• Published 19th Apr 2013
  • 9,020 Views, 390 Comments

Fantasma - MemoryLane



After a slight accident with the Ghost Portal, Danny Fenton, a 14 year old boy afflicted with the ability to turn into a ghostly alter ego, and his two best friends, Sam and Tucker, are transported to Equestria. But is there any way to return home?

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Angelo Caduto

Fantasma
Chapter Two:
Angelo Caduto

“Danny?”

The dark haired boy did not seem to take notice, as he was gazing off into space.

“Helloooo?”

Danny was still lost in his own mind, the inner mechanisms of his mind turning at a staggering speed. He quickly recovered from his state when a hand suddenly waved in front of his vision. “Danny!” It shouted once again, this time practically in his ear. Danny let out a uncomfortable groan as he rubbed his throbbing ear.

“What?” Danny asked, staring back at his best friend, who had his hands on his hips. He was giving him a rather unpleasant stare. Danny blushed a little bit. “Heh, sorry Tucker. What were you saying?”

Tucker pursed his lips, before furrowing his brow. “Are you okay? You seem out of it today?” He asked. Danny didn’t say anything, he just nodded. That didn’t seem to please the dark-skinned boy. He knew that Tucker wasn’t going to sit back and watch his best friend be upset.

“I’m fine, really. Just tired.” Danny grumbled, looking away and grasping onto the straps of his backpack. Casper High was bustling with pre-pubescent teenagers hurriedly chatting and barging their way the halls, not entirely eager to get to their next class. Every now and then, he’d get shoved by a random student. “You know, the usual...”

“Box Ghost?”

“Box Ghost.”

“Oh man...” Tuck slapped his head, just barely missing his glasses. “Will that guy ever give up?” Danny shrugged his shoulders tiredly.

“I have no idea how he keeps breaking out of there...” Danny admitted, his enthusiasm rising just a little bit. Talking to Tucker always seemed to cheer him up a bit, after all, they had been friends since forever.

“Maybe you should take a break, you seem worn out.” Tucker replied, while twisting the turn dial on his locker, eventually opening his locker and stuffing his books inside. It had always bothered Danny. Tucker was always seen with a black backpack on his shoulders, yet he preferred to carry everything in his arms.

“Well, I would if I could, I mean-”

“Dash! Twelve o’clock!” Tucker briskly interrupted. Danny stopped cold in his tracks, hesitating for a moment. Luckily for him, Tucker noticed his friends delay, and did the honors for him. He grabbed his best friend by the shoulders and literally hurled him into his open locker. The only sound that was heard was the “He-OOMPH!” that came from Danny, followed by a loud slam as the locker shut behind him. From inside said locker, Danny rubbed his now-bruised shoulder.

“Hey Technogeek!” A loud, muscular voice shot through the air from just outside of the locker. Danny’s heart almost stopped. There was only one person who had that voice, the one that speaks pure confidence, yet it was so full of hatred.

Dash.

The older bully, jock, suck up, it seemed like everything was in his favor. The kid who would spend every waking minute harassing Danny if he could. Well, actually, he already kind of did.

“Hey! Gimme back my hat!” Tucker shouted. Danny had a good idea what was going on, as he could hear Tucker’s boots stomping forcefully on the ground.

“Shorty!” Dash mocked. “Not until you tell me where Danny is! I have somethin’ I wanna give him!” Danny did not find that the least bit fair. Tucker wasn’t short, Dash was just unusually tall...and muscular. Tucker was getting more and more outraged, which was odd. Usually he was very down to earth and understanding...did he really love his hat THAT much?

“I haven’t seen him all day! Now give it to me!” Tucker grumbled. For some strange reason, he always did have a love for his beret. Danny had almost never seen him without it. There was a small sound that Danny could barely make out, a tiny “tink”, as if something had hit the nearby trashcan. “Come on. Seriously?” Tucker groaned.

“You want it back? Okay, suit yourself.” Dash replied. It was at this moment that Tucker actually began to shout in protest.

“Put me down! This isn’t cool, let go of m-” He was cut off as another “CLANG” came from the same vicinity, followed by more obnoxious laughing coming from Dash. Danny heard the laughs slowly begin to disappear down the hallway as his hopes began to teeter out.

“Tuck? You there?” Danny called from inside of the locker, a slight feeling of guilt lingering inside of him. Not even a second later, Danny heard the turn dial quickly spin. First left, then right, and then left again, before the locker quickly opened. Somehow, Danny wasn’t prepared, and fell on his stomach out of the locker.

