Disclaimer: All rights to this story and the characters involved belong to the respective owners of DC comics and Nickelodeon/Butch Hartman. This story is for fun, not for money or profit of any kind.

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Chapter 2: Of Hawks, Gentlemen, and Ghosts

Amity Park, Illinois was a nice place to live. It was not too big, but not too small. A good town, full of good, honest people. Lush, green farmland, forests, and wide open space surrounded the small city. But it wasn't isolated. The nearest large city nearby was Midway City. Slightly larger than Amity Park, Midway was a mere 125 miles from Amity Park. The only difference between the two cities was the fact that Amity Park had a ghost infestation! Usually.

Danny Phantom was flying hard to catch up to Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter. Normally, Skulker would be the first to throw a punch, but he hadn't said two words to his usual prey. "Hey, Skulker," Danny called, his voice echoing in a ghostly way. "What kind of trouble are you up to tonight? Trying to find your old friend, Samson? He's still at the zoo!" Samson was a rare purple-backed gorilla that was at the Amity Park zoo. Skulker had an... unpleasant experience with that beast.

He took the bait, and spun around so fast that Danny had to skid to a stop in mid-air. He blasted a glowing pink net at Danny, before the young hero could react. Danny yelled as he was zapped, falling on top of a nearby roof. "For your information, whelp," Skulker said. "I'm not here to cause any trouble. I'm trying to get back to the Ghost Zone."

This caught Danny off guard. "Wha- Why?" he asked. Skulker glanced around. "Because Plasmius informed me that the Spectre appeared here the other night! Haven't you noticed that there haven't been that many evil ghosts here in the past few days?"

It was true. There weren't that many ghost fights in the past few days. And with both Sam and Jazz down with the flu, and Tucker out of town, Danny had been very bored the past few days. "Yeah, I noticed," he said. "I thought it was because you guys had gotten tired of getting your butts handed to you!" With that, Danny gathered his strength, and tore through the net holding him down.

Skulker made no move, not wanting a fight. "I was only here to see Plasmius," he said. "He owed me an upgrade, and he shut his portal down! I had to use your parent's."

This was news to Danny. "He shut it down?" he asked. "Why?"

"After his encounter with the Spectre, he's decided to lay low, play things straight for a while," Skulker replied.

Danny cocked his eyebrow. "Really?" he asked.

Skulker nodded. "Yes," he said. "We all are playing it safe! No one wants the Spectre after them! So we've decided to not cause trouble. For now. Looks like you get a vacation." Danny was speechless. He wasn't used to talking with Skulker so long without fighting, let alone what was said. It was also true that Vlad had been acting strange since the Spectre incident. He had made several generous donations to local charities, and even had a new children's hospital built in record time.

"The other ghosts are really laying low?" Danny asked.

Skulker sighed, and rolled his eyes. "Yes, you clueless twit," he said. "But don't get too cozy, child. Your pelt will hang on my wall one day. But for now, I just want to get back home."

Danny shrugged. "Fine," he said. Skulker took off again, only to get caught in a blue beam. He was sucked into Danny's Fenton Thermos! "You want to get home? It's only fair I give you a ride!"

Capping the thermos, Danny turned around to head home, but was clubbed in the head by something hard and electrified! Before he lost consciousness, he saw what looked like a large pair of wings in the moonlight...

Danny finally returned to reality, painfully. It had been a long time since he'd been hit that hard. Rubbing his head, he slowly sat up, taking in his surroundings. He was on a roof, but no roof he was familiar with. And he knew most of them in Amity Park. He heard a ruffling behind him. He turned around and saw a woman standing behind him. But that wasn't what startled him. This woman had wings!

Danny jumped up, looking at her from head to toe. She had long red hair, tucked behind a black and gold helmet/head dress that covered the upper half of her face and the top and back of her head. The sides of the helmet flared back into wings, and the face covering gave her a threatening, hawk-like appearance. Her clothing was equally unique. Her top was a forest green, with gold and blood red trim. She wore matching trousers, with knee-high red and gold combat boots. Her hands were wrapped in athletic tape, like that of a fighter, and wore spiked gauntlets on her forearms. On her belt hung a variety of knives and throwing stars, but most striking was a large, spiked mace.

"Are you alright?" the woman asked. "I told my husband to be a little more diplomatic."

Danny rubbed his head. "Who are you?" he asked. "And where am I? And why do you have wings?"

The winged woman sighed. "People call me Hawkgirl," she answered. "And the answer to your other question is your in Midway City."

Despite his headache, Danny smirked. "Hawkgirl, huh? Can't imagine why they'd call you that!"

Hawkgirl chuckled. "Little smart-ass," she smirked.

"Why am I in Midway?" Danny asked.

Hawkgirl looked him dead in the eyes. "My husband, Hawkman, and I need your help," she said. "We've heard your something of an expert on ghosts. We have a problem here in Midway."

Danny glared, and replied, "You know, you could have just asked, instead of knocking me out, and kidnapping me!"

"Well that was the plan," she explained. "But my husband tends to be a little hot-headed. Sorry about that. Anyway, some ghost has been causing trouble at the local museum of natural history."

