Hi, all! I'm new here, and . . . umm . . . yeah. This is my first fic here, so don't go too hard on me, okay? And even if you do, well, I'll still be here, so tough luck for you. Nyah.

Anyways, I hope that you enjoy this at least somewhat. It's only one chapter, but if y'all like me enough and I like you enough I'll start working on editing my multi-chapter fic. Woot!

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. Duh.

A Temporary Cease Fire

Jack and Maddie Fenton had been following the ghost kid known as "Inviso-Bill" for hours, now. They were exhausted to the point of falling down on the spot, but they knew that they had to keep going. Inviso-Bill was, after all, public enemy number one, and it was their duty to protect Amity Park from all ghosts.

They drove the RV through the streets, not talking to each other and concentrating on the tracker on the dashboard. The signal had been faint for the past 20 minutes, but at least there was still a signal, and therefore they couldn't stop, not while they still had the chance to catch him. They turned toward the docks, when all of the sudden the signal became stronger and the tracker indicated that their target had stopped moving.

"We've got him this time!" Jack said, reenergized by the thought of catching the ghost boy this time, and he sped up toward the warehouses.

"Jack, dear, slow down! I'm just as excited as you are, but you're driving dangerously!" Maddie exclaimed, holding on to whatever she could while Jack was taking sharp turns.

"We don't have the time! We can't let him get away!" Jack said, still excited about this mission.

They screeched to a halt in front of the warehouse where the signal came especially strong from, and Jack immediately jumped out of the vehicle, ready for anything, about to break down the door.

Maddie, on the other hand, had learned something from the past few hours of hunting down Inviso-Bill, and quickly got in Jack's way.

"Hold on a second, honey, I've got an idea. We've been going into a full-frontal attack all this time to try and catch him, and every time it's failed. Maybe we should try a sneak attack."

"Aaw, but I like charging the door down!" Jack replied, pouting a bit.

"I know, but let's just try it this one time, okay? If it doesn't work you can continue to break down doors." Maddie said as soothingly as she could. The truth was, she was just as ready to break down the door and kick some ghost butt as much as her husband was, but her voice of reason was telling her contrary. "Here's what we'll do," she said and quickly told her plan to Jack.

Once she was sure that Jack got at least the gist of the idea, they sneaked around to the side door of the warehouse, quietly opened it, and crept through the stacks of boxes until they were in view of the ghost kid.

The scene that met them was a great surprise to them. Inviso-Bill was there, but so was another ghost. He was tall, had hair that looked like green flames, and a high tech-looking suit on. And, contrary to what they expected, the two were fighting.

"What are they doing?" Maddie wondered aloud.

"Well, Maddie, it seems that the two are fighting, and it looks like they're both pretty evenly matched." Jack whispered in reply.

"It was a rhetorical question, dear." Maddie muttered under her breath. "Now, shh, we don't want them to hear us."

Jack and Maddie had no doubts in their minds that all ghosts were primitive, brutish, and violent by nature, but they had always thought that the feelings of hostility were against humans, and that all ghosts were allied against the humans. This new revelation of ghosts fighting against ghosts set forth a train of thoughts in each of the two scientists minds that baffled them.

They watched the scene with intrigue, amazement, and almost with feelings of horror. Though they were the leading experts in paranormal activity, most of their works were based on hypothesis they had made. The fact of the matter was, they had rarely – almost never – come in contact with ghosts. It wasn't even until at least a month after their ghost portal had started working that they had seen their first ghost, and it wasn't until the ghost invasion and Inviso-Bill's attacks on the city that they had a chance to interact with one, even if it was just fighting.

So this chance to observe ghosts without distraction and to watch how they used the full extent of their powers was almost completely new to them. And what they saw amazed them. Maddie took mental notes the entire time she was watching the fight between the two ghosts.

Ectoplasm, as we suspected is their main weapon, though they also use it to set up shields for defensive purposes. They are extremely agile, respond quickly, and are extremely strong, she thought as she witnessed Inviso-Bill crashing into a stack of crates and completely demolishing them in the process. Also very resilient, she noted as the kid immediately got up, seemingly unscathed from the impact.

Jack, in the meantime, was also taking notes, but more on what kinds of fighting moves each of the ghosts were doing. He was also glancing from time to time at Maddie to watch for her signal for when they could jump in and kick some bad guy butt.

Finally, when both ghosts seemed to be tired out, they stopped for a moment to catch some breath.

Wait, catch some breath? Maddy thought, confused. But ghosts are dead. They're not supposed to be able to breathe. She looked closer and saw that the two ghosts were indeed, quite tired, but only one of them, Inviso-Bill, was actually breathing. The other looked simply like it needed to regain some energy. That's odd . . . what kind of a ghost had functions similar to that of a living being?

The tall one with flamed hair spoke, sending chills down the two ghost hunter's spines with its deep, otherworldly voice.

"Just give up, whelp. You and I both know that you being a pelt on my floor is a better life than what you've got here."

"Shut up, Skulker, that's not true!" Inviso-Bill snapped back, angry. Surprisingly, his voice didn't send as many chills down the couple's spine in the same way as the other ghost's – Skulker's – did.

