I do not own Danny Phantom or X-Men: Evolution in any way or form. This fanfic is for entertainment purposes only.
> PHANTOM MUTANT
>> Chapter Four – Defending the Homeland
Kitty tilted her head. "A ghost?"
"Yeah," Danny said. "That was my ghost sense. It tells me when a ghost is nearby." He then turned to the door. "You guys stay here, I'll take care of this."
Before anyone could say otherwise, Danny took flight and phased through the door, leaving the household.
There was a moment of silence before Kitty broke it. "He's, like, used to fighting alone, isn't he." It was more of a statement than a question.
Xavier nodded. "It appears so."
"Hang on Danny! We're coming!" Jack screamed as he ran out the door, carrying with him a pair of gigantic metal gloves and a large gun that looked like a white cylinder with a domed tip.
"Jack, honey, you can't do this alone! I'm the better shot!" Maddie screamed as she ran after Jack carrying a gray vacuum that was strapped to her shoulder and a large gray gun which looked like a cube with a tube going through it.
Not a word was spoken between the mutants as they watched the Fentons leave the household, ready to help their son. They each nodded in affirmation and ran out the door behind the ghost-hunting couple.
None of them noticed the last Fenton family member leave the house with a small curved white gun.
The Ghost Zone's greatest hunter made his way through the buildings of Amity Park with his arsenal in check, his eyes darting from left to right as he searched for his prey. Skulker always fancied himself with hunting rare and unique things, which usually involved hunting the half-ghost hybrid known as Danny Phantom, considering him to be one of the rarest finds in the Ghost Zone.
A half-human half-ghost hybrid, or a 'halfa' as they were dubbed, was an extremely rare occurrence, and was thought to be impossible. Only two half-ghosts had been known to exist: the multi-billionaire Vlad Masters, known as Vlad Plasmius in his ghost form, and the adolescent Danny Fenton, known as Amity Park's ghostly vigilante Danny Phantom.
But that didn't mean he couldn't hunt regular prey once in a while.
Currently, Skulker was having fun hunting a more common prey: an ectopuss. Ectopusses were a manifestation of ectoplasm that took the form of a blob with a number of tentacles sprouting from its lower body. It made for good sport when Skulker didn't feel the need to hunt the ghost child.
Or good bait if he was aiming to draw the ghost child out.
"Did you get lost on your way to the Ghost Zone? Because that's where you're going!" Danny exclaimed as he phased through the building next to Skulker, lashing out with an uppercut that sent him tumbling in the air.
Skulker sprouted engines from the back of his high-tech battle suit and brought them to life with a roar, alerting the surrounding public to run for cover. Skulker smirked with anticipation as he faced the halfa. "You're witty banter is improving, but that won't help you against my upgraded arsenal, whelp!" He screamed as he extending his arm forward, extending an ecto-gun from his wrist.
Danny gathered ectoplasmic energy into his hands and spread it out infront of him into a shield, protecting him from Skulker's attack. "What's the matter Skulker? Getting sloppy in your old age?" He exclaimed.
"I promised you that I would rest your pelt at the foot of my bed, ghost child, and that's a promise I intend to keep!" Skulker screamed as missle pods extended from each of his shoulders and multiple ecto-guns extended from each of his wrists, each of the ecto-guns varying in size and power.
Danny smirked. "Bring it on."
As soon as Danny uttered those words Skulker's missiles came to life, flying towards Danny with killing intent. Danny flew straight at the mass of missiles and turned intangible, causing them to harmlessly fly through him. He regained his tangibility to land a blow on Skulker, but he met with the glowing barrels of Skulker's arsenal, quickly swerving to the right just as Skulker fired his guns.
"Ha! Missed!" Danny screamed as he flew towards Skulker from his left, landing a punch on the side of Skulker's face and sending him tumbling against the side of a building.
Skulker raised an arm and fired a net from one of his guns but Danny took notice and flew up to avoid it, watching as it harmlessly flew below him. Unfortunately, he didn't notice when Skulker fired a blast from two of his ecto-guns, slamming into Danny's back and sending him face first against the side of the building opposite of Skulker.