“What is it with me and getting hurt today...?” Danny mumbled irritatingly as he picked himself off the ground, secretly hoping that he has not caught the attention of anyone important. He dusted himself off, took one look at Tucker, and exploded into a fit of giggles.

Dash must have thrown him into the trash can, as he was absolutely doused in garbage. His previously yellow, long sleeved shirt was covered in some sort of strange brown liquid, and there was a banana expertly perched on his head. By some means, Tucker still had his beret on his head. “You’re telling me...” Danny knew the perfect way to cheer his best friend up, however. There was only one thing in the world with the ability to do such a thing...

“Uh...ahem...wanna go get some lunch? I heard they’re serving hamburgers today.” With that, Tucker’s frown quickly turned to that of pure bliss. He shook the banana off the top of his head as he grabbed Danny by the wrist, who was grinning the whole time. He knew that Tucker couldn’t resist meat, by ANY means.

“LET’S GO.”

Both teens literally left skid marks on the ground as Tucker dragged his friend to the cafeteria, giggling incoherently to himself.


Tucker’s tittering came to a brief halt as both of the teens reached the lunchroom. It was apparent that Danny was right, there were indeed hamburgers for lunch. Both teens sprinted through the line with a speed that would have greatly impressed their gym teacher. Danny’s lunch consisted of a single hamburger, a carton of milk, and a little cup of various fruits and veggies. Tucker, on the other hand, had a tray full of what must have been dozens of burgers, which he actually struggled to carry.

The lunchroom walls were a wet green that almost seemed to slide down the walls like slime. There were posters for various after school activities posted all over the area. In some parts, you could not even see green, only the bleached white of the paper. There were about twenty tables in the lunchroom set up in a 5 by 4 fashion, all saved for various cliques and groups: Jocks, Gamers, Hipsters, Hippies, Meatheads, it was all the same.

Danny scanned the lunchroom, only to smile as his eyes laid upon a singular, black-clad girl sitting alone at a table, fiddling with what seemed like a cellphone. Tucker and Danny cheerfully wandered through the jam-packed cafeteria and gingerly sat on each side of the girl. She barely raised her violet eyes at them.

“Hey, Sam!” Danny voiced as they both almost slammed down their trays. Tucker immediately got started eating all of his hamburgers, to which Sam simply ignored.

“Uh, hey guys.” She replied, taking out both of her earbuds and fixing her plaid black skirt. What Danny had originally perceived as a cell phone, was some sort of small ipod. On the screen was some sort of japanese anime with two colorful characters sporting large swords on their hips, as if they were getting ready to battle. Danny wasn’t sure if he had heard Sam talk about this show before...

“Whatcha watchin’?” Danny asked, staring curiously at the screen. Sam shrugged.

“Eh, some new show I found. Sebete no Owari, I think...” She said. “I dunno, but there’s lots of fighting in it...” It was at this moment that Sam looked over and noticed that Tucker was going to town on his hamburgers, eating most of them in a few bites. His eyes were closed in absolute pleasure he ate, smiling and moaning in delight. As Tucker smacked his lips, Sam reeled back, curling her upper lip.

“This...this is amazing!” Tucker said in between bites and swallows.

“Ugh, meat eater...” She grimaced as she quickly reached for her veggie sandwich. “How can you eat that kind of stuff?” Sam sneered at the carnivore, who seemed unfazed by her questions.

“Psh, how can you not eat it? Look at it!” Tucker then shoved his half-eaten, cafeteria burger in front of the unsuspecting goth’s face. “Look at the texture! The way the grease glistens! The delightful scent of the sesame seeded bun! It’s...it’s amazing!”

Sam nearly hurled, her cheeks puffing up almost hilariously. Danny did her a favor, and shoved the burger out of her face for her. Tucker frowned, and there was a small silence between the three of them.

“Plus, veggies are gross.” He finished, sticking his nose in the air as he took a bite of his third burger with a hint of pride. Sam and Danny both rolled their eyes, but for different reasons. Danny had heard them fight about this plenty of times before, and no one ever won. What are the chances that one will give the other a shot before judging? Oh wait, that never happens in their world. That seemed to remind Danny of something...

“The last time you had veggies...didn’t you get diahrr-”

“Yes!” Tucker interrupted, reaching across Sam and throwing a hand over his friends mouth, smiling nervously at disgusted students that happened to be walking by with their trays. “Don’t talk about it! Please!” Tucker almost begged before taking his hand off Danny’s mouth, who simply blinked. Sam, who was now no longer in the mood to speak to Tucker, turned back to Danny.

