Author's Note: The Mad Doctor does not own the show Danny Phantom or the characters. They are property of Butch Hartman and Nickeloden with the exception of the non-canon characters that appear in this fanfiction.

Danny Phantom

In

The Gauntlet of Doom

A fanfiction by Mad Dr. Matt

Chapter 1: New Arrival

It was a beautiful night in Amity Park. The light of the moon shone brightly on the town. It looked as if it was going to be a very peaceful night. But truth be told, Amity Park wasn't always this peaceful.

Thanks to a man by the name of Jack Fenton, who had built a portal into an otherdimensional plane known as the Ghost Zone, Amity Park had become the epicenter of many ghost attacks. The town had incidents with ghostly hunters, rock stars, dragons, wish-granters, therapists, and knights just to name a few. Fortunately, around the same time Jack Fenton created his portal, a hero had arisen to protect the town from every ghost that threatened Amity Park. And this very night, a mysterious figure was seeking out the hero known only to the public as Danny Phantom.

Leaping across the rooftops, an odd creature patrolled the town. He traversed the Amity Park skyline with incredible leaps and bounds. As he approached a tall radio tower, he leapt up and vanished in a puff of black smoke. He reappeared at the top of the tower and landed gingerly on the spire perfectly balanced.

His appearance would unnerve even the bravest of souls. His body was wrapped in black wrappings not unlike a mummy. He was also wearing a black hooded cape that blew in the wind. His face was covered by a mask of fabric with two eyeholes in it. Glowing red eyes beamed through them. Aside from the eyes, only his hands and feet were left uncovered. But they weren't normal. His hands and feet were skeletal and surrounded by a pale violet glow. Clutched in his right hand was a long black scythe with a sharp curved blade. He looked like the Grim Reaper himself.

"Amity Park. Tonight, it is quiet. But based on everything that I have heard about this town, it is just a powder keg ready to be lit. And hopefully, when that fuse is lit, a certain phantom will come to investigate," said the figure in a deep otherworldly voice.

He paused for a moment before saying, "I don't care if my narration sounds corny. How I talk while on patrol is really none of your business." He paused again. "I'm sorry if it annoys you. Let's just focus on the task at hand: locating that ghost boy and observing him," he said as he continued this apparent one-sided conversation.

The figure continued his surveillance of the town from his perch. He looked in every direction for something unusual. However, nothing appeared to be happening that night. He let out a heavy sigh. "If nothing happens, we might as well just go home and go to bed," he said drearily.

Then all of a sudden, he turned his head in one direction. "I sense something supernatural. It feels like it's coming from the warehouse district! Looks like we might be in luck tonight after all!" exclaimed the figure as he vanished again in a puff of smoke and reappeared at the base of the tower. He began to leap across the rooftops in the direction of where his senses were leading him.

Moments later, the figure arrived at a warehouse. In an instant, he teleported inside the warehouse into a room filled with stacks of crates. Peeking from behind one of the stacks, the figure surveyed the room. He saw that some of the crates were broken and their contents strewn about on the floor. Clearly, there had been a battle here. Then the figure saw what he had been looking for. Or rather who he had been looking for.

Floating in mid-air was a boy of about fourteen years of age with snow-white hair and glowing green eyes. He was wearing a black jumpsuit with white gloves, boots and belt. On his chest was logo that depicted a stylized 'D' with a 'P' in the center. The boy was looking left and right in search of something.

The figure stayed behind his crate out of sight of the ghost boy. But he continued to watch him. 'At last! The ghost boy called Danny Phantom. And it appears that he's in the midst of combat. I shall remain unseen and see what he can do,' he thought.

Danny continued to look around. "I know you're in here and we both know how this fight is going to turn out so why don't you just surrender?" he asked even though no one was in sight.

Suddenly, a new figure rose up through the floor. He had blue skin and was wearing a light gray shirt, light gray gloves, dark gray overalls and a dark gray parka. As he rose to Danny's level in the air, several crates rose into the air with him including the one the mysterious figure was hiding behind. But he dived behind another before either Danny or his adversary saw him.

"Beware, ghost child, for I am the Box Ghost! And in this room filled with boxes, I am master!" the ghost announced as he waved his arms toward Danny. The crates flew right toward him.

Danny let out a sigh, folded his arms in front of him and used his ghost power of intangibility. The crates passed right through him and smashed against the wall. Danny became tangible again and said, "You haven't learned anything, haven't you? Using boxes of this world don't hurt me on account that I can pass through them! Sheesh, at least in the future, you were able to create your own energy boxes that could hurt me."

The Box Ghost looked stunned for a moment but soon resumed his imposing façade. "Then beware my Bubble-Wrap of Doom!" he yelled as he produced a roll of bubble-wrap out of a pocket in his overalls and flew toward Danny. Flying in circles around Danny, he wrapped his bubble-wrap around the ghost-boy. Once Danny was fully wrapped, he backed off to admire his handiwork. "Foolish ghost child! You shall never escape my Bubble-Wrap of Doom!" he exclaimed.

Danny just gave him a bored look and went intangible again. The bubble-wrap fell through his body and onto the floor. The Box Ghost looked dumbfounded again.

Danny then just pointed a finger at the Box Ghost and shot a green beam from it. Once it collided with the Box Ghost, it gave him a horrible shock and soon he was out cold.

Danny whipped out his Fenton Thermos, a high-tech ghost-capturing device made by his parents that looked just like a normal thermos. He uncapped it, pointed it at the unconscious Box Ghost and the opening started to glow. The Box Ghost was sucked right into it and Danny slammed the cap back on.

Danny was beaming with pride. "I'd like to know how my weakest foe keeps getting out. But all in all, not bad for a night's work and I still have time to get home before my curfew," he said.

Danny flew out of the building through the wall into an adjoining alley where his scooter was parked. Before climbing on, two rings appeared in the middle of his body and began to move upward and downward as he shut off his ghost powers. He now had black hair, blue eyes, and was wearing blue jeans and a white shirt. Putting on a helmet, he climbed on the scooter and sped off.

Shortly after he left, a puff of black smoke appeared in the alley and the scythe-carrying figure appeared. He watched Danny pull out of the alley and turn the corner. After a brief pause, he said, "Yes, very interesting. Another ghost-human hybrid. But unlike the one in Wisconsin, this one seems to use his powers to protect this town from ghosts." He paused once again appearing to have a conversation with himself. "Indeed he could. But we shall watch him a little closer until we know more about him. Since he mentioned that the Box Ghost was his weakest foe, we shall have to see how he deals with more powerful foes and exactly what his character is like. Then we shall see if he is worthy," he said.

Then the figure jumped back up to the rooftops and began to run across them. It was clear that this mysterious being had plans for Danny Phantom. But was he friend or foe?