Everyone harvests a dark secret. Whether it be on the surface or deep in the black abyss of a soul, there is one thing that someone won't or even can't tell others. One thing that a person may pry and push and beg at, but won't be shared. And the only way to get answers to a secret, is to find them.

Chapter 1 – Ghost Mornings Suck

"BEWARE."

A small sigh sounded under a mountain of blankets as the phrase was shouted out into the open. A few shuffles later a sky blue eye peeked out from a hole to gaze at the digital clock sitting on the dresser across from the bed. It read 5:27 AM in its bright, neon red numbers. The eye under the covers disappeared for a moment as the owner shut it in irritation.

Seriously Box Ghost! Can't I get a break for once on a Saturday morning?

The boy who had been disturbed laid a moment more in his nest of warmth before wiggling out and slipping quietly onto the floor of his bedroom, eyes half closed with exhaustion.

"Let's get this over with…" Two bright, ice blue rings appeared around Danny's waist, changing him into his heroic alter ego before he swiftly jumped from the window sill. The teenager scanned the street below him quickly for a certain blue and cube obsessed someone, spotting him terrorizing a couple in front of a dessert shop with a box. Danny narrowed his eyes and dove down towards the specter.

"You better start flying, Boxy!" Phantom shouted, his eyes brightening in annoyance. "I was in a wonderful cocoon of blankets!"

The Box Ghost looked up in slight confusion to locate who had called out to him. Once he saw Danny charging at him with an emerald green hand held in front, his eyes widened. Then the ghost shot off down the side walk.

Danny rolled his eyes and expertly weaved between the few morning people who were currently out as he gave chase. It didn't take long for the white haired hero to drift up next to the Box Ghost whose eyes expanded even more when he saw Phantom leisurely soaring on his back in mockery. Danny smirked and released the ecto blast in his hand which sent his enemy sprawling onto the ground, then he grabbed the Fenton Thermos around his waist and pointed it at the specter.

"Can you wait until after noon to scare people? Some heroes like to sleep."

"Never!" Box Ghost cried out in his nasal-y voice. "Conquering the world with boxes waits for no one! For as long as there are cylinders…"

The green eyed hero sighed and tapped the button on the side of the contraption, letting the light pour from it and grab the other ghost who yelled in protest. Once the container was secured, Danny speedily flew back to his room and closed the window, letting out a sigh of relief.

"I'll let him out after I get up," he murmured, sinking back onto his bed after returning to Fenton. "Serves him right anyways." His eyes gradually slipped closed and his consciousness had just begun to slip away…

"Danny!"

Said boy groaned.

Danny padded down the staircase, nearly asleep on his feet, to see his dad sitting in the kitchen and snacking away on breakfast. The 15 year old yawned and sleepily sat down at the table opposite the end from where Jack was sitting.

"What's up?" he breathed as he rubbed his eyes.

"Ahh! Danny," Jack said through his mouthful of bacon and eggs. "I need some help down in the lab today. Mind helping your old man out?"

"Actually Dad, I was gonna hang out with-"

"Great!" Jack cut him off and made his way around the table to rustle his son's hair. "I'll need you to clean the beakers for me in like, ten minutes? Ghosts appear the most during the morning!"

Danny blinked and muttered, "Really? Because my body says otherwise."

"What was that?"

"Nothing! I'll uh, get right on it."

"That's the spirit! Now, I'll be right down after I finish this plate of cookies."

The teenager huffed and stood up from his seat to head downstairs, silently wishing that he had stayed in bed.

The tiles in the basement were colder than usual as Danny tiptoed down the stairs reluctantly. Brushing his hand across the wall, he easily flipped on the light switch which provided warm, yellow light to stream into the lab before he padded over to the counters where several rows of gooey, ectoplasm stained beakers waited. The blue eyed teen picked up a beaker and examined it with disgust.

"If they would clean once and a while…" he murmured. Shaking his head, Danny set the beaker back down and instead rummaged through the paperwork sitting on the corner of the desk.

Ghost Types, Ghost Sightings, and Ghost Zone were a few titles on several of the manila folders that were scattered on the counter. Danny flipped through the folder labeled, Ghost Natures, snorting in amusement at a few of the ridiculous bullet points on the inside. He put the papers back in, uninterested, and began to turn away when a black folder underneath the rest caught his eye. The teenager pushed aside the other files as he grabbed it.

Classified

Maddie and Jack Fenton Only.

1453-7721:

New York

Danny furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, deciding whether or not to peek inside of the folder. New York? What does New York have to do with ghosts? He pondered to himself. Now curious, Danny began to open the records when footsteps echoed from the top of the staircase.

