Chapter 37

Chapter 37: "Press the Glowy Button, They Said. It'll Be Fine, They Said."

In which I break every lab safety rule, accidentally unlock my ghost powers, and Naruto forgets to warn me about spontaneous DNA rewiring.

So, remember how some kids get bikes or game consoles from their parents?

Yeah. Mine built a gateway to another dimension.

To be fair, it wasn't like Jack and Maddie Fenton woke up one morning, stretched, and said, "Let's casually rip a hole in reality today." No, this had been years in the making. The big project. The Holy Grail of ghost science. And now… it was alive. Literally. Glowing green, humming like an angry toaster, and sparking with the kind of energy that made your hair stand on end—especially if you had ghost-sensitive hair. (Which, fun fact: I do.)

I stood in the middle of our lab-turned-sci-fi-battleship, staring at the completed Ghost Portal, and thought: Well, this is going to go terribly wrong at some point.

My parents were bouncing with pride. Mom was grinning like she'd just won the Nobel Prize and Dad looked like he wanted to high-five the universe. And maybe tackle it. They'd been at this for so long that I almost forgot they were building something that could theoretically collapse reality if someone sneezed too hard near it.

They called it "the ultimate solution." The plan was simple(ish): if a ghost showed up uninvited—which happened more often than I'd like—we wouldn't have to punch it into submission anymore. Nope. We'd yeet it back through the portal and lock the door behind it. Ghost problem solved.

On paper, it sounded genius. In practice? Well… have you ever built a laser-guided ghost funnel and hoped it didn't explode?

Didn't think so.

Naruto—yes, that Naruto, still living rent-free in my head—actually agreed with the whole plan. He called it "strategic containment" and said his world had something similar called the Demon World Gate. Apparently, if demons couldn't just pop up anywhere like surprise party guests, it was easier to plan, defend, and you know, not die. Logical, I guess.

"I like your folks' thinking," Naruto said in my mind. "Focus the enemy's entry point, and you control the battlefield. It's exactly what we did with the Demon Gate. Until it broke. Then things got… messy."

He trailed off after that, probably remembering a time when a six-headed snake demon tried to eat him or something.

I glanced at the portal again. It pulsed like a heartbeat, the green light reflecting in my eyes. There was something surreal about it. This wasn't just a machine. It was a line in the sand. A glowing, buzzing, probably haunted line. From now on, nothing would be the same.

Ghosts were already real. But now? Now they had a front door.

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You'd think that after building a door to Ghostville, my parents would take a breather. Maybe a vacation. Disney World? Bahamas? Nope. The Fenton way of relaxing is throwing a party so loud that even the ghosts probably heard it and RSVP'd from the other side.

I'll admit, the party wasn't bad. We had cake (green icing, obviously), ghost-shaped cookies, Fenton merchandise at every table, and one guy from the EPA who looked like he wanted to arrest us just for existing. Even Jazz cracked a smile—and she's basically allergic to fun if there isn't a thesis attached to it.

Mom kept walking around with this proud sparkle in her eye like she'd just cured cancer and invented hoverboards. Dad? He nearly hugged the mayor to death. Literally. We had to pry the man out of his arms before he suffocated in Jack Fenton's "victory snuggle."

People clinked glasses. Toasted "to the future of ghost science!" Some nerd from Wisconsin tried to dance with a floating vacuum cleaner. I may or may not have encouraged that. (Okay, I definitely did.)

But as the night wore on and the punch ran dry, the music got quieter. One by one, the guests dozed off—curled up on couches, camped out in sleeping bags, or passed out face-first in the snack bowls. Even Jazz went to bed early, muttering something about brainwaves and REM cycles.

Eventually, only the hum of the Ghost Portal remained.

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Let me just start by saying: I wasn't trying to become a half-dead, glowing superhero that night.

I mean, sure, I was wandering around the lab like I was in some coming-of-age sci-fi movie, wearing a suit that looked like Gabumon from Digimon had a baby with a high-end ninja exosuit—but I was mostly just curious. Also maybe a little bored. Okay, and yeah, maybe part of me thought I'd unlock some hidden cheat code to life by poking around where I wasn't supposed to.

Spoiler alert: I did.

The lab was quiet, eerie even. The Ghost Portal stood there like some sleek, glowing beast—part sci-fi monolith, part ancient magic. The hum it gave off wasn't loud, but it felt loud in my bones. Like it was vibrating at the same frequency as fate. Or indigestion.

Then Naruto spoke in my head, because of course he did. "It is time for you to unlock your potential and fully enter the new world."

Not ominous at all.

Still, I couldn't argue with the guy. He'd helped me survive sparring with ghosts, fighting Dash, and working retail—all in one week. If he said I was ready, I had to believe him.

I stepped closer to the portal. My suit—Naruto's upgraded version of Mom's original Ghost Tech Armor—moved with me like it was part of my skin. Smooth, blue-gray armor plates. Pulsing chakra circuits. Built-in sensors. Probably could make toast too, but I hadn't figured that out yet.

