Chapter 18: Hunters Horde

The return trip was quick, and surprisingly quiet. While he may not be the most… attentive person around, it was pretty easy to see the tension between his parents and uncle. A few theories came to mind, and after recounting the days to when it all started, discomfort blossomed in his stomach.

The day after the party was when this all started. And Vlad had said that he talked to his parents about the high levels of ectoplasm in his body. Putting two and two together, it didn't take long for him to figure out that, whatever the secret was, it caused the relationship between his parents and uncle to be strained.

Putting it mildly.

The discomfort grew on the silent ride home, neither his mother or father speaking the whole time. Jazz was quick to pick up on it, having spent so long studying psychology, it was no wonder. And while Danny really, really wanted to try and get his parents back to normal… whatever it was that had happened to him, they had something to do with it.

And his discomfort intensified.

Once home, Danny immediately wanted to just jump right into his task and get it over with. His parents immediately locking themselves in the basement made searching for results there moot, and the attic held nothing either. The ghosts practically surrounding the city limits sure did derail the idea of searching some more though. His ghost sense had been going off nonstop, from before they arrived at the city limits, to even now. From every direction, he could feel the pull, and it rattled his nerves.

Still, with the attic and storage closets empty of his answer, and his nerves reaching the breaking point, Danny decided that it was time to take a look. With just a thermos, he transformed in his room and flew out through the roof.

The flight over was short, most likely because of his high speed. While in Wisconsin, he had clocked his top speed at just over ninety miles per hour, something that made his pride swell. Not even fifteen, and already one of the fastest people on the planet. Then his uncle trumped him at well over two-hundred, and while it was discouraging, it also gave him something to look forward to.

"Wha-" His own words got caught on his tongue, unable to really process what he was seeing. "What in the actual fuck!" Quite literally, a horde of ghosts were just barely being kept out of the town province. Clawing, biting, and occasionally blasting at the barrier, the undead monsters roared and howled in frustration. Their goal was right in sight, and unable to get in, they mobbed the invisible barrier. Up in the air, mostly avians and other winged specters flew up, attempting to get in through the sky. Another nail in the theory that, even though they all can fly, the ghosts stick with what was the norm for them in life… if they even had a life. A giant spike ball rolling pointlessly against the shield like a tire made him question how something like that could have been alive at one point.

Ghosts of all shapes and sizes corral around the borders, futilely attacking in a blind hope to get to the portal. "Fuuuuuuck!" He grabbed his head with his hands, "Damn it Desiree! You said there'd be a lot, not a fucking monster horde!" Then his eyes landed on the cracks, starting from the bottom, and a few growing tall and over the trees. Anger is replaced by worry, the constraints of time suddenly feeling much tighter.

The barrier is going to fall. Soon.

Even though he has other things he wants and needs to do, and he's sure that Desiree has other things to do… maybe, she is a ghost after all. It's not entirely clear what they do on their off time. Still, he has to find her and catch up on what's been going on. But how the hell is he supposed to find her?

Just to make sure, Danny flies around the entirety of the barriers border. The forested areas have the higher population of undead, and strangely enough, the streets going in and out of town are bare of any ghosts. And to his horrified dismay, there's easily over one-hundred ghosts. Honestly, he stopped counting after that. There are areas that seem void of the things, but the entirety of the almost three-hundred square miles of Amity Park is surrounded in sparse groups.

What a fucking pain in the ass.

Having felt he had scouted enough, and knowing that the longer he waited, the worse it would get, Danny took off back towards Amity. He needs to find Desiree and ask her what the hell is going on. Along the way, Danny racks his mind over all the places that he could find the wishing ghost. "Where would I go if I wanted to make a wish?" The quiet autumn air in a smallish town let him think in peace in his travel.

He relished the peace, because soon it was going to be anything but.

Wells, fountains, and churches are the main choices for wishes. Rather, they're the only ones the fourteen year old can come up with. There aren't any high value tourist spots in Amity Park that people would visit and wish at. The whole town is just… plain. Ignoring the hordes of undead that await just outside the city limits, of course.

First is wells. It's the twenty-first century, people don't use those anymore. Danny's pretty sure the town is old enough that it once used wells, probably, but in this day and age, there are no more traditional wells. Unless someone lives out in a cabin in the woods, there's not going to be any wells, and Danny knows Desiree would choose someplace popular for maximum quantity.

Fountains. There are… five that he can think of on the top of his head. "Two in the park, one in the mall, one downtown, and another by one of the churches." Seeing as he's closer to the mall at this point, that'll be the first stop. Downtown will be after, and the park following that. The churches can be done along the way or after.

The mall's a bust, disappointingly so. As is the one downtown, and while there he stopped at a few churches and tried anyway. That didn't work, and now he finds himself at the park. With Desiree nowhere in sight, eventually he gives up and wings it, making a wish at one of the two fountains. "I wish Desiree was here."

Honestly, he was kind of expecting her to show up immediately. After two minutes of nothing however, his head droops down in disappointment. "Damn it. I was really hoping that'd of-"

"So you have wished it, so it shall be." The alluring voice caught his attention, but what made him jump in shock was that it came right from his ear.

"Ahhh!" Danny twirled around in shock, ectoplasm pulsing in his hands and ready to retaliate if need be. He calms immediately at the sight of her, and the quickly vanishing pink and purple smoke is the only evidence of her sudden arrival.

Desiree chuckled in amusement, a hand covering her mouth in a vain attempt to subside the giggles. She doesn't even register that Danny was seconds away from blasting her, or perhaps she doesn't care enough.

It doesn't take a genius to notice the good mood Desiree has going for her. Danny's a little taken aback, her attitude so relaxed and nonchalaunt compared to when he first met her. "Uh, hey Desiree. Nice to see you again."

The wishing ghosts smiles sweetly at the teenager, "And it is good to see you too, Phantom. How was your vacation?"

Phantom perks up immediately, earlier worries momentarily gone. "Oh, it was great! I had an awesome time, and I even got a teacher to help me with my powers!"

The genie ghost raised an eyebrow at the ghost child in part amusement, and part curiosity. Teacher? For his powers? "What do you mean a teacher?"

Nonplussed by the question, he continues. "Oh yeah. So, my situation is a little- uh- different than most ghosts. I'm-" He paused in though, swiveling his head to take in the area. The throngs of people staring at the ghostly duo immediately notify him that discussing private affairs here isn't wise. "Actually, I wish we were somewhere more private."

The ever so accustomed smirk that never seemed to leave her, grew in glee. "So you have wished it," pink and purple smoke surrounded the both of them, "and so it shall be." Even with the use of her power, the act of granting a wish filled her with a different kind of empowerment. Her overall strength increased, albeit slightly, with the finishing of the wish.

The surroundings changed instantly, and it doesn't take Danny long to realize that they're at least ten thousand feet up. "How's this for private?" Desiree smugly asked.

In a chuckle, Danny jovial answers: "Oh, this works."

While tapping on his thighs, the young half-ghost thinks over what he wants to tell the genie. Since she's the first ghost to be cooperative, and non-violent, Danny feels he should be honest with her. At least to a certain extent. "Okay," he begins, "so, I'm a Halfa."

"And…?" As if she would know what that means when she's been trapped in a bottle for the last few centuries.

"Uh… honestly, everyone I've told that to so far has kinda known what it is, but putting it bluntly, I'm half-human and half-ghost." Then again, Skulker's the one that told him, Box Ghost may or may not know, and Vlad is the only other Halfa there is.

Now that was news. While she had spent a majority of her miserable afterlife in a bottle, even from such archaic times, the idea of something being both alive and dead was an inconceivable topic. Naturally, her curiosity spiked, "Really? How does that work?" She circled around him, newfound interest causing the young teenager to blush under the scrutinizing gaze.

Hesitantly, more so because she's a beautiful woman, than out of nervousness, he replies: "Uh- not sure. It just does. But, I found another Halfa, the only other one really, and he's helped me train and get a handle on how to use my powers."

Danny struts his stuff, making a hero pose with his hands on his hips, "You're looking at the new and improved, Danny Phantom! Vlad helped me so much, that I'm set for, like, the next year on how to handle my powers!" As an after that, he quickly adds, "And I'm probably good after that as well, for a while at least."

Half-human and half-ghost. The mere assumption that something can be alive and dead at the same time is so ludicrous that it makes her want to laugh. But this young man before her, Danny Phantom, is truly a fourteen year old, skewed innocence and all. As her savior and curse-breaker, Desiree feels an obligation to take his word at face value, no matter how ridiculous. "That's good, Phantom. Could you show me how you're a half-ghost?"

Although a little taken off guard by the question, for his one actual ghost friend, Danny feels like it's a fair question. "Sure thing. It's just… uh- you're gonna have to carry me. I'm still not that good at flying in my human form."

She complies and floats closer to the… half-ghost. That'll take some getting used to. As an added tease, she disappears from sight, confusing him. Danny yelps in aroused embarrassment, confusion and shock when her arms snake around his chest from behind. "De- Desiree! Couldn't you do this- I dunno, the normal way?"

When she pulls him closer, absolutely inflaming the green blush on his face at the feeling on his back, she whispers in his ear: "And miss out on teasing you? I think not."

"Wh-" The complaint dies on his tongue immediately. Honestly, it's quite comfortable anyway, and how many teenagers can say they've been in this situation before? "Fine. Pay attention, okay? I'm gonna transform."

The ectoplasm fades immediately, and while she doesn't struggle at all with the increased weight, Desiree is surprised at the drastic change that happens to the teenager. Effortlessly, she holds Danny out to further inspect him. The blush fades slightly at her scrutinizing gaze. Snow white, gone for midnight black. Those powerful acid green eyes, replaced with startlingly beautiful cerulean eyes. He's a tad bit more tan, but aside from the much more human clothes, they're completely identical.

Eventually she nods after turning him around a few times, "I'd say you're quite handsome in both forms. What do you go by as a human?"

Happy with the praise, Danny's quick to respond. "I'm Danny Fenton as a human, and Danny Phantom as a ghost." Seeing her incredulous look, Fenton sniggers at the expression on her face. It's all too easy to tell what she's thinking, "Just so you know, no one's figured it out." She's quick to note that, like his Phantom form, his Fenton form has elongated canines as well.

Danny's transformation back to Phantom passes in the blink of an eye, letting him freely float from her grasp. Though as a hormonal teenager, he's quick to miss it. If only he had someone else to talk about this stuff to, or rather, to brag to. This doesn't happen to most fourteen year-olds.

After getting the laughs out of herself, Desiree says: "Well, if it works for you. Though the denizens of this town seem to be rather slow on the uptake."

The flash of a memory passes through his mind, one of a newspaper three weeks old, "That's not even the worst!" He starts, "I've told my name to a few people, even a reporter at one point, and you know what they call me? Still?"

Danny rapidly replies to his own rhetorical question, "Inviso-Bill!" He hissed in disgust, and actually spat, as if to get the taste of the name out of his mouth.

"Aha!" She snorts, "The people of this age have no taste or forethought." Desiree waves her hand dismissively, "Do not mind it though, they'll probably figure it out eventually."

While his mood is lifted, and his anxiety lessened, he did come here with a purpose. And it's rather urgent. When her laughter finally dies down, Danny's quick to ask. "Hey, uh, what's with all the ghosts? I thought you said there'd be a lot."

His hands wave over the edges of the town, "Not an army. There's seriously a shit ton of the things."

Desiree scowled the grin into something more reminiscent of a frown. She's happy to comply, especially since she's been given her true freedom, but she's not happy to be the bearer of bad news for the boy who freed her. "I apologize for that Phantom. I seriously underestimated the supernatural attraction this area had. They've been coming in droves, and the barrier's going to fall soon. Maybe four or five days." While her and Phantom could ignore the call, the mindless couldn't, and they've been coming in droves.

A sigh escapes his lips before he realizes it, "It's fine, I'm not mad about it. I was just expecting something different." He rolls his shoulders to stretch his muscles, "Did anything else happen while I was gone?"

The wishing ghost puts a slender finger to her chin, tapping it thoughtfully. "There was a break in." She snaps her finger in remembrance, "A female ghost came out of the portal, one strong enough to get through my barrier."

Feeling a tad more nervous now, Phantom hesitantly asks, "And when was this?"

"It was a day after you left. Honestly, because of that hole she made, that's why the barrier is going to fall so soon." She shakes her head in annoyance, "She has long blue hair, but that's all I could see by the time I made it over there. She was riding on something strange though, and I haven't seen any sign of her since."

