Shock

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom!

Writer's note: I honestly never expected to write a fic for this show. But, for whatever reason, after watching Phantom Planet the other day and listening to the Stone Sour song, "Say You'll Haunt Me," repeatedly, I started reading some other fics… and the desire came into my head.

Maybe it's because I don't feel like the show satisfactory showed the beginning, or maybe it's because I know what being in shock feels like (and I wouldn't wish it on anyone!) that I wrote this. I don't know. But I hope it's enjoyable, at the least, satisfactory. So please read and enjoy.

Shock (n): the physiological effect produced by the passage of an electric current through the body.

…

The feeling of being gently shaken brought him back into consciousness. He was disoriented and exhausted, and the strange noises he was hearing didn't help. Wait… it wasn't just noise; people where calling to him, telling him to get up.

He blinked a couple times as he began to stir. Where was he? What happened?

He thought for a moment. He had been to school earlier… And afterwards…? Oh, yeah. He had decided to bring his friends to his house to show them his parents' new invention, the ghost portal. His parents had mentioned earlier that it didn't work, even after working on it for so long, but that didn't stop him and his friends from being curious. There was some conversation, and somebody… that's right, it was Sam, had convinced him to examine it. Inside, he touched something and…

He sat bolt upright and gripped himself protectively as he remembered the pain. The machine had come alive and it must have shocked him! No, it was more than that. He had been electrocuted!

He shook his head. People don't survive something like that! But, as he quickly examined himself, everything seemed fine. However, he did notice that something was off about the color of the suit he was wearing. Maybe that was just a result of being shocked… But if that was the extent of the damage, he could live with that. He had gotten lucky!

He sighed in relief (although, it somehow just didn't feel right), and glanced at the offending machine. Instead of just being a useless piece of metal, it was now alive and contained an almost-solid-looking, eerie, green mist that was casting a strange light on the room. Oh great, now it was working. At least his parents would be happy.

"Danny…?" a female's voice nervously called out to him. The voice drew his attention to two people who were kneeling on the floor beside him. He had forgotten that Sam and Tucker were still there. They looked both scared and concerned. That worried him. Were they alright?

"Are… you okay…?" Sam asked as she hesitantly reached out to him. Why was she so scared to touch him? It wasn't like he was going to bite her or anything.

He ran his hand through his hair as he answered. "I-I think so…" He hoped that his voice sounded reassuring. He then thought for a moment. "But I am kinda cold…" he added as he noticed the chill for the first time. How did he miss that? It had somehow managed to seep into his very core. "Did the power go out or something…?"

His friends exchanged a glance before they looked at him again. He didn't like their expressions. They were still scared, but there was disbelief in both their eyes as well. That irritated him. "Look!" he told them angrily as he jumped up. "Look! I'm fine! What's wrong with you?"

It took a moment before either of them responded. "Dude… ah… I think you need to look in a mirror…" Tucker told him hesitantly.

"Huh?" What the heck? What did that have to do with anything? Did his face get burnt? Well, whatever it was, it couldn't be good. He gave his friends a strange look, which caused them to shrink back slightly, before he moved in front of a blank computer screen. It wasn't a mirror, but it would work since there weren't any in the lab.

A stranger with glowing green eyes and pure white hair was staring back at him in the reflection. He stumbled backwards in alarm. Who was that? Had they broken in? He quickly looked around, but other than his friends, there was no one else in the room. Maybe he had just been seeing things again.

To double check, he glanced back at the screen. Again, the stranger was looking back at him, but this time, he noticed something else. This stranger looked somewhat familiar. "It can't be…!" he gasped as a realization hit him. Could it…?

He reached up and touched his face. The stranger did the same. The he reached towards the screen; so did the stranger.

Panic hit him as he stumbled away from the machine. He looked down at himself. The hazmat suit he had been wearing was now black with white, instead of the reverse, which it had originally been. No wonder why it had looked different. There was also a faint white glow emanating from his body. What did that mean? He grabbed at his hair; it really was white!

He glanced over at his friends, who were still looking worried. "Wh-what happen to me…?" he asked them uncertainly.

