NOTE;THIS IS MY FIRST FANFIC. PLEASE BE PATIENT.


Disclaimer-I have nothing Danny related, much to my shame...
Dedication- To those trying to save the show.
Danny Phantom in;

NEW FACES.

Written by SkywalkerSensei


Wisconsin, 6 months ago...

He screamed. He couldn't keep it in. It felt like there was fire rushing through his veins, supplanting his blood. "Please," he begged silently. "Just end it. Just kill me. Please..." Suddenly, it stopped. He raised his head weakly and opened his eyes.

"Oh, what's the matter," the sadist in front of him asked sardonically. "Does it hurt? Do you want it to end?" He nodded weakly, sick of it all.

"Too bad." The sadist said, his voice cold, laced with venom. "You can't stop it. I will have my vision fulfilled. I will have you. And I will have the others. The perfect family!"

His voice was suddenly filled with false brightness, false hope. He felt anger well up in him.

"Sir, we're reading a spike on the meter," one of the technical crew members said. "The chemicals are working."

"Good," the sadist said. He turned back to his victim.

"Don't worry. Soon, you will learn proper respect. Whether you want to or not..." He turned to the lab techs. "Give him another shot."

"N-no...please," he said weakly, pleading. But his plea fell on deaf ears. The needles pierced his skin, and the feeling returned. And the screaming resumed.


Amity Park. Present day.

"I REALLY do not have time for this," Danny Phantom thought.

It was 11:30 at night, and instead of sleeping soundly in his bed, he was busy tracking down Skulker. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly his idea of a night on the town.

"Ah well, whatever," he thought. "Such is the struggle of a hero."

"C'mon Skulker," Danny called out into starry sky. "We both know how this is going to end. So why don't you just save us both some trouble? Just c'mon out, let me suck you into the Thermos, and we can both get some sleep."

It was an obvious ploy, luring out the ghost hunter into a trap by attacking his swelled ego. He would never go for it.

Wrong.

Skulker suddenly came out of nowhere, elbowing Danny in the stomach, and knocking him back several feet. "That's for thinking I'd fall for such an obvious ploy," Skulker declared proudly.

Danny groaned. It felt like his last meal was staging a desperate escape. He looked up and saw Skulker grinning arrogantly. "Idiot," Danny thought. "You did fall for it." Skulker, in his attempt to teach Danny a lesson, had finally revealed himself, giving Danny a chance to go in for the kill. He groaned again, doubling over, like he was in pain. "Come on Skulker," he thought."Start your gloating. I just need a few seconds..."

Skulker, a few feet away, was surprised. He hadn't expected his quarry to take such a light hit so badly. "Oh well," he thought. "It just makes it easier to capture him."

"What's the matter whelp?"

Danny responded with a groan. Just a few more seconds...

"Maybe you're not worthy of my attention. Maybe I've been wasting my time..."

Suddenly Danny started laughing. Skulker glared at him, annoyed at his prey's lack of respect, and a little worried that he had something up his sleeve. "No," he thought. "I'm just being paranoid."

Unfortunately for Skulker, Danny DID have something up his sleeve.

"Hey Skulker..."

"Wh-what?"

Suddenly, twin rays of green light hit him, coming from Danny's palms.

"Talk to the hand."

He was surprised that the ploy had worked so well. He'd fed Skulker's ego, acting like he was badly hurt, when in reality, he'd gotten over the hit pretty quickly. The real trick had been covering his hands while he was charging his attack. If the ghost hunter had seen his palms glowing, he would've known something was up. That was the point of doubling over. By hitting the ground and grabbing his sides, he was able to cover his glowing palms, while fooling Skulker into thinking he'd hurt Danny badly, and luring him into a false sense of security.

He unsheathed the Fenton Thermos and sucked Skulker up.

"Well Skulker," Danny said. "Thanks for a fun night."

And with that, he flew off.

But the night was far from over.


As he flew home, Danny looked down at Amity. It looked so beautiful from the sky. Despite the frequent ghost attacks, the city always seemed tranquil. He saw the light coming from homes and apartments in the city, a warm light beckoning its residents home. He saw downtown, and the cars speeding down the roads, looking like little toys from up so high. He saw the city's biggest park in the distance, the oak trees standing like silent sentries. And in the distance, he saw Fenton Works, and its distinctive Op Center sticking from the top. His home. Danny put on a burst of speed, wanting to get back as soon as possible. He didn't want to risk getting caught out of bed-it would raise way too many suspicions. His sister Jazz could probably cover for him, but he didn't want her to be put on the spot. Little did Danny suspect, that he was about to have an unexpected detour.

