Chapter 1: The Accident

8 Months Ago…

October 16, 2010 12:37 CST

This was a strange process, no matter how often it happened to him. There was no way he as was ever going to get used to it. To have his sister helping him was one thing, especially considering how disastrous that had turned out, but this was downright madness. He had plenty of help already with his two best friends by his side, and then there was the hot-headed ghost hunter of his ex-girlfriend who, thankfully, had forgiven him and started to help take some of the slack off of him. Logically, he had all the help he needed and could handle so to have anymore would probably just be overkill. He should say something, he knew he should. But he also knew this wouldn't have done him much good. This was definitely the weirdest situation he'd ever gotten himself into in his entire career as a ghost hunter.

"Danny, I think you should say something to them," Jazz said as she stood next to her brother in their basement, both staring in wide-eyed disbelief.

"I know, Jazz, but you know how Mom and Dad get; once they get an idea in their heads, they can't be reasoned with," Danny replied, his eyes still on his eccentric parents who were hard at work on…something.

Danny would be sure to add this to his list of dumbest things he's ever done in his life: allowing his parents to help him fight ghosts. After almost two years fighting ghosts, Danny had finally built up the courage to tell his parents that he was, in fact, Danny Phantom, town hero (or menace, depending on who you talked to). To say that they were shocked was an understatement; there was still a crack in the floor where his father had fainted from the news. Of course, they were more than proud and supportive of him, but he did have to deal with being grounded for a week for lying to them which was an easy trade off to getting blasted or experimented on. Jazz, on the other hand, didn't take it as well that she had to suffer the same fate for also lying to them and continuously trying to cover for his lie.

After that, Danny was able to get a little more breathing room with his parents able to assist him, like when he over slept and got to school late. A simple note or a phone call to the office, and Danny was off the hook. Of course, not everything changed. His family was still overly protective and excitable when it came to him ghost hunting. Not only that, but his parents, his father especially, were always coming up with new gadgets and devices that they were sure would help him, and though he was grateful that they were willing to him, he often found himself exhausted from their energy.

"Um, Mom, Dad?" Danny called as he and his sister slowly moved closer to their parents. "What…um…what is this…thing?"

"Kids, prefect timing!" Jack said with enthusiasm as he lifted the wielder's mask from his face. "Come check out our newest invention guaranteed to help out with the ghost problem!"

"What does it do?" he asked cautiously as he looked at the large circular metallic disk where he could see his mother standing on the opposite side with a large smile on her face that showed her satisfaction. The ring, which had a striking resemblance to the opening of the Fenton Portal in the back of the room, laid vertically like a large hoop between two platforms, one above them and the other below that Maddie had just finished working on. As Danny looked over the device, his mind quickly jumped to the idea of it being some type of containment chamber to house ghosts in, but he didn't see why his parents would go through the trouble of making that when they already had numerous ones currently not in use.

"This device is designed to read the brainwaves housed in the ectoplasmic bodies of ghosts, similar to what a MRI does to the human brain," Maddie said as she walked around the device and stood before her two children. "Much like a normal scanner, it will be able to detect certain types of brainwaves in the ghosts that have been put between the ring right here." Pointing at the device, Maddie began to explain the process. "The Ghost would be placed here, inside of the ring. Once inside, a Ghost Shield will be automatically activated at the first detection of ecto-energy. From there, your father or I would head over to the control panel, activating the ring that will rise and send an electromagnetic pulse through the ghost's body."

"And what exactly does is the pulse supposed to do to the ghosts?" Jazz asked.

"It scans for the any negative energies in the Ghost's form, and repressed it until it is completely nonexistent. Removing malevolence from the ghost and making it benevolent," Maddie concluded with a smile.

"So…you've created a device that's supposed to make bad ghost good?" Danny asked in disbelief.

"That's right, sweetie. The way your father and I see it, we needed a way to help lower the number of attacks in town and to help you so you can get more rest. And what better way than to lower the number of evil ghost that come here because, someone, has shown us that not all ghosts are bad." Maddie smiled down at her son before placing a small kiss on his head, receiving a smile from the young boy.

"Thanks a lot guys. It really does mean a lot to me knowing that you're working so hard to help me," Danny said.

"So what is the name of this wondrous invention?" Jazz asked sarcastically, knowing it was going to be something outrageous.

"I call it the Fenton Flipper!" Jack said proudly as he stuck out his chest.

"Interesting. And what-" Jazz was cut off as a loud siren and a flashing red life as it bathed the room. "Oh great, what now?"

"That's the perimeter breach alarm," Jack said, grabbing an ectobazooka. "Some ecto-scum has invaded Jack Fenton's house, so now it's time for Jack Fenton to paste that ghost all over the wall! Oh, no offense, son."

