Danny Phantom: The Supernatural

A Fanfiction by Sealeena

Chapter Six: One of a Kind (Shocking!) Part II

Previously, on Danny Phantom: The Supernatural

Oh, lookie there, a pissed off gorilla jumping through the broken window and tackling Skulker.

Totally.

Freaking.

Awesome.

Skulker grabbed hold of Sampson and threw him off, but the primate still kept running for him and tackled him again. Fed up, he allowed himself to phase through the wall and disappear. Sampson banged loudly at the wall, finally jolting the boys awake, who screamed at the sound, and then quickly jumping apart, screaming at each other even louder.

"Holy fuck man!" Danny then remembered his powers and yelled, "I'm going ghost!" With his what should now be a trademark cry, transformed into his ghost alter ego person dude. With a shake of his head, his dazzling green eyes focused on the escaped gorilla, quickly flying towards the mammal and grabbing hold before Sampson could run away. "I don't know how you got out," he said as they phased through the observatory, "but you're going back!" With that he flew the gorilla back into the cage, making sure the door was secure so no future escapes would happen. He flew back to the observatory, noticing that Tucker was struggling with getting Sam down from being trapped. "Let me help with that." His ghost powers touched the goo, and for whatever reason, the chill of his body seemed to freeze the bonds so that they shattered on contact. She fell down, Danny Phantom catching her before she hit the ground. "Whoa, easy there." He looked at her, concerned as she took a deep breath. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She placed a hand timidly on his chest as he brought her a little closer, more protective. "I'm okay now."

"Now, I wonder who let the gorilla go." The boy ghost wonder hadn't let go of Sam, who instinctively stiffened at his accusatory tone. "Saammm."

"Yeah, wait til we tell everyone at school that you let out a 400 pound gorilla," Tucker mocked.

Sam, not playing by their game, whipped out her phone and showed them the picture of their recent canoodling. Danny laughed nervously, obviously knowing when to back down.

"This can just be our little secret," he said.

"Thought you might feel that way," Sam said and laughed a little.

"I'm being blackmailed?" Tucker asked. "Again? Man, fuck Mondays. I'm going home."

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At Fenton Works©

The Fentons, minus Danny, sat in their living room that held a gorgeous wall length couch with an extended loveseat section. There was a recliner that sat next to it, coffee table in the middle so that when it was popcorn time, bowls did not have to be precariously placed on the couch. Maddie sat next to Jack, who sat next to Jazz. They were dressed normally for the day, the couple in their custom hazmat suits that were dirty and greased from the day's work. Jazz wore a long black shirt with capris, hair combed back and pulled into a ponytail so that she appeared fresh and clean, young and higher middle class instead of almost poor class that lives on government subsidies. There was a middle-aged African American woman that sat in the recliner, wearing a light purple jacket with matching skirt, black heels polished to perfection. Her afro was stylish and fabulous, jewelry simple yet expensive.

"Maddie Fenton," the woman said in a clipped, British accent. She held out a tape recorder, notebook handy as well for extra note taking. "Can you tell your readers what you're working on now?"

The auburn haired woman opened her mouth to reply, and then Jack interrupted by thrusting a device into her face, "Well it's called a Ghost Gabber© an—"

"Dad!" Jazz shrieked. "Put that thing away." Her face stained red, she tried to salvage what she was afraid was turning into a quickly crumbling situation. "She's actually working on a new form of self generating energy. She's an amazing and intelligent woman who's about to change the world!"

Maddie smiled sadly. At one point in her life she actually had been working on that, but her obsession turned to ghost hunting. Originally, they thought they could harvest the energy from a much bigger and different world without hurting theirs. "Connie," she said softly, "my primary focus these days, is ghost hunting."

Connie gave a start, brown eyes widening. "Uhm, forgive me." She smiled and coughed nervously. "Did you say…ghost hunting?" The last part held a hint of incredulousness.

Suddenly, the front door to Fenton Works© opened, revealing the three teenagers of Danny, Tucker, and Sam. All looked exhausted, and it was at this point that one wonders how often these adults keep track of their children, as all three were wearing yesterday's clothes that were rumpled. Danny looked to be in the worse shape, his hair greasy and mussed, bags and dark circles under his eyes that looked watery with sleep. He was stooped as if the weight of his book bag were crushing him. Tucker seemed a little squirrely, coffee in hand with an eye that seemed to be twitching erratically. Sam's makeup was smudged, though she had tried to wipe off as much of it as possible. She was wearing Danny's sweater still from last night, having dozed off at one point. It was quite an alarming scene from a parental point of view.

