Cross Collision

Danny Phantom/Sonic the Hedgehog crossover fan fiction

Part 1: Ghosts and Portals

A series of numbers and words played out across the screen of a powerful computer as the typist input more calculations and figures into it.

"Let's see... Those calculations should be correct."

"That's correct, Vladdiekins. Chance of success is ninety one point three percent."

The holographic woman flipped the sheet of paper over her virtual clip board, and smiled alluringly at the typist, but was ignored as he studied the figures on the screen. He put a hand to his white beard and scowled at the screen as he contemplated the odds.

"Only ninety one point three? Hmm. Well, I suppose we should get someone to test it then."

"That is the recommended suggestion, a lower ghost, such as the Box Ghost, would be a suitable candidate."

Vlad Masters gave an irritated growl in his throat, turning away from the computer he had been focused on and moving over towards another one. He glanced at the long panel of keypads and screens now in front of him as the hologram appeared from the projectors at the end. A large, white cat was sprawled across the top of the machine, but the dark suited man ignored it as the hologram of the woman he loved waited for him to speak again.

"The Box Ghost is an incompetent moron. He would probably find some way to mess this up." He frowned and put his hands to the new keyboard, typing away at it in an attempt to correct the numbers. They didn't change for him. "What are the chances of failure, Maddie?" He crooned to the hologram.

"While there is a ninety one point three percent success rate, this still leaves an eight point seven failure rate. On top of this, there is a fifty percent chance that it will catastrophically fail, potentially with an explosion that could wipe out half of Amity Park, regardless of the initial result, darling." came the programmed affectionate reply.

Vlad looked through his hologram at the large, hexagonal doorway built into one wall, then put his attention back onto his screen. The diagrams and numbers shifted with each key press, displaying different outcomes for the experiment. A small smirk played out across his face.

"Well then... We'll just have to get another lesser ghost to try it out..."

"I can't believe how much homework they gave us this weekend, it's crazy!"

Sneakers and boots trod along the pavement as the three friends made their way home from school for the weekend. They smiled at each other and shook their heads simultaneously, sympathising over the workload. The girl in the group, dressed in black despite the sunshine, shrugged at the boy who had complained.

"Hey, who knows, maybe the ghosts will give you a break?"

"As if that'll happen."

"Don't worry Danny, if any attack, we're all in it together, right?"

"Heh, good point Sam."

"Aww but there's an epic battle going on in Doomed tomorrow!" the third teen wasn't paying much attention to the homework complaining, instead he was tapping at the buttons of a PDA, "if we get attacked again we're not going to be able to take part!"

"Really?" Danny's jaw dropped. "Oh man, never mind the ghosts, Dad'll never let me play if I don't get my homework done!"

"Bummer."

Sam smiled playfully. "Well then, you'd best get straight to work on it when you get back!"

"Are you kidding?" Danny raised an eyebrow sceptically at the goth. "Dad'll probably leap on me with some new invention of his and I'll never get away!"

"Then we'll come with you, and when your dad starts talking, we can distract him so you can get to your room."

"We will?" Tucker yelped as Sam rammed an elbow into his stomach. "Ow! Uh- I mean, yeah! Of course we will!"

Danny pointed a finger at them. "I'll hold you to that!" He said, smirking.

A bird's shadow passed over them as they walked onwards, laughing at each other. The bird fluttered to land atop a building, accompanying two more of its kind, as they watched the children below. Danny stopped, looking around, and they jumped in unison from the rooftop, diving towards the trio.

"Oh no..." Danny gasped, wisps of cold air passing between his teeth. He hissed at his friends, seeing the large, otherworldly green vultures swooping down towards them. "Move it guys!"

One of the ghostly birds collided with him as he turned to chase after his friends, winding him as the large talons scratched against his back, knocking him to the ground with a grunt. Sam and Tucker swiped at the other two vultures with their backpacks, knocking them into the one pinning Danny down. While it didn't release the teen, its claws released him from their grip slightly, and gave him a chance to push himself up with his forearms. The vulture regained his balance, however, and pushed the dark haired boy back to the ground, tapping at his head with his beak.