"You're not putting up much of a challenge ghost child," Skulker let a sneer grace his metallic face. "It won't be any fun to collect your pelt if you don't fight back with your fullest. You disappoint me."
"Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?" Danny asked as he pushed himself from the side of the building, slamming into Skulker's gut and ramming him against the street. Danny smirked and reached behind his back to grab a hold of his Thermos…
Only to realize it wasn't there.
Danny began to worry. 'The Thermos! Where's the Thermos!' That's when realization struck. 'Oh no… it's still in my backpack! I need to get home!' And with that, Danny took into the air and dashed down the streets of Amity Park, with Skulker in hot pursuit.
Danny continued dodging shot after shot from Skulker's multiple ecto-guns, making a mad dash for FentonWorks, but before he could reach his home, he felt the searing pain from one of Skulker's ecto-gun burn into his back, causing him to lose his concentration and send his crashing against the pavement, knocking him unconscious.
Skulker hovered down and touched ground behind the ghost child, aiming one of his net guns at the unconscious body of the ghost child. "Too bad ghost child, I was enjoying our little games of cat and mouse, but without your friend's infernal device and without your ghost-capturing thermos, you're powerless." A sadistic smirk spread across Skulker's face. "Say goodbye, whelp."
"Get away from my son, you odd manifestation of ectoplasmic energy and post-human consciousness!" Maddie screamed as she took aim with her Fenton Bazooka and fired a shot at Skulker, sending him crashing against the pavement.
Jack just stared at his wife with a dopey grin. "Man that's hot!" He exclaimed.
"Jack, you did remember to charge up the Fenton Bazooka completely this time, right?" Maddie asked.
"Of course… okay well no, but the Ecto-Foamer's charged!" Jack stated.
Maddie sighed. "Give me the Ecto-Foamer Jack; you can handle the ghost with your Ghost Gloves." She said.
Jack handed her the Ecto-Foamer grudgingly and grumbled some inaudible curses. "Can I at least get one of those butterscotch caramel snicker-doodles?" He asked hopefully.
Maddie sighed once again and pulled out a cookie from her utility bandolier, handing the cookie over to Jack and letting him munch it down in the same fashion that a squirrel would eat a nut.
She once again took aim but the Ecto-Foamer was blasted away from her hands by a now-aggravated Skulker. "I will NOT be defeated by the ghost child's mother!" He screamed as he began charging all the ecto-guns on his wrists, aiming them at Maddie.
Jack saw this and began to charge Skulker with his Ghost Gloves, but Skulker aimed a shoulder net gun at Jack and fired, trapping the statuesque ghost hunter in a net next to his wife. Before his wife could do anything, Skulker did the same to her, leaving the two ghost hunters trapped like animals.
Both Fentons watched the glowing gun barrels mounted on Skulker with fear-stricken eyes. Jack turned to face his wife and uttered a few words. "For the record, I blame you."
Danny regained consciousness at this point, only to watch Skulker aim his guns at his parents. Danny wanted to move, he wanted to get up and save his parents, to get them out of the area and take them somewhere safe, but his body wouldn't comply. All he could do was scream. "NOOO!"
Skulker fired.
The Fentons began to scream as the blasts rushed toward them, until they each felt a hand on their shoulders. They both turned their heads to find the brunette that was sitting next to Danny holding each of their shoulders firmly.
Then they saw the blast fly right through the three of them.
And nothing happened.
Suddenly, the Fentons saw the redhead that was accompanying the brunette run toward them. "Kitty! Phase them out of the nets and get them to safety! I'll put up a barrier!" Jean screamed as she stood in between Skulker and the Fentons, projecting a barrier that could only be seen as a spherical distortion in the air.
Kitty nodded and took a hold of both Fenton's hands, urging them to stand up. They did so and watched with wide eyes as they simply just went through the nets, leaving them speechless.
"How-" Jack started but he was interrupted mentally.
'It's alright Mr. Fenton, all will be explained once the threat has passed. In the meantime, we need to focus on helping your son.' Xavier said in his mind. 'And no, this doesn't involve ghosts.'
Danny managed a weak smile as he watched his parents retreat back to safety. He slowly got to his feet, but before he got off all fours, he could feel the cold metal of a gun barrel press against the back of his head.
