pokemonsora01, who owns Jamie, asked for this one. Here you go, Amigo! Enjoy! :)

Danny Phantom belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. I only own Rachel.

Tough Ghosts Do Have Soft Spots

Jamie lightly kicked at the ground beneath his feet. "Man, I don't know what to do today," he said to himself. He was on a week vacation from school and it was the second day of vacation, but he couldn't make up his mind on what he wanted to do. He then decided to go see his cousin Rachel. She too had a week vacation from college.

He began running towards Rachel's home, but very suddenly, right in front of him, a flash of green appeared. Startled, he tried to stop, but then slipped on a small patch of ice in the road and flew headfirst into a greenish, glowing circle.

Landing on his feet on solid ground, Jamie took a minute to get his bearings and he stood up, seeing his surrounds were now green colored. "Huh?" He looked around. "What happened to the town?"

He turned a circle, but it was all the same. Green-colored surroundings with purple-colored platforms like the one he was standing on. Jamie suddenly felt a slightly ticklish feeling come over him and to his shock, a light appeared around his middle and broke apart into two rings of light. His shirt and clothes went from green and black to a navy blue color. His legs suddenly turned into a tail and he gazed at it a moment before realizing what his legs had now become. "A ghost tail," he said in shock. His hands then disappeared briefly before reappearing. "I just turned into a ghost."

Normally, Jamie would have been amazed, but his amazement about this was filled with panic, wondering where he was and where to go to get back home.

After a moment, the young boy took a deep breath and decided to try flying with his new ghost tail. He loved flying, but this was a bit new as he had never been by himself when flying.

It had taken a bit of a shaky start, but after a moment, Jamie got the hang of flying and began scanning his surroundings, hiding if he saw anyone coming. And to his surprise, many of the beings he saw either had blue or green skin. One was even wrapped like a mummy.

It didn't take the boy long to realize they were ghosts, but they looked a lot different from the movies that he had watched that had ghosts in them. Moving carefully, he continued flying.

It was probably an hour after he had somehow ended up here when he flew down to another platform and took note of his surroundings. "I haven't seen any more of that bright green flash I fell into," he said. "I guess I'll have to keep looking."

He was about to take to the air again when something suddenly snatched him and he fell to the platform hard, letting out a pained grunt of surprise as he realized he couldn't really move. "Got you, whelp," said a voice and Jamie looked up at his captor to see a ghost with tech-like armor. "Did you think I wouldn't capture you after the humiliation you caused me in our last encounter?!"

The boy blinked in confusion. "Um, sir. I've never met you before," he said honestly.

The hunter ghost narrowed his eyes before suddenly realizing that his captured prey was smaller than the ghost boy he had been searching for. "Either you suddenly learned a new ghost power, whelp, or you're not the whelp I'm searching for," he said.

"Um, yeah. I'll go with option two," Jamie said.

After a minute, the net powered down and the boy was released and the hunter got a closer look at the boy. "No, you're definitely not the whelp I'm hunting for," he said decisively and was about to take off.

"Wait!" Jamie called out to him. "Can you help me?"

The ghost looked at him with a glare, but Jamie tried not to flinch, even though this hunter ghost was really scary. "I…I don't know how I got here," he said.

The ghost scoffed. "You think I, Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, cares about how you got here?!" He said.

Jamie gulped and tried to not stammer. "I…I fell into a flash of green light," he said. "I was running to my cousin's house, but I think I fell into somewhere else, because it doesn't look like my hometown. And I turned into a ghost when I arrived."

That last line caught Skulker's attention. "You…turned into a ghost?" He repeated. "How?"

"I really don't know," the boy answered truthfully and was wondering how to prove it when the two bands of light suddenly reappeared and he turned human again. "That's what happened before, but it turned me into a ghost."

Skulker looked thoughtful. "You have somehow gained the ability to turn into a halfa," he said.

"A halfa?"

