I do not own Danny Phantom, nor do I own any of the characters that appeared in the series.

The Danny Phantom Superhero Project

Black Magic Woman

"The crystal is mine, boy! Leave off, or it won't end well for you!"

"A flying broom, really? Aren't those things made more for, I don't know, younger people?"

Danny twisted out of the way of her retaliatory attack, watching the fireball shoot towards the streets below. This was the first superpowered criminal to show up on patrol in the two weeks since he'd become the Phantom, and he was really hoping to stop her without hurting her too badly; the police were still a little wary around him after he brought his (unknown to them) sister Jazz in with a disintegrated left leg. The only real problem was his utter lack of knowledge on his new enemy's powers. He knew from reading comics and watching interviews on TV with the Blue Meanie that magic-users were usually tough to get a read on. All he'd seen was the flying broom and the fireball, and he had no idea if the charms and amulets this old woman was wearing did anything or were just for decoration. Screw it. I gotta finish this so I can do that math homework.

Danny turned down the next street, turning invisible as soon as he got out of the witch's sight. He took the time to turn incorporeal as well, drifting back through the building to follow her. She shot a glance over her shoulder but apparently didn't see him; his powers weren't all really publicly known, something he was grateful for right now. Diving, he poured on every bit of speed he could muster, turning it around to come up in front of her. Still invisible he grabbed the crystal, tearing it out of her age-weakened grip before instantly shooting out of the way of her broom; the last thing he needed was for her to fall and not be able to cast a spell to keep herself from splattering on the ground. Her furious shriek echoed through the concrete and glass canyons of Amity Park's business district, following him for a few intersections. He hefted the crystal in his hand, which had turned visible again after he had been sure he'd lost her. He'd have to stop at the police station tomorrow and turn it over to them; hopefully Captain Jimenez would be around. If it weren't for her he might not be as accepted as he was. Until then he'd hold onto it. Now, though, he had to get home and do some homework.

She was furious. All that time she'd spent, most of her life in fact, and she'd lost the crystal to a little boy! This would not stand, she thought. Throwing her broom to the side of the rather spacious penthouse apartment she'd charmed the owner into giving to her, the witch called a few items to her. She would need a child to find this "superhero", whoever he was. But this child would need to know everything she knew. She shook her head. She could easily make herself young again temporarily in order to recover her crystal, but she would need her parents to complete the act. It would be easy to let them free, but would she be able to put them back when she was done? This was not the time for carefully weighing options, she decided, but a time for action.

The witch took a crystal out of the sleeve of her robe, throwing it to the ground. From the shattered remains grew a pair of middle-aged humans, one male and one female. As soon as they were fully formed they hugged before realizing they had company. The mother spoke first.

"Mal? Is that you? How long?-"

"Sixty years, but now's not the time for that. I lost something, and I need you around until I can get it back."

"Well, you kept us all these years, we could help, but what do you need us to do?"

"I need clothes," 'Mal' said, pulling off amulets, rings and robe as she did, "suitable for a young girl. I have to go undercover, and I need parents for this. You're free after this, incidentally. Hurry up, I need to be in a school tomorrow."

Her mother nodded, and both she and her husband hurried out of the room. The witch held up the amulet she'd kept. The Chronarch's Eye, it could restore someone to whatever age they wanted, provided they kept wearing it. She held it in one hand, twisting it around in her palm before pulling it over her neck. The pain of reverse-aging was agonizing, and her scream scaled and pitched as she grew younger. When it was done she collapsed, worn out from the pain. Still, it was worth it. She would have her power soon, super-being or not. It was all worth it.

Danny was doodling in his notebook when he heard Mr. Lancer say "Everyone, eyes up here. We have a new student." He immediately covered his sketch (a costume for a potential sidekick) and looked up to see a girl standing at the door, looking a little nervous. She was worth a second look, and he took it.

She was short, or at least shorter than him. Her hair was a pale purple save for the tips of the two short pigtails coming off the top of her head, which looked like she'd dipped them in ink or tar. Her eyes, which were a more shocking shade of the same purple, hung over a cute little nose and pair of petulant red lips. She walked in fully, and Danny almost laughed out loud when he saw her clothes. Her white oxford shirt was covered by a mustard-yellow sweater vest that reached just down to the waistband of her plaid-and-green pleated skirt. It looked like some kind of uniform, which meant she was considerably overdressed for a public high school. He wasn't the only one that thought she looked funny; most of the girls were giggling behind their hands, and several of the guys were biting their cheeks to keep from laughing. Sam reached over and poked him in the ribs to stop him from his silent amusement; she wasn't even tickled a little by the new girl's appearance. He looked over to his left and saw that Tucker was openly staring at this girl; he decided to poke him before he looked creepy.

"Everyone, this is Mallory . . . I'm sorry, how do you pronounce your last name?"

"Maleficarum." She had a British accent, and one of the cute ones at that. She winced a little at the new wave of giggles and snickers but pressed on bravely. "My parents moved here on business, and they didn't want to hire some kind of private tutor-"

"Yes yes, that's all well and good. How about you sit there, behind Miss Ashikawa, so we can get back to our lesson?"

