A/N: After a series of asks/conversations on Tumblr about "what would happen if Danny exited the portal and entered the Ghost Zone opposed to re-entering the human realm after the accident" - I decided to start a story for it, since a lot of interest in the concept was expressed! Not 100% sure where it's going yet, but I have plenty of ideas~ I hope you guys enjoy!

"Johnny! Look out!" Phantom called out, as a lizard like ghost shot towards them.

Johnny managed to dodge just in time as its tail came barreling towards them.

Phantom laughed as he looked over at Kitty, who was a little ways away.

"You guys are idiots!" She cried, while still maintaining her distance.

The lizard ghost let at a growl as he came after Phantom.

Phantom smiled as he began shooting ecto-beams at it, which it skillfully dodged. Phantom, however, took advantaged of the distraction and quickly turned invisible, only to reappear shortly after, and delivered a hard punch to the beast.

The ghost went flying back with a cry of frustration before it lunged back at the two ghost boys.

Johnny went to cast his shadow as the beast swung at Phantom. However, Phantom ducked last minute and the blow struck Johnny head on.

Kitty gasped as she watched as her boyfriend was sent tumbling backwards.

Phantom stood there stunned for a moment before releasing a series of attacks.

The beast growled, and dove at Phantom, but he capably dodged its attacks. Eventually, the beast grew weary of the obvious pointless battle, and decided to flee the area.

Phantom let out a sigh before quickly joining Kitty, who was hovering over Johnny.

"You okay dude?" Phantom questioned, seeing the ectoplasm dripping from both his nose and mouth.

Johnny nodded. "It's whatever, I've had worse."

Kitty scoffed. "What's wrong with you two? I told you guys if you kept this nonsense up someone was going to get hurt!"

"Relax. There's no fun in being a ghost if you don't get to use your powers here and there. Anyway, it was an accident, generally that wouldn't have been a problem." Phantom tried to reassure her.

She rolled her eyes.

Johnny got back on his feet and wiped away ectoplasm.

"We should be heading back. Since a few of us are getting together later I don't want to be running around trying to get things ready last minute." Kitty informed.

Phantom cocked his head curiously.

"You… you didn't tell him, did you Johnny?" Kitty glared over at her boyfriend.

Johnny rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Nah, I totally forgot."

Kitty let out a frustrated sigh before turning back to Phantom. "A group of us are getting together at our place. Ember is coming over along with Skulker, who apparently is her boyfriend now? Weird. Anyway, Technus will also be coming, but you've met those three before so it's cool." Kitty informed.

"Will there be others I haven't met?" Danny questioned.

"Yeah, actually, Desiree, Bertrand, and Spectra will also be joining us." Kitty responded.

"Oh. I think I've met Desiree before. The man-hater, right?" Phantom questioned with a laugh.

"Yep, that's her." Johnny confirmed with a scowl.

Phantom shrugged. "Yeah we never officially met though, I didn't want to bother her."

"Well, maybe we can put you two on okay terms then." Kitty said while they began to make their way back to hers and Johnny's lair. "I don't think you've ever met Bertrand or Spectra."

Phantom shook his head.

"Take what they say with a grain of salt; those two are leeches. I don't know why we're friends." Johnny said while eyeing Kitty who was giving him a dirty look.

Phantom laughed. "Okay, okay, calm down you two, it's all good."

They approached their lair door and made their way inside.

"Why are we all getting together though? I mean not that I mind, but it seems so out of the blue." Phantom asked as he leaned up against a beaten couch.

"To celebrate." Johnny answered, without thinking.

Kitty quickly turned around and wacked him with the back of her hand and a loud crack resounding through the room. "Johnny!"

"Ouch! Shit, sorry, I forgot!" He defended while caressing the spot she had hit.

"Celebrating? Celebrating what?" Phantom questioned while staring at Johnny who looked absolutely pathetic. She couldn't have hit him that hard.

"Ugh! I guess I have to tell you now." She glared over at her boyfriend before turning back to Phantom. "We are celebrating your 6 month anniversary. Surprise." She stated flatly with a dismissive wave.

"My 6 month anni- oh…" Phantom breathed out. The 6-month anniversary since he died. "Wow I can't believe it's been that long already."

"Yep!" Johnny hit him on the back. "Kitty likes any excuse to have people over though, so-"

Kitty rolled her eyes.

Phantom smiled. "I appreciate it, Kitty."

"Yeah, you better!" She turned to start getting some things organized.
Both Johnny and Phantom watched her walk away before Johnny placed a hand on Phantom's shoulder.

"You going to be okay?" He questioned quietly.

"What? Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Phantom responded.

"I mean, you really haven't talked about your death since you got here. Most ghosts don't openly speak of it, but usually newer ghosts need to, I don't know, vent it out at least once? I mean something awful had to have happened to land you in the Ghost Zone opposed to moving on." Johnny said.

Phantom was silent for a moment before shrugging. "It's whatever. Don't worry about me, dude. It's strange to see you that concerned." He responded with a chuckle.

Johnny put his hands up in mock surrender. "Fine, fine."

They were both quiet for a moment before Johnny turned to go aid Kitty. "You should go rest for a while, you look awful actually."

"Huh? Yeah, you're probably right." Phantom agreed. He was exhausted which, in all honestly, was pretty abnormal for a ghost. Phantom constantly felt like he was having his energy drained, even when he was doing nothing. Sometimes there were days he couldn't leave his lair; it would just take too much out of him. No one could explain why this was occurring and Phantom assumed it probably had to do with the accident.

