This prompt was so perfect, I just had to write something for it. But also, curse you school for making it so difficult for me!
Prompt by bibliophilea: "Tucker Ghouly thought this was going to be a good, peaceful day. That thought is crushed when not one, not two, but three portals open, depositing the halfa versions of his two best friends (and his best friend's sister?) into this world. Why are they here? And how are they going to return to their home worlds?"

"This patrol has been very calm," Tucker muttered, raising himself higher in the air like that would reveal some sort of hidden ambush. "Suspiciously calm."

"Don't jinx us," Danny grumbled, rolling his eyes. One of his hands wandered to the ecto-gun hidden under his black jacket.

Something in Tucker's chest seized—his core, he knew instantly—and he jerked to a halt. So did both of his friends, coming to a stand-still a step behind him. A green spark flickered in front of them.

"Too late," Sam grunted, pulling her own small ecto-gun out of its holster. "This one is on you, Tuck."

"When isn't it?" he bit back, but lit up his fists with roiling violet ectoplasm anyway. Whatever this was, whether it would be hostile or not, he was ready.

The spark spluttered, and for a moment it seemed to extinguish entirely. Then, with a terrible ripping sound—a sound which seemed to echo in Tucker's very core—the green extended, like a tear through reality.

A portal into the Ghost Zone.

The surface of the portal wavered, then parted way as a single humanoid ghost stumbled through. Literally stumbled through, feet on the ground, almost tripping on the edge of the portal as it immediately closed behind the ghost.

And then the noise came again, and then a third time, as two more portals opened up, just to the side of where the first had been. And, again, the portals both released a single humanoid ghost before immediately closing again.

"What the hell," Danny muttered behind him, and Tucker could only heartily agree. At least he didn't seem to be the only one confused by the going-ons, as the first ghost to stumble through was also watching the newcomers.

Or he had been, because the ghost's gaze had snapped towards Tucker—and more importantly, Danny—when his friend had spoken.

Bright green eyes blinked at the two of them, and Tucker was struck with a sense of familiarity. It took him an embarrassingly long moment to see through the glowing eyes, the innate difference in appearance caused by the mild glow of a ghost, before he could place the face.

The ghost was an exact copy of Danny. Or, more accurately, of a hypothetical ghost version of Danny, since his hair was as white as Tucker's was in his ghost form, and his usual blue eyes replaced with green.

He ripped his eyes away from Danny's ghostly doppelganger to look at the other two ghosts, and felt his stomach flip. One of them was undeniably Sam's copy, with white hair and vivid cyan eyes. The other took him a moment longer to place, before he realized she looked like a younger version of Danny's sister Jazz.

"Huh," Sam mumbled, stepping up to Tucker's other shoulder. All three ghosts' eyes followed the movement. "This is… odd."

"That's one way of putting it," the ghostly version of Danny said. Despite the echo, his voice was undeniably Danny's. "So, uh. I guess none of you were responsible for the creation of that portal?" He paused, looking over his shoulder at the other two ghosts. "Or, those portals, since there were multiple?"

"Definitely not," Tucker confirmed, and let the ectoplasm gathering in his fists sizzle out. None of the ghosts seemed hostile, and he didn't really feel much for fighting his friends' duplicates.

"I didn't do it either," the young Jazz said, her golden eyes narrowed and her purple hair flickering violently in a manner that reminded Tucker uncomfortably of Ember.

"Me neither," Sam's doppelganger piped up, crossing her arms. "So, Danny, you up to something?"

Ghostly Danny flinched and pulled a face that Tucker immediately placed as guilty. "Uhhh…"

"Why is my ghost version a disaster?" Danny loudly complained, leaning against Tucker's shoulder now that he had—without noticing it himself—come low enough to the ground for Danny to reach.

"Just be glad that he's wearing black," Sam put in, leaning around Tucker's other side to watch her own ghostly copy. "Since apparently everyone else has been forced into brightly colored jumpsuits."

"Stop dodging the point," the younger Jazz snapped, before whirling around to her ghostly brother. "What did you do, big brother?"

"Big brother?" both Danny's echoed, eyeing her. When she growled, the ghostly Danny raised his hands placatingly and added on, "I didn't— Okay, I might've, but I didn't mean to!"

"Illuminating," Sam's ghostly double muttered, shaking her head. "Please stop dodging around the point, Danny."