"You'll stay put if you know what's good for you!" the vulture grumbled at his captive, while his brothers circled Danny's friends. "You're coming with us, boyo."

"Aww come on now you guys!" Danny chuckled, his voice muffled slightly due to his face being squashed against the pavement. "You should know me by now! I don't go anywhere-" bright rings of white energy appeared at his midriff, and split apart, simultaneously moving up his torso and down his legs. "-without-" as the rings shifted across his body, the clothing altered from his white and red t-shirt and jeans, to a black and white jumpsuit. "-a fight!"

The rings passed his feet, leaving white boots in place of red trainers, and his head, shifting jet black hair into snow white. The vulture bristled at the change, knowing what was coming next, even before Danny phased into the floor below him, leaving the ghost to claw at concrete. His brothers spotted the missing teen, and started to fly over to him, when a white gloved fist connected with the elderly bird's beak from below, launching him into the air as a fast moving human ghost followed swiftly behind it.

Danny folded his arms, looking distinctly fed up as he floated just above the ground. He watched the ghosts group up again, while the one he'd punched was rubbing his beak with a wing. Sam and Tucker watched them from nearby, having backed off slightly once the birds had stopped circling them. Tucker was digging in his bag for something, while Sam observed the vultures as they stared Danny down.

"Sam, I think I left the Thermos in my locker!"

"Never mind that right now. Aren't those Vlad's cronies?"

"Hey! Who are you calling a crow?" One of the birds turned his head to glower at her, and she raised her hands defensively in response, smirking.

"Yeah, what gives?" Danny spoke up, and the bird turned his attention back to him. "Vlad still hasn't given up yet? Even though I... or rather, my dad... completely wiped the floor with him last time? What's he up to?"

"He didn't tell us any plan, just that we had to come get you." the vulture who'd pinned him down spoke, and Danny rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, so are you gonna come quietly or are we going to have to drag you?"

"Can you just go back to the fruit loop and tell him his plan won't work? I have a lot of homework to do and you're kind of in my way."

The birds just stared at him, frowning. Danny sighed, a small puff of frosted air escaping his mouth as he did so. He shrugged his shoulders as he shook his head.

"Oh fine. Can we just make this quick? I have a schedule to keep."

"Danny, I don't think that's such a good idea!" Sam chided, eyes shifting to the birds. Something wasn't right about the whole situation.

"Come on Sam, he's beaten these things before, and look at them! I mean, there's not much a bunch of old pigeons can do to him, right Danny?" Tucker looked towards his friend, who was charging a bright aura of green energy around his hand.

"Right Tuck! You worry too much, Sam." Danny blasted the energy in the form of a beam, knocking one of the birds out of the air as he continued to speak. "I can take these losers out easily, then we can go home, get these stupid projects out of the way..." he turned to face them, raising his hands in front of his face as if he was holding an invisible video game controller and bashing the buttons on it, "... and play games until our eyes mel- AARGH!"

Danny yelled as he found himself slammed into a nearby wall; one of the vultures had charged at him again as he'd let his guard down, and now his claws were piercing through the ghost's clothing, effectively nailing him to the brickwork. The bird holding him there smirked, his crooked beak inches from Danny's face.

"So, you wanted a duel, right?"

"Dude, I don't! I thought I already said that!"

Danny shifted the energy in his body and slid backwards into the wall, leaving the bird clawing at brickwork. The vulture, not to be outdone, phased his own head into the wall, but couldn't see any sign of the ghost boy. His brothers flew up behind him, and as he pulled his head back out of the wall they huffed impatiently.

"Come on, come on, we haven't got all day!" The one with glasses squawked. His brother pulled his claws from the wall and looked around, confused.

"That boy is slippery, but we'll get him."

"Uh, no, you won't." came Danny's echoing response, and the birds found their heads cracked together by the arms poking out of the wall. The vultures fell to the floor below, and the half-ghost stuck his head back out of the solid surface, looking down at them with a confused smile. "Heh, Vlad can't want me that much if he only sent you three..." the third bird hit the ground next to his brothers as he zapped it with an energy beam "... so how about you all go home, before you hurt yourselves?"

One of the birds groaned, looking up at him as he leaned on the wall like he would on a desk. "Okay, yeah, that might be a good idea."

