Into the Rabbit Hole... Erm... Portal?

Amber prodded at his face. Dib stirred in the chair, coming back into reality. His eyes opened- still red, just like earlier. He lashed out at her but faltered as the rope tied around his wrists and arms of the chair restrained him. Dib snarled and bared his white teeth as if he were an injured animal. It was unsettling to see him act this way.

"How dare you," he growled. "You have no idea what you are dealing with mortal."

"Have you looked in the mirror?" Amber scoffed, "What would you call yourself?"What would you call yourself?""ealing with mortal."an injured animal. to the

"Insolent girl! I terrorized mankind for centuries before my own brethren cast me into that purgatory!"

"What do you mean by that?" she asked as his words registered. "What are you?"

"What are you?" He question as a smile spread across his face. "You're energy is different. Not a part of this world nor are you a part of mine. Don't deny it," he leaned closer inhaling her scent, "it smells so sweet, so tasty."

Amber grabbed him by the jacket and pulled the chair so that only the front two legs were on the ground. She stabilized it with her foot and glared into the glowing eyes.

"Just answer the question." Her words cut like acid. Dib sneered, revealing several white teeth.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he snickered and his body went limp. An icy chill pierced through Amber's heart and her breath left her. Losing her balance, she stumbled backwards onto the floor and fell to her hands and knees. She panted heavily, not understanding the overwhelming and foreign sensation that had gone through her.

Cold.

She felt cold.

Dib's eyes opened and he searched the room.

"H-hey, why am I tied up? What happened," he looked at Amber with fear and confusion. "W-what are you going to do to me?"

"Dib-" Amber whispered while reaching out a hand toward him.

"Don't touch me! I'm not going to be one of you lab experiments."

"Oooo, now there's an idea," Zim said. "Can we?"

"No," Amber responded harshly. She looked at Dib and placed her hands on his shoulders. Sympathy spread in her eyes as he flinched at her touch. Despite being angry with him, she couldn't ignore the fact that something was terribly wrong. When she embraced him, she could feel his body quivering with warning and uncertainty, "You really don't remember anything, do you?"

"I remember," he stopped, noticing the wound underneath her right eye, "What happened? Did he-"

Amber shook her head knowing that Dib had assumed the injury had come from Zim. Offended, the alien shouted a few curses at the membrane boy, but they had more important things to worry about at that time and Amber knew it. She began untying Dib, to which Zim shouted more discontent, but Amber ignored him as she questioned Dib on what he could remember. He recited everything about the portal and Hex. It didn't really help with understanding what Hex wanted, or what he was, but it did make her realize the situation was worse than she had imagined.

"Please, I need your help." Dib begged.

Amber blinked, dumbfounded and caught off guard by the request. Zim proceeded to cackle in the corner, refusing to offer any assistance what-so-ever. She watched as Dib tried to reason with him, tried to bargain with him, and tried to blackmail him when everything else failed. But, Zim continued to refuse and treat the situation like some kind of joke- until Amber looked directly at Dib and said,

"We'll help."

The alien's jaw in shock, "You dare tell him that-"

"Zim, you can't take over the world if Hex destroys it."

The alien huffed in the corner realizing that she was right, though he hated admitting it. Dib met her gaze, searching for sarcasm or irony, but Amber nodded, indicating that she was being serious. He mouthed the words 'thank you.'

"But why do you care?" He whispered.

"Because, I don't think Hex is going to stop at this world. You said it yourself, 'he was excited about the difference here.'" Amber explained while fastening her throwing knife pack around her leg. She suspected that they were going to be fighting for a while. "But we do need to know what we are dealing with. Can you take us to the portal?"

Dib nodded and motioned for her to follow. They momentarily stopped upstairs so she could examine the gooey residue left behind from when Hex blasted Zim. She took a sample and instructed the alien to do an analysis on it while she was gone. He grimaced, but obeyed while muttering something about not doing it because she told him. It was just a coincidence because he was thinking the exact same thing. Amber rolled her eyes.

v v v

"It doesn't exist. The substance you gave me doesn't exist in this world. Are you happy?" Zim's voice shouted out of the walky-talky he had given her only a few days ago.

"No." The portal flickered before her. Amber frowned. She could see it was unstable and that it was collapsing on itself. She closed the phone and looked at Dib, "At least it gives use some idea of what we're dealing with."

"How?"

"Well, it narrows it down. Whatever Hex is, his makeup doesn't exist in this world. At least, not in the field of science."

"So, something supernatural?" Dib asked. "A ghost?"

