Chapter Text
Danny Phantom had been causally soaring through the sky when he was hit with a blue beam.
Instantly he found himself crashing into the ground below, cracks slithering across the asphalt in his wake. His eyelids fluttered open and he glanced up to see a guy with a plated, buff body and flaming hair and goatee grinning deviously at him.
"Can't you take a day off?" Danny spat, eyes narrowed. The guy grinned even more. "Didn't in life, why start in death?"
"Because those are your only options. Either keep hunting me, and fail every time, or treat yourself to a well needed break," the halfa continued, sitting up. His booming laugh shook Danny to his core. "You have some guts to tell me what to do, whelp." Then the guy rose his wrist and fired missiles at the halfa. He went intangible and flew up to his attacker.
At the last possible second, he turned tangible and unleashed a ghostly wail which pushes his attacker away.
As the attack ended, two turquoise rings appeared around his chest and separated upward and downward, removing his black and white jumpsuit, white hair and green eyes and leaving him with black hair, blue eyes and dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans. Then he swayed and fell out of the sky, landing just in front of the crater he'd left behind.
But he managed to get on his knees, though he was breathing heavily.
See, the Ghostly Wail, while powerful, had drained him of ectoplasmic energy which is why he doesn't use it. But today was an exception. He just really wanted to get Skulker out of the way.
Suddenly the ground shook and as Danny looked up, he saw a boot coming towards his face. He couldn't duck, dodge, all he could do was let it hit him.
It did with a crunch and he, in turn, laid out on the ground. A moment later, that boot was pressing down on his chest, making him gasp.
"Just my luck that you'd use such a draining attack, whelp. Now things are going to get interesting," Skulker purred, his green eyes glinting in glee.
All Danny could do now is wriggle and glare.
"Come now, whelp, there's no getting out of this. I am taking your head," he added as he pulled out a slender cuboid with a ring on the end. He hooked the ring and pulled, drawing out a nearly invisible, taunt string. Then he bent down and pressed the string on his neck, passed the side with the ring behind his head so looping the string and then twisted the two together.
The string at once began to cut into his flesh, making him wince.
Then Skulker retrieved a gun like device with a needle and a vial on the top filled with green goo from his belt. Danny recognized the goo as ectoplasm. What is Skulker up to? The plated and buffy ghost bent down and stuck him in the neck with the device and pulled the trigger, injecting the ectoplasm. At once Danny's hair turned white and his eyes turned green again.
That done, he tucked away the device and started twisting the string together slowly, causing it to dig deeper into his neck and greenish blood started to ooze out. The pain got worse, making Danny scream and kick. A grin crossed Skulker's face at the sight.
"Skulker! You get away from Phantom this instant!" Next instant, the ghost was struck with red waves that beat against his plated body and swept him away.
Danny immediately went on his side and put his hands on his neck to try and stop the bleeding.
A pale-cyan-skinned girl with long and flaming robin's egg-blue hair tied in high-ponytail and two locks framing her face came running to Danny. "You okay?" she asked as she knelt by him. He responded with a wet cough.
"Hold on, I'll get you out of here," she promised as she put her arms around his torso and lifted him up.
-
With a cry, the ghost was sucked into the thermos Vlad Plasmius held and silenced by the lid screwing shut. "Is it just me or are the ghosts easy to catch today?" commented a muscular, blue skinned and flaming white haired ghost. "Not a clue but at least that means we can spend the rest of the day with Jack's boy," Vlad replied. The other ghost smirked at the thought. He needed somewhere to put all the current adrenaline coursing through his body.
Suddenly red mist flicked from blue skinned ghost's nose, also catching Vlad's attention. "I guess you spoke too soon, Vlad."
Next instant, Ember came into view holding Danny Fenton. Worry was etched on her face which alarmed both ghosts. What could be worrying her?
"Vlad Plasmius, Dan Phantom, Danny is hurt," Ember said as she landed. "What?" Dan snarled while Vlad went over to her. He gently cupped his cheek which made Danny stir and open his eyes. "What happened? Who did this?" Vlad asked him, his tone soft.
Danny didn't answer, he just reached out for Vlad. So the also blue skinned ghost dressed in white trousers and a white long-sleeved shirt took him from her arms. As soon as Danny was in the familiar hold of Vlad, he clung closer as his breath quickened and his body started trembling.
Vlad felt the tremors and looked down at Danny. "Danny?" The boy didn't stop shaking.
"What's wrong with him now?" said a familiar voice. He knew that voice, he heard it earlier. The pain, the fear, and the helplessness from moments ago surged through him, making it hard to breathe.
Vlad felt the unstableness of his breathing and recognized that the boy was panicking.
"Danny you're safe, there's nothing to fear."
But there is something to fear: Skulker. He was right behind Vlad he heard him. If he could only tell him that but...his voice...he can't speak.
Danny's vision blurred with tears as his chest felt tight. Skulker was here and he was gonna take his head. He could just feel the string cutting into his neck and see the ghost hunter's grin.
A whimper rose from his throat.
"Danny, listen to me," Vlad said, his voice firm but kind. "Focus on my voice. No one is here to hurt you."
Ember touched Danny's shoulder. "Danny, it's me, Ember. I'm here with you. You're not alone."
Then Dan stood next to Ember, his expression intense yet controlled. "Fenton, look at me."
Skulker wants him to look at him. He can't, he won't!
...But Skulker doesn't call him 'Fenton'.
