A/N: Um... OK... So I've decided to try out this fandom. Now, I've written for it before, but nothing I've shown that's good. And not for ages. I'm not used to it. Black Butler, what I normally write for, is elegant and sinister. This... isn't. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that it might not be that good, and any advice and constructive criticism would be much appreciated. That said, read on.

Title: To Be a Hero

Author: liketolaugh

Rating: T

Pairings: None

Genre: Drama/Adventure

Warnings: None

Summary: When Director Fury learns that there is a whole set of villains he's never heard tell of, he's pissed off. When he learns that there's a new superhero to accompany them? What do you think?

Disclaimer: Sadly, Danny Phantom is not mine. Neither are the Avengers.

"Director Fury!"

The call, while respectful, was just a little bit frantic, and Fury looked up, glaring at the junior agent who had entered and disturbed his work.

"What is it, Agent Mason?" he demanded, his tone making it clear that the agent would talk now or leave.

"Th-this just came in," the agent explained, looking cowed. Fury held out his hand expectantly, and he meekly handed over the newspaper he was carrying.

Fury glanced down at it, and the headline instantly caught his attention.

Small Town Amity Park Disappears During Massive Ghost Invasion!

Fury narrowed his eyes and leaned over the paper in focus, beginning to read.

Earlier this week, small town Amity Park, which has been plagued by ghost attacks for several months now, townspeople say, vanished off the face of the planet in the middle of a massive ghost invasion. It was found to be unreachable by phone, satellite, or transportation…

With each word he read, his anger and frustration grew. Why the hell didn't I hear about this sooner, he raged to himself. Something like this should have been on the radar a long time ago!

It took far too long to reach the end of the article, but as soon as he had finished, he snatched up his phone and started to make calls.

They had to find out what was going on.

That was how the Avengers, hours later, found themselves seated at a table, watching Nick Fury pace back and forth. Finally, it was Tony, naturally, who broke the silence.

"So-o-o," he began, drawing out the 'o' with some interest and some impatience. "Was there a reason you called us here, Nicky, or did you just miss our pretty faces?"

Fury ignored the jibe, but turned to face them at last, expression grim. "I need you," he stated, weighing each word, "to look into something."

"Isn't that what the other agents are for?" Clint complained, looking almost as if he agreed with Tony.

Steve, though, caught on to Fury's thinking, and asked seriously, "Is it dangerous?"

"We believe so," Fury replied gravely. He dropped the newspaper, which he had read several times over, in front of the Captain, who read it as quickly as he could, and then groaned, muttering something about aliens, gods, and ghosts.

"Ghosts?" Natasha asked, sounding a little bit skeptical.

"Ghosts," confirmed Fury. He started to pace again. "According to my sources," meaning the newspaper, "this has been going on for some time now. I need information, and I need it yesterday. We need to know why the town hasn't been evacuated, who ended the invasion, I need to know the names of the goddamn ghosts." He glared at them. "Well? Get moving!"

There was another moment in which no one moved, but then Steve stood, saluted, and left, and the others trickled after him, Tony being the last, already complaining.

It was less than an hour before the Quinjet was prepped and ready to go, and as it took off, they were already deep in discussion.

"I was unaware that Midgard also had these beings of the undead!" Thor boomed conversationally, having had it explained to him what a ghost was. "In Asgard, we have creatures called Draugrs, but they are slightly different."

"Different how?" Bruce asked curiously.

"They more closely resemble your zombies," Thor admitted, having encountered zombies during movie nights. "We do not have these 'spirits', you see, so the undead restrict themselves to rising from the grave." His brow furrowed. "Draugrs are always quite malicious, so these ghosts concern me."

Natasha narrowed her eyes. "Always?"

"Always," Thor confirmed.

Natasha settled back into her seat, feigning relaxation, but there was a guarded look in her eyes that hadn't been there before.

That was about the extent of the productive conversation on the Quinjet – not to say that there hadn't been irrelevant conversation, mainly courtesy of Tony Stark, but that was beside the point.

