Chapter LXXXII

". . . and it is because of these reasons, along with many others that will be disclosed at a later date, that a one million dollar bounty has been anonymously placed on the head of Phantom, the ghost boy. We here at Channel Five Action News caution our fellow citizens of Amity Park against trying to claim this bounty. While the prize is quite handsome, the risks involved should only be taken by professionals. This is Lance Thunder reporting live from the Mayor's office. Back to you in the studio, Tiffany."

Danny Fenton, his sister and his parents stared at the television with their jaws dangling open in shock at the breaking news update.

"I can't believe it!" all four of them said in unison.

"That seems a bit odd," Maddie rested her chin in her arm. "I wonder why someone would put a bounty on his head."

"Isn't it obvious?" Jack said, his face lighting up. "They know we're the ones who are going to catch him! Whoever it was practically handing us one of those giant cardboard checks with a million bucks made out to me, Jack Fenton! The man who brought down Phantom!"

"This is ridiculous!" Jazz shouted at the television. "Phantom has done nothing but good for this town and how do we repay him? By putting a bounty on his head?" Jazz stormed off to her room, hoping to find some sort of legal repercussions against such an action.

"I wonder who would be willing to give away one million dollars for capturing the ghost boy," Maddie pondered after worriedly watching her daughter hurry off.

"I think I have an idea," Danny mumbled to himself.

Vanessa had just stepped out of the shower when she felt her spine tingle. The familiar sensation traveled up through her vertebrae and stopped just as it hit the cerebellum. Her ghost sense was alerting her to the presence of –

"Daniel, please don't tell me you're watching me bathe," Vanessa retrieved a large, fluffy pink towel from the hook on her hotel suite and wrapped it around her dripping wet body. "It really is unbecoming of a boy your age."

Unexpectedly, the bathroom door was blasted off its hinges and a very angry Phantom hovered into the room. "Placing bounties on the head of a boy my age is really unbecoming of . . ." Phantom only now noticed that his arch nemesis was standing in front of him with nothing but a flimsy piece of cloth to shield her body from his wandering eyes.

"Oh for heaven's sake," Vanessa turned invisible and disappeared for several minutes. When she reappeared, she was fully clothed. "Now then, since you're not going to be distracted by your obvious attraction to me, why did you barge into my bathroom and knock down the door?"

"I'm repulsed by the very thought of you," Phantom countered. "I just didn't expect to see you like that."

"Well honestly, what did you expect?"

Phantom shook his head. "That's not the point! Why did you put a bounty on my head, Plasmius? I have enough problems to deal with without you making my life harder. Now I won't be able to think the word Phantom without some vagabond trying to cash in on me."

"Quite frankly, Daniel, I've run out of creatures to send to fight you. The ones I do have left . . . well, I'm saving them for a special occasion. I thought it was time to test you in a different way; against human opponents."

"Don't lie to me," Phantom said angrily. "There's something more than just an empty petting zoo going on here."

"Oh is there?" Vanessa snarled. "Is there really? Has your pathetic fourteen-year-old mind come up with some explanation that you think is right? Even if there was another reason behind my actions, it would hardly concern you."

"Uh, don't you think I would need to know why there are going to be thousands of wannabe Skulkers running all over the town with butterfly nets trying to catch me?"

"No, I really don't."

Phantom growled and charged his hands with ectoplasm.

"Ah-ah-ah! Wouldn't want to make even more of a mess in my suite, would you? Then maybe people will think you deserve to be hunted like an animal."

"Why make this a public thing?" Phantom asked, dropping his arms. "You're more than powerful enough to capture me without making a spectacle of it!"

"You'll understand some day," Vanessa sighed and placed a hand on her forehead. "Now leave me be."

Phantom looked at the woman with rage burning in his eyes. "You better hope those bounty hunters know what they're getting themselves into. And when I'm done with them, I'm coming back for you."

"Ooh, that temper of yours is just titillating, Daniel, it truly is!" Vanessa grabbed Phantom's arm, feeding her own energy into it. Phantom bit back a yelp as the ectoplasm burned through his skin. "But cross me, and you'll regret the day you stepped into that Ghost Portal."

Vanessa released Phantom's arm and the ghost hovered back, rubbing the afflicted area as it healed over.

