Chapter 1: Spectral Consequences
"Gordon Freeman, in the flesh." a voice said.
Gordon heard the voice but saw nothing but complete darkness. Moments after the voice finished speaking, his eyesight came back, and he was once again in the light.
The last thing he remembered was the horrifying eldritch abomination that commanded the Xenian invasion of Earth floating upwards in its chamber, convulsing violently as rays of green and blue lights shot out from it. He had killed this creature. It roared in anguish, for not only could it not bear the physical pain brought upon it, but it knew its fate was sealed. The more it fought, the worse its pain became, until it exploded in a blast of green light. Then, Gordon's world went to black.
But now, Gordon was no longer in that creature's chamber. He was still in Xen, but now standing on some strange platform floating in the middle of nowhere.
However, it wasn't the platform that caught his attention: it was who stood in front of him. It was him. The one who had been watching him on his entire journey through Black Mesa-always near, yet always out of reach. The one who refused to listen to the scientist's calls to abort the experiment that started this whole disaster. The one who Gordon knew was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent lives.
The man in the blue suit, who carried a black briefcase emblazoned with the Black Mesa logo.
"Or rather, in the hazard suit. I took the liberty of relieving you of your weapons, most of them were government property. As for the suit… I think you've earned it."
He spoke in a calm, yet eerie way. He stressed the wrong syllables in words, paused at odd moments, and shifted the pitch of his voice sporadically. It was alien-like. To Gordon, he sounded like someone-or something-who wasn't used to speaking any human language, or was even using lungs.
Not to mention his appearance. Despite looking human from afar, on closer inspection, there were certain features about him that were unusual. He had unnaturally pale skin, dark eye bags, a crooked face, and a tall, slender build. He moved like something barely adjusted to being in a human body.
To Gordon, it was clear. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't human.
Almost as soon as the man finished his sentence, Gordon was teleported. He looked around. This time, he was on Earth. It was night, and he was in a desert, surrounded by a group of dead HECU soldiers, alongside a destroyed tank and downed plane. Assessing the environment, he assumed he was near Black Mesa.
The man spoke again, "The borderworld, Xen, is in our control for the time being, thanks to you. Quite a nasty piece of work you managed over there. I am impressed."
Gordon was once again teleported to a new location, this time, a cluster of floating islands in Xen. In the distance, he could see some alien creatures flying.
The man spoke again, "That's why I'm here, Mr. Freeman. I have recommended your services to my employers, and they have authorized me to offer you a job. They agree with me that you have limitless potential."
Gordon was teleported once more. This time, however, it was some place he actually recognised. The Black Mesa tram. The place where all his days started since he began working at the Black Mesa Research Facility. The only thing different was the tram's surroundings. Instead of Black Mesa, it was in some dark void, with streaks of white lights passing by.
Gordon remembered his tram ride before the incident. He was running late, and was annoyed at how slowly the tram was moving. He remembered seeing his friend, Barney Calhoun, banging on a door trying to get in, to which Gordon got a good laugh. He remembered passing through the labs and offices of Black Mesa, which at that point had gotten a bit boring to sit through every day.
If only Gordon knew what awaited him. Had he known, he would've never gotten on that tram, even if it cost him his job.
To Gordon, the tram was the last time he could ever go back to having a normal life.
The man, who was on the other side of the tram, spoke again, "You've proved yourself a decisive man, so I don't expect you'll have any trouble deciding what to do. If you're interested, just step into the portal and I will take that as a yes. Otherwise… well… I can offer you a battle you have no chance of winning. Rather an anticlimax, after what you've just survived."
The door next to him opened, and a green portal appeared. The man moved aside.
"Time to choose."
Gordon finally realised that this entire time, he seemed to be unable to move a limb, even his breathing seemed to be controlled by some external force. The only thing body part he could move independently were his eyes. But now it felt like a heavy weight had just been lifted from his body, and he could once again move freely.
He walked cautiously up to the man, staring at him, afraid that he would do something. The man stared back at Gordon, but had no hint of fear in his eyes or in his body movements. If anything, the man didn't blink at all.
Gordon turned his attention to the portal. It was similar to the ones he had seen in the Lambda Complex. A bright green orb, with green streaks that almost looked like lightning coming out of its core.
Gordon hesitated. He knew the man in the suit wasn't human, and was unsure of his intentions, or where the portal would take him. He remembered what the eldritch creature said to him in his head while travelling through Xen.