"Yeah, it is. So whatcha gonna do?"

"Danny! Look out!" Sam and Tucker cried in unison from below, as they saw the newcomers flying in from above.

"Wha-? WHOA!"

Danny didn't have a chance to turn his head, as ectoplasmic tentacles wrapped around his shoulders and yanked him free from the wall. The tentacles wrapped around him, stopping him from slipping out of their grasp or raising his hands to fire at the two octopus ghosts that had grabbed him. He grinned nervously as they lifted him higher, before spinning until he was dizzy and launching him towards the ground.

"Danny!"

Sam and Tucker watched the split second moment as their friend fell yelling towards the ground in a black and white blur. He hit the pavement with a thud and a small could of debris bounced up into the air as he yelped. The teens ran over towards where Danny lay, in a shallow impact crater. He was already sitting up when they got there, rubbing his forehead.

"Idiot, why didn't you go intangible?" He grumbled to himself, looking rather offended as his friends came over to him.

"Are you alright Danny?"

"Ugh, yeah. I've taken bigger hits but wow, sneaking up on a guy isn't fair!" he floated to his feet and dusted his jumpsuit off. "Hey, bird brains! You didn't tell me those guys were here too!" Danny pointed at the ectopusses as they floated behind the vultures, hissing.

"You didn't ask." One of the birds replied, matter-of-factly.

"I've beaten better ghosts than you and the ectopusses before, can you just leave me alone before I have to hurt you?"

"You're just sore because we have the upper hand."

"You caught me off guard, that's all."

"Danny, come on, these idiots aren't worth it. Just ignore them." Sam urged, scowling at the ghosts overhead. "Maybe they'll get bored and leave."

"Or," Tucker chimed in, "he could totally kick their butts!"

"Hmm... Good idea Sam..." Danny stood up straight, looking up at the ghosts, before a smirk played across his face and his hands started to glow green. "... But I like Tucker's better!"

He jumped back up into the air, firing the beams at the ghosts as he did so, splitting the group apart. They regrouped quickly and the vultures dived at him in unison, while the ectopusses floated at a safe distance. Danny couldn't say he minded too much, it meant less ghosts attacking him at once. He charged his beams, but the birds broke away from each other, splitting up to surround him. Danny blinked, wondering what they were up to, but as he aimed the ghost rays at one, all three started flying towards him like feathered green missiles. He altered the path of the energy, and instead of it forming a beam, he created a spherical shield out of it instead.

The vultures crashed into it as it formed in front of them, and were knocked backwards by the impact. Danny shut his eyes as they charged it again, and again, and again, each blow taking a little more energy away. He was concentrating so hard on maintaining his shield, he didn't notice the ectopusses until they crashed into the guard from above and below. The defence being weaker there, as it wasn't where the vultures were attacking, they broke through it, and Danny yelled out as the birds hit him at the same time as the larger, heavier, octopi. He gasped for air as they backed away again, only to be hit in the chest by a bright purple beam of energy through the new opening.

He yelled out as he was blasted out from the midst of the ghosts, falling from the air and landing with a crash in a nearby dumpster. Sam and Tucker called for their friend in concern, and ran over to him. The assailant floated in mid-air with his arms folded, glaring in the direction of his minions.

"I give you idiots one simple task," he growled, "and you are taking far too long!"

"Hey, we're trying!" One of the vultures retorted, obviously irritated. They'd just broken the ghost boy's shield after all, and that took effort.

"Hmph." The newcomer scowled, then looked down to the teens running past below. "Oh no you don't."

In a flash, Sam and Tucker found themselves staring down two copies of Vlad Plasmius, the ghost who had just joined the fray. They were blocked from reaching Danny, so they started to back away again.

"Ah... Um... I think we'd better go..." Tucker said anxiously.

"Yeah... lots of homework to do, you know how it is..." Sam agreed. If there was one ghost they didn't want to deal with, it was Plasmius.

"I'm afraid you two aren't going anywhere, you're my little guests." The copies said, as the original flew towards Danny's landing spot.