Mallory started walking to the back, where Jenny sat. She made it halfway when she stumbled and almost fell. Star, who was sitting right there, said "Clumsy much?" which caused a wave of full-fledged laughter. Lancer waved his arms for silence, ignoring Star's clear attempt to trip the new girl. Mallory looked absolutely furious by the time she got to her seat, though Danny couldn't really watch her, since she was sitting in the very back. He turned back to the lesson, and actually managed to take down all the notes Mr. Lancer had on the board for once. It wasn't until the end of the lesson that anything weird happened.

Star was putting her book back into her backpack when she pulled out her compact to check her makeup. Even though nothing looked wrong to Danny or his friends, she grabbed at her face, shrieking her head off about her face being disfigured. She ran out of the room, still screaming, with Paulina and the rest of her friends following close behind. Danny looked over at Sam, who looked as puzzled as he did. As they left the classroom Sam and Tucker were pushed to the side by Mallory, who was rushing to her next class. Sam was about to tell her off when Tucker put his hand on her shoulder, still wearing that awestruck expression he'd had when he'd first seen her.

"What-oh no. I'm not going to let her try and walk all over me just because you think she's cute."

"She's not cute. She's hot. I mean, the accent, the hair, the schoolgirl outfit, the face . . . it's like the perfect storm of hotness."

"You have a schoolgirl fetish? Sounds like you watch too much anime, in my opinion."

"I think he has a crush on her because she's a new student too. Speaking of which, maybe we should cut her into our group. She's going to need friends, especially with the way our classmates were treating her. Yes Jenny, I think we can get Tucker to promise not to hit on her," Danny added, since Jenny had given him one of those complicated looks that he could translate in an instant now.

"Hey, you know I can't promise anything like that. Not with someone as fine as that."

Tucker completely ignored Jenny's wrathful stare, though it might have just been that he still couldn't decipher her facial communications. In the end, the four of them decided that they would invite Mallory to hang out with them; Tucker's non-involvement got passed three-to-one, though he fought that policy tooth and nail. The plan was to talk to her at the end of their next class, but she wasn't present when the class started. Sam quietly excused herself on the pretense of going to the bathroom (not exactly a lie, since she figured that was where Mallory was anyway) and left the classroom, stopping in every girl's bathroom in the school.

The first one was a bust; Star was in there trying to cover up imaginary blemishes with more makeup than KISS wore at an average concert, the whole while talking trash about the new girl to a group of her hanger-ons. The next two bathrooms were empty. It wasn't until she checked the one down by the locker rooms that she heard someone crying in one of the stalls. She spent a few minutes acting like she didn't hear it, pretending to check her makeup in the mirror, before she knocked on the door. A half-angry, half-sobbing voice came out, saying "G-go away." Sam made her move.

"Mallory? Is that you?"

"I s-s-said go away."

"Look, I just wanted to let you know that me and my friends don't act like the rest of our classmates. If you wanted to hang out with us, we don't mind. We don't go after new students like Star or Dash does, that's all."

"Really? You don't think I'm a fr-fr-freak?"

"Not really, no. I mean, just look at us. I'm an eco-minded Goth, Tucker's an accidental supervillain, Danny's a comic-book junkie with too much time on his hands, and Jenny either doesn't or can't talk. You'll fit right in."

Sam heard the door unlatch and waited for Mallory to come out. When she did, Sam noticed that her eyes looked a little watery and were ringed by her tear-smudged makeup. Sam gave her a little hug, and then told her to meet them at lunch before leaving her to fix her makeup.

Mallory threw her backpack onto her bed, practically skipping through her room. She'd made some friends finally; her first time through high school wasn't that . . . and at that moment she remembered that her plan had been to use her magic to figure out if any of the kids knew who the annoying teen hero was. She screamed a British obscenity that drew an admonishing shout from her mother, who had always had a problem with rough language.

The real problem was, what was wrong with her magic? The annoying blond girl that had tripped her was supposed to get a minor blemish, not a massive acne attack that apparently only she could see. She pulled out the Chronarch's Eye from under her shirt. She'd thought it only changed your body's physical age, but her emotions and magic were acting fourteen again also. Hopefully she wouldn't have to wear it much longer; it would be terrible if, say, the effects got permanent after a while. Oh well. Tomorrow I'll start investigating. She grinned, filled with purpose again.

"So, I've heard you Americans have one of those super-powered types running around here. Anyone know anything about that?"

Danny looked up at Mallory; this was the first time she'd brought up the subject of superhumans, and he didn't quite know how to respond. Sam was adamant that he not let her know he was the Phantom until they knew they could trust her, and he agreed; Tucker, distracted by his crush, had suggested that there was no better way to earn her trust than letting her in on it. He'd been outvoted again, something he wasn't happy about. Danny decided to throw out the story he'd rehearsed in case someone asked him about his alter-ego.

"Yeah, the Phantom. I wish I could get my hands on him. I'd-"

"Okay, calm down Danny. The Phantom put Danny's sister in jail," Sam said, adding the last bit for Mallory's benefit, "so he's a little upset whenever someone brings up the subject."

