Portals

Offered

Danny reloaded. "So apparently the Nomicon lets me talk to my friends. I can't go all the way back, but I'm not completely lost." He hefted the plastic gun. "It's better than forever lost dimension hopper, right?"

"Mostly," Randy agreed. "But you know that there's only so much this thing can do."

"Yeah. I need to find my own way home."

"Get the Sorcerer to open a portal?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"No."

"High Score!" the generic narrator blared as Danny blasted another pixelated ghost out of existence. He rolled his eyes and half-heartedly took aim again.

"I miss doing this in real life."

"I can see that. Wait, there is a haunted house in Norrisville."

Danny jerked, the shot going off into cyberspace. "What?"

"The haunted house on North Boulevard. At least it's supposed to be."

Ghosts. Real ghosts, not ones that could rip away his powers in the blink of an eye. Danny dropped the gun and it hit the machine with a rattle. Greg glared from his spot at the counter, but the half-ghost didn't care. He now held seventy-six of the top hundred high scores on that machine; it was practically his anyway. "And you didn't tell me before?"

"It's... a haunted house. Like the one on every side street in America."

So maybe not a real ghost. But there was a chance and that was plenty for Danny.

"Let's go."

***

It was a haunted house.

Or, like every cliche haunted house ever. Probably abandoned ten years ago, from the state of the gray paint. A crooked sign hung outside the chainlink fence, the yellow "CONDEMNED" flyer peeling off at the corner.

Danny whistled. "You weren't kidding."

"I told you."

Howard drifted up to them, popping a few McDiddles into his mouth. "The haunted house? Really?"

Randy shrugged. "It was his idea."

"Going ghost." Danny Phantom hovered in the air, dive bombing over the fence before turning a portion of it intangible for the other two teens to squeeze through. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"Um, some sign that says we're not supposed to go in," Howard retorted.

Danny let himself float up to the peeling sign. "Happy?"

"I'm not so sure about this, Fenton." Randy clambered over the fence, but stumbled as he landed. "Ugh, it's so much easier to do this with the suit."

"You need your body too. Learned that the hard way a while ago." Danny had waded through the knee-high grass and come out on some broken flagstone. "Let's go."

Danny didn't need intangibility to open the door. It slid open by itself when he touched it. The rusted remnants of the chain holding it closed curled around the threshold, along with crushed cans of McFizz. They weren't the first explorers of the house.

Danny's silver boots hovered inches over the rotted hardwood. He didn't trust it.

"Gah!" The loud crack followed Howard as he entered, the flooring giving way under his feet. Danny whipped back and caught him before he got sucked into the basement, straining as he tried to lift the bigger boy.

"Nope, not doing that." Randy slid over the wood, careful not to put too much weight in one spot. "You see any ghosts, Danny?"

"Nope," the half-ghost grunted, setting Howard down on a sheet-draped sofa. "Maybe rumors are just rumors."

"I told you this was a waste of time," Howard grunted. "This— holy cheese!"

Both heroes turned to see Howard fly upwards by his right ankle, hitting his head on the armrest on the way up. His eyes spun dizzily as he swung near the ceiling, seemingly by nothing. Then a silvery shape appeared behind the teen, materializing into a powerful form with flaming hair.

"Ghost?" Randy asked.

"The ghost," Danny replied, bursts of green smoke curling around his fingers. "Let Howard go, Dan."

"Oh, but then I lose my leverage." Dan jerked Howard again, making him sway above the foyer where they were. A twenty foot drop, headfirst. That could not end well. "Listen Danny, I just want to talk."

"And what, we can't talk if someone I care about isn't in mortal danger?" Danny zipped up to where his older self floated, his eyes locked on Howard. The boy shook. No, Dan shook, then dropped a few inches. When the half-ghost looked up, he could see the chilled silvery sweat that plastered some of the flaming hair to Dan's forehead. The older ghost's face was pinched in, straining just to hold himself and Howard where they were. "What's wrong with you?"

"Plenty, as you very well know." Dan jerked again, and this time Danny took advantage and shot forward, tearing Howard out of his failing grasp. "But that's not what you mean. You're right, Danny." His floating gave out and he went crashing to the floor.

There was a burst of red light, then the Ninja caught Dan and threw him onto another piece of abandoned furniture. As the squeaking of old springs tapered out, Danny glared at Randy.

The Ninja shrugged. "We're the good guys."

Howard started to stir in Danny's arms. The half-ghost slipped down, dropping the orange-haired boy on another chair. "Ugh."

Danny ignored the teen and drifted toward Dan. "What do you want?"

"This dimension is toxic to ghosts," Dan gasped. "I'm dying. My powers are disappearing. And in a matter of time, yours will too."

"Why should I believe you?" Danny snarled.

Dan raised his hand. The fingers flickered in and out of visibility. "I have no reason to lie."

Danny blinked, then fell back a step. "Toxic. But... aren't you working with the Sorcerer?"

"The Sorcerer cannot go free," Dan wheezed. "He's far too powerful and could destroy this dimension and ours with a flick of his wrist. I made an error in contacting him, and a bigger one in helping him make Phankasm."

"That name's still sounds stupid," Danny muttered.

"I know," Dan blurted, "I told him not to call her that, but he wouldn't have any of it. Anyways, as much as I hate to say it, I can't close this Pandora's box by myself. I don't have the strength to control Phankasm anymore, and I can't hold back the Sorcerer. I need your help, both of you."

"We might be able to shut down the Sorcerer for good," Randy muttered.

"I don't like this," Danny bit, "but I think it's our only way back home." The half-ghost pressed one hand tentatively into Dan's and felt the sponginess of Dan's form. He was fading, and fast. "Deal. And you know, Pandora's box isn't all that hard to close. Especially when Pandora's on your side."