Danny rubbed his chin. "Well," he said. "What can this ghost do?"

"Well," she explained. "He can walk through walls, fly, and vanish. We can't get a direct hit on him, because he keeps going through walls. It's really pissing us off! Are you gonna help, or not?"

Hawkgirl clearly liked fighting, Danny surmised. The thought of not being able to hit an enemy directly must have been irritating to her. He sighed, deciding he may as well help. She did apologize, after all. "All right," he sighed. "Lead the way. If you there's something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call?"

"Seriously?" Hawkgirl asked, as they took to the air.

Danny shrugged. "What? I've always wanted to say that!"

The two soon landed on top of a building, over looking the Midway Museum of Natural History. Hawkman was waiting for them. "What took so long?" he groused. Danny crossed his arms, looking Hawkman up and down. He was a large man, with stubble on his face. His outfit was similar to Hawkgirl's. His helmet was slightly different, but held the same look. His wings were slightly larger, and he wore a battle harness, instead of a shirt. In the center of it was a red and black symbol of a hawk's head. He also had similar weapons, including the same style of spiked mace.

"Well hello, to you, too," Danny shot back. "What are we waiting for?"

Hawkman glanced at his wife, who nodded once. "Let's go," he said. The three swooped down through an open window on the roof of the museum. They landed in the ancient Egyptian exhibit. "So, ghost boy," Hawkman said. "What's our plan of attack? How do we get this guy out of our museum without damaging anything?"

Danny glanced at Hawkman. "What do you mean, 'your' museum?" he asked. "Do you guys live here, or something? Come to think of it, those maces look like they belong in a museum." Hawkman looked bewildered for a moment. He had just spilled the beans like an idiot to some kid he just met. He scowled at Danny, chalking it up to the trustworthy aura the kid seemed to give off. That, and he hadn't slept in several nights.

Hawkgirl facepalmed. "Oh, Katar," she sighed shaking her head. "What my husband means, is that we're good friends with the curators, Carter and Sharon Hall," she said. "The Hall's took us in when we crash landed on Earth."

Danny blinked several times at this information. "Are you guys aliens?"

Hawkgirl scowled, and put her hands on her hips. "You got a problem with that?" she asked, angrily.

Danny shook his head quickly. "No way," he said, grinning excitedly. "This is awesome! I never thought I'd get to meet real, live aliens! I'm a space nut! So, what's space like? Why did you crash land here? Were you attacked? What's your home planet like? Did you-"

Danny's questioning was cut short by a very pissed off Hawkman, who grabbed Danny roughly by the collar. "ENOUGH!" he yelled. "We're here to do a job! If you can't focus on the task at hand, then-"

Danny phased through Hawkman's grasp. "Whoa, easy!" he shouted. Before anyone could say anymore, a loud crash came from another room.

"Come on," Hawkgirl said. "He's in the storeroom!" The three heroes rushed off toward the noise.

"So," Danny said. "What's this guy after?"

"We don't know," Hawkgirl answered. "He's been in here since the museum closed, causing trouble. But we haven't been able to catch him. We don't want to damage anything, so we had to find help. You."

As the three rounded a corner into the storeroom, a loud shout echoed through the hallways. "BEWARE!"

Danny stopped dead in his tracks, before nearly falling over, laughing. "Oh, man," he said between laughs. "Him? You can't catch him?"

Suddenly, none other than the Box-Ghost, a fat, blue ghost in overalls, came out of the shadows. "It is I, the Box-Ghost! And I have come to reek my square shaped vengeance!" Box-Ghost saw Danny floating beside the Hawks, who had their maces raised.

"Phantom," he asked. "What are you doing here? It matters not! For, I, the all-mighty Box-Ghost, shall destroy you all with my newly found weapon, the wooden shipping container! Once I empty these marvelous containers of shipping of their worthless, old junk, I will-" He was cut off by Danny sucking him into the Fenton Thermos, capping it with a bored look.

The two winged wonders looked at Danny in surprise. "What," Danny said. "He would have gone on all night!"

The two heroes glanced at each other, slightly embarrassed. "It was that easy for you?" Hawkgirl asked.

"Yup," Danny replied. "I've fought him before. He's just an annoyance. What I can't figure out, is why he came here. There's a museum in Amity Park, why come all the way here?"

No one had an answer. Then, Danny's ghost sense went off, and from across the room, another voice sounded. A cultured, British-sounding voice. "What's taking you so long, you fat, blue fool? I'm not paying you to laze around!" The person speaking floated through the wall. He wore an all-white evening attire that looked like it was from the 1800's, complete with a monocle, cane, and top hat. The strange part was that there appeared to be no one wearing the clothes, like the invisible man. His pockets were full of jewels and gold pieces he had stolen from other parts of the museum. "Oh, dear," he said, noticing the three heroes.

"Who are you?" Hawkman growled.

"I am Gentleman Ghost," replied the new-comer. He removed his top hat, and bowed. "And I am here to relieve this dusty old museum of it's many valuable pieces, once I find that droll idiot I hired."

"Like hell, you are," challenged Hawkgirl.