Opting not to anger the woman further, Phantom flew away from the hotel, silently fuming over his defeat. It was a Sunday night, and school would have no sympathy for Daniel if he showed up without an adequate amount of sleep.

An explosion several meters away knocked Phantom off course and sent him tumbling to a rooftop. Upon looking up, he saw the Huntress flying at him. Her Banshee Board had been repaired and the young woman was reveling in the magnetic boots that allowed her to defy the laws of physics when applied to moving objects. Slung over her shoulder was her usual rifle, but the newest attachment made the gun look at least five times bigger. The expansive barrel was still smoking after having fired the missile.

"Valerie!" Phantom shouted as he floated back up off the building. "What -?"

"Word on the street is that someone wants you dead, spook," Valerie did not try to hide her happiness, or the smile on her face. "Who better to claim the prize money than me?"

"Remember what happened last time?" Phantom said seriously. "I don't want to hurt you again."

"Don't worry about that." Valerie's missile launching upgrade detached and folded into a much smaller cube before returning to a compartment in the Banshee Board. The Huntress grabbed a V shaped object from yet another compartment and clamped it on. Phantom's eyes widened as Valerie aimed her crossbow at him. "If anyone should be worrying about getting hurt its you!"

Phantom dodged the hailstorm of glowing red arrows that Valerie fired at him. Grenades and missiles and lasers erupted forth from the Banshee Board and dotted the sky with red fireworks.

"Ohcrapohcrapohcrapoh – WHOA!" several Shuriken, not unlike those from his last encounter with the Huntress tore through the air above his head, shearing off several strands of glowing white hair. The spinning metal discs dug into the brick of a building that Phantom was flying towards. He was about to faze through the wall when the objects exploded, knocking the ghost boy off track. "GAH!" Phantom bounced off a street light and slammed into a nearby car, crushing the hood and effectively destroying the motor. "That's a new trick," he mumbled as he painfully sat up.

Then perhaps it is time we taught you a new one of your own.

This Huntress female is very annoying.

Oh thank God, I never thought I'd be happy to see – er – hear you guys!

We'll get to that later. For now, concentrate and allow us to work.

Phantom saw Valerie fast approaching on her hover craft. The subconscious influence of his others urged him to bring his arms together above his head. Ectoplasm formed in a small ball in the connected palms of his hands. With more subtle influence, Phantom swung his arms down in front of him.

"Go ghost stinger!"

The green ball of energy expanded rapidly, winding and slithering through the air. It made contact with the front of Valerie's machine. The line of energy became a rope of sorts in Phantom's hand. Ectoplasmic energy surged from the ghost boy's hands and traveled along the ghost stinger until it reached Valerie's board. The device sparked and shuddered in the air. Once again, the magnetic seals were disengaged and Valerie fell from her board as it plummeted down to the street.

Excellent work, Daniel.

I think removing her spine would be more efficient.

That is why you don't get to make executive decisions.

Phantom ignored the voices as Valerie fell from the sky. He was rooted to the spot where he hovered, unable to move. Valerie couldn't survive a fall from that height.

But she didn't fall all the way. A flash of black intercepted the girl's falling body high in the air; much higher than any normal human could jump. When the hulking black-clad biped landed on the ground several yards in front of him, Phantom could hardly believe his eyes.

"A ninja?"

The man looked from the shocked, awed, and slightly infatuated Valerie to the ghost boy. The white circles that covered his eyes bore into Phantom's own green optical receptors.

"I am Melee." The man corrected in his commanding baritone voice. He set Valerie down and grabbed an object that looked like the hilt of a sword from his belt. His forearms, the only part of the giant man's body that wasn't covered by the formfitting black material, flexed as he adjusted his grip on the object. "Prepare to die, ghost child."

"Don't be so brash, Melee," another masculine voice said.

Phantom looked to his right and saw a man skateboarding up to the trio. His outfit was formfitting, like the ninja's, but it was almost all white. The man's padded sleeves were black and stopped halfway down his forearms, like the ninja's sleeves. Black gloves covered his hands and black boots covered his legs to just under the knee, giving way to the white of his pants. The spandex outfit met at the waist where a black belt held a variety of gadgets. The newcomer kicked his board into the air, caught it during a flip and landed with the grace of an Olympic gymnast. He walked the rest of the distance over, placing the skateboard behind his back where it clamped to a magnetic seal.