"The portal just came alive while you were in it!" Tucker exclaimed while waving his arms around. "It must have hurt 'cause you were screaming… but… when you stumbled out and fell, we thought you were dead!"

"D-dead…?" His voice sounded unusually hollow as he repeated the dreaded word.

Tucker nodded. "Dude! You weren't breathing!"

He clutched his hand to his chest, almost unconsciously. He hadn't been breathing? But he was fine…

He felt his eyes widen as he noticed something that something wasn't quite right. There was no movement. He knew that he was somewhat panicky at the moment, so why wasn't there the frantic rise and fall of his chest to go along with it? Scared, he moved his hand to his heart. At first, he felt nothing, but after a moment, he noticed a slow faint beating. It was nowhere near strong enough to be called a heartbeat.

Was Tucker right? Was he really….? No… that couldn't be right. He wouldn't be standing there talking to him if he was... Unless… He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Why, of all times, was he thinking about his parents' crazy theories?

"Danny…?" Sam asked, again, uncertainly. He jumped back in alarm. When did she get so close to him?

"I'm so sorry!" she whispered as she reached out to him. It sounded like she was close to tears. "This is all my fault!" She hesitantly reached out and touched his arm. It almost felt like she was confirming that he was still really there.

He noticed that her hand was really warm. It was almost uncomfortable, but that didn't matter. It sounded like she was close to tears, and more than anything else, that unnerved him. He had to calm her down, for both their sakes. "No, it's not. I could have said no…" While he spoke, he had moved his free hand to touch hers to help comfort her, but it never made contact. His hand went straight through hers!

"Wh-what…?" he stammered as he stumbled away from her in shock. Unsure what happened, he stared at his hand as it began to fade from sight. What was going on? Was this some sort of side effect? Was it going to spread? Was he going to disappear?

Scared, he reached out towards his friends. "Please…!" he whispered, in hopes that they could do something, anything to help. They just backed away from him in fear. More than anything, that was perhaps the most frightening thing.

But before he or they could speak again, a voice boomed down from the upstairs. "WHAT'S GOING ON DOWN THERE!" It was his father's voice, and he sounded angry.

"Danny?" another voice called out, his mother's, as footsteps sounded on the stairs. His parents were coming.

No. No! Why now? He had no idea what was happening, let alone how to explain it. There was no time to hide, and the only exit was the stairs. What was he going to do? He couldn't let them see him!

He glanced around frantically for something that could help him out of his situation. There was nothing, and his parents were almost at the bottom of the steps. Mere seconds stood between him and their arrival. In a pitiful last ditch effort, he threw up his arms and closed his eyes in hopes that maybe they could shield him from them.

"Alright young man, you know you're not allowed to bring unauthorized personal down here!" his dad boomed from nearby moments after a strange flash pierced his eyelids.

He jumped. "S-sorry!" he stammered as he opened his eyes, hoping that his dad hadn't gotten a good chance to look at him yet. He was going to risk looking at him, when something caught his attention. Both of his hands were in front of him, and there was no trace of the hazmat suit. Where did it go? And how'd he get back into his street clothes? Had he just imagined everything? "Huh…?"

"Sweetie…? Are you alright?" his mom asked as she moved closer to him, causing him to back away. "Why are you so nervous? Did something happen…?"

What could he say? Did anything actually happen? "Th-the portal…" he stammered as he shook his head.

"Huh? What about it?" His mother looked so worried. It was weird to see her motherly side come out so easily.

"GREAT GOBS OF GHOST GOO!" his dad shouted suddenly, startling everyone. Everyone turned to see him excitedly pointing at something. "It's working! Maddie! The Ghost Portal's working! I knew it would! Look!"

"It must have suddenly turned on…" His mother then turned to him and his friends. "No wonder why you're frightened. Just go upstairs, and we'll talk later. Just try to calm down for now." She then turned and joined her husband in his euphoria about the working portal.

He carefully glanced at his friends, who nodded. The three quickly climbed the stairs and headed for his room.

As they moved, he again placed his hand on his chest. His heart was racing, and his breathing was fast and labored. He took that as a good sign. Everything was working properly.

He had probably gone into shock after the portal had zapped him. Yeah, that was it, shock.