Danny Phantom Fan Fiction ❯ Glitches in Time ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4

"Soon your pelt shall adorn my fireplace!" The trophy ghost-hunter cried out as the two grappling opponents finally landed, the younger ghost landing upon his back with the elder looming threateningly above him.

"Not this time Skulker," Danny rolled his green eyes as he raised a palm and blasted the infuriating ghost off him, "I've got better things to do!"

"Hah! What greater thing is there then your skull serving as my drinking cup!" The hunter retorted as the sound of metal sliding against metal was heard and his right arm began to reconfigure itself.

"Oh great, you got another upgrade." Danny muttered, warily eyeing the developing ectoplasmic gun.

"You like it?" Skulker said with a grin as he took aim, "I call this one Doom." Suddenly an electronic beep was heard and with an annoyed expression on his face Skulker looked at the PDA upon his left arm. Text began to appear on the small screen: GOT TO LIBRARY... CHECKOUT BOOK ON PURPLE-BACK GORILLA.

"Again! Crap!" Skulker snarled with a pout as his jetpack deployed and activated, sending him flying off into the depth of the Ghost-Zone to vanish from sight.

Danny relaxed from his fighting stance as he gave a huff of relief, now all he had to do was get back to Sam and Tucker. Turning around he blinked at the four people standing before him. Dash, Paulina, Kawn and Star all stood there with equally stunned expressions on their faces.

"Ah—hi," Danny said uneasily, warily eyeing the foursome, in particular a blonde haired quarterback.

"Phantom!" Paulina's sultry voice cried out gleefully, "You came to rescue me!"

Danny blinked. He had forgotten for a moment that he was Phantom, not Fenton. Before he could answer however, his senses caught the approach of an ectoplasm blast and he flung himself to the side. The beam past by, narrowing missing his shoulder as he rolled on the rocky ground coming up in a crouch.

His ghostly green eyes widened as he looked at the scarlet clayed figure rising before him on a hover-board.(1) The pink beam of her main assault ecto-blaster square with his chest. Oh boy, he was in trouble now.

"Don't worry Ghost-Kid, it won't hurt long!" The ghost-hunter snarled as her finger squeezed the gun's trigger.

A green blade of light arched down, slashing through the charging ecto-gun.

With a gasp of surprise, the ghost-hunter looked to the side at the scythe-wheeling ghost that had just destroyed her main gun. The ghost-hunter was not the only one shocked at the sight of the two nearly identical ghost—the second wielding a scythe and standing before the first fallen one.

"Mind if I cut in?" the second Phantom taunted with an evil grin.

"There's two of you!?" the ghost-hunter choked out angrily.

"Actually no," a feminine voice breathed evilly next to the hunter's ear, "there's more."

Another blade of green settled against the ghost-hunter's throat, she stared in horror out of the corner of her eye at the face of the third Phantom. The human ghost-hunter felt a hand close on the neck of her suit and moments later was yanked from her board and sent sailing through the air face-first to land with a vocal oomph! upon the ground.

The spectacle was watched not only by Danny, Dash, Paulina, Kawn and Star, but by Sam and Tucker who had also arrived on the scene.

Scrambling to her feet, the ghost-hunter whirled to meet the physical attack of the female Phantom as the ghost flew at her, scythe with its glowing green blade raised high.

 "No Ghost-Kids are going to beat me!" the scarlet dressed girl whipped out another weapon, "I don't care how many of you there are!"

The deadly expression on the Phantom's face did not change, the green blade arching downward to reflect the pink blast of ectoplasm harmlessly away as a ghostly foot contacted with the hunter's second ecto-gun, sending it spinning off into the Ghost-Zone.

A quick movement of the scythe's staff and the ghost-hunter's feet were knocked out from underneath her. Sending the human female tumbling backwards to land in an awkward sprawl upon her back.

The scythe raised once more as the Phantom hovered over the human's fallen form.  The green blade shifted upwards so that the weapon now resembled a spear. The staff spun around in the ghost's hands, the deadly green blade now facing the terrified ghost-hunter.

A scream of pure terror was ripped from the human's throat as the spear descended towards her. Flinging her arms up in a reflective movement in a useless attempt to defend herself.

"No!" Danny roared, lunging forward in an attempt to intervene. Horrified screams and yells of denial also being ripped from the throats of the others. Sam and Tucker in particular for they knew the identity of the ghost-hunter.

But it was too late—the green blade touched scarlet cloth and the ghost-hunter's form was enveloped in crackling green energy. The light died and as it did so, in shock they watched as the ghost-hunter's outfit retracted, folding in on itself to reveal a definitely rattled—but still angry—Valerie.

"Valerie?!" Four voices chorused as four pairs of eyes bulged, staring at their former friend. Danny, Sam and Tucker all exchanged looks. Just what was going on here? Had that girl Phantom really known what she had been doing or had it just been dumb luck?

"What'd you do?" Valerie demanded angrily as she looked at the Phantom that still loomed over her, the ghosts harsh expression shifting into a smirk as the ghost backed away, the blade of the scythe also diminishing till the weapon was merely a staff.

"I fried your suit," was the calm reply as the ghost girl moved toward the still constructed hover-board that lay on the ground. A ghostly heel came down hard on the end of the board, flipping it upwards like one would a skateboard.

Valerie glared at the female Phantom as she got to her feet, fuming about her identity being revealed to Dash, Paulina, Kawn and Star as well as Sam and Tucker.

"Here," the girl Phantom said as she picked up the hover-board and held it out to Valerie, "You have to carry this now."

A frustrated scream of rage emerged from Valerie's throat as she lunged forward, her temper breaking. "I'm going to kill you Ghost-Girl!"

The end of a staff bops the dark haired girl on the head, freezing her in mid-lunge as a mist of green envelops her.

"Hey," the second Phantom interrupts mildly, "no one beats up my sister but me."

"Awa," the girl Phantom says as her face breaks into a beautiful smile, "I love you too."

Footnote:
(1) This story takes place before "Flirting With Danger" so Valerie's hunting outfit has not been upgraded. The most accurate place in the timeline is just after "The Ultimate Enemy" and before "The Fright Before Christmas."