"Half-human, half-ghost," the hunter explained. "The flash of green light you fell into was a portal from the human world to this world."

Jamie looked hopeful. "Can you help me find a portal back to my world?" He asked.

Skulker frowned. "I'm very busy," he said. "But you may tag along and the first portal we see, you go through it. Any portal out of here goes straight to the human world."

The boy nodded and the ghost looked sterner. "Also, don't bother me when we're flying," he said. "I require concentration in hunting my prey."

"Okay," Jamie agreed.

Flying behind the hunter, Jamie kept his eye open for portals, but didn't see any, but did see a lot of doors. "Do these doors lead to the human world?" He asked curiously.

Skulker would have snapped if he didn't remember the boy had no idea about the Ghost Zone. "No," he said firmly. "They lead to other parts of the Ghost Zone, some very dangerous."

"Like, how dangerous?" The boy asked curiously.

"'Possibly getting destroyed if you go through them' dangerous," Skulker answered, his tone sounding a bit irritated.

Jamie swallowed hard and decided to not bug Skulker for a bit as he kept his eyes open for a portal. After a bit, he noticed that there were a lot of places that were built up with unusual homes. One was a giant castle, which another was simply a cave. "What are those?" He asked.

Skulker glanced at them. "Ghost lairs," he answered. "You never go in a ghost's lair without permission."

The young boy nodded, likening Skulker's warning to a rule his parents taught him. Never barge into a friend's home. Always wait until you're invited in.

Suddenly, Skulker stopped and grabbed the boy's arm. Jamie barely held back a yelp as the hunter ducked behind some rocks on a platform and pulled the boy down. "Stay down," he said sternly.

Jamie would have asked what was going on when he heard another voice. It sounded like a policeman's voice. "Find those escaped prisoners!" It said. "I want them all back in my prison!"

"Yes, Walker, sir," said another voice.

After a moment, Skulker glanced around. "Let's go," he said, his voice stern, but also sounding a tad urgent. "You don't want that law ghost catching you."

The boy followed without question. "Um, Skulker. We weren't breaking any laws, were we?" He asked.

"No," the hunter answered. "But Walker isn't a nice ghost. He'd rather have us all locked up in his prison."

Jamie was curious. "But we weren't doing anything wrong, so why would he lock us up?" He asked.

"Oh, Walker would find something," he said. "He'd say I have too much tech on me or something stupid like that."

"So, he just makes up rules and accusations?"

"That's one way to put it," Skulker said. "But most of the rules in his rulebook are basic ones, like how your police force have rules of the law you humans follow. Walker, unfortunately, likes to be extreme with those rules. A light sentence in his opinion is a thousand years in his jail."

Jamie almost fell out of the air. "One thousand years?!" He exclaimed in shock. "That's harsh."

"Not to him. Then again, he really doesn't care."

The boy flew closer to him. "Skulker, are there such a thing as good ghosts, like you?" He asked.

Skulker's jetpack suddenly sputtered as the ghost pulled up short and turned to Jamie. "Good ghosts?" He asked.

"Yeah, like ones that will leave you alone, or just want to play a small prank."

As they continued flying, Skulker told him about a few of the good ghosts, like the Dairy King, Wulf, and Pandora. The boy was surprised that the legend about Pandora's Box was real and believed the hunter when he told him that Pandora was one ghost you didn't want to cross because she was very fierce.

Some were ghosts that just wanted attention, like the Box Ghost or Ember. And others were just downright mean, like Walker and his police force, or Pariah Dark, the meanest of the ghosts in the Ghost Zone who was thankfully locked up after Danny Phantom battled him.

"Wow," Jamie said in surprise.

Skulker suddenly looked at him. "Why am I telling you this when I asked you to not bug me while we were flying?" He asked, trying to sound a bit harsh, but didn't seem to have the heart to do so.

"Maybe because you know I don't know a lot about the Ghost Zone and could have run into a bad ghost?"

