The Crack
Earlier
To say Danny Fenton was not your average teen would be an understatement. He was raised in a family of ghost hunters, he had met an alternate, future version of himself, and he and his friends fought ghosts in a town infested with them. Not to mention he was half dead.
Danny laid on a blanket in the Amity Park-Park, staring up at the clouds.
"That one kind of looks like the Box Ghost." His best friend, and now girl friend, Sam Manson pointed out. Danny scanned the sky and laughed when he saw the chubby cloud she was referring to.
"Yeah, it really does. Hey, don't you think that one—"
"Danny!" Sam said as she shot up into a sitting position, and pointed behind him.
Danny's head snapped to the side, and he saw a man with a camera peaking out from behind a tree.
That was the other thing; several months ago, at the age of fifteen, Danny Fenton had become famous, worldwide, for saving the planet.
Yet, he still wondered if it was enough.
Danny winced as a flash of light came from the device.
"Oh, come on!" Danny yelled as he grabbed Sam and became invisible.
Avoiding the paparazzi had become a normal thing in the days following what the media was calling "Phantom Planet"; though most of them tried to keep at least a little distance once they discovered Danny could destroy their cameras by phasing through them.
It looks like this cameraman was either new, couldn't afford a long-range lens for his camera, or just really stupid.
Maybe it was all of the above.
The man looked bewildered by the sudden disappearance of the celebrity and his lover, and was scanning the landscape for the two.
Invisible, Danny and Sam snuck over to the man. Danny swiped his intangible hand through the camera. The device began to spark, and the reporter dropped it in surprise; the camera smashed on impact with the ground.
"Just bill Fenton Industries." Shouted Danny as he and Sam exited the park.
'Fenton Industries'. It was still a weird for Danny to say, or even think of. To him, it was still Fenton Works. This was yet another thing that changed after the "Phantom Planet" incident.
When the ecto-ranium asteroid first appeared in the sights of astronomers, Vlad Masters — another half-ghost who happened to be Danny's arch nemesis and his father's former best friend— volunteered to save the planet.
For a price.
When he never came back, he was assumed dead. The Fenton family received a surprise call from Vlad's attorney to the reading of the late billionaire's will. As it turned out, the entirety of Vlad's fortune— his estates, his companies— were all left to one person.
That person was Maddie Fenton.
The deranged fruit loop probably thought he would eventually win her over by the time he died. If he thought he'd ever die.
With more money than they knew what to do with, they gave a large sum to various charities, and used the rest to continue to fund their research. They reformed VladCo into Fenton Industries, now specializing in a broader range of scientific research and products since they now had multiple organizations, like Axion Labs, under their control. In fact, Fenton Industries was now one of the leading companies in a number of fields, including clean, renewable energy (derived from ectoplasm of course).
Yes, for once things were looking up for the Fentons—
"I don't know what it is…" Sam said as they passed the statue at the center of town of Danny, in his ghost form, holding up the world. "I don't know if it's the chin, the nose, the hair— but I still don't think they caught your likeness. It's just… off."
Danny chuckled at his girlfriend's statement. "You say that every time we pass by it. You know, I had to pose for like, two hours." They both looked up at the statue. "But you're right, it is pretty bad…"
"Yeah."
"Is that him, Dad?" A child, close to their invisible bodies, asked his father.
"No, Finn. It couldn't be." The man told the boy, ruffling his hair. "This is a muggle town, remember? They wouldn't put a statue up for him."
"Yeah, I guess." Finn said, sounding disappointed. "But he really looks like him."
Danny almost became visible again to surprise the boy, but the cameraman from the park was approaching, and he had his camera phone out. He tugged at Sam to go, and they began walking again. Today was just one of those days that he did not want to be noticed.
"So, where do you want to go now?" Danny asked Sam.
"Well, Tucker sent a text asking if we wanted to meet him at the Nasty Burger." Sam replied. "I know that's where people usually wait for you, but it's been a while since we've eaten there. I miss their signature Nasty-Veggie-Burger"
Danny sighed as his stomach growled with desire. It had been a while since he had a Nasty Burger.
"Alright, let's go." Said Danny, and they turned the street corner. "I'll just keep my head low, or something. Wear a hat."
"Did you bring a hat?"
"No, but I'll just use Tuck's."
Danny and Sam approached the back entrance to the burger joint.
"He's never going to let you take his hat." She warned him.
"Who said he had a choice?"
"Ha!"
