It was a pitch-black night in Amity Park. All was quiet.
Unless of course you happened to look up and see the two ghosts battling it out in an all out aerial brawl, ghost rays creating a fantastic display of green and pink fireworks. Or glanced down at the speeding van following them, screeching around corners and decapitating innocent mailboxes. There were many scratches on the van, or 'the Fenton family ghost assault vehicle' as Jack Fenton would say.
Well, he would say it if he weren't busy trying to keep up with the two ghosts in the air above.
"Hurry Jack! We've never been this close to them before!"
'Them' being the infamous Danny Phantom fighting the mysterious Wisconsin Ghost, who seemed to be a bit far from home, in Maddie's opinion.
Jack only nodded in reply, focusing more on following the ghosts rather than sticking to his side of the road. There was a trail of mutilated trash cans and letterboxes in his wake. Unfortunately for the two ghost hunters, they lost sight of the angry ghosts as Jack swerved to avoid a particularly solid streetlamp.
The two drove on and searched the skies for any sign of life, so to speak. It seemed like they had indeed completely lost sight of their target, when the telltale green flash of a misdirected ghost ray lit up the sky. Jack took a left into what would soon be a new residential area, yet to be built, to correct their course. The ghosts were fighting a ways ahead; the Wisconsin ghost seemed to have the upper hand. The Fentons drove closer.
With no apparent warning, the two ghosts stopped and landed on the ground. Neither let their guard down.
"They're talking?" asked Jack. "I don't get it. They were blasting the heck out of each other just a second ago."
"Not talking, arguing!" said Maddie, peering at them. She looked at her husband. "I want to hear what they are saying, let's leave the GAV here and sneak up close?"
Jack looked a bit disappointed that he would be leaving the powerhouse of anti-ghost weaponry behind, but agreed. He was quite curious as to what made them stop in the middle of such a heated battle too. He took some of his inventions with him anyway, following his wife and trying to be as quiet as a huge man laden with ghost weaponry can be.
He was surprisingly stealthy, and the hunters both reached the ghosts undetected.
"-them, you stubborn boy!"
"Because unlike you, I'm not an evil, lonely old guy with no friends!"
Jack and Maddie turned to each other and rolled their eyes, yeah right. All ghosts are evil. They turned back to the ghosts who were glaring venomously at each other.
"You are more like me than you seem to realise, or maybe you do and you do not wish to acknowledge it?"
"I am NOT like you! Why don't you just go back to your castle, get a cat and live happily ever after, away from me an-"
"Not like me? You aren't above blackmail, as you have demonstrated before. Using my own weakness against me was quite devious, don't you think? Not exactly the move of a 'good guy'"
Phantom visibly tensed, but didn't back down.
"I forced a truce. That's completely different than trying to kill someone who happens to be in your way, Plasmius!"
"Ah, yes the truce. That doesn't help you much now, does it Daniel? You may have been willing to expose us to Jack and Maddie then to save them, but are you willing to expose us both to the world now to stop me?"
The hunters looked at each other, communicating silently as only a husband and wife could. They had been married for over eighteen years and were virtually mind readers.
'What the heck are they talking about? What could be so secret that two powerful ghosts would call a truce over?'
Contrary to popular belief, the older Fentons were not stupid. They knew a powerful ghost when they saw it.
'No idea, but why did they mention us specifically? When did Phantom save us?'
'What could Phantom have told us?'
'Who the hell is Plasmius?'
'The Wisconsin Ghost, I think.'
The ghosts were raising many questions for the humans to ponder, but now wasn't the time as the ghost boy was talking again.
"I won't let it get that far. I have friends to back me up. If it gets that far I know I can rely on them, and even the other ghost hunters in Amity aren't as hopeless as they are made out to be. I'm sure your 'pawn', for one, would be very interested in the truth behind her 'mysterious benefactor'." Phantom punctuated his sarcasm with little air quotes.
"I'm sure she would be, but tell me boy, would she accept the so called truth from you? I selected her for her drive and skills, not to mention her one track mind. She has the blasters and the grudge. She won't believe a word you say. She's the perfect pawn, diving blindly into a fight hoping to destroy you, all in the name of misplaced blame."
"You're just using her!" shouted Phantom, fists clenched. "She has no idea of where the real ghostly threat is coming from, and it could get her killed! All because you let her think I'm to blame!"
Maddie turned to her husband and whispered, "That's odd, why would he even care?"
'Search me...' shrugged Jack
"I don't tell her to come after you specifically Daniel, although it is rather amusing when she interrupts your battles and believes she makes it out unscathed due to her own skills. You should stop protecting her. Wouldn't it be easier on you if you just let the 'Red Huntress' die? It wouldn't even be you killing her, I can order Skulker to do it if you prefer." The older ghost was grinning, goading Phantom.