The hunter couldn't argue that. "True," he said and noticed the Observants Court was coming up. "That's the Observants Court. They can see the future and act like how your court system acts, with the Head Observant acting as a judge and others acting as a jury and council."

Jamie was curious, but Skulker gently stopped him from getting closer. "They don't like being disturbed," he said. "And you don't want them after you either. They can be almost as ruthless as Walker, but they don't go around arresting anyone for no good reason."

The boy nodded and suddenly yelped as he felt something grab him and looked to see it was a thorny vine. Skulker turned sharply and sliced the vine with his sword. "Fly, boy!" The hunter demanded and Jamie wasted no time doing as he was told, flying quickly with Skulker soon catching up. "Are you alright, boy?" He asked in concern.

He nodded. "Thanks, Skulker," he said with a smile. "By the way, my name's Jamie."

Skulker nodded and glanced around. "I haven't seen a portal to your world for the whole time you've been flying with me," he said. "Plus, since I'm not sure where you came from, we shouldn't risk you going through any portals that open up. They could lead to another timeline or another time altogether."

Jamie's shoulders slumped. "How do I get home then?" He asked.

The hunter checked his map and suddenly saw they weren't too far from a certain ghost's lair. "There is a ghost who can help you," he said as he looked around. "Walker's men are searching the area. If you fly to this ghost's lair, I can keep his men away from you."

"Who is this ghost?" Jamie asked.

"His name is Clockwork, the Master of Time," Skulker said. "He would be able to open a portal to your time easily."

"Is he a good ghost?"

"Most of us don't know," the hunter admitted. "His powers are much stronger than all others, even the Observants."

Jamie swallowed hard. "I thought Pariah Dark was the strongest ghost, even though he's locked away," he said.

"He is powerful, but not as powerful as Clockwork," Skulker told him. He then pointed straight ahead. "Just fly straight ahead and look carefully at the lairs. If you see clock gears, then you're close to his lair, which is a Clocktower."

Jamie looked away, unsure, but Skulker placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. "You can do it, Jamie," he said. "And you'll be safe too."

A moment later, he felt the young halfa's arms wrap around him and he somewhat froze a bit, but then returned the hug. "Thanks, Skulker," he said. "Please be careful."

"You too, kid," he said. "Now fly fast. And try not to be scared of Clockwork. I seriously doubt he'd harm a kid."

With that, Skulker playfully ruffled Jamie's hair, making the boy giggle a bit before he wriggled free and the hunter nodded. "Good luck, Jamie," he said.

"You too, Skull," Jamie said as Walker's men began closing in. Taking a deep breath, Jamie started flying as fast as he could in the direction Skulker had told him Clockwork's lair was. He heard Skulker fighting off Walker's police force and leading them away. Sincerely hoping Skulker would be okay, the boy flew on, pausing when he saw the clock gears Skulker had told him about.

"I'm almost there," he said to himself and looked around, quickly spying the Clocktower. Swallowing, he flew up to the door and raised a hand to knock, but the doors opened instantly and he jumped a bit in shock.

"Come in," a deep voice said to him. "We've been expecting you, Jamie."

The boy wasn't totally sure and saw a purple-caped ghost come into view. "I believe Skulker told you about me, hmm?" He asked.

Jamie blinked. "You're Clockwork?" He asked and then flew back a bit. "Wait. How did you know Skulker told me about you? And…how were you expecting me?"

Clockwork smiled in amusement. "Someone who is very worried about you is here and has been waiting since I told her you were here in the Ghost Zone," he said. "Also, being the Master of Time, I know everything."

The boy didn't move until Clockwork held out a hand and beckoned him closer. "Don't be afraid, Jamie," he said, his voice taking a comforting, soothing tone. "I don't bite."

Jamie began floating closer when he suddenly saw the rings of light appear again and he suddenly turned back into his human form. Before he could even utter a gasp of fright, Clockwork caught him and pulled him inside the Clocktower. Clinging to him, Jamie took a few shaky breaths to try and calm down. "Easy, Jamie. You're alright," Clockwork soothed him, letting the boy lean on him as he guided him to the screen room.