But finally, they landed in Amity Park, which turned out to be a small town in the middle of nowhere. Bruce stayed behind, maintaining that exposing him to ghosts sounded like a very good way to bring out the Other Guy, but everyone else exited the small jet, fully uniformed.

Since Clint had landed the jet just outside Amity, they had just a little way to walk to enter the little town. Tony noted the sign reading 'A Nice Place to Live' and snorted, but didn't bother commenting.

But even when they entered the town, there wasn't any sign of ghosts, not even tension. Everyone was bustling about, going about normal business, and not looking concerned in the least. In fact, it seemed to be a perfectly normal day in a perfectly normal town. Then one little boy spotted the assembled group and cried, voice filled with excitement, "Mommy, Mommy, look! It's the Avengers!"

The mother of the child dutifully looked up, but when her eyes landed on them, they widened in shock, her mouth falling open slightly.

"Mommy, can we go talk to them? Please, please?" her son urged, eyes wide and hopeful, flickering between the Avengers and his mother. Already, people had heard the cry and were turning toward them. Steve winced. Yes, perhaps arriving in uniform wasn't the best for an information gathering mission. Tony flashed him a smirk, though; the public was thoroughly his territory, and he knew how to get information out of an excited crowd, no matter how infrequently he needed the skill.

"Yes, that's fine, sweetie," the mother breathed, allowing herself to be pulled toward them, and melting into the quickly gathering swarm.

Excited murmurs and the occasional cry of "The Avengers!" filled the air, but this, too, was typical of a normal town – well, those few that the Avengers found themselves in, at least. There was nothing at all to indicate any sort of threat, and Natasha was furrowing her eyebrows, trying to figure it out, because it didn't make any sense.

Her eyes flickered up and briefly met Steve's, and he nodded to her in silent agreement. Amity Park certainly didn't seem like a besieged town; they seemed to feel that they were safe.

Steve didn't understand, either.

But the crowd was pressing in, and Steve seemed to be having trouble controlling it, to say nothing of those less used to such things, like Natasha and Clint. Thor didn't seem to mind, but even he couldn't get them to quiet down long enough to get a word in edgewise, let alone ask questions.

That, of course, was where Tony came in, and he stepped forward out of his armor with a wide PR grin, gesturing with his hands (his arms, really) for them to quiet down. "Shush, shush!" he called out, chuckling. "Can't hear myself think with all this racket, so you best quiet down or we'll never get any questions answered."

And those were the magic words. The crowd, who indeed wanted their questions answered, quieted. It was a slow, gradual process, but it did, eventually, happen.

"One at a time, now," Tony continued, his grin more genuine and a bit more smug. He pointed. "Raise your hands, schoolroom style, and then we'll answer questions." At Steve's slightly pointed look, he rolled his eyes and added, "And you'll answer some of ours, of course." He received quick, excitable nods from almost the entire crowd, and grinned again. "Great! You, blondie in the red jacket!"

The school-age boy put his hand down and called out, "Where's the Hulk?" Roars of approval met that question, mostly from other boys in red jackets, and Tony had to wait a while before they quieted again.

"Big Green only comes out to smash," Tony answered casually, having received that question enough times before now. "So unless you want to get smashed, you don't want to see him. Next! You, Hispanic in the pink shirt!"

"What are you doing in a place like this?" the girl wanted to know. The agreement was less vocal this time, but no less vehement, and Steve took his opportunity. If he left it up to Tony, they'd be there all day.

"We wanted to find out about what goes on here," he answered, blue eyes earnest. "We heard about the ghost invasion, and we were a bit worried about this place."

The girl clasped her hands together, expression becoming a little dreamy. "Oh, don't worry about us!" she assured them, beaming. "We're perfectly safe here!"

Steve opened his mouth to ask what made her so sure, but was interrupted before he could get another word out.

"Where is the ghost child?"

So that's that. Was it any good? I'm not sure if it was up to standard... -.- I hope so. Please review! Advice on Danny Phantom/Avengers would be appreciated!