Chapter 1

Danny was soaring over the twinkling lights that were Amity Park. Night had fallen and Danny let its cool breeze waft through his all too white hair, which was more pure than the whitest snow. He sighed and allowed the familiar feeling of freedom to engulf his entire being. He felt as high as the sky in which his ghostly aura shined against. Smiling, the human-ghost hybrid twirled into an airborne summersault. He chuckled at the flopping feeling that it gave his stomach, but it was a thrill, much like that of which a roller coaster would give someone, except it was far more satisfying. Danny stopped in his flight and gazed downwards. He and his friends were out looking for any spectral activity, but had come up short, only catching one ghoul- and that was the intolerable Box Ghost at that. They hadn't even seen another ghost, let alone catch one that was worthy of the teens' time. Danny checked his watch; it read 10:15pm. His parents had wanted him home at 10:30pm, and it seemed that he might be able to abide to their wishes for once. Danny adjusted the green Fenton earpiece he wore, and spoke confidently into the microphone attached to it.

"Sam? Tucker? I think it is time to call it a night," Danny declared yawning lightly.

Sam's voice came on soon after his, in response to his declaration.

"I think so too," she said confidently. "It's weird though. Normally we get more ghosts than this, and we see the Box Ghost almost every night, so he hardly counts."

"Yeah, man, it's pretty weird," Tucker replied in agreement.

"Yeah, well, I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth," Danny replied shaking his head. He too was just as baffled as his friends on the lack of ghost activity, but he was glad he would at least be getting a decent night's sleep tonight, and if he was lucky, he wouldn't be woken by any overbearing spirits.

"I'm just glad that I will be able to get home before curfew for once though. I'm a little afraid though." Danny said. "I will probably give my parents a heart attack… I can't even remember the last time I was home on time…"

Danny's friends gave a hearty laugh at his joke, and as Tucker continued to chuckle, Sam replied to his joke in the most serious tone she could muster, but if Danny could see her face, he would see a mile long grin on it.

"Okay, then, I guess we should head home, in that case," she stated.

"Okay, Sam, I will see you guys at school tomorrow… Tucker quit laughing! It really wasn't that funny of a joke!" Danny rolled his eyes at the chuckling dark-skinned boy on the other end.

"Whatever, man, admit it! You've got skill!" Tucker exclaimed through his fit of hysterical laughter. Danny heard Sam groan at the techno-geek before she bid farewell to Danny and turned her earpiece off. Danny followed suit and turned his off as well. Danny sighed and gazed upwards, looking up at the sky.

Danny loved flying at night for mainly that reason. The stars outlined how he felt about himself, mysterious. Danny in reality had no idea WHAT he was. Sure, he was half ghost, but how was that really possible? Is it possible for something to be dead and alive simultaneously? How did that work? He wasn't just half ghost if you thought of it in that sense, he was half DEAD. Danny sighed and looked at his white gloved hands. He wondered deeply about this often, but he never dared share his thinking with his sister or friends. He already knew what their reactions would be. Sam would tell him not to think that way, and he most certainly was alive. Tucker would tell him that it really didn't matter, so long as he didn't lose sight of himself, and his sister would try and play the "therapist" roll and end up confusing him even more.

It seemed as if the only thing that could understand him were those shining stars. They were far, out of reach, untouchable. Danny felt like that almost every day of his life. Nobody knew what he was going through, and the one person who could possibly even begin to understand him was a seriously crazed-up fruit loop, who wanted to marry his mother, kill his father, and turn Danny into his evil ghost-hybrid son.

Danny let his shoulders sag before he shook the feelings off. He knew he couldn't live his life in regret, and he had to make the best of what he had. He couldn't help but wonder though, what his life would be like if he never set foot in that ghost portal, if he never became half- ghost. Would his life be normal? Would he be just your average everyday teen - well as average as you could be with ghost hunters as parents…?

The teenager simply sighed and turned around, slowly flying back to his home. He wasn't in all that much of a rush, saying that he still had about fifteen minutes to kill before he would be in violation of his curfew. Danny felt his mind beginning to wander again and did nothing to revert it back to flying; he was pretty much on auto-pilot. After having his powers for little over a year now, Danny knew the skies of Amity pretty much like the back of his hand… or rather, glove.

What if he HAD never stepped foot in the ghost portal? He couldn't help but wonder about this. Of course there was a ridiculous amount of negatives to having ghost powers, living on five hours of sleep, being late to class almost every day - which resulted in a detention that he had to miss because ghosts chose the most CONVENIENT of times to attack. Then there was having Vlad on his back constantly - whether to waste him or turn him into his evil apprentice, depended on his mood. Then he had been knocked unconscious so many times that he probably would suffer some type of brain injury in the near future. Danny really didn't know what would happen to someone who constantly got the crap beat out of them, but he was pretty sure that it wasn't anything good.

But then, there were also the positives to being a human-ghost hybrid. For one, there was flying, which alone almost made up for the negatives all together, except for the fact that the only time he really got to fly was when he was battling a ghost… then again, all of those ghost battles had brought him, Sam, and Tucker even closer as friends. If they were inseparable before, they were all but the same person now. They were the closest friends you could get. They were family. Danny smiled when he thought of this, and chuckled slightly to himself, only to stop dead in his flight as a familiar cold feeling traveled up his throat and a blue mist escaped his lips: his Ghost Sense.

Danny spun around; looking for the specter which he knew was nearby. He did a complete three-sixty and gasped as his eyes lay on the spirit which had alerted his Ghost Sense. He knew the ghost all too well. The teen gazed at the being with disgust from head to toe. The armor covered ghost raised an eyebrow as he saw Danny do this and chuckled at what he thought was a feeble attempt at intimidation from the hybrid, although in reality, Danny truly was disgusted. How could he not be after the ghost had threatened to use him as a doormat on countless occasions?

