No intro today…

Five: No One Hears Your Screams at Night

"Are you allies with the Yokai Tabbies!?" He snapped, green eyes blazing, "What's your problem!?"

"You are very close, Danny Fenton-or should I say Phantom…!" The strange man's ears melted into cat-like ones and a thin furry tail uncurled behind him, "I've decided you just might be worth my time…!"

"What!?" Danny dropped his guard for a half-second and found himself pinned against the wall of an alley, thick silver claws that had been Timothy's fingernails piercing his shoulders and the brick behind him. He cried out in pain and squirmed beneath his captor's claws, the dark material of his outfit turning even darker as his blood seeped from the wounds.

"Really Danny Phantom, I would advise you not to meddle within the affairs of the deeper Ghost Zone areas, especially areas belonging to the Yokai Ghosts…!" Timothy twisted his hands so that the silver claws ripped further into the halfa, "And I would also advise you to tell me where the Yokai Fox girl is!"

"I…won't!" Danny cried and tried to phase through the wall but there was something about the silver claws that kept him from going intangible, "Ahhhhhgggg! Let me go!"

"Not a chance, halfa, you're going to lead me right to the Yokai Fox!"

"No! I won't!" Danny fired a palm blast at Timothy and the man grunted, flying away from him. Danny collapsed onto the ground, arms sagging uselessly at his side, trying to catch his breath as pain took it away. Timothy rose to his feet, a hole blasted through the front of his jacket and the end of his tie ripped apart, his golden-green eyes blazed with fury and red energy poured off of his body like fire. Danny scooted away, willing himself to fly, and he rose slowly into the air, floating gently away from the furious Timothy.

"Danny, Danny, Danny…!" The man hissed, cat ears flat, "You can't escape us. The Yokai Tabby will continue to haunt you like the ghosts they are…!" He sneered at his own joke, reaching up a hand as though he was going to grab the white-haired boy, "We will find the Yokai Fox girl and we will kill her! And you'll be next on my hunting list...Danny Phantom!" A droplet of Danny's blood landed on Timothy's outstretched hand and the man stared at it for a while before licking it off his skin. Danny saw a shiver of delight course through him and the hungry silted eyes stared up at him.

"You'll have to wait in line, Timothy, if that is your name!" Danny called back, "There's a whole lot of other people who want to try and kill me first!" And he turned and flew away, ignoring the cold wind biting into his shoulders. There was only one place to go now. He skidded to a halt outside the Fenton home and slowly, silently flew around the building until he found Jazz's bedroom window. He phased through and landed softly on the floor. Apparently not softly enough though for it seemed Jazz had only dozed off while trying to finish a report and when she jolted upright, the flashlight spun across the room and illuminated Danny's tired features.

"Danny!" She whispered, slipping out of her bed and clicking on her light, "Oh my gosh, what happened to you!?"

"Stupid ghosts that all wait in line to take a shot at me, that's what!" Danny muttered moodily, "And pin me to walls…!"

"Hold on, I'll go get some bandages and alcohol! Stay right there!"

"Right, whatever, but I'm changing back…" Jazz just nodded and left her room. Danny sighed and reverted to his human form, wincing as he shifted his shoulders. Jazz came back and started mopping up most of the blood that was already staining Danny's white T-shirt.

"Um, Danny, this might sound weird but I need to take off your shirt…"

Danny simply nodded, letting his hair fall into his face. He bit his lip hard as his older sister carefully slipped his shirt over his head, waded it up, and set it aside.

"Well, I think you'll be okay. Whatever it was that stabbed you went all the way through your shoulders but didn't hit any bone. And they're pretty small holes too. Okay this is gonna sting!" She pressed a cotton wad soaked in alcohol over one of the stab wounds and Danny rumbled in protest, almost turning his shoulder away, "Danny! Hold still!"

"Darn it Jazz, it freaking hurts!" The youth hissed, eyes narrowing, "Every time I think I get a free moment another stupid ghost shows up blows it up in my face…!"

Jazz shook her head, still dabbing at the wounds on her brothers' shoulders. Danny had been in and out of rotten moods for a while now, almost mood-swinging in seemed, and more than once had he let his temper rather than his logic control his actions. And it appeared to be happening more and more often.

"You're going to have problems at school with your shoulders in such a bad condition." She told him, trying to avoid looking at his burning blue eyes that were narrowed with pain and frustration, "I mean, carrying your stuff and what not. Why don't you just stay home and I can convince Mom and Dad you're si-."

"No." Danny's voice was slightly urgent, not the low growl it had been before, "I have to help Amethyst. She's totally lost here…!"

"Amethyst? The red-haired girl with Sam?" Jazz put a finger to her chin and the wrinkled her nose at the smell of alcohol, "What's wrong with her?"

"Ummmm…" Her little brother looked slightly hesitant, biting his lip, "Well, if I tell you, you have to swear not to-."

"Danny Fenton…!" Jazz made a face at him, "I can keep your secret, Phantom!" He smiled sheepishly at her, "So spill the beans, what's up with this Amethyst girl?"

"For one thing she's from the Ghost Zone. Ouch!"

"Sorry!"

"Nah…and she's not like some plain old ghost either. She's called a Yokai, a demon ghost apparently, and she's a fox. There's a bunch of Yokai Tabby Cats trying to kill her because she's the last surviving member of her clan."

"Then why do you need to help her, aside from watching her back?"

"She doesn't understand the human world at all; it's completely foreign to her; and Sam, Tucker, and I are trying to help her act natural." He started to chuckle but it quickly turned into a hiss of pain as Jazz started pressing bandages onto the wounds, "She actually got Dash Baxter into trouble…!"

"Dash!? She got Dash into trouble!? How'd she manage that!?"

"This is the best part, Lancer listened to her!"

"Lancer!? You're not serious!?"

"I totally am! Amethyst got Dash in trouble because Lancer believed her when she said that he'd picked on her!"

"Amazing…!" Jazz smiled widely, shaking her head, "Things are really changing…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Danny asked, pushing himself to his feet, wincing at the pressure on his bandaged shoulders.

"Oh, nothing!" Jazz leapt up as well, a fake smile plastered on her face, "You should get to bed Danny, you don't want to fall asleep in class tomorrow!"

"Mh…" Danny nodded and left his sisters room, trailing down the hall to his own. Jazz starred at the closed door for a while, standing in the middle of her room, Danny's bloody T-shirt clutched in her hands. He was growing up faster than a normal fourteen year old boy should have had to…

Next time on 'Melody in Red

Sam: (dressed as Dark Riku from Kingdom Hearts) It is I…Ansem! The Seeker of Darkness!

Danny: (dressed as Sora) There's no way I'm letting you take Kairi's heart!

Tucker: (laying on the floor, dressed as Kairi) This is so wrong…!

Sam: Tucker shut up! You're heart's gone!

Tucker: (rolls his eyes and pouts, still on the floor)

Danny: What have you done with Riku!? (totally ignoring Tucker and brandishing a cardboard cutout Keyblade)

Sam: His heart belongs to the darkness! You shall not have him back!

Danny: (raises the pitch of his voice) Riiiikkkuuuuuuuuu!

Amethyst: (eating popcorn) This is quite amusing…!