A day after he left? So a ghost was on the loose and… it hadn't done anything at all. His shoulders relax as tension leaves, "Well, if she hasn't done anything so far, I doubt it matters at this point."

With business out of the way, Danny smiles at her. "How's it been going with you? Enjoying a curse-free li- er, afterlife?"

Desiree is immediately over the moon in an almost bubbly happiness, a stark contrast to when he first met her. "Oh, it's been wonderful! I haven't felt so free and unrestrained in centuries!" She's quick to hug the young man, much to his embarrassment and joy.

She continues while holding him, "I've been able to grant as many wishes as I want, and screw over so many people without having to worry about the sleazy sapıklar trying to twist my powers against me." Desiree stares down at the young man in respect, "Truly, thank you Phantom. It's thanks to you that I'm free."

Danny blushes green from the praise, "It's alright Des, anyone with half of a moral compass should have done it. And call me Danny, you don't have to be so formal since we're friends."

Although taken aback by the declaration, it warms her core to hear such a thing. It's been years since she's had a friend, or rather, maybe since she died. Even in life, being so heavily involved in the political scene didn't leave so many options in that department. Her harem sisters were the closest thing, but given her goals at the time, that possibility was pushed away.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I appreciate it Danny. I really do." And the endearing nickname is such a stark, informal change to how it normally is for her, that she finds it refreshing and sweet.

If only he was older. With a happy sigh, she releases Danny from her clutches, letting him float away with a smile.

"Well," the half ghost said with a gleam, "If that's everything, I've got stuff to do, and I don't wanna keep you all day."

As he starts to float away, Desiree calls out to him. "Danny, wait!"

His attention refocuses on her completely, "Yeah? What's up?"

"I wanted to warn you in advance." Really, she was starting to hate giving the young man such bad news. "The ghosts outside, while weak and kept out, have been feeding off the ectoplasm leaking from here. They will be stronger than they seem."

Danny groans in frustration, and while the idea of a good fight does excite him a little bit, this just adds onto the already gigantic shit show he's going to have to clean up. If all of them had been getting buff this whole time, then this scenario just got even more annoying.

And so, while both frustrated and filled with nervous anticipation, Danny waves his only ghost friend goodbye.

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Through the infinite green void of the Ghost Zone, the metal hunter made his way. His armor was repaired, upgraded and ready for combat. His lair: hidden and on the move, the older Halfa wouldn't be finding him anytime soon. And there was no assuming that Plasmius wouldn't find out about the only other of his kind, it was just a matter of time. The man was impressively resourceful, no doubt thanks to his astounding wealth and enormous power.

Not that he'd need anymore time. Skulker was confident in his ability to hunt the Halfa with his new upgrades. He wouldn't need much more time, just a few more days. As the metal huntsman neared his destination, he methodically anticipated the hunt.

While his pride was hurt in the costly loss against the half-ghost, it was so absolutely thrilling. He couldn't describe the stimulation received from hunting one so powerful, because even young, it's clear the whelp had it in abundance. Not nearly as much as Plasmius, that was a thorough decimation that the blob barely got away from. That wasn't even fun, there was no chance. The older Halfa obliterated him completely, and that made it even more imperative that he finish the hunt and claim his prize.

The pelt of a Halfa, maybe even both, would hang on his mantle. It was only a matter of time.

Imagine his surprise when at his arrival to the Fenton portal, that there's a barrier there.

"What is this?!" He snarled, "Who dares to stop the hunt?!" Undead metal pounded against the purple barrier blocking entrance to his grind. It made a strange plopping sound, like a smack on wet clay.

Fingers ground against the magical energy, sparking slightly, but the hunter was experienced in patience. It served him well to reign in his anger, and it wouldn't do to let his extreme annoyance at the current situation cloud his judgement. A small instrument opened up on his arm, red lights scanning the barrier up and down.

Moments later, Skulker's alloyed face grinned maliciously. He's in luck, someone fairly powerful had already broken the barrier, and while it's been repaired… cracks still remained. Cracks he could exploit.

His right arm morphed, fingers contorting and joining together to form a laser. The thumb acted as a laser-designated guide, allowing him to aim with precision. The four other fingers began turning, the tips emitting a dangerous glow. The light coalesced into a focal point, and the short range breaching laser fired into the shield.

Had he not been in the Zone, the two hours spent splicing into the barrier would have left his suit drained. Luckily, the dimension of energy was constantly fueling his tech. Eventually, the barrier cracked enough for the hunter to force his way in.

Turning invisible immediately upon arrival in the human world, Skulker is quick to look for his prey. Ignoring the two arguing ghost hunters, he phases through the ceiling. He found the bedroom of the young Halfa empty. Fine with that, the huntsman leaves the abode of the scientists.

It's when he's rocketed himself at least five-thousand feet into the air that his sensors pick up activity. A lot of activity. As in, the entire town is barren of ghosts, but the outer limits…

Are absolutely crawling with ghosts.

A quick fly-by around the perimeter of the town was enough for him to determine the modicum of the situation. The barrier has been holding ghosts back for… a while, at least. A verifiable invasion was going to commence soon, and presumably, the Halfa was out making preparations for it.

"Good." He sneered, "Bait is always best live." Though technically, they're all dead.

With a final laugh in victory, Skulker launched back from whence he came. While it was possible to break the barrier with his equipment now, he'd have no energy left to fight his prey.

The hunt was on, and with such a good distraction, it should be a synch to snag that pelt he desires.

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It's not until the next day that Danny's ready, set, and good to go. The previous day was chock full of preparations, and this… war isn't going to be won on powers alone. Vlad had drilled into him the necessity to have back-up plans. So Fenton Thermoses, four to be exact, a few Containment Cubes, and those wrist rays were the bulk of his armory. All courtesy of his parents of course, whether they knew it or not.

There were a few Fenton 'Nades that his dad had made as well, and based on the name, it was easy to figure out what they should do. Should, being the key word here, as instead of blowing up like its M67 military counterpart, all it did was cast around a large goopy pile of ectoplasm.

And while his parents had dubbed it a failure, Danny saw value in it. Stray memories of his first ghost encounter, of how the rat ghost was chewing on an ectoplasm contaminated tree. Ghosts were attracted to the liquid of the afterlife, and what he had secured in his backpack were lures. If, at any point he gets overwhelmed… more overwhelmed than he's used to at least, he can use one to distract a fair chunk of the things. Or, they could be used to bait a trap. Like on the Containment Cube.

Where his parents saw failures, he saw opportunities. The Thermos has easily been the most useful tool in ghost fighting yet, and that was, as his father put it, "A colossal disappointment." Oh well, one man's trash is another man's treasure. He still has no idea why they made so many of the things if the thermos was considered a failure. Did they just mass produce it on the assumption that it would work?

Just as noon came around, with his lunch secured in his backpack, Danny was preparing to leave to battle. That made him sound like some kind of Greece spartan, and he was fine with that. It sounded cool in his head, and it sounded even cooler when he said it out loud too. All of the equipment was packed, he had core snacks that were quickly dwindling, and he's psyched himself up enough.

He has powers, a lot of them, and he knows how to use them. He has equipment, a variety of it, and some of it could save his hide in a pinch. And he has methods to heal himself… mostly, so long as his head doesn't leave his shoulders. Danny can safely say that he's good to go.

Then his phone rang. Groaning at the inconvenience, Danny reluctantly picked it out of his pocket, flipped it once, and unlocked it.

Tucker.

Danny pinched the bridge of his nose; this was not the time. There's literally hordes of shit to do, as in, hordes of ghosts to slay, and he really couldn't afford to dilly-dally.

Another ring.

Then again, it's no lie that he's been neglecting them more than they deserve. How was he supposed to get back that friendship they once had, if he never gave them a chance. But the responsibilities he shoved onto himself for the sake of a town he didn't particularly care for were calling to him. And despite being a teenager, the half-ghost at least thought of himself as responsible.

As the fourth ring came, he grunted in defeat. He hasn't been a particularly good friend lately, and while he's been busy, he could have at least texted them while on vacation. Plus, what would a few hours be? There was a limit to how much he could fight, so maybe he could burn a few hours for his friends.

It was on the sixth ring that he answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Yo, Danny! What's up?" As the caller ID verified, it was indeed Tucker, and he could hear Sam in the background.

"Nothing much at the moment," He figured it would be easier to let the tech geek lead the conversation.

There was a pause and hushed whispers, the sound of… slapping? Most likely something Tucker said, "Okay, we're about to head to Nasty Burger, wanna come?"

The spark of irresponsibility made itself known to him in the back of his mind, idle finger tapping spurning the spark on, but the chance to reconnect just a bit was here. And he wanted to take it. It's not like the ghosts are going to be going anywhere soon. Surely, they could wait. And while he did push this responsibility onto himself, Vlad had reminded him as he left that his powers were his, and despite what he believes, protecting the town really isn't his duty.

That was difficult to get his head around, but eventually the younger Halfa figured out the meaning. He didn't have to be a hero, no one could force him to do it, and he could do what he wanted with his powers. That, in itself, seemed like a bad thing to say to an impressionable fourteen year old. Especially when he asked about using his powers to rob a bank.

His uncle had laughed at him and told him not to get caught.

It made him wonder if Vlad actually used his powers to steal his fortune, but stealing literal billions of dollars isn't really feasible. It doesn't matter if you can go through walls or stay invisible, there probably wasn't that much physical money to steal in the first place. Surprisingly, it didn't bother him too much, but the freedom of being told that he could use his powers however he wanted was tantalizing. But at the moment, he at least wanted to keep being a hero. He thought it was a pain in the ass that he had to do it in the first place, but he didn't hate it.

Realizing he paused way too long, Fenton hastily replies, "Yeah, yeah, I'm down. I'll head over now."

The excited reply came moments later, "Sweet! We'll see ya there man." The phone hung up with a soft click, leaving Danny to his own thoughts.

Danny knew that he really, really shouldn't be doing this. He had shit to do, easily arguable to be more important than a quick lunch with some friends. But then again… he wanted to do this. He wanted to hang out and feel like a normal teen, at least for a little bit. The last two weeks were fun, but ultimately, he spent the whole time either studying, sparing, or fighting. That's really not what most fourteen year-olds do when they visit their uncle's house.

Shrugging his shoulders, he figured that thinking over now didn't do much other than waste time. He's made the commitment, and he'd hold himself to his word. A quick check over his arsenal, snugly fit and hidden in his backpack, and he's off.

The flight over is quick, not even five minutes, and he's eternally grateful for the gift of flight. He'd have to test his limits later, while he knew he wouldn't be breaking into orbit anytime soon, flying that high up was thrilling down to his very core.

It's only after waiting ten minutes that he thinks that he could have waited a little. Their homes aren't necessarily far, per-se, but they're not close either. Tuckers was the closest, but he was most likely hanging out at Sams since she had a giant TV on her wall and top of the line computers. And while his was the furthest away, at least he could get Jazz to drive him if he wanted. Sam refused to pollute the environment whenever possible, so she walked everywhere she went if possible. That was probably a good thing since Tucker doesn't really get any exercise outside of that.

On the twenty minute mark, Sam and Tucker finally arrive. Danny's been waiting a while, and with so much literal energy coursing through his veins, it's been getting harder and harder to stay still. Especially with his plans for later in the day, his anxiety is practically funneling adrenaline into his body in preparation.

Or maybe that's the ectoplasm. It's hard to tell with his two of a kind physiology.

As his friends near his table, their eyes widen slightly. "Danny? How'd you get here before us?" Ah, there was that too. He notices the annoyed cashier sending a glance his way, but shrugs that off and their question. "I was around here when you guys called."

Danny gets up from the table and walks over to stand in line with his friends. Tucker holds out a fist, which he reciprocates with a bump from his own. "So how was vacation with your creepy uncle?"

The Halfa frowned, "Don't call him that." he chastised, "It's kinda rude since he actually remembered you. He doesn't do that a lot for people who don't leave an impression on him."

With her share of dislike for the wealthy, Sam is quick to add to the conversation. "Because he's rich, he doesn't have to remember the common people?"

"Yes," Danny flatly stated, "If you ran as many companies as him, then you'd be hard pressed to remember people too." His eyes narrow, deciding to throw a low blow, "Unlike the trust fund babies that your parents are."

Sam smiles in glee, happy to insult her parents and their pointless lifestyle. "Exactly! I'm so glad someone sees it my way!"

Danny sputters momentarily, before remembering that Sam's relationship with her parents isn't anywhere near good, and she relishes opportunities like this.

