Disclaimer: All rights go to DC Comics and Nickelodeon/Butch Hartman. The author of this story owns nothing. This story is for fun; not money or profit of any kind.

Chapter 17: A New Ally

'Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said.

'Art sure no craven. Ghastly grim, and ancient raven

Wandering from the nightly shore- Tell me, what thy

Lordly name is on the night's plutonian shore!'

Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore.'

-Excerpt from Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Raven'

Rain was pouring in Amity Park, and Danny Phantom was flying across the city, wet and irritated. He was sleeping soundly, when his ghost sense awoke him. Now, he was flying in the rain, searching for a ghost he couldn't find! 'If it's Technus or Skulker again, I swear, I'll-' Danny's thoughts were cut short by a blast of ecto-energy, which sent him crashing into the park below!

Danny landed with a thud, and when he rose from the crater, he saw Walker standing in front of him, flanked by two of his guards. "Well, well, punk," Walker said. "Missed me, did ya?"

"Walker," Danny Phantom spat. "What are you doing back here, again? No, no, let me guess! I've broken one of your dumb rules, again!"

"Bingo, punk," Walker said, pulling a large book from his coat pocket. Thumbing through it, he found the page he was looking for. "Chapter 10, paragraph 6, sub-paragraph 5: 'Bringing multiple super-powered beings from the real world into the Ghost Zone is strictly prohibited.' When Undergrowth attacked, you brought your some of your fellow Justice League members into the Ghost Zone."

"Are you kidding?!" Danny shouted. "I was almost frozen; I needed their help!" When Undergrowth attacked Amity Park, the Justice League intervened. Danny's ice powers manifested and Power Girl, Flash and Martian Manhunter took Danny to the realm of the Far Frozen for help, at Danny's request.

"No excuses," Walker said, his skull-like face scowled. "The rules are unyielding."

"You totally just made that up," Danny huffed.

"You can't prove that," Walker smirked. "My prison, my rules."

"My fist, your face!" Danny yelled, and blasted towards Walker. His fist was glowing with ghost energy, and he landed a big uppercut to Walker's jaw. Walker flew and collided with a tree. Danny was about to continue his attack, when one of Walker's henchmen clubbed Danny in the back with an electrified baton. The other slapped a dampening collar on Danny's neck, which kept him in ghost form, but prevented him from using his powers.

"Hey, what gives?" Danny exclaimed.

Walker rose to his feet, and rubbed his jaw. Callously spitting out a tooth, he grinned. "I admit, I'm a little disappointed," he said smugly. "But I ain't complaining." He walked up to Danny, who was being held by the guards, and gave him a stiff backhand across the face. "Let's go. Your cell is waiting."

As they began to drag Danny away, a blast of purple and black energy struck the two guards! "What the-?" Walker spun around, and he found himself floating in the air, just not under his own power. Walker was sent careening into his guards, and they landed with a thud. Danny looked up to see a huge black and purple bird made of pure energy hovering. The visage shrieked and dive bombed Walker and his two henchmen, all three of whom had shocked expressions on their faces. The energy being slammed into them, and caused a small explosion. Walker and his two guards were battered and unconscious, and Danny took the opportunity to quickly suck them into the Fenton Thermos.

"What the heck was that?" Danny wondered aloud as he scanned the area. He reached up to try and remove the collar that was around his neck, which had begun to chafe. "Ugh, this thing is annoying!" Suddenly, a purple energy surrounded the collar, and it unlatched and fell to the ground. With the collar gone, his power once more surged through him.

Danny quickly looked around and noticed a figure in the shadows, obscured by the darkness of the night and the rain. All Danny could see was the figures hand was glowing in the same purple energy as before, and they were wearing a long hooded cloak that was such a dark shade of purple, it was almost black. Danny couldn't see the figure's face as it was shrouded in the shadow cast by their hood.

"Hey, who are you?" Danny called. This person wasn't a ghost, but they definitely had a strange power coming from them.

After a moment, the figure responded in a quiet, feminine voice, "I'm no one." A purple aura surrounded them, and they took off flying in the air.

"Hey! Come back!" Danny yelled. He sprouted his ghostly tail and took off after them, and they began to soar through the sky. They were fast, but so was Danny. He didn't get the sense they were a criminal; they weren't in a mad panic to escape. Whoever they were, they seemed to be leading him on.