"Danny!" Maddie exclaimed and frowned. "Look at you. I know that it's been approved, but I'm not sure I like this overnight zoo research."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Moomm. C'mon! We're just a bunch of kids…in the zoo." He stopped a moment. "At. Night. Alone." The looks his family and the interviewer gave him ranged from concerned, dumbfounded, and to seething. "We'll be in my room." He didn't have time for the antics unfortunately, and he ushered Sam and Tucker upstairs before any of his family members could protest.

"WE'LL BE IN MY ROOM. FEAR ME." The Ghost Gabber© chimed.

Jazz had a look that could very well cook bacon.

Mhhmmm.

Bacon.

"Give me that!" Jazz screeched as she yanked the device away from Jack. She quickly hid it under the decorative pillows next to her. She then crossed her legs as to appear proper and gave a dazzling smile. "Now where were we?"

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They stood outside Danny's room and Tucker gave a smile. "Here we are. Just in time to rest." There was a chime that came from his pocket. He pulled his phone out to see an event reminder notification. "Gotta keep it short though, you got fifteen minutes."

Danny merely glared, too tired to make a snappy comeback or possibly punch Tucker in the arm for being a totally clueless douchebag.

Suddenly, there was the personal ghost awareness alarm as the telltale blue mist leaked out of Danny's mouth. All three friends looked at the door with trepidation. Cautiously, Danny opened the door. Skulker suddenly phased in, taking up the entire frame of the doorway, dark and menacing. His posture was large and imposing, a giant among them in all aspects. The toothy grin was unsettling, jagged sharp teeth that were a little too white against the backdrop of cold steel and green flames.

"Hello, ghost child," he said as he stooped down, even more intimidating. Before anyone could react, an ectoplasmic net was thrown out onto Danny, and Skulker used the net to drag Danny into the teen's bedroom. The door was shut quickly while the alarmed cries of Tucker and Sam fell on deaf ears. "A human ghost child in its natural habitat." Danny was rolled into an uncomfortable knot of a human pretzel, fear loudly screaming in his eyes.

"Who are you?" Danny asked.

"I am Skulker," the hunter answered, "a collector of things rare and unique. And you, ghost child, are that and more." He slammed down his foot to emphasize his implications, smashing the 2DS that had been knocked down earlier.

"Hey!" Danny shouted, "I had to work a part time job for that!"

"Pity though," Skulker lamented, "I hoped you would have put up more of a fight." He slowly allowed his outstretched hand to tense and curl into a fist. The frustration was made quite clear with the clenching of his jaw, veins somehow popping up along what seemed like the metallic skin.

Defiance replaced the fear that had paralyzed Danny earlier. The personality of his alter ego took effect as he smirked. "Oh don't worry…" The flash of light was quick as the transition took over. Danny Phantom phased out of the ectoplasmic net and quickly floated towards the ceiling in an aggressive attack posture. "I will!"

He reeled back his arm, as he lined up the core of his body and threw the punch at his opponent as hard as possible. There was a loud klang! However, the punch didn't seem to do much. Skulker was pushed back into the opposite side of the bedroom, a slight crash and then crack of plaster at the force of a heavy body being suddenly stilled in motion. Skulker cracked his neck and grinned maniacally as if the hit had been but a slap from a baby. Danny Phantom's eyes narrowed angrily at the hunter.

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Sam beat at the door futilely, trying to kick it open. Tucker gently pushed her aside so that he could try to kick the door in, but it was almost as if there was a protective barrier that prevented any damage from happening. Sam felt a cry of frustration ripped from her throat and she jiggled the knob, desperation welling up in her. Ghost hunting, supernatural things…they were still fairly new to her. The world she, Danny and Tucker had stumbled on was the thing that made kids stay in bed, the nightmares and stories told around the campfire that should never have come to haunt them. While normally, most the opponents were easy for Danny to handle, this new breed of ghost was playing a game that made the hairs on the back of her neck rise and her stomach leap to her throat with the revulsion of what the hunter with green flames and sharp teeth might do to her best friend.

"Oh my God, Tucker," she cried. "That's the ghost from the zoo!"

"Danny?"

She gave a deadpan look to Tucker. "How do you breathe?" She tugged at the door again. "NO! The other guy!"

The door shook violently and another crash sounded. The plaster in the ceiling cracked, dust raining down on them. Tucker gaped at the door, feeling completely helpless. After the severe amount of bullying in junior high, he had become a workout and martial arts fanatic while maintaining his love of all things techno. However, no matter how big and burly and badass he got, he was starting to realize he couldn't be as great an asset as their superhero friend was. Muscle meant nothing against creatures that could phase in and out of physical objects, and lift what was easily ten times their weight. The realization at such a point in time was terrifying and completely overwhelming. Tucker did nothing but continue to stare as Sam still fought to open the door, banging at it with her delicate bones and bruising and breaking the creamy white skin along her hands.

"Helllooo! What's going on up there?" They heard Jazz's irritated call and screeching of her voice from downstairs.