They move a step forward in line, and the half-ghost groans in annoyance. He wanted to annoy her, not empower her disagreements with the wealthy.

"Hold up, hold up!" Tucker puts his hands up to stop the conversation, "Are you telling me your super-rich uncle actually remembers me?"

He chuckled a little, and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I had to remind him, but since I don't have many friends, he remembered you."

That didn't seem to do anything to the tech geeks massive ego, "You think he'd get me a job after high school so I don't have to go to college?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, for reasons that the teen hero had no idea why.

Another step up, and they were at the counter. "Uh… sure. Whatever." He turned his attention back to the cashier who was glaring at him. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Sam roll her eyes at Tucker. The service agent berated him for loitering, which he countered with the 'I'm getting food now' excuse.

It didn't make her any more pleased.

When Danny makes his way back to their table, he doesn't have to wait long for Sam and Tucker to join him. It's always a salad with Sam, and the people here know Tuckers order by heart. The meatiest thing on the menu, and also one of the most expensive things as well.

As they talk, that feeling of normalcy that's been missing from his life returns. It's nice. To feel like a normal teenager, that is. With how hectic it's been for the last… since his death, really, this feeling has been practically vacant from his life. Even at school, thanks to his parents getting him labeled as a social pariah, he doesn't feel all that normal. It's only when he hangs out like this that he can relax and wind down. Feel human and let go, just for a bit.

It took about thirty minutes for their food to be ready, something Tucker was complaining about the whole time. Danny shrugged off the complaints; the whole place was busy since the high school was out, and this was one of the prime hang out spots for Casper High students. With no school to obstruct them, it makes sense to collude social activities here.

As the first hour comes around, that feeling of irresponsibility rears its ugly head. As fun as it's been, he knows that he has pressing matters to attend to. Matters that could mean a matter of life and death, and in his case, half-death. Feelings of nostalgia aside, his anxious feeling and slowly slipping time is slowly ruining his good mood.

It's at the ninety minute mark that he notices Sam's hesitant glances his way. He knows that look. It's the look she sends his way when she wants to ask something that she's not sure if it's okay to ask. As their conversation rambles on about the new update for DOOMED, the not-so-subtle glances she keeps sending him begin to grate on his nerves.

"What is it Sam?" He finally speaks out. She looks startled for a second, having been found out may have been surprising to her.

Having always figured Danny as the dense kind, it's surprising to have herself called out like this. "Uh…" She looks over to Tucker, who shrugs his shoulders. When she turns her head back to Danny, she steals her nerves to ask: "What do you know…" She looks around for a second, "about Phantom?"

Danny's eyes widened for a moment, "Phantom?" He weakly asked. The half-dead hero cursed the obvious show of surprise and shock, and based on the looks he's getting from his friends, they saw that too.

"Yeah," Tucker starts, "Your parents are ghost hunters, so they gotta know about the town hero goin' around slayin' other monsters, right?" Ah, that's what they meant.

He did tell Sam, as Phantom, that he was a ghost, so he should have expected this eventually. Maybe he should have lied, but that felt wrong and hypocritical to do, especially since he berated them on it before. He sighed in defeat, "They know of him. They say he's the most powerful ghost to show up on their sensors yet." It was a little hard to keep the pride out of his voice.

Eyebrows shoot up in surprise, "The strongest?" Sam asks, and Danny nods in affirmation. He looks to Tucker to see if there's any questions there, but he just shrugs his shoulders.

It's not like he was the one to interact with the ghostly hero, he just filmed it.

Recapping what his parents have said so far about… himself, he slowly begins to retell the information he's been given, careful not to spill the more personal details. "So, Phantom, as the most powerful ghost they've seen so far, is their primary target."

Danny shifts uncomfortably in his seat, not at all pleased to be his parents main goal. "They don't know that much, just a few of his powers. And they don't know where he goes when he's not protecting the town."

"Is that it?" Sam annoyingly asked.

The Halfa frowns momentarily, not entirely pleased with her attitude. "Yeah, that's about it. They haven't even tried to talk to him, just the old 'shoot first, dissect later' technique." Ignoring her affronted gaping, he continues, "Not like they can catch him anyway."

Sam doesn't seem satisfied, and if anything, she seems more annoyed. A quick glance at Tucker shows that he's already lost interest. If the Bluetooth headphones are anything to go by, at least.

"There's nothing else?" The harsh town doesn't do wonders for his mood, which has been going from happy and nostalgic, to annoyed and crossed very quickly.

The half-ghost grunted out his next response, "Yes, that's it. My parents don't exactly socialize with me that often Sam. It's a rare occurrence, how should I know what new rung they've dug up?"

Although unsatisfied with what she's been told, the gruff response from her friend stops her from pressing further. It's not news to them that Danny's parents aren't the most… attentive. And while Sam doesn't necessarily like or approve of her parents or their pathetic attempt to cling to monetary status, they at least try to connect with her. If only they weren't so shallow and hollow, maybe she'd reciprocate.

Conceding on the conversation, Sam decides to move on. "What are you doing after this? Wanna hang out?"

The very slight wince from their friend told them the answer. Barely a flinch on his eyes, and his apology is already rolling, "Sorry," he begins, "I kinda have plans. I can't hang out today." He rubs the back of his neck, a nervous tick he still can't get rid of.

Sam pouts, and Tucker looks up from his PDA. "What plans?" The goth asked, and it was easy to spot the annoyance in her bit the inside of his lip, hoping that the tone she was giving wouldn't piss their rather distant friend off again.

Danny's eyes narrow slightly, his mouth becomes tighter, and his fingers under the table twitch slightly. Suppressing a growl, something that's become more common since his hybridism, Danny tautly answers her. "My parents want me and Jazz to clean the house. This is pretty much a break, and then I have to go back."

Both pairs of eyes dart over to the backpack that was on the seat next to him. For a moment, Danny nervously wonders if they bought the lie. His parents sparsely ask them to clean the house, they spend most of their time cooped up in the basement. Every so often, they'll ask for chores, sure, but most of the time they don't pay attention. Though they have been appearing from the lab more often recently.

Sam's eyes narrow in suspicion, but a glance at Tucker makes her sigh. "Okay. What about tomorrow? My house at 2?"

Damn it. He really wished they would stop, this is a horrible time for this! "Uh…" he looks up thoughtfully, "maybe. I gotta ask mom and dad if there's anything else they want me to do. They've been leaving the lab more often, so they've been piling on chores." Plus, if he had time, he wanted to look onto the task Vlad gave him.

Begrudgingly, Sam bites out. "Fine." Her facial features tell him she's both angry and disappointed, and suddenly his feelings of annoyance aren't as strong. Maybe he'd put in a decent amount of effort tonight so he could hang out with them tomorrow.

Danny brings his phone out to check the time, if only to build on the act more. He lets his brows shoot up, and mutters a curse. "Hey guys, I gotta go." He moves to get up, swinging his backpack over his shoulder. He stops when he hears the music coming from Tuckers headphones.

He leans down a little to hear better, and Sam noticing it, decides to do the same.

-ber!

Nothing-

-emain.

Danny leaned back in confusion, and looked to Sam. She looked just as confused. "Since when did his taste in music change?" He's always been more into techno and dubstep, with the occasional rap or rock song.

"I… uh, I'm not sure." She shrugged her shoulders, "It sounds kinda pop-ish right?"

Danny nodded, the instrumental sounded like a mix of rock and pop, at least. "Well, good luck with that I guess. See ya guys."

They both waved him off, and he returned it. He saunters off back towards his house with a quick pace.

Now all he had to do was find an alley to transform, and he could get to work.

----------------------------------------

He can hear them before he can see them. It's awful. Echoed wails, howls, snarls and barks permeate the quiet afternoon forest setting. There's no birds chirping a song, no deer scampering through the brush, and no cicadas buzzing the infuriating noise. They've all retreated, the horde of ghosts having terrified the animals. It's said their natural instincts are stronger than humans, and they've demonstrated that by vacating the area.

The cacophony of horrors only gets louder when the dead see him on the other side. Their attacks against the barrier become more rapid, ferocious in their desire to heed the call. They're drawn to the portal to the point of madness, and it doesn't make Danny any more pleased.

Unfortunately, his mountain base is not on this side of the shield, and he can only hope that the giant centipede core hasn't attracted any wayward spirits. He really wanted to see what it tasted like. That also means that he had to find a temporary place to house his gear, someplace that's easy to remember and find. Ease of access doesn't matter since he can just go through walls, but it wouldn't do at all to lose all his stuff.

A large tree on the border seemed good enough, the old pine was surrounded by a bunch of dying oaks, making it stand out amongst the water deprived arbors. It wouldn't be hard to find this place, especially from above. While he wanted to get started right away, there were some things he had to test. Like, could he just blast them through the shield? Was going in and out a simple thing in his ghost form? He barely felt it as a human, but if it actively resisted him, then he wouldn't be able to use it as a shield. Could he just thermos the little shits through the shield?

The Halfa finished rummaging around through the bag, and took a seat on the large branch. The time, 3:29, told him that he had plenty of time. More than enough to exhaust himself before curfew. He didn't think that he'd be spending so much time at Nasty Burger, but it still doesn't really make a dent in his plans. He quickly sent a text to Jazz, telling her that he might be late. Without waiting for a reply, he tosses the phone in the open bag, grabs a Fenton Thermos with a sling and places it on his back.

Danny adjusts it, trying to find a more comfortable position, but eventually gives up with a shrug. He'd have to be a little careful so that it doesn't get busted mid fight. Eying the other equipment, the teenager mentally debates whether he should bring more. With this being more of an information gathering phase, the single thermos should be enough, though he has no doubt that he'll need every thermos he brought and more. The sheer numbers demand it.

Moments later, Danny finds himself inches away from the barrier. The cracks have grown, reaching higher into the sky and closer to the apex. As he ascends, the sounds dull slightly; perhaps the barrier mutes the sounds of the dead, but with openings finally forming, the noise can reach inside the protected space. There are less ghosts up here, only a few avian variants… and a flying squirrel? "Huh." That's odd.

The first test was if he could pass through the barrier in his ghost form. The wish with Desiree did include him, but it was still a matter of necessity to test. Tentatively, he raised his hand and placed it on the barrier. There's enough resistance against him for it to be noticeable, but pushing a bit more strength into his advance lets him push right through. Once breached, the resistance seems to stop completely. He has to yank his hand back though when a four-winged eagle thing tries to take it as a treat though.

The damned thing keeps attacking the point where his hand was moments ago. "Well, test one is a success." He stared down at his hand, flexing it to see for any changes.

"Moving on to test two." He mumbled.

Danny floated away from the barrier until he was thirty feet away. Green energy collects into his right hand, forming into a low-powered blast. He hefts his arm up, taking aim at the ghost that wanted to chew on his digits. His aim is true, the blast flying at high speed directly towards the green eagle. The attack splashes against the barrier like a water balloon, startling the bird ghost, before detonating in a low-yield green explosion.

"Yeah, kinda figured that." He tsked under his breath.

Since he can't blast away at the things from the safety of the shield, he'll have to get out there and subjugate them the good ol' fashioned way.

Brute force, raw power, and not being stupid.

With only one more test left, the time for fighting grows closer. All he had to do was see if he could suck the ghosts into the Fenton Thermos through the shield. That, as it turns out, wasn't possible either. Danny nearly shit himself when the magic barrier itself started getting pulled into the thermos.

And now, with nothing else to test, Danny finds himself seconds away from walking onto… a battlefield, for lack of a better word. And he supposed, that was an apt description. When fighting ghosts in the city before, it was normally only one or two, sometimes three or four at a time. Now? Well, he stopped counting when they went into the three digits mark, but at least they're spread out. It'll give him time.

The half-ghost steels himself, calming nerves and letting the bubbling ectoplasm in his body invigorate himself. Knowing it's going to take multiple days, Danny sets out with determination. He's in the north, the area where his mountain is, and from here he'll work… east. The main hub of activity that is Amity Park downtown is closer to that side, and should the barrier break before then, the commercial district of his town will be taking heavy hits.

Slowly, Danny floats towards the barrier. He puts his right hand on it, but doesn't push. This is going to be different from every fight he's had so far. It'll be more controlled, and while he's used to being outnumbered, it's never been so bad before. He bites his lip, forcing his nerves down. "I can do this. I have a safe zone. I can fall back if it gets too dicey. I've always been outnumbered."

He opens his eyes, acid green burning against the lavender barriers reflection, "And I've always come out on top." He whispered.

----------------------------------------

"Since when do you listen to that kind of music?"