"The truth... you can never know... the truth…"
"Deceive you... will deceive you…"
"You are man... he is not man... for you he waits... for you…"
Gordon stood there, staring at the portal for a few seconds. After a short while, the man spoke up again, surprising Gordon, this time in a much more impatient voice, "It's time to choose."
Gordon knew he had to make a choice, and he was sure that the "battle he had no chance of winning" would certainly lead to his death. So, without any other choice, he walked into the portal.
His vision was very briefly dominated by green, with the loud noise of the teleportation dominating his hearing. But just as quickly as they came, both the colour and the sound ceased, leaving Gordon in complete darkness once more. He was breathing heavily, and his heart was beating so loudly he could hear it. Gordon was confused, disoriented, and afraid, but his beating heart and heavy breathing assured him that he was still alive.
"Wisely done, Mr. Freeman. I will see you up ahead."
"Doctor Freeman…"
Gordon's senses came back to him once more. The man in the suit was calling to him. Gordon felt strange; he knew it had only been a few seconds since he entered the portal, but it somehow felt like an eternity.
He was surrounded by those white streaks of light again, but this time, he wasn't in the tram, instead, he was in the never-ending dark void. A door formed in front of him. It opened to reveal a blinding white light on the other side. Walking out of the door was the man, who walked right up to Gordon, the door closing itself behind him.
Gordon tried to speak but couldn't. Something was preventing him from doing so. He couldn't move a limb either. He was stuck looking at the man, hearing what he had to say.
"Excuse me for this interruption, Mr. Freeman. I know it may seem as if I came on short notice, but these are urgent matters."
"My employers have been… browsing… the multiple connections offered by Xen… and they have found quite an interesting… investment… opportunity."
"That's why I am here, Mr. Freeman. You were originally planned for another assignment, but these are extraordinary times with extraordinary circumstances. It goes without saying that for this assignment, you are the most qualified. We have another, but my employers are… hesitant, about him. He requires further evaluation."
"You can imagine this as a sort of… work vacation… Mr. Freeman, instead of as an assignment. After all, nobody is more deserving of a rest, and we still need your skills to be sharp, before we send you off to your intended assignment."
"So, wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake... up…"
Gordon fell into unconsciousness.
In another world, a certain ghost boy and his friends were battling an annoying threat. A creature that, inexplicably, had an obsession with boxes.
"Haha! You cannot catch me! For I am the Box Ghost!"
"Oh, shut up and stand still already!" the ghost boy said.
The ghost boy was none other than Danny Phantom, saviour of the world and its premier defender against ghosts. He and the Box Ghost were flying in the air, exchanging attacks and witty banter. Following behind them were Danny's friends, Sam and Tucker. Evidently, they were tired of trying to keep up with the two ghosts, but they knew fully well the struggles that came along with protecting the world against ghosts, so they couldn't complain much.
Danny shot a ghost ray towards the Box Ghost, which he dodged. The Box Ghost launched a crate towards Danny, which he dodged. They've been going at it like this for at least the past 5 minutes, neither really making any progress on defeating the other.
"C'mon, Box Ghost! Aren't you tired of just being a nuisance towards everyone? Even the other ghosts are getting annoyed of you!" Danny cried.
"Never! And I am not a nuisance! I am a genuine threat! Did you not see the $50 bounty set on me by the Ghost Zone Police Department!?"
"Yes, I did, and still, nobody takes you seriously."
"Nonsense! Those two ghosts who saw my wanted poster fled in terror after seeing it!"
"Yeah, probably because you're that ugly."
"Silence! You will pay for insulting my handsome and flawless looks!"
The two kept flying. Eventually, Box Ghost saw a warehouse in the distance. "Perfect!" he proclaimed, "There, in my sanctuary, I will squash you!"
"Y'know, it's not a smart idea to yell out your plans," Danny said, "but what would you know about being smart?" he whispered under his breath.
The Box Ghost paid him no heed, instead bolting straight for the warehouse. Danny groaned; he was tired of catching ghosts all day, and the last thing he needed was a marginally more powerful Box Ghost wasting more of his time.
While the two ghosts flew for the warehouse, Sam and Tucker were still trailing behind them.
"*Huff* Man, I'm pretty sure I've burned more calories than I've eaten today!" Tucker whined.
"You think you have it bad? I've been the one lugging around the thermoses all day!" Sam replied.
Tucker couldn't even come up with a witty reply to that, he was far too tired.