They became visible, and entered the restaurant. It wasn't as crowded as usual, and hadn't been this empty since they put a sign up saying "Danny Phantom's Restaurant of Choice!" Danny had them take it down, but word still got out.
They scanned the room for Tucker, and found him in a booth by himself, picking at french-fries on his plate while he texted on his upgraded PDA. Before sitting down, Danny looked around for anyone that looked like they belonged with the press. The only one that seemed slightly suspicious was a red haired woman in a black pantsuit, sitting by herself at a table with her face buried in a newspaper.
Greg, the teen behind the counter, called a number and the woman got up to get her food. She didn't pay Danny any attention, so his suspicion faded. He sat down across from Tucker, and grabbed his hat. He flipped it forwards and planted it firmly on his own head.
"Hey!"
"Hey, Tuck, how's it going?" Danny said while leaning back, out of Tucker's reach. Sam held in a laugh as Tucker reached for his headwear.
"Come on Danny, just give it back." Said Tucker as he stopped struggling and crossed his arms.
"No way. Everyone knows this is our usual hang out. The more discrete I look, the better." Danny said while tugging the hat down over his face a little more.
Tucker snorted.
"Oh, come on, dude. You aren't that famous." As Tucker spoke, the red headed woman in the pantsuit slid into the booth, next to Tucker, and shoved a recorder in Danny's face.
"Danny Phantom? Or do you prefer Fenton? I'm Angela Simmons, with New York Citizen paper and I'd like to ask you a few questions." She said eagerly, and without hesitation.
Danny groaned and threw the hat into Tucker's face.
"You were saying, Tucker?"
"There are several accusations going around that a Fenton Industries satellite was, in fact, responsible for the "Phantom Planet" incident; calculated explosions around Saturn's belt causing the ecto-ranium asteroid to head in a collision course with Earth; resulting in—"
"Wait, that's not true. It was a VladCo sate—"
"So you do recognize the asteroid was put into motion by the explosion of a VladCo, now renamed Fenton Industries, satellite?"
"What? No, I—"
"And the aftermath of this devious plot resulted in your fame and the elimination of Vlad Masters, who's death allowed Fenton Industries to grow to amazing proportions; dominating most of the tyrannical capitalistic society we live in today."
"That's not at all—"
"If these accusations are correct, as you seem to be suggesting, then you and your family are all—"
"Hey!" Sam yelled, and the woman stopped, and stared at her. "Would you just leave him alone? We're just trying to sit down and eat in peace. Not only that, but everything you just said is complete and utter bullshit!"
Simmons stared at Sam for a few seconds, and then looked her up and down with a smirk on her face.
"Hmm… troubled girlfriend who is frustrated with the fame of her "significant other". Will the romance last?" Simmons tapped her chin with her microphone, and then pointed it at Sam. "I'll get to you next."
Sam's face became red with anger. She stood up, and before she could give this nosey reporter a piece of her mind, Danny gasped as a wisp of smoke escaped his mouth.
"Oh no, looks like I've got to go take care of some ghost." He smiled and gave a unapologetic shrug. He stood up, gave Sam a peck on the lips. "And just when this interview was getting interesting." He went ghost and floated through the table, fazing his foot through the recorder as he went up.
"Hey!" Simmons yelled as she dropped the short circuiting device.
"Whoops!" Danny said with a false sense of apology. "Just bill Fenton Works— I mean, Industries!" With that, he passed through the ceiling, for once happy a ghost had interfered. He just hoped it wasn't any of the top-tier ghosts.
CRASH!
Some slammed quick and fast into Danny's back, sending him tumbling to the ground. He got to his knees, and looked at the wooden-crate fragments that surrounded him.
"What the—"
A small box made contact with his head.
"Ow!" Danny yelled as he picked up the box and sighed. "Of course…"
"Yes, it is I! The BOX GHOST!" The blue specter emerge from behind the Nasty Burger, several boxes floating around him. "Prepare to feel my wra—ahhhh!" The loud ghost was interrupted by a green beam of ectoplasmic energy shot by Sam, who was holding Fenton ecto-gun at the entrance to the Nasty Burger. Tucker emerged behind her, holding the Fenton Thermos.
"Danny!" She yelled, and started to run over to the fallen hero. Danny held up his hand.
"I'm fine!" He said, rubbing his head. "Just get Box Ghost into the thermos." Sam and Tucker nodded, and ran towards the box ghost.