So Danny turned his head just a little and looked. Dan met his gaze and flashed him a little smile. The tightness of his chest eased and the tears in his eyes that collected in his eyes trailed down his face. Dan's black gloved fingers wiped them away.
"Ember McLain, who attacked him," Dan asked as he put his hand on Danny's head. "Skulker," she answered. Now two sets of red eyes glared at her. A shiver travelled down her spine. "Did he?" Dan growled. "Ember, take him to my mansion and tend to his wounds. Danny the Elder and I have some business to attend to," Vlad ominously told her.
-
Skulker shot through the air, eyes trained on the tracking device on his wrist.
Out of all the people to interfere in his hunt, he did not expect his ex-girlfriend.
Well, it didn't matter in the long run. He was following the blood trail of the whelp currently, it would not be long before he found him.
And as for Ember, perhaps he'll take her head too.
Then out of nowhere, he was hit.
A spot on his body smothered from an ectoplasm blast as he made an uncalled for beeline to the ground. But he never got there. He was struck again and sent flying upwards, his back dented.
Then a figure with a fluttering cape and hair materialized in front of the sun. The person breathed in before unleashing the loudest ghostly wail Skulker had ever heard. The waves rattled his body as he collided with the ground.
As the dust cleared he saw Vlad and Dan floating above him.
Their gazes were brimming with hatred and their ectoplasmic energy rippled around them. "Long time no see, Skulker," Dan sneered. Skulker got to his feet and snarkily asked, "To what do I owe the pleasure?". "After an encounter with you, Danny Phantom now has a ring like wound on his neck. I'd like to know what were you doing to him to get that."
"It was an unintentional parting gift. Had Ember not stepped in, you would've been asking me what I'd done to make him the Headless Ghost Boy," Skulker revealed.
Dan's eyes narrowed.
"Careful now, you've already made us quite angry," Vlad warned. "Wouldn't want to lose your head now would we?" Dan hinted. Skulker grinned. "Like I would. I've prepared for such a showdown."
He pressed a button on his arm and the plates on his body started to change positions. In a minute he was three times his original size, the plates of his body were black and a visor now covered his eyes.
Dan suddenly burst out laughing while Vlad smiled confidently. "You think more armor will save you?" Dan rhetorically asked. "It'll help me defeat you," Skulker replied. "We'll see about that," Vlad said.
Skulker shot up from the ground while pressing a button on his suit. Blast launchers emerged from his back and started firing at them. They ducked instantly and shot their own ectoplasmic blasts. However they were deflected by a shield that appeared around him.
Vlad and Dan exchanged looks. This might be harder than they initially believed.
Dan did a ghostly wail at Skulker but unbelievably the shield bounced the wail back at him. He instantly went flying back.
Vlad looked at Skulker, who was smirking, and quickly glanced over his new form but had no clue from where the shield could possibly be coming from. So he channeled ectoplasmic energy into his fist and flew towards Skulker, drew back his fist and went to punch him. The visor glinted and the shield appeared. "Don't you get that you can't touch me?" Skulker goaded him. "I understand that well enough. Fortunately I have an idea," Vlad stated.
Next instant his fist went intangible and it struck the visor with full force.
Skulker stumbled back while covering his face. His stomach was struck next, making him double over. Finally Vlad sent him on his way with a double axe handle, blowing out one of his eyes.
Dan finally showed up, clearly miffed about being hit with his own attack for the second time in his life.
"Are you alright?" Vlad asked him. He cracked his knuckles as he growled, "I will be after I pull him apart." Four identical Dans materialized on either side of him and they descended to surround Skulker.
As Skulker began to get up, the five Dans touched down around him.
"Didn't I tell you that armour won't save you," all the Dans said at once. Then they each took deep breathes and unleashed five ghostly wails which struck Skulker at the same time. A reverberated cry rose from the ghost hunter as he was battered from all sides. Pieces of his suit flew off and were turned to dust, slowing dwindling him away.
All the while, Vlad prepped a thermos.
-
"There, that should do it," Ember quipped as she tucked in the end of the bandage wrapping for his neck.
Danny brushed his fingertips against the rough gauze then nodded in thanks.
"No worries. Although Vlad Plasimus and Dan Phantom should be back by now," she mused as she glanced at the clock on his bedside table.
No sooner had she spoken that the two ghosts in question phased through the door, Dan holding Skulker's head.
"I see you're awake," Dan remarked as he handed the head over. Danny regarded the thing with a surprised and concerned expression. "No, he's not dead. Vlad made sure of that," Dan said ruefully. "Yes, he's here in this thermos and he's never getting out," Vlad explained. Danny looked at them both in amazement. "Did you expect him to live? Please, he messed with what was ours and no one gets away with that," Dan said with a smirk. Danny flushed at his words.
Vlad turned to Ember then. "We'll handle Danny's recovery from here," he told her. "Alright, see you later Danny," Ember said with a wave before exiting the room by phasing through the wall.
"Danny would you like something to eat?" asked Vlad. Danny shook his head then beckoned them closer. Both ghosts rose their eyebrows but they did go by his side. Suddenly he grabbed their wrists and pulled them in bed with him. Of course they awkwardly laid across him but he didn't seem to mind. He just closed his eyes and snuggled up to either as best he could.
Vlad and Dan exchanged a look, initially taken aback, but then they relaxed. Vlad gently wrapped an arm around Danny while Dan placed a hand on his head.
In silence they laid there, even as Danny drifted off to sleep. They stayed by his side.
The End