Sam and Tucker dashed for the stairs, desperate to get a hold on some damage control.

"You know, ghost hunting isn't the only thing my parents do, Connie," Jazz directed to the reporter. She had smoothly taken over the conversation and interview without much complaint from her parents. "It's really a side interest. What they're really into is-"

There was an extremely loud crashing and the entire house shook as if an earthquake might be happening (considering they lived in the Midwest, this was highly unlikely due to tectonic plate structure, unless it was the end of the world or Yellowstone erupting). Jack immediately jumped off the couch, a wild gleam in his eyes, sweating profusely.

"Ghost!" he screamed loudly. "Ghost! Ghost! Ghooosstttt!" (Spppooonnn! the author cries like 'The Tick')

Tucker came running down the stairs first, Sam close behind. They slowed as they approached the others in the living room, especially since Jack seemed to be emulating a grizzly bear at this point. Maddie jumped off the couch, her mouth turned to a frown of concern.

"Kids, I need you to get down." Maddie clenched her fists. "There's a ghost in the house!"

Cue dramatic violin music.

Tucker tried to be smooth and said, "There's too much homework for there to be any ghosts around here." When no one seemed to accept that answer as readily, he waved them off and headed off to the kitchen. "I'm going to get some snacks. Pizza rolls all the way, baby!"

"Yeah, way too busy," Sam tried to agree. "Danny's still upstairs." There was another loud crash as if something heavy had been thrown onto the floor. "Uh…lifting weights?"

Jack and Maddie looked at each other, slightly confused. While Danny tended to work out, there weren't necessarily any weights in his room they knew of. "Danny doesn't have any exercise equipment up there," Maddie quipped.

There was another loud crash and a loud yelp. Sam found that she could only shrug meekly.

Tucker had made it into the kitchen with the most recent crash sounded out through the house. The ceiling above caved as Danny Phantom came crashing through with Skulker riding him like a human bobsled. Danny Phantom fell into the dining table with no grace, effectively breaking the metal top in half, landing onto the tiled floor below. He groaned in pain, only able to scoot back and hold up his arms as the ghost hunter ghost loomed overhead, leaning down to peer at what was turning out to be a less than formidable foe.

"Come, ghost boy," Skulker stated. "Time to see your new home." The hunter reached out and grabbed Danny Phantom by the neck, the metal gauntlets so incredibly large that the young superhero was dwarfed by it. They dematerialized and crashed onto the floor of the basement below, Skulker throttling Danny Phantom while Danny Phantom struggled to breathe. "Hush now."

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Tucker's jaw dropped at what had happened, the crash and pass taking maybe ten seconds. The Fenton family, reporter, and Sam rushed into the kitchen. Everyone gazed at the mess of the kitchen table that was cracked in half. Tucker laughed nervously.

"I tripped," he explained. "Maybe I should lay off those pizza rolls?"

"What is going on?" Connie asked, her British accent crisp and annoyed. Her tone showed she was obviously fed up with the sudden, jarring noises.

There was yet another crash.

"Rats in the lab?" Tucker offered weakly.

"Ghost rats!" Jack ran with the explanation and obsessed it into the stratosphere of reasoning, compliments of a humble giant who was possibly mentally touched.

"We'll check it out," Sam said as she grabbed Tucker and they ran past everyone.

"I'd like to learn a little more about this Danny," Connie mused. She walked off towards the stairs, staring at the ceiling pensively.

Jazz said quickly, "Uhh, that might not be such a great idea!"

"I'd like to see what he's doing up there anyway." Maddie ignored her daughter's comment.

"Wait!" Jazz yelled as she ran after her family. Being the oldest child, it was almost as if she was treated as a middle child at times, especially when little brothers and ghosts were mentioned.

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"What are you doing?!" Danny Phantom struggled against the iron grip around his throat. He pulled at the fingers, but they were locked like a vice.

Skulker grinned, his green eyes flaring and eerie with any pupils to offset them. "I'm bringing you back to my world where I can put you on display."

"Oh hell no!" the superhero objected.

Skulker pressed a button on his gauntlet and the ghost portal flared to life. The other side flared with unholy energy, the light and smoke swirling ominously. "At last!" The hunter slammed Danny Phantom down to the ground with a jarring blow. The ghost boy saw black spots dance before his eyes and became limp from the extreme pain. Skulker grabbed him by his hair, the hunter dragging him towards the portal with purpose. "Time to put you in. Your. Cage."

"Nooooo!"

Sam suddenly came tumbling in, slipping to slide in front of the pair, arms stretched out wide. She was trembling visibly, eyes wide and round with terror, but she firmly held her ground. The two men stared at her, slightly confused at her sudden entrance. "No is right Danny!" Her tone caused Skulker to stop. "Cages are wrong! How do you think Sampson feels in a cage?!" Skulker tried to get a 'but' in to no avail. "He's a beautiful animal and deserves to roam free!" She stamped her foot to emphasize her point. The hunter glared at her and started to speak, but she interrupted again, "You should be ashamed!"