"None taken, Dad," Danny said, tapping into his core and allowing the white rings to form around his body. As the two energized loops scanned over his body, changing his DNA from human to ghost and leaving him in his jumpsuit, Danny was shocked as a feminine voice echoed through the home and down the stairs to the basement.

"Hello? Anyone here? Why are there alarms blaring!?" the panicky voice said, startling Danny as he finished transforming. Green eyes grew wide as his mind began to process who the person was and why she was here, of all places. Of course he knew why she was here because she was obviously looking for him, and he had always told her that she was more than welcome to come to him for help when she needed it, but it still surprised him that she would make her presence known.

A scream caught his attention before the sound of gun fire filled the air on the upper floors of his home.

"Ah! What the hell! What's with all the lasers and the siren!? What's going on!?"

"The ghost defense systems," Danny mumbled to himself in horror as his imagination began to run wild with the various painful things that could be happening to the young girl. "Danielle!" Danny jumped up and flew straight for the stairs, flying as fast as he could to her rescue.

"Danielle?" Jazz said to herself, the name sounding familiar to her yet she was unable to come up with a face or where she had heard the name so similar to her brother's. She was quickly brought out of her thought as she heard two cries as her brother and a small bundle landed on the floor in front of the stairs. Taking in the white hair, pale skin, tired green eyes and the inverted black and white suit, the realization practically smacked her in the face. "Danielle…his clone! That must be who that girl is! Mom, Dad-"

"Get off my son, ghost!" Jack bellowed, opening fire. Danielle screamed in terror as she pushed off of Danny and flew up into the air to avoid getting hit. As Jack continued to open fire, Maddie ran over to the control panel of the Flipper, preparing to use it.

"Get her into the Flipper, Jack! We can you her as a test subject!"

Danielle didn't like the sound of that she continued to dodge the blast coming from the large man, but was having trouble the more she moved around. "Great. It's not bad enough I'm hungry and tired, but now I'm gonna get shot down and used for experiments by Danny's parents," she groaned.

As the battle continued, Jazz, now standing from her hiding spot, got to her feet, and ran toward her mother, hoping she could put an end to all the madness taking place.

"Mom!" She cried. "You've gotta stop! That's-"

"Not now, Jazz! You're father and I are trying to catch a ghost!"

Danny groaned as he rubbed his head and sat up. As he eyes tried to adjust to the lighting in the room and his mind started paying attention to what was happening around him, he made a mental note that he and Danielle were going to have to stop running into each other like that. A scream caught his attention, and Danny looked on in horror as Danielle fell from the air and landed on the ground with a loud thud, her body smoking from being hit and a small twitch shaking her.

"Ha! Got you, ghosty!" Jack said proudly as he picked her up by her arm and made his way toward the Flipper. Danny could feel his blood run cold as she was placed on the metal disk and a bright green light activated above her. "Ok, Mads, as soon as the shield is up, we'll give the Fenton Flipper a good test run on this evil little spook." Looking over to the control panel, Danny watched as his sister tried to reason with his mother who paid the girl no attention in the slightest. A low hum brought his eyes back to the Flipper as a green shield began to lower from the ceiling over the ring that held Danielle's unconscious form.

"Danielle!" Danny cried, dashing forward past his father who looked at him in confusion. Just as the shield was about to completely lower and trap the young girl, Danny slid in, groaning as his chest rubbed roughly against the metal, and causing him to bump into the unmoving girl. Ignoring his own pain, Danny picked her up and held her so that her head rested in the crook of his arm. Dark circles hung under her eyes, contrasting with her pale skin while her once clean hair now stuck out more than usual with the edges slightly singed and dirty. Her jumpsuit wasn't much better with the various tears and rips in it, exposing her skin in various places, but also reminding him that she was still a growing girl. "Dani…I'm so sorry. If I had known-"

"Danny!" Looking up, Danny caught the terrified look in his sister's eyes as she looked at the two with her hands against the shield. "You've get out of there! Change back!"

"I can't, Jazz. I can't forcibly change Danielle back to normal, and I can't just leave her," he said, as panic began to paint his face. A low humming startled him as the ring around him and Danielle began to hum and activate, a low blue light of electricity coating the inside of the ring. "Oh crap! Mom!" Danny said, watching as his mother frantically tried to turn the machine off.

"Something's wrong! The machine isn't stopping!" She cried as she continued to flip switches and press emergency off buttons, but the machines only seemed to ignore the commands. Jack quickly ran over to his wife and tried to assist her but he too was having virtually no luck.

"I can't get to Danny!" Jazz yelled as she pushed against the shield. "I thought Ghost shields didn't work on humans!?"

"This one is specially designed to prevent ANYONE from getting through until the procedure is over! We put it in as a failsafe to prevent ghost from possessing a person if they got to close! None of us can get to them unless we can turn this thing off!" Maddie cried, almost in hysterics at the thought of her son getting hurt in the tests.