"Maybe, but he could be something completely different altogether," Amber muttered as she held her hand up to the portal. She was amazed it had stayed open this long. The world was trying to heal itself, trying to close the tear, but couldn't. Unfortunately, that only meant it was putting more strain on the world's barrier.

"What are you thinking?"

"Truthfully," Amber sighed, "I was debating about jumping in."

"What? Are you CRAZY?"

"Well, how else do you suggest we stop it?"

Amber opened the phone. Zim was yelling at GIR, who was eating the leftover residue of the unknown chemical. She watched as the alien desperately tried to pry his malfunctioning robot away from the contents on the floor. Collins cleared her throat to get his attention and Zim dropped GIR immediately.

"What?" The alien snapped rather perturbed.

"Do you think you can replicate the material?"

"What do I look like to you? A human slave?"

"Can you, or not?"

Zim grumbled something about her being lucky that Irken technology was far more superior compared to Earth. Regardless, he agreed to fashion something that could fire a similar material. He reluctantly agreed to building one, after she threatened to place hidden cameras throughout his house and showing the footage to the entire school. Getting him to cooperate was like pulling teeth. She was lucky she had some leverage.

"He's not going to leave willingly. Even with weapons, we're still at a huge disadvantage," Dib shuddered remembering the feeling of death that was etched in his brain.

"That's why we need something that can contain him. That's why I'm going through."

"But how-"

"Hex said that his brethren imprisoned him. Maybe, they can help us with this."

"Then, I'm going, too."

"No, you're not," Amber said. Dib grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her closer to him. His expression was defiant, determined. She took his hands and lifted them away. "You and Zim need to hold the fight here, together. That portal is unstable, and I don't know how much longer it's going to be there."

"If you get trapped-"

"You still have the chance to get rid of Hex and I'll be in the same situation I am in, right now."

Dib nodded, finally understanding. It wasn't to save him; it was because it made the most sense. Either way, only one constant would change. A member of their group would be in another world. If she went, she was already in one that wasn't her own anyway, so the end result didn't matter to her.

"Be careful."

"I'm always careful," Amber smiled as she reassuringly squeezed him on the arm. She walked up to the portal, took a deep breath, and plunged into the dark abyss.

Amber fell; fell through darkness that wrapped around her like smoke. She hit the ground and the sound resonated through the new world. She stood, slightly wobbly from the crash. The portal writhed behind her, still as unstable as what it had been. Good. As long as it stayed open.

Amber stumbled through the dark room, feeling her environment with her hands. She tripped over something and screamed when her brain registered the figure of a withered corpse. A man, from what she could tell, that looked like the life had been suck out of him, literally. His bones were weak and fragile with a chin tilted slightly up and opaque eyes. Is that what Hex meant by delicious? Did he eat his victims?

Amber shuddered as she forced herself to crawl among the brittle bones and creaking floorboards that were covered in a thick layer of dust. Her head collided with a broken door. Its handle was no longer there and it was barely attached to one of the hinges. Pushing it open, she stood and watched it fly in shattered pieces across the realm. It drifted across the emerald sky that seemed to go on for miles. Amber stared out of the opening that was nearly twenty feet from the ground.

"Great, now what?" She grimaced while looking over the edge. Her eyes moved from the ground to the floating doorway ahead of her. "Well, when in Rome," and she leapt from the room while drifting to the floor. She landed softly like a cat and wandered through the maze. A disturbing feeling swept over her, and she turned thinking that someone was following her. But, no one was there and she continued.

"Hello?" Amber searched, "Is anyone there? I need help."

The atmosphere morphed and flashed, and a sudden pain surged through her body. The realm was disintegrating and her along with it. If she didn't act fast, everything would be destroyed.

v v v

"Several strange weather patterns have been occurring throughout the world. Other reports claim to have witnessed disappearance of random structures. One such example is the Eiffel Tower and it has become the universal consensus of the president that—We're all DOOMED!"

Dib sighed watching the weather. Snow in Hawaii, a heat wave in Antarctica. What had he done? The world was literally falling apart. They had to find a way to stabilize or close the portal, but with Hex still out there. An iron taste filled his mouth. He didn't notice that he had been biting his lower lip.

"Zim, are those weapons ready yet?"

"Quiet Dib!"

"You said you could replicate them."

Zim glared at Dib, who was standing over his shoulder. The process had proved to be more difficult than he had anticipated. Zim could make a synthetic copy, but even Irk did not have experience with this technology. Shoving the weapon into Dib's hand, he stood and started on the next gun. There was a problem with the stability because in order to work, the synthetic material had to be mixed with a purified version of the original, which GIR was currently eating.

