Portals

Contacted

Danny dropped three tubs of nachos on the table, grinning like an idiot. "Who's hungry?"

Howard grabbed two of them and smashed his face into one. Randy stared at the orange-haired boy in surprise and disgust. "One of those is mine, Howard!"

When he tried to pry it free of his hands, Howard raised his cheese-covered chin and hissed. Like a rabid raccoon.

Danny gave Howard an odd look. "Okay. Randy, you can just have mine."

"That's not fair, you were the one that was hungry."

"It's okay," Danny winked and reached under the table. His hand fazed through and lifted the tub without Howard noticing, and the nachos floated back in front of the half-ghost.

Randy shook his head as Danny popped a chip into his mouth. "Still creepy."

"S'ill awesome," Danny replied through a full mouth. He swallowed and pressed his hands to the table, then winced and peeled them off, wiping the goo off on his jeans. "This place is disgusting. I can't believe you two eat here every day."

Randy shrugged. "Well, it is the school cafeteria."

Howard used the back of his sleeve to get the cheese off his cheek, leaving an orang smear on the blue fabric. "Now we know a shoob who can turn invisible, fly, and get us nachos from the Game Hole whenever we want."

"Yeah," Danny nodded. "Speaking of, you two owe me three fifty. Cough up."

Howard glanced at Randy, who sighed and pressed a five dollar bill to the table. "Keep the change. I guarantee this shoob will want a drink later."

"Right." Danny snatched up the cash as something in Randy's bag warbled. The half-ghost frowned. "What was that?"

Randy struggled with the clip of his satchel. "The Nomicon. I'll just see what it wants."

The massive book of Ninja wisdom and Ghost Writer power warbled again just as Randy dropped it onto the foldout table. It glowed the sickly neon green of Danny's plasma beams. But the half-ghost could've sworn that it was red before.

"Danny, make sure Howard doesn't try anything." The Ninja gripped the front cover, nodding at him. "If I wake up again with a permanent marker mustache again—"

Danny saluted. "Yessir."

Randy nodded, then opened the Ninjanomicon. Or tried to. He blinked in surprise, then tried again. Nothing. The book made its strange call again, flashing green. Danny could have sworn the light was focused on him.

"What the juice?" Randy muttered, rapping his knuckles on the cover. "I think it's broken."

"No, no it's not." Danny pried the book from Randy's hands and pulled it in front of him. "It just doesn't want you." The book glowed even brighter as the half-ghost pressed a palm against its cover. "It wants me."

"What the juice?" Howard grumbled. "Now it can want people? I hate that book."

Randy nodded at Danny. "I got you covered for the shloop, go on."

Danny smiled and opened the Nomicon. The world faded to black.

"Danny? Danny! Can you hear me?"

The half-ghost groaned and opened his eyes. "Tucker?"

"Danny!"

He found himself sitting on a small rock platform.  The green mist of the Ghost Zone swirled around him. A few tiny scribbles tugged at the tops of his boots. Wait. He had gone ghost somehow.

And the MicroSpeeder was hovering in front of him, a wide-eyed Tucker inside.

The half-ghost sprang to his feet, grinning like an idiot. "No way."

"I told you I felt him." Clockwork's voice echoed from behind Danny. The time ghost drifted forward, glancing at the boy. "Are you all right, son?"

"Yes, I'm fine, I'm better than fine. The portal lead to another dimension that was full of people like you, Tuck, and there's this kid who's also a superhero, but no one knows it—" Danny paused. "But I still can't find a way back. The creature who made the portal that sucked me through is evil. It wouldn't open one just so I could hop back."

"B-but," Tuck stammered, "aren't you here now?"

"Huh? Maybe." Danny glanced at his gloved palms. They seemed solid enough. He reached out to take Clockwork's hand.

And missed.

Well, not so much missed as fazed right through. Both ghosts frowned and tried again only to get the same result.

Tucker pressed his hands to the Speeder's windshield. "Danny, stop screwing around. Sam will be so happy to hear that you're back."

"I'm not doing this on purpose," Danny grunted, at last just trying to press his hand against Clockwork's. It slid through the time ghost's hand up to the wrist. "I— I'm not really here."

"Then how is this possible?"

Danny snapped his fingers. "The Nomicon."

This time it was Clockwork that frowned. "What?"

"I found the missing Ghost Writer journal. It got sucked through the portal and ended up in the dimension I told you I'm in. Randy and his friend Howard have it, and it's doing a lot of good in their world." He shrugged. "Like a snarkier Frostbite. Anyways, I think it's a weak portal here."

"That makes sense. I never did know what realm this was." Clockwork stared behind Danny.

Phantom spun. There was a massive shogun temple behind him, words dancing through the eerie parchment walls. He blinked. So this was the world of the Nomicon. Oddly, he wasn't surprised.

Danny felt his whole body shake. He grunted.

"What is it?"

"I told you, Tuck, it's just a weak portal. I'm getting pulled back." The weird vibration started again and his eyes widened as his legs started to fade away. "I'll be back as soon as the Nomicon lets me. Bring Sam next time, I want to talk to her. And Tuck, I need you to—"

Danny's chest felt crushed, and he gasped for air. His eyes shot open and he was back in the cafeteria. "Aw, crap. I wanted to get Tuck and Clockwork to start building a permanent portal here."

"I... don't what that means," Howard announced.

"You won't get it," Danny muttered. He rubbed under his nose, then jumped when it came back wet. "What the— you said you wouldn't draw on my face!"

Randy capped the whiteboard marker, smirking. "I said I wouldn't do it in permanent ink."

"That's so not fair. I—"

Howard raised a finger. "Hey Danny, can you go get me a McFizzie from the Game Hole? I'll pay you back. Cunningham, pay the weird ghost kid back."

Danny slammed his forehead on the table twice.