Gentleman Ghost ignored here, and gazed at Danny. "I know of you," he said. "Phantom, half ghost hero, who battles the forces of the dead to protect the living. Charming."

Danny frowned at the new ghost. "Well," he said. "I never heard of you. You're the reason the Box-Ghost was here? Boy, do you have low standards for henchman. Boxy is an moron!"

"So it would seem," Gentleman Ghost said. "Well, it would seem I have over stayed my welcome, for now."

He turned to leave, but Hawkman blocked his way. "You're not going anywhere," he said, raising his mace. "You break into this museum, and try to steal what's inside? Not gonna happen."

The ghost in white laughed. "As if you can stop me," he said, flying through her, out of the building.

"After him!" shouted Danny.

Danny flew out of the museum, right on Gentleman Ghost's tail. He shot a green ghost ray at Gentleman Ghost, striking him in the back. "Aarrgh," he screamed as he fell to the ground. He slowly got to his feet. "Cruel, child," he said. "Shooting an enemy from behind. I thought heroes were supposed to be honorable?"

Danny landed in front of his enemy. "Only when the bad guys aren't cowards," he shot back. "Now give back what you stole, or this is gonna get messy!"

Gentleman Ghost tipped his hat. "Oh," he said. "I agree." He pointed his cane at Danny, shooting a white ghost ray of his own at Danny. It hit Danny in the chest, blasting him off his feet. "You may be top dog in Amity Park," Gentleman Ghost said. "But against me, you don't stand a ghost of a chance!"

Getting to his feet, Danny said, "Leave the puns to me, creep!" He flew at full speed, landing an uppercut to where he thought Gentleman Ghost's jaw was.

Gentleman Ghost went down, clutching his face. "Argh," he whimpered. "My nose!"

"Whoops," Danny said. "Oh, well. Works for me!" He pulled out his Thermos, but Gentleman Ghost lashed out with his cane, hitting it out of Danny's hand! "Hey!" Gentleman Ghost then tripped up Danny, putting his foot on his chest.

"Time to join me in the afterlife, boy, as a full ghost!" He pulled out a ghostly flint lock pistol and aimed it at Danny's head.

Before he could pull the trigger, a large mace knocked the villain off his feet! Hawkman then few up behind Gentleman Ghost, and threw an Nth metal net at him, restraining him. Danny got to his feet, and retrieved the stolen items from the evil ghosts pockets. Hawkgirl picked up Danny's Thermos, and tossed it to Danny, who sucked Gentleman Ghost inside. "Nooo," the crook shouted. "This is not over! I will be back, fools! Count on it!"

"Nice save," Danny said. Glancing at the maces of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, he realized something and once more rubbed the back of his skull. "Whatever your weapons are made of, they render a ghost's natural powers kinda useless. I've never been hurt by metal, before. And I'm betting neither has Gentleman Ghost!"

"It's called Nth metal," Hawkgirl explained. "It's from our home planet of Thanagar; it's not found anywhere on Earth. Back home, there were ancient legends and folk lore that said it was used to ward off spirits of the dead. Never figured those stories to be real, though. Good to know."

Back at the museum, the trio of heroes were placing the stolen items back in their rightful places. "Thanks for your help, kid," Hawkgirl said.

"Anytime," Danny said. "Thank you guys for stopping Gentleman Ghost, before he made me give up the ghost!" Hawkman just shrugged. He hadn't said a word since getting back. "What's your problem?" Danny asked.

Hawkman glared at Danny. "I still don't know if we can trust you," he said. "Your young. Your arrogant. Sloppy. You jump into chaos before looking."

Hawkgirl put her hand on her husband's shoulder, kissing him on the cheek. "Sounds like someone I know," she said softly.

Danny huffed, and said, "Before I go, there is one more thing I have to do..." He then slugged Hawkman in the jaw, sending him to the floor!

"Katar," Hawgirl called, crouching over to him. She shot a glare at Danny.

"That's for knocking me out, and kidnapping me," Danny said rubbing his fist.

Hawkgirl grabbed her mace. "Why you little..."

Before she could swing at Danny, Hawkman sat up, laughing hard. "I haven't been hit like that in a long time!" he said, standing up. "Nice right hook, kid!"

Danny smiled and shrugged. "Thanks," he said. He looked out the window, and saw the sun was starting to rise. "Listen, guys," he said. "I really need to get home, before I'm missed! And I have to throw these guys back into the Ghost Zone. But if you guys need any help down the road-"

"We know who to call," Hawkgirl said, smiling. Danny grinned back, and flew out of the museum, and took off towards home. He couldn't wait to tell Jazz, Sam and Tucker about his little adventure in Midway City!

The two Thanagarians watched Danny fly off out the window. "Smooth move, Katar" Hawkgirl said, teasingly, taking her helmet off, revealing the face of Shayera Hol, aka Sharon Hall. "You almost blew our identities to a kid."

Hawkman also took off his helmet, sighing. "Right back at you, Shayera," Katar Hol, aka Carter Hall, shot back. "You really pulled my butt out of the fire with that one."

"Well," she shrugged. "I didn't technically lie to the kid, I just didn't mention we're Carter and Sharon Hall." The two chuckled as they started to clean up their museum before it opened.