All of a sudden, a chill ran down his spine and he exhaled an icy mist. He held his breath, hoping that no one noticed. Sam gave him a concerned look and nodded. Tucker cleared his throat, trying to distract attention. Vixey however, was looking right at Danny, eyes bright and alert, a smile twitching at the corner of her mouth.
"Uh, I've gotta go, I'll catch up with you later." he stammered, getting to his feet and sprinting away.
He ducked behind the a wall and looked around, he was alone. "Going ghost." He muttered to himself, feeling the surge of power rush through his veins. His body vanished before his eyes, leaving him totally invisible, and took to the air. That ghost was somewhere around here, he could feel it.
Danny scanned the area from the skies, where was this spectre? Who was this spectre? He felt his ghost sense freezing in his throat, it must be close. Suddenly, a bolt of green light shot past his shoulder. He cried out in shock and tumbled to the left in the air to avoid it. Behind him, he noticed that blast transform into a large net and swing back around. Danny just managed to avoid it before it returned to its master.
"Skulker?" Danny cried, laying eyes on the large ghost hunter before him, "Shouldn't you be researching some gorilla facts or something?"
"That's not for another fifteen minutes, ghost-child, just enough time to add you to my little collection!" he growled, throwing another net bomb at him.
"Trust me," Danny called, avoiding another attack, "I'm not collection material!"
"But after I'm through with you, you'll be a limited edition!"
"Okay, the lane jokes have gone far enough!"
"I wasn't joking!" Skulker sneered.
Danny cried out in pain as he felt something hot burn against his chest. He felt himself being forced backwards in the air. Just in time, he managed to phase his body so that he went through the building he had been hovering by instead of slamming straight into the brickwork. His arms were forced in front of him and he summoned his shield, allowing the blast to pass over him. Danny gritted his teeth and pushed his way back through the wall and into the open. As soon as he had Skulker in his sights, he groaned in effort and blasted the shield along with the beam right back in Skulker. The hunter was thrown off balance as the beam knocked off one of the net launchers on his back. Taking his opportunity, Danny turned in the air and flew in the opposite direction, away from the busy area below. He ducked and dived as more plasma blasts shot past him until he came to a more isolated part of ton near some apartment buildings.
All of a sudden, Danny felt another surge of heat burn into his back, this time giving him no time to recover before colliding face first into a wall. He groaned as he collected himself before holding out his hand and creating a plasma blast of his own. Wait... Wait... Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Skulker coming in for the capture. Wait... NOW! Danny swiftly turned and threw a series of plasma balls towards his attacker, catching him off guard. Skulker cried out in pain and tumbled in the air. Danny didn't let up, this was his chance. With one hand he shot a continuous beam of plasma and with the other, felt around his belt for the thermos.
"What? Where?" he stammered, "I had it right here!"
While he was hunting for his final chance at winning this battle, Danny didn't notice his own hunter finally managing to avoid the constant attack. Skulker sneered and threw his final net launcher into the air. Danny looked up just in time to see the glowing net hurtling towards him. There was no time for him to react. His arms and legs were bound to his sides and he was once again thrown back into the wall. The net weakened his powers so every inch of him pounded in agony as his head smacked against the brickwork.
Battling with himself not to pass out, Danny shook himself. Suddenly, he heard a cry of anger just below him. He looked down and saw a beam of green and white light hitting Skulker square in the chest. The hunter struggled against the restraint, but it was too strong. He was sucked into the light, vanishing from sight.
Danny panted, suddenly feeling exhausted. He looked down at himself, his hands were no longer gloved and a tuft of black hair drooped into his eyes. Oh no, he was in human form. He felt himself tilt forward from the broken brick and his stomach lurched as he plummeted to the ground head first. With the net wrapped around his body, he couldn't go ghost or try and grab at some of the bars on the fire escape on the side of the building. He yelled out in fear at the ground rushing up to meet him.
Suddenly, he felt something clamp around his ankle, jolting him into a stop. Danny looked down, or rather, up, at the ground which he had been all too close to having close contact with. He heard a giggle and looked around to find out where it had come from, and what he had been caught on to stop his fall. His eyes widened in surprise as he found that it was not a what that had saved him, but a who.
"Why is it every time we meet, one of us is upside down?"
Danny looked up and the red-headed girl that was leaning over the bar of the fire escape, her arms out-stretched with her hands clamped around his ankles. She winked at him with bright, violet eyes and started hoisting upwards to safety.
"Vixey?" he cried, glad to feel something solid beneath his feet.
"Surprised?" she grinned, starting to unravel the net from around him.
"Well, yeah! How did you get here and how did you -?"
To silence him, she lifted up a strange device and waved it in front of him. It was the thermos. Danny felt his jaw drop. He got to his feet and brushed himself down, taking the thermos from her and attaching it to his belt.
"So, how... uh, how much did you see?" Danny stammered, his throat suddenly dry.
