Chapter 1: Call of the Phantom: Part 1

To many, the Earth is a singularity. It is the only planet with breathable air in the Milky Way Galaxy. It is the only planet to house sustainable life. And, although it was an unknown fact to most, the only place to hold more than one dimension.

Though there were certain dimensions that were known to people, like the Second and Third dimensions, one in particular resided on just the opposite of Earth. Earth, also known as the realm of the living, was a hustle and bustle of constant activity as humans moved about their daily lives. Just opposite of this world lied the realm of the dead, also known as the Ghost Zone, where spirits of the past moved about in the aftermath of their time on Earth.

And it is here, that the story begins.

Deep, in the farthest reaches of the Ghost Zone resided an old clock tower. Surrounded by gears with an ever-swinging pendulum, the ever present vibration of power echoed around it. No one dared to go near the tower for inside resided one of the most powerful ghosts in existence; Clockwork, master of all time.

Clockwork floated up to his viewing screen, waving his glowing hand and bringing an image to life. What he saw did not please him at all.

"The time is approaching soon. I just hope that they are ready," he said, shifting from his elder form to his adult like form. "The world will be in need of protectors now more than ever."

Amity Park. A semi-average city with semi-average people.

The children played, the adults worked, and teenagers caused all types of troubles for those they come across. Even each other.

"Get back here, Fenturd!" a muscular blonde boy yelled, mud covering him from head to toe. His now ruined letterman jacket remained open as he took off at full speed after his prey who laughed uncontrollably as he crashed through the doors to the outside world.

Daniel "Danny" Jackson Fenton ran hard as his lungs burned with both laughter and the need to breathe. His feet pounded hard against the grass, but even as he put all of his strength into it, he knew he'd never be able to outrun the quarterback charging behind him like an angry rhino. But of course, Danny planned for that too.

"Come on, Dash. It's not that bad! It's actually a really good look on you!" Danny called over his shoulder.

"Yeah, well when I get my hands on you, you're gonna be wearing bruises for a month straight!"

Danny couldn't help smiling as he whipped around the corner, hopping onto the box he had placed there earlier. With a large push, Danny jumped up, grabbing for the hanging latter that lead to the roof.

All I gotta do is climb the latter, and dump the tar on top of Dash's big gorilla head. After that, it's gonna rain feathers, and-

Danny's thoughts were cut short as a sharp pain fired up from his stomach. Danny grunted as a force pierced his stomach before being sprawled out on the ground. A pained groan escaped his mouth as he looked to see what it was that had hit him. At first glance, Danny was beyond confused at the site of the football that lay on top of him, but soon, the dots started to connect as a large group of shadows surrounded him. Danny's vision was soon filled with the mocking smirks, smiles and laughs of the popular kids as they towered over him. Especially Dash.

"Ah crud," he mumbled.

"Nice shot, Kwan," Dash said as he cracked his knuckles.

"Not sweat, dude," Kwan said with a smirk as he grabbed Danny by the front of his shirt and lifted him up. "Fenton's nothing but a walking target anyway."

"Never hurts to work on that aim," Valarie said as she stood next to Star and Paulina.

"I'll say. Now, it's time to work on our Boxing skills, and Fentoad here is gonna make a great punching bag," Dash said as he pulled back, preparing to knock Danny into oblivion. Danny quickly closed his eyes, waiting for the impending pain that was going to be inflicted upon his face, head and body, but was instead awarded with the loud blowing of a whistle.

All heads turned around to find a middle-aged man standing behind them. His hair line was receding, and his gut was protruding, but the deep scowl of disapproval he had on his face showed that he meant business. Danny was ready to breathe a sigh of relief; for the first time in his life, he was actually glad to see Mr. Lancer.

"Alright people, break it up. No fighting on school grounds," Mr. Lancer said. The Jocks and Cheerleaders groaned unhappily as Dash shoved Danny, his back meeting a brick wall, before walking away. Danny relaxed for a moment and was preparing to do the same when his teacher cleared his throat, catching his attention. "A word, Mr. Fenton."

I think I might have spoken too soon, he thought bitterly before speaking. "Yes, Mr. Lancer?"

"As I'm sure you could guess, that mud did not mysteriously appear on Mr. Baxter, and considering his very clear anger toward you, I'm sure you had something to do with it."

Definitely spoke too soon. "Actually Mr. Lancer, Dash beats me up whether I did anything to him or not. Last week, he kicked my butt just for being in the same hallway as him, and since he failed that test yesterday, he shoved me in my locker three times this morning."

"Well, as much as I'm sure you believe in your own innocence, I can only go off what I see, Mr. Fenton. That being said, I'm giving you two days detention starting Monday."