"I can, Dib, but maybe it would go faster if you would help."

"Fine, fine," Dib whined as he sat down and attempted to replicate the shell of the gun. Cooperating proved difficult and he hoped that Amber would come back soon. Part of him wondered what was happening on her end.

v v v

Amber jumped, sensing a presence behind her, but like last time, nobody was there. It felt like she was going insane. That was the third time. She grimaced. Originally, she had tried to memorize her surroundings and continuously walk in a straight line so she wouldn't get lost. Now, Amber was wondering if there was a point to her venture. Everything was the same, eerie and unsettling. She turned backwards and stared in the direction she had just come. Maybe it was best if she turned around. The world kept appearing and disappearing with her in it. If she didn't find a way out soon-

At least if she was with Dib and Zim she could help on their end. A light radiated behind her and Amber barely had time to react as she tripped and stumbled into the new terrain. She collapsed on the tile floor and yelled as the pain spread through her leg. Damn it. What was with her getting hurt today?

"Maddie quick!" A large beefy man darted toward her. Amber instinctively flinched and felt the power pulse as the man was thrown backward by an unseen force. Her breath caught in her throat as he crashed into the table. Amber rushed to him, afraid to touch his body after what she had just done.

The regression was causing their realities to mix together, the universe to bend its own rules. A woman rushed downstairs.

"Jack!" She rushed to him and knelt beside her husband.

"I- I'm sorry. I- I didn't mean-" Amber stuttered as her emotions came to the brink of what she could handle. Her mind pulsed, again, and several beakers and test tubes shattered. Their glass skidded across the floor.

"Where did you come from?" Maddie asked with concern and curiosity in her indigo eyes.

The color in Amber's face drained as she helplessly shook her head. Without thinking about what she was doing, she fled, rushing up the stairs and into the street.

v v v

Danny Phantom crashed into a nearby building. The Box ghost was kicking his butt and he had no idea how.

"Anytime, Tucker!"

"I'm working on it!" His black friend yelled at the top of his lungs while trying to catch the ghost in the Fenton Thermos. This one was supposed to be easy, but he was making Danny, and Tucker, look like a couple of rookies. An enlarged box hit Danny upside the head and he felt his spiritual energy split. He looked up to see an exact replica of himself.

"Great, I've been trying to do that for months and the first time it's on accident!" Danny threw his arms into the air and two plasma bolts were released into the sky. His eyes glowed in frustration. His powers had been overactive today and he couldn't use them effectively. Whatever was making his enemies stronger was apparently making it impossible for him to control. He couldn't even maintain his human form anymore. A light emanated from the thermos and sucked the Box Ghost into the small vessel.

"Got him!" Tucker exclaimed.

"Finally," Danny sighed and his copy faded out of existence. A scream echoed in the distance. "Ah darn it! Not again!"

"Go, I'll follow from behind."

"Where are the all coming from?" Danny cried as he flew into the air, trying desperately to stabilize himself with the added speed.

It wasn't long until he found the origin. Skulker was chasing someone, two girls. One wore a hood to cover her face so he didn't recognize her. She was the one who was leading, dragging the second girl by her wrist; a rich, latino girl from school, Paulina, who -not surprisingly- was doing all of the screaming.

The leader turned a corner, ducking into an alley. Of course she had to choose the one that dead ended. Danny followed them, genuinely concerned for their safety. They skidded to a halt, if front of a large wall. The leader cursed under her breath and Paulina criticized her idiocy.

"Hey, watch it. I'm new here."

"I can tell," Paulina chimed.

"Oh, just shut up," the girl said as she pushed the popular brat behind her. "You want me? Come and get me, Skulker."

"Is that a challenge?" the ghost inquired, entertained by her stubborn nature.

"You bet it is."

The ghost took her offer and charged with full force. Danny hastened his speed as he tried to intervene. The girl held up her hands and two trashcan lids rose into the air. With a flick of the wrist she sent them flying, as if she was throwing a Frisbee. Skulker went intangible and she cursed under her breath as he tackled her to the ground. Without a second thought, Danny threw a plasma ball at the ghost as a warning shot that sharply struck his shoulder.

"Stay out of this, ghost boy," Skulker stood. "You have no idea what this girl as done."

"I didn't do ANYTHING!"

"Ghosts have claimed seeing you in the Ghost Zone, leaving the door where Hex was bound."

