Sitting in the kitchen, rethinking your life's work was not how they'd planned to spend this evening. Maddie glared down at the blueprints like she could scare them into telling her what went wrong… but then, she sighed. They'd have to examine the portal later, but on paper, it all looked so perfect.
She felt a nudge, and looked over to see Jack. His chin was resting on his hand, and his smile was unusually subdued.
"Well…" He started. "At least it didn't blow up on us, eh Maddie?"
"Hmph. Yes, I triple-checked the calculations this time." She narrowed her eyes at him. "You did use my numbers, didn't you?"
"Of course I did!"
"And you followed the plans exactly? If even one bolt was out of place-"
"Yes, yes, I followed it perfectly! I mean, I'm pretty sure I did." He sighed, and sank lower into his chair. "But now you mention it, I'm almost hoping I screwed something up down there."
She put a hand on his shoulder. "Jack, we'll figure this out. If the Ghost Zone exists, we'll find it."
"Yeah." His smile widened, and he sat up. "Yeah! Hey, chin up, Maddie, don't say if! The Ghost Zone totally exists - I mean, if it doesn't, what have we been doing our whole lives, right? Hah!"
She gave a tight smile - that didn't sound as reassuring as Jack probably meant. Still, when he jumped to his feet and offered a hand, she couldn't help but take it.
"Ja-whoa!" She laughed as she was pulled to her feet. "Where are we going, Jack?"
"To the lab, baby! We're gonna look over every inch of that machine until we find out what we missed!" He opened the fridge. "And we're gonna get some snacks, too! We're not coming out until we've got us a portal to the Ghost Zone!"
Maddie grinned at him… and though she didn't know it at the time, she'd think about this moment a lot in the years to come. It was the last instant before the world - and her family - changed forever.
Just as she opened her mouth to reply, the lights started flickering. A rumble passed through the foundations, and the lights cut out entirely - and then, they heard a scream. It sounded like nothing they'd ever heard before in their lives; an echoing wail of agony, piecing and guttural, and both of them couldn't help but cover their ears. In the darkness, Maddie could see flashes coming from the door to the lab. The scream faded, and the light dimmed to a steady, ghostly green.
"What the heck was that?" Jack grabbed a blaster from the table. "It sounded like a ghost!"
"It came from the lab." Maddie stared at the eerie glow. "Jack, the portal - you don't think…?"
"We don't need to think, we'll find out!" He grabbed the handle. "Right now! Cover me, Maddie, I'm going in!"
Then he flung the door open and raced down the steps. Maddie was right behind him.
"Freeze, you putrid ectoplasmic- oh! It's you guys!"
Jack had his blaster pointed at two teens standing frozen by the portal - the portal! He blinked, and then broke out into a big beaming grin.
"It worked? It worked!" He crashed past them to stand in front of the swirling green glow. "Haha, I knew it! I knew I wasn't a crackpot! Whoo! I guess it just needed a little warming up time, eh Maddie!"
Maddie grinned back at him, but the two kids - they looked at her, and there was a strange, wide-eyed horror in their expressions that put a pit in her stomach. "You're Danny's friends, aren't you?" She frowned. "Where is he?"
Before they could respond, Jack came barrelling over. "Danny's friends, eh? Nice job getting the portal working, ah… Maddie, what were their names again?"
"Danny," One of the kids managed, and pointed with a shaking finger. "Danny, he… i-it was an accident! We didn't think i-it'd turn on!"
"And you were wrooong! Whoo!"
"Jack." Maddie cast a look at him, and followed his finger to the portal. "What do you mean? Where's Danny?"
A groan echoed from the portal. Before her eyes, a glowing white hand reached out of the green, and a figure stumbled into the lab. It stood in front of the portal, swaying, smoking, holding its head, and Maddie gasped as she realised she could see through it.
"A ghost," she breathed. The final proof of their breakthrough - and the danger they'd spent their lives preparing for. She drew a blaster. "Hold it right there!"
"Yeah!" Jack raised his as well. "Not one step closer, punk!"
"Wha- wait!"
Danny's friends blinked, and sprung forwards, raising their hands. Maddie shook her head.
"Get away from that ghost, kids!"
"No! Don't shoot!"
"He's not a ghost, it's- Danny!"
The ghost dropped to its knees and fell face-first onto the tile. Maddie started forwards as the kids ran up to it; they seemed hesitant to touch it at first, but it let out a low groan, and they rolled it onto its front.
"It's trying to play dead!" Jack made his way towards them. "Step away, kids, we'll keep you…"
It was then that the ghost gave off a blinding flash of light; his friends flinched back, and Maddie couldn't help but blink. She squinted at the ghost, and watched it change.
Watched it change… into her son. Danny, bruised and burned, slumped motionless onto the tile, and she dropped her blaster. Wordlessly she rushed past Sam and Tucker and took his head in her hands. She put two fingers to his neck, and then put her ear to his chest.
"That's… that's Danny?" Jack blinked, and then stowed his blaster. "Oh, huh, I thought he was a ghost for a second! Don't worry, kids, Danny's tough, he's a Fenton! We've all been in our fair share of lab accidents over the years - heck, I glowed so much in college people used to call me the human glowstick!" Jack grinned at the two pale kids. "Used to get strung up as the disco ball, but… where was I going with this? Oh, yeah! Don't you two worry, I'm sure Danny's gonna be just fi-"
"Jack. Jack." Maddie grabbed his arm. Her face was ashen. "He's not breathing."