"I just want to talk to you," Danny yelled. The figure offered no response, and Danny frowned. 'Okay, the silent type, huh?' he thought to himself. Their billowing cloak made it difficult to see anything about them, which frustrated Danny more so. It made them more of a mystery, and potentially more of a threat if they were concealing a weapon-

'Whoa,' Danny stopped his thoughts. 'I'm starting to think like Batman. No way am I going to start being all paranoid like he is!'

The pair zoomed throughout the city, lit up by the lights. As they darted over the rooftops, Danny was getting the impression this being was toying with him. As they rounded yet another corner, they came up to a dead end; a large skyscraper loomed in front of them. 'Ha, gotcha now,' Danny thought smugly. But they didn't stop; they headed straight towards the side of the building! Just as the cloaked figure was about to collide with the building, a circular glowing portal appeared, allowing them to fly straight through!

Danny blinked and came to a stop. "What the-?" he muttered. "Phasing, huh? Nice trick. But nothing new to me!" He turned intangible, and flew through the building and found the hooded figure waiting ahead.

"All right, enough games!" huffed Danny, sick of the little game. He crossed his arms and glared at the cloaked figure. "If I really wanted to, I could catch you without breaking a sweat, you know!"

The figure gave no reply, and simply flew straight up the side of another skyscraper. Danny rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration as he gave chase once more. They landed on the edge of the building, which was surrounded by statues. Danny landed near the being, but not too close. He didn't want to take any chances and scare them off.

"Seriously, who are you?" Danny demanded. "And, uh, thanks, by the way. For helping me with Walker and his goon squad."

The person shrugged slightly without turning to face him. Danny noticed she was about his height, just slightly shorter. "You're welcome," she answered, her voice just slightly above a whisper over the gentle rain."Those guys seemed like tools."

Danny Phantom chuckled at that. "Yeah, they totally are," he said. "But who are you? I feel like a busted record asking that!"

Again, the girl shrugged. "I told you," she said, sounding slightly irritated. "I'm no one."

"Everybody is somebody," Danny said. "And yes, I know that sounds lame. But it's kinda true. So, what's your name? And why are you in Amity Park? I've never noticed you around, before."

The girl turned to look at him, and Danny could only see her dark blue eyes peering out from her hood, which came down to a sharp point above her nose. Sighing, she answered grudgingly. "My name is Raven," she said. "And you're right, I'm not from around here. But I was drawn here. This city is overflowing with supernatural and paranormal energies. Satisfied?"

"Uh, I guess so," Danny said, cocking an eyebrow.

Raven continued to stare at Danny without blinking, her dark, emotionless frown never wavering and holding Danny's gaze like a trance. "Listen, I need to get going," she said abruptly, turning to leave.

"Uh, hey, wait," Danny said.

"What?" she asked.

"Something tells me there's more to your story," he replied. "Why else are you here?"

Raven pondered answering for a moment. She closed her eyes, and beneath her hood, her expression grew full of pain and sorrow. Danny didn't see this, as he couldn't see under her hood. "I know you're in the Justice League," she answered. "I might need your help, someday. I just needed to see you first hand; to know you're not really a fraud."

Before Danny could answer, Raven turned her back on him and created a large glowing portal made of purple energy and quickly stepped through, startling Danny as it closed behind her. "Whoa, that was freaky," he said out loud. "Wait until Sam and Tucker get a load of this!" Honestly, though, Danny's life was filled with such weirdness that nothing new surprised him for very long.

Yawning, Danny glanced at his watch and yelped when he saw what time it was. "Oh, crud!" he said in dismay. "I need to get some sleep!" Danny leaped off the building and headed for home. He would throw Walker and his goon squad back into the Ghost Zone in the morning. Let them suffer through the rest of the night in the Fenton Thermos. 'That'll teach them!' he grinned at the thought.

He phased through the roof of his home, and yawned once more as he shifted back into his human form and collapsed on his bed. Tomorrow was a big day. The whole League was meeting for the first time at the nearly finished Hall of Justice!

Construction of the Hall was finished far faster with the help of Superman, Green Lantern Hal Jordan and the Flash assisting in their spare time. Martian Manhunter had also been personally overseeing it's construction with the plans set forth by Green Lantern John Stewart, who was an architect. He had been hired by Batman to help with it's design.

While Danny was excited to see it, he also was thinking of the mysterious Raven. What was she really here for? And what did she mean when she said she might need his help, someday? She had a spooky vibe about her. He would see if Sam could dig anything up on her. But those questions could wait, as Danny drifted back into a pleasant sleep.