Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does, as do the copyright holders. I also don't own the legend of Pandora's box, but that has long been public domain so no one really does.

Note: I do believe there's another fic by this title floating around the DP section on ffnet. I assure you, I do not mean to plagiarize this person in any way, nor do I really wish to be unoriginal. The title just fit too perfectly for me to pass up.

Pandora's Box
by misaoshiru

The people around her now might not have believed it, but Maddie started out life as a normal little girl. She didn't even believe in ghosts.

Then, when she was fourteen, the summer before she met Jack Fenton, she found out how wrong she was.

Her father had just gotten a job in Madison, Wisconsin, and he bought a lovely house just a ten-minute drive away with plenty of room for the whole family. It was when they were unpacking the U-haul truck that she saw him, her first ghost. He was kind of short, stocky, and young-looking, and he wore blue overalls and a hat. Needless to say, he wasn't exactly the most intimidating ghost she would see in her life. "I am the Box Ghost!" he said, waving an arm. A box floated out from the truck and came to rest in the air near him. "Beware my box-themed attack of death!"

'He needs to come up with better lines,' she had thought before ducking, the clothing-filled box smashing harmlessly against the house behind her. Maddie's younger sister Alice cried and hid under the truck, their mother rushing to console her. Her other sister, Denise, grabbed the closest non-box item that could be used as a shield, an old wastebasket, and shrunk away from the supposed threat. As for Maddie, she just watched, wide-eyed, as the ghost made the boxes levitate and navigated them out from the truck and into the house. "Why are you helping us?" she asked it.

"Umm…I dunno. Because I'm bored?" he said. "As fun as it would be to haunt you, I'm not really in the mood right now, so, uh, yeah."

"Oh. Thanks, I think."

"No problem. Umm, those all?" he said after the last of the boxes had vanished into the house.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure."

" 'Kay. Well, I'm going to bring cardboard doom to someone else now. Bye."

"Okay. Bye, Box Ghost."

It had been like the Box Ghost had given her Pandora's box from the old legend all those years ago, she reflected. The little supernatural encounter had fascinated her so much that she'd spend hours poring over books about ghosts in the public library. Then, she met Jack, and their collective obsession had skyrocketed. And what had they gotten from it? That one ghost had helped her family to move that one time, and she and Jack had accumulated a lot of junk over the years, much of which didn't even work. That was it. The only other thing it seemed to bring was pain.

'Look at Vlad,' she thought. His college social life had been ruined, and it was their fault. Maybe if the prototype Ghost Portal hadn't blasted his face with goo, he might have found himself a wife and avoided living in such a lonely lifestyle. She was sure he would gladly trade all his wealth for a loving family.

Plus, all the ghost attacks that had occurred in Amity Park lately probably would never have happened if it hadn't been for the Ghost Portal in the Fenton lab. How else would the spooks have escaped? Then there was the recent ghost crisis, the worst in Amity Park history. She knew all of the ghosts had escaped from the Fenton Portal; she had seen it with her own eyes! That attack had sucked the entire town into the Ghost Zone, and it put all of their lives in danger. Fortunately, something happened that had stopped it, though no one was sure quite what except for the few people who were there at the time. Life had gone back to normal since then, but it made her wonder if it was really worth it.

What affected her the most, however, was how it seemed to have alienated Danny from her and his father. Jazz had seemed to come to terms with her parents' weirdness, but Danny…he hardly ever talked to them anymore. Admittedly, it had gotten a little better after the Dalv group incident, but she missed the good old days when they had talked all the time.

Even so…Danny may have avoided them more since the accident, but it looked like it somehow brought him and his friends, Sam and Tucker, even closer together. Even Jazz was helping him out, and as much as the whole thing puzzled her, it also touched her. There was a lot she didn't understand, but she knew something was amiss. They were doing something that involved ghosts. It confused and worried her, but it also showed her just how responsible and grown-up her babies could be. They were the next generation. If she and Jack didn't fight the ghosts, the town would be at risk. If their Ghost Portal was destroyed, the ghosts would find another way out and attack someone else, maybe a city not prepared to deal with the threat. And if they didn't provide an example to the children, who would protect the future?

She remembered, now that she thought about it… The last thing out of Pandora's box in the legend was hope.

End

Author's Notes:

Yeah. I should really stop procrastinating on "Chosen", but I couldn't resist. This was just a random fic that popped into my head when I was helping my friend move last night. XD So…yeah. I hope you liked it. If you did, why not leave me a review and tell me so? ;)