"What!?" Danny exclaimed in disbelief. "Mr. Lancer, that's totally unfair! I-"

"Make that a full week's detention. Anything else you'd like to say, Mr. Fenton?" Danny remained silent, though he continued to glare at the man. "Good. Now, you'd better get going and try to enjoy what little bit of weekend you can." With one final look, the teacher turned and took his leave.

Danny sighed as he ran a hand through his messy black hair. Though this was nothing new to him, he was sick of always getting the absolute crap kicked out of him and getting punished for it. But so was the life of a loser. Giving himself a once over, Danny quickly dusted the dirt off the front of his black short sleeve shirt, trying his best to keep it from getting on his long red sleeves underneath.

"Great. Can this day get any worse?"

"Now you should know better than to say that Daniel."

Danny turned to see none other than his best friend, Sam, as she hopped out of a tree and landed on the ground with her hard combat boots. Danny's eyes traveled up her black pants to her purple tank-top and finally to the mocking smirk on her purple glossed lips that seemed to also shine like her purple eyes. Danny rolled his eyes as he walked over to her, trying to ignore the painful flaring of his back.

"Haha, very funny, Samantha," he retorted, using her full name as well, knowing how she hated it as much as he did. "So aside from getting a kick out watching me get my ass handed to me by both Dash and Lancer, what are you doing here?"

"Tucker told me all about your stupid plan to get back at Dash, so I came looking for you to try and talk you out of it. I figured I was too late when I saw Dash trying to kill you in the halls earlier, and figured I'd wait it out around here to see if you actually made it without dying."

"Well, I'm not dead, so that's a good thing," Danny said as they started walking toward the front of the school.

"Not yet anyway. I doubt that Dash is just going to forget about this. Come Monday, if he catches you, we'll be burying you by third period."

"And that's if my mom and dad don't off me first. Only positive thing about that is that if I'm lucky I'll turn into a "ghosts…" and they'll actually pay attention to something other than negative things," Danny said dramatically. It was no secret that he, like everyone else in the town, didn't believe in the existence of ghosts or the Ghost Zone. Unfortunately, his parents were firm believers and spent most of their time researching a way to find it, leading to many unpleasant situations for the Fenton kids.

"They still working on that secret thing?"

"Been at it for three days straight. I'd say it's been kinda peaceful not having to hear them go on about ghosts all day, but the constant noise they've been making in the basement has been keeping us all up and you know how my sisters get when they haven't had enough sleep."

"Jazz turns into an irritable snapping turtle and Danielle swears and breaks things like she just stepped off a navy ship," Tucker joked as he walked up to his two friends. As he came upon them, he held out a backpack that Danny soon realized was his as he saw Tucker's blue one on his back, matching his t-shirt and new Beret.

"Thanks, Tuck," Danny said gratefully as he slung his bag onto his shoulders.

"No problem dude. So, since you're clearly not going to be spending the night in the hospital, how's about we have a movie marathon tonight?"

"Sound good to me. Let's stop off at my place first and see if the coast is clear. If not, then we can split," Danny said as they began the walk to FentonWorks.

As they came upon Danny's home, the all too familiar sign hovered over them, shadowing them in all its glory as it broadcast the location of Amity Park's local ghost hunters. Danny could feel the embarrassment sinking in as he walked up the stairs, though his thoughts were interrupted as he heard what sounded like shouting coming from the other side of the door.

"Oh man. This can't be good," he mumbled before grabbing the doorknob and turning it. Danny was soon greeted by a very familiar site: his older sister and his younger sister arguing over something.

"How do you expect me to get any studying done when all you're going to do is blast all your horrific music and be loud like a little brat!?" Jazz shouted at the younger girl who simply waved her off.

"Why should I care about what a big butt loudmouth nerd like you has to say about anything?" Danielle said, turning her back to the redhead.

Danny sighed as Jazz's face turned almost as red as her hair. Though the three of them were clearly siblings, the similarities were most noticeable between the two youngest Fenton children. In fact, if Danielle were two years older, she and Danny could pass as twins.

Her eyes were the same shade of blue as his just as her hair was the same shade of black, the only significant difference being that hers were long locks that reached the middle of her back when not held in her signature ponytail. Her blue bell bottom jeans puffed out, hiding her sneakers from site, while her white hoodie remained completely zipped up, hiding the red shirt that matched her beanie and the stripes on the sleeves of her jacket.

Jazz could feel the urge to bash her baby sister's head in with her science book growing with every second she stood there. Just as she was about to give into the impulse, Danielle was yanked backwards and away from her sister.