"Sorry about the big guy. He's excited about this job."

"W-who are you guys?" Phantom looked from the skater to the ninja.

"I'm X-Treme. That's the letter X, then a dash, then the letters T-R-E-M-E. And my friend Melee," X-treme patted the ninja's enormous bicep, "already introduced himself."

Phantom gaped at the two, especially Melee. He was so big. He could look Wulf straight in the eye without even having to strain himself. Phantom wasn't aware that humans could grow so big. But the amazement was washed away as his others presented a more pressing issue to him.

"You're here for the bounty," he growled.

"Yup," X-treme replied as he ran a hand over his bald head. A scar originated at the top of his scalp, rand down his face, over his eye and continued down under the collar of his shirt. "But we all agreed to start hunting you tomorrow. We wanted to familiarize ourselves with the town first."

"We all?" Phantom repeated, growing more nervous.

"There's a bunch of bounty hunters comin' here. We met on the outskirts of town yesterday to lay down some ground rules."

Phantom's heart began to flutter, which was a clear sign of nervousness, as Phantom's heart did not beat at all while he was a ghost. "How many?"

"At least a dozen. Maybe more," X-treme pulled out a PDA and began typing something into it. "We won't know until we start havin' Bounty Hunter Brawls all over the city."

"Will you put that infernal device away?" Melee growled, causing Phantom and Valerie to jump. "What are you doing?"

"Bitches love text messagin'!" the man replied with a grin. He saw Valerie and the grin turned into an apologetic smile. "No offense little lady."

"Uh, none taken?" Valerie replied sheepishly.

"Good girl," X-treme replied as he pocketed the device.

"Do not treat her like an animal," Melee reprimanded his comrade. "She is clearly an adept huntress." The ninja turned to the young woman. "What is your name?"

"Um, the Huntress?"

"Ah, see? Even she knows of her own prowess!" Melee declared proudly as he placed a fatherly hand on Valerie's shoulder.

"Eh, I don't know about that. If you hadn't decided to play super hero, she would have made quite a mess on the pavement." X-treme crossed his arms and jerked his head towards Phantom. "You plannin' on cashin' in on this?"

"Yes sir," Valerie replied more confidently.

"Do not address him as sir," Melee said, pointing an accusing finger at the slimmer man. "His head will explode if his ego is fed any more."

"Aw come on, man!" X-treme threw up his arms. "It's hard to have kids respect you when they're not allowed to call you 'sir'!"

"Don't respect him either," Melee added. "In fact, you would do well to never speak to him again."

X-treme rolled his eyes behind his black visor. "So what's your getup, kid? Green Goblin change your life or somethin'?"

"He killed my mother," Valerienodded at Phantom, who had remained silent.

X-treme and Melee looked at Phantom with disdain.

"Oh dude," X-treme said disappointedly. "That's low. That's really low."

Melee took a menacing step toward the ghost boy. "Are you sure we can't capture him now?"

"Hey, hold on a second!" Phantom floated back, holding up his hands. "Don't I get to defend myself?"

Melee held his hilt behind him and rested his thumb on a button. X-treme held out an arm, casting a warning look back at his larger counterpart. "Does it really matter?" he asked Phantom. "We're not here because of that. We're here because some rich sombitch thinks you're a menace to society and cares enough about it to want you gone. We don't take this personally. It's our job."

Phantom sighed. At least these people had a legitimate reason to hate him. They were being paid to.

"Tomorrow, ghost child," Melee pointed his hilt at the street light Phantom had bounced off of and pressed the button. A whip made of glowing orange energy sprung out and wrapped around the pole. With a violent tug, the pole snapped in half and fell to the street. The light bulb and its casing shattered, spilling glass onto the road. "You will die."

Phantom scowled at the trio before he turned and flew off, hurrying for home.

Melee and X-treme watched him go. Valerie was tinkering with her Banshee Board.