"Skulker..." Danny muttered angrily under his breath. "What do you want?" he spat, letting his voice grow in anger.

"What do you think, ghost child?" the hunter asked him inquiringly, rolling his eyes as if Danny was being as ridiculous as a toddler's repetitive questions.

"Hmmm, let me think about that one," Danny said sarcastically, stroking his chin before pointing upwards as if he had just received an idea. "OH, I KNOW! You want to use me as your own personal doormat… how touching," he finished, crossing his arms and gazing with a repulsed look upon his face. Danny really hated Skulker… he just didn't know when to stop, did he?

"Oh, almost!" the hunter growled with a smirk, eyes flashing a brighter green. "I was planning on hanging your pelt above my mantle."

"Ohh… big, bad Skulker has the evil face…" Danny taunted, holding his hands up to his face, pretending to gasp.

"SHUT UP, YOU WELP!" Skulker screeched at the boy, obviously infuriated. His armor covered his fists, clenched at his side, and he glared at the boy loathingly.

"Why?" Danny said, turning himself upside down and floating inches in front of the hunter's face "This is fun…" he laughed.

Skulker growled at the boy's foolishness and sent an ecto-blast from one of the many guns attached to his suit. The teen yelped and flew back several feet when he was hit.

Danny rubbed his chest where the gun had shocked him, before shaking it off and turning back to his attacker.

Danny flew full speed at the hunter, hands ablaze with green energy, and an overly determined look upon his face. Skulker didn't seem to even be fazed by the boy, and simply allowed a shield to engulf his body, and the boy slammed face first into it. Skulker laughed.

"Oh ghost child, I have to admit my disappointment, I thought that you would at least put up a fair fight! It is apparent that you are far weaker than I have ever imagined!" the hunter snickered.

"Oh really?" the teen spat, looking at his foe with utter displeasure, "Then I hope this makes you proud!" Danny turned his palms to face the hunter and fired a blue ice ray from them. Skulker jumped aside, but was unable to avoid the beam completely and his entire right arm was encased in a ridiculous amount of ice. The ghost growled condescendingly and tried to shake the ice off his suit, but Danny took his moment of distraction to his advantage, and punched the hunter smack dab in the stomach with a flaming green fist. The ghost went flying backwards and hit the ground with a thud. Danny glowered at his enemy and watched the ghost force his feet up into a standing position.

"Hmm…So I take it you wouldn't want to be a prize upon my wall?" the hunter asked inquisitively at the teen. The boy rolled his eyes at the ghost and shook his head, annoyed at being asked such a ridiculous question.

"How about a prize in my collection?" the ghost asked menacingly, an evil grin working up his face.

"Dude, that just screams 'creeper,'" Danny replied crossing his arms.

"Very well, ghost child. You leave me no other choice. For you see, I refuse to let my prey escape, even if I cannot have the prize for myself. So, I shall finish you, so I may be rid of you," the ghost laughed.

"Nice rhyme," Danny replied mockingly, crossing his arms. "Ever thought of teaming up with the ghost writer?" Skulker only growled at him and pulled a gun from the shoulder of his suit. Danny thought nothing of it. The only difference it gave from any of the other guns that he had been fired with was that it was red and chrome, and was small enough to fit in one's pocket.

"Goodbye…ghost child," the hunter bid him farewell in his cryptic tone of voice. Danny heard the faint buzzing that he knew was the gun firing up. Danny immediately flew to the right, narrowly avoiding the red light that whizzed past his ear, Danny yelped slightly and took off into a nearby patch of trees belonging to Amity's park. He heard several loud blasts nearby him, alerting him that he was being pursued.

Danny flew behind a tree and held his breath, turning invisible, hoping the hunter would miss him, and he would be able to escape. But Danny's raspy breath betrayed him, and the hunter quickly picked up on his prey's fear. Danny turned and looked behind himself, daring to sneak a peek but seeing nothing, allowed himself to turn visible, assured he had lost his ghostly opponent, only to turn around and see a red beam of light heading straight towards his chest.

"AHH!" Danny cried and jumped aside, trying to avoid the inevitable light from hitting its target, but had no time to pull completely out of the way, and Danny felt the ray hit his shoulder head on. Danny's scream echoed through the park, louder than one would even think possible. The teen only felt pain, the most blinding pain that he had yet to feel. His entire body began to convulse unwillingly and he sank to the ground of the tree which he had been leaning, gasping for air. Skulker laughed ruthlessly at the shaking form before him, before pressing the gun against the teen's stomach, and fired. Danny somehow found a way to scream louder, feeling his throat become raw and bleed.

Skulker chuckled at the boy, who was now rolling on the ground, clutching his stomach with one hand, and his shoulder with another. The hunter knew he had fulfilled his duty and leaned closer to the teen, until his face was directly in front of Danny. He then whispered wickedly in his ear, "I gave you a choice; you brought this on yourself, child…" Then the ghost flew off, leaving the spasmodic Danny behind, howling in complete and utter pain.

Danny shut his eyes and moaned. He felt the cool chill alert him that he had indeed become human again. His wounds only aggravated in his human form and he cried out. What on EARTH had Skulker shot him with? Danny had yet to meet another weapon which could do that type of damage to him! Danny felt little black dots clouding his vision, and he felt completely and utterly tired… Danny sighed and gave into the exhaustion he felt. His head hung down as he lost his consciousness.