"Now, now. Let's not get a head of ourselves here people. Now just because something was said, doesn't mean it's not true," Jake said, not even trying to hide the fact that he was making fun of Jazz as well, something the girl did not take too kindly to. Jake would soon realize this as he found himself on the receiving end of a textbook to the head. "Ow! What the hell!?"

"You know what!? That's it! I can't take it anymore!" Jazz cried out as she grabbed her bag and stomped toward the door, nearly knocking Danny, Sam and Tucker over on her way. "Danny, change of plans. You've got babysitting duty tonight."

"What!? Oh, come on, Jazz! That's so not fair! We agreed I'd do it during the week, and you got Fridays and weekends! I even take the extra day!"

"I don't care! I'm not staying here and watching these two little brats, so suck it up! I'll be at the library." With a loud slam of the door, Jazz was gone, sure not to return for a few hours at the earliest. Danny growled under his breath as he stared the two kids down.

If there was one thing that bugged Danny more than having to babysit is twelve-year-old little sister, it was having to babysit his twelve-year-old little sister AND her obnoxious friend. Jacob "Jake" Aaron Jemerson, also known "Youngblood" in the local skating community for his daredevil like antics, was a well-known skate punk and one of Danielle's closest friends since she was in kindergarten. Unfortunately, he was also known for having the nasty habit of speaking without thinking, a trait that had gotten him in trouble many of times with multiple members of the Fenton Family.

His dirty blonde bangs hung in his eyes, hiding the green irises that matched most of his everyday attire and standing out against his pale skin. His short-sleeved green shirt was tight on his small frame while his black jeans and sneakers looked bigger and more comfortable. Adjusting the green bands on his wrist, Jake looked upon Danny and his friends in boredom.

"Great. Just great. It's not bad enough that I get the crap kicked out of me every day at school, but now my weekend is ruined!" Danny cried in frustration. Danielle looked upon her older brother, a small amount of guilt quelling up inside of her as well as a bit of fear. Though she knew that her brother would never intentionally hurt her badly, he was a stronger than he looked, and she did not favor his few fits of rage since they were always so extreme given their rarity.

"Look, I'm sorry if Jazz bailing screwed up your plans, but it's not my fault that she wants to dictate everything that goes on around here," she said, crossing her arms. "And I've already told you that I don't need a babysitter. I'm old enough to take care of myself."

"We know, Ellie, that you're old enough. But you know that Mom and Dad don't want to leave you in the house without someone else around while they're in the lab working on something. And you also know that your little skater boyfriend has a bad habit of breaking things when he's here."

"I'm not her boyfriend!" Jake cried out.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Danielle cried out at the same time.

Danny rolled his eyes before turning back to his friends.

"Sorry guys, but it looks like I'm gonna have to cancel. I'm now officially on shrimp watching duty," Danny said.

"Hey!" The two pre-teens cried out in annoyance.

"No problem, dude," Tucker said. "We can do it here. I've got a movie database on my PDA."

"Um, not to be a wet blanket here," Danielle interrupted, "but I suggest we move this party elsewhere since I'm pretty sure I heard Mom and Dad mention something about having finished whatever it is they've been working on."

"Yikes," Danny said with a grimace. "If that's true, then we definitely gotta split before they catch us."

"Well then we can just go to my place," Sam said before glaring down Jake and Danielle. "So long as Bonnie and Clyde over there don't touch anything they're not supposed to, that is."

"You heard her, guys. You got two options: You promise to behave, then you can come with us, or, we can leave you here to the mercy of Mom and Dad."

Danielle and Jake looked at each other, matching expressions on their faces before turning back to the others. "We promise."

"Good, now let's bail. I think I hear Dad coming up the stairs," Danny said, ushering everyone toward the door. Just as they were about to open it, a loud voice echoed off the walls, causing them all to cringe.

"HEY KIDS!" Jack yelled, rushing into the living room just in time to find the five of them standing near the door. "You made it just in time! Come check out what your mom and I did!"

"Um, actually, Dad, we were just about to leave-"Danny started to say, but soon found Jack pushing them all toward the stairs that lead to the lab.

"Nonsense! It'll only take a minute. Besides, it's all about ghosts! How could you not be excited!?"

"Daddy, please…" Danielle groaned in embarrassment. Jack said nothing else as he rushed down the stairs in a giddy frenzy. Danny sighed, motioning for everyone to follow him, knowing it was better to just get it over with. Danielle groaned as she followed her brother into the forbidden area of their home. Not forbidden by their parents, but a self-forbidden area that the three siblings had agreed upon years ago and never went into unless absolutely necessary. And so far, it had never been necessary. Jake quickly stuck his hands in his pockets and followed her with Tucker taking out and tapping away at his PDA in a bored fashion while Sam simply crossed her arms.