Luminescent green eyes rolled as Danny's copy lowered his hands again. "Okay, so I might have been trying to open a portal to the Ghost Zone. I was just trying to reach a friend!"

"And you somehow missed catastrophically," Sam concluded, now also leaning on Tucker. He was starting to feel slightly used. "You know what? That checks out."

"Wow," Danny muttered, pressing a hand against his chest. "I'm hurt, Sam. Right in my poor black heart."

"Okay, that's enough out of you three!" Jazz snarled, her glow flickering brighter for a moment before it settled again. "That explains how Danny got here, but what about us?" She gestured at herself and Sam's ghostly version. "Why are Sam and I here?"

"The connection between Danny's world and this one must've destabilized something." Sam's ghost frowned, brows drawing together in thought. "Or maybe something about how he reached for a friend drew us in too?"

All five of them looked at the ghostly Danny, whose shoulders slowly but steadily climbed up to his ears.

"Sorry?" he said, sounding uncertain. "Uh. Whoops?"

Danny snorted, then shook his head. "Maybe we should move somewhere a little more private while we figure this out, since it doesn't seem like you folks are intent on causing trouble."

"We can go to my place, since we actually have a shot at privacy there," Sam offered, stepping away from Tucker. "The three of us will need to go through the front door. Can I assume you three can find the way to the greenhouse yourselves?"

Sam's ghostly double raised an eyebrow, then grinned. "Yeah, I think I can manage that. We'll be right there."

"Just know that if you don't show up, we will hunt you down," Danny threatened, holding a single finger in their direction. "You're not safe just because you look like us."

"Yeah, yeah, we hear you loud and clear," Danny's double replied, waving him off almost casually. "Get going."

They went.

By the time Tucker, Sam, and Danny made it to Sam's greenhouse, the three ghosts had already arrived. True to expectations, Sam's double was checking out the plants. The other two, ghostly Danny and Jazz, seemed to be frowning at each other.

Tucker cleared his throat the moment he stepped inside, ignoring the way his core pulled in his chest. He had very little experience dealing with ghosts while human, and felt distinctly disarmed. If they attacked, he would need precious moments to transform.

But that was if they attacked, which he highly doubted.

"Oh," ghost Danny said, with a tone of heavy understanding. "We're all half-ghosts, then. That makes sense."

"Does it?" Tucker muttered, only halfheartedly venomous. "No, I guess it does. Can we start with introductions?"

Jazz nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face. "There is too much overlap in the names, I think. Should all half-ghosts go by our ghost names, then? Since I assume we all have one?"

The half-ghost version (apparently ?) of Sam turned away from the plant she'd been looking at. "I'm Manes, then. And can I just say that this is a damn impressive greenhouse."

"Thanks," the actual Sam answered with a snort and a pleased smile. "It's a good place to hide away from my parents."

Half-ghost Danny shook his head, the expression on his face somewhere between hurt and cheered. His Sam must be the same about plants, then. "I'm Phantom."

"Specter," half-ghost Jazz chipped in, a thoughtful expression on her face.

Tucker kind of got it. Somehow, they all went with a similar theme on names, yet lacked overlap entirely. "I went with Ghouley, but considering that I'm the only Tucker around, you can just call me Tucker."

"Where is your sense of camaraderie, Tuck?" Phantom asked, grinning impishly. "We're all in this together, aren't we?"

"So it seems," he allowed with a grumble, rolling his eyes. "Am I supposed to shift to my ghost form as well, or are you all gonna shift back to human, or…?"

The other three exchanged brief glances before Manes shrugged, a ring of white light forming around her waist. The light swept away cyan eyes and a green suit, leaving her in a rather generic shirt and skirt combo, the same green and purple he knew from his own Sam, and her usual purple eyes blinking back at him.

Phantom huffed but followed her, letting his own transformation wash away the black jumpsuit and green eyes, replacing them with a white and red shirt and ordinary jeans, sky blue eyes like the Danny right behind Tucker.

With the other two transformed, Specter rolled her eyes but also shifted, her golden eyes turning teal and her purple ponytail coming down to cascade red hair over her shoulders—just like the Jazz Tucker knew, if a little younger.

"So they are all half-ghosts," Danny jibed, gesturing at the three… the three alternate versions of his friends. And Jazz. "That's good to know."