The outburst was just the right amount of distraction. Danny Phantom got better leverage on Skulker and was able to swing his body with a perfectly timed kick that hit Skulker square in the jaw and sent him flying across the room. Tucker had just gotten down the stairs. The ghost hunter was headed right towards him. With a particularly unnatural girlish squeal, he scrambled out of the way, narrowly avoiding getting squished by what probably easily weighed at least five hundred pounds. His iPhone went skittering across the floor, surprisingly not shattering upon impact.

Skulker picked up the smartphone, staring at it lovingly. "The iPhone 5. So sleek. So beautiful." He looked at his current equipment mounted to his arm, damaged due to the previous fight and frowned. "I wonder…" He ripped out the old hardware and was able to fit the smartphone into the empty space. Tucker's interjection was cut short as Skulker casually backhanded him back ten feet. Tucker's cheek split open slightly upon impact, a bruise forming on his mocha skin almost immediately and he hissed in pain. "Marvelous."

Ectoplasmic wiring slithered out and hooked into the available ports of the phone. There was a hot, white flash of light that momentarily blinded everyone. When the light cleared, Skulker had a new mini ray of death that was sticking out of his right arm. He gave a Cheshire cat worthy grin and aimed the ray at Danny Phantom, whom flew toward him with raised fists. Energy shot out of the gun and slammed into the young superhero, who was slammed back against the wall. He hands and legs were suddenly bound and he guffawed, surprised.

"Way to go, Tucker." Sam rolled her eyes. "You've just made the bad guy even more bad."

"How the fuck was I supposed to know the cult of Apple is ghost compatible?" Tucker shot back.

"Say goodbye to this world," Skulker said dramatically, and effectively ignoring to two of three stooges, "child!" He slowly pointed his right arm to Danny Phantom, hand clenched into a fist ominously. Suddenly, there was the beginning of the Pokemon theme song that rang from the iPhone in his arm. "What?" He looked at the screen. "Go to the library and grab the old-school style book on mountain silverback gorillas and bring to biology class to show the teacher you're working super hard." A large jetpack suddenly sprouted on his back and his eyes widened in surprise. "Wait!" The jetpack started. "The hunt is not over!"

To avoid crashing into the ceiling, Skulker became intangible, slipping past the Fentons without any real notice (besides the creepy chill vibe that Jack received and scowled at), and slipped out of Fenton Works© and off into the blue sky.

The bonds on Danny Phantom suddenly disappeared. Sam rushed over to him, worriedly checking his wrists and ankles for any injuries, though his healing abilities would have healed any up at this point. She gripped at his gloved hands and looked at him, her eyes shining with worry. He pressed his forehead against hers, his natural body temperature much cooler than hers at the moment. Sam felt her heartbeat speed up and what was now becoming a very annoying blush creep into her cheeks and splash across her chest. He suddenly pulled her into a bone crushing hug, causing her to give a very mousy squeak. However, just as quickly as it happened, it was over and she was back to staring at his luminous green eyes and suddenly found herself licking at her dry lips. His eyes flicked down to the motion and she saw the green go back to blue for a moment before he pulled them both up to stand.

"You okay?" she asked softly.

He cupped her face. "Yeah."

"Danny! Where are you? Somebody wants to meet-cha." A decidedly Minnesota accent popped out at the end as Maddie tried to call out for her son.

"Oh fuck, my room!" Danny yelled and phased out as he flew into his bedroom.

The room was a wreck.

It looked like a scene straight from Home Alone had a frat party with Superbad and jizzed all over itself.

Total chaos.

Danny Phantom became Danny Fenton and there was no time as Maddie cautiously opened the door. "Danny? This is Connie from Genius Magazine!"

"Don't you people ever knock?" Danny asked as he slammed his door shut, pushing Maddie and Connie out. He gulped nervously. "Jazz is going to kill me for that."

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"I'm going to kill him for that."

Connie, not hearing Jazz's comment, mused out loud. "Brooding. Messy. Reclusive? Now those are the signs of a true genius!" She sighed. "Now if only he were a woman."

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The Following Day at Casper High

The three friends made their way up the front steps of the high school. All three appeared completely and utterly exhausted.

Tucker was wearing large gray sweats and a wife beater, sans hat for the first time in a long time, hair shaved close to his head. His eyes were red and bloodshot behind his glasses, cheek still swelled from Skulker's hit and held together with a butterfly bandage. He rubbed at his face and yawned as he pulled a shiny new iPhone out, encased lovingly in an Otterbox. Sam wasn't doing much better. Black yoga pants with a large black t-shirt that stated in plain white letters 'Got Drama?' engulfed her pixy form. The large combat boots and grumpy expression made her a terrifying pixy though, hair pulled back in a messy bun and an oversized white scarf so that she could dip her head and hide when necessary. Danny completed the insomniac looking group with jeans and a dark hoodie, his hair sticking out at odd angles and gorgeous blue eyes that were rimmed with red.

