Okay, for anyone who's waiting for the next chapter of "Internal Darkness", this is only a one-chapter story. I want to get this thing done before I lose inspiration. I'm just trying to get used to writing these things on a laptop. Just so you know, this happens to be a crossover.

One more thing: this takes place before PP, since I didn't like it all that much. Note: I'm rewriting it, since I read through the first draft, and to be honest, it sucked. Sorry about that. Hopefully, this will be better.

"Jack, why did you bring me here?" Maddie asked as they listened to Vlad's speech.

"What, we can't support an old friend?" Jack exclaimed. "It's hard work and he needs all the support he can get. Besides, maybe we'll be able to find some ghosts!"

"And in conclusion, I will do everything in my power to make sure our children get the education they deserve." Vlad finished. "Now do any of you have any questions? One at a time please."

"Hey, V-man!" Jack exclaimed. "I know you're looking out for our kids! You've got my full support."

"That means a great deal to me, Jack." Vlad smiled. Especially when I steal your family and force you to suffer the hell I've suffered for 20 years. "I'm glad to see you've come, Maddie. I hope you're doing well."

"I'm doing all right." Maddie forced a smile. She was a little suspicious of him, even now. "You've becoming a popular mayor, Vlad."

"How is Daniel, by the way?" Vlad asked.

"He's doing great!" Jack declared. "His grades are going up, and he's not coming home bruised like he used to. I swear, sometimes I think he spends all his spare time hunting ghosts! I also think he'l tell Sam his feelings any day now."

"It's about time." Vlad replied, chuckling. "They would make an excellent couple. Where is Jasmine, by the way?"

Before Maddie could answer, at least half a dozen armed men broke into the room, shooting into the air. Panicked, people ducked, not wanting to piss off the gunmen. Vlad was about to go ghost and rip them apart for disrupting his speech advocating stronger ghost sensors for Casper High to provide an obstacle to Daniel, but Jack pulled him down.

"Careful, V-man." Jack whispered. Vlad knew this was one of the only times he had heard that fat idiot talk quietly. "You don't want to get shot."

"Thanks, Jack." Vlad whispered, trying to figure out how he could use his powers without anyone noticing. "Just try not to pull my shoulder next time." He would have continued his tirade, but decided not to draw attention to himself. That, and his attention was on one of the side walls. It looked like a figure was perched on it, but it could have been his imagination.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

To put it lightly, Danny was scared out of his mind. Whenever he faced his enemies: Skulker, Vlad, Technus, he didn't feel half the terror he did now. He wiped sweat out of his eyes, forcing himself to stay calm. He took deep breaths but it didn't work very well. Danny accidentally fired an ecto-blast, hitting the wall out of sheer panic.

He had been in this state ever since he learned that his family, along with other 30 others, were being held hostage at City Hall. It had been almost an hour, but there were no further developments. "They'll get them out of there." Sam tried to reassure, hugging him tightly. "Why not go in as Danny Phantom?"

"They thought of that." Danny sighed. "They have ghost detectors and weapons. Still, I could go and offer to help the police. You know, if I wasn't a C student, I would have done that in the first place."

"Just be careful, Danny." Tucker added, for once not making terrible jokes. "There are at least 9 kidnappers in there."

"We haven't heard anything about that." Danny replied in a confused tone.

"You got to learn how to use the internet, buddy." Tucker smiled sadly. "We can't help you this time. You can do this, Danny. All you have to do is be patient. Granted, I don't have any idea what you're going through, but I imagine it's very difficult."

"Be strong, Danny, be strong." Sam whispered, kissing him gently. He transformed into Phantom and flew off. He knew he should have taken them, but this was something he had to do alone. "I'll get you guys out, I promise." (AN: I'm afraid I haven't yet learned how to use italics on this computer)

Due to his worry, he arrived at the scene in less than a minute. Over 100 police surrounded the area, many of them trying to keep worried loved ones out of the way. "Okay, so what is going on?" Danny asked, trying to disguise the worry in his voice.

"We don't know who they are, but they're members of a cartel." The officer in charge replied. He was fat, but had a great deal of muscle behind it, as well as a scar on his neck. "Strange behavior for them, but we can't stop to figure it out now. Anyway, they're demanding 50 million in cash, and the release of all their members currently incarcerated. If we don't, they'll kill one hostage an hour."

"You have any kind of plan?" Danny asked. "If you want, I can go in, hit them, and get out before they even know what happened. I'm aware of the ghost weapons, but I've had experience with those kinds of people."

"We've got snipers covering the area, but they've got their guns pointed towards the hostages. As long as they do, we can't risk shooting them." Danny sighed angrily, knowing there was nothing he could do but wait. He circled around, lookig for any sign of his family. At least with his future self, it was up to him. Now he had no control over the situation at all. Pathetic cowards. They always use innocent people to achieve their selfish goals, just like Vlad. However, he wasn't this terrible. If any of my family is hurt, I will personally rip his throat out. (Yeah, I finally figured it out. Hurray for me.) Danny know that was a terrible thought, but as long as they were in danger, he didn't care.

