A response to Shining Zephyr's challenge "honour". I'm a Malaysian so I don't spell it as honor.

Disclaimers: I do not own Butch Hartman… oops… sorry. I do not own Danny Phantom. Yup. That's better.

Danny Phantom, the ghost she hated with every fibre of her being, laid vulnerable before her. The wounds he suffered caused him to feel dizzy and dazed, unable to defend himself from anyone. She had the upper hand. She was the one in control. Her weapon was trained on Phantom. He couldn't dodge. He couldn't block. If she pulled the trigger, he would be destroyed.

The Red Huntress narrowed her eyes behind her mask.

Half an hour ago…

"Move!" Phantom yelled to a group of young kids behind him as he stood in front of them with his ectoshield up to block the attacks by a ghost animal she had never seen before. But his command was not obeyed as the kids were rooted to the spot. It was understandable. They couldn't have been more than seven years old. Seven year olds generally didn't work well when in fear.

Hidden above a tree, Valerie stayed where she was. She wasn't going to rush in and shot blindly. Experience told her that sooner or later, Phantom would capture the ghost, and that left her free to target Phantom without fear of getting hit by the other ghost. Anyway, there was a high possibility of the ghost actually working with Phantom to make him look like the good guy, because why else would Phantom risk his afterlife to 'protect' them? He must be sure that the ghost wouldn't eliminate him. That was why he could act so bold and cocky. The impressive collection of injuries Phantom was sporting could be just for show.

The large ghost jaguar gave a growl and raked its claw over Phantom's green shield, creating three tears on the dome surface.

"Move!" Phantom yelled.

The jaguar, seeing how effective its claws were on Phantom's shield, stood on its hind legs and balanced itself with its front legs against Phantom's ectodome. It bared its teeth, which had the same light purple glow as its claws and bit into the shield, as if trying to tear out a chunk of the shield. It didn't look like Phantom would be able to hold up his shield any longer. If the jaguar managed to get past the shield, the children would be in danger.

"Over here." She finally decided to reveal herself. Hopefully, the shildren would run towards her instead of stay where they were. Phantom had better keep that jaguar occupied.

"Go to her. She'll protect you." Phantom said. He gave a grunt and crashed onto his knees as the jaguar's teeth tore through his shield. "Go. Now!"

The kids finally started moving. It only took one kid to start running and the whole group was running like no tomorrow. She led them away from what used to be a beautiful hidden part of the large park, outside the ring of trees that hid the earthly paradise from view. Once safely outside, Valerie made sure that all the kids had run far enough for her standard before heading back.

"Val, take him."

Phantom's shield was gone. The ghost was kneeling on the ground with his back to the ghost jaguar, a stupid move. She could see the deep marks on his back, green with ectoplasm. Why was he bending over? Why didn't he just grab the kid and fly away? There must be a trick involved. She wasn't there when the shield collapsed. The wounds might have been faked. Maybe Phantom just wanted to lure her away so that he could let his accomplice escape.

"Val, quick. I don't know how much more I can handle."

Valerie walked irritably towards him. Her first thought was to tell him not to call her Val. He wasn't her friend. He didn't have the right to call her Val like how Danny, her only true friend, would. However, that thought never made it into words when she saw the young kid hidden in Phantom's embrace.

"Take. Quick." Phantom cried out as the ghost jaguar raked its claws over his abused back. The whole thing was green, with only a few patches of the original black jumpsuit peeking though. Valerie made a quick assessment. Phantom was barely kneeling as he was, partly because of the stupid kid that wouldn't run. He looked to be in a bad shape, but once she got the kid out, he should be able to handle himself.

Valerie grabbed the kid and pulled him onto her sled, glad that the kid didn't try to struggle or she would have had to knock him out. She sped off to where she left the kids earlier, keeping a firm hold on the kid. Valerie didn't want to double back if the kid fell. The less time she spent away from Phantom the better. She didn't want to take too long and end up coming back to an empty place.

"Go to your friends." Valerie dropped the kid off where she last saw the other kids and headed back. If there was another kid left there, Phantom could get the kid out himself. She'll blast the ghost jaguar, then she would destroy Phantom after he had dropped off the kid.

The Red Huntress returned to find Phantom alone, the jaguar gone. She narrowed her eyes as she neared him. So it was a trick. Phantom wanted her to leave so that the jaguar could escape. The whole thing was just a trick to make him look like a hero. He didn't actually care about the kids. It was all just an act.

"Where's your ghost friend?" She aimed the weapon at him.

"What?" Phantom asked. He winced and pressed a hand to his side.

"The jaguar."

"Huh? Oh. In here." Phantom mumbled and showed her the Fenton Thermos in his hand. He swayed and Valerie braced herself for anything he could do. Would he attack? Or would he fly away? But instead, Phantom fell to the ground. The Fenton Thermos rolled out of his slack grip, glinting where the sunlight touched it. His green eyes were unfocused, glazed over with pain. He was totally vulnerable. He couldn't dodge. He couldn't escape. No more tricks. She had him under her mercy.

She narrowed her eyes behind the mask. Phantom looked at her weapon and closed his eyes with a resigned look, as if accepting his fate.

The Red Huntress had her finger on the trigger, but she didn't shoot. She could see now that the wounds were genuine. Phantom was actually protecting the kids. Unbelievable. Even if everything before this was only for show, he had risked his afterlife to protect a bunch of human kids. It didn't seem fair to eliminate him when he was vulnerable because he tried to be the good guy, for once.

Valerie lifted her finger off the trigger and put the weapon away. Green eyes opened after a few moments, as if wondering why their owner wasn't dead yet.

"Why?" He rasped.

Good question.

"Honour." She couldn't just destroy someone who just risked his afterlife to save others, especially when he couldn't fight back. Without turning back, she flew back to her home.

If she had turned back, she would have seen Phantom pass out.

If she had turned back, she would have seen blue-white rings wash over the ghost to reveal Danny.

If she had turned back, she would have known that her honour had stopped her from destroying her own friend.

So this is what honour can do.

What about reviews?

What miracles will it do?

~Poetess.

She's been out of commission for awhile. Duck tape accident.