A/N: Hello everyone! This is Specter14, AKA PhantomS14 on deviantart coming to you with a brand new story! :D Well, maybe not brand new, this idea has been written about and drawn several times before.

And yep, the description was correct! I am writing a MerDanny fanfic! Those who know me on DA have maybe seen my art based on the idea already. If not, you can go check it out! If not, that's fine also. I'll also be posting this story on DA so feel free to check it out there as well.

I suppose we'll get started! :) Hope you enjoy this!

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from the show Danny Phantom.

Brrring.

The sound of papers being shoved away filled the room, along with excited chatter. Chairs were noisily pushed in and students quickly filed out of the door into the sea of people in the hallway.

A thin raven-haired boy stopped at his locker, nervously looking over his shoulder before opening it. Several books were hurriedly transferred from the blue compartment to the boy's lavender backpack.

The boy jumped when a hand touched his shoulder, whipping around and holding his hands up in defense.

"Whoa there, it's just me Danny," a black-haired girl said, an amused look on her pale face. Every article of clothing she was wearing had black somewhere on it, even though the temperature was rarely below 70 degrees in the town. Her hair was pulled up into the usual half-ponytail with some left over, hanging down on both sides of her face. Her appearance was topped with purple lipstick and natural lavender eyes.

"Heh, sorry, Sam." The boy, Danny, said, rubbing his neck. "I was expecting Dash by now. He's really been a pain in the butt lately..." Blue eyes darted back to the open locker, and the boy slammed it shut.

The girl rolled her purple eyes. "If he bothers you again, I can show him who's boss. He wouldn't beat up a girl, after all."

"You don't know that." An African-American boy with a red visor and glasses piped in, coming up on the other side of Danny. "Dash is a jerk, and his ego is bigger than ever since all the teachers let him off the hook, just 'cause he's the head of the volleyball team."

Danny shrugged on his backpack, and the three teenagers began their walk to the front of the school. They were alone in the hallways; the rest of the school was already long gone.

A blast of warm, salty air blew into the halls as the trio exited through the front doors. Seagulls could be heard in the distance, as well as the faint sound of crashing waves.

Amity Cove was a small beach-side town in Southern California. It may have seemed like an ordinary place, at a glance. But, for decades, the town had had a certain unique problem.

Merpeople.

Yes, you heard (or technically read) right. Viscous Mermaids and Mermen were rumored to be present in the waters in Amity Cove. Not everyone believed such a thing, of course, but two people did for sure.

Jack and Maddie Fenton were the resident Merhunters. They may have been viewed by the majority of the town as crackpots, but that didn't stop them from studying the little evidence of Merpeople, and designing inventions to fight against them. Recently, they had even designed the Fenton MerPortal, to open up another way to research and better protect their town from future attacks.

The three teenagers: Danny, Sam, and Tucker, wandered down a few blocks to the closest fast-food chain restaurant, the Nasty Burger. It was the usual joint for teens in the town.

They grabbed a booth and ordered an after-school snack. After a few minutes, a trey with a Nasty Tofu Melt, a large Nasty Burger, and order of Nasty Nuggets was brought to their table. Despite the unappetizing names, the restaurant's food actually wasn't bad.

The three munched on their food for a few minutes before continuing their conversation.

"So, Danny," Sam started, "what are your parents working on?"

Danny sighed, rolling his ice-blue eyes. "Who knows? Something crazy and dangerous for fish-people, that's for sure. Jazz and I try to avoid the subject as much as we can."

Danny and his older sister Jazz were Maddie and Jack Fenton's children, which didn't exactly help their reputations at school. Jazz was a straight A-student with high test scores and a love for psychology. On the other side of the spectrum, Danny was a low-B/high-C student, and pretty much average.

"Have they gotten any farther on their 'Fenton Portal'?" Tucker asked curiously.

"Last I heard, it wasn't working right, so I'm pretty sure they've given up on it. For now, at least." The boy said, pausing for a few seconds. "But I can't help feeling bad for them. I know they worked really hard on it, and they were pretty disappointed when it couldn't even turn on without blowing a fuse."

"Well, that's good for the Merpeople, I guess." Sam muttered, glaring at Tucker as he attempted to finish his burger in one bite. She slapped his arm, causing him to choke it onto his trey.

"Eww." Danny said, laughing at the display. "Tucker, please don't ever do that again!"

"I was just eating my burger and Sam-"

"You were disrespecting poor, innocent animals even more than usual," Sam said, feigning horror.

"Meat is delicious, it's your vegetarian junk that gets disrespected!"

The two teenagers glared at each other, before Danny put his hands on their shoulders.

"Alright guys, break it up," The blue-eyed boy intervened; he was used to being a mediator for his two friends.

"Fine, but Tucker started it." Sam stated stubbornly.

"I did not!"

"Tuck, you started it, just get over it." Danny told his friend with an eye roll.

"You always side with her!" Tucker grumbled. "Lovebirds..."

"We are not lovebirds!" The two snapped simultaneously, drawing the attention of the people around them.