It was like the world came to a stop. For one terrible moment, they all stood there in horrified silence. Jack still had a smile on his face, searching Maddie's for the joke he wasn't getting. She yanked at his sleeve again.
"Get the defibrillator," She said, and he snapped out of it and dashed across the lab. She pointed at the kids. "There's a phone in the kitchen. Call an ambulance, now."
They backed up and ran for the stairs. Jack came back with the defibrillator, and kneeled down at her side. Her hands were shaking; she steeled herself, and reached towards his shirt.
Just as she did, though, Danny stirred, and started to cough. Her and Jack watched with wide eyes as he propped himself up on one elbow and put a hand to his chest; after a moment she grasped his shoulder.
"Danny?"
Sam and Tucker leaned out of the door. "Danny?"
"Y-yeah?" He tried to sit up; Jack pulled him into a hug. "Whoa, hey, Dad! What's going on?"
"You've been in an accident, sweetie. Jack, give him some space." Maddie put a hand on his shoulder, though she wanted desperately to hug him just as tight. "Do you remember what happened?"
"Accident?" Danny looked at his shirt, and cringed at the burn marks. "I was just gonna stand in the portal for some pictures, did I… turn it on?"
"It turned on?" Maddie felt the blood drain from her face. "While you were inside?"
He turned to look at the swirling portal, and flinched back. Sam and Tucker came up behind him.
"Yeah, it did." Tucker put a hand on his shoulder. "Not gonna lie, dude, it did not look good in there. I'm so glad you're alive!"
"Oh my gosh, Danny I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have asked you to go in that stupid portal, I-I didn't…" Sam blinked. "Danny, you're- you're sinking!"
And he was; there was an odd shimmer to his body, and his feet were going into the floor. Sam made a grab for his shirt but her hand didn't touch him - it went through, and they both jumped back.
"What the-" Danny made a grab for the counter, but his hands phased through. "Guys, help! Help!"
"Danny!" Jack blinked, and then drew a glowing wire out of his pocket. "Hold on, son! Seriously, hold on to this!"
Danny grabbed the end and wrapped it around his wrist, and Jack pulled him into the air.
"I gotcha!" Jack grinned at him. "This is a part of one of my new inventions - the Fenton Ghost Fisher!"
"Uh, thanks, Dad." Danny's form stopped shimmering, and he gingerly stepped onto the tile. "Wh-what the heck was that? Ow!"
Tucker poked at him. "Yeah, man, that was weird! It was like you were a ghost for a second."
Ghost. Danny flinched at the word, and looked over at his parents. They both looked strangely shaken, but Maddie mustered a smile and put her arms around Danny.
"Now, now, there's no need to freak Danny out. He's not a ghost." She wrapped him in a hug, and felt a rush of relief at the warmth. "You're not a ghost, sweetie. That was probably… some kind of reaction to the portal. It'll wear off, alright?"
He grimaced, and shook himself out of the hug. "I hope so. That was terrible - I don't want that to happen again."
"You want us to tie you up somewhere, Danno?"
Jack waved the fishing line in his face, and Danny put his hands up.
"Um, thanks, but, pass." He glanced at the portal again, and backed up a bit. "Uh, if it's okay with you guys, I just wanna go upstairs and pretend this never happened."
He started towards the door, and Jack followed him.
"Sounds good to me! Want some pancakes, son?"
"It's, like, nine pm, Dad?"
"Well whenever I get in a lab accident, I always make me some pancakes! Cheers me right up! Trust me, Danny, pancakes are what you need!"
"Well, I am kinda hungry… as long as you don't bring them to life, Dad."
They made their way up the stairs, and Sam and Tucker made to follow before Maddie caught them both by the shoulder.
"Huh?" Sam looked back, and cringed. "Mrs Fenton, uh, I'm really, really sorry for this."
"Yeah, we never thought it'd actually turn on! Danny always goes on at school about how none of your inventions work, we-"
Sam smacked him on the arm, and Maddie cleared her throat.
"It's, it's not that, kids." She lowered her voice. "I, uh, I told you to call an ambulance earlier?"
Tucker blanched. "Oh, shoot, Danny got up so fast we totally forgot! Is that bad? Is he-"
"No, no, he's okay, everything's okay," Maddie said. She took a deep breath, and gave them a smile. "There's nothing to worry about, I just, uh, I wanted to check. You kids go get some pancakes, alright?"
She released them, and they both shot upstairs. As soon as they were out of sight, the smile dropped right off her face. She turned back to look at the portal, and shivered at the ominous green glow.
He was inside when it turned on. Inside. This was more than just an accident - she knew how much power it drew. There was no way her baby boy should be hanging out upstairs right now… he should be dead.
Her mind flashed back to the awful moment when she couldn't feel his heart beating in his chest, and she swallowed, hard.
She walked up to the portal and pressed a button by the frame. Two heavy steel doors slammed shut, and it was dark again in the lab. She stood there for a moment more, then turned, and made her way upstairs.