She shrugged, "Enough, but it wasn't the fight that gave you away, it was back when we first met, remember?"
Danny tilted his head in confusion, "What are you talking about? We've just met today!"
Vixey grinned. In one quick movement, she had darted forward and nipped at his ear with her teeth. Danny jumped back in alarm and watched as she jumped up onto the safely bar of the fire escape. As she was in the air, two pure while circles of light swarmed around her, not unlike the ones Danny produced when he was going ghost. In milliseconds, she was swallowed by the energy, vanishing in the process. What was left, balancing gracefully on the bar, was a small fox. It flicked it's copper tail and winked at him with its violet eyes. Danny backed away and narrowed his eyes.
"You're a..." he gasped.
"Ghost? No." Vixey laughed, returning to human form and rolling her eyes, "Lets not be cliché, Danny, or hypocritical. It should me saying: You're a half-ghost? In my eyes that's far more of an anomaly."
She had him there, he scratched his head and eyed her suspiciously, "So, what's your story?"
Vixey hopped back up to the safely bar and crossed her legs, perfectly balanced, "Well, I'm one of a kind, I got bored and found my way to this area, and here I am. You?"
Danny was taken back by her blunt and vague explanation. Well if she wasn't going into details, neither was he, "Uh, got on the wrong end of my parents portal while it was being made, ended up half-ghost, and here I am. So, what exactly are you?"
A smirk twitched at the corner of her mouth, "A victim of circumstance. Well, Danny Fenton is Danny Phantom, a little Clark Kent/Superman in my opinion, but there you go. Sorry, I've been watching things around here for a while now. So you're playing hero?"
He blushed, respecting that she clearly didn't want to talk about herself, "Well, uh, that's one way of looking at it."
"I respect that." she nodded, "Yet you haven't tried to trap me in that thing yet."
Danny noticed her looking at the thermos, "Well, you saved my life and you haven't really done anything bad, so there's no need. Not to mention, you're not a ghost, so it wouldn't work. Wait... why did you steal the other thermos last week?"
"I was curious; I wanted to figure out how it worked. Don't worry that ghost is still trapped inside, I'll give it back to you if you want?"
"Nah, looks like you can handle it pretty well on your own." he smiled.
She bowed, "Why thank you. Say, recon we should head back to school?"
Danny looked at his watch; they were going to be late if they didn't hurry. He nodded and summoned a surge of energy, making him turn into his ghost form. Her eyes lit up with wonder, she found it all fascinating. He leapt from the fire escape and hovered waiting for her, she smiled sheepishly.
"I can't fly, not a ghost, remember?"
He smiled and held out his hand. There was a flash of light and Danny felt something light and soft scamper up his arm and curl over his shoulders. He looked up at Vixey in fox-form nuzzling into the nape of his neck. They soared through the air under the cover of Danny's invisibility and ended behind the tree where they had eaten lunch. Sam and Tucker were still seated, looking anxious and keeping their eyes on the sky, looking for sign of Danny.
They jumped at the flash of light emitted from behind the trunk of the tree. Danny, back in human form, stepped out and slumped down to the ground.
"Sorry it took so long guys, Skulker..." he breathed, tapping the thermos triumphantly.
"Uh... Danny?" Tucker whispered, "Who's your friend?"
Danny tilted his head in confusion, then he remembered, Vixey was still perched over his shoulders, her tail flicking carelessly from side to side. He blushed and leant backwards so the she could hop off onto the grass with ease. She arched her copper brow at them and started brushing against Sam's arm.
"Uh... long story..."
He wasn't sure if he was meant to explain what had happened, or let Vixey do it herself. In the end, he chose to see how things would play out on their own. Sam lifted her arm and gingerly started scratching Vixey's head, smiling slightly. Tucker started to shuffle back when Vixey started making her way over to him, but his back hit the tree trunk and he could move no further. She leapt onto his lap and curled up, nuzzling her head against his knee. Danny chewed his lip and smacked his palm to his head, oh boy... Tucker got used to this and started to stroke the silky fur from her head down to her tail. Vixey rolled onto her side and allowed the transformation to take over her. Tucker and Sam cried out in surprise. Vixey lay across Tuckers lap, his hand rested on her hips, and grinned up at him. Tucker yelped and lifted his hands above his head, eyes locked on her.
"What's wrong? Fox got your tongue?" she grinned.
Danny snorted with laughter as both Sam and Tucker's jaws hit the floor just as the bell rang out for next class. Vixey pushed herself to her feet and adjusted her bunches.
"See you after school." she winked at them and made her way back to the school building.
Danny finished laughing and started to get to his feet too, when he noticed that his friends still hadn't moved from the overall shock. He cleared his throat and reddened slightly.
"I suppose I've got some explaining to do?" he mumbled.
"You think?" Sam snapped.
Tucker lowered his arms and looked at the hand that had been resting on Vixey's hips. Just then, his face broke out into a grin and there was a glint in his eyes as he mentally vowed never to wash that hand ever again.