Blackgoth13 asked for this one. Here you go, Amigo! Enjoy!

Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I own nothing.

Even Hunters Can Have Honor

Danny groaned as he hit the ground, his back hurting as it was scratched up pretty badly, thanks to Plasmius, who was still coming after him with fists blazing. Danny dodged, knowing another hit like that would render him unable to fight or dodge.

"Look at this. You're too week to even defeat me!" Plasmius said with an evil laugh. "And you're dodging my attacks. What a coward."

If he hadn't been dodging ecto-blasts, Danny would have defended that he wasn't a coward. He then tried to get up but his knees buckled and he fell down again. Seeing he couldn't run anymore, he tried putting up a shield, only he didn't have enough energy to do so and he watched as Plasmius sent another ecto-blast at him.

One that he knew he couldn't dodge. Danny curled up, gritting his teeth in pain.

"NO!" An all-too-familiar voice cried out and a ghost Danny recognized all too well jumped in front of him and deflected the blast with a shield.

"Skulker! What are you doing? Get out of the way!" Plasmius said angrily.

"Not this time, Plasmius," Skulker said as he held up his shield with one arm and picked up Danny with the other arm, being careful of the boy's injured back. "Hold onto me, ghost boy. This isn't going to be easy."

Danny normally wouldn't have trusted the hunter, but right now, the hunter had a shield and was deflecting Plasmius' blasts. Clutching to the hunter's armor and closing his eyes, Danny felt Skulker begin running before ducking into an alleyway and going invisible before taking off into the air and diving underground.

Skulker quickly slipped into the Fenton lab and entered the Ghost portal, flying fast to his realm. Ember saw him fly by with the ghost kid in his arms and she smirked. "So, he did catch him," she said and followed them.

Skulker took the boy into his home and Danny groaned as the ghost gently placed him down on the bed and then, with the utmost gentleness, gently turned the boy onto his stomach. Ember, who was watching, grew curious and then her eyes widened when she saw the nasty claw marks on Danny's back.

Danny felt Skulker grab the back of his white shirt and tear it away to examine the wounds and shook his head. "Plasmius went too far this time," he said as he searched for his first aid kit, finding it and turning to the boy. "This is going to hurt, kid," he said. "Try to keep still."

Danny couldn't answer as he felt stinging pain and he gripped the pillow his head was resting on and whimpered, gripping the pillow tighter so he wouldn't squirm.

The ghost hunter quickly bandaged up Danny's back and suddenly noticed Ember come in, but she had something in her hand. "I flew to the Far Frozen and told Frostbite that Danny was hurt and asked if he had any herbs to help him," she said, handing the herbs Frostbite had given her to Skulker.

Giving her a grateful nod, Skulker quickly made a medicine in liquid form for Danny, who was too weak to do anything but wince as he was gently forced to drink the medicine. "Who did this to him?" Ember asked.

"Plasmius," Skulker answered.

The blue-haired ghost didn't say anything, but she did gently ruffle Danny's black hair. "Get well soon, baby pop," she said without heat. "You owe me a music rematch."

She headed out and Skulker sat down near the bed. "Keep still," he said. "The medicine should kick in soon."

The boy would have questioned why Skulker was helping him recover, but he felt tired and so decided to find out later.

Although he didn't sleep, he just rested while Skulker kept watch. The hunter had been right about the medicine kicking in and the pain dulled as he began to feel better.

After about an hour, Danny turned his head to face Skulker, who was still watching him. "Is the pain returning?" The hunter ghost asked.

"No, it's going away," the boy said truthfully. "By the way, thank you."

Skulker nodded and saw the question in the boy's eyes. "I helped you because what Plasmius did wasn't right," the hunter said. "I did promise to hunt you, but I never attack an enemy who's down."

Danny looked at him puzzledly. "What do you mean?" He asked. "Isn't that the most optional time to attack?"

"Yes, if you're a coward. No, if you have honor," Skulker answered. "Plasmius is a coward."

"Can't argue that," Danny said in agreement and then he fell into thought. All the times he had fought Skulker, the hunter had never struck if Danny was defeated and he could have finished him off after Plasmius had hurt him, but had helped instead. "But, if you're a hunter, why didn't you finish me off back there?"

"A true hunter doesn't pick on their prey when that prey can't fight back," the hunter ghost said. "Also, Plasmius gives ghosts like me a bad name, unlike you."

"What do you mean?" Danny asked.

"While you use your powers to fight us, you don't wish to destroy us. Plasmius wouldn't think twice about it."

The black-haired boy nodded. "Well, thank you," he said. "Does this mean you care and you'll stop hunting me?"

"Don't push your luck, ghost boy," Skulker said half-serious, half-not serious.

"Aw, and I was looking forward to proving the hunter had a heart," Danny said with a smirk.

He yelped when Skulker suddenly grabbed him and pinned him on his back to the bed, although he was keeping the boy's injuries in mind. "You just asked for it, ghost child," the hunter said.

Danny was both shocked and surprised when Skulker began tickling him. Through his laughter, he kept wondering about Skulker's strange behavior, but had to admit, Skulker was proving him that even a ghost like him could have honor and also have a softer side that was hardly ever seen.

Danny didn't know how long Skulker tickled him for, but he did manage to plead with the ghost to stop before he ran out of breath. Skulker smirked and watched the boy recover and gave him a poke in the stomach.

"Not. A. Word." He said, but there wasn't any malice in his voice.

Danny nodded. "I won't say anything about it," he promised. "Thanks again, Skulker."

The hunter smiled. "You and some of us ghosts may not get along, but there's more than a few of us who do care about you, along with the ghosts you call allies," he said.

The halfa got up, feeling a lot better and Skulker scooped him up and took him to his home, seeing the ghost shield was down for the moment. Thanking Skulker again, Danny watched the hunter fly off before Jazz came running in. "Danny, are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, Jazz," he said.

"But, Plasmius…," she began.

Danny smiled. "I got some unexpected help," he said. "And hopefully, Plasmius stays away for much longer."

"I hope that too," she said.

Meanwhile in Wisconsin, Plasmius found himself on the run with a very determined Skulker hot on his trail.

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