"-The hell?! Leave her alone! Leave everyone alone, and just get the hell out of my town, you crazed up froot-loop!"
And with that last verbal barb, the short intermission was over and The Wisconsin Ghost, or maybe Plasmius? Whichever, blasted Danny once more with a weirdly pink ghost ray. Danny went flying through the air, crashing to a halt in the wall that the eavesdropping Fentons were on the other side of. The wall collapsed around him, and Maddie had to sidestep to avoid some falling bricks. Luckily, she went unnoticed by the ghosts.
"Do consider joining me Daniel, save yourself a lot of pain." Plasmius called as he disappeared in a condensed fog of pink, really what was with all the pink anyway?
"Egotistical glow stick..." mumbled Danny from the new pile of rubble. Then he looked up and finally noticed the two armed and dangerous ghost hunters standing close by, weapons trained unwaveringly on him.
"Oh hell... Whatever it is, I didn't do it, I swear!" Danny glanced around, looking for a way out. He knew even his dad wouldn't need to be a great shot at this range.
'This is so not my night' he thought to himself. He was still pretty wiped out from his fight with Vlad. He had just finished capturing a malevolent lizard ghost, who seemed intent on being the next Godzilla, when his least favourite froot-loop had appeared to mess with him some more. Now this?
"You sound awfully guilty there, ghost boy. Ghosts don't have real emotions. Why the pretence?" Demanded Maddie. Jack stood by her, with his favourite (ludicrously oversized) Fenton Bazooka at the ready.
"I'm not pretending!" insisted Danny, crossing his arms. "And I haven't done anything wrong, so what's your problem?"
"We overheard you talking to the Wisconsin Ghost back there and we want answers," said Maddie.
"How much did you hea- ... Why should I tell you guys anything? It's my business." Danny was very nervous now, he might have to spill to his parents or get blasted. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place! He decided to play for time. Oh, his life was awesome.
"You're the one terrorising our town, ghost! So we have the right to know."
Danny decided he was going to be difficult. "Know what? I got no idea what you're talking about. And for the record, I protect the town not terrorise it!" he smirked, but inside he knew that antagonising the ghost hunters, while looking like his ghost alter ego, was a terminally dumb idea.
"You said you could have exposed him. What was that?" asked Jack bluntly. The couple noticed that Phantom paled at this.
"That's for me to know, and you not to. Eavesdropping on private conversations is really rude, you know." Danny crossed his arms, trying to cover his nervousness.
The Fentons (Danny not included for the moment) looked at each other to do their mind reading thing, they seemed to come to an agreement.
I hate it when they do that, thought Danny.
"How about a deal then?" asked Maddie.
Danny looked suspiciously at his parents, "What kind of deal?"
"Give us some answers and we'll let you go free tonight instead of blasting you to bits and dissecting whatever's left over," grinned Jack.
"You're kidding, right?"
"Nope. Tell us what we want to know, and you're off the hook," replied Jack.
"For tonight only," added Maddie.
Danny sighed. What could he tell them without completely blowing his cover? Or Vlad's, because that would be nearly as bad. "The thing is, I can't tell you."
"And why not?" responded Maddie. She thought for a moment, "the truce! Am I right?" Danny nodded to her. "What is the truce then?"
Danny thought hard, what can he say without revealing anything? "It was sort of... This one time... Well, when Plasmius and I first met... Long story short, he stops messing with... some people, and I won't tell everyone his secret."
"He said 'expose both' of you. Care to explain?"
"Well, telling everyone his secret will let everyone know mine. And don't ask, because that is my business, okay?"
"So you were going to come to us to reveal your secret to stop him that one time? I'm touched," joked Jack.
"How much did you two hear? Nosy much?" asked Danny, scowling. He thought it best if they didn't know how important they were to Vlad and himself just yet.
Maddie ignored that, "What could the two of you possibly not want everyone to know?"
"I can't say without breaking the truce!"
"But doesn't Plasmius? He comes around here all the way from Wisconsin just to see you? I don't think so," asked Maddie.
"He...bends the truce. And I kick his butt when he does," answered Danny. Quietly he added, "Or at least I try to."
"Try to?" Maddie saw Phantom start at this, obviously she wasn't meant to hear that.
Danny looked down, "He's a lot stronger than me. I usually have help." He looked back up, right into her eyes, "really don't ask. You don't need to know." It's better if they don't know about Sam and Tuck.