"This was a test?" Phantom asked, raising his own eyebrow and looking eerily like Danny. Tucker was kind of starting to wish he had just shifted back to his ghost form for this. "I guess that that's fair. I don't think I would've trusted it either, if I was in your shoes."

"Okay, not this isn't nice and all," Specter interrupted, sounded not at all sorry for doing so, "but can we please focus on the whole"—she gestured around them—"this thing?"

"She has a point," Sam allowed, stepping further into the greenhouse. "We're still working on the assumption that Phantom somehow did this?"

The boy in question made a face but didn't deny it. "I was just trying to open a portal. I don't know how it went this wrong!"

"Was this your first time opening a portal?" Manes asked, leaning forward with an expression of curiosity on her face. "If so, what made you so certain you could do it?"

"I've seen a future version of myself do it," Phantom explained with a dismissively casual shrug. "I managed at least one of the other powers I saw him do, so I figured portal making wasn't out of the question either."

Tucker felt himself frown at that. He'd seen a future version of himself? Sure, the three of them had run into all sorts of weird ghost stuff, but that? That wasn't something he was familiar with.

It seemed he wasn't the only one, because Manes also frowned. Specter, it seemed, did recognize the events, if vaguely, because she nodded understandingly.

"I've seen something similar," she allowed. "But I never successfully opened a portal, either, despite what I've seen her do."

"Weird." Phantom shook his head, like he was clearing his thoughts. "I don't know why Specter and I saw a future and you two didn't, and I don't know what went wrong with my attempt, either. I figured that if I messed it up it just wouldn't work, not"—he gestured vaguely, much like Specter had before—"not this."

"Must've been some weird Fenton thing," Manes commented, her frown wiped away in favor of a grin. "Come on, there's gotta be something that sets you apart from Specter, if she just couldn't do it and you tore open the fabric of reality to tap into alternate dimensions."

Phantom flapped his hands aggravatedly, and despite the oddness of the situation, Tucker was secretly kind of glad of how easy it was to read him and Manes. Specter was more troublesome—he didn't spend a lot of time around Jazz—but his friends? Piece of cake.

"I don't know, okay?" Phantom snapped, his eyes briefly flickering green. Really aggravated, then. Good to know. "I don't know how I screwed up this badly! I didn't even know it was possible for ghosts to open portals to different realities!"

"And you can't think of anything that might work?" Specter pressed, crossing her arms and frowning at him. "No ghost artifacts or anything?"

That ground Phantom to a halt. "Uh. Hm…" His brow creased as he thought, muttering to himself under his breath, until… "The Reality Gauntlet could've done it, maybe?"

"The what?" Tucker blurted out automatically. That sounded like some kind of superhero comic device, not an actual ghost artifact.

"The Reality Gauntlet?" Phantom repeated, like that alone could explain everything. "Big metal glove, fits four gems? Can alter the fabric of reality?"

Tucker shook his head in negative, and was oddly relieved to see not only Manes but also Specter answer in negative.

"No one else has dealt with it?" Phantom asked, incredulous.

"That must've been it, then," Danny concluded, humming to himself. "The Gauntlet must've done it."

"But that's impossible," Phantom countered, crossing his arms defensively across his chest. "I destroyed it months ago."

"And, assuming the timelines are roughly equal, your core would've been young enough to absorb the energy released from a broken ghost artifact," Sam bit back. "What were you thinking, Phantom?"

"That it was too dangerous to leave hanging around!" Phantom's eyes glowed green once more, but it was quickly repressed, and he continued in a quieter, more morose tone. "Freakshow already used it against my friends and family once. I couldn't leave it hanging around for him—or someone else—to try again."

That… checked out. Tucker might've done the same, if he had been in Phantom's shoes. Danny definitely would've. "Okay, so now what?"

"We ask Clockwork?" Phantom suggested with a loose shrug. "He's usually helpful for this sort of thing."

Clockwork? That was a ghost name if Tucker had ever heard one, but not one he was familiar with. From Manes' expression, neither was she.

He wasn't sure whether it was comforting or not, that his universe and Manes' were so similar when the Fentons' universes were so different. It was like they were somehow significantly different from the Fentons. Was it because Sam and he weren't the kids of ghost hunters? Somehow?

"Clockwork is the ghost of time, though." Specter huffed, rolling her eyes at Phantom. "Besides, we're in a different universe entirely, and it looks like Ghouley doesn't know him. Clockwork probably won't know any of us, never mind care enough to help."

