the kids saw Youngblood turn the door intangible, but everyone saw Lancer fall through, landing on his face. The little ghost giggled, obnoxiously, and flew away, leaving the overweight teacher stuck halfway through the still-locked doors. "The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe! LET ME OUT!"

It was a short hour, but it was enough for Sam and Jazz to form a basic plan of attack. And, to put the kids of Casper High in fairly-good spirits, (*Badum tss*) for the rest of the day.

AN: Hey, everybody! :)

I do not own The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key, (unless you count the copy on my nightstand,) or The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. I will recommend them, however, to anyone who likes fantasy, science fiction, and/or the supernatural. Which, if you're reading Danny Phantom fan fiction, you probably do. :)

Also, I've noticed that the scene with Danny and Danielle might seem a bit like slash. It is not. It's fluff. It's the fluff, the whole fluff, and nothing but the fluff. If there is any romance in this fic, (which I strongly doubt will happen, because I have too many bigger story-arcs to go through, to bother with that kind of thing,) it will, most likely, be DannyXSam.

As always,
God bless, and I hope you enjoyed! :)
- Ellie