Then I saw it.

The button.

Inside the portal.

Because of course Dad had designed it like a comic book villain would—completely impractical and potentially deadly. I leaned in for a closer look, muttering, "No way this is OSHA approved."

My gloved fingers brushed the button.

Click.

The room exploded in green light.

And then—

WHOOOOOOOSH.

Energy. So. Much. Energy.

It hit me like a freight train made of electricity and ghost plasma. My body locked up. I couldn't scream, couldn't move—just float as my atoms got a wake-up call from another dimension.

I saw my skeleton. Like, saw it. Glowing neon blue against a field of blinding light. My skin phased out. My eyes went white. For one horrifying second, I thought I was dead.

Then Naruto's voice cut through the chaos.

"Stay calm. Your body is syncing with the Yin energy. This is your metamorphosis."

Oh. Coolcoolcool—just syncing with literal spiritual energy from another plane of existence. No big deal.

And then... everything clicked.

The energy stopped hurting. Instead, it flowed through me. My chest glowed with a bright neon D-symbol. My hands pulsed with raw power. My senses exploded—I could hear everything, from the hum of a nearby lamp to the rustling grass outside. The world felt sharper. Clearer. Mine.

I dropped to my knees, panting.

I looked at my reflection in the smooth surface of the portal.

Hair: snow white.

Eyes: radioactive green.

Aura: ghost ninja superhero realness.

And yeah, I looked awesome.

I didn't feel human. But I didn't feel dead either.

I felt... like something new.

"Danny Fenton," Naruto said in my mind, with the kind of pride your older brother gives you when you finally beat him at Mario Kart. "Welcome to your second life."

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Hovering in midair was not something they prepared you for in health class.

I mean, I've had weird days—almost broke my nose on Dash's elbow, and once got stuck in a garbage chute during freshman orientation. But this? This was next-level weird.

I wasn't standing. I wasn't sitting. I wasn't falling. I was just... there. Floating. The way a soap bubble hangs in the air before popping—except I was the bubble, and I had no plans to pop.

Below me, the portal buzzed like it had just finished baking a brand-new superhero. Or ghost. Or whatever I was now.

From somewhere up in the shadows of the lab, I heard a low whistle.

"Not bad," Naruto said, floating effortlessly beside me like he did this every day. Which, knowing him, he probably did.

He was watching me with this weird combo of curiosity and pride, like I was a science fair project that accidentally came to life and built a jetpack.

"You're not fully human anymore," he said casually. "Yin energy has altered your entire spiritual makeup."

"Cool-cool-cool," I replied, my voice echoing slightly like I had a built-in reverb effect now. "So… like, am I dead or—?"

"You're a halfling," Naruto explained. "Part ghost. Part human. And all headache for anyone who tries to mess with you."

I blinked. Which is harder than it sounds when your eyes are glowing like twin neon highlighters.

"Wait. Did you say ghost? Like, boooo-I'm-haunting-your-sock-drawer ghost?"

Naruto just smirked. "Try walking through that wall."

"Excuse me?"

"Wall. Walk through it. Go on."

Look, normally I would've said something sarcastic like "Do I look like a magician?" but seeing as I was already floating, I figured I might as well roll with it. I aimed myself at the nearest wall, braced for impact, and... didn't hit anything.

Instead, I phased right through it like I was made of mist.

"WHAT—" I spun around midair, nearly screaming as I zipped back into the lab. "Okay. Okay. That was—Did I just—That was a WALL. And I phased through it."

"Intangibility," Naruto nodded, arms crossed. "Standard ghost ability. You'll get used to it."

"Used to it? I WALKED THROUGH A WALL, man!"

But before I could spiral too far into an identity crisis, Naruto raised a hand and pointed to the workbench. "Try lifting that wrench. But don't touch it."

"How do I—"

"You'll know."

I floated toward the workbench, focused on the wrench... and felt something inside me shift. A pulse. Like grabbing something with invisible hands. The wrench rose slowly, wobbling in the air.

"Oh-ho-ho. Telekinesis. Sweet."

"You're barely scratching the surface," Naruto said, circling around me like he was checking my stats menu. "Fear induction, illusions, mind tricks, possession—"

"Possession?"

"Don't try that one without my supervision."

Fair.

As he listed each new ability like I'd unlocked a downloadable content pack, I could feel it. This wasn't just about cool powers. There was something bigger inside me now. Like the energy buzzing in my cells was alive, ready to shape itself based on what I felt—what I wanted.

Naruto drifted closer, tone softening. "These gifts come with responsibility, Danny. Power like this is rare in your world. And dangerous if misused."

"So… great power, great responsibility?" I said.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I think I've heard that somewhere."

I laughed, but deep down, I was already thinking ahead. This wasn't just a freak lab accident. It was a turning point. The lab, the portal, Naruto—it had all led here.

I wasn't just Danny Fenton anymore.

I was something new. Something stronger.