"Why can't we just go and grab the Reality Gauntlet?" Manes asked. "If that's the thing powerful enough to break through the fabric of reality, surely we can just use the one in this universe to make portals back?"

Phantom made a face at that. "I'm not sure where it is. I think Freakshow might've stolen in from the Guys in White, but I'm not 100% sure on that."

Eugh. Yeah, that explained the face. "So that's out too," Tucker concluded, trying not to feel too down about it. At least he wasn't stuck in a different reality altogether. But if there was no way to return the three other half-ghosts home… That was bound to become messy.

"Why can't Phantom just try again?" Sam asked, a tone of genuine curiosity in her voice. "If we're all pretty sure he's the one responsible for the portals in the first place, maybe he can open up portals back, too."

"Using a power he can't control?" Manes returned, but she cocked her head in thought. "But I guess that it's worth a shot."

"We could try doing it together?" Specter suggested, placing a hand on Phantom's shoulder. "We're all half-ghosts, and we're all here for some reason, right? If Phantom's power brought us here, maybe we can combine all our powers to make the portals back?"

Danny huffed out a laugh. "I don't think that that's how ghost powers work, is it?"

The look he got from Specter could only be described as imperial. "Friendship—love—is all we have on our side, it seems. It brought us here, it can damn well bring us back, too."

"That's fair," Danny allowed with a snort.

"I guess we'd better wait until it's dark." Tucker pulled out his phone, grimacing at the time. "Why don't we all call our parents that we're staying here and order in some food?"

Phantom shrugged, then sat down on a stool hanging out in the greenhouse. "Sounds good to me."

"Same," Specter said, following his example. Manes shrugged and nodded her approval as well.

"We could talk a little about the differences between our realities." Danny stepped forward to nudge Phantom. "I, for one, would really like to know why you're wearing white."

"What am I, a goth?" Phantom laughed, shaking his head. "I've got Sam for that."

Oh yeah, they would get through the time well enough, Tucker thought.

"I think it's late enough," Specter muttered, and Tucker jerked out of the drowse he'd fallen into. Rubbing his eyes with one hand, he followed her gaze to outside the greenhouse.

"Looks like it," he agreed with a yawn. "Let's all sneak off to the park, then."

The other half-ghosts—and Danny and Sam—pushed themselves out of their seats as well, getting to their feet slowly. Looked like he wasn't the only one who'd gotten tired while waiting.

Actually, it made perfect sense that all his fellow half-ghosts got as little sleep as he did. Ghost hunting was bad for your sleep rhythm, he knew.

Tucker waved Danny over closer, then pushed a camera into his hand. "Can you film the thing for me?"

Danny snorted but nodded. "Of course, Tuck. Just don't get yourself sucked into an alternate reality, please?"

"I'll try," he promised wryly, then nodded at the other half-ghosts, who had gathered into a sorta-kinda circle around the two of them. "I think the best plan is for all of us to fly there together. Two of us can carry Sam and Danny to sneak them in with us."

Manes shrugged and stepped forward. "I can carry my counterpart, and Phantom can take Danny."

"You're volunteering my services?" Phantom squawked, then shook his head and stepped forward as well. "Sure, whatever. Yeah, I'll carry this universe's version of myself, no problem."

Getting a nod of approval from Danny and Sam, Tucker figured it was all satisfied and shrugged. "If everyone's fine with that. Let's get going, then."

He shifted into his ghost form before he finished the sentence, the other three half-ghosts following his example.

But, man, Tucker really hoped this would work. Having the other three stick around might be helpful in the whole ghost hunting business, but it was weird to see what his friends would look like as ghosts. Or, as half-ghosts at least, since he knew they all looked rather human compared to most other ghosts.

Phantom easily scooped up Danny, despite his earlier protests, and Manes was quick to follow suit and pick up Sam.

Tucker, not quite sure why he was their lead—because this was his universe, maybe?—pushed himself off of the ground, flickering intangible for a moment to exit the greenhouse. He didn't even have to look over his shoulder to make sure the others followed, because he could feel them, faintly, trailing just a little behind him.

Good thing that it was too dark for people to tell who they were carrying, because that would be awkward. If people questioned Ghouley about the other ghosts he could at least sorta-kinda tell the truth and say they were his friends, but if they had seen Sam or Danny with them? That was asking for trouble, for sure.