The techno-geek smirked at their blushing faces. "Denial is the first sign, you know."

"Shut up Tuck." Danny said, getting up from the booth with his empty trey. "Come on, wanna go to my house and work on homework?"

The Goth girl and techno-geek agreed, and soon the group was on the way to the beach, where the Fentons lived.

The sun was slowly dropping closer to the sea by the time they had arrived. The sky was just starting to darken, and the sun cast a bright spotlight onto the blue-green waves. Sand was kicked up as the group trudged to the large building by the water, held up by strong wooden stilts to protect it from flooding. Sea plants littered the sand around the house, and wind chimes tinkled from the porch.

"Mom, Dad, I'm here with Sam and Tucker." Danny called once they had opened the screen door. The inside of the house was decorated with chestnut furniture, a light blue theme, and lots of windows, showing the seashore in the distance.

"Hi sweetie, how was school?" A woman clad in a blue wetsuit walked into view, her red-tinted swimming goggles resting on her head and shoulder-length brown hair framing her face.

"It was fine." Danny responded with a smile. "We have some homework though."

"That's fine honey. Your dad and I have been trying to fix the Portal, but we just don't know what's wrong." She frowned in thought before looking to the other two teens. "Hello Sam, Tucker. How are you two?"

"We're fine Mrs. Fenton!" Tuck responded cheerfully, before getting elbowed by Sam.

Maddie chuckled. "Okay, I'll be in the dock house if you need me. Jazz is upstairs in her room also."

"Good luck on the Portal Mrs. Fenton!" Sam said before the trio went up the wooden steps.

Danny led the way into one of the rooms. Blue walls were adjourned with posters of planets and rocket ships. A blue and white bed was nestled in the corner, with half-open windows on one side showing the beach and letting in the salty air and the lulling sound of crashing waves.

The boy collapsed on his bed with a sigh, and opened up his backpack. His friends followed suit, and they grudgingly began on their homework.

"Jack, honey, could you pass me the Fenton Wrench?"

"Of course!" The tool transferred from his large hands to the woman's petite ones, and Maddie ducked back into the hole in the floor. The man behind her held onto her feet so she wouldn't fall in.

Jack Fenton sat back, watching his wife curiously as she attempted to repair the portal.

"Alright, let's try it again," the woman muttered, lifting her head out of the Portal and standing up. The couple backed up a few feet, and Jack flipped a few levers on the wall, before slamming a thumb down on a large green button.

The two watched the Portal eagerly as the machine powered up. The sound of rushing water filled the room, as the tunnel through the floor was linked to the ocean below. A faint blue glow bathed the room in watery light.

All of the sudden, a loud buzzing noise made the two Merhunters flinch. Sparks shot up from around the hole, igniting the water and shorting out the dock house's electricity. The room was plunged into darkness.

Maddie sighed in disappointment and brushed the wall with her fingers. Step by step, she made it to the fuse box, and she blindly reset the power.

In just a few seconds, the overhead lights flickered back on.

"Perhaps there's an issue with the design...?" Jack proposed, picking up the MerPortal's blueprints off the desk beside him. His wife came up beside and they scrutinized the paper together, searching for possible mistakes.

"Maybe the fuse protector needs to be replaced?" Maddie questioned.

"It's our only lead right now, so might as well try changing it..." The large man decided, looking down at his watch. "The hardware store's still open, if we hurry we can get it tonight."

With unspoken agreement, the two Merhunters left the dock house, flicking off the lights and bathing the room in shadows. The open portal gave off a soft, peaceful blue glow.

"I wonder what it looks like…" Tucker wondered aloud as the trio walked across the walkway to the laboratory, which floated about a dozen feet from the shore. A long walkway connected it to the cliff-side and kept it anchored to the shore. After a while of his friends begging to see it, Danny had finally given in and brought them to his parents' newest invention.

Once they had opened the door, the boy squinted into the dim room before feeling along the wall for the light switch. Once the trio could see where they were going, they traveled towards the hole in the floor, which was perhaps six feet by six feet and in the shape of an octagon. The two non-Fentons stared at the cool blue light in awe, while Danny rolled his eyes good-naturedly at their excitement.

"Okay, I showed you the portal. Can we get out of here now?" The boy said nervously, "my parents could be back here any minute. Besides, they say it doesn't work anyway."

"Come on, Danny. What if MerPeople actually did exist, on the other side of that portal? Aren't you curious?" Sam asked and peered into the portal curiously. "You gotta check it out!"

"You know what, you're right." Danny said, walking up beside his friend, "Who knows what awesome, super cool things exist on the other side of that portal?"

He excitedly slipped on his white jumpsuit over his clothes. It was complete with black water-tight gloves and boots, as well as a belt with several little pockets for tools. The Fenton's logo, a green fish shape with an F in the middle, was attached onto the suit's front.

"Hang on," the purple-eyed girl said and ripped the green sticker off of his chest. "You can't go walking around with that on your chest."