Tucker turned his head to his friend and took his headphones off. Feeling a little offended, for a reason he can't really figure out, Tucker heatedly asks: "What do you mean, 'that kind of music'?"

Sams' face scrunches up in both annoyance and confusion. Where was all this attitude coming from? It was a simple question, not an accusation. "Chill out Tucker. Normally you listen to… well, other genres." She scratches the side of her arm and shrugs her shoulders, "You've never been a pop kinda guy, and you haven't stopped listening to it yet."

That did annoy her a little. They hadn't seen Danny in weeks, and Tucker spent half the time with his face to his PDA and earbuds blocking out sound.

Tucker flaunts his PDA, waving it back and forth. "I just like the music, Sam. The artist is amazing and I can't wait till her merch comes out later." He looks back to his device and clicks open a few apps, while muttering under his breath: "I'm so gonna buy one of each."

The goth guffawed at that. She threw her controller onto the bed next to her, got up and began walking to the console. "Ooookay. Look, I'm gonna swap out the game since you obviously don't wanna play. Anything you wanna watch besides that screen in your hands?"

When she received no answer from her tech geek friend, her anger did spike a little. All day he's been so damn annoying with that stupid song, playing it on repeat over and over again. Sure, she did the same thing too, with some songs, but never with one song, all day like he's been doing.

Then there was lunch with Danny. The asshole spaced out the whole time and didn't even back up her questions with some of his own. She wanted to know more about Phantom, and Tucker wasn't any help at all. Plus, he wasn't even paying attention! He may as well have stayed home and not showed up, because that's pretty much what his presence amounted to today. And he set the whole thing up too!

With the new game loading up, she made her way back to her bed. Out of angry curiosity, she walked over to Tucker and peeked over his shoulder to see what he was listening to. At the top of the screen was the title and band name, next to a play, rewind, and fast forward button. The name of the song was easy to remember, and the artist was named-

"Ember McLain?"

----------------------------------------

Accelerating from zero to forty in half a second, Phantom rockets out of the barrier. From inside, he was able to see the ghosts in the immediate vicinity that would make for his first fight of the day. Two large snakes, easily over forty feet in length are the closest thing and he's designated them as the first targets. A small pack of wolves, three in number, are about one-hundred feet away, trying to dig at the barrier. And spread out above all of them is a squad of ectopuses. The four of them aren't as spread out, most likely because they're weaker than everything here, but they're dangerous with those hooked tentacles.

Based on personal experience, the snakes have to go first. There's not many animal or monster ghosts that actively use invisibility, most are too stupid to use it, but snakes are cunning and resourceful, and they use that ability with frightening levels of skill. Danny aims the Fenton Thermos at the duo of serpents, hoping to catch both at once.

The tractor beam from the modified soup holder catches one off guard, yanking the hissing serpent into the cylinder. The other one slithers out of the way in time, turning invisible as it uses the trees as cover. One of the ectopuses that was on a nearby tree screeches with a warble, jetting over like a squid in water. Not at all caught unaware, Danny lifts a hand charged with electricity. Ecto-electricity crackles across the afternoon forest, shocking the creature to the ground while burning some of the nearby canopy.

Danny dives at the cephalopod, intent on finishing it off. An energy blade forms in his hand along the way, but just before he reaches it, the snake makes a reappearance. It drops invisibility at the last second, biting at Danny's midsection. Phantom sneers at the undead reptile, and with a twist, intercepts the serpent and lops off the top of its head. The Halfa keeps his speed, and spears through the still stunned ectopus.

Using telekinesis, Danny collects the cores and places them in a pouch on his belt.

Before he can retreat back to the shield to collect himself, the pack of wolves is on him. Snarling and barking, two of the specters circle around, while a third pounces on him. Danny flings himself away from the maw, but one of the circling mutts takes an opportunity attack. Wishing he disengaged first, Phantom swung his arm around with a reinforcement. The ghost wolf bites down on his arm, making him wince in discomfort. It hurts, and the bite pressure of the wolf is strong enough to break a normal person's bones, but with his arm infused it's not breaking.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The first wolf is on him while he's in the seconds' grip. Danny kicks out his leg with a snarl, catching it in the jaw and making it whimper like a… kicked dog. Using that kick as a springboard, the Halfa twirls around and tries to rip his arm from the wolf's maw. "Arrgh!"

He succeeds, but chunks of his skin are torn from his forearm. Phantom grits his teeth and holds his injured arm as he retreats backwards. Now out of the encirclement, Danny decides that fighting in two dimensions isn't helping him at all, so he takes to the skies.

Now clear of the forest, and any subsequent obstacles that would have made for cover, Danny is in sight, and has sight on his targets. Two of the wolves charge for him, while the third opens its mouth and begins to collect energy. His eyes narrow at the familiar attack, and Phantom raises both hands. With energy in both, the Halfa lets loose a barrage of ecto-blasts. He's always had good aim, and the wolf on the ground is pummeled by the energy attacks. The unstable ectoplasm it had been collecting explodes in its mouth, further damaging the undead canine. The two charging wolves had to dodge, and while one was hit directly in the face, the both of them still ascended to meet the Halfa in a CQB.

As did the remaining ectopuses. The squad of ghostly cephalopods coalesce to his position, rising from three different directions.

It's a six-on-one fight, but he knows what they're capable of. He's fought these types of ghosts before, and he knows their strengths and what they can do. And he knows how they operate as well.

The two wolves meet him first, and he's ready with glowing green claws formed up to his elbows. Phantom parries a swipe from one, and twirls around to sweep his glowing leg across the second mutt. Now focused on one, Danny has to cross his arms as the thing pounces on him. He grabs the wolf by the muzzle, forcing its jaw shut and preventing it from biting into his shoulder.

That happened once, and he didn't want it happening again.

Its hind legs dig into his thighs, tearing the thin jumpsuit and piercing flesh. Danny growls along with the beast in pain and frustration. Energy collects in his angry eyes, and he rips an arm out and to the left. In his grip is one of the wolf's front legs, and even when he feels one of the ectopuses approaching, he doesn't stop. Now spread out and unable to move, the air cracks with a thundered womp as the surrounding space is heated by Dannys laser, and the wolf is split in half by the ocular beams. He snarls, letting the disintegrating body drop, and the other wolf halts its charge in fright.

Danny is forced to raise a shield to stop tentacles from wrapping around him, he really doesn't want to have to patch himself up again thanks to the barbs on those things. The shield holds, and he repurposes one of his claws into a ball of goop. When a second ectopus wraps around his shield, it begins to crack. Noticing the dumb things are pushing while trying to break in, the half-ghost charges more power into his ball of goop.

When the cracks reach the apex, Danny drops the shield with a grin and turns intangible. He lets the ball float in between, and the two ectopuses crash into each other. Now stuck and tearing at each other to get away, Danny laughs at the things misfortune. Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees the final wolf turn tail and run. He raises an eyebrow, and looks down to where he peppered the other wolf from before.

Apparently his barrage ended the ghostly canine, or it blew itself up when interrupted, and with no other pack mates, the sole survivor ran.

"Not happening." He growled out.

As the last wolf is running with its tail between its legs, Phantom explodes after it. Those two are going to be stuck together for a hot minute, and he's confident that he can take the others. The wolf notices a second too late, and Danny sends it careening down to the ground with an axe kick. "Down boy!"

He's not given time to celebrate however, as the final ectopus breaks through the treeline in a surprise attack. "Fuck!"

With no time to counter the thing, no time to raise a shield, and no time to reinforce himself, Danny is forced to take the brunt of the attack. The large mouth of the creature chomps down on his stomach, and the surrounding tentacles attempt to wrap around him as he, like the wolf, starts on his descent. Phantom catches a barbed tentacle with each hand, but when they wrap around his legs and thorax, he screams in pain and anger.

With a yank, two of the offending appendages are ripped off of the ghosts body. It squeals in agony, releasing its hold on his stomach. Now not in any danger of convulsions, the Halfa lets loose a large dose of electricity from his body. When its grip is loosened, Danny whips his hand back, and with enough room now, plunges his now glowing hand forward and through the head of the ectopus. It stops all movement, and Danny flicks it off of his body with agitation abundance, stopping his descent a little too close to the ground for comfort.

Now free of the distraction, and thoroughly annoyed, Danny looks towards where he kicked the ghost wolf down to. He's disappointed to see the thing gone, but he couldn't blame it. The undead canine must have good survival instincts if it can overpower the call. His eyes fall back towards the two conjoined ectopuses. They're squealing and hissing while trying to break away from each other. Normally he would thermos the slimy little shits, but not right now.

Calmly he lands a few feet from them and begins walking towards them. From his fingertips on his right hand, a blade of green energy extends. It stops at three and a half feet in length, as do his feet right in front of the stuck ghosts. His eyebrows raise at the sheer audacity they had to try and attack him with their non-stuck tentacles, but that's gone quick enough when he stabs right through both of them. They stop all together, and slump down when he rends them in twain with a swing to the right.

Their bodies slowly deflate down to their core, and Danny takes a moment to collect the rest of the cores from the fallen. Ah, telekinesis is so handy.

Now done with that, the ghost child temporarily retreats back into the barrier to recuperate.

----------------------------------------

His glowing hands rested on his stomach wound, it being more detrimental to his health than the others. He's thankful that the damn squid-thing couldn't bite through the Fenton Thermos, it saved him from having to reach his back.

Gritting his teeth, Danny pushed more power into his hand, making the glow brighter and speeding up his already unnaturally fast healing factor. Slowly, but visibly, the wound began to close. The Halfa hissed in pain, having skin knit together so fast was both itchy and hurt like a bitch. At least this technique doesn't take a lot of energy, hell, he wouldn't even know this one if Vlad hadn't told him. He would've spent years going without it, and that would have sucked.

Big time.

Danny sighed in annoyance as he looked upon his other injuries. They weren't that bad, really, but he can't help but feel frustrated. If he was a little more careful, he wouldn't have even gotten them. Danny popped another core into his mouth, letting the energy from the creature flow into him.

"Mmmm." Tastes like sour skittles. Energy cores are some of the best snacks, and Danny's a little surprised with himself for getting used to eating these things so quickly. While these are, technically, the heart of a ghost, he can't deny that they taste good.

At least he had the brute force and raw power thing covered, now he just needed to not be stupid next time.

As the wound on his stomach healed up to acceptable levels, Danny moved his arms to hold each other. He closed his eyes and forced the healing properties of his own ectoplasm into both hands. It's not as easy, but it'll be quicker with both hands, and after that first fight, he couldn't help but feel like he was running out of time.

Even with all these injuries, his body is still raring to go. He's got tons of energy, and those two weeks of training really upped his game. More efficient, more powerful, more knowledgeable, and much more deadly. If only he had a year to train these powers, he'd be unstoppable!

Okay, that was a haughty thought, but a guy can dream, right?

With an hour long break to heal, which wasn't really a proper heal, but a rushed job meant to stop the bleeding, Danny began again. It was nice to see that no more ghosts had accumulated where he just was, so he continued east. It was maybe one-hundred feet before he came across another group of ghosts.

This group didn't seem that bad honestly. A small herd of glowing green deer and does, maybe ten in total. They didn't seem bad, no, but it's surprisingly frightening to see what was normally meek herbivores charge at thirty miles per hour into the shield like a battering ram. The deer, like other ghosts, were much larger than their living counterparts. Easily towering at ten feet in height, with great and graceful antlers, they would no doubt be majestic… if they weren't frothing green foam at the mouth, had burning red eyes, and were snarling and bleating like a dying goat with a voice modulator.

"Wow, that's creepy."

A large buck in the back constantly stomped and scratched its large hooves, snorting and wheezing as if a commander. Easily fifteen feet in height, this thing was a sight to behold, and that it actually seemed to order the other cervidae around was frightening. That shows signs of intelligence, and if something is smart, it's dangerous.

And the barrier wasn't looking good. The cracks were far more prominent here, spreading in a concentrated area. There were tracks laid into the ground from how often the ghosts stampeded into the shield.

Danny flew above them while in the shield, observing them. Their speed, while impressive for a deer, was not impressive for a ghost. They have good acceleration, and the many points of the antlers seemed to do a good job of slowly scraping the magic away. Every time they rammed into the purple blockade, the hooved hammers had to take a moment to collect themselves. They were dazed and confused after each hit, and it's possible that they've accumulated damage considering how long this has been going on.