“So, what’s new with you?” Sam rested chin on her knuckle boredly. Danny wanted to tell her about what’s been going through his head recently, but was not too sure. He’d always liked to have his more serious conversations with Sam, as she was more likely to take them more serious than Tucker. After a few moments on stalling, and playing with his assorted veggies, he finally spoke up.

“Uh, well...I’m not too sure anymore.” Sam raised her eyebrow. Little did anyone know that Tucker was secretly listening in despite his constant munching. “It’s just...is this what I’m going to spend the rest of my life doing?”

Sam was going to respond, but Tucker jumped in. He almost knocked her out of her seat, but luckily the girl composed herself. “Well, why wouldn’t you?” He waved his fifth burger in the air, as if he was trying to make a point. “What you have is unique, and you should embrace it. Take a look at us!” He wrapped his arm around Sam, holding the burger nauseatingly close to Sam’s face. She dry heaved. “I have my tech wizardry, and my amazing wits, while Sam has her clothes. It’s what makes us us, Dan.” Sam, after removing the hamburger from her face, began to nod. Well, until she realized just exactly what Tucker had said.

“Wait, what about how I dress?” Sam glared at Tucker, enough to make him gulp.

“Uh...” There was a sharp smack that filled the room, followed by small sobs that emitted from Tucker’s half-full mouth. With a satisfied smirk, Sam turned back to Danny, who did not really feel like laughing at this point. Not like he wanted to add insult to injury...although he did laugh at the fact that Tucker was covered in garbage.

To Danny, that was different.

“Eh, I don’t know. Hey, wanna come over to my house later? My dad fiddled with the Ghost Portal, and I don’t want to touch it unless Tucker checks it out first.” Danny asked. Tucker was not too thrilled. He gazed at his friend slowly and lazily, his chewing becoming involuntarily slower.

“What makes you think that I have any experience with a portal!?” Tucker almost shouted. Tucker had a point, but he was honestly just looking for a reason for his friends to come over that night. It was not like he had anything better to do.

“You just said so yourself, ‘Tech Wizard’. At least check it out? It’s not like I have any other geeks lying around.” Danny grinned playfully at his friend, who simply looked away with a ‘Humph’. Tucker crossed his arms, but eventually exhaled softly.

“Fine. But first...I’m going for a record...” Without another word, Tucker licked his lips and jumped onto his stool. He raised his hands above his head, as if he was an olympic diver. With the most serious face, his eyes looking forward, he literally dived into the mountain of burgers on the table, almost disappearing inside it. Unbeknownst to him, he managed to spray hamburgers over Sam, getting meat and condiments all over her hair and clothes. Danny had predicted this, and managed to turn intangible for a split second to escape the beefy fate, sending all the patties flying through him and onto the floor. Luckily, no one in the cafeteria seemed to have had seen him.

“TUCKER! UGH!” Sam shrieked in disgust as the grease stained her clothes, leaving her dripping in beef residue.

Danny could not stop laughing.


The day seemed to drag by, almost losing its motivation to keep going. Danny had spent most of the afternoon lost in thought. It was strange, because every time he managed to snap out of it, he would always forget the last thing that he had actually been thinking about.

After an eternity, all three friends finally appeared in Danny’s basement, unbeknown to his parents and older sister. They tip toed down the stairs, where Tucker almost immediately got started looking at the round portal. He took his trusty PDA out of his back pocket and attached it into a socket near the opening using some sort of cord. A line of digital code began to vertically make its way down the screen. Tucker stared at his device, as if it was completely absent in his own mind.

“Do you have any idea what you’re doing?” Danny asked, standing next to Sam, who wasn’t exactly excited watch her friend fiddle with gadgets. She was never if the technological type. If anything, Sam had the potential to be quite the hipster.

“Not really...but I can figure it out...” Tucker suddenly raised an eyebrow. “I’ve only done this once before-”

“You have?” Danny asked, not recalling.

“Eh, it was awhile ago.” He shrugged, looking back at his PDA. “Anyways, it’s...not the same as last time...” Danny stared over Tucker’s shoulder in a lame attempt to see the fancy codes, but that was before Tucker started to pace back and forth.

Sam was suddenly fully interested, she turned her head, accidently sending her short, inky hair all over the left side of her face. “What does that mean?” She asked as she lazily leaned against the wall.