"Oh yeah? You'd rather live a life of being constantly hunted down for something that you were framed for than being able to end it all?" Skulker chuckled. "Why bother?"

Wait one sec, both Jack and Maddie thought at the same time, did that ghost just say that Inviso-Bill was framed? For what? Is it possible that . . . he's innocent?

"Why bother? Because Amity Park is my home, it's my responsibility to protect it from ghosts like you, and most of all, because it's just the right thing to do!" Inviso-Bill growled, his breathing slowing down and him gaining energy.

Unfortunately, Skulker had also had time to gain a little bit of energy, and while Inviso-Bill was a little off guard from the statement he had just made, Skulker took the opportunity and lunged at Inviso-Bill.

While the two ghosts fought it out, Jack and Maddie sat there, dumbfounded. Was what was said in the conversation true? Inviso-Bill was framed? Was trying to do good? Was trying to protect Amity Park?

The team shook themselves out of it and turned their attention back to the fight. Inviso-Bill seemed to be losing his ground . . . or, since he's a ghost, his air, when all of the sudden Skulker lunged at him again. Inviso-Bill, in one quick movement, dodged it, turned around, and uncapped a container which then sucked Skulker into a blue vortex, leading to the center of the container. He sighed, and muttered, "One less ghost terrorizing the city, thanks to a fight without any interruptions from-"

"Hey, that's the first Fenton Thermos! I was wondering what had happened to it!" Jack exclaimed loudly, standing up from behind the boxes.

Inviso-Bill jumped and a look of panic swept across his face as he saw the large man appear suddenly. Maddie jumped out from behind the crates in front of Jack, Bazooka ready, just in case Inviso-Bill did something dangerous. Immediately the ghost flew up out of the way of the Bazooka, but Maddie simply followed his movements.

"Come down here, ghost! We wanna talk to you!" Maddie shouted up to the youth.

"Wait . . . what? You want to talk to me?" Inviso-Bill stopped in midair.

"We want to talk to him? No butt-kicking?" Jack asked, disappointed.

"Yes, we want to talk to you. Now come down here." Maddie replied.

"How do I know that this isn't just a trick?" The kid said, eyes on the bazooka.

Maddie took her finger off the trigger of the weapon, and let it hang down at her side. The ghost saw this, and slowly floated down and settled down on the ground a safe distance away from the ghost hunters.

"What do you want?" He said, still keeping a cautious eye on their weapons.

Maddie, also still on her guard, calmly said, "We overheard your conversation with that other ghost – Skulker, is it?" The ghost boy nodded. "Okay, Skulker. Was everything you two said true?"

"What do you mean?" the young boy asked, forgetting what they had said. He never bothered thinking too much about the exchanges he and his enemies said during battle. It was always just tough talk, trying to delay the battle for a minute to regain a little bit of energy. He learned that there was no meaning to the words that his enemies said, because they were also to bring him down, take him off his guard. It was best to just ignore them.

"He said you were framed for something, and you said that you were just trying to protect the town from ghosts like him." Jack chipped in.

Inviso-Bill looked confused for another minute, then it dawned on him what the two were saying. "Oh, right, yeah. I was framed by another ghost named Walker for trying to hurt the mayor of the town. I'm really not evil. I don't want to hurt anyone at all; I want to protect them. In fact, there are a lot of ghosts that aren't bad, it's just that they want to be left alone."

Jack and Maddie stood there with their jaws open, shocked at how simple the ghost kid made the situation sound. Inviso-Bill stood there, waiting for them to say something. When they didn't, he continued on. "Now that you know my side of the story, could you, like, stop hunting me? It's really difficult to have to hunt down ghosts and defend myself from you two at the same time."

Maddie shook herself out of her daze and eyed the child. He seemed to be telling the truth, almost determined in making them believe him. She approached him Bazooka still at her side. Inviso-Bill took a defensive step back, but Maddie simply extended her hand. He eyed it carefully, and took it. They shook hands, and a truce was set up between them.

Jack jumped in, though, and said warningly, "We're still gonna watch you. If you make one wrong move, then-"

"I know, you'll have to hunt me down and destroy me." the teen interrupted, already knowing the conditions of their agreement.

He stepped back, getting ready to fly out of there, when Maddie put in one last word. "Expect to see us again very soon, okay? Like Jack said, we will be keeping tabs on you."

Inviso-Bill laughed, seemingly amused by what Maddie just stated. "Oh, I count on seeing you very soon." At this, he flew up into the air and phased up through the ceiling into the dusky sky.

Jack and Maddie stood there for a moment, wordlessly staring at where the ghost had left. The turned around to leave when they heard a voice again.

"Hey! One more thing!" Inviso-Bill shouted down to the two, his head poking in through the ceiling. Jack and Maddie turned around and looked up at him, wondering what more could be said between the two parties at this point. "It's not Inviso-Bill. Whoever came up with that name for me is an idiot. Call me Da- I mean, umm . . . Phantom. D. Phantom." Immediately after that, he drew back again and disappeared.

Jack and Maddie looked questioningly at each other, shrugged, and continued on to the R.V.

They got in, buckled up, and started the engine when Jack suddenly stopped and remembered something. "Hey! That Phantom kid still has my thermos!"

Maddie shook her head and, not replying, watched a black and white figure fly off back toward the city.