"Any sign of him?" Danny asked nervously, cautiously taking his hood off.

Tucker looked around a moment. "Nope. New streak. Thirty-eight minutes now," he said as he looked back down to his smartphone.

"How many of those things do you have?" Sam asked suspiciously.

"Just two," Tucker answered. "Good thing I have a spare. I was able to get all your info from the cloud. Global thinking Danny!" He tapped at his forehead. "The sign of a quality time manager!" A reminder popped up on screen to go to class. He slapped Danny on the back, who was too tired to glare at his large chocolate colored friend for the sudden invasion of the personal bubble. "Come on! You're late!"

The three of them ran inside as the bell for first period rang.

Unknown to them, Skulker lurked invisibly out of Danny's ghost sense range. The hunter growled.

"Soon, ghost child. Soon."

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Third period: Just before lunch

The class bell rang and the trio shuffled out of English. Sam and Tucker followed Danny to his locker, wearily glancing around the hallway as it emptied out. The next period bell rang, but they were loathe to make their way to class. Danny fiddled with his lock for a moment before getting the combination right and opened the door. A fraction of a second later, the telltale blue mist leaked from his mouth and he barely had time to gasp as ectoplasmic chains burst from his locker and slammed him back against the opposing row, completely trapped.

"Danny!" Sam screamed. She ran towards the fight, but Tucker held her back, afraid of what might happen next. She struggled. "Tuck! Let me go!"

A burst of hellish, supernatural fire flurried in and when it cleared, Skulker was bent over Danny, large metal hands outstretched to grab the young man. The hunter smirked.

"I have you now child!" Another stylish death ray came out of the supertech arm. The Pokemon theme song started again (not the show, the original game you uncultured swine, you!) and Skulker raised the arm with the iPhone in it. "Go to newsstand and get the magazine with the article about Sampson and silverback gorillas." The jetpack sprang from his back again and he was flown away without any control.

"I have the same thing on mine," Tucker mused.

"I think we'll blow that one off," Danny said as he rubbed his arms. The chains had disappeared when Skulker had, the hunter's powers gone. "Let's go to the Sanctuary. I don't want to sit in the cafeteria today."

The Sanctuary, as it turned out, happened to be a section of bleachers at the football field. The lowest of the low went there, the non-verbal agreement it was the only place within high school grounds where less than savory things happened. From huffing paint to underage sex behind the pallets, it all happened there and with no judgment from any that entered. With this in mind, Sam, Danny and Tucker decided to sit on the bleachers that housed the Sanctuary for a little more privacy than normal. Tucker say down with a roast beef sandwich and fries, practically inhaling his food. Sam gave herself a little bit of a cheat day and got sushi. While vegetarian, she allowed herself fish at least once a week for the dose of protein. With the way the week was going, she was going to be on a salmon and tuna kick for the rest of it.

"Come on Danny…" Sam held up a dragon roll. "Eat something?" she asked. "It's good. Try it, I know you love them."

Danny shook his head. "I can't Sam. He could be anywhere."

Tucker stopped chewing and grinned as he reached for Danny's food that was left on the bleachers untouched. "Welllll….this food was scheduled to be eaten. I can take care of it for ya buddy."

Upon opening the can of soda, an ectoplasmic nightmare of possible tentacle porn was unleashed on Danny's face. The young man screamed in pain at the electric shocks he received, clawing at his face. Skulker landed heavily on the bleachers. Before he could speak, the Pokemon theme song came to life and the jet pack started up again. The tentacles disappeared.

So anticlimactic this time.

"Whelp, at least he's regular," Sam joked.

Danny's sleep deprived glaze was suddenly cleared and he gazed at Sam. "Yeah, almost like a schedule!" He grinned. "What's the next thing you got for me Tucker?"

Tucker peered at his phone. "Uhmm gym. Why?"

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Gym class, last class of the day

Dash toweled his wet hair dry in the locker room, another towel slung low on his hips. Water dripped down his admittedly stunning physique of tall stature and six pack abs. As he walked past the mirror, he couldn't help but give into his mentally degrading narcissism and struck a pose.

"You are one smooth looking dude," he told himself out loud. He flexed his biceps. "Just one hell of a sexy motherfucker."

Danny rolled his eyes as he walked past and went to his locker. Before turning the knob, he looked to Dash. "Hey Dash?" he called out. "I'm too weak and defenseless to open my locker, could you do it for me?" Even though Danny was about the same height as Dash, though noticeably lankier, years of bullying made Dash think he was the biggest man in high school.