"Oh bugger, I'm sorry. I didn't know-"

"It's all right. I mean, I'm sure he had a good reason, though we'll probably never know. He had her shipped off to some kind of supervillain mental hospital after he ruined her leg. I didn't think she was crazy, but who knows?"

Mallory excused herself, saying she was going to the bathroom. Once she was gone, Danny grinned, standing up and taking a little bow while Jenny silently applauded. Sam was impressed with the act.

"I didn't think you could lie with a straight face like that. Out of curiosity, what did you do with that crystal the old witch was going after?"

"Well, since we were busy hanging out with Mal, I never got the chance to take it to Captain Jimenez yesterday. Guess I'll have to do that tonight. No homework so far, maybe this will be an easy night."

While Danny was talking with his friends, Mallory was in the bathroom, mixing a cold potion in one of the toilets. She had the name, so now she could see what he might be doing later. She desperately wished she'd gotten some of his skin or blood so she could do a scrying on what he was doing right now, but for now she'd make do with a simple divination. She dropped the last ingredient into the bowl, watching as the liquid became clear as crystal. She could see him with the crystal, flying over a building she recognized. She couldn't use her broom this time (it was designed for someone a little heavier than she was now), but she had a spell that would pull him out of the sky, if her now-pubescent magic would do it right this time. She shook her head, taking note of the moon to get an accurate time. Satisfied with her plan she flushed the toilet, washing her work down the pipes. After tonight, she'd have everything she ever wanted. It was a great time to be her.

Danny hefted the crystal in his left hand as he flew, wishing he knew some magic. He couldn't tell what was so special about it, but it was apparently important to the old witch. Maybe he could look it up on the Internet later. He might be able to find-

All of a sudden he fell out of the air, pulled down onto the roof of a building. The force was enough to stun him, especially since he didn't get all that great a landing. Pushing himself up, he saw Mallory standing in front of him. She was wearing a robe and had a gaudy amulet hanging around her neck, but it was still easily identifiable as her. She was cackling as she skipped over, amulet bouncing on her chest as she did so.

"You are so predictable, you know. I just had to talk to any kid about you and I knew enough to see where you'd be tonight. Bugger me, but this is just too easy!"

"I didn't kill your grandmother, you know. She flew off into the sunset with straw between her legs, no harm done-"

"Grandmother!" She sounded furious. "I am the same witch you stole that crystal from! Thanks to this amulet I can be as young as I want, as long as I wear it. Bloody annoying going through this stage of life again, though; I think I'll destroy it once I'm done. What do you thi-where . . . bugger!"

Danny had used her talk to sink into the building, coming up behind her. He tapped her on the shoulder, and then grabbed her amulet when she turned. He turned both it and his hand incorporeal, plunging the amulet into her chest and letting go. Amazingly, the amulet didn't resolidify; that would have burst her heart open. She clawed at her chest, pulling her robe open to try and find it. Danny suddenly realized what he'd done and smiled.

"I think it's stuck inside you. Hope you didn't burn your bridges with whoever told you about me; you're gonna need friends where you're staying."

She stopped dead when the full realization of what he'd said hit her, letting out one of those high-pitched teen girl screams of frustration and anger while swiping across his face with her nails. She stomped her foot on the ground, disappearing when it hit. Danny palmed the amulet again before flying off to meet Jimenez. All in all, a good night.

"Let me see if I have this right. Mallory – our friend – is the old witch you took the crystal from in the first place?"

After the meeting with Jimenez, who had told Danny to keep the crystal safe, Danny had set up a four-way video conference on his computer with Tucker, Sam and Jenny, during which he had told them the entire story as far as he knew it. He nodded in response to Sam's question.

"Yep. She used some magic item to make herself younger so she could look for me. Now she's got no crystal and has to live most of her life over again."

"We're still going to hang out with her, right? I mean, if we stop then she'll know we have some kind of connection with the Phantom-stop looking at me like that!"

"She's not trying to creep you out; she's just giving your idea full consideration. It freaked me and Danny out too before we figured out all her facial cues."

Jenny stopped cocking her head, smiled and nodded, meaning that she thought Tucker's idea was a good one. They talked a little more, ending the conversation after Tucker tried to get them to re-vote on whether or not he could hit on Mallory now (he was out-voted again). Danny shut off his computer, turning to look at the crystal sitting on his shelf. One day he'd find out what was so important, but not tonight. He still had homework to do.

Welcome back, whoever stuck around. I notice no flames, which means I didn't do that badly. Not much to do this time. Here goes.

Mallory

I liked the idea of one of Danny's enemies acting like one of his friends. I do have a plan for her from now on, but she's not going to be doing much evil until she remembers how to control her magic while going through puberty (that's why her magic is going screwy). The idea for Danny phasing her youth-granting amulet into her chest actually comes from the show, when Dark Danny gets Clockwork's time amulet stuck in Danny's chest so he can't go back in time to stop him. Danny's going to experiment with how this little gift works, and it actually plays an important part in beating a villain later on. She's part of the gang now, so she'll be showing up a lot in conversations.

Next time, an actual villain from the TV series shows up, with close to the motive they had in their first appearance. Just not a ghost, that's all. See you later!