To this day, Maddie Fenton had never actually been inside her most esteemed invention, the Fenton Ghost Portal, which was a controlled doorway to the ghost dimension. Well, to be fair, it wasn't really her invention. She had worked together with her husband, Jack, to modify the designs and actually construct it over the course of about a year.

Now, nearly two years after it became operational, Maddie found herself finally jumping straight into the deep end. Of course, she had been prepared. In the time since she and Jack had created the portal, they did many methodical and lengthy tests about the components of the atmosphere. She hadn't informed Jack yet, but she had finally completed the last test and had deemed the air (yes, air) breathable.

She knew it was foolish, but Maddie hadn't yet informed her family of her planned expedition. She loved her husband... but his brash and extremely trigger-happy behaviors were a liability in the Ghost Zone. Maddie had vowed to herself that she was there for observation and research purposes only, and she would only defend herself against ghosts if she was engaged first. She was a ghost hunter, she wasn't a suicidal maniac insane enough to purposely pick fights with ghosts in their own territory.

So one morning when her children were away at school and Jack was on a two-day camping trip, Maddie climbed into the Specter Speeder. She gingerly clasped on her safety belt and double checked the emergency supplies she had packed. She had left an emergency note upstairs for Danny and Jazz to find if she hadn't returned by the time they got back from school. But chances are, it would never come to this. She had planned a short surveillance trip around the location of their portal in a 3 mile radius. By her calculations, it would take an hour at the most and she would be back home in plenty of time. So with no further ado, Maddie turned the ignition, and flew straight into the glowing green portal harbored in her basement.

The Ghost Zone looked exactly how it had on the camera probes she and Jack had sent into the portal. Endless black and green sky, floating purple doors simply hanging in place, and the silhouettes of ghostly islands on the horizon. To say Maddie was amazed was an understatement. She was actually here in the dimension of the dead; this was the peak of her life's work! She could've sat in the driver's seat for hours, perplexed with the abnormal beauty she found in the Ghost Zone, but she had work to do. So for the next few minutes Maddie sped along a circular path around the portal, occasionally slowing down to scratch a few notes in her observation journal. Oh, she and Jack were going to have a field day with all this new information!

However, after about twenty minutes of circling in the Speeder, she heard a familiar voice echoing somewhere outside her vehicle.

"-then will you just stay in the Ghost Zone!" cried a young boy's exasperated voice. "I'm in school right now! I'm completely sick of having to ditch class every hour on the hour to deal with you!"

"The Box Ghost will not heed to the convenience of your schedule!"

At this point, Maddie had already figured that this was an exchange between Amity Park's false 'hero', Danny Phantom and her second greatest enemy, the Box Ghost. Her suspicions were confirmed with the boy's next words.

"You will leave me alone if you don't want me to 'accidentally' leave you in the Thermos for two weeks!" the boy threatened.

Maddie had adjusted her mirrors, and now could see the pair of ghosts floating somewhere behind and below her.

The Box Ghost gasped, "Not the cylindrical death trap! Anything but that!"

From Maddie's view, she saw Phantom smirk, "Then just leave me alone for the rest of the school day, and preferably the rest of my life."

With those words, Phantom turned away from the Box Ghost and started floating towards where Maddie was temporarily parked. His face twisted in an expression of confusion before adopting one of concern(?). He raced towards the Specter Speeder, his legs blurring into a spectral tail. Maddie attempted to start the vehicle in a hopeless effort to distance herself from the approaching ghost. Though, her movements weren't quick enough. Before Maddie had a chance to process the world around her, Phantom was outside the window of the Specter Speeder, gesturing her to roll down the window.