"Out of the way asshole," Dash said as he shoved Danny to the side. He opened the locker, which started glowing blue. "The fuck?"

Suddenly, Dash was blasted with ectoplasmic goo that pushed him across the room, then trapped in a breathable bubble and immediately blindfolded by it. Skulker flew to his prize and frowned. "My sensors indicate you are an average human, destined for an average life after high school." Dash screamed, the noise muffled by the good. Skulker looked behind him to see Tucker and Danny peering at him defensively. He leaned back and aimed a weapon, "I shall!—"

Cue Pokemon theme song.

"Visit the gorilla exhibit at the museum of natural history?" He sighed as his jet pack flew him away, shoulders slumping in defeat.

Tucker and Danny stood, high fiving each other in congratulations.

"Holy shit!" Tucker exclaimed. "I get it. When Skulker took my iPhone and meshed it with his crazy ghost technology, he got your schedule. He's totally bound to it and he has no idea how to fix it."

"Which means, it's time for the hunter to become the hunted." Danny's alter persona slipped through with a sexy sly grin. He checked the schedule that said to visit the gorilla habitat one last time and handed the iPhone to Tucker. "C'mon. Gonna go do something a little ahead of schedule."

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Evening. Amity Park Zoo

Through the lens of a cutting edge night time pair of binoculars, the magnificent gorilla scratched his ass. Skulker shifted in the tree branch he was perched on.

"Where is he?"The question was low, gravelly and menacing. Skulker peered at the iPhone. "According to this infernal device, WHICH I CANNOT REPORGRAM! The ghost boy was supposed to be here an hour ago." Pupil-less green eyes narrowed with anger. He jumped down into the exhibit that held Sampson and glared at what was a very oblivious gorilla. "You were supposed to be the bait!" This was directed at the gorilla that still had not turned. "You stupid animal!"

"Sampson is NOT stupid!" Sam yelled as she turned around in the gorilla suit with Tucker holding it up for her.

"Sampson is also not here," Tucker boomed. He held up his iPhone. "Can I take a message?"

"You two!" Skulker roared. He stepped back, allowing several missile heat seeking devices to come into play and stood tall to have his chest puffed out and extra menacing. "You'll pay for this!"

Tucker threw off what was now revealed to be a terrible theater department gorilla mascot suit. He grinned and pointed his iPhone at Skulker. "Oh I don't think so," and pressed 'send' on the smartphone.

'Bum da dum….bum dada dum!'

Skulker peered at his iPhone. "Time for push-ups?" Unfortunately, much of Skulker's hulking, ghostly form was covered in protective metal gear for his hunting purposes. Much of this gear was connected via neurotransmitters which was also hooked up to his main input system on his arm, which had been hijacked by the now poorly thought of replaced iPhone. He yelled out in disbelief, "No, no, noooo!" as his body was thrown down to perform repetitive push-ups. "Stop! Stop! I can't stop!"

"I can help with that!"

Danny Phantom flew into the cage, smirking as he headed towards a helpless Skulker.

Punch!

The mighty hunter was hit back and slammed up against the metal bars of the cage. He groaned dazedly, only to look up at see Danny Phantom headed straight for him at super speed. The superhero laid on another punch! And another!

And another.

One more for good measure.

Actually, one more super good and awesome cool punch was given just because. However, this punch went wild as Skulker dodged it. The ghost hunter aimed his guns at Danny Phantom.

"Nuh-uh uh," Tucker said. He quickly input another command. "Polish armor. Go!"

Skulker could only watch in horror as for whatever reason, a large buffer popped out of his armor and began to polish at the breastplate and his face with terrifying speed. The hunter was pushed back by the buffer, screaming in agony.

Sam looked to Tucker, who was watching the beating with a grin and punched him in the arm. "Stop fucking around Tucker."

"Power down his armor!" Danny Phantom cried out. "NOW!"

"Relax," Tucker said as he went to input the command. "Everything is—" A stray arrow whizzed by and shattered the iPhone, Tucker's hand sliced open in the process. He screamed in pain as he tried to stem the flow of blood, dropping the iPhone on the ground. Skulker held an old fashioned longbow, grinning triumphantly. "Sonofawhore! There is no way Apple will accept my insurance claim. FUCK!"

"Tucker, you're fired."

"Very well," Skulker said as he put the longbow away. "I had simply planned on capturing you and letting you live the rest of your life in a cage. But now…" he stalked towards the superhero. "I will rest your pelt at the foot of my bed!" Sam made a face that looked akin to someone about to throw up. Skulker now stood in front of the boy with a long spear, pulled back to throw true, heat seeking missiles on standby. "Well ghost boy…any last words?"

"Just this," Danny Phantom said.

