"Beware!" Echoed the non-threatening shout of the Box ghost through out the warehouse. He took off, phasing though the back wall, hoping to escape a cylindrical device designed to capture ghosts and the owner of said device, Danny Phantom.
Danny, who figured he had better things to do than try to capture one of the weakest ghost he had ever known, decided that it was late and he was going to get another good night sleep. This was the best year for the Half ghost, half human hybrid, and this week was definitely topping the list of good times that he could remember. He was doing great as a senior in school ( a 4.0 grade average). He was one of the strongest ghosts in the world , not even Skulker could beat him in a fight, whether it was fair fight or not.
He then took flight and realized how perfect of a night it really was. The temperature was perfect due to the fact that spring was starting to get into full swing. He was able to see as far as he needed to due to the beautiful and bright full moon. It was at the apex of it's waxing phase and it refected light from the sun down to the peacefull town almost like it was trying to bring the most light hearted dreams to those that were sleeping in their beds, knowing that they were safe from all evil and darkness.
As he was flying home, he thought of the best thing he could have hoped for had actually come to light, despite how nervous he was at the time. He had faced down more monsters than he could count, yet had been so nervous when he faced his greatest challenge ever. He had asked one of his best friends ever and the only girl that he liked...no, scratch that, loved, out to the senior prom. Samantha Manson.
As Danny was doing one final fly over check of the city, something weird had happened. While he was flying over the local museum, some black mist had released itself from his mouth. This was odd due to the fact that when a ghost was near by, a blue mist-like substance would come out of his mouth, warning him of danger. Figuring that it might be something new, whatever caused the odd black mist, could endanger others and cause massive damage, he went intangible and flew down into the dimly lit building through the roof and the upper sections until he reached the security station.
Upon reaching the the station, he saw all the guards on the floor, eyes closed and not moving. When he checked all of the guards, he noticed that they were knocked out, yet unharmed. He couldn't figure out what happened to them other than that they were more than likely taken out by some sort of sleeping gas or something along those lines. While looking at the camera feeds around the room, he saw an unusual figure standing in one of the rooms that was full of books. It was at that point when the black mist came about again.
Realizing that this figure was probably the one that took out the guards, he went intangible and invisable and flew to the room with the unknown person. When he got there, he remained invisible and decided to observe the new character. He stood around 5'10", and from all he could see he wore a crimson trench duster and a matching hunters cowboy style hat. The other things that he could see was the figures hair, which looked like some one had taken fine silver strings and placed them upon this beings head. He also saw that the being was wearing gloves of such a deep black they seemed to absorb what ever little light was around them.
Danny, not too sure on what exactly to do, decided that it was time to make his presence known. He reverted back to the visible spectrum and floated several feet behind the figure to try to figure out a somewhat witty comment to get the persons attention. A slight smile came to him as his brain came up with something that was both direct and might make him sound a little bit more professional.
"Hey!" Danny somewhat shouted, hoping the person would turn around so that he could get a good look and figure out who or what exactly the person was. "Don't you know that the museum is closed right now. Why don't you come back later to see the exhibits when the place is open and we won't have any problems. Alright?"
The person, completely oblivious to the fact that Danny even existed, started to walk off. He wasn't headed to the entrance, but instead started to walk down the aisles, looking at all of the books behind the glass as if looking for something in particular. It was at this action that had lit the fuse on Danny's temper, which was starting to get really short. He had not been ignored in such a fashion before. Every ghost and living person in Amity Park had heard of Danny Phantom or Inviso-Bill or something of the sort.
' Man, this guy is getting on my nerves. I guess I will have to make him listen one way or the other.' Thought Danny.
"I will give you to the count of three, then I will remove you from this building... one way or the other." Danny stated in his most threatening manner that he could.
It was then the unknown figure spoke. Just the sound of his voice was enough to send a slight chill down his spine and left goosebumps on his ghost skin, which even Danny didn't know was possible. His voice was a deep baritone and the way he said his words showed that he was way too formal, almost righteous in his own mannerisms.
"I think not, young Danny Phantom." The figure said as he turned around and looked right at Danny.
Danny finally got to see... something at least. The man, or at least that was what he could tell from the voice and the way the person stood, had the duster buttoned from his neck right under the chin all the way down to his waist. The duster covered his lower extremities, except for his feet, which were in what appeared to be in some sort of combat boots. He could also tell that the man was built like a warrior. Barrel chested and squared shouldered with a stance that made him look like he was ready for a fight at any time and any place.
The man's face was flawless. No blemishes, no wrinkles. It was also perfectly set, almost like a doll or toy of some sort, yet still just as creepy as his voice. His skin was somewhat whiter than he had expected, but it also had its own glow. It seemed to look like porcelain, but Danny could tell by the facial structure that the man could take several strong blows and might not even be phased by it.
He wore a set of shades over his eyes that were the same colour as his coat and hat, crimson that looked like blood from a fresh wound. The shades prevented Danny from being able to seen the man's eyes, which unnerved him to a slight degree. While Danny couldn't see the man's eyes, he could feel the piercing look the man was giving him, almost like a fire poker jabbing into Danny's very heart and soul.
"I have no quarrel with you or anyone in this town. I recommend that you go home and forget that this moment ever happened. I will harbor no dark feeling towards causing you harm if you proceed to try and 'remove me one way or the other'. I have no fear of you or anything that you could do to me. I have fought things that you haven't even seen in your nightmares on the darkest night possible."