Danny was flying over Casper High, when his ghost sense went off, a tiny wisp of blue mist spiraling into the sky, telling Danny that he couldn't rest yet.

"Oh, give me a break," Danny muttered, disappointed that he couldn't head home and get some sleep right away. He considered just ignoring it, but he knew that he couldn't. If the ghost he had just detected was dangerous, then he might wake up to a ravaged city. He sighed. "Well," he said. "Might as well get it over with."

He halted in midair and started looking around for his mysterious foe, and spotted him sitting on the roof of the school, hugging his knees. He looked normal enough from this distance. But that didn't mean anything. Danny had learned the hard way that ghosts were among the most deceptive creatures in existence. For all he knew, it was a ploy.

"Well," he thought. "Just sitting here won't reveal anything."

He decided that a surprise attack was in order. If this guy sensed his presence, then Danny would probably end up in a world of hurt. He began charging up an ectoblast, and flew down as fast as he could. He landed behind his target, and held his hand inches away from the back of his head.

"Don't move," Danny said. He let a little confidence slip into his voice, knowing that he had his foe cornered. There wasn't much that the ghost could do without getting hit by the ectoblast in the process. "Kind of disappointing," Danny thought. "I was hoping he'd put up more of a fight."

However, things weren't going to work out as Danny had planned.

The guy started chuckling. "Well, well," he said. "It seems that my information was true. Fast, strong, and quick witted. Glad to see that Ember didn't misinform me."

"Ember!?" Danny exclaimed, surprised. "You're working for Ember?"

The guy chuckled again. "No..." he said.

And then he struck.

The ghost suddenly whipped his leg out at Danny's legs, bringing them out from under him. Danny was on his back before he realized what happened. Danny made a move to get up, but before he could, he found the cold steel barrel of an ectoplasm pistol in his face.

"More like working against her. Much like you are I suppose."

He suddenly began twirling the pistol, and deposited it in its holster, a small black leather case on his hip.

"She also told me about how easily Danny Phantom could be surprised."

He held out his hand to help up his fallen foe. Danny didn't take it, afraid that this was yet another ploy to "surprise him."

The guy chuckled again. Danny looked up into his face, and saw a grin splitting it.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything. Just let me help you."

Danny gave him an odd look. "You're pretty friendly for a ghost."

"Yeah, well, just call me an exception to the norm."

Danny took his hand, and the guy helped him up.

"Thanks."

Danny brushed himself off, and gave the guy a look over. He had shock white hair, and glowing green eyes. He looked like he kept pretty fit, as he had a thin layer of muscle, and had a moderately large frame because of it. He was wearing a black jacket, jeans, and white shoes, with a jet black diagonal stripe running down the middle. But he found the guy's t-shirt to be the most interesting feature. While it was just a white shirt, it had a large black S on the center of the shirt's chest.

"Would I be too bold as to ask your name? Seeing as you already know mine."

The guy grinned. "Specter."

"Specter, huh? Well, at least it's easy to remember."

Specter took on a look of mock offense. "Oh, and what's that supposed to mean? Danny Phantom, c'mon. That's original."

The two laughed like old friends, reuniting after a long time away from each other.

After the two had laughed themselves out, Danny took on a serious look. "So why exactly did Ember feel compelled to tell you all this stuff about me?"

"Uh, well she wasn't exactly...cooperative. It took a while before I could...convince her to tell me what I wanted to know, if you catch my drift."

"I do. So, you new to Amity? I haven't seen you around before."

Specter looked up at the sky. "Yeah, just passing through." Danny thought he saw a look of sadness and pain cross his face as he looked up.

"Anyway," Specter said. He looked at Danny. "You looked like you were in an awful hurry to get somewhere."

"What? Oh, right. I uh..." Danny wasn't sure how to explain his destination without arousing suspicion.

Fortunately, Specter seemed to have sensed Danny's discomfort, and didn't push. "Well don't let me keep you."

"Uh...Thanks. Anyway, I'll see you around I guess."

"Trust me, you will. Later."

"Later."

Danny flew off, feeling confused, and a little curious about his newest acquaintance. "Maybe I should talk to Ember about him..." Danny thought.

Meanwhile, back on the school roof, Specter watched Danny fly off. "Very interesting," he thought. He felt a little guilty about lying to Danny. But the truth would've just raised several more questions that Specter wasn't quite ready to answer. The truth was he hadn't learned all he had about Danny from Ember.

He'd gotten the information straight from Vlad Masters' personal journal.