Danny made his way out of Kitty and Johnny's place and over to his own, which was conveniently nearby. His lair was small, but everything he ever dreamed of. A lot resembled a planetarium; stars decorating the ceiling and walls. The furniture was a mixture of black and blues, and the lights could be changed from the typical bright white to dim blue tints. Bedding with a pattern of a galaxy was pushed back in to a cozy corner and a dark netting canopy hung above it. Replica planets glowed and floated about, giving the illusion you were walking in space. He kept his lair very personal, and very rarely had any guests over - exception of Johnny and Kitty who helped him establish it to begin with.

Danny plopped down on his bed haphazardly. Johnny and Kitty. They were some of the first ghosts to find him, unconscious, when he first arrived in the Ghost Zone. Danny originally freaked out on them, screaming for them to stay away. They were patient though, probably understanding how confusing it was to wake up in a totally different dimension. Once Kitty was able to calm him down, they explained where he was and broke the news to him that he was obviously… dead.

He was dead. It was such a strange concept to wrap your mind around. He constantly wondered what his friends and family dealt with after the accident. How did Sam and Tucker explain that to his parents? How did his parents explain that to the authorities? Did they recover his body? Was there even a body, or did they bury an empty casket? He rolled over and sighed. He missed them. He considered finding a natural portal, that some of the others spoke of, in attempt to access the human realm, but what would that gain? His parents were ghost hunters and, if anything, they'd try to destroy him. There was always Sam and Tucker though, but they have probably started to move on by now so he would just be reopening old wounds. Not to mention, it was probably a bit scary, the ghost of your dead bestfriend, coming back to say hey. Yeah, that's probably not a very good idea.

They say death is a lonely thing, and while he missed his friends and family greatly, Danny would disagree. Between Kitty, Johnny, and the various other ghosts they have introduced to him, Danny was surrounded by a lot of friendly specters and had a lot of allies and neutral acquaintances. Danny often times wondered what his life would have been like had he not been in the accident, however, he isn't complaining about his life now.

No… actually things were pretty good, for well, being dead and all.

Danny closed his eyes as the unnatural exhaustion overtook him.

"What do you think is wrong with it?" Tucker asked, staring in to emptiness of the portal.

Danny shrugged. "Who knows? Could be anything, really. Loose connection, a part installed incorrectly, or maybe it is just a concept that wasn't meant to ever truly work." Danny said while, too, staring in to the machine.

It was eerie and cold feeling, despite in not necessarily being cold in the lab.

"You know, they've been working on it so much, they're bound to look over things. You should give it a once over and see if you can catch anything." Sam suggested.

Danny sighed. It's true; they had been working on this for years. They're bound to overlook even the most obvious of things, just because they've become so familiar with it. It's like reading your own work; you've read it so many times you look over the mistakes.

Danny stood up and made his way over to the portal.

"Do you think that's a good idea? What if something happens?" Tucker questioned nervously.

"Nothing is going to happen, Tucker. It's not functional, and if Danny finds anything, he'll just tell his parents and they can handle it." Sam encouraged.

Danny smiled at Tucker. "She's right. I'll only be a minute." With that, he picked up a Hazmat suit that was thrown over a chair and slipped it on.

He slowly entered the portal, scanning the interior. Creepy. It was really… creepy, yet, really fascinating. His parents truly were geniuses. The work that went in to it, the design, the wiring and structure, it was all truly remarkable. Danny ran his hands over the walls, taking in the details. Nothing, so far, seemed out of place.

"I don't see anything g-" He stopped when he saw something on the other side.

He came a little closer before he burst out laughing. "Guys! You'll never believe this." He called out. "There's an on and off switch they forgot to hit. They based the design off the proto-portal, which was a stand-alone design, and the switch could be on the outside. They probably forgot they had to adjust the power function so that it was inside the portal, since this is structured in to the wall."

Sam laughed. "Told you you'd find something. With all the work your parents put in to it, I couldn't imagine it 'just not working'."

Danny turned to leave when he got a glimpse of something on the ground. He let out a sigh as he realized it was a wrench. He rolled his eyes as he walked over to pick it up. Obviously his father's doing, who just leaves tools in side giant machines? Danny turned back around, now ready to exit, when his foot got caught on one of the cords running through the portal. Danny gasped as he dropped the wrench and fell forward. Instinctively his hands shot out in front of him, to break his fall. His right hand made contact with the wall and there was a click as he hit the ground.

A click? Shit.

There was a low humming, as the unnerving sound of a machine starting up filled the lab. Lights blinked on and Danny barely made it to his feet before-

There was a bright flash of light and a loud shriek filled the air.

Electricity shot through him as his skin burned, and his eyes began to bleed. He couldn't hear his voice, but he was sure he was screaming. It was agonizing beyond what he thought was possible. It felt like every inch of himself, down to the smallest molecules, was put in to a blender and torn apart. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, it felt like the world dropped out from under his feet. He was weightless, pain free, and he opened his eyes to find he was surrounded by nothing. Absolutely nothing, like a void. No, this wasn't right. He felt comfort, but this wasn't right. He could barely think as he clawed mindlessly at the nothingness that surrounded him, desperate to break free. He felt something tear at him and then, like the force of being thrown from a car, he made impact with a physical form. He was dazed as colors were dancing all around him. He turned in circles several times, trying to regain his bearings. No longer being in a blinding amount of pain, he finally walked forward and out of the portal.

Out of the portal and in to the Ghost Zone.