Danny cried out as he was hauled into the air by his wrist, hanging slightly awkwardly as his powers kicked in to keep his own weight from damaging his arm. He was feeling slightly dizzy, but that didn't stop him from glaring at the grin of the older ghost that held him.

"Go away Vlad. I'm not kidding, I really don't have time to play with you."

"Really. Well I have a far more exciting game planned than this one." Vlad smiled wickedly.

"Not interested." Danny reached up with his free hand to try prying Vlad's from his wrist, before a shock of energy raced through his body. "Arrrrrrrrrrrrghhhh!" he screamed, going rigid as Vlad virtually electrocuted him with his powers.

"Whoever said you had a choice?"

Danny winced, trying to resist the coursing energy as he heard his friends calling for help nearby. He hissed through his teeth at Vlad, who simply raised an eyebrow in response. "Can. You. Stop. That. Already?"

"Not until you've learned your lesson, my boy..." Vlad lifted his arm up, pulling Danny up to face level, and glared straight into the otherworldly green eyes. "I am still far more powerful..." he spun, and released his grip on the teen, sending him crashing straight into a wall, smoking from the energy attack. "... than you!"

Danny drooped limply as he fell from the wall, the rings that signalled his transformation shifting across him, turning him back into a human as he hit the floor in a daze. His friends shouted at him, urging him to get up, until he cracked his blue eyes open and groaned, rubbing his head.

"Ugh... lucky throw..." he grumbled, before making a choking sound as Vlad pinned his neck to the ground with a boot. He gasped and grabbed at it, trying to lift it off.

"My boy, you may wish to reconsider fighting me. I would prefer not to hurt you more than necessary."

"... what?" Danny gasped, trying to keep his air going.

"Are you deaf?" Vlad reached down and grabbed Danny's wrist again, lifting him back into the air. The teenager looked particularly unimpressed by the attack on his arm again. "Now, you're going to come with me. And just so they don't tattle, your friends are coming too."

"Yeah, whatever. You can put me down now."

"If I did that, you'd only run away..." Vlad looked like he was thinking it over, but shook his head, "... so no."

The teenagers screamed as they were zapped in unison, Vlad's clones each attacking the child they had captured, while Vlad himself handled Danny. The boy, being half ghost, could take far more energy than his friends, but they were all knocked out by the attack, and they fell limp in his grasp. The ectopusses grabbed Sam and Tucker as Vlad made his copies vanish.

"That's enough fun and games." Vlad said, baring a fanged smile at his octopus minions. "Let's take our guests back to my lab, shall we?"

As they flew away, the vultures looked at each other, and shrugged.

"What a jerk."

"Unnhhhh..."

Danny groaned and his vision slowly came back. The blurry view before him soon clarified into a laboratory, and a rather pleased with himself ghost. Danny tried to jump up, but he was still dizzy and was chained to something; his arms trapped inside the chain. Which was glowing. He tried to transform, but found that he couldn't.

"Great..."

"Ahh Daniel, it's so good to see you're awake."

"Are you alright, Danny?" Sam's voice came from behind him, and he realised he was wrapped in the same chain as his friends.

"Dude, I thought you were gonna sleep the whole time. Vlad's been talking and talking and talking and it's been getting kinda boring." Tucker spoke up too.

"Yeah, I'm alright... What are you up to this time, you fruit loop?" Danny grumbled, cutting straight to the point.

"What, no quips about how I defeated you in battle? Again?"

"Oh, sorry, I must be a bit tired after the whole cheating zapping thing you did." Danny rolled his eyes as he responded with sarcasm. Vlad chuckled.

"That's more like it. As for cheating, I prefer tactical manipulation of the odds."

"Ghost inhibiting chain?"

"Why yes, it is. Do you like it?"

"Hmm. Well, puce isn't my colour." Danny said, referring to the glow of the restraint.

"Oh nonsense, it suits you just fine." Vlad smirked. "It goes far better with your eyes than that black jump suit you usually wear does."

Danny scowled, blue eyes glowing with a faint green light as he did so. "They're a bit uncomfortable."

"Well I'll see if I can't improve that next time. But for now, I need you to test something for me."

"No. Test it yourself."

"My boy, you don't really have a choice in the matter." Vlad turned away from them, typing out something at a nearby keyboard. "And it would be foolish to test any modifications to the Ghost Portal myself, after all."