"I can work with this." Each time they struck the shield, it warbled and rippled, the sound like a paintball hitting a workout ball. But there's a lot. More than he's ever taken on at once. If he goes into this, it's going to be a difficult battle should he get hit. Getting speared by a set of antlers did not sound fun, and even with his enhanced durability and regeneration, he wasn't under any illusion that he'd survive that.

Getting shish-kebabed would be a one way ticket past half-death to full death.

No bueno.

Over the course of half an hour, Danny continues his observations, and eventually, he comes up with a plan. Simply put, he can try and sneak out, thermos the leader right after they ram into the barrier. In their dazed confusion, suck up as many as possible with two thermoses. "Okay. As sound as any plan, I guess." The last half hour also let him heal further, and while he wasn't at 100%, he felt good enough for a fight.

Danny streaked off to the right for about one-hundred yards. Finding the distance sufficient enough, he silently made his way through the barrier, pushing back against the meager resistance it offered. He flexed his shoulders, moving the tow thermoses around so he could grab them. Turning invisible, he flew off back in the direction he came.

It was louder out here than it was inside the barrier. When they rammed the lavender wall, it made a loud thwacking sound that made him wince. There was no doubt in his mind that that hurt. It sounded painful, and anything that can daze a ghost has to have some force behind it. It'd be best not be hit by one of their charges.

Keeping his invisibility active, he slowly hovers to the tree above the lead buck. It didn't notice him in its mad stomping.

Good, that'll make this easier.

Positioning himself directly over the buck, in this case the tree it was standing under, he took aim. The alpha male stomped and huffed, snorting out an order to charge again. Danny took aim, pointing it directly down. He only has one shot, and he has to make it count.

"Bleeeeeh!" The alpha buck bleated.

Pfft. It took everything he had to not laugh at the sound. Despite being a hulking mass of ectoplasmic muscle, the high pitched whine the buck let out was too much. It sounded so much deeper when there was a barrier between them. He held his laughter though, and readied his fingers.

3

The pack lined up again, eying their rather wide target.

2

They stomp and paw the ground, preparing themselves.

1

Full sprint.

The herd takes off with impressive acceleration, aimed at the same spot they've been ramming for what's most likely a few days now. In a way, that's impressive on Desiree's part for making something so powerful, and the cerivdeas themselves for having such thick skulls.

0

The deer crash into the barrier, and Danny makes his move. He thumbs the button with his right hand, activating the tractor beam of the thermos. The alpha buck is stunned out of his commands but the sudden sucking force. It looks up, locking hateful red eyes onto Danny's humored green. A second later, and he's safely secured in the thermos with no incident.

There's no time to celebrate however, and the Halfa aims both of his thermoses at the recovering fauna. He gets two before they notice him, one in each. And while he manages to get a third in the right thermos, the last one on the left regains enough semblance to stumble out of the way. After a curse, Danny straps the equipment to his back and makes distance between himself and the angry herd.

He charges up an ecto-construct in his right hand, forming a long glowing whip. It sparked and bubbled with power, energy ripples from the handle, down the thong and to the popper. His left hand surges with electricity, sparking up and down his arm with violent currents. The surrounding area is abuzz with the crackle of static, spreading the smell of ozone in the immediate area.

The remaining herd stampedes through the tree line, busting and breaking the treetops as they gallop in flight. The roars of high-pitched bleats make it a little difficult to take the situation seriously, but Danny is not under the illusion that those antlers won't hurt. With a flick of his wrist, the whip soars towards the leading deer, slapping it away and into another charging doe.

Danny rips his arm right, smacking into another member of the herd, and wrapping around its neck. The stampede is getting closer, gaining speed, and becoming much more of a threat. With another yank, the constricted cervidae is thrown down to the ground violently. One less to worry about.

Surging even more power into his left arm, his electrokinesis almost goes out of control, but before that happens, he points his arm at the charging six, and fires. A wave of energy, electrified and empowered launches at the incoming ghosts. The two that had crashed into each other seconds ago, now lagging behind, are the only ones able to dodge the wave of energy by flying below it.

Seeing the herd mostly stunned now, Danny repurposes the whip into an ecto-disk. His left arm is smoking green, singed, and vibrating from overloading that attack, but he still pushes energy through to form a second disk. Not at all comfortable with how close they are, Phantom rockets upwards, ascending higher and higher. Along the way, the attacks are now ready. He hates how long it takes to form the disks, but they really are powerful techniques, and he's getting better at it as time goes on.

Danny flips around, keeping his speed up even when flying backwards, and takes aim. The herd is upon him, barely fifty feet away, and only now does he realize that they are really fast. Charging up two high-powered attacks takes away from his speed, but he figured that he'd have a more… comfortable distance at this point. He's not sure how they shrugged off that much electricity either, but it may have to do with it being so spread out.

Fingers twitch, and the disks fly. Like a high speed fan, the wind is displaced and the frighteningly sharp blades buzz down towards the targets. Too fast to dodge, the small buck leading the charge is decapitated instantly; six to go.

The spinning disk of death continues on, barely missing a doe and clipping the antlers off another, before finally sailing past and exploding in an airburst. The concussive force lurches the now antlerless deer forward in a tumble.

The second disk carves through the side of another, critically injuring it, but not killing it. It bleats out in pain, a sound that isn't particularly kind on the ears, but it isn't felled with that alone. The contact forces the disk to turn wide, careening off to the left and missing the rest. An attempt to force the ecto-disk to come back with telekinesis leaves Danny with a throbbing wave of pain in his head. He clutches his head while letting out a groan, both in pain and frustration; in the heat of the moment, he forgot that his skill with telekinesis is still rather weak.

The momentary distraction is enough for one of the undead fauna to get close enough. It makes an attempt to spear him, and Danny retaliates by sweeping a horizontal kick at its head. It impacts on its temple and sends it flying in a daze. Flipping midair with the momentum, Danny fires a spray of ecto-rays at the approaching herd while upside down. The two leads are hit, one in the face and the other in the center of its chest. They're slowed, but not deterred, charging through the pain madly.

"Fuck off Rudolph!" He shouts. His hands come together, merging the ray and forcing the concentrated ray onto the closest combatant. It whines a weak squeal and is blasted backwards, straight into the antlers of the deer right behind it. Both are sent tumbling down to the ground, and out of the corner of his eye, he notices the impaled cervidae dissipating.

Five left.

With one preoccupied in a tumble and one lagging behind, that leaves three left in his immediate vicinity. All three have large, pointy, not-fun looking horns, and they're all aimed at him. As they close in on him, he lets a smirk crawl onto his face.

Phantom turns intangible at the last second, letting them all pass through. Choosing instead to go down now, after the ones separated from the herd, he dives down post-haste. The approaching fauna is surprised to see the object of their ire so close to it, but it readies a charge all the same. A claw forms on his left arm, and funneling more energy into it, extends the bladed digits another foot.

Half-ghost meets deer ghost, and with a barrel roll, Danny misses the horns. He gets a trample for it, bruising along his arms and shoulder, but his claw rakes into the beast. As his fingers go through its chest cavity, they brush against something solid. Using his quick reflexes, the Halfa yanks the core out mid-flight and continues his plunge back towards the earth.

Four.

His plummet ends soon enough, focusing solely on speed Danny reaches the ground in record time, hoping to repeat something from one of his earlier encounters. The deer that crashed down earlier, now free, has barely enough time to register its impending doom before Danny lands squarely on its back, legs glowing green with enforcement. With both feet down, all of his momentum is forced into its back, promptly crushing it underfoot. The ground craters in a spider-web like crack, the sound is amazing: like boulders being broken by other boulders.

Three more.

Thinking fast while on stinging legs, Danny uses telekinesis to grab a Fenton Thermos from his back. While standing on the dissipating ghost, Danny aims up at what remains of the incoming stampede. He really gained distance in that impromptu dive, all the more in his favor. Pressing the button on the cylinder, the blue tractor beam starts up. The diving deer are immediately surprised, and despite resistance, one by one they get sucked up in a passing sweep.

Zero.

Now finally alone, Danny lets loose a shaky breath he didn't realize he was holding. Not that he needed to breathe in this form, but going up against so many enemies at once is a little scary. He rolls his shoulders with a stretch, wincing at the bruises that are no doubt already forming. That's going to hurt in the morning.

Slowly, he collects the cores. Exercising his brain muscles once again, he uses telekinesis so he doesn't have to move his tired body. Once done, he moves back towards the barrier to take a rest.

The roars and wails of the undead catch his attention, and with a tired sigh, he's off again. Fuck, there's just too many.

----------------------------------------

The hunter has his tools. The hunter has his prey. And he waited, patiently anticipating his time to strike.

Skulker was pleased with what he saw. The Halfa had grown, getting ever closer to the power of the older one, but yet still so far away. The whelp gained skill, confidence, a bit of finesse, some more versatility, but it wouldn't be enough.

And so Skulker stalked his prey. Waiting. For two days, he hid. If there weren't so many ghosts around his haunt, the hunter had no doubt that he would have been found. The ghost child had a knack for finding his own kind, the horde provides ample cover.

On the third day, he struck. When the Halfa was settling into a routine and the shield weakened enough. The plan's in motion, and soon…

"I'll have your pelt, boy." He grinned with manic morbidity and predatory expectation.

The hunt begins.

----------------------------------------

The next two day pass pretty much the same. Start in the morning, fight till exhaustion, get hurt cause of stupid mistakes, make way east. Every morning, Danny heads to the same spot in the north, clearing out the few ghosts that accumulated over the night and heading eastbound.

He was feeling good, mentally speaking. Half of the perimeter had been cleared, a major accomplishment, considering he was by himself. Physically, he was dead tired. His ghost half was energized, growing stronger by the day, especially with all the cores he's been getting.

In terms of ratio, Danny's at about a 50/50 mark; half of the ghosts he fight get sucked into the Fenton Thermos, and the other half…

Get killed and eaten.

It's disturbingly morbid when he thinks like that, but really, that's what he's doing. He's ending their afterlife, taking their cores, and using them for the minuscule power boost that they are. At least they taste good, if they tasted how some of the dead smelled, then he'd never eat the things, power boost or not.

His body can barely keep up. The healing technique Vlad taught him only works so much. At the early stages, it can barely heal a bruise or cut. Augmenting the inflicted areas with ectoplasm, then forcing more in the wound through his hands is a brute force method. It's all he could do at the moment since, according to his teacher, he didn't have the necessary control or knowledge on anatomy yet.

Even more stuff to learn about. Yay.

But everything was going great. Sure, he was blowing off his friends, and he felt bad about it. At the rate he was going though, he'll finish before school starts again and make it up to them. They can hang out after their lives aren't in danger.

And then everything went to hell.

From the other side of the barrier, his ghost sense pulled him. A plume of blue mist burst from his mouth and nose, making him cough and hack as the rest continued to pour out.

There was a break in the shield. A hole.

"No".

Ghosts were inside the town perimeter.

And there's a lot of them. His ghost sense has never… exploded so urgently before.

Danny bit his lip in unease, the frost tinging the tips left unnoticed, but took off at his highest speed to the other side of town. It figures that something like this would happen, everything was going well enough too.

The tense flight over isn't quick enough, and even now, mist is still pouring out of his mouth. Danny only hopes that no one gets hurt before he gets there. As odd as it seems, people were getting used to the ghosts before his vacation. Use to, as in, running away immediately. Hopefully the two and a half week lull in activity hasn't dulled that urgency.

----------------------------------------

The residential-suburb area of Amity Park was in an uproar, panic ensued by the masses. The monsters that had been attacking the city as of almost three weeks ago, had returned in abundance. The Fentons, the town's local crazies, had dubbed them as ghosts. Spirits of the afterlife.

Few people actually knew this as truth, or rather, believed this as the truth. Sam Manson and Tucker Foley were two who definitely agreed. Both had spent enough time at the Fenton home to catch a few glimpses of their… scientific subject matter. Ectoplasm was strewn about the house left and right, placed wherever it could be stored. Both teenagers had seen evidence that the spirits of the damned, do, in fact, exist. Sam had even met the ghost hero who made the town his home.

Both were lamenting their current set of choices for this not-so lovely afternoon. Sam swore that if she got out of this alive, she'd get the Fentons to hand over some of their weaponry. Tucker firmly decided that if he lived, he'd buy the newest touchscreen PDA on the market. Them getting out of this alive seemed like a slim possibility at the moment.

The visit they planned on paying to their currently estranged friend, Danny, had turned afoul. They had cut through the park to save time, and because Sam liked being outside even though she's a goth. Both were enjoying the day. Sam, lost in a soothing walk through nature, even if artificial, and Tucker, lost in his PDA and listening non-stop to what he was sure to be the next greatest hit in the music industry.