Jack steered the interrogation- I mean conversation- back on course, "If there was a way for you to tell his secret to everyone without yours being given away too, would you?"
Danny knew this was quite impossible, he shook his head. The second he outed Vlad, his own identity was fair game. "Impossible. Besides, I get the feeling that the thing... the truce is the only thing stopping him sometimes."
"Won't you just tell us? We can use his weakness to fight him, you know," Maddie hadn't forgotten how Danny had said the 'other' ghost hunters in Amity weren't hopeless. Funny, the only one to take them seriously was a ghost, rather than the townspeople they protected.
"No! You don't get it!" moaned Danny in frustration, "If everyone, if anyone, knew...He wouldn't have to hold back anymore! He wouldn't need to be so subtle, he could just be here and do whatever he wanted!" he ran his hand through his hair. "No one could stop him. You know I'm strong right?"
The hunters nodded, surprised at his outburst.
"He's way stronger than me. He's had twenty whole years, with no distractions, to grow more powerful. He already has the resources he needs, on Earth and in the Zone. He just wants a few more things before...whatever. Me? I've been around for barely any time at all. Not even a whole year, and I don't have all day to practice, train or anything. Do you see?"
Maddie wondered in horror, Phantom is barely a baby in ghost terms, and Plasmius has been around for that long? He must be incredibly strong!
Then Jack asked him, "So, Plasmius coming around, wreaking some havoc, destroying stuff and picking fights... is him being subtle?"
"Yes. Tell me, do you know what he wants?" asked Danny of his parents. They shook their heads in reply. "That's him being subtle. You don't know what he is aiming for, you don't know what to expect and you don't know what you're dealing with!" And with that, he disappeared. The hunters were stunned, and didn't think to raise their weapons, which had lowered while they talked.
Danny floated intangibly and invisibly through the ground and resurfaced a couple blocks down, where there were buildings to take cover amongst. He was exhausted, and didn't feel up to flying all the way home so he let go of his ghost form and as Danny Fenton, walked home. He knew he had let too much slip tonight, but that was something he would have to deal with tomorrow. It was past his curfew, but he was beyond caring at the moment.
Back next to the collapsed wall Jack and Maddie stood side by side.
"Wow, the Wisconsin ghost is really that powerful?" breathed Maddie."And he only wants something before he attacks for real? What's stopping him?"
"You know Mads, I think that maybe Phantom is telling the truth about protecting the town, just maybe."
"But why would he? He's dead, he has no reason to help anyone other than himself. Agh! If only he had stuck around for a few more minutes!" she sighed in frustration. "But you may be onto something dear."
"We should find out some more about him before hunting him, what is keeping him here? What's his obsession?" Jacks eyes shone with the thought of finding more answers.
As the two made their way back to the van, they never noticed the flash of light from a distance that was Phantom transforming. It was ironic how close to the truth they were, but always so far away.
Maddie wondered what Plasmius could possibly want in Amity Park. If he haunts all the way out in Wisconsin, he must have died there too. Surely his obsession would be there with him? There's nothing really special about this town other than the higher spectral activity and ecto-readings...
All the way home Jack drove much more sedately than when he was chasing ghosts. Only one unfortunate trash can was sent flying and Jack insisted it wasn't his fault.
That night the two hunters decided they would keep seeking out Phantom. No longer to destroy him, but to get to know him and see if he was trustworthy. It was a novel concept; ghost hunters working alongside a ghost?
"Heh, Phantom might just have a truce with us too, soon!" they smiled at the possibility of having a powerful ally like Phantom.
They made it home long before Danny did, but Danny was spared grounding because his parents were in the lab.
"Working on a more effective ghost alarm and track, they said." Jazz had smiled at him, "You spoke to them tonight, didn't you? How'd it go?"
I really don't know, he thought.
"I hope this won't come back to bite me in the butt later," he sighed and went to his room, it was late and he needed to sleep. He fell asleep listening to the faint sounds of his parents talking in the lab.
A couple hours later he shot up in his bed in shivers, awakened by his ghost sense. The sun was yet to come up, but that never stopped him going out to fight before.
As Danny Phantom flew out of his window, down in the basement Jack and Maddie looked at the display of their newest creation.
"Two ghosts, heading right for each other!" exclaimed Jack happily, "It works! What's the bet it'll be Phantom fighting another ghost?"
"It would certainly fit in with his usual pattern. I guess we'll be meeting up with Phantom sooner than we thought!" said Maddie as they both gathered their gear and drove out to chase down Phantom once again.
Authors note: Hi here, this is my first fanfiction, hope you liked it! Feel free to tell me how I went, what I did right and what I didn't. Feedback is a beautiful thing.