I don't own Danny Phantom, the characters, or Nick Network. I also don't own Teen Titans, the characters, or DC Comics. However, Hunter Gray Jr., and Horrghan the Horrid are my creations. So are Heather Lee and Jannie.

Chapter five: Two fall to rise again

Horrghan was truly in bad shape. He had been badly beaten for the last fifteen or so minutes. Flight was his only viable option. He needed a distraction, and the boy's motorcycle. Then his exceptional eyesight informed him that Hunter had left his keys to the Harley in the ignition. The demon wasn't a genius, but he was cunning.

Hunter drew his shotgun and fired at short range. The projectile weapon was made especially to harm demons. BAM! The demon was struck in the chest, which lifted him off the ground. Horrghan's luck held. He landed right beside Sam. A hostage was just what he needed.

"Desist, mortal boy," Horrghan bellowed, "or me hurt pretty girlie." This latest wound hurt horribly. The demon could scarcely breathe. Half of his ribs were broken, he guessed. If he couldn't escape, this could be his end.

The demon picked up the unconscious Sam. Hunter snarled, not sure how to proceed.

Danny heard the threat and saw the demon pick up Sam. Cube or not, the Ghost Boy couldn't let that pass. Gathering his strength, he pushed against the cube with all his might. Electrical current passed through his body, bringing wracking pain. He was, however, too angry to stop. Something had to go. The cube broke apart, exploding impressively.

Danny had taken a horrible shocking. He was badly burned, and critically injured. Still, he could only think of his beloved Sam.

"Sam," he croaked, "I love you."

"Danny!" she screamed helplessly.

The Halfa blasted Horrghan with an Ecto blast with all his remaining strength. The attack worked as he'd planned. The demon fell backward, and in doing so, lost his grip on Sam. One thing happened, though, that Danny hadn't planned on. The electrical current had been too much for even him. Danny's heart stopped.Even the demon hunter was impressed by Danny's power, and the demonstration of his love. That moment of inattention, however, was all that the critically injured demon required.

"No!" Sam screamed, watching the life seep out of the boy she loved. She slung off her helmet as she ran to him.

Sam sprinted to Danny's fallen form. He had returned to his human form. Horrghan took the opportunity to steal Hunter's motorcycle and flee. The hunter shot once more, missing the demon. He feared he'd hit the motorcycle instead. Oh, well…

"What, what can I do?" Hunter asked nervously.

"Leave him alone!" Sam screamed viciously. "You've hurt him enough."

"I know I attacked him earlier," the demon hunting teen explained, "and I'm sorry. I misunderstood. I'm on your side. Please let me help."

"You want to help us?" Sam demanded. The boy nodded. "Follow the demon and protect the girls, then."

His motorcycle was gone of course. Still, he could track the demon by his finely trained senses. Hunter took off running, chasing Horrghan.

Sam's tears flowed. "Danny? Danny? Come on, this is your girl, Sammie. Dammit, boy, I love you. Come back to me," she screamed as she administered CPR. He wasn't responding.

"Think, Sam, think," she berated herself. Mega doses of electricity had stopped his heart. Perhaps smaller shocks would restart it. She placed her gloved hand over the boy's heart, and pressed the trigger on her Lightning weapon. Danny's body jumped, and she felt his neck for a pulse with her other (now ungloved) hand. Nothing yet, but the girl was not a quitter.

Desperate, she continued shocking Daniel's inert heart. He had confessed his love for her, but she hadn't reciprocated. This was totally unacceptable.

Whether it was the shocks she was administering, or her love, a miracle took place. The heart of Daniel Fenton suddenly began to beat again. Overwhelmed, she pressed her lips against the boy's mouth.

Danny's eyes snapped open. He felt a warm and wonderful feeling around his mouth. Sam! Sam was kissing him! The newly alive boy wasn't going to let this opportunity pass. He kissed her back with all the passion he had within.

"Danny's kissing me back!" she rejoiced.

Minutes later, she let the boy up. "Wow," he commented. "You sure can kiss."

"Don't die like that again," she scolded, now weeping softly. "Oh, and I love you, too."

It was the boy's turn to grin. "You heard that, huh? Well, it's true. Guess we're dating now."

"Yeah," she blushed, kissing him again. "I guess we are."

"Get a blinkin' room, you too," urged a familiar monotone voice. Raven was standing over them.

"You guys okay?" Beast Boy asked. Sam nodded. "How about you, Raven?"

"Yeah, Gar, I'm fine, thanks," she remarked.

"Gar?" Danny asked.

"My real name is Garfield Logan, Gar for short," the green boy explained.

"This is fascinating," Raven interrupted, "but there's still a demon to defeat."

"Crap, I forgot for a second there," Sam blurted. "Ready, Dan?"

"I will be," he promised, changing back to his ghost form. "I just need a few minutes."