Truly, the day was going great.

And then the fountain they were walking next to blew up. The sounds of screaming echoed around them, mass rushes pushing past people and trampling over a few others. As the ringing in their ears slowly subsided, they were just barely getting up. By the time the two friends got their barings, Sam finally recognized a chill that went down her spine. It was barely felt with that new hero, Phantom, and the meat monster he was facing, but now…

Her entire back was drenched in cold sweat. Tucker was barely getting up, his head being held in one of his hands. The tech geek tried to shake away his dizzy spell, but that only made it worse, forcing him back onto his bottom. Sam was on her feet relatively quickly, already trying to pick her downed friend up. Eventually, her ears stopped ringing, and she heard the haunting roars and wails.

One of those roars was impossibly loud, making both of the social outcasts clutch their hands to their ears. As quick as can be, both turned around. Standing in the rubble of the destroyed fountain, stood a gaunt horror. Tall and sleek, its green fur glowed brightly even in the afternoon sun. A mane of darker, green fur blew in the autumn wind, cupping the ferocious snarl of the lion. Easily the size of a short bus, the hulking beast eyed the people in front of it like prey.

Gone were thoughts of anything besides survival, and it took everything in her body to stop herself from falling over in fright. A ghost lion, tall, menacing, majestic, horrifying, and all of the above. The irony that she might be killed by a lion, when she had previously protested the housing of lions at the zoo, was not lost to her. With urgency, she tugged on Tucker's arm to snap him back to reality.

His eyes darted back and forth from the towering carnivore, racking his brain on how to get him and Sam out of here alive. His train of thoughts stop when he hears another set of growls, and barely turning his head, sees what will eventually become his worst nightmare. The rest of the pride, four more lionesses, stalk around the two trapped teens, circling them in a corral. When the rubble crumbles slightly, it makes the two terrified teens flinch and turn back to the leader of the pride.

It was in a stance to pounce, teeth bared and large, large claws extended from its massive paws. It lept. And both friends thought this was it.

A smokey shield of purple energy whipped around them in a protective whirlwind, and the force of the impact on the thin membrane protecting them was most definitely felt. The lions outside of the barrier roared in anger. Sam and Tucker felt their knees go weak, but managed to stay standing by supporting each other.

"What the fuck is happening?" Sam whispered.

Tucker gulped, trying to swallow his fear. "I dunno Sam." He looked at the only thing stopping his untimely death, poking it lightly. It doesn't feel strong, but the results speak for themselves. "We're safe. For now at least."

Being goth isn't just for show, as pessimism sets in immediately. "And how long do you think that'll last?" She snapped, then shook her head. "It won't last forever, we need to find a way to get out of here before…" She flicked her hand at the barrier, "this isn't here anymore."

Tucker nodded in agreement, taking his phone out immediately. "Let's call the Fentons then. That was a ghost, right?"

"Yeah, it was. That's the feeling I got from it at least. Plus, it was glowing and green, along with the rest."

"Good." Tucker started, "then let's call them and see if they can help us." Honestly, neither friends ever thought that being close to Danny would have the possible benefit of ghost hunters coming to rescue them. It sounded dumb enough, but reality was often outside of expectations.

Tucker dialed the Fentons number, Maddie Fentons' specifically, since she was the more responsible of the couple. He promptly put it on speaker, Sam would be talking over his shoulder the whole time otherwise. His foot tapped nervously on the ground, while his eyes flicked back and forth at the purple… thing protecting him.

The call ended before it even began, a blinking notification at the top right calling his attention. "NO SIGNAL?!" He shrieked.

He raised his hand to throw the phone down onto the ground, but controlled himself immediately, it wouldn't do any good to hurt his baby. One of them at least. "I swear on my life I'm convincing my mom to swap us out of this cheap service provider when this is over. It's literally killing me."

He looked over to Sam, hopeful that she had some semblance of a signal. Her eyes were wide and glued to the screen in her hand. "Fuck." She whispered.

Groaning into his hand, he asked: "No dice?"

Sam shook her head, "No. Nothing. We're scr-" The world around them shifted and turned, blurring into one solid color that neither would ever be able to comprehend. Then, in the blink of an eye, it stopped. And they found themselves someplace really familiar.

Both shaken teens looked around the dark room, spotting the same posters the goth teen hung up over the course of her life. The same wall-sized TV on one side of the room, in the corner an impressive computer setup was installed.

"We're… home? My house?" Sam asked. She looked around again, then bolted to her window. Low and behold, she and Tucker were both back at her house.

Safe.

Sound.

Not about to be eaten.

Both teenagers collapsed onto the ground in relief, letting the tension slowly leak out.

They made it, somehow.

----------------------------------------

As the purple mist surrounds the strange pair of teenagers, an angry swirl of lavender mist explodes from the fountain's damp rubble. Furious and empowered, it forms into a humanoid shape. Desiree solidifies in seconds, scowling and glaring at the lions before. With a roar, she swipes her giant, slapping the pride leader well over thirty feet away.

"Insolent pests! How dare you destroy my wishing fountain!" One of the lionesses charges her, but is flattened immediately, cracking the pavement underneath. Her arm moves back, the fist now transformed into a large mallet. Desiree glares at the offending ghosts, and moves onto the attack immediately. She knew they couldn't understand her, they didn't have the intellect required for comprehensive speech, but there aren't that many fountains in Amity Park! Wells aren't in use anymore, churches make her uncomfortable, and the number of fountains in the small town could be counted on two hands. One now.

And while these particular ghosts are threatening to a human, to ghosts as powerful and old as her, they aren't anything to bat an eye at. Yes, they can be a problem, but unless there's a mass of them, they can be easily dealt with.

Just as she batted another away, one from behind jumped at her. Her free hand glowed purple, ready to blast the impudent cat back into its place. A blur of blue and white grabbed the undead panthera by its tail, and slammed it back onto the ground behind him. It was stunned long enough for him to pierce its chest with an stressed hiss, the green energy blade humming dully in its meaty sheathe.

Phantom, she recognized, who else has white hair like that? So devoid of color, it makes him stick out wherever he goes, especially with that contrasting jumpsuit of his. Quickly, he pulls the blade from the ghost lions' body, letting it dissipate into its core as he turns around.

His eyes find her immediately, losing some of their anger immediately. It makes her smile, there's not many that she can call… friends, but having the Halfa as one hasn't hurt her so far.

"You okay Desiree?" Phantom asked.

The wishing ghost chuckles at the boy, casually backhanding another lunge from two lions. Both go flying off, one impacting a tree, shattering it into splinters, and the other indenting into the wrought iron fence. "I am fine, Danny. These weaklings aren't anything to sweat over." She looks back to the last of the remaining in the pack, "I had it covered, but I appreciate the help."

Danny smiles, but moves into action immediately. Making short work of the ghosts in the immediate area, both convene back together. "What's with the purple sphere here?"

"It has your… friends I believe? The dark girl and the colorful boy I saw you with?" It doesn't take much to put it together, and he wholeheartedly shows his appreciation. "Thank you Desiree! If you weren't here… they might have become ghost chow. I don't know how I can repay you." This was what he was fighting for, for the most part. To save his friends and family. To protect them, whether they know it or not. It hurts to know just how close he was to failing that in one of the most brutal ways possible.

The genie ghost waves it off, "Nonsense." She states, "If anything, this is my fault." A frown makes its way onto her face, "I don't understand. The barrier should still be holding, how did the ghosts get in?"

The Halfa shakes his head, "I'm not sure," He takes a look around, eying the sparse few ghosts here and there. "But I'm gonna stop it."

His attention turns to his friends trapped in the bubble shield. If Desiree wasn't here, at this particular fountain, then… they could have died. "Hey Des?"

Deisree's attention goes back to the ghost child, her one visible eye watching the boy-hero. "Can I make a wish?" She blinks back her surprise, but lets herself have a quiet chuckle. "For you, Danny, of course." If there's one person she can count on to not abuse her wishes, it's Danny.

Smiling in appreciation, he says, "Then I wish… that anyone in danger of ghosts, in Amity Park, is safely transported back home." Desiree had told him the importance of wording when it came to wishing. By adding 'safely' to the wish, hopefully it will provide the benefit he was looking for.

Smirking in acknowledgement, Desiree raises her right hand. "So you have wished it," she snaps her fingers, "so it shall be." Purple mist explodes from her fingertip, going in all directions. It washes over the panicked suburban town piece, stealing away humans to take them away to safety.

Phantom sighs in relief, letting some of his tension fade. He had to rescue four people on the way here, and that wasn't even very close to the hole in the barrier the ghosts were pouring out from. He can only hope that no one was seriously hurt in the time till now. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

Desiree is quick to wave it off, "Nonsense. Anytime, young man, anytime."

He smiles in response, already floating and ready to begin the campaign. "Any chance I can wish the hole closed?"

She follows along after him, "No, unfortunately not. I could seal the hole on your portal since I could syphon energy from the Infinite Realms, but with this one…" her gaze locks to the direction of the breach, "it will require more energy than I have to interfere with a wish already-made. Even more so since the wish is almost over."

That figures. Nothing's ever easy for him, why would this case be any different? "Oh well…" His eyes break from one of the flying ghosts, trailing back to his wishing companion. "Wanna help? It could be fun."

She puts a finger to her lips, humming softly. "I suppose so," she mused, "only this though. I make wishes, and I don't particularly like violence. It's so uncouth."

Danny beams a great laugh at the older woman, "That's fine! Any help counts! It'll be nice to not go at this alone for once." He looked around again, noting the general direction they're all going towards. "They're heading for the portal in my basement. Take out the stragglers and watch out for my parents; they can't fly, so just float up to get away from them."

While Desiree isn't one to take orders, especially from a man of all things, she takes the advice to heart and heads off in the opposite direction. Before she's out of sight, he shouts: "Be safe Des! And Thanks!"

----------------------------------------

With no one around to distract him from actively fighting, the following three hours followed along with non-stop fighting. All three Fenton Thermoses were full to the brim, making them useless cans of metal. He deposited them in a wall, phasing them through with intangibility. Safely nuzzled in with drywall and plaster, Danny left them there for the time being.

That left the rest to be dealt with the old-fashioned way. Tooth and nail, he tore through the horde, slowly making his way towards the breach. It needed to be quartered off, and stopping an advance at a bottleneck is the oldest trick in the book. He wouldn't be able to seal it, but maybe he could do something. And so, dozens fell to him; one by one, they were reduced to a core, then reduced to nourishment.

As the fighting went on, injuries started stacking up. The constant consumption of cores helped, but there's only so much a faulty healing technique paired with what basically amounts to a creepy energy drink can do. Luckily, people seemed to stay in their homes for the most part. Smart on them, but if they strayed outside when monsters were attacking, perhaps they deserved to be taken out of the gene pool.

BOOM!

The area in front of Danny explodes in a grand fashion, and the bird ghost he was targeting fell from the sky in a smoldering mess. Danny flared his power, diving at the dying ghost in a boost of speed and swiping the core from its dissipating body. He ate it immediately, feeling just a little more refreshed than before. His speed stabilized back out and he continued on. At this point, even with the cores, he's close to running on fumes.

Well, he could go for a while longer, which is something he'll have to do, but right now, Danny just wants to rest. His back hurt, first and second degree burns going up and down the whole thing, and that's not counting the number of times he's been hit there with blunt attacks. His entire left arm was a bleeding mess and barely functional; ectoplasm was constantly flowing and enhancing it, vaguely trying to force his healing factor into overdrive. One of his ankles was definitely sprained, and there were no doubt a couple broken ribs too.

It's a good thing he can fly, walking would have been a bitch.

And the end is in sight. As he got closer to the breach, more and more ghosts showed up. As the strongest source of ectoplasm around, he's a beacon aside from the portal, and they attack him relentlessly. The only good thing about that is the lack of coordination. Truthfully, while they are all ghosts, they're also animals. They side with their own kind, and sometimes not even that. The solitary survivors are generally more powerful than the individual pack member, but that's where the pack comes in handy.

When they mistakenly collide thanks to a well timed dodge, they turn on each other instantly. And violently. In their distraction, Danny gets reprieve, and an opportunity attack. And he's never been shy about using opportunities. So while they focus on each other, Phantom takes his potshots; the best part is, they always turn on their fellow ghost. Barely able to stand the other specters presence, the varying groups, cliques, and packs are quick to turn.

