Chapter Two
"This doesn't look like a laboratory..." Tucker's voice whined. "Where are the lights?"
Sam felt Danny shove past her, mumbling apologies as her fumbled around looking for some sort of light switch. Finally, his hands brushed the switch and the florescent bulbs above fluttered to life, shedding light on everything within the Fenton's lab.
All the metal and green shone with a spectacular luster that shone bright in Tucker's eyes as he wandered forward excitedly, touching each piece of metal and hardware as if it were a cute little kitten. His gentle hands stroked tenderly at the new devices before him.
Sam gagged, watching his ridiculous love of technology come to life. Tucker was indeed a ladies man, but nothing would ever be more beautiful to him than a new technological invention, that much was certain.
Danny was a little further inside the lab, picking up pieces of trash as he went and making faces at the most disgusting finds.
Moving inside, Sam was instantly drawn to a large, gaping hole in the wall at the very end of the room. It was like a large metal cave and she could tell that at one point it had been very important to the Fenton's.
"Hey!" She called to Danny who looked up from picking up a banana peel off the concrete floor. "What's this?"
She didn't even need to point. Standing in front of it, she felt like a dwarf or even some sort of small bug. It was massive, tall enough for someone of Jack Fenton's stature to enter and wide enough for two of him to walk in side by side. And she didn't even want to begin on how many Jack Fenton's it could hold inside it's massive, steely walls.
"That's the Fenton Ghost Portal." Danny said in mock praise.
Something about this portal bothered Danny, Sam could tell. But, thankfully, she didn't have to ask. He kept talking.
"Mom and Dad built it so that they would have access to the Ghost Zone, what they believe is the home of the ghosts." Danny smiled, obviously thinking of fond memories, but then frowned again and kicked a stray wire dejectedly. There was hurt in Danny's deep blue eyes, Sam could see it.
Sam frowned, looking up at the gigantic opening. A touch of a smile played on her lips and she turned, running back towards the desk Danny had just been cleaning up.
"What are you doing?" Danny raised an eyebrow and watched as she grasped a spare jumpsuit off the chair beside the desk and threw it to Danny. The boy caught it in his hands and looked down at the suit, smiling at the sticker of his father, Jack, that sat on the very front and center of the chest.
"Hold up the suit by the portal, Danny, and smile!" he did what Sam said and turned, about to ask what she was doing when a bright flash blinded him. He tried to look at Sam, but all he could do for that moment was blink the bright colorful dots outs of his eyes.
"Okay-" he stammered, "I showed you the portal. Can we get out of here now?" Danny suddenly looked nervous. "My parents could be back here any minute!"
Tucker walked over, eyes just now taking in the portal. Sam and Danny could almost see his finger's twitch with excitement.
Danny sighed, looking back at the portal. "They say it doesn't work anyway..."
Determinedly, Sam walked over to stand directly in front of the opening to the portal, camera held up as though at any moment she may catch a glimpse of something fantastic.
"Come on, Danny! A ghost zone! Aren't you curious?" She smiled back at him, looking even more excited than before. "You gotta check it out!"
Her smile must've encourage Danny because not a second later, he was stepping up beside her, hands tight on the jumpsuit and blue eyes alight with adventure and hope.
"You know what, you're right! Who knows what kind of awesome, super-cool things exist on the other side of that portal!" Gingerly, Danny stepped into the jumpsuit, a smile on his face. This was definitely the most exciting thing he had done all day, and, ghost zone or not, it was likely to remain the most exciting thing he did for the day. Why not take the step inside? What could really happen?
Flexing his fingers into the black gloves, Danny zipped the suit up to the middle of his neck and stared into the portal, face firm with determination. He was ready! One step in, take a look around, and come back out a hero- or, at the very least, having explored the insides of that cold, empty hole.
Taking a deep breath in, Danny stepped forward-
"Hang on." Sam trotted forward and, reached out, tore the sticker of Jack Fenton off of Danny's chest. "You can't go walking around with that on your chest!"
Danny smiled and nodded, then turned to stare back into the large empty portal. He did look scared, but what was there to be scared of- it was just a dark, empty room basically, and he wasn't a baby anymore so the dark should be no big deal.
Sam took a few steps back and stood next to Tucker who, by now understood what was going on. He was watching Danny with excitement and awe, had it been something more dangerous, the look could have been considered hero-worship.
Taking another deep breath, Danny closed his eyes and took a few steps into the portal. His first instinct was caution, but why would he be cautious? He couldn't do that and look like a dipstick in front of his two best friends!
Upon entering the darkness, an eerie feeling swept over him. Soft blue lights lit the way inside the dark portal so that Danny wouldn't trip, but other than that, it was just a skeleton of a machine. Although, that description in itself was not the most calming Danny could think of, given that the place was a tad bone-chilling.
He walked further in, looking the the right at the coils of wire that wrapped throughout the darkness.
To steady himself, Danny let his left hand reach out and brace against the left side of the portal. Only until he heard a click, did he realize he's pushed something.
'No big deal, Fenton.' he smiled, 'Just a switch, the thing doesn't work-'
His attempts to calm himself were cut short as green light began to build around him, his initial instinct was to turn and run, but he was no where near fast enough.
In an instant, the power of the machine had built and was sending a strong electrical charge throughout the entire portal.
Somewhere beyond, Danny could hear Tucker and Sam call out to him, but as soon as the current reached him, he had no memory of that or even thought of either of his best friends.
All Danny Fenton knew at that moment was pure pain, charging through his entire body like millions of bolts of lightning, lighting him up brighter than the most brilliant Christmas tree. He might even have been bright enough to rival a star, he couldn't tell and he didn't care.
From somewhere, there was intense, horrific screaming. He didn't have any time or energy to decide where the screaming was coming from.
He tried to hold on, tried to think, but there was no way. Every ounce of him was being fried like a chicken and he had no way to stop it. He willed it to stop, wished it would cease!
Suddenly, white began to take over the green surrounding him and everything faded from sight to complete blackness. Sounds slipped away, even the continuous screaming, and the terrible burning smell even fell away to nothingness.
Danny let himself slip into oblivion and even welcomed it gladly.
TBC~