"That's enough Skulker," Danny Phantom warned. The ghost's emerald eyes glowed, the way Dib's eyes had when he was possessed.

"You have 48 hours," he said to the girl before going intangible and disappearing from view. Paulina squealed, longing to interact with her hero, Danny Phantom, who had just graciously saved her. But, the girl in the green jacket grabbed her arm before she could race ahead for the opportunity to flirt.

"Leave now, Paulina."

"Listen Freak, you're new so I'm going to explain to you how things work here."

Several windows from a nearby building shattered as the girl slapped Paulina across the face.

"You listen," she said, "I've been having a really bad day. I suggest you don't make it worse."

"How dare you?"

"Oh, I dare. Want to try me again?"

"Ok, that's enough," Danny Phantom intervened as he pulled the girl's raised arm back down. "Listen, uh, citizen. It's not safe here and you should go. I'll," he looked at the girl whose name he did not know, "have a talk with her about respecting people."

"Oh, thank you Mr. Phantom. It's good to know that at least some people still have class," Pauline said as she strutted out of the alley. The girl tried to chase after her, but Danny held a firm grip and only released when she was done cussing. Tucker came panting from around the corner.

"Hey Danny, is Paulina alright, she looked kind of freaked and," Tucker hesitated as his brain registered that Danny was not alone, "Who are you?"

"Amber," she said will pulling off her hood and her long, blonde hair fell out of the back.

"Nice cosplay," Tucker laughed, "but seriously, what's your name?"

"Cosplay?"

"Yeah, you know, from that comic book, 'The Jumper.'"

"I'm not familiar with it," Amber shrugged. It was a partial lie, as it was the one Madeline was telling her about several days ago, but they didn't know that.

"Sure you are. Of course, none of the other nerds are as pretty as you."

He grinned and Amber backed behind Danny obviously unsure of how to take the direct approach. No wonder Tucker had problems with girls. They were probably scared off by his poor flirting, and he did come across as desperate.

"Look, we don't have time for this. I need help and so do you," Amber said while brushing her bangs away from her face.

"What do you mean?"

"How are your powers working?"

It was a simple question, but he knew what she was referring to. Apparently, this girl was more adept than his parents at solving problems, or at least recognizing them. She didn't waste any time either. As soon as she saw the uncertainty in his expression, Amber was already explaining what had been happening. Danny didn't understand all of it, but the destabilization of three worlds was enough to get his attention.

The new strength behind his powers still baffled him and he had asked for her opinion on the matter. Amber had tried to explain it, but she really only had a hypothesis and it was a little out of his reach. The way he understood it, was there was a universal law between every realm. When the barriers weakened, it made it possible to bend the rules, in a sense. Because she, Danny, and any ghost in his world, had been exposed to multiple worlds, they were considered anomalies. As a result, it created a power surge effect that would release random spurts of energy.

Part of Danny wondered if she was making the story up. More importantly, how did she formulate the guess? Amber's response had been equally vague as she explained that in some worlds, she had more liberty to do tasks that were impossible in her own. She assumed it was a similar structure. Either way, whether she was fabricating it or not, they still had to stop whatever was happening, assuming that she wasn't clinically insane or making him look like a fool.

"So," Tucker asked, "how do we know you're telling the truth? I mean, the whole thing is kind of out there, don't you think?"

Amber stopped, and turned. Danny was grateful the question wasn't his.

"Skulker just gave me a deadline, he just said his powers are going wonky, your news is focused on snow in the tropics and you don't think that's proof that there's something going on?"

"It's just, I mean…"

"You want to see it," Amber finished understanding the request he was asking. Of course, why he needed proof was beyond her understanding. Danny Fenton's parents had a portal that regularly opened in their basement. But, if it was the only way, she would have to be clever. Amber approached Danny and took his hand in hers as if she were going to shake it. Her eyes closed in pensive thought,

"You're Danny Phantom. You're best friends are Tucker Foley and Sam Manson. You have a crush on Paulina, though I don't know what you see in her. You're secret identity is Danny Fenton. You got your powers in a lab accident at your parent's house, and no they don't know about you. Can I stop now?"

"You can do all that just by touching me?" Danny asked as his jaw dropped.

"Don't be ridiculous. I just did that for dramatic effect," Amber smiled as she released his hand.

"But, you're a comic book character!" Tucker shouted.

"So? You're a cartoon and he's half ghost, now that we established the obvious," she turned to Danny with begging eyes, "please."

"We'll go to my house and think of a plan," Danny said.

"Umm… yeah," Amber's face paled, "ah, there's something you should know."