*Meanwhile*
Gordon woke up, finding himself lying down face first on a dirty stone floor. He had a hard time getting himself back up. He felt like he'd been knocked out, bringing back terrible memories of when the HECU knocked him out and dumped him into a garbage compactor hoping to kill him.
Once he felt stable enough, he looked around to get his bearings. He appeared to be in a warehouse, packed full of boxes and crates containing various indeterminate goods. Looking up to the windows, it appeared that it was late into the evening. The entire place was lit up only by the lamps on the walls.
Gordon wondered for a moment if he was back at Black Mesa. Looking around, the place showed no signs of destruction or ruin. The floors and walls were clean of blood, and no dead bodies-human or alien-were littered across the floor. He couldn't hear any aircraft, gunfire, yelling, or bombs being dropped. It was dead silent. Not even those damn Headcrabs, which were everywhere at Black Mesa, could be spotted.
As far as Gordon knew, he was far away from Black Mesa. But just how far?
The silence didn't last for long, because soon Gordon could hear what sounded like a struggle outside. The sound was faint, but it was growing louder with every second. Moments later, a figure appeared, coming out of a wall in the warehouse completely out of nowhere, prompting Gordon to hide behind a stack of crates. He examined the thing that had seemingly popped into existence in front of him. It emanated a soft blue glow and levitated several feet from the ground. The strangest part, however, was that it looked almost completely human.
To make things even weirder, the strange figure floating above spoke. It said "You cannot stop me! I am in my home turf! I am most powerful here, what with all these boxes!" Another voice, the source of which he could not see, replied back mockingly "Your 'home turf' seems pretty pathetic!"
The levitating creature raised its arms up, and in what seemed to be pure magic, a box sitting near it began to levitate. Then, the creature waved his hands forward, sending the box flying.
Gordon had seen this sort of behaviour once before, and that was in Xen. He remembered those floating aliens with bulbous heads, who could shoot what he assumed were some sort of energy balls, and who could lift and send barrels flying with the movement of their arms and the focus of their minds.
Gordon put two and two together and concluded that this… thing… that floated before him must be some sort of Xenian creature. After all, what else could it be? A ghost?
Gordon realised quickly that he should probably fight it. Gordon mentally facepalmed for not checking his gear earlier.
He was glad to know that he still had his HEV suit equipped, Long Jump Module included. It still had some power left over from when he fought the eldritch abomination, more than enough to sustain a hit or two. It appeared that he had really earned the suit after all.
His weapons, however, were gone. Gordon quickly realised that he was practically a sitting duck without a weapon, so he began searching the warehouse, hoping to find anything useful.
He kept his head down while searching. Now there were green streams of lights coming from the other direction of the warehouse, which burned whatever surface they touched. Whether it came from the Xen alien, or something else, he had no idea.
Crates and shelves began to crash onto the floor as the ruckus of the battle continued. Gordon kept running, weaving between the crates and shelves, searching for some sort of weapon to defend himself with.
He made it to a far corner in the building. The only thing there was a table, far away from the other boxes. A lamp above illuminated the contents on the table. Gordon went to investigate, and through what he could only assume was divine intervention, he found something, but not just something:
he found a crowbar.
As he picked up the crowbar, his HEV suit sprang to life and spoke,
"Unidentified weapon acquired."
How glad Gordon was to hear that.
The sound of a crate crashing onto the floor and splintering behind him reminded him of what is current objective was. Looking towards the direction of the commotion, he began to look for a way to get on equal footing with the alien.
The boxes in the warehouse were aligned in such a way that he could easily climb them. He made his way up them and, in what he thought was a stroke of luck, found that alien he saw earlier, still levitating in the air. The creature was completely distracted, focused on something else in front of it, unaware of Gordon's existence.
Gordon aligned himself with the alien, readying himself to bring it down. The alien was too far away to reach with a regular jump, but the Long Jump Module took care of that problem. Steadying himself on the crate, he gave himself a small running start and jumped towards the alien.
*Meanwhile*
To say Danny was embarrassed over his current performance would be an understatement. The Box Ghost, the ghost that was the threat equivalent of a housefly, was managing to dodge most of Danny's ghost rays.
Danny's aim was sloppy, and the Box Ghost took it as a sign that he was winning.
"HA! I can see that you're beginning to fear me! You don't even dare try and hit me!"
"Just. Stand. Still!" Danny said frusturated.
Box Ghost, of course, didn't listen. Instead, he launched crate after crate at Danny.
