-Ghostly Deal.

Valerie aimed at Danny's head, taking her time to finish him. She had the full intention to enjoy watching the fear on his eyes before his elimination.

That is, until REALLY watching the fear on his eyes.

Somehow, Valerie couldn't shoot him. It was the best chance she'll ever have to eliminate her nemesis, but now that she had him just a few inches away from her blaster, she couldn't shoot at the ghost.

"Come on, Val, what are you waiting for?" The girl thought.

"But he is defenseless now!" A voice inside her head stopped her for a moment.

"That's how I want him!"

"This is no hunting, Val! It's homicide!"

"He is a ghost. He is nothing but trouble! HE ISN'T EVEN HUMAN!"

"Look at his eyes, and say that again."

Valerie shook her head, tired of arguing with herself, and then looked at her scared prey. That look… even if his eyes' weren't human, his fear was, and there was no way to deny it.

"Valerie…" Phantom moved his head to look behind Val, and then back at her.

"Shut up, ghost! You want to beg for your after-life, right?" Val snapped at him.

"No… but for her!" Danny said in a really concerned tone. Valerie looked over her shoulder, and gasped. Skulker was gaining advantage on his battle against the ghost girl, who barely could move now, and was receiving a major beating.

"Why would I care about her? She is a ghost! If another ghost finishes her, that's much better for me and the city!" Valerie replied in anger.

"You don't care… but I do! Please, save her! She is… like a little sister to me." Danny begged, making Valerie to get a shocked expression. She had never thought about ghosts being something besides troubles, prey, and, in the case of The Box Ghost, a minor annoyance… but them having families and loved ones, it was a factor she never considered.

Danny tried to move again, showing a slight relief when noticing his left leg moved a little… but he was still unable to help Dani. Valerie was the little girl's only hope, and Danny would do anything to convince her. He made a decision right there, not really realizing about it until saying it out loud.

"I promise… that if you save her… I'll be yours after the fight."

"What?" Val replied, stunned by his words.

"You… heard me. I'll no escape, or turn intangible, or fight back… I'll not even turn invisible. You'll be able to do whatever you want with me. I promise it." Danny said, totally honest.

"That's a trick of yours! It must be!" Valerie roared while aiming at him again.

"No… it's a promise."

Meanwhile, Skulker grabbed Dani by her hair, and threw her against the ground. Since they were almost ten stories-high in the air, the impact was quite painful for the girl. Skulker landed next to her, and waited for the girl to stand up. Dani returned to her feet by using all her remaining strength, and then saw the huge grinning ghost in front of her. She threw a punch against Skulker, but the hunter simply caught her fist with his open palm, and then closed his hand right before lifting the girl at his eyes' level.

"You gave me a good hunt, little girl. I was tempted to throw you inside a cage for the rest of your after-life," Skulker said while taking out a sharp blade, glowing with ectoplasmic energy, and moving it next to the girl's cheek, "but I suppose you'll eventually find a way to escape, so I'll just behead you, and put your head as a trophy over my fire place."

"Even by ghosts' standards, that's sick!"

Skulker turned when hearing Valerie's voice, and received a couple of blasts on his back, making him to drop Dani. Valerie accelerated her sled, and, in a dashing movement, grabbed Dani and then flew away from Skulker, trying to get as much distance between them as possible.

"One of my prey helping another one, uh? Not bad, little huntress, but you'll be mine as well." Skulker growled, and then started chasing Valerie and Dani.

The hunter took out a bazooka, and shot a couple of projectiles against the girls. Valerie made a couple of well placed back-shots, destroying them, but the resulting dust from the explosions made her unable to keep an eye on Skulker. Valerie flew as high and fast as possible, still carrying Dani, trying to avoid being surprised by the ghost.

"Hello, prey!" Skulker became visible right in front of Valerie, who hardly had time to avoid a series of shots. The girl shot back, and Skulker made a diving movement to escape from her. The hunter made invisible again and Valerie groaned in annoyance; her ghost detector kept telling her that there was a ghost around her, but she had no idea about his exact location.

"Okay, as I always say, if you have a doubt… start shooting!" Valerie said to herself, and made a series of short shots around her, hoping to get Skulker with one of them. She knew she couldn't make very strong ones because the missing blasts might get out of the park's area and hurt someone, therefore limiting herself to just shooting low-powered ones that would lose its charge after a few dozen feet.

"He is behind us!" Dani, now partially recovered, yelled in fear. Valerie turned her head, and got caught by Skulker's powerful arms in a bear hug-like way. The girl tried to use a karate movement to release herself, but the ghost was incredibly strong, and, since she was on her sled, couldn't get a good standing point for leverage and fight back. Dani looked at the scene laying on the front of the sled, with shocked eyes.

"You fight well for a human, girl… but humans have a major weakness." Skulker whispered at her while increasing his hug's strength. "Breathing."

Valerie gasped, trying to get some air, but Skulker's arms were as powerful as an anaconda's coils, slowly taking the life out of her.