"Need some help?" the skateboarder asked. He knelt down next to the girl and glanced at the inner machinations of the hover craft. He whistled a low, long tune to express his admiration. "This is one fancy piece of metal you got here." A closer inspection revealed the problem. "Guess the ghost kid must have overloaded the onboard CPU with that stinger attack of his. Just reboot the system," he pressed several buttons and reattached several wires that had jarred loose, "and recalibrate the ecto-filtration system-"

"The what?" Valerie asked as she watched the man work on her Banshee Board.

"Ecto-filtration system," he repeated. "While you're fighting ghosts, this baby absorbs ambient ghost energy. It releases the byproducts of the conversion process, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide, back into the air through the propulsion system. Whoever built this thing must really know their stuff."

Valerie grinned. Plasmius was a ghost.

"Ok, you should be good to go here Miss Huntress," X-treme stood up and watched the Huntress board her hover-craft. "How old are you, nineteen? Twenty?"

Valerie looked from the massive ninja to the smaller skateboarder. "Uh-"

"Are you kidding me?" Melee slapped his partner in the back of the head. "She cannot be a day over fifteen years old; neither can the ghost child."

"How would you know?" X-treme snapped.

"I've seen children before," Melee replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "They're kind of common, you know, since our species couldn't survive without them?"

X-treme rolled his eyes. "You're fifteen then?"

Valerie nodded, slightly embarrassed.

"Well good for you, kid."

"Yes, I know there are men in their thirties who are not mentally capable of hunting as efficiently as you."

X-treme frowned and elbowed Melee in the abdomen. The act seemed to hurt X-treme more.

"Wait, you're thirty and you were hitting on me, thinking I was nineteen? That's still, like, ten years younger than you!" Valerie said, coming around her shy barrier. "Ew?"

Melee laughed at his friend's discomfort. Valerie sighed. "Men." She blasted away from the site and hurried on her way as well.

"This should prove to be the most amusing million dollars we've ever earned," Melee declared after Valerie had gone.

"Yeah, it probably will," the smaller man replied. His pocket vibrated and he quickly retrieved his PDA. X-treme chuckled as he read the message. "Man, I'm tellin' you-"

"Yes, yes, if I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times; women love text messaging."

Lydia sat atop the Terror Tower Hotel. It was dangerous being this close to the same ghost woman who had nearly killed her the night before, but she couldn't help it. The tattoo ghost loved taking risks.

That was probably how she had gotten into her current situation. Her human partner was another risk taker, although the risks he took were theoretical and scribbled down on paper. It was her job to make them come to fruition.

But of all the harebrained schemes, this one had to be the outlandishly riskiest to date. She was out of her element; working in a predominantly human realm with and against humans at the same time. She would never be able to fathom why, but Lydia found herself more attracted to humans than her own kind, especially when it came to her selection in men.

The tattoo ghost retrieved the vile of pale yellow liquid from a fold in her cloak. It looked so insignificant, something that was hardly worth her effort to retrieve. But Lydia had worked with Frederick Isaak Showenhower for years. Over that time, she had come to realize her one glaringly obvious fault; she simply could not grasp the bigger picture. Frederick was a kindly man, however, and saw value in his companion that overshadowed what he called "a minor flaw".

Lydia smirked as she placed the vile back in her cloak. That value he saw was almost purely sexual. But then the grin faded from her face. At least it was. Several years ago, their relationship nearly ended when the man discovered something in the Ghost Zone; something that ended his search for other ghostly artifacts and sparked a new desire in his heart. She didn't know what the Reality Gauntlet was and, in honesty, neither did Frederick. But what he had discovered about it made his eyes burn with passion and desire. The new set of earrings he wore was "the first piece to a much more complicated puzzle".

To Be Continued

A/N: Ok, so there's the two OCs; X-treme and MeleeX-treme is based on the extreme ghost hunting couple that was in Million Dollar Ghost. Melee is just some guy who is awesome. To me, anyway. Don't worry about them sucking up the spotlight after this segment is over. Characters that appear in only one episode have an uncanny way of showing themselves the exit in this universe.

So yeah, I noticed that the reviews are trickling in. Was it something I said? Perhaps FF is malfunctioning? Hmm
:O
Well in any case, thanks to all my reviewers, especially dpphan333, Bubski, MissMeliss4251, and Musicallity.

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