There was a stitch in Hunter's side as he ran. He needed help if he was going to catch the demon and save the girls. Stopping, he reached into his backpack. His father had concocted a potion recently. It was based on the popular energy drinks, but many times more powerful. The drink was similar to a mega dose of Ephedrine, stimulating the adrenal gland. [I.e. the stuff is a major stimulant/upper. I'm major against drugs, so please don't think I'm glorifying this.

The good news was very good. He would be capable, under the drug's influence, of almost super human stamina and strength. It was just a little weaker than PCP in that way. The bad news was very bad. God knows what it would do to his body. He could only use this stuff under dire circumstances.

He regulated his breathing as the drink entered his system. Oh man, what a rush! His heart beat quickened, as did his pulse. Many other bodily systems shut down. Soon he felt no pain. He ran.

Horrghan was slowly recovering his legendary strength. Still, he needed to be careful. The other teen girl had stunned him with that sound weapon (Danni's Ghostly Wail, of course). He couldn't let her use it against him again.

Suddenly the engine began to miss. Disgusted, he checked out the motorcycle. Curse that Hunter boy! His final shot had punctured the gas tank. Now he had to walk again. He stomped, and ranted: the equivalence of a demon temper tantrum. Angrily, he kicked at a clump of leaves. There was a rock under the leaves. Now Horrghan was angry, and had a stubbed toe.

"Horrghan kill all three little girls," he laughed to himself. "That put me in much better mood." Still, his tantrum had taken some time. It was time Hunter used to close the gap between himself and the demon.

The demon sniffed the ground. Yes, he was still tracking the girls. Then he sniffed the air. He could smell the girls, and they weren't that far ahead. Excited, the creature accelerated into a sprint.

What he couldn't see moving that fast was that the path ended. Next thing he knew, all that was under his feet was air. There was a path for climbing down the cliff, but he wasn't on it. He was falling instead. His unsuccessful attempt at flying ended rather swiftly. He landed flat on his back in a very shallow trickle of water. He landed on nice, hard rocks. Horrghan faded into unconsciousness. The demon was dying.

Danni had witnessed all this. She had been hopelessly delayed trying to get the girls to climb down. The ghost girl was still too weak to fly them down. Jannie was particularly obstinate about the issue. Once they got down the hollow [or holler in West Virginia talk they had to climb up the opposite side. Now Heather Lee decided to get stubborn. Finally, Danni had screamed at the girls, and shamed them into following her. Now the two were pouting, and the teen girl was about to pull her hair out in frustration.

"She's no hero, she's a bully," Jannie complained.

"The real Danny Phantom would never yell like that," agreed her friend.

Danni seethed. Maybe it would just be easier to give the girls to the demon.

"You're badly burned, Danny," Raven observed.

"Huh?" he responded cleverly, fascinated by Sam's amethyst eyes.

"I can heal you before we go," the magical girl offered. Danny shrugged, which Raven took as permission.

Raven concentrated, and whispered her mantra. "Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Danny felt a soothing sensation all along his singed body. He came away from the experience healed, but rather empty in emotions.

"Are we ready to go, Raven?" the green teen asked. She nodded, as did the other two heroes.

"Then let's go," B.B. cried, changing to an antelope. Raven followed, with the new couple close behind. Danny was holding Sam bridal style while they flew. She removed her helmet, and tried to interest her new boyfriend in kissing. He was unresponsive, thanks to Raven's natural ability to mute emotions.

"Wow," Sam thought, "Danny Phantom sure is cold. I guess my Danny more than makes up for it, though."

Sam Manson smiled to herself. At long last, Danny Fenton was her boyfriend.

The demonic captain called Brimstones had long since regretted his decision to send Horrghan on this crucial mission. Now, he watched angrily as the demon succumbed to his injuries. He had been in sight of the girls, too. It was time for direct intervention. He sighed, for he knew the cost of his action. Oh, well. He'd take the chance.

Demons are eternal creatures, and cannot die; at least not as we can. Horrghan, however, was as close to death as a whisker. As a precaution, every demon in Brimstones' employment had a very special piece of magic on their foul person.

"Screwtape!" bellowed the captain.

"Yes, Your Foulness," whimpered the old demon.

"Press Horrghan's button," he snickered.

This was the only perk to Screwtape's job. Pushing the button would send an incredible amount of electricity through the agent's body. Theoretically speaking, it would recharge them. The fun part, however, was watching the torture. It would put Horrghan in acute agony.

Horrghan's belt glowed with the arcane energy as Screwtape pushed the button. Then lightning shot through the energy-deplete demon's form. The Horrid One screamed in tortured pain. His body was literally on fire. At long last, the agony ended. Horrghan stood up, alive with power.

Screwtape giggled insanely, "Can I do it again, Master?"

"No, Screwtape," the Over Demon cackled, "but it was fun, wasn't it?"

"ME live again!" Horrghan rejoiced.