"And you have a major problem!" Skulker looked up at a pair of high-speeded fists heading against his face. "ME!"

WHAAM!

Danny, now totally free of the paralysis' effects, sent Skulker several feet down with his attack. He turned to see Valerie coughing and Dani helping her to keep balance on the sled.

"Val, take Dani out of here. I'm finishing this fight now." Danny said to the huntress right before diving against Skulker, who was now ready to continue the battle.

"Ghost girl, can you fly on your own?" Valerie asked Dani.

"Yes… I think I can."

"Good. Get out of here while I kick that hunter's butt."

"But Danny said you had to take me out of here."

"Yes, but he isn't my boss. Now, go!" Valerie said to Dani in an authoritarian yet caring tone. Dani nodded, and, despite the effort, could fly away from the sled.

"It seems the paralyzing missiles aren't enough for you, boy." Skulker said while avoiding some of Danny's blasts. "Well, I have more from the same model… but these are from the very explosive kind."

Skulker took out his launcher, and shot a few mini-missiles against his prey. As the previous ones, these could follow Danny's every move, forcing him to fly at his top speed to avoid them.

"Okay, let's see if you like the taste of your own medicine!" Danny exclaimed, and then flew against Skulker at his top speed. Right before hitting the hunter, Danny became intangible, phasing through Skulker's body, that now was caught in front of the missiles.

Skulker grinned, and turned intangible. Since the missiles weren't programmed with his genetic code, they would pass through him without causing any harm, unless he changed back to solid.

"Intangibility isn't good against this!"

Skulker received a powerful shock from one of Valerie's weapons, forcing him back to solid again… right when the missiles reached him.

BRABABOOOM!

The dust cleared to reveal a badly bruised hunter ghost. Danny then jumped over his shoulders and started punching his head with all his might.

"Get… OW!... Down… YEOUCH!... From me… URGH!" Skulker said between hits. Danny got a sly grin, and then jumped down from the ghost's shoulders.

"That's better… OH, NO!"

SLICE!

Valerie dashed against Skulker's head, and, since her new sled's front had a fork-like shape, and could be charged with ecto-blasting energy as well, made a perfect job separating Skulker's face from his body. The now beheaded armored body fell to the ground, creating a crater because of the impact.

Danny landed next to Skulker's body, and introduced his hand on the neck's hole. Valerie descended as well, and got a nauseated look.

"You're not going to eviscerate him, right? That's even grosser than the beheading!"

"No… I'm just looking for… this!" Danny said in triumph right before yanking a struggling little frog-like ghostly creature out from Skulker's body.

"Valerie, meet Skulker's true self."

"You can't do this to me! I'm the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter!" The little ghost yelled in rage and fear.

"I'd heard about the whole overcompensating thing, but you took it to the extreme." Valerie said to Skulker while arching an eyebrow. Then, she aimed at him with her hand's blaster. "Oh, well. I'm curious about the taste of frog legs anyway."

"I have a better idea." Danny said while checking Skulker's armored body, and smiled when noticing the tracking missiles and their laucher weren't damaged at all. He then grabbed Skulker and, by using some anti-ghost line (the same kind the Fenton Fisher uses) he took out from his outfit's pocket, tied him to one missile's nose. Then, he made some adjustments to the weapon (it was actually pretty simple; just choosing the name of the ghost from a list on a screen located under the weapon, and it was ready), and handled it to Valerie.

"Shot whenever you want." Danny said to the girl. Valerie aimed at the sky, but, before shooting, gave Phantom a quizzical look.

"And where exactly is this missile going?"

"Wisconsin." Danny said calmly.

Valerie shrugged, knowing that the missile was aimed to blast a ghost, and fired the missile away.

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH…." Skulker's scream died at the distance.

A few moments later, Dani landed next to Danny. Despite her bruises and some minor wounds, she looked quite happy.

"Are you okay?" Danny asked in concern, placing his hands on the little girl's shoulders.

"Yes… my body aches a lot, but I guess I'll be fine." Dani said, and then turned to see Valerie. "Thanks for the help… but why you were shooting at us when you arrived?"

Val and Danny exchanged looks, and then the huntress looked down at the little ghost girl.

"Phantom and I have a very… complicated relationship."

"And now I need to talk a little with her." Danny told Dani while giving her a warm smile. "Go to the place we already discussed, okay?"

Dani smiled back at him, and, after waving good-bye to Val, flew away, turning invisible after a few moments.

"Is she still…"

"No, she isn't." Danny said to Valerie, sighing. "I have a ghost sense that alerts me from other ghosts, and right now I can't sense her or any other specter around here. I'm the only one."

Danny placed himself in front of Valerie, and put down his hands while closing his eyes.

"So… you were telling the truth about the promise?" Valerie asked, surprised at his actions.

"Yes… just… make it quick, okay?" Danny replied, not daring to open his eyes.

Valerie hesitated for a few seconds. Then, got a stern expression, and clenched her fists.

She made her movement.