Even though most of the town praised Phantom for his heroics, Maddie wasn't one to be fooled. He was still just a ghost, an ectoplasmic being bound to existence by a malevolent obsession to fulfill. Therefore, he couldn't be trusted. Ghosts were dangerous and unpredictable, especially ones with no clear obsession like Phantom. And while it may appear that he's 'saving the town' as many believe, he could easily turn at any moment and harm the citizens. Normally, she tried to maim or apprehend him particularly because he was so different from most ghosts. By nonetheless, she had taken an oath not to fight any ghosts unless absolutely necessary. So with that thought in mind, Maddie obliged, and warily rolled down the window a good three inches.

"What do you want?" Maddie demanded.

"To know why you're here," he responded quickly. "It's not safe for humans to be here."

She furrowed her brow, "Was that a threat, Phantom?"

"What? No! No, no threats here. I'm just saying that you shouldn't be here because there's a lot of ghosts that could seriously hurt you. You need to go home, now," Phantom rambled.

"What I do isn't your business, ghost," Maddie spat, rolling up the window. Who was he to tell her to abandon her research? He came into the human world all the time, why should she be prohibited to be in the Ghost Zone? Maddie hovered her foot over the acceleration and started to fly away from the pestering ghost. About thirty seconds passed, and there was no sign of Phantom in her rear-view mirrors, thank the Lord for that.

Suddenly, there was a noise in the back of the Speeder, and Maddie turned, seeing nothing. She gave a sigh of relief, she had been worried for a second. It was then she felt a cold presence behind her, and shrieked when she saw that Phantom had somehow managed to stowaway aboard the Specter Speeder! But that was impossible! There was an active Ghost Shield around the entire vehicle, there was no possible way that he could've gotten in!

"How'd you get on here?!" she screamed at him, reaching for her nearest blaster. Screw not harming any ghosts on this expedition, this truly was an act of self-defense. Ghosts were not supposed to be inside the Speeder.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "If you could just – put the weapon down – maybe we could talk this out. I don't want to hurt you!"

"It does matter," Maddie spoke lowly, "because that means somehow you knew how to breach my defenses."

"I didn't breach anything! It was a thing only I can do, so don't worry. I just came aboard because you left me back there, and I was serious about you going home. It's not safe for you here because you're human," he said.

"And what're you gonna do about it?" she asked. "I'm not leaving the Ghost Zone until I've collected all the data I need for today."

"If you'd just listen to me, this part of the Ghost Zone has a lot of testy ghosts who have a grudge against the Specter Speeder-"

"They've never even seen the Speeder, Phantom! This is the first time it's been inside the portal, so you're not fooling me. Unless, of course, you're suggesting someone else in my family has been making secret trips into the Ghost Zone."

At those words, Maddie noticed that Phantom tensed up. "Look, I'm just a ghost. All I know is that people will recognize this vehicle, and when they do things won't look good for you. I'm just trying to keep you safe before anything happens!"

Maddie scowled, "I don't believe you."

A broken look of hurt graced Phantom's face. "Then you give me no choice," he whispered. Without any warning, he lunged forward and took hold of the controls of the Specter Speeder. He managed to direct the vehicle off of Maddie's route and back towards the portal.

"No you don't!" Maddie yelled. She moved to the back of the Speeder and found another panel full of emergency defenses. She selected a yellow button and slammed it as hard as she could. Instantly, Phantom was propelled out of the Speeder and thrown haphazardly into the Ghost Zone. Maddie smiled to herself, she knew that the 'ghost eject button' would come in handy.

She hardly had time to celebrate her victory before the Speeder started spinning wildly. Nobody was at the front driving, causing it to catapult out of control. Maddie didn't have to brace herself as the Speeder approached a swirling green portal that had appeared suddenly. As the portal swallowed her, she heard a voice in the distance call out, "Mom! No!" (Was that Danny?)

And then in a painful headache, Maddie's consciousness was consumed by darkness.

As of October 9th, 2017, this is currently unedited.

Okay, so I've had this idea for a while and I'm excited to finally write it! It'll probably take me a while to come out with the next chapter, so don't expect it anytime soon. At the moment, my other book, The Misadventures of Wes Weston, is my main priority.