Rachel, who was sitting on one of the couches in the room, looked up. "Jamie! Oh, my word! Thank goodness!" She said, jumping up and running up to them.

Jamie looked up. "Rachel!" He said in relief and, although still recovering from his near-fall, he still ran towards his cousin, who almost lifted him off his feet when she hugged him. He clung to her in relief as he hugged her back.

She then gently set him down. "Are you okay?" She asked. "I was visiting Clockwork when the Time Screen suddenly showed us that you had fallen into the Ghost Zone and became a halfa."

Jamie nodded. "Still kind of getting used to turning into a halfa, but I'm okay. Skulker helped me out a lot," he said.

Rachel paused. "Skulker? The hunter?" She asked in surprise.

"Yeah," the boy said. "He's pretty cool. He even saved me from Walker."

Rachel glanced at Clockwork, who smiled knowingly. "Not even Skulker would wish Walker on anyone," he said, making the girl chuckle a bit.

Jamie then looked at Rachel. "You know Clockwork?" He asked.

She nodded. "Clockwork's is one of my dearest friends," she said. "He saved my life quite a few years ago."

"Really?" Jamie asked in surprise.

Rachel nodded. "And you're not the only one with ghost powers," she said. "I have a ghostly wail myself."

"You do?"

At her cousin's surprised question, she nodded. "It happened when Clockwork saved me," she said, smiling.

Jamie smiled. "Then Skulker was right. Clockwork is a good ghost," he said.

"You mean to say you doubted that?" Clockwork asked, an amused smirk coming to his face.

A smirk Rachel knew all too well. "Uh-oh," she said. "Jamie, how fast can you fly and can you carry a passenger?"

Before Jamie could even answer, Clockwork teleported behind them and caught Jamie in his arms, playfully tickling him and giving him a noogie. Jamie laughed and tried to squirm away as Rachel watched, laughing as well.

The boy finally got free and backed up, bumping into someone else. "Didn't I tell you he wouldn't hurt you?" A familiar voice asked with a chuckle.

Jamie turned to see Skulker behind him and he instantly hugged the hunter, who returned the hug. Rachel walked up to Skulker and smiled. "Thanks for helping my cousin, Skulker," she said.

Skulker shrugged as the boy got caught by Clockwork and tickled again, his laughter echoing a bit. "The kid grew on me," he said, a smile on his face.

"Jamie has a tendency to do that," Rachel said with a nod. "He likes bringing out the good in people."

Skulker nodded and grunted a bit when Jamie glomped him again, chuckling as he hugged the boy back. Clockwork and Rachel both smiled at that. "I take it you had quite an adventure today, after you were unsure of what to do today?" Clockwork asked knowingly.

Jamie nodded and looked at Rachel. "I was heading to your house when I got trapped here," he said.

She smiled. "Well, I was thinking about going home to play some video games after I visited Clockwork for a bit," she said.

"Need a challenger?" Jamie asked.

"Don't I always?" Rachel asked with a knowing smile.

The boy then looked concerned. "But…how do we get home?" He asked.

"I believe I can provide the way," Clockwork said, smiling as he opened a portal to their hometown, right in front of Rachel's house.

Smiling, Jamie hugged Skulker goodbye and then hugged Clockwork in both thanks and goodbye. Both ghosts smiled as they accepted the hugs from the boy and from Rachel before she took her cousin's hand and they walked through the portal to Rachel's home.

The cold air hit them suddenly and they quickly rushed inside to warm up before firing up the game console Rachel had. She grinned as she looked at her cousin. "Looks like even a tough ghost can have a soft spot," she said.

"Was there any doubt?" Jamie asked with an answering grin, joining his cousin in on the laughs as they started playing the video game they had chosen.

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GoldGuardian2418