“I...The codes are completely different than the last time. The codes that your mother had implemented that actually made the portal work I had stored on my PDA for safekeeping, and for a time like this.” Tucker absentmindedly pushed up his glasses. “But now they’re just jarbled. Whatever your dad did...I’d be surprised if this thing even worked...” Tucker looked up nervously at the looming portal in front of him. Just to be safe, he took a quick step back.

“But it does. I just returned the Box Ghost yesterday.” Danny admitted, to which Tucker paid barely any attention. Danny had apparently forgotten telling him not only a few hours ago.

“I know. It’s weird, the more code that’s generated, the more random and discombobulated it gets. It shouldn’t be working at all.” He said. His technological curiousness got the best of him, and slowly pressed the “enter” button on his PDA.

The second the button was pressed, the codes on his screen stopped moving, abruptly coming to a very sudden halt. “What the...” Tucker was flabbergasted, and Danny and Sam were starting to freak out a little behind him. Something you never want to hear is a tech-y kid like Tucker say something in surprise or something along the lines of “Uh-oh”. Especially when he was messing with his equipment.

“How does code just...stop?” Sam asked. Tucker rolled his eyes, as to him, it was a very basic question. Even Danny had a pretty good idea, although he wasn’t sure.

“Code stops when the program, or whatever this is, stops running. Apparently it’s...finished?” Tucker eyebrows furrowed. He did not know what to stare at, the codes, or the portal, so he just sort of alternated every few seconds.

“What was running inside of the Ghost Portal? Can it even run a different type of code other than the one in it?” Danny asked, honestly trying to sound smart. Tucker saw straight through it, but he did not seem to mind.

“No...the only code that it should run is that of which makes the Portal.”

“Then what’s going on?” Sam asked desperately, nervously glancing over at Danny. The boy shrugged. For some reason, he felt a draft in the room. It coursed through his spine and made his vigorously shiver. But it was not like a normal one, it was as if it was more of a spasm than a shiver...

“Only one way to find out.” Danny said, composing himself running over to the Ghost Portal. He slammed his pale hand on the scarlet ‘open’ button. The machine sputtered for a minute, as it began to slowly secrete an ominous, coral smoke that spread over the entirety of the lab, including the unsuspecting teens’ feet. Danny could not help but inhale the scent, filling his nostrils with some sort of indescribably sweet aroma. Sam and Tucker must have smelt it too. Sam’s face contorted into a disturbed scowl, while Tucker did not seem to mind.

Slowly. Very slowly, the Ghost Portal opened. Sam, Tucker, and Danny were all awestruck at the sight that stood before them when the portal had finally revealed to them its totality.

It was a forest.

The wood was immensely dark, to the point of where they could not see very far into it. But they could see about five feet in front of where the portal was placed. Instead of a sweeter scent, the woodland smelled entirely of pine and maple. The murky trees towered upwards, although neither teens could see that high up from where they were looking. There were many exotically colored shrubs and flowers that littered the forest floor. It was black, but the wood seemed to shine with an otherworldly shining beauty. Every so often, a brisk wind would flutter by, carrying small leaves across the terrain and whirl the trees. As they looked into the portal, it was almost as if they were staring into a beautiful picture. As if they were staring into another world altogether.

“Whoa...” Danny breathed, just loud enough for his two friends could hear. Sam and Tucker stood, awestruck, not wanting to move. Danny was more inquisitive than his friends, however.

“It’s...” Sam was looking for the right words, but it was getting harder to do so without tripping over herself. “..beautiful!”

“What is it...?” Tucker asked, knowing full well that no one would give him a correct answer. Danny shrugged, hesitantly taking a few steps closer to the portal. Before his friends could stop him, he stuck a hand through the portal.

“Danny, are you kidding me!?” Sam rushed over to him and pulled him away from the Portal angrily. Danny was none to pleased, and angrily tore his arm back from the frenzied girl. Danny wasn’t surprised, Sam was sometimes prone to overreacting...

“It’s not a good idea. Well...I think..it’s still a portal, it seems. We just don’t know to where it leads...” Tucker responded, after realizing what that meant, his eyes widened immensely, quickly followed by Sam, and then Danny. A portal to the Ghost World, another dimension, was believable by their terms. But to another world...?

“So...where does the Portal go to now?” Sam asked. Reluctantly looking inside. She was always one for adventure, but she had a bad feeling. Danny, however, couldn’t resist himself. It...it’s calling to me? he thought to himself. This was his opportunity that he could not resist. Although, he wasn’t sure what was beckoning to him inside of the portal, all he knew it that he wanted it. Bad.