"I think not." Danny said, trying no to let his voice waver due to the uncomfortable feeling that the man was giving him throughout his whole being. "I will give you until the count of three to leave or you and I will have a problem."
Danny then started counting, using his fingers as a visual reference to show that he was not joking around. "One." Danny then raised his pointer finger. The man, obviously not impressed, turned and started to walk down the isles again, continuing his search that Danny had interrupted shortly before.
"Two!" Danny had raised his voice while raising his middle finger, hoping that the man would just leave so that he didn't have to resort to violence in a place that held so many valuables and so much history from around that world and from his own home town.
The man continued to ignore Danny, even going as far as to give off a quiet chuckle that Danny took in great offense because it sounded like the man not only didn't fear Danny, he was mocking him, it seemed, and it burned Dannys fuse even faster. All Danny knew was this unknown person had just insulted him in a fashion that Danny didn't know would get so deep under his skin. Yet the chuckle also told Danny that the man was ready to dispatch who ever would try and stop him from searching for what ever it was that he was on the hunt for at that moment.
'That's it.' Danny said in his head before he shouted, "THREE!"
Danny then took off like a bullet fired from a rifle, putting all his speed into his fist that he was going to hit this disrespectful man and try and mark that perfect face. When Danny was within striking distance, the man spun around with such speed that it surprised Danny and delivered a devastating uppercut that would have knocked out a charging bull. The blow sent Danny flying towards the roof and before Danny smashed into the ceiling, he went intangible so there was no collateral damage.
Danny stopped somewhere around forty or fifty feet above the building and rubbed his jaw. He couldn't have predicted the amount of sheer strength that came from the man inside. It made his eyes water slightly and started to give him a slight headache, but he now had a rough idea of what the man was capable. Danny shook his head, trying to brush the pain, pushed doubting thoughst to the side, and prepared himself for another attack when the door to the roof access flew off it's hinges almost as if it had been blown off with a fair amount of explosives and out stepped the man in the crimson coat.
The man looked up at Danny and gave him a smile that, once again, sent chills all over Danny's body, reminding him of how uneasy the man made Danny feel when he looked at him. The man then walked over to the other side of the roof as Danny floated down, level with the man, rage building and starting to fill almost every part of his being. He looked over at Danny and raised one hand and taunted Danny to come at him.
"Show me what you are capable of...Halfa." The man said, revealing that he knew more about Danny than Danny thought possible.
The fuse that had been burning in Danny reached the core of his mentality and set off everything that Danny had been holding back. Danny gave off a semi-primal shout and flew around behind him, then bolted towards the man in crimson, firing off as many ectoplasmic blasst as he could manage, aiming for the man's chest, using as much energy as he could muster. Each blast hit the other fighter dead on, yet he didn't move an inch. It was like throwing paper wads at the man and hoping it would hurt.
Danny tried to go for the blow he tried before, but stayed as close to the ground as possible, hoping that he could connect this time. He focused energy into his fist, when he knew that he was going to make contact, he swung with all of his might, speed and energy that he knew he had. All he could think about was taking this man out in one final blow, for it was all he could do, but when Danny swung his fist at where the man was, he made contact with nothing.
Danny stopped suddenly and looked around for the fighter. Danny's thoughts then started to go at a thousand miles an hour. How could he have just vanished? Did he have ghost powers that Danny didn't know about, or was there something else? That thought alone was enough to put a fair amount of fear in him. How could he fight something that he knew nothing about in this form of combat? Then again, this was the first fight where Danny had no clue who or what his opponent really was other than the fact that he could hit harder than anything a human could.
As Danny started to look around, trying to find the other fighter, he heard a high pitched whiste from above and looked up. Danny couldn't believe what he looking at . The man was perhaps sixty feet above him and was floating above him, his coat flowing around him in such a way that it almost looked like wings on his back. He jabbed his foot below him and launched himself down towards the roof and Danny.
At the very last second Danny went intangible and saw the man make contact with roof, leaving a small crater in the rocks on the floor. Danny then sprinted away and turned around to face the fighter when the fighter launched himself again, at Danny. It was at this point that Danny saw a weird aura that was glowing a bright red around the man's fist and it was then that the man made contact with Danny's chin even though he was intangible. The force of the blow sent Danny flying into the steel skeletal structure of a brand new building that was being built for his parents.
Danny was forced out of his intangibility and smashed into the some of the steel protective siding of the building and fell down to the ground level of the new building. As he laid there, losing consciousness, he saw the man land in front of him and look at him in a slightly caring manner. He then leaned down to Danny's left ear and whispered something that made Danny's mind reach its final level, causing him to finally black out.
"How does it feel to lose to an angel?"
Danny woke several minutes later to find that the man... ghost... angel, had vanished and there was no evidence of him anywhere. Realizing that he was really hurting in places that haven't hurt in a long time, Danny decided that it was in his best interest to head back to his home and hope that he woke up in the morning less sore than how he felt right now, though he doubted that was going to happen.
After slipping into his room, he changed back into his normal self and cleaned up some of his wounds in his bathroom. When he was sure he looked better than he did before he went in, he laid down on his bed and finally passed out due to the amount of pain, and amount of information his brain needed to process. He, however, failed to notice the man standing on the roof of the building across the street wearing a crimson coat and hat. He was wearing a smile that could have caused Lucifer himself to shiver in fear due to how primal and full of pleasure was in it.
"Sleep tight Danny. For you never know how long you might just get to sleep like this again..."
The man walked away, looking up at the moon and relishing in its beautiful light.