He shot her a thankful look and took a deep breath. The raven-haired boy stepped forward to the edge of the octagonal hole. Salt water gently lapped at the metal, and the dull blue glow shone onto his face, reflecting somewhat maliciously in his ice blue eyes.

Determinedly, he slid into the small pool, shivering in the cold water. He waded into the middle and grinned up at his friends.

"I told you I could do it!"

Tucker snapped a picture with his PDA and Sam rolled her eyes, smiling down at the black-haired boy.

Danny looked down into the depths below him, below the metal chute he was currently in. The bottom wasn't anywhere close, as far as he could tell.

He shook his head and kicked toward the edge of the portal. The boy reached out for something to pull himself up with; he felt several ridges and what felt like a button.

"What the..." He muttered to himself after he had accidentally pushed the button. Red lights flashed and an alarm blared in the dock house, startling the three teenagers.

"What's happening?!" Sam yelled, looking frantically around.

"I don't know! Danny, what-?" Tucker broke off in shock when he saw the portal.

A toxic green glow bathed the whole room in light, and thousands of bubbles fizzled up through the hole.

Danny was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh my god, Danny!" Sam choked after a minute of confusion and horror. She started to run to the portal. "We-we have to help-"

"Wait Sam!" Tucker yelled over the blaring alarms and held the girl back. "We don't know what's happening, we could all end up being hurt! We need to find out how to shut it off!"

Sam swallowed back a sob and nodded. She felt overwhelming guilt for what had happened... It was her who told Danny to go into the portal in the first place!

She and Tucker hurried to the panel of buttons and levers on the wall.

"Which one turns it off?!"

"I don't know!"

The two broke into frantic conversation as they debated what to do.

Seconds after the button was pushed, Danny felt little ticklish bubbles flying up around his body, and a cold wave of water hit his legs under the surface. With a strangled gasp, he was pulled under the water by a strong whirlpool.

He felt himself going down, down, until the surface looked no bigger than the moon would in the distance. He kicked ferociously, lungs and eyes burning, but he couldn't escape the strong current.

This is it, he thought sullenly. This is how I'll die, in my parent's biggest invention, because of a stupid, reckless decision.

The last oxygen was ripped from his lungs in a cluster of bubbles, and he stared longingly at the surface as his world faded to black.

"Fenton MerPortal now turning off." An automated voice droned over the alarms.

The two panicked teenagers sighed in relief when they finally found the right button to push. As the machine powered down along with the blaring red lights, they rushed toward the portal, which was slowly losing its bright green glow. The water slowly returned to its peaceful lapping state, and a black figure broke the surface, floating stomach-down. Unfamiliar tendrils of white undulated where black hair should have been.

Sam sobbed at the sight, her usual tough demeanor not present in the dire situation. Alongside Tucker, she gently grabbed the still boy's arm and pulled him closer, trying to lift him out of the dreaded hole.

"Alright, on one, two, three-" they heaved up together and managed to get their friend halfway onto the metal platform.

Their hearts seemed to stop when they saw.

With a start, Danny could think again. He blearily blinked his salt-stung eyes open, coughing up salt water that had made its way into his stomach.

He felt a cold surface below him, which made his soaked body shiver. Everything felt sore and heavy, as if his limbs had turned to jello.

"S-Sam, Tuck-" he rasped, finally managing to prop himself halfway up. "Wh-what happened?" He coughed again, flinching when his throat flared from the action.

"D-Danny..." Tucker whispered, his once-chocolate skin now appearing as pale as a ghost's. He raised a shaking finger, pointing at where Danny's legs were.

Or, should have been.

Danny turned his head and adjusted his position to look back. His legs were glittering, and seemed to be stuck together.

He blinked a few times, and his double vision focused.

A black, shimmering tail took the place of his legs. Where his feet should have been, a pure white set of flippers twitched. A long white fin that rose and fell like waves ran down his back all the way from his waist the end of his tail.

Danny stared, experimentally trying to move his legs. His tail rose and fell, causing his flippers to splash into the open portal.

All of the sudden, a strange feeling like ice water ran over the boy, starting at his waist and splitting, traveling up and down his body. He shivered from the odd sensation, and realized that his legs were back.

He blankly looked from the portal to his shocked friends before blackness consumed his vision again.

... Well that was something wasn't it? xD I hope you enjoyed my take on this idea. As for my plan for this story, it should follow the series relatively closely. I will try to include most of the usual ghosts as merpeople, and put a spin on things. Please review to share your thoughts, criticisms, etc with me.

Also, I have another ongoing series, If Vlad Wasn't a Fruitloop, that should be updated in the next few days. It's basically a rewrite of the normal series for if Vlad was a good ghost, and a mentor and father figure to Danny. So yeah, feel free to check that out if you want.

ALSO, I have a recommendation for another MerDanny fic! Treading Water by The Full Catastrophe is a great fanfic that is updated pretty consistently, as in every few months or so. It's written really well and it's a creative take on this idea, so go check it out!

Anyway thanks for reading and see ya next chapter! :)