He began to dance and groove very strangely, as well as what looked like several obscene gestures, the last of which involved an ass scratch.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

The superhero gave a sexy sly grin. "Calling a friend."

With sudden ferocity and speed, Sampson came falling from the trees, fists raised in gorilla fury. Its habitat invaded, the gorilla attacked Skulker before the ghost had any real time to react. Sampson assaulted with speed and strength, the hunter now defending against the large hands and feet. The high schoolers cheered as the fight slowly went downhill with Skulker merely trying to protect himself from further harm. The teenagers slowly stopped cheering and started groaning in sympathy at the beating the hunter was taking as Sampson clawed and bit at the armor, ripping wiring out of any available surface. It was with one particular act of strength that the gorilla then tore at Skulker's arm. The hunter howled in agony as the limb was separated from his body. Green blood spewed into the air as his arm was severed in such a fashion from his body. Sampson beat him a few times with the now free limb before huffing and walking away, the threat effectively dealt with.

"Holy shit," Sam whispered.

They looked at the ruin of Skulker in front of them, the hulking behemoth reduced to a withering mess. Whimpering, he dragged himself to his arm, grabbing hold of it and placing the limb where it used to be. With his other hand shaking, he put it over the large rip. There was a brilliant flash of light and an unearthly scream. Skulker passed out onto the ground, his limb now reattached. Danny Phantom raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Thermos please," Danny Phantom said.

Tucker pointed the Fenton Thermos© at their defeated foe and let loose the line of blue light. Skulker's unconscious form was quickly sucked into the small container and Tucker quickly capped it, making sure it was locked down and mindful of his injured hand that had hastily been wrapped with a torn strip of cloth off his shirt.

"Time to go home." Danny Phantom quickly became Danny Fenton, exhaustion from the hectic week setting in. Sam went to go support him, but he waved her off, determined to get back to his now own sense of normality as soon as possible.

"But you didn't get anything you could use for your report," Sam protested. "You're still gonna get the D."

Danny chuckled and blushed a little as he bent down to retrieve Tucker's iPhone. "Ehhh, that's okay. We stopped the bad guy, saved the gorilla, and if that's all I got done that's all—HOLY FUCK IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS?!" Danny screamed as Sampson walked over to him with what was now quite obvious a gorilla boner that wanted to give someone the D.

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The following week at Casper High

Danny entered biology class, whistling happily, and handed the latest issue of Genius Women's Bi-Yearly Magazine to his teach, Mr. Evrett. The man was in his mid-thirties, small and wiry with a scruffy beard and oversized spectacles. He thanked the Fenton boy and flipped right away to the article that he had been told of almost immediately would be in the issue before it even went to print, the reason Danny Fenton held an A in AP bio that was sure to be placed on his transcript. When class settled, the teacher cleared his throat so that all would look at him. He waved the magazine in the air.

"Listen up kids, we have an interesting article to read today, thanks to our very own Danny Fenton." Once more, Mr. Evrett cleared his throat and began to read. "Brooding genius Daniel Fenton did what no other researcher in Amity Park dared to do: Got close enough to the rare mountain silverback gorilla to realize Sampson was actually a Delilah." He sighed and put the magazine down. "And this children, is why we must constantly question and challenge information presented for us. Because people are stupid enough to believe that the silverback gorilla was in fact female while normal evidence states the contrary, especially among physical examination."

"Maybe they were respecting her privacy," Danny suggested.

"Either way, if you're crazy enough to risk death by gorilla, you pass," Evrett said. He started the smart board up, grabbing his pointer to start the presentation. "Now today, we're going to define active and passive transport, as well as what osmosis is…"

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The bell rang and class ended. Sam and Danny decided to ditch: class as well as Tucker. The techno geek of a friend left to attend English with Mr. Lancer alone, very off put and angry that his two best friends would leave without informing him. However, Tucker had a feeling that their relationship as a trio was changing, and had no idea what to do in order to stop it. Their sexuality had already budded several years back and while they all had their own certain experiences that brought them to such maturity, none of them had crossed the line of friendship with each other. Now, Tucker was beginning to realize what an attractive young woman Sam had become, and he was well aware of the feelings Danny had for their female friend. However, he found himself unable to truly care about Danny's feelings. The young man had a long time to make a move and time was up.

These musings were suddenly cut short as Lancer called out on him to answer the question posed on the board and Tucker groaned.

Meanwhile, Danny and Sam had made their way to the Sanctuary at the football fields, giggling as they sat down together on one of the pallet chairs that had been constructed by the stoner kids, which was surprisingly sturdy. They were lucky, alone at this time of the day, which was very surprising. There were usually at least one or two more students that always seemed to be hanging around. However, they didn't want to look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth, and Danny held out his arms for Sam so that she could snuggle up to him while she picked out a movie on her tablet.