"Playtime is over, whelp." Skulker proclaimed as he charged his ecto-gun.
Suddenly, the sounds of expanding and outstretching metal could be heard, leaving Skulker and the mutants confused. Danny and his parents, however, knew exactly what that sound meant.
"You just earned yourself a one-way ticket to the Ghost Zone, ghost." Skulker then felt the cold metal of a large charging gun barrel aimed at his head. He turned slightly to find that the barrel was actually an armored arm.
And that armored arm was connected to an armored body.
And that armored body wore a helmet with the words 'FENTON PEELER' engraved on the front.
If Skulker has skin, it would be dead pale. The Ghost Zone was filled with stories about this certain type of armor, and its deadly capabilities. Spectra was one of the few to have experienced the power of this armor first hand, and she was left as a withering old hag without a drop of power.
This was one of the few Fenton inventions that wasn't designed to capture of subdue ghosts, but to actually drain them.
Skulker stared at the armored Jazz wide-eyed, until Jazz blasted Skulker away with the Fenton Peeler, causing him to scream in agony. He could feel his protective high-tech battle armor rip away from him, leaving him completely exposed.
As a tiny ectoplasmic blob no bigger than a child's closed fist.
"No! No! I am Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter! You will all fear me! It won't end this way!" Skulker exclaimed with a voice as squeaky as a cartoon chipmunk.
Maddie then walked up to Skulker, holding the vacuum end of the Ghost Weasel. "Eat Fenton Weasel, ghost." She said as she sucked up Skulker into the Ghost Weasel, smirking as she adjusted it comfortably on her shoulder.
Jazz retracted the Fenton Peeler armor back to the curved gun and walked over to Danny, helping him up. Jean and Kitty continued assuring the Fentons that what they did would be explained once they returned back to FentonWorks and spoke to the Professor.
'Mr. Fenton, Mrs. Fenton, Danny, I believe we should all discuss why it is we've come here, and what it was that you just witnessed from my students.' Xavier said in their heads.
Danny sighed as two luminescent white rings washed over him, transforming him back to normal. Today was going to be a long day...
>>> Madison, Wisconsin
Vlad Masters was a man who could buy anything with money. In the short time since he graduated from college, Vlad has been able to amount small fortunes, gain many benefactors, and receive ownership of many business. No one seemed to know how his success came to be however.
There have only been two known things that his money hasn't been able to buy as of yet:
The Green Bay Packers is one of these things, since they belong to the city of Green Bay and they refuse to sell due to that fact. He makes up for this by being an avid Packers fanatic. The other thing that has been out of his reach is the love of his life: Maddie Fenton. His money was unable to buy her love, but that wasn't what aggravated him the most.
It was the fact that it was all Jack Fenton's fault.
Back in college, Vlad was involved in an accident that left him hospitalized with a case of 'ecto-acne', a lethal disease caused by exposure to tainted ectoplasm. He claimed that the accident robbed him of his social life, and his chance at Maddie. This theory was further enforced by the fact that the accident was brought upon by an experiment conducted by Jack Fenton. To add insult to injury, Jack married Maddie while Vlad was hospitalized.
It was simple to see that Jack Fenton was the cause of all of Vlad Masters' misfortunes. Although there is one thing that Vlad was grateful to Jack for...
The accident back in college had an extra side effect. Although Vlad was hospitalized with 'ecto-acne', he was granted ghost powers, and was the first half-ghost hybrid in existence. Vlad trained himself with his powers for years, using them for his own needs.
He stole banks using his invisibility and intangibility, leaving the police baffled. He received his companies and benefactors by overshadowing businessmen, forcing their signatures out of them. These are only a few examples of things he has done.
Vlad trained himself in this fashion for over twenty years, eventually becoming one of the most distinguished multi-millionaires the world had ever known. The only thing he didn't accept was the fact that the things that he truly wanted couldn't be bought with his money.
The Packers were out of his reach, and Maddie was out of his reach.
But there was a third thing that Vlad was interested in, a third thing that his money couldn't buy, but he desperately wanted.
Daniel Fenton.
The second half-ghost hybrid created from Jack Fenton's foolishness.
