Exposed

Consuming Emergency Pancakes

Warnings: Language, violence, samxdanny hints ;)

Prologue:

Deep within the dimensional counterpart to earth floated a massive chunk of land. On the very summit of it rested an ancient palace. It remained magnificent, at least three hundred feet tall, despite its crumbling exterior. Broken stone littered the front courtyard, leading up to great carved doors. A ghost alighted here, looking up at the intricate doors in awe.

"At last," he breathed. This was the fruit of his labors: the digging through old tomes that had taken him years; the arduous journeys to the far-reaches of the Ghost Zone, through bitter ice and boiling heat; the dangerous missions to obtain scraps of information, wading through hordes of enemies, of guards. All for this. He clutched the map—painfully pieced together—tightly in his right hand, crinkling it. It was useless, anyway; he'd found the place it led to. His left held a far more important item—the crown that would unlock the doors in front of him.

It had taken days to find this place, days he'd mostly forgone rest or water or food. He removed the pack that contained the remains of his rations, setting it on the ground beside him. Gently, he cradled the crown in both hands, walking up to the doors. They truly were glorious—scenes of battle played out on them, bits of lore scattered throughout. The queen's coronation shone as the centerpiece.

He flew up to the queen's head and inserted the crown there, the piece of jewelry that had taken so very long to get. It was tarnished, its silvery color dulled. The gems positioned artfully at the front of the circlet still gleamed in the dim, green-ish light. The crown clicked into place, and the man flew back down as the doors creaked open; he was too tired to remain airborne for long.

As he took his first step inside the structure he'd been searching for, his footstep echoing off the walls of the grand entry hall, something buried deep in the dark bowels of the castle opened its eyes.

And smiled.

Chapter One: Consuming Emergency Pancakes

Danny was sound asleep before he heard the news. Snoring peacefully, if rather ungracefully. He'd been slumbering for maybe an hour—ghost fighting and homework the previous night, or earlier that morning, rather, had deprived him of some much-needed rest.

When Jazz burst into his room, frantically yelling "Danny!", he shot up and out of bed, landing in an unstable crouch. His eyes were half-lidded, his cheek flushed from where it had been on his pillow, his chin was shiny from the little trickle of drool.

"Where's the ghost?" he murmured, rubbing his eyes. He seemed to register the sight of Jazz before him, though, standing with her hands disapprovingly on her hips, and he straightened up, more coherent. "Jazz? What're you doing in my room at—" He glanced over to his clock. 5:02 AM. "—five in the freaking morning!" He looked back at her, his gaze accusing.

"Danny, right now we have bigger problems than your inability to obtain the proper amount of sleep required for a boy your age," Jazz chided.

"Oh great, a lecture on my sleeping habits," he muttered, "just what I need."

"Snap out of it! Your secret's out," she told him. His head snapped up, and his eyes went wide.

"What? What do you mean, it's out? How did Mom and Dad react?" Danny began to gesticulate wildly, pacing back and forth. His eyes acquired a green-ish sheen with his growing agitation. "Oh, no, I have to go to school today, and that'll be a nightmare! And the GIW could be on their way right now! I'll be locked up, experimented on for the rest of my life! And what will they do to Sam and Tucker? Or you or our parents? If you try and defend me, they'll probably hurt or kill you! I'll just have run awa—"