"So what contribution to humanity will we be watching?" Danny asked, discreetly inhaling Sam's perfume as her ear practically tickled his lips. "Blackfish? Some other environmentally correct documentary revealing the cruelties of man?"

"Ha ha, very funny." Sam rolled her eyes. While she did get a little extremist at times, Sam was pretty tame compared to most environmentalists, keeping much of her need for conservation to herself if the audience wasn't willing to listen. "I was thinking more along the lines of horror movies. The Conjuring? Still haven't seen it yet."

Danny pulled her a little closer as she got it started. "Well, if you don't mind being a scaredy cat."

"I am not!" Sam laughed and let herself be further enveloped by her best friend, a line that was getting harder to define as time went on. She burrowed into the sweatshirt he had loaned her. "Besides, we can see how much gets the Ghost World correct, right?"

Danny relaxed. "You know, I don't even want to think about it right now. I just want to sit here with you and watch a movie." She looked up at him, but his smile showed her that he had no anger over what was going on in his life, just the fact that he was grateful to be near her for the time being. His gaze suddenly changed and his eyes darkened with something she wasn't ready to put a name to yet, and she felt her cheeks heat up under such scrutiny. "You're my best friend, Sam. You mean a lot to me."

His hand came up and his thumb brushed along her lips. She felt her breath hitch, but then his touch was gone. The confidence of what she knew was Danny Phantom in that moment was gone, replaced with the persona of shy eight grade Danny Fenton suddenly aware he was no longer that young, gawky youth, but a young man of seventeen. The sudden realization was overwhelming and he chickened out on the move he was about to make and Sam was helpless to reciprocate. With Danny it was simple and too complicated all at once. He had been her friend for so long, for all these years, and yet she couldn't seem to stand up and declare her feelings. They could have sleepovers and laugh over terrible movies and cheese pizza and trash talk on Xbox Live, but God help her if she could have an intimate moment with the man without feeling that delicious heat pool in her stomach and cause her brain to shut down.

Instead of crossing the line of their friendship and into something amazing yet equally terrifying, they both played it safe with more than friendly touches and glances and kept it at that.

Just a ghost of want brought to life.

If only for moments at a time.

To Be Continued…

AN: So I ended this episode wwaaayyyy differently from what originally happened. Why, you may ask? Because I refused to believe badass scary motherfucking Skulker is that itty bitty ghost in a totally metal suit. We never see it acknowledged again. I call bullshit. I want Skulker to be a terrifying 7 foot tall monstrosity. We see him again and will probably happen a few times over just because. That dude will stay badass the way he was first presented. And then also, I want more angst and Danny/Sam action that we never seemed to get until ridiculously later. Yeah, this is the start of the push that will soon turn to smut.

Ahahahaha don't hate me. That's all I can say. Unfortunately, my muse ran away. It was replaced with my child, 17+ credit hours attending college to finish some degree that pertains to where I work now, working 40 hours/week, getting engaged and currently planning a wedding this fall, as well as semi-pro gaming and throwing myself into the terribly dark world of cosplay to boot. There are no excuses. I can at least admit that. However, I also come through with my promise that any episodes that are more than one chapter in length will always be published within a day or two of each other. Trust me, the first part of this episode was written last year, but I was loathe to publish it without this additional chapter. I was terrified to end off a cliffie, and I hate cliffies as much as I hate authors who disappear without any word of updates (so yes, I hate myself some days).

I understand what it's like to refresh a story, to wait with bated breath, only to be informed of no update. Trust me, I have several fanfics I am reading that are like that (I'll admit it, I bought the pro version of the fanfic app. The only time I actually bought an app, I should add and totally worth it), and I am terribly sorry for the pain I make people endure that become emotionally invested in anything I have ever written. However, as we authors do this for no profit and the love of a fandom, it's understandable. Life happens. It gets in the way. There is no paycheck there to hold my muse hostage and prevent her from flying away. So it is with a heavy heart that I warn any who love this story to endure more heartache. I will be looking at the next episode this weekend, but I can't make guarantees of an update. However, I'm not necessarily looking forward to episode 4. How big of a deal would it be for everyone if I just skipped to episode 5? Seriously…I thought episode 4 was a total waste of space, especially being so early on in the season. I'd really prefer to get some of that semi-love triangle action going on…and just more Sam/Danny moments to make you rip your hair out. So really….I NEED THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS. KEEP EPISODE 4 or MOVE TO EPISODE 5? And if I move on, then episode 5 is named episode 4 and so on? Perhaps. Eh. We'll see.

Send me the love and for those who get to read this update after all this time and still support me, it's you that I did this for.

Ciao.

P.S. I still don't proofread these suckers. My bad.

P.P.S. I get tons of follows/favorites but no reviews?! C'mon – and to the person that was disappointed in lack of sex, that's what Tumblr is for!