"Jazz!" Danny cried. Turning back to her brother, Jazz watched as he stood, clutching the younger Phantom to him as the ring began to rise and electricity began to fire across the circle. Danny's eye's became frantic as he looked at the bolts of energy that shot out. As the first pulse hit him, he gave a yelp of surprise as he felt his feet go numb for a second before the pain came and the ring began to rise to his ankles. Danny bit his lower lip in an attempt to sustain his cries of pain, but had little time to focus on that as the numbing effect crawled up his legs followed quickly by more pain. As the ring came to his waist, Danny couldn't hold back anymore and screamed out in pain. His screamed were soon followed by the screams of the girl is his arms as the ring crawled over her as well.

Jazz looked on in horror, backing away and covering her mouth as her tears ran down her face. Having never seen anything or experienced anything this painful before in her life, she was speechless as she watched the two convulse and shake in pain. To make matters worse, a loud buzzing sound caught her attention. Looking up, Jazz watched as sparks began to fly from the top of the tube before a small explosion went off. Jazz cover her face as the heat of the sparks began to fall down upon the lab floor.

Jazz didn't know what to do. Looking back to her parents for guidance, Jazz could feel her heart pounding in panic as they too looked at the machine that was, without a doubt, malfunctioning. Danny's cries made her turn back just as the ring was about to rise over his head. As he held his hand out toward her, Jazz felt weak and powerless as he little brother shook with pain.

"Jazz! Help us!" he yelled, green eyes pleading with her. As the ring finally came about their heads, the green of both Phantoms' eyes disappeared as they rolled into the back of their heads and their screams bounced off of the walls of the lab.

"DANNY!" his family yelled in unison before the room was engulfed a bright light as electricity wrapped around the shield, disrupting it and sending out waves green heat, tossing Jazz backwards. Jack quickly braced himself as his daughter slammed into him and he held her, keeping her from getting hurt. As another wave came toward them, Maddie flipped the nearest table that the three used as a barrier to brace against the power. The turned over table shook, but that did nothing to stop Jazz as she looked over the edge and had to cover her eyes as her hair was swept back and a bright light filled the room.

The one thing that would haunt Jazz for the rest of her life would the screams of agonizing pain she heard from the two and the site of the chamber exploding as the small area was engulfed in smoke and fire. Jazz watched as two glowing figured shot off into the direction of the portal, but that was all she had seen before Maddie yanked her daughter down and covered her head as the fire flew over and around their small fort, charring everything around them.

As the fires continued to burn and the smoke emitted from the chamber, a crackling sound filled the room. Maddie turned toward the portal just as the electricity vibrated and sparked erratically and the dimensional opening groaned as a warning blared from the panel next to it. Even from the distance she was at, Maddie could tell that it was a warning sign that they need to move, and fast.

"We've got to get out of here, now!" She yelled.

"But what about Danny!? They fell into the portal!"

"Danny will be fine, Jazz! He knows the Ghost Zone better than any of us, but right now we need to move!"

With one last glance at the green mass of energy, Jazz turned and darted up the stairs, her parents not far behind. As Maddie crossed the threshold, she slammed the metal door close, activating the reinforced lock just before an explosion vibrated, shaking the house in anger under the weight of the powerful energy. As the rumbling came to a stop, the three Fenton's remained quiet, the only sounds coming from their ragged breathing as they tried to focus on what they had just experienced. Jazz walked over to the door, her body shaking before putting her hand on the lock and opening the door. Her eyes widened at the site of their basement, covered in devastation and destruction.

"Danny!" she said before rushing down the stairs. Maddie and Jack quickly followed, but found themselves speechless as they looked around their lab. Maddie looked to their lab table that had been their makeshift shield and was horrified to see it completely destroyed, imagining what would have happened to her family had they stayed even a second longer.

"The portal…" turning her head, Maddie found her daughter on her knees in front of the large hole in the wall that now held the remains of what was once the Fenton Portal, but was now nothing but a devastated pile of metal and wires. Shuffling over, Maddie couldn't believe her eyes as she stared at it, ignoring the sobs of her daughter.

"Danny…he's trapped…in the Ghost Zone…" she mumbled as the realization of what had happened and what Jazz had said before they ran from the room only moments ago fully connected with her mind.

"Maybe there's another way to get him out of there," Jack tried to say comfortingly, but Jazz only shook her head, knowing that the only other portal was Vlad's and if Danny and Danielle went there…

"Mom, what are we gonna do?" Jazz mumbled. "What about Danny?"

"I…I don't know, Jazz…I just…don't know…" she said as the tears came to her eyes as well and she fell to the ground next to her daughter. Covering her face, Maddie let out a loud cry as the pain of her lost son hit her hard. Jazz grabbed onto her mother and cried into her shoulder, something she hadn't done since she was a little girl while Jack made his way over to the two women and held them, his own silent tears mixing with theirs.