"Haha! You will fear my wrath, after I squash you with the belongings of…" Box Ghost quickly read the tag on the crate he was currently controlling "Dell Conagher of Bee Cave, Texas!"
Box Ghost used his powers to open the contents of the crate, which were random bits of circuitry, metal, tools, and a red toolbox labelled "24". He sent them flying towards Danny, all of which he managed to dodge…
...except for the toolbox, which hit him directly in the face.
Danny let out a loud "Ow!" as he was knocked down to floor. He looked up at the Box Ghost, seriously considering just using his Ghostly Wail to get this annoying and time-wasting battle over with.
Those thoughts were dashed away when something crashed right into the Box Ghost, sending him tumbling downwards.
Danny immediately got back up to see what happened, and what greeted him was nothing short of a surprise.
The Box Ghost was pinned down by a bespectacled man in an orange and black suit, who was repeatedly whacking the ghost with, of all things, a crowbar.
The Box Ghost raised his hands to his face in an attempt to protect himself from the unknown assailant. "Who are you!? Don't you know who I am! I am the Box Ghost! Fear-OW!"
The man didn't listen, or seemed to even show any emotion on his face; instead, he just kept hitting the ever-living spirit… err… ever-living after-spirit? Out of what he assumed was an alien.
Danny stood there, completely dumbfounded. Were it not for his intense feelings of confusion, he would find the situation almost comedic.
Then, Danny heard the doors of the warehouse open. Looking towards them, he saw his friends run in, panting and sweating heavily.
"Dude, *pant* this is too much! *pant* We can barely keep up! *pant*" said Tucker.
"Yeah *pant* we're freaking dying over here! *pant*" said Sam.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry guys, I didn't mean to leave you all out there…" Danny said, scratching the back of his neck, "It's just that-"
"Danny, what's going on over there?"
The other two had finally taken notice of the scene playing out before them. The man in the suit was still whacking the Box Ghost with a crowbar, while the Box Ghost demanded he stop and "fear him".
"Danny, what's going on here?" Sam asked.
"Oh yeah, about that…" Danny said, "I don't know. I was just here fighting the Box Ghost when all of a sudden, that guy jumped out of nowhere, pinned down the Box Ghost, and began hitting him."
"This isn't another one of your superfans who put themselves in harm's way in a stupid attempt to impress you, is it?" asked Tucker while pointing towards the strange man.
"I'm not sure. He hasn't even looked at me or said anything this entire time. Usually when one of my fans tries to impress me, they look and shout at me to make sure I'm watching what they're doing. This guy hasn't even so much as acknowledged me." replied Danny.
The three continued to watch this merciless beating of the Box Ghost, unsure of what to do. Unlike every other one of their fans who attempted to help them in their battles, this guy seemed to actually be able to hold his own pretty well.
Box Ghost, having enough of this torment, went intangible and phased into the ground, to the surprise of Gordon. Just when he thought he had already seen everything, the aliens always managed to shock him with some new power or gimmick.
While Gordon stared at the ground wondering where the alien he was fighting just moments ago went, the Box Ghost phased back up through the ground some distance away behind him. In an unbelievable moment of restraint, the Box Ghost opted to remain silent as he saw his chance for an ambush. He raised his arms, raising a nearby crate, and sent it hurtling towards Gordon. Gordon had just barely turned around when the crate smashed right into him, sending him flying before he crashed into a shelf.
"Minor fracture detected. Automatic medical systems engaged. Morphine administered."
Seeing the orange man get sent flying with a crate snapped the trio out of their confusion and back to reality. Danny, seeing his chance, sent a ghost ray towards the Box Ghost, hitting him with a direct hit. The Box Ghost hit a nearby pillar before falling towards the ground dazed.
"Sam, now!" Danny yelled.
Sam wasted no time after hearing Danny's orders. She unscrewed the Fenton Thermos and aimed it at the Box Ghost. A blue stream of light was released from the unscrewed end, which began to suck up the Box Ghost towards the thermos.
"I will be baaaaaaa-" were the final words the Box Ghost said before being fully sucked inside the thermos. Sam let out a sigh of relief as she screwed it back shut.
"Phew, am I glad he's over with." said Danny, wiping the sweat from his face.
While this was going on, Gordon was completely stunned at what he had just saw. Three human teens stood a small distance away from him, one had hit the alien with some sort of energy beam, and another pointed some sort of weapon at it before it was sucked up and disappeared. Gordon would've thought the thing played out like some science fiction scene, but at this point his ideas of what was "fiction" had been shattered forever.