“One way to find out!” Danny shouted, before sidestepping Sam. She had swung her arm in a quick attempt to catch him, but she had just missed. She had actually almost landed on the floor as a result. Danny, with an amused, yet childish, chuckle ran and jumped straight through the opening of the portal head first.

“DANNY!?” Sam and Tucker both said simultaneously after realizing his friends rather careless impulse.

The pale skinned boy stood up from the rough and rather scratchy forest floor after realizing that it was slightly moist. Once he got to his feet, he felt a surge of regret flow through him, one telling him that he had just made a huge mistake. However, the sereneness of the forest only seemed to calm him. He could barely see, but that was before he remembered a neat trick he had just recently learned about a week earlier. Danny closed his cobalt eyes for a brief moment, feeling feebly inside of himself for his power. When he opened his spheres, they were both a ghostly green, and he discovered that his eyesight had vastly improved. He could see a mile into the forest, although everything was tinted green. It was as if he was looking through night vision goggles.

“Hey...this isn’t too bad...” Danny muttered to himself. He could see small birds, or what he thought were birds, flying just below the treeline. The scent of pine was so strong that it almost burnt his nose. For some reason, there was a weird taste in the air, although he couldn’t describe it. It was...salty? He was not sure...but it burned his mouth a little bit.

The tranquility of the forest was quickly cut by the sound of two voices screaming behind him.

With a jolt, he turned around to see Sam lying on the mucky earth on her stomach. She was painfully groaning, cursing to herself and to the persona that was lying on top of her. Tucker was literally sitting on her back, holding his knee and rubbing his head as he groaned childishly to himself. He did not even notice the situation they were both in.

“Get off!” Sam shouted. Tucker turned to look under himself, and upon noticing the rather odd position they were in, did not hesitate to move. With a slight blush, he scampered off of her, holding on to his PDA tightly. Somehow, it still remained intact.

“Sorry...” Tucker stated, meekly rubbing the back of his neck. Sam held out of her hand, to which Danny grabbed. With a small grunt from both of them, she quickly got to her feet, her large boots beating the ground loudly. The view was even more beautiful than when they were simply looking inside.

“Thanks...now...” She poked Danny’s chest hard. Danny gulped, Sam was not fun to be around when she was angry. “What the heck do you think you’re doing?” She hollered. Danny looked at his other friend for assistance, but unfortunately, he was too busy fiddling with his PDA at the moment.

“I...I don’t know what came over me. Sorry.” Danny stated simply, hoping to put an end to the incessant shouting.

Sam still wasn’t pleased. She stared into his green eyes manically. Danny knew that look; the one that indicated that she almost wants to strangle you. He tried to make himself feel as small as possible. Also, the fact that everything was being seen in green did not entirely help. “You don’t just run through a portal like that! Even if you’ve done it before!”

“Jeez! Chill!” Danny raised his palms in front of his chest defensively, standing up to his best friend. Sam did not want any of it. She wanted her friend to know exactly what he did wrong.

“No! That was stupid!” Sam shot back.

“Sam?” A different voice asked, although it was immediately ignored.

“Can’t blame me for being curious.”

“Yes I can! Especially when it puts us in danger!”

“How do you know we’re in danger?”

“Danny?” The voice asked again, this time a little louder. The bickering friends were in no mood to oblige him. Tucker was getting irritated, that in mind, he ran over to them both and pulled them apart, having to muster almost all of his strength. He was by no means a strong kid. Being on a computer all day will do that to someone. “GUYS!”

“WHAT?!” They both shouted at him. Sam’s eye was twitched unwillingly. Tucker pointed a dark-colored finger behind both of them, which nervously shook in midair.

There was nothing there. Just the dark emptiness of the forest.

“What is it, Tuck?” Danny asked, trying as hard as he could to calm himself down. It really did not take long, however. He had more patience than Sam did, at least.

“The portal’s gone!”

Author's Note:

Well, here is chapter two! I hope you all enjoy it! Well, seems like the portal went AWOL. Just what happened to it? Where are they? What's going to happen now? Will Tucker's PDA ever break even in the most harshest of situations? Stay tuned!

Anyways, thank you for reading!

Feedback and comments are GREATLY appreciated, just to let you guys know ;)

Alright, thanks again! Have a good one bros!

-Cyneryk