The perfect half-ghost son.
Vlad contemplated these things as he sat on his desk in his basement. He had long white hair slicked back into a short ponytail. He also wore a black business suit most of the time, for the sake of feeling important.
Although with the kind of money he had, that didn't mattered.
Vlad was currently watching the footage he received from Skulker on the hunter's latest encounter with Daniel. He frowned as he saw three people he didn't recognize, but was infuriated when he saw that Skulker actually fired a shot at his precious Maddie.
"Skulker, if that shot had hit the woman I love, I would've stripped you of your precious battle suit and given you a bow and arrow to hunt with! Do you understand me?" Vlad screamed.
Skulker apologized. "My apologies, sir." He was still feeling a little weak from his battle with the ghost child and his family, but since most of his power came from his battle suit, Skulker himself wasn't that badly drained. Once he (along with the Box Ghost) was thrown back into the Ghost Zone, all he had to go was go back to his island and his spare equipment would be waiting for him.
Had it not been for Vlad's continuous employment, he would've long ago run out of the equipment and parts needed to make his battle suits.
He was currently wearing his spare battle suit. Skulker always made sure that whenever he wore a battle suit, a spare would always be built and ready to be used when needed. It was a good contingency plan, and ever since the ghost child turned into his main prey, it's been what he's fallen back on.
Vlad groaned. "Nevermind, just forget it. Give me the Box Ghost's update; I'm pretty sure that he must've heard something about those three people while he was crammed in that ridiculous thermos." He said as he sat down on his desk.
Skulker began to relay to Vlad what he had heard from the Box Ghost, ranging from Danny's acceptance to a school in the east coast to Danny's revelation of his half-ghost status to his parents.
Vlad was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "Very well, we're done here. I'll call you when I'm in need of your services again." He said.
Skulker nodded and flew through the Plasmius Portal, Vlad's version of the Ghost Portal. He sat on his desk in deep thought for a few minutes before a malicious sneer spread across his face. He pressed a button on his desk and a holographic version of Maddie that usually served as his secretary and/or lab assistant appeared in front of his desk.
"Maddie, patch me through to the owner of Axion Labs," Vlad said with a sneer, taking out his checkbook. "I'd like to have a chat with him."
"Of course, sweetness." Holo-Maddie replied in a chipper tone, disappearing from sight as she went to work on Vlad's orders.
'You may be going away Daniel, but you won't escape my influence so easily.' A chuckle escaped Vlad's lips. 'For now I'll let you have your freedom, but enjoy it while it lasts.'
With that, Vlad rose from his desk and walked out from his basement lab. On his way out he passed a small television screen which served as a camera monitor to his genetic experimentation lab in the Rockies.
That certain camera was monitoring a tube which was labeled: Cln-#00 'PRIME'
'I will have you Daniel, one way or another…'
>> To Be Continued…
Sorry I'm so late, here's an equation that'll help you understand my situation: Crappy Week + Finals + Writer's Block : Very Late Chapter, sorry guys, I also had some problems with the fight scene, since I didn't want to leave anyone out now that they know. Do you think Jack would stand still while his son is fighting a ghost? HA!
How did you like the ominous cliffhanger I left for you there? Can anyone guess which two Danny Phantom episodes that cliffhanger hints to?
One thing I want to point out. I've been busting my head on who I should pair Danny with, and I don't want it to be Sam. I'm sorry guys, but as much as the Danny/Sam pairing appeals to me, I'm an insane crossover pairing nut. You can tell me who you want to have Danny paired with in a review, but it can't be Jean, Ororo, Amanda, Jubilee, Amara, Tabitha or Wanda. (I got plans for those seven… well, most of them) That leaves Rouge, Kitty, and Rahne. So vote away. FYI, Rouge and Kitty are a year older than Danny, while Rahne is a year younger, but I don't find a year to be much of a different in a relationship, but tell me what you think.
Again, thanks for the reviews guys. I'm not gonna write out the individual names anymore, but you guys know who you are, so thanks, and don't forget to read and review. Reviews inspire me.
"I'm usually the sour one around here, but compared to everyone else, I'm the Goth bird of happiness." Sam Manson, My Brother's Keeper