Author's Note:

A warning in advance…I'm going to slaughter Jack and Maddie. XD I just know it. Adults are always harder to write, especially ones this…strange. They won't be extremely prominent, so don't kill me, kay? =3

As the summary says, this goes a bit further into Danny's accident and his discovering his powers. The chapters may be short, but I just want to write it and get it up. ^^ Kay thanks!

The grand unveiling…apparently wasn't all that grand. As the two cords were dramatically connected, a sudden crackle filled the room with static and the two adults stepped forward eagerly. There was a slight pause and a hushed silence before one large spark jolted from the end of the portal and then fizzled out, leaving the interior dark once more. The silence stretched on a few more seconds before Jack suddenly sighed, letting the cord he still held drop to the floor.

"And there's another one that doesn't work," he muttered, taking a moment to glare at the offending hole in the wall. "I could've sworn I followed the blueprints…" The man pulled a wad of paper out of a pocket, unfolding it and peering closely at the scribbles that covered the surface. His wife simply shook her head, patting his arm consolingly.

"You'll get it to work, dear. At least we finally got the permit to bore a hole into the basement wall. It'll be far easier to work on without all of those land developers around." Jack brightened a bit at this thought, a large grin appearing quite suddenly on his face.

"You're right, of course, Maddie. We'll sit down and look over those polarities later, but for now…" A dramatic pose was leapt into as the man pointed up the stairs. "Let's make some toast!" They charged out of the basement, their daughter trailing behind with a weary shake of her head. Danny turned back to the portal frowning slightly as his two friends came to stand on either side of him.

"Think they'll ever get one of these things to work?" Tucker asked with a small chuckle. "Man, the way your dad was going on about this, I was actually expecting something to happen. Not exactly surprised, to be honest." Sam snorted, eyes rolling.

"Are any of us? No offence to your folks, Danny, but this is like, the fourth 'big project' that's slumped. Why don't they just get normal hobbies?"

"Normal?" Danny snorted, still staring at the portal intently. "These are my parents we're talking about here. Their definition of normal tends to be a bit different from ours." He sighed, finally stepping forward and running one hand along the edge of the machine. "It's odd though…this is the first idea they've had that makes much sense. I mean, if there are ghosts like they keep ranting about, they wouldn't come from here. It'd have to be someplace…different." Silence met these words, and he turned slightly to find both of his friends staring at him, eyebrows raised. "What?" the boy demanded. "Look, I'm exhausted, okay? Lancer piled on the homework this week, I've been lucky to get to bed before one." He gave another sigh, turning away from the portal. "We should probably go back up before something down here explodes." Sam suddenly put out her hand, blocking his path to the stairs.

"Ah, not so fast there Fenton," the girl scolded. "Your parents said I could get a picture of the thing and I plan on it, whether it worked or not." She pushed him back toward the machine, grabbing her camera that lay on a nearby bench. Danny groaned, glancing toward Tucker for some sort of assistance.

"Do you really have to get pictures of everything we pass?" he muttered. "I think I liked your ghost obsession better."

"They're too mainstream," she said promptly. "Ghosts are all popular now, so there's no way I was sticking with that. Now just shut up and get into the portal."

"Wait, excuse me?" Danny stammered, eyes widening considerably. "What brought this sudden homicidal desire on?" The girl rolled her eyes.

"It doesn't even do anything, moron," she told him. "I don't want just a picture of the wall. It's gotta have someone in it, and who better than the son of the inventors?" Danny shook his head frantically, arms crossing over his chest.

"No way I'm going in that thing, Sam. Knowing my parents, it'll blow up if someone touches it. I bet it's at least all…charged up still. I'd rather keep my hair, thank you." The girl sighed, suddenly holding out one arm. Danny looked down at the bundle she was offering him, then back up at her with a raised eyebrow. "Is that a hazmat suit?"

"Sure is. My parents try to make me wear this every time I come over here. Apparently they don't trust the building itself…this thing is fireproof, shockproof and waterproof, though the latter might not be too much of an issue." She stuffed the suit into the boy's hands. "Just pull it on and stop being such a baby." Danny suddenly turned on his other friend, his face a look of desperation.

"Why haven't you said anything?" he demanded. "This is insane, you know that right?" Tucker simply shrugged, backing up a few steps.

"I'm not taking sides here," he told them. "You guys work this out on your own, I'd rather not be caught in the middle." Danny glared at him for a moment before turning back to Sam with some sense of defeat.

"Just the one picture than?" The girl nodded, gesturing at the portal with one hand while the other held her camera at the ready. "You truly are nuts, Sam," he muttered, stepping into the black and white suit. It was a slightly tight fit, considering it hadn't actually been made for him, but the material stretched reasonably well. Flexing one black-gloved hand, Danny glanced back at his friends; Sam was adjusting some setting on the camera and Tucker was now determinedly examining the work bench as if trying his hardest to stay out of the whole ordeal. The boy sighed, stepping into the shadow of the portal, blue eyes widening slightly to compensate for the lack of light. It wasn't really all that exciting; wires ran down the length of the machine, three thick cords going from the back out into the basement to plug into various things. Danny glanced down in an attempt to avoid the cords, one hand going to the left-hand wall for support.

He certainly hadn't noticed the button until then, the feeling of his hand pushing it down being the only thing that really alerted the boy to its presence. There was so little warning; a slight hiss as some of the circuits leapt into work and an intake of breath from Sam some feet away. The flash of light was blinding, white at first before turning a bright green. Though his eyes burned, Danny found he couldn't close them, and no sound seemed to be coming from his screaming mouth. The pain hit a moment later, as blinding as the light had been. It tore through his entire body and even his hair felt like it was burning. His hands clenched, and only the gloves prevented his nails from drawing blood. His face was contorted with the agony, still trying to scream even though his lungs seemed robbed of all air. The boy felt an odd twisting sensation in his chest as if his organs had suddenly decided to participate in a resistance. The entire ordeal must have only lasted a few seconds, though it seemed like an hour. The light finally faded away and the power shut off with what seemed to be a satisfied click. Danny managed to half turn, the entire room swimming in an out of sight. He caught a glimpse of his friends, both with identical looks of terror on their faces before the boy stumbled forward and collapsed, clutching at his sides as a renewed wave of pain rolled up his body.(*) It wasn't nearly as numbing as before, but it robbed him of what little energy remained, and Danny allowed himself to be pulled into the safety of unconsciousness.

And here is where it would fade to a commercial. XD Or something. These may be fairly short, and the entire story won't be all too impressive. I'm just writing it because I want to have some picture of what things were like in this timeframe.

I have been given the privilege of using the artwork that inspired this entire story as kinda an illustration. =3 That little (*) there is where it would go if I could randomly stick it into the text. Copy/paste the link, get rid of the annoying spaces (sorry about that, won't let me post it without them!), view the picture and PRAISE THE ARTIST because they are incredible.

Please review! Getting those alerts in my email is one of the happiest feelings ever. =3

http : / nhaar . deviantart . com/art/The-Birth-of-Phantom-31777946