After several minutes, shooting started to break out. SWAT prepared their weapons, but one of the snipers told him to hold on. "Captain, this is weird." He said over the radio. "They're shooting at the walls, which doesn't make any sense. Wait, one of them was cut down! I can't see a damn thing. Any idea what's attacking them?"

"I don't know any more than you do." The captain told him. "Are any of the hostages injured?"

"No, sir. Whatever this is, it's only going after the kidnappers. 4 of them have been killed, and the others are in a state of panic. We better go now before whatever this is goes after the hostage.'

"It might be a ghost." Danny suggested, but shook his head. "No; my ghost sense would be going off." Whatever the hel it is, we better find out. I don't want them in the line of fire.

After another ten seconds or so, it quieted. "Sir, they're all dead. It was like something came out of thin air, but I didn't see anything except some weird stabbing weapon killing the last one."

"All right, we're sending a team in to retrieve the hostages." The Captain declared. "Phantom, I want you to go with them. We don't know what we're going to find there, and you're better equipped than any of us."

"I'm ready when you are." Danny smiled. The team consisted of more than 20 men, all with kevlar and automatic weapons. Danny led the group, his hands glowing in preparation of an unseen enemy. They went inside, everyone ready to fire at the slightest provocation.

None of the hostages were hurt, although they were terrified and many paralyzed with fear. The kidnappers were a different story, though. One of them had been impaled by a weapon none of them could identify. Two more were beheaded and the rest were hit with a strange weapon. "This is odd." One of them murmured. "No powder burns, no shrapnel; the wound has been cauterized. Some sort of heat weapon."

Danny kept his eyes peeled as wel, using his ghost sense, but it wasn't going off. He looked at the staircase and could have sworn he saw something, but it disappeared before he could get a closer look. Danny thought it was a figment of his imagination until he saw a red light shine of one of the officers.

"Look out!" Danny exclaimed, but it was too late. A blue bolt struck him down and the rest started firing. He tried to see the figure, but had no success in the confusion. He fired a few ecto-blasts, hoping to flash it out, but that didn't work either.

A flying disk was thrown towards them. Danny turned intangible just in time, but the others weren't so lucky. It cut through three of them, killing them instantly. The remaining officers formed a circle and lightened the gunfire. (I'm sure you know what it is by now, right?)

They couldn't see the figure, but had a good idea where the shots were coming from. Danny spotted a tiny bit of green blood on the wall, but it didn't even slow the creature down as it blasted two more officers, killing one and seriously wounding the other. He gasped as he saw a bolt fly towards him. Danny conjured a shield and managed to block it. It was difficult, but he managed.

"Get the civilians out of here!" one of them ordered, and Danny decided to provide a distraction He used his ice powers to make the walls slippery, hoping to provide an obstacle. He heard more gunfire, and a thud near the podium. Let's see him get out of this. He launched ice blasts all around where he thought the enemy was. He heard a groan as the figure broke some of it as it managed to free itself.

By now, the hostages were out and the remaining SWAT members had taken cover under the benches, or whatever they could find. Danny dodged more energy shots, desperate to find this thing. "Okay, I'm done playing games." He declared. He fired a weak ghostly wail in the figure's general direction. After a couple of seconds, he saw an impact on the wal and fired a deadly ecto-blast in its direction. Finally, it made its mark as it became visible.

To put it lightly, it was terrifying. The figure was over 7 feet tall, and covered in weaponry. It threw its disk again, but Danny turned intangible in time. On the return back, he grabbed the disk with his right hand. "Okay, let's see what you can do." Danny smirked. The creature gave a growl which he figured was a challenge. Danny turned invisible hoping to sneak behind him.

Just as he was about to knock him unconscious, wrist blades made their way towards him. Danny managed to avoid a diect blow, but was cut in the side, which was dripping blood. He fired an ecto-blast, but was surprised when the creature jumped over 10 feet to avoid it.

He took the the air, dodging more of the energy attacks. Out of the corner of his eye, Danny saw a cannon on his shoulder. "Let's see if I can take that out." His ecto-blasts weren't having much effect, and he didn't intend to use the disk just yet.

Danny fired a few decoy blasts to distract him, and launched a spear of ice towards the cannon. His opponent anticipated this, however, and rolled to the left. He fired more shots from the cannon, one of which nailed Danny in the chest. He gasped for breath, and put up a shield to protect him from further shots.

"Okay, I better impede his ability to move or I'll never beat him." Danny muttered. He froze a good deal of the floor, and prepared for his opponent's next move "I hope you can figure-skate!" I wish I was that confident. This thing can see me when I'm invisible.

He moved toward Danny, but lost his balance. He managed to stay on his feet, but it was the only distraction necessary for Danny to blow his cannon to bits. Still having a good deal of tricks, he took out a stick and extended it, with sharp points on both ends.

The Predator (may as well call him that; you've probably figured it out by now, anyway) was quite excited. This was the most challenging hunt he ever had. It was obvious his opponent was not ooman, since he could fly and survived a direct hit from the plasma blast. He watched the disk warily, wondering when it would be thrown. He positioned himself defensively, waiting for his attack.