The three teens looked towards Gordon.
"C'mon, we gotta check if that guy's okay." said Danny before running towards the man, his friends following suit.
"Hey, are you okay?" Danny asked, "Are you hurt?"
Danny got a better look at the man up close. His face was dirty, covered in dirt and grime. He was extremely sweaty and smelled awful. Danny could tell right away that this man had not had a proper shower in a long time.
But his face wasn't the most striking part of his appearance, it was the suit he was wearing. It was sleek, coloured bright orange and black. On closer inspection, he could make out some scratches and dents in the suit. Some sort of damage he presumed. Surrounding the neck was some admittedly comfortable looking cushioning. In the front was a small interface with miscellaneous buttons and some sort of hole for a plug. But the most striking part of the suit was the symbol on the front, which from science class, Danny recognised to be the lambda symbol.
The man simply shook his head.
"He doesn't seem to be hurt…" Danny thought to himself. "He's also not jumping for joy like every other person who interacts with me after being saved. Is he starstruck or something?"
"So, what's your name?" Tucker asked.
The man looked at the teens for a few short moments without saying anything, before speaking up.
"Gordon Freeman." was his answer.
"Well, Gordon, we're glad to see that you're okay, or at least, we think you're okay. We don't need to take you to a hospital, do you?" said Sam.
Gordon shook his head. After all, the HEV suit did in 5 seconds what the doctors could do in 5 hours.
The three teens looked at each other, unsure of what to do next. It wasn't often that somebody didn't ask for a picture or an autograph with them after being saved.
Luckily, the universe forced their hand. They could hear the sounds of the news choppers and reporters outside, no doubt trying to get some info on Team Phantom's latest battle. They would stop at nothing, even resorting to trespassing on private property, if it meant getting some juicy headlines.
Danny groaned. "Great, the paparazzi. C'mon guys, we gotta get out of here." He grabbed his friend's shoulders, before shouting "Stay safe Gordon! Don't get into more fights with ghosts, will ya!?" Then, he disappeared from Gordon's vision.
Gordon was, once again, alone in the warehouse, contemplating what he had just witnessed. The three teens had asked him if he was okay before vanishing into thin air. Sure, the Xen aliens teleported out of nowhere as well, but this was different. While the Xen aliens came in and out with a visible ball of light, those three had just faded into nothingness, as if they never existed…
A few moments later, people came bursting through the doors of the warehouse, carrying microphones and cameras.
They seemed to be looking for something, or someone, checking behind every corner for any sign of whatever they were looking for. Eventually, they spotted Gordon and gathered around him.
"Sir. Did you interact with Danny Phantom and his friends!?"
"Mister, who are you? Are you related to Team Phantom in any way!?"
"Did they tell you anything interesting!?"
"Did Danny and Sam confirm they are still dating or have they broken up!?"
"Did you get an autograph!? I'm buying!"
"What's with the suit!? Are you also a ghost hunter!?"
"Why are you holding a crowbar!?"
"Did Danny use any cool new powers!?"
"What was your experience like with Team Phantom!?"
Gordon was overwhelmed. He had absolutely no clue what any of these reporters were talking about. Not knowing what to say, he just kept shaking his head at the reporters, hoping they'd eventually go away.
After a while of him refusing to talk to the reporters, they began to pack up and leave disappointedly, finally realising that Gordon wouldn't say a word and that Danny Phantom was no longer in the warehouse, slowly trickling out until Gordon was once again the only living soul in the entire place.
He had more questions than answers. Who were those teens? How did they take out that alien? What even was that alien? Were they "Team Phantom"? How did they disappear like that? Why were those reporters so interested? Why were they shouting stuff about ghosts? Is the Xenian invasion still ongoing or has it been stopped? What was the state of Black Mesa, and all his colleagues? Did the news leak about what happened? Did the government face scrutiny for their handling of the incident? What was he here for? Why did the man in the blue suit send him here? Where even was he?
These questions and more raced through Freeman's mind.
Eventually, he cleared his head and began to plan out his next moves. He was obviously here for a reason, he just needed to find it.
Before leaving the warehouse, Gordon took one last look at the inside. The place was now littered with broken crates, shelves, and burn marks.
But something caught his attention. Between the crevices of the crates, he noticed a figure. It was him. He was watching Gordon from a distance, before walking off and disappearing, as he always did.