That's how the last half-hour has gone, and it's helped the half-ghost conserve energy. He's still spent himself far more than he normally does, but with this basically being a free-for-all, it's helped him sustain his energy for the most part.

Between him and the hole are nine ghosts. A volt of four rather small vultures, a formless, another ghost bear- the third this day- and three… odd canine ghosts. The vultures are normal sized, as in the same as when they died. They're nothing like the weird ones that Vlad… employs? Just feral birds that flock together, non-threat that he can take out with a single high-powered ecto-blast. The formless is larger than normal, similar to a slime in shape and a mini-cooper in size, but with an actual face: Two hollow holes for eyes and a large mouth full of semi-solid teeth. Semi-solid, but still solid enough to hurt and break skin; based off of personal experience of course. The bear- maybe a polar bear based off the long snout, is about the size of a class B RV. Polar bears reach up to nine or ten feet in length normally, so it figures that its afterlife counterpart is almost twice its normal size.

And then there's the canines. The three don't stray away from the hole, only allowing ghosts to enter through it. It's like they're guarding it. If Danny had to guess, they were similar to feral hunting dogs. Long floppy ears, pointy snout, bushy tails, manes going down their backs…

"Hunting dogs?" His suspicion suddenly peaked. The barrier had two day left, and even with the hole punched in it… he had confidence in Desiree's strange power. The barrier is strong, and at one point he had bashed another ghost into it until it was knocked out. It would take serious force to damage it to the point of it making a hole… unless precision tools were used. Hunting dogs, powerful tools, and were those collars on the dogs? Actually, that mane going down their backs looked suspiciously like a mohawk for dogs.

"This reeks of Skulker." Phantom hissed.

So confident in his suspicions, he let anger take over for a moment, letting his power bubble and burn inside himself. If Skulker put so many people in danger for something stupid like… hunting him, he'd throttle the little booger. Like a workout burn, that anger sprung him into action. The vultures, already on their way over, were blasted down quickly. They weren't even a threat to begin with, and their disappearing corpses didn't even register as he readied himself for the next two.

The bear and the formless blob charge at once, from two different directions. From his left the bear roared like the mighty predator it is. Long and stocked with muscle, it's speed is disturbingly fast. The blob rushing on his right is slower, smaller, and less powerful overall, but with its fluid body it can dodge like a champ.

A bolt of electricity slams into the bear, slowing it, but the juggernaut continues. Danny's other hand glows green, forming small claws on the tips of his fingers. An ecto-blast forms on command, and his new claws dig into it. Danny fires the Spookshot, feeling a little pleased with his choice of attack. The bear may have shrugged off another two bolts- what a fucking tank- but the formless had met its counter.

The airburst explosions played to its weak constitution, and directly against its strength. With an attack that didn't require a direct hit, but was an A.O.E., the thing didn't stand a chance. Unfortunately, the polar bear ghost was on him before he could finish the damned thing off.

Thinking fast, he sprung up immediately. The clawed swipe that swept by underneath him howled as energy extended in an arc of energy. Luckily for the formless, that was the type of attack he could dodge. Even injured as it was, the ghost slithered around the arc like pudding. It's a little gross to watch actually, seeing as it makes the same sloshing sound as the dessert, but smells like a corpses' morning breath.

With both ghosts following, Danny spins around to fire a few ecto-blasts. The bear gets hit with three, which it shrugs off like a badass, and the formless is playing it smart: staying right behind the ursine.

The Halfa growls in frustration, and despite how much he wants to take the fight up close, every fight up close with them ends with more injuries than it's worth. His mouth parts slightly, and his teeth begin to buzz. As Phantoms' tongue numbs, the four pronounced canines glow a hostile green. He's forced to dodge left from a barrage of small ecto-blasts by the shapeshifter, and a small ball of wild ectoplasm forms in his mouth.

Energy sparks and burns the inside of his mouth as more power is added to the attack. A wave of cold, something he hadn't actually felt in a while, brought his attention to the polar bear again. His eyes go wide when he sees the fucking thing doing the exact same as him: powering up an attack in its mouth. Feeling a new sense of urgency, Danny spins around and fires the attack immediately.

A ball of unstable ectoplasm rockets down after the chasing duo. The blob-thing shrieks in terror and dives away, smart enough to realize its impending doom should it stay. The bear is stubborn, copying the Halfa by firing it's own cryokinetic beam. The two attacks meet, colliding with a screech, and implode seconds later. Cold energy ripples out in a wave, and Danny's already prepared his next attack.

He wants that core, all too curious on how it would taste. Danny flings a whip of electricity at the bear through the white-ish green smoke. The static whip binds its neck, forcing it forward when Danny yanks on it. The bear roars and pulls away, resisting capture and the pain it feels from the constant current going through its spectral body.

Using ecto-augmentation, Danny yanks again towards the ground, flinging the bear down. The formless ghost attacks from behind, dropping its invisibility. Cutting the whip at the halfway point, he swings around using the same amount of force he used on the bear. The whip hits, burning into the ghosts body, and cleaving a chunk out of its lower half.

The ghostly polar bear slams into the ground, and Danny quickly finishes the ghost in front of him off. Looking down, he's pleased to see the bear struggling against the collar of electricity shocking it. Taking his chance, he charges down while forming ecto-claws. As tough and strong as the bear is, it falls all the same with a quick strike if it's not paying attention.

After collecting the cores, a green energy core and a light blue ice core, he refocused his attention on the last three. The dogs hadn't moved at all. Floating in the same spot fifty feet up, they guard the breach. Their eyes never left him.

Dannys' eyes narrow in confirmed suspicion. They've been watching. And no doubt, so has Skulker.

Danny levels out at the same height, taking one more look around. The acclaimed 'Ghost Zones Greatest Hunter' is nowhere in sight. It could be paranoia, but in all the ghosts he's seen so far, none of them have had silver and green collars to date. It matches his persona as well; why wouldn't a hunter have hunting dogs?

Just as he opens his mouth to call the blob in a suit out, he hears a whistle. The dogs charge in a wild, barking blitz. Immediately they start lobbing ecto-blasts, surprising the teenage half-ghost. He's never come across any canines that could fire ecto-blasts. It's always been a charge up attack of some kind, if that, and that only gives his theory credence. These are hunting dogs, trained for the purpose of taking down prey with fast movement and high firepower. For taking him down.

Phantom is quick to raise an ecto-shield, blocking shot after shot as he's pushed back. The concussive force is a little jarring, and he feels the need to bitch at every comic, anime, and movie that's never made that a point to be aware of. Knowing that staying on the defensive won't get him anywhere, Danny counts the blast as his shield cracks. With a small opening in their barrage, Danny escapes the failing shield and takes to the sky with extreme speed.

Skulker may have set this whole thing up, but he's still got an advantage the hunter may not have accounted for. Danny can actually go through the shield, while other ghosts can't. The hunter may know, but it plays to Danny's tune to keep that card ready to play. To keep a charade going, he twirls around with his back flying forward and returns fire with his own ecto-blasts. All the canine ghosts bob and weave, dodging with trained ease.

The lead ghost continues to run on air, accelerating even higher when fire forms on its feet. Surprised by the sudden increase in speed, Danny narrowly dodges its rocket-like lunge. He doesn't dodge the blast to his side however. "Arrghhh!"

He's forced to the side, but quickly raises a flat barrier with a wave of his hand. Danny grips his burnt side, ignoring the self-repair of his suit. Several more blasts impact the flat shield he summoned as he flies back, and the audible cracks it makes have him wincing. He might have underestimated these things. A majority of the foes he's fought so far have been disorganized and untrained, and while he suspects- practically knows- that they're Skulkers hunting dogs, he didn't think they'd have so much versatility or coordination. Most animal ghosts don't even use energy attacks, much less breath fucking fire.

And breath fire it did. Rounding about, the flaming dog exhaled a fiery plume that just barely missed his face. He wasn't sure how fast eyebrows grow back, but he'd rather not learn now. As usual, the feeling of pain comes with anger as well. Ignoring his injured thorax, he points both hands at the firebreather. Electricity strikes with the same frightening speed it always has. It may not be the speed of light, but his ectoplasm-enhanced electrokinesis fires at about 1/50th the speed of light. The two charged bolts split the air like thunder, entering through the open mouth of the ghost hound, and with nowhere for the current to ground out, travels through its body.

His flat shield breaks, disrupting his concentration from the mental backlash, but he's already on the move. One of the spectral hunting dogs foregoes range and accelerates towards Danny. Like the other, fire forms around its feet, and taking quick stock, Danny flings an ecto-disk at the last ranged fighter. It just so happens that the charging canine was in the way, and when it dodged, it was too late for the other to do the same. The disk sliced clean through, starting at the separation of its jaws and ending with the detonation in the middle of its body.

That's one down.

Danny didn't even look back, instead choosing to continue his flight towards the electrified ghost. Claws reached out, extending and merging into a blade running flush with his arm. He continued to gain more speed, and the large fire breathing ghost dog recovered just in time to not lose its head. The large gash running up its body, hind leg to neck, was something left instead. It howled in anguish, disproving his parents' theory for the umptienth time, that the spirits of the dead don't feel pain. They very well did feel pain, every ghost he's fought felt pain. Skulker screamed from electrocution, Vlad had told him numerous stories of his harrowing Halfa tales, and Danny himself is no stranger to pain.

He didn't feel particularly bad in this case though, the ghost boy had no interest in becoming a pelt on a wall. "Well Skulker?!" He shouted, "How many of your dogs gotta die before the tin can himself come out to face me?! Huh?!" Danny fires a ray at the charging ghost, forcing it off of an intercept course. He keeps it up, burning into its side and making it howl.

Whistling. He picks up the faintest sound, growing closer and closer, and getting louder and louder. Danny ceases his attack in haste, accelerating to his top speed and flying backwards. His gaze turns up, locking onto the multiple missiles flying after him, with the hunter fast on their smokey trail. The Halfa snarls, white teeth glistening in the afternoon setting sun. Even tired and battered, his eyes glowered with power. "'Bout time skullface!"

"Whelp!" The hunter shouts, rapidly closing the distance with his jetpack. "I will have your head!" Blasters and blades sprout from his arms, all aimed at Danny.

Danny barrel rolls around the missiles, ignoring their impacts on the shield behind him. Ecto-rays power up in both hands, static electricity sparking on his clawed fingers. Digging in, his fingers split the ray in a mock-point defense. The split ecto-ray's splash across the missiles, but only some of them detonate. "Tsk." He twirls around with deft acrobatics, dodging another set. "I thought you wanted my pelt?"

The huntsman's hounds are on him again, the only uninjured one managing to land a strong bite on his legs. Danny groans at the grinding feeling, his eyes lock onto the specter that was putting him through this pain. With a growling twist, Danny kicks the offending mutt off his leg into a missile. The ghost dog yelped in pain, but was blasted directly into the half-ghost once again. He promptly skewered the collared canine, using its body as shield from a volley of several missiles.

It didn't utter another sound.

One more ghost dog left, and a tiny, angry, frog-blob thing in a metal suit. "Easy peasy," he muttered, "lemon squeezy!" More projectiles flew at him, making him wonder just how many he could cram into that suit of his. His eyes glowed a brighter green than normal, and his telekinesis reached out towards the incoming missiles.

Danny squeezed his palms shut, crushing five incoming explosives. His grin was feral at the shocked look on Skulker's face, in the entire time of this… invasion, he hadn't been able to use his telekinesis offensively. It put pressure on his brain, at least it felt like it did, but man did it feel good to do that. If only he could rip apart that armor.

The injured dog lept at him, fire burning all along its body. Danny cursed the damn thing; if it wasn't trained, he had no doubt it would have run already. Most pack animals have done that so far when he cuts down the majority, why couldn't these dogs be like them. It barked and snarled as Danny continued to dodge it, a stray blast from a wrist mounted laser on Skulkers slammed into his chest. He careened down to the ground, clutching his chest as the superheated ectoplasm continued to burn a hole in his thorax. Through his tumbling, he was able to glare at the smirking hunter.

The hunting hound blew fire from its mouth, engulfing his form. Danny screamed at the feeling, only now seeing what Vlad meant. Fire, despite being an eventual power he'd gain, was not something good for his body. With an ice core, it made him more susceptible to high-temperature attacks. As quick as can be, Phantom ejects himself from the stream of fire.

He's met with relief when he feels the barrier on his back for just a moment, and he pushes through as fire, missiles, and energy attacks of varying types slam into the barrier he just slipped through. The dog is on that spot in second, ferociously trying to claw and bite its way through the purple obstruction. "Not today fido." He pat the barrier, pissing off the mohawked mutt even more. "But don't worry, I'll be coming for you in a few. Just wait right there."