"So you're sending a kid to test it? Real classy." Sam grumbled sarcastically, and Vlad looked over his shoulder back at them.

"I'm not sending 'a kid' to test it." He said, grinning cruelly. "I'm sending three obnoxious little brats!"

Vlad tapped the final key and flicked his hand away from the keyboard dramatically, whilst to their side the large doorway thrummed into life, crackling with energy that arced across the opening. Danny and his friends looked over at it, and watched the digital display beside it stating that the energy levels were increasing.

The older ghost walked back over to them, and hauled them to their feet by tugging on the chain binding them together. Danny glowered at him silently with green eyes, Sam kept shifting her attention between Danny and Vlad, whilst Tucker was preoccupied with trying to give explanations for why they shouldn't be thrown in there. Vlad ignored them all, as the portal screamed into its fully open stage; a swirling vortex of ghostly green energy.

"Are you ready kids?"

"No, not really?"

"Tough."

Vlad threw them into the vortex of energy, and they passed through it into the dimension beyond with a loud crack. As they passed through it, vanishing, the vortex started to glow brighter, swirling faster. Vlad ignored it, however, and turned back to his computers, where he could see the view inside the ghost zone from a small device he'd hidden on the children whilst they were unconscious. The otherworldly green scenery was an echo of his own world, and despite having been able to move through it for years, he never quite got over the unsettling view within. His eyes drifted over to another monitor, which was displaying a chart of his portal modifications.

"All well so far. Now, if this works, these children should go directly to-" he had put in a relatively harmless location, but he wasn't sure if the teens would come back in one piece. That was a minor issue he would have been prepared to deal with. He wasn't, however, prepared as the Ghost Zone started to fade to blue, much less familiar shapes, before the image split into static. An alarm sounded and a large warning image flashed up on every screen in the room; including the power display on the Ghost Portal. "-oh butter biscuits! What's going on?"

He looked across to the portal, which was shaking violently as sparks flew from the entrance; now practically white with hot energy. Vlad floated slightly above the ground as the laboratory started to shake, a loud rumbling and rattling resounding through the laboratory. He stared at it, before closing his eyes and turning intangible at the expectation of an explosion.

Which never came, as the portal shut down with a thunk. Smoke floated from the entrance and joint-work, and the remaining crackles of energy fizzled away into the air. The ghost frowned, puzzled, and rings of black light moved across his body as he shifted back into his human form.

"Well... That was anti climatic... Maddie, can you find out the cause please, my dear?" Vlad said as the hologram materialised beside him, smiling as always. He looked back over to the monitor as the hologram vanished again, having taken her orders and started work. What he saw there caused him to raise an eyebrow. "What's this now?" he asked no one in particular, looking at the new image on this screen. "Well this is a surprise... I wonder..."

Danny groaned as he opened his eyes slowly, but shutting them tight as bright sunlight attacked them. He put his hands to his face, shielding them from the light as he tried again.

'Wait, sunlight?' That thought alone made him sit up and blink the grogginess from his eyes. Very few places in the Ghost Zone had their own sunlight, and even less could call it bright. But he knew he had to be there, that was the only place the portals could connect to. He sat up, and realised that he wasn't bound by the chain any more, so he looked around for it, but his gaze stopped when he spotted where it had gone. Sam and Tucker lay on the grass nearby, obviously peaceful, that is, until Danny put his hands on their shoulders and shook them.

"Guys..." he hissed quietly, eyes not moving from where they rested. "I really think you should get up!"

"Five more minutes..." Tucker mumbled, before starting to snore.

Sam, however, slowly pushed herself up. "Mnhh... Whoa, that was weird... What's up Danny?"

"I think we have a problem... We're being stared at..."

"Danny, we're in the Ghost Zone, we get stared at all the time here-" Sam looked indignant as Danny interrupted her.

"That's just it Sam..."

He pointed to where his vision lay, over Sam's shoulder. As she turned her head to see what the fuss was about, she found herself staring at the creature holding the chain in one hand and a screwdriver in the other.

"... I don't think we're in the Ghost Zone..."

TBC