The lab looked the same to them all as it ever did. Large, soundproof metal walls, beakers and tubes across every table, papers and prototyped weapons and their blueprints everywhere. To say it was a cluttered mess was an understatement. To say that anyone was surprised was ridiculous. Considering that the two Fenton parents spent almost all their time there, nobody could blame them for being messy, though, Danielle and Danny would have to bite their tongues at the irony of it considering how often they got in trouble for not cleaning their rooms.

Just as they were all beginning to think that this was all a waste of time, everyone's attention landed on the massive hole in the very back wall furthest away from them. The large metal doorway covered the entire wall as the two large doors remained closed. The yellow and black hazard paint across the doors intrigued them as they came to a stop in front of the parents who looked beyond excited.

"Mom, Dad…what is that?" Danny asked.

"I'm glad you asked, son," Jack said. "This is what we like to the Fenton Family Ghost Portal!"

"Ghost Portal?" They all chorused in unison.

"This is a gateway we created that will allow us to cross over into the realm of the Ghosts," Maddie said. "The portal uses ecto-energy to break into the- "

"It's like a big doorway, got it," Sam said. "Sorry, Mrs. Fenton, but I'm pretty sure if you tried explaining it, it would only be a waste of time considering 4 out of the 5 of us have the attention span of gnats."

"Hey!" the four others cried out.

"Right. Anyway, we brought you kids down here because we want you to be a part of the first test run to get portal up and running."

"So, get ready because we're about to break into a whole new dimension!" Jack said enthusiastically. Picking up two sides of a plug, the overly excited man pushed the two ends into each other.

The silence that followed was deafening as everyone watched the doors, waiting for something, anything to happen. After almost a full minute of waiting, Danny and Danielle could feel the overwhelming embarrassment of their parent's dramatics as all their friends held back their laughter. Maddie scratched her head in confusion as she walked over to the console.

"I don't understand; what could have gone wrong?" she said as she looked over the panel. "We checked over everything carefully, and- "

"The off switch, Mom," Danielle said humorlessly as her eyebrow twitched. Maddie gasped before blushing in embarrassment as she looked at the very large switch next to the portal wall that very clearly had the large handle set to "OFF".

"Oh my. That certainly is embarrassing," she said before walking over to it. "Anyway, let's turn it on."

With a strong heave, she flipped the switch. Everyone watched as the doors slid open, shaking the room slightly. A loud whirling sound erupted from the center of the hole before being followed by loud cracks of green electricity. The sparks shot from one point to the other, colliding in a brilliant display of power. Finally, in one brilliant eruption of power, the portal came to life as a large swirling green vortex, spinning as it mesmerized the room's occupants.

"Whoa," Jake said in amazement. "That. Thing. Is. So. COOL!"

"I'll say," Danielle said as she walked up to stand next to her brother. "What do you think it's like on the other-"A deep rumbling interrupted her as the room shook, knocking all of them off their feet. "What the heck's going on!?"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" a loud voice echoed around the room as the portal began to shine brightly. "The time has finally come!"

"What's that!?" Tucker yelled out as he pointed toward the portal. Everyone's eyes fell upon the opening just as a bright pink beam shot out, wrapping around Jack tightly.

"Jack!" Maddie yelled. Getting to her feet, Maddie started to run toward him, but was stopped when a similar rope wrapped around her as well. Slowly, the ropes began to move backwards, dragging them toward the opening. Jack struggled to get free, or at least get to his feet, but his efforts were wasted. Maddie made a grab for a weapon, but only made the rope tighter as she pulled.

"Mom, Dad!" Danny called out as the two started to get dragged toward the portal. "NO!"

"Kids, run! Get away from here as quick as you can!" Jack yelled, his voice echoing as the portal swallowed him up.

"No matter what happens, stay away from here!" Maddie yelled as she was slowly swallowed up into the light. The portal continued to swirl as the rumbling caused the hazard doors to close with an indefinite slam.

"NO!" Danny and Danielle yelled.

To be continued…

And so, the adventure begins. Who do you think is behind the kidnapping of the Fentons? What do you think Danny and the others are going to do?

Also, just to let you all know, I have not discontinued my other stories, I've just been having a bit of writers block. However, in the last few days, the ideas have started flowing again. So much so that I've decided to start working on my Alternate Reality stories. These stories will include crossover/ themed stories, taking the world of Danny Phantom and transforming it.

Some of the themes will be, including this one: Power Rangers, TRON, Various Teen Titans stories, Alternate universes that include dooplegangers, and, one of my favorites as of the moment that will be up this weekend, Digimon!

So sit back, relax, and prepare for some great fun and some great stories. Oh, and while you're at it, you might want to review! ASAP!