"This is amazing!" Simmons said as she ran out of the restaurant. She pulled out her phone and started to take a video of the action that ensued. "An actual ghost fight! This is going to be huge for me!"
"Yeah?" Danny said, standing up. "Well around here, it's nothing. Welcome to Amity Park." The reporter scowled, and Danny heard the Box Ghost yell as he was sucked into the portal.
"Got him!" Tucker yelled from across the parking lot. Danny gave him a thumbs up.
"Way to go, Tuck!"
"That was basically nothing!" Simmons complained. "I thought these were supposed to be epic brawls between good and evil."
"Not all the time." Danny said, getting annoyed with the woman. Simmon's scowl became an evil grin as she looked at her phone, pressed a button, and held it out in Danny's direction.
"Now, Mr. Phantom, about those accusations..."
Danny face-palmed as he became human again.
"Listen, I—" Danny stopped when he saw some sort of vertical crack formed behind her. A faint, green, glow pulsed from the crevice. "What the—"
"Did you destroy my recorder from earlier because you don't want the truth to get out?" As she spoke, the light grew stronger. "That truth, of course, being— ah!" The light became stronger, and Simmons was lurched backwards, towards the crack. Danny ran at her.
"Look out!" He yelled as he pushed her out of the way. He was now facing the crack head on.
The light was almost blinding, and he felt as though some otherworldly force was pulling him into the gap. He tried to stand his ground, but his sneakers skid against the pavement. He went ghost to try and fly away.
"Danny!" Sam yelled. Danny spun around.
The last thing he saw was Tucker and Sam running towards him, her hand outstretched, before his legs lifted off the ground, and he was sucked into the crack.
.
.
There was a blinding green flash before everything went black.
Then, the world seemed to erupt into an explosion of light and color as he was sent spinning at dizzying speeds through the center of this brilliant tunnel.
Danny closed his eyes and tried to take a breath, but he was moving so fast it felt like he couldn't breathe. He opened his mouth to yell, but the air was shoved back into him. The halfa started to go faster and faster, and just when he thought he was going to pass out, he stopped.
When Danny opened his eyes, he saw a night sky speckled by a few stars, most hidden by light pollution. The moon shone brightly tonight. Danny groaned and slowly sat up, clutching his head. His head and body throbbed with pain, and his heart was pounding. It felt as though he had just run a marathon, then got hit with a bus.
He got to his feet and looked around. Danny was in the middle of a road in a neighborhood he had never seen before. Maybe he was a little ways away from Amity Park? He could hear the sound of traffic in the distance.
Danny looked at the dull streetlights, then up at the night sky.
"It's night? How long was I out?" It had only been midday when he had been sucked into that crack. It seems as though he was in there far longer than he thought…
He just hoped he hadn't been away too long.
In the distance, he could make out two figures, walking towards him.
"Hey, you two!" Danny shouted out. He seemed to be too far away, for the two didn't seem to hear them. They had, in fact, stopped, and seemed to be arguing. Danny sighed, and floated up in the air and began flying towards them.
He stopped when he felt a chill run down his spine. Danny felt a sudden rush of cold, which was highly unusual. As a ghost, he never really felt cold, because he was cold. His body temperature was nearly below freezing. How could he be cold?
Then everything became black.
Danny looked down at the darkened houses, and the empty streetlights; only able to see with his enhanced vision.
The power must have gone out.
But there was something more. Where did the moonlight go?
He looked up to the sky, and saw that it was gone. The moon —along with the stars —was gone. There was just inky blackness.
How was this possible?
Well, as with any impossible event, Danny had learnt the explanation was usually ghosts.
A dark shadow streaked across the street below him.
That would be the ghost.
"DUDLEY, GET BACK HERE! YOU'RE RUNNING RIGHT AT IT!" He heard a distressed boy yell.
'That would be my cue.'
Danny flew towards the alley the ghosts had disappeared into.
A/N: (I obviously don't own Danny Phantom or Harry Potter) And we arrive right back at the beginning! I originally meant to make this chapter longer, add what happens after the encounter, but I just wanted to get this out there. I already wrote this part of the chapter and then some a few months ago, but I forgot to save and my computer crashed. Took forever for me to face this again.
So, sorry for the short-ish chapter. Just setting things up, really.
Oh, and Crossover Junkie: He might find it odd, but I don't think he would laugh at any those small details, or how they are so ignorant about how muggles live. After all, muggles are even more ignorant about wizards.
Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this. Please review! Your feedback inspires me to write faster.