Before he knew it they had arrived at the park, all of them touching down silently. They must've looked like a fright, their glowing eyes piercing through the dark, but it looked abandoned enough.

Which was exactly what they had counted on, since the park was closed at night, but you never knew.

Sam and Danny were released by Manes and Phantom, trailing away to the edge of the square where they had landed. Making sure they stayed out of the way of whatever was going to happen here.

Good. That made Tucker feel better. If this somehow went catastrophically wrong… at least they would be safe.

Specter reached forward, suddenly, grabbing Phantom's hand and linking their fingers together. Then, with her free hand, she gestured Manes over.

Clearly the other half-ghost caught on quicker than Tucker or Phantom, because she grabbed Specter's free hand and then reached for Tucker. Following their example, he linked his hand with Manes' offered hand, and then grabbed Phantom's, completing the circle.

"This is stupid," the half-ghost in question muttered, glaring venomously at the ground between them. "I'm pretty sure I used my hands to open the first portal."

"Well, what else do you want us to do to offer our strength? Put our hands on your back?" Specter snorted, the smile in her voice undeniable. "Just try it, ghost-boy."

Phantom rolled his eyes, then closed them. Took a deep breath. For a moment, it looked like nothing happened, but then…

Then, Tucker could feel the swell of power in the air. Could feel it waver through Phantom, down their connected hand. Could feel the energy running through his own core, through his hand to Manes.

Could feel the pulses of— of whatever it was going through all of them at once.

And, as a terrible but familiar shredding sort of noise sounded, the energy fled from them all at once. Phantom pulled himself free from Tucker's hold—not that Tucker tried to stop him—and stepped closer to one of the three portals that had opened up.

"I can't believe that worked," Tucker muttered to himself, and he heard Manes snort next to him. Quickly he let go of her hand as well, and watched her step closer to one of the portals as well. A different one than Phantom's.

"I think it did," Specter said thoughtfully, moving towards the third portal. "It… calls to me, almost?"

Manes hummed in agreement. Rather than reply, Phantom just stuck his head through the portal he'd been looking at. Tucker flinched automatically, but Phantom pulled himself back out before he could move closer.

"It looks right," Phantom agreed, cautiously. "It feels right, too. But it's hard to say. From what I've seen, this Amity Park looks just like mine, and I assume so do yours."

"Yeah." Manes shrugged, then. "We'll just have to hope for the best, then. If this didn't work we didn't have any alternative plans anyway, so…"

Specter snorted. "That's true, unfortunately." She took her eyes off of the portal to look at Tucker—and at Sam and Danny, who had crept in closer. "Thanks for the hospitality, and," she turned to shoot looks at Phantom and Manes, "thank all of you for the experience."

"Yes, what she said," Manes agreed, a smile creeping onto her face. "Thank you all for the help as well."

Phantom nodded. "Yeah, uh. Sorry for causing this, probably? And thanks to uh, all of you." He nodded again, this time to Tucker and his friends, then stepped towards his portal. And paused.

"Uh, maybe you two should leave first? I don't want to risk yours closing if I'm gone."

Manes clapped him on the shoulder, then, still smiling, stepped through her portal. The moment she was gone from their sight, the swirling green mass pulled together and disappeared like it had never been there at all.

"Good luck," Specter wished Phantom, and then floated through her portal. Once more, it immediately closed behind her.

Phantom nodded at them. "Seriously. Sorry for the mess, and thanks."

"Just go, dude." Tucker waved, and with a grin, Phantom stepped through the last portal.

He waited for a few moments after the portal had closed. When no new portals popped up, he sighed, letting the exhaustion of the day wash over him. "Man, I really hope that worked out fine."

"They'll be fine," Sam said, then nudged him. "They'll have the help of their friends."

Tucker hummed, then turned to Danny. "You got that, right?"

"Of course I got it," Danny scoffed, shaking his head. "I'd be crazy not to. Yeah, I got it."

Tucker nodded, then turned to look at the empty space again. The place where the other half-ghosts had just been.

"I really hope that nothing else crazy like this happens, because I really don't think I can handle that." He sighed. "And… I hope that they're all okay."

"I'm sure they will be." Danny bumped his other shoulder, taking the opposite side of Sam. "Now come on, let's get some sleep. You need it."

"Wow," Tucker mumbled back, already turning around again. "Hurtful."