Original story idea by me. I do not own Danny Phantom or The Mask.

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Watching the last car's headlights disappear from view, Paulina Sanchez made her way into her house - in awe of the incredible night she had just experienced.

Today was none other than her 16th birthday, and while MTV may not have been on hand to film it, her parents had spared no expense to make it a super sweet one. From the rented Land Rover she made her grand entrance in to the *NSYNC cover band that performed "Happy Birthday" for her, she was made to feel like a true queen, only befitting for the most beautiful girl in Amity Park.

Too bad she had to go back to school on Monday. Sure, everyone who was anyone in the junior class had gotten an invite, along with several seniors and sophomores who had proven their worth. Amongst Paulina's clique, it would be the talk of the town, just as she wanted it.

But going back to school also meant that she would have to deal with the losers - most notably the weird Fenton kid and his creepy Goth girlfriend. Those two had proven to be quite notable in a school filled with awkward kids and weirdos. There had to be something more to them, but Paulina wasn't particularly interested in finding out.

Right now, she needed to do some cleanup - after all the money spent on this magical evening, the least she could offer them was this. Picking up the streamers and banners that lay on the floor, Paulina was quick to get this out of the way. There was a table of gifts to admire and decide what to play with first.

Room finally cleaned to a respectable state, Paulina sat down to take inventory of her wonderful new possessions. The brand new Blackberry was her favorite so far, being that there were maybe 10 juniors lucky enough to have one, the rest stuck on boring flip phones. There was the 24-carat gold earrings shaped like hearts, the silver broach with ruby gemstone in the center cut, the new Mariah Carey album and DVD player - how did a girl like her get so lucky?

Going through her new collection of toys, Paulina noticed a single box that sat unopened. "Funny, I thought for sure I had opened everything." Grabbing it in her hands, she looked closely at the tag - "from a secret admirer".

Now what special gift could this be?

Tearing off the wrapping paper, Paulina lifted the lid to find - a piece of wood. Plain and dull green in color, it was a far cry from the jewels or gizmos she had been expecting to find inside. As happy as she had been a few seconds before, she now felt a little angry - she got her hopes up for a museum piece?

"Whoever you are, secret admirer, you've got some really poor taste."

Setting it back face down in its box, Paulina went back to something she was much more comfortable with - trying out the new dresses and heels in the full-sized mirror. Whether it was pink or orange, black or yellow, her body made any color rock. If only the Land Rover wasn't for show, she would be making her way to downtown Chicago, ready to live it up to her heart's desire.

Little did she know how that chance would come…

About to try on another new dress, Paulina looked back at the creepy mask lying flat in its box, still wondering who exactly would want her to have it. It wasn't any sort of Halloween mask, or mask for a costume party - unless you wanted to go as a particularly ugly monster. Someone probably wanted to play a prank on her, but it certainly wasn't an effective one.

She picked it up, actually taking the time to examine it closer. Despite its beat-up nature, it was quite well made, appearing to have once been painted green and with a shiny silver bar as a nose plate. Turning it over, she noticed the smoothness of the inner surface, looking like it could fit onto any face that put it on.

And then she saw it - a brilliant flash of light across the mask's surface, a dazzling jade green that shone like bright diamonds in Paulina's eyes. Her thoughts quickly turned to the mask and just the mask. There was some great power in this thing, and the only way to find out was to put it on.

She raised it closer - any second now…

The mask made contact with the young Latina's face, and immediately began to writhe and squirm. Snapped out of her trance, Paulina began to feel ungodly sensations around her head. It felt like thousands of snakes were slithering through her hair, the ickiest and slimiest sensation she could imagine. Reaching her hands up, she felt hot rubber where silky hair should be - and as the now-living mask took control, it soon pushed Paulina into a living hell.

The pain was unimaginable - sharp, searing pain that surged through every nerve in her face. She wanted to cry, but the energy that flowed through her nerves made such a task impossible. Paulina could merely whimper as green smoke started to form around her feet - she would be dead in a dress on her birthday.

And yet, the longer it seemed to take, the better she started to feel. New life was being formed in every passing second. If she was the most popular girl in an average Chicago suburb, that was going to change - or so the slowly emerging sultry voice in her head began to say. The supernatural forces still at play began to twist and turn - and feeling newly energized, Paulina went along with them.

A light blue and pink tornado suddenly formed, its first action to slam through the front door and swiftly disappear into the distance. The being inside had a club to get to, after all.

As bright lights grew closer, Chicago was ready for a new star to emerge - and the Windy City was unprepared for what was about to hit.