Delicately, he took out the remaining cores in his pouch. The ice core, two energy cores, and what he was pretty sure is an earth core- courtesy of a ghost armadillo. He watched as the hunter floated up behind the dog, scowling in disgust and frustration. Through the barrier, he could hear Skulker belittling him. "I see the rumors were true, you Halfa really are cannibals."

Danny grinned, popping the two energy cores into his mouth. He was supremely satisfied by the wince the hunter made when the cores broke with a crunch. "Not really cannibals, ya know." He chewed some more, "I was human first, and I dunno if you've ever tried 'em," He held up the earth core, twirling on his finger, "but they taste fantastic."

Closing his eyes, he grunted as the pain subsided, just a little, then moved onto the earth core. He shivered at the new energy, having never experienced it before. It tasted… planty. Like a vegetable, similar to carrots or lettuce, it didn't taste bad or good. "Kinda meh." He muttered.

"And it's frowned upon for other ghosts to consume their own kind." Skulker began again, "Too many have fallen to insanity by the radical consumption of power." Danny raised an eyebrow, shuffling the ice core around in his hand.

With conviction, Danny pointed at the hunter, poking the barrier. It rippled like water momentarily, calming seconds later. "That's where you're wrong Skulker. I'm not like you, or any other ghost." He spread his arms wide, "I'm a Halfa, you said it yourself! There's only two of us in this whole wide world." The jovial tone left him, replaced by the seriousness of a teenager who's risked his life. "Why should I follow the rules of other ghosts, especially when I'm hunted like an animal," he growled, "and attacked constantly."

He cracked his neck, left and right, and crunched down on the ice core. It burst in his mouth like ice cream on a sunny day. Like vanilla it's sweet, and is already his favorite core to treat himself to. The rush of cold washed over his whole being, numbing the burns all over his body and accelerating their healing. Danny raised his arm, eying a burn that scabbed over slightly. Still tender to the touch, it didn't burn just being there though. "Man that's good."

His attention returned to the hunter and his dog, both watching with morbid curiosity. "Besides, it's not like I'm eating any cores from an intelligent ghost. They're all animals." Phantom flashed a toothy grin, fangs pronouncing his next words with almost predatory glee. "And as a human, I'm used to eating animals."

When the hunter made no move or response, Danny narrowed his eyes. His ghost sense went off at the last second, pulling him around and raising an emergency barrier. Skulker, the real one, slammed into his shield with a rather impressive serrated blade. Glowing a menacing green, it cut straight through it with minimal difficulty. Danny raised his hand in urgency, conjuring a small glowing green energy sword. The two blades met, sparking as conflicting energies fought against one another.

The hunter grinned maniacally, "And that's what makes you such a prize, whelp." He pushed harder, swiping Danny away from the shield and way of escape. With a little breathing room, the sword extended to the same three-and-a-half-foot length blade as Skulker. The ghost of the hunt laughed in enjoyment, continuing his rabid charge.

"I'm flattered, truly." Danny quipped, parrying the blade away, "but I'm not interested in you like that!" He kicked the hunter back, but his green metal blade sliced across his calf, causing the half-ghost to hiss.

The hunter readied his stance, "I'm going to enjoy shutting that mouth of yours, once and for all."

Danny summoned a second blade, "You may try." He lunged at the hunter, deflecting a ray from his shoulder mounted weapon and matching his blade. When the shoulder blaster took aim again, Danny fried it with a blast from his eyes. With smoking sockets, he backed off, barely dodging the hunters furious swipe. Those sword lessons with Vlad were paying off with dividends, and he really didn't want to think about what this could have been like without all those lessons from his uncle.

"Petulant brat! I just installed that upgrade!" Skulker raged.

All he got was a mocking laugh in return, "You can copy the predator all you like blob boy, but what works for him, won't work for you."

"The predator? Who is that?" Skulker asked. He sounded like a fellow he'd get along with.

The fight stalls momentarily, "What? You mean you don't know who the predator is, but you got a shoulder cannon?" Danny had a hard time believing this.

The hunter nodded proudly, "Indeed, I thought it a most ingenious addition to my suit, but it seems someone already beat me to it."

"Uh-huh." Phantom didn't know if he was impressed or disappointed, perhaps a mix of both. "Well, you're not copying anyone that's real, he's an alien from a movie series." Danny tapped his swords together in thought. The two ecto-constructs sparked in protest, "You'd probably like the movies. If you're ever in the real world- and not hunting me- look up the predator and alien movie series."

It's always odd to see a metal face move like skin, but if the arch of the alloyed eyebrow was anything to go by, then perhaps he got his attention. "I may do that." He stated. Ports opened up on his armor, billowing smoke out and obstructing his view.

With a bad feeling welling up in his stomach, Danny changed tactics. The Halfa took off back towards the shield. The resounding explosion behind him made him smirk, and he reappeared on the other side without his swords. Any active powers besides flight seem to get negated upon entry to the lavender force field.

The hunting dog was on him instantly with a blast of fire. A quick shield saved him from even more burns, but he was forced into another hasty retreat when it started wildly tackling his green bubble shield. Danny grit his teeth and dismissed the ecto-shield before he could take anymore mental backlash.

Charging forward, Phantom stuck his arm out and fired electricity at the bleeding undead. It howled in pain as thousands of volts of electricity coursed through its body for the second time that day. Danny was on it within seconds, one hand gripped on its head, delivering electric justice directly, the other hand wound back. A flash of green later, and the dog fell down to the ground, a new hole in the back of its neck. He'll collect the cores later.

Skulker roared in fury, "Whelp! Do you know how long it took to train those?!" The hunter descended on him again, forcing Danny on the defensive once again. A shield won't match up to Skulkers blade, but his sword from earlier did okay.

New plan in mind, Danny flooded both arms with ectoplasm. Reinforcement took too long for his liking, but with a new sword in his right hand, and large claws covering his left, the ghost hero felt much more comfortable in a fight now.

"I'm guessing training took about a month?" Danny taunted, "It's been a while since we last saw each other after all." Skulker barreled towards him, and after turning intangible, he let the angry ghost go right through.

Metal teeth ground together with a screech, and while it hurt to hear, it made Phantom want to laugh all the more. Which he did. "What's wrong? Is this whole ambush," he spread his arms out to emphasis, "not working? A shame. Really. Aha!"

In response to his anger, a new weapon port opened up on the small of his back. The cylinder, about the size of a Fenton Thermos, quickly extended into a small silver and green rifle without a scope or stock. A small logo was on the side, a silver skull with a green mohawk. Danny had to give it to the guy, he knew what theme he wanted.

When the gun started to whine, the half-ghost could practically feel the energy building. "Oookay, that's a lot." Danny put distance between him and Skulker, firing off ecto-blast after ecto-blast. Despite the bulky nature of the suit and his propulsion system, the hunter was surprisingly nimble. Small thrusters on his back, arms, and legs caught his attention. 'Damn, that's smart.'

He wouldn't be giving Skulker any comments though, that'd inflate the arrogant hunters ego even more, and after spending so much time tearing it down, it'd be a shame for it to be built back up again.

Seeing as normal ecto-blasts weren't working, Danny switched back to Spookshots. The airburst attacks were much more effective, but Skulker was ultimately undettered. "This may damage your pelt…" A laser designator points right at the center of Danny's chest, "but a damaged pelt is better than no pelt, and I must claim you before the other Halfa finds you."

Time slows down as scenario after scenario goes through his head. Different plans on how to survive repeat over and over, but he can't think of anything that would let him survive. His eyes glance towards the ground, thirty feet away, but that's something he can cover in a distance.

"Goodbye Whelp!"

Danny turns south, going directly down. Just as he reaches the ground, the weapon fires. Like a lighthouse foghorn, the odd ghost-rifle fires its build-up. Danny doesn't turn around, instead continuing through the ground. He goes deeper and deeper, and even through his intangibility he can feel the ground behind him getting displaced. He doesn't stop going down, the ground surrounding him is getting hotter too. There's no way he's gone that deep yet, so it has to be Skulker.

The normally quiet ground is loud, what Danny can only describe as shifting landmass crumbling and colliding. Like tectonic plates moving, it's disturbing to hear so close. The hunter definitely outdid himself with this new weapon.

----------------------------------------

Above ground, Skulker peeled himself off of the barrier. The concussive force of his now melted rifle had blown him back with extreme force. Annoyingly, he looked at his former weapon. The long, sleek and silver body was reduced to an ashy grey, and any technological components were no doubt melted beyond salvation. "Tsk." Casually, he tossed the broken rifle away, it's nothing more than scrap metal at this point.

The hunters mechanical eyes turn towards the large crater in the ground. "What was I thinking?" Well over sixty feet deep and thirty feet wide, the ground was scorched black and the crispy crust smoked a dangerous green. He'd never get a pelt from the whelp if the ghost child was hit with that. The boy would have been atomized from a direct hit.

But the boy is resourceful. It's what made this hunt with him even better. The Halfa, young as he is, has skills unbefitting his age and power that's constantly growing. Ah, such a wonderful target. Phantom really would make for an excellent pelt above his mantle.

Slowly, Skulker lowers down to the ground. He kneels at the edge, peering at the bottom. Raising his arm, he taps a few buttons on the wrist-interface. His other arm transforms into a laser-designating scanner. Top to bottom, the laser crawls across, searching for the half-ghost target.

Beep.

"Aha! I knew the pest was sti-"

A black gloved hand abruptly emerged from the ground, gripping onto the surprised hunters wrist. Before he can even move or register that the hand is glowing, Phantom crushes the arm thin. Like crumpled foil, it caves in on itself, screeching protest. The equipment in the arm sparks from malfunction, something Danny can feel through his gloves.

Capitalizing on his surprise, the Halfa pulls the hunter down towards the ground and launches himself up. Skulker slams face first into the dirt, it doesn't do any damage, but it's definitely insulting. Danny floats above his hunter, pissed and ready to dish. Electrokinesis is a no-go, but everything else is fair game.

"Did ya think I'd go down by something like that?!" Danny taunted.

Danny peppers the area where Skulker is at with ecto-blasts. The hunter flies out while the artificial cliffside he was on crumbles into the new pit. The jetpack has lost a wing, reducing mobility, and the disabled arm reduces the blob in a cans threat level. A blade appears from his good arm, the same machete-thing they clashed with earlier, and a blaster pops up from the damaged shoulder.

Skulker grins maniacally, "Not for a second, ghost child!"

Seeing where this is going, Danny forms an energy blade of his own, one he grips with both hands. Both rocket towards the other, one propelled by thrusters, the other by natural power. Although he can't deflect all the shots just yet, it sure does make him feel confident with the few that he does.

At the last second, Danny twirls his body. Their blades clash, but the teenage ghost plants his feet into the chest of the hunter. Ignoring the numbness spreading from his legs, Phantom springboards off the metal suit, forcing the hunter into a small tumble. The sheer momentum that slammed into him left a dent in his chest, but that was it.

Danny's on him again, and swings the sword down vertically. Skulker blocks, but again he's blasted back. Switching to one hand, his smoking hand fires another ray at close range. It hits the other shoulder cannon, thoroughly destroying it.

"One arm. One blade. No more guns, missiles are useless and you're kinda roughed up. A lot. Still think you can do this?" False bravado aside, Danny was really hoping he'd say no. He didn't know how long he could keep this up. With no cores for a boost, he was running on fumes. He had no Fenton Thermos or Containment Cube to hold the battlesuit booger in, and it was taking everything he had to not pass out. Dead tired, puns aside, is exactly how the Halfs felt.

Skulker narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. Quietly, he ran a systems diagnostics and silently cursed. Less than ten percent of energy left and forget the missiles being useless, he was out completely. Almost every upgrade was damaged, with over half of his thrusters offline and his jetpack was very close to critical levels.

His plan failed, his equipment wasn't enough and his prey was getting away. The Halfa is bleeding, burned, bruised, and battered, but he still had fight left in him. Begrudgingly, Skulker put the blade away, letting it retract back into his metal arm. "No. This hunt is over for today. I will be back though, so keep your pelt warm for me whelp!"

And he took off in the same direction as the Fenton Portal. Danny wasn't worried about him attacking anyone else, especially his parents. They'd tear his ass a new one in his current condition. Slowly, he floated down towards the ground, then fell on his back. Exhausted and in no small amount of pain, it took everything in his power to not pass out.

"Ew."