Danny didn't disappoint him. He fired an ecto blas that knocked him off his feet and brought the disk towards him. The Predator blocked the clumsy attack easily and spun around, intending to take his head off. Again, Danny turned intangible. "Jeez, looks like you're running out of tricks." Danny remarked. "All the better for me." He blocked an attack with the disk and punched him across the face. His fist hurt when it impacted the armor, but the Predator clearly was not expecting it and was sent flying over 6 feet.

To put it lightly, the Predator was surprised.He inwardly cursed himself for forgetting the strange ability that allowed him to faze through objects. Not to mention his opponent was even stronger than he is. No Yajuta could do that with a simple punch. Throw them, perhaps, but not an assault.

He tried to adjust his mask while fending off attacks with the disk. The thing was damaged and had difficulty reading his surroundings. He held back a scream as his arm was cut. The Predator backhanded him, but his opponent recovered quickly. He swung with the spear and as predicted, it went through him. This time, he was ready. Once he turned tangible again, he tried to stab him through the heart. Again, he moved quickly, but the spear sliced hs stomach.

Angrily, his opponent threw the disk, which he easily caught. The Predator learned too late it was a diversion as he was pummeled in a flurry of fists. Even protected by the armor, it was painful. He got out of his grip, but couldn't help feeling a twinge of fear. No prey had ever lasted this long against him, and he had received just as many injuries. Not to mention his mask was almost completely useless by now. He fired his net gun, trying to buy himself a couple of seconds while he took it off. His vision immediately changed and his prey became much less visible.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Danny's eyes were wide when he saw the creature's face. It was brown in color, had a mark burned on his cheek, and four mandibles. He wanted to turn invisible and ambush him, but decided it wouldn't be fair. The net gun had trapped him, but he managed to get free. The creature roared again and cautiously took the offensive.

Danny flew up, pounding him with ecto-blasts. Finally, there were some breaking points in the armor, which he fully intended to take advantage of. He swung the stick, and danny conjured a shield with his right arm, grabbing the disk with the others. He figured he may as well fight on his terms. Well, I can cheat a little bit. He duplicated himself into three, all of them having a shield in one arm and an ecto-beam in the other.

For the most part, the battle was now his. True, his duplicates were destroyed, but he finally managed to tear the armor off. He elbowed the creature in the face, blood spurting everywhere. Danny stepped towards him, ready for any further attack. "Yield, now!" He exclaimed, hand on the disk.

The Predator made no move at first, but when it saw opportunity, he tried to impale him with the spear. With difficulty, Danny batted it aside with the shield and used the disk to stab him in the neck. He fell backward, stunned by what he had done. He had just taken a life! What kind of monster was he?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Danny, you did what you had to do." Sam reassured, hugging him. "You didn't have a choice."

"That may be true, but it doesn't make it any easier." Danny sighed, a single tear coming out of his eye.

"You knew this wasn't going to be easy all the time, Danny." Tucker added. "God, I can barely imagine what you saw; all those dead bodies aound you."

'You're not helping." Sam snapped.

"I didn't think about that." Danny admitted. "I was fighting for my life. Even when he was beaten, he made one last attempt to kill me. Guys, I know I had no choice, but it'll take time to come to terms with. Let's get our minds off that."

"I wonder why he didn't take out the hostages." Sam mused to herself. "They would be perfect targets. Well, I guess it's one of life's mysteries."

"By the way, Sam, there's one thing I forgot to say." Danny pointed out. "I love you, Sammy" Thy kised passionately.

"Oh, come on!" Tucker complained. "Why do I have to watch this?"

XXXXXX

Taren'de growled to himself. The one who killed his brother would pay dearly for this. He still didn't believe Antr're statement that he was beaten in a fair fight. No one could defeat a Yajuta on fair grounds. He would have to wait, since they were returning to their planet, but he had nothing but time.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Vlad transformed into Plasmius after making sure everyone had left. Unlike the others, it had been paying close attention to the battle. He was planning to intervene if necessary, but Daniel had been able to handle their "guest" on his own, an obvious indicator of his growng ower. It alarmed him slightly, but the boy was still no match for him.

However, the visitor had almost managed to defeat him, and its technology surpassed even his own. Not to mention it was a skilled warrior, quickly able to adapt to an unknown opponent. Just imagine what the technology could provid him with.

Conjuring a duplicate to grab the spare equipment, Vlad carried the body and fazed them through the roof. He would have to have Skulker run some tests on it. Obviously, it wasn't human, so where did it come from? And were there more like him? He laughed to himself, knowing what this would mean for his old friend Jack.

And perhaps he should have Technus hack into the CIA websites to see what they knew about this thing. They were inefficent most of the time, but they would have to know something about this creature.

And Daniel didn't even need a push in the right direction. Vlad smiled to himself. Just wait until he finds out what I've gained!

Yeah, sounds onimous. I think this is the first Predator/Danny Phantom crossover. If not, please correct me. I'll add a story to this when I'm done with "Internal darkness" This s connected to my other one-shot, just so you know. Sorry I didn't go into more details with the situation, or give screen time to Danny's family, but I wanted to get right to the action. I added a few things, though, so hopefully, it'll be a little better.