"Alright, Danny Boy! The faster we do this, the faster I can get to inventing! What's the situation look like?"

"Uh," the 15 year old called up as he frantically searched for a place to put the folder. "I didn't get far. Maybe one or two beakers on my part?" The statement turned into a question while Danny shoved the raven colored folder into a bowl filled with a miscellaneous pink liquid, cringing and nervously glancing back at his father who had just appeared in the lab.

"Alright, first things first, let's check the ecto filter." Jack sighed, Danny following him to the side of the ghost portal. The man in the orange suit fiddled with the contraption beside the portal and swiftly popped the glass container out of its slot then reached his hand back towards his son. Spotting his cue, Danny handed his dad the new filter, watching Jack insert it in place.

Once finished, Jack stood back and nodded his head, satisfied with his work, before glancing over at the desk of beakers, cylinders, and such. The man's face scrunched up in disgust at the work that would await him. He groaned, then his eyes flashed with an idea.

"Ok Danny, you finish cleaning the beakers and I'll start on wiping down the equipment and seeing if everything still works."

The teenager's shoulders drooped, but he turned and picked up a container nonetheless. Jack beamed and grabbed a soggy rag on the edge of the counter. Danny absently wiped the inside of each beaker while his mind wandered through various, unimportant thoughts. What would be for dinner? What was due for school on Monday? How were Sam and Tuck? Then, unconsciously, his eyes flitted over to the bowl of miscellaneous pink liquid that held the black colored folder. New York… What was so important about New York? It was all such a blur…

"Ghost detected. Make a U-turn."

Danny snapped back into reality at the sound of an electronic lady's voice. He turned to see Jack comply the computer and turn around.

"Walk forward." Jack stepped several paces towards Danny, who shrunk back in embarrassment. Just as his father reached him, the machine sounded again.

"Ghost detected. Make another U-turn."

What the heck? The teenager thought in surprise. But I'm right here…?

Jack once again sighed and spun around, still holding the device in front of him.

"Ghost found. Thank you for using the Fenton Ghost Finder." The man in the orange suit looked up at the wall of the lab, thoroughly confused. There was nothing there.

Danny, however, had glanced up to find two blood red eyes smiling at him in a mocking way. He scowled, silently promising to whip this ghost's butt as he edged forward, but he blinked and the figure was suddenly gone.

And I say again, what the heck?

Jack shrugged in disappointment. "Ugh, this thing is broken. Better take it to the shed later." He then tossed it into a cardboard box and returned to the pile of inventions in front of him. Danny internally growled and turned to his own work.

An hour later, the lab was clean enough to work in comfortably. It wasn't necessarily 'squeaky clean' and it wasn't the way the son and father had found it, so they decided that it was enough to call it quits. Danny leaned against the counter in exhaustion before glancing at one of the bowls that remained.

"Hey, um, Dad. I'm gonna go back to my room."

"Good idea son. Take a little hunter's break." Jack agreed, turning for the stairs himself. Danny shook his head and swiftly grabbed the basin that held the secret folder. Heading upstairs, the teen immediately turned for the staircase that led to his room, his heartbeat increasing every second. For what reason, Danny didn't know, but he had a feeling that whatever was in the manila folder in his hands was bad news. He pushed open his bedroom door and flopped on his bed after his door had been closed. The raven haired boy felt around in the thick liquid, pulling out the hidden contents with an intangible hand and setting the bowl to the side.

The bright, silver lettering on the front once again reminded the reader that the information was for two specific people. Danny, however, ignored it and gently opened the folder up before he spread the contents onto his bed. The folder consisted mostly of notes and theories on famous haunting sites for ghosts in New York which Danny promptly ignored, finding a more compelling section of the records to search through-photos.

At first, the images displayed on each piece of rectangular paper were average. There were buildings, some smudges in a few photos deemed to be a ghost (when it was just a poorly stabilized picture taken), and even several with Jack and Maddie enjoying themselves with a dinner, play, and attractions. Danny scanned these photographs and quickly set them aside, uninterested with his parents work before he came to a photoset that provided memories to flood back to him. An image of destruction, smoke, and clones. It was the Dark Mist incident.

The super hero teen fell into a sudden shock. His mind was bombarded with images of evil doubles that constantly taunted him, immense confusion, panic, stress, and finally, those bright glowing crimson eyes. Danny shut his eyes to block out the image of the manipulating villain, but it simply increased the pictures intensity. Vureem stared down on him, his expression a mixture of mockery, hate, and sadistic pleasure at Danny's expense.