"Oh, the demons just made a direct intervention," Aron observed. "Naughty, naughty."

"Yes, I saw," Josias claimed, speaking into his two-way radio.

"The Fenton boy needs a miracle, Josias. The demons intervened, so we may do the same," smiled the angelic supervisor.

The angel called Josias was the one who gently massaged Danny's still heart. He could sense the Shekinah Glory, and the power of The Almighty flowed through him into Danny's body. Danny Fenton had his miracle.

Danni witnessed Horrghan's "resurrection." Horrified, she grabbed the two preteens and flew.

Horrghan hurt like he'd never hurt before. Slowly, the tremors ceased in his central nervous system. He was whole again, and ready to fight. Looking up, he saw the Ghost Girl flee with the girls.

"Girlies can run," he snickered, "but Horrghan the Horrid catch you anyway."

About this time, the energized Hunter Gray, Jr. spotted his discarded cycle. He checked it over quickly, correctly diagnosing the problem. Using materials in his backpack, he patched the gas lines. There was nothing he could do about the ruptured gas tank itself. Then he reached for a special feature only he knew about. The bike had a backup gas tank. Hunter activated the switch that activated the backup system.

Minutes later, the demon hunting teen was on his bike, and chasing Horrghan. The powerful Harley mastered the West Virginian hills with ease. At this rate, he would soon overtake his foe.

"Are you well, Beast Boy?" asked a concerned Raven.

"Yeah, but I'll be better when we kick that Demon's tail," the boy insisted. "Were you worried about me, Raven?"

She debated telling him about her feelings. There certainly was a strong emotion radiating from Gar. She had felt it before, especially when the two of them had been alone together. You see, Raven can "read" emotions, but she made it a policy not to practice on her teammates.

She had manipulated people before, and she was ashamed. She feared she was doing this to Gar. She was afraid of the emotion he was showing towards her. Was it really his feelings, or was she responsible for it? She liked him; she admitted that to herself, so was she "making" him like her in return?

"Never mind," the green boy moped, misunderstanding her silence.

Now she could sense disappointment, and sadness in the boy. Sam was worrying about Danny. Danny, of course, felt nothing. That was Raven's doing, but she hadn't meant to do it.

"Sam?" she said, moving closer to the flying couple.

"Yeah, Raven?" the other girl answered.

"It's not Danny's fault. I accidentally "killed" his emotions when I healed him. He'll be fine soon," Raven explained.

"Oh," Sam sighed in relief, "thanks for telling me."

"Of course," the Empath returned. Feeling less guilty, she returned to flying next to her teammate, who was now a green hawk.

"Gar, why are you angry with me?" she asked.

"Quit 'reading' me, Raven," he ordered. "We've talked about this before."

"Sorry. Do you have deep dark secrets, Garfield Logan?" she grinned.

"You know most of them," he stated. "You know my darkest secret, in fact."

"The Beast," she acknowledged. He nodded. "You/he saved my life. I'll never forget that night. If I haven't said it before, I'm sorry. Thank you, Gar.

"I was scared," the boy confessed. "I couldn't stand the thought of Adonis hurting you, or you know…"

"No, I don't know, please enlighten me," she said curiously. What was he getting at?

"You're a pretty girl, Raven. Adonis is a guy, and a huge creep. I was concerned he might touch you, or…rape you," Beast Boy admitted. The last two words were spoken in a whisper.

She watched his eyes. He refused to look at her, and she could feel fear, and something else from him. She knew that feeling, but not from experience. She knew it from interacting with Starfire and Robin. She had felt it with Danny and Sam.

"Thank you, Gar," she said quietly. "I'm touched by your concern. I assure you he never touched me."

"I know," the green boy growled, "if he had, I'd have killed him."

She sensed the truth in his words. Would he have felt it this deeply if Starfire had been the one in danger? She longed to know.

"Did you mean what you said?" she asked.

"Which part?" he wished to know.

"Me being…y'know…pretty," she mumbled. For some reason, his answer was suddenly very important to Raven.

"Yes," he said, simply. "Wait, do you hear that? I hear a motorcycle starting."

"Crap," she thought, "I thought we were getting somewhere."

Danni lost her grip on Jannie. The young girl was stunned from the fall. Danni Phantom put on the brakes in a big hurry. Whirling around, she took stock of their situation.

"Me catch up with girlies," Horrghan smirked, ignoring the fallen Jannie. He grinned as he saw Heather Lee cringing in terror.

"Dinner time." He sneered as he pounced.

Danni placed Heather Lee behind her. "I can fight the Demon," she announced with a confidence she really didn't feel. You help Jannie. Then run."

Hunter Gray rode upon the scene like an avenging Don Quixote. "You may have the girls," he challenged, "but I have you, demon." Slowly, the confident Demon Hunter raised his shotgun.

Ooo. Next time: Danni Phantom and Hunter Gray Jr. vs. a reenergized Horrghan the Horrid.