No…No…NO! The boy whimpered and grabbed his head as he attempted to block the terrifying events, leaning back onto his beds headboard. He let go of the picture and huddled with his knees against his chest.

Pain… burning, freezing cold pain… confusion… Guilt… poor Randy… You think he'ss ok, but issss he really Danny? And who'ss really the one to blame here? Not Howard, Trixie, Jazz or Sssam, or even Jake… no Danny, it'sss your fault.

Danny shuddered as the voice swirled inside of his mind, playing with his emotions. As he slid down further onto his bed, his head hit something hard and suddenly the voice was crystal clear, as if a certain twin was sitting right next to the teen.

"But then again, it always wasss your fault."

The blue eyed teen jolted up from his pillow in surprise and looked around his room cautiously, his heart threatening to burst from his chest. D was nowhere to be seen.

Danny sighed and laid back down, only to hit the hard object again. Feeling around behind him, he grasped the small, round rock and brought it in front of him to inspect. What the…?

The little gem was black on the outside, barely allowing any light to reflect through it. The inner part of the gem was quite the opposite, instead a sparkling clear color. At the very middle a translucent green lit up the rest of the stone in a mesmerizing glow. It was light and heavy, cold and hot, powerful but small. Danny grinned, his mind suddenly clear of stressful thoughts. He tucked the gemstone into his pocket before he cleared his bed of all of the files. Then his ghost sense went off.

"Great. One more thing to add to this morning. That ghost better pray to-" Danny was cut short as he opened his door, his dad bounding up the stairs with wide eyes.

"Suffering spooks!" Jack bellowed, flying past the room. "There's a sudden increase in ecto activity! Maddie, grab the weapons! Danny, get your sister and go to the Emergency Observation Center. Hurry now!"

Danny's eyes widened in alarm, the teen quickly dashing into his sister's room. Jazz was already gathering herself onto the transportation platform into the Center above. Danny joined, quickly stating, "Two to the Observation Center," before they we're sucked up to the roof top.

"What's going on?" Jazz asked Danny through her coughs, waving away the putrid smell of the spoiled ham.

"I have no idea," he replied. "I should go check it out."

Jazz smiled and hugged her brother. "Be careful. I'll be up here if you need backup."

"I always am, Jazz." Danny chuckled, pushing the ginger away. With that, the teen hero transformed into Danny Phantom, ice blue rings sweeping over his body before he leapt into the floor and flew down through the house towards the lab. Before he even reached the lab, his ears picked up the sound of Jack and Maddie yelling, guns firing, and what appeared to be the sound of a whistle.

When he arrived in the lab, a swirling jade colored vortex was spiraling out of the ghost portal, causing wind to gust through the room with a high pitched shrill. Multiple ghosts were shooting out of the portal in escape and freedom which were the cause of Jack and Maddie shooting ecto guns wildly. Danny moved forward to help.

"Phantom!" the woman in the blue hazmat suit yelled. "You're the one behind this aren't you?"

Jack turned to see the teen ghost. "You filthy piece of ectoplasm! You're dead! Err, your afterlife is over!" he corrected.

Danny rolled his eyes and focused on the problem at hand. The vortex was strengthening and more than just papers were beginning to fly around. He glided for the portal door in attempt to close it, swerving as a toasty emerald blast whizzed past his head, followed closely by several more.

"Hey!" the ghost teen yelled, dodging the oncoming rays. "I'm trying to help!"

"Trying to help your ghost buddies escape!"

Maddie aimed again and shot her ecto-gun. "Don't try and fool us, ghost!"

While Danny was trying to dodge his father's wildly directed beam, he missed his mother's well targeted shot which went flying into his spine, knocking him back towards the ghostly tornado. Stunned, he tried to catch himself before he hit something, but instead of hitting an object he began spinning with the direction of the wind. Danny gasped and attempted to find his bearings but to no avail. The specter was being sucked into the vortex quicker than he could escape until finally his already blurry vision turned entirely bright, neon green.

(Author's Notes)

Hi guys! Welcome back to my imagination!

I hope that this first chapter was ok and it got you excited for the sequel to Dark Connections!

Hmm, uh yeah. I don't quite know what to say. X3 I'm on Spring Break this week so I want to get a few more chapters out. (But no promises ok? We know how I like to say things about updates...) Hopefully I'll talk to you guys some more later. :)

Only time I am saying this ~

I do NOT own Danny Phantom, Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, or American Dragon Jake Long. They belong to their rightful owners!