Author's Note: Well, this is my first multi-chapter fanfic on this site since I finished "I Guess You Had to Be There"... wish me luck.

The Trap

Danny really hated it when he lost track of Skulker. It usually meant the hunter ghost was laying a trap somewhere. He'd have to be extra cautious.

"Now, if I were a messed up ghost who wanted to mount someone's pelt on a wall, where would I hide?" Danny asked himself, scanning the surrounding buildings, looking carefully in the shadows the streetlights cast on the cloudy, starless night.

He finally caught some movement out of the corner of his eye, something had slipped behind a billboard advertizing the new milkshakes at the Nasty Burger. The ghost boy shot a quick ectoblast under the sign; he was trying not to cause too much collateral damage tonight.

Not to his surprise, Skulker gave a quick grunt of pain before phasing through the billboard and returning Danny's fire. The teenager easily blocked them with a shield.

"Well, Skulker, I know your brute force and 'hunter's skill' hasn't succeeded in catching me yet, but somehow I doubt weaker, more obvious attacks will work either." He taunted.

"I don't expect a whelp like you to understand my tactics." Skulker replied moodily before flying down into an abandoned building.

"Holing yourself up in there isn't going to help you!" Danny shouted as he gave chase, phasing through the wall. He was surprised to find Skulker standing right there with some sort of potato launcher pointed straight at him.

"Of course it won't." Skulker quipped, launching a volley of green goop before Danny could do more than raise his hands up to protect his face. The goo stuck to the ghost boy's hands like a giant slimy green Chinese finger trap.

"This new trap, on the other hand," The hunter continued "Is working wonderfully."

The halfa tried to phase through the stuff, but of course, it didn't work. He hadn't really expected it too, but hey, you never know when the baddies might forget the obvious. He quickly jumped out of the way before Skulker could fire another round of the ecto-goo, trying to fire a ghost-ray from his palm in mid-air. The goop just absorbed it, briefly glowing green, but not disintegrating or even showing signs of breaking down.

"Ok, so hand blasts are out." Danny said, "Good thing I've still got plenty of kick!" He swept his leg under Skulker, tripping the large ghost.

Danny flew out of the building at top speed. He knew that wouldn't keep Skulker down for more than a second.

He tried once again to pull his hands out of the green glob of goo, but it stuck fast. It was like he'd gotten them stuck in some giant wad of gum. This was bad. He kind of needed his hands, not just for fighting, he could fight alright with just kicking and eye-beams, but for operating the Fenton Thermos and his parents' other ghost-hunting tech. Heck, how was he going to take notes in school, or read a book or…"

"Oh, duh." Danny would've slapped his forehead if his hands were free. The stuff was obviously meant for ghosts. It may have been a problem for Danny Phantom, but Danny Fenton should be able to slip right out of it!

He landed in the alley beside his house and changed back to human form. The goo was still there after the change. Danny pulled. Still there, still stuck. Of course. Skulker had designed it specifically for halfas. Great.

Speaking of Skulker, the hunter had located his prey and fired another volley of goo into the alley-way. Danny ducked behind a dumpster for cover and phased through the wall into the living room. He dashed up the stairs to grab (well, not literally) his Recaller.

Yes, the Nicktoons' Recaller. A device invented by Jimmy Neutron that allowed him to travel between the universes of his friends. It was useful for slipping away when things got hectic at home, or for getting a little extra help when a really problematic ghost reared its ugly head. Danny couldn't seem to get the goo off on his own, but he knew someone who'd be able to remove it in the blink of an eye, just like magic.

He soon remembered he had a little problem. With his hands bound in the green goop, pressing the buttons to operate the device would be tricky. Danny finally got the Recaller to work by using his toes and getting creative. He set the coordinates for Dimsdale, but glanced outside before opening the portal. Skulker was still waiting outside, confident that his prey would have to leave the house sooner or later. Danny couldn't just leave the ghost there. His parents would get quite… over-excited if they found the ghost staking out their house, and they'd only get more excited when they figured out he was hunting their son. Better lead him away now and avoid the whole fiasco.

The ghost boy turned back into his ghost form, tucked the Recaller under his arm, and flew out the wall. Unsurprisingly, Skulker was waiting and ready, shooting another fountain of goop that the teen ghost only narrowly avoided. The two flew at high speeds over the network of streets until Danny suddenly dived into the park, hiding in a stand of trees. Before Skulker could follow, he opened the portal to Dimsdale and stepped in, leaving the baffled hunter behind.

Seconds Later in Dimsdale

Timmy Turner was enjoying summer vacation by forgetting as much scholarly information as he could and replacing it with the latest saga of the Crimson Chin. The boy in the pink hat was unfazed by the portal that opened up in his room.

"Cosmo, did you invite Sheen over without telling us again?" He asked his green-eyed goldfish.

"Uh, I don't think so," the disguised fairy replied, "But then again, I do have the memory span of a gold… wait, what was the question?"

Danny Phantom stepped out of the portal, breathless and looking a little worse for wear.

"Danny? What're you doing here? What happened to your arms, and why aren't you wearing shoes?" Timmy asked. Wanda poofed up a new pair for the teen.

"Sorry to drop in unannounced, but I've gotten myself into a bit of a… uh… sticky situation." Danny chuckled at his own pun. He explained how Skulker had sprung a trap on him. "I've tried getting it off on my own, but I haven't made any progress. Do you think Cosmo and Wanda could magic it off?"

"I don't know Danny; ghost stuff tends to be pretty resistant to magic." Wanda warned him.

"Hey, it's worth a shot!" Timmy said optimistically, "I wish the green goo Danny's trapped in was gone."

The fairies waved their wands, but the goop just absorbed the magical energy.

"Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained." Cosmo said simply.

Danny groaned. "There's got to be some way to get rid of it. Maybe if I build up enough of a blast it'll…" He trailed off, feeding as much energy as he could into an ectoblast between his trapped hands. The goo glowed green as it absorbed the energy. Danny closed his eyes and pushed for more power, tried to break the bonds through sheer force.

"Uh, Danny…" Timmy poked the older boy in the back.

"What?" the halfa asked through gritted teeth, all his concentration on building up the ectoblast.

"Look!"

Danny opened his eyes and notice that the goop was growing and climbing further up his arms. It was almost up to his elbows now. He gasped and quickly stopped the charge.

"Ok, don't think I should try that again."

"Your parents are ghost experts; wouldn't they be able to find a way to get it off?" Wanda asked.

Danny imagined how his parents would react to the situation.

"Don't worry Danny," Jack Fenton said confidently, placing a hand on his son's shoulder, "We'll get that gunk off you!" He then stuck a great big electrode into the goop and ran out of the lab. "CLEAR!"

A charge of electricity shot out of the electrode, leaving Danny fried and the goop untouched.

"Oh, I could have sworn that would work!" Maddie sighed. "Don't worry sweetie, we can still try the acid."

"I… think we should leave that as a… last resort." Danny stammered. "Besides, I bet Jimmy could get it off with his scientific knowledge."

Timmy and his fairies just shrugged. "Alright, it's your problem; you decide how to fix it." The boy in the pink hat said.

Author's Note:

I've had this idea for a long, long time. It originally came up while I was writing Two much of a Good Thing as a sub-plot for a potential sequel. Sequel never worked out, but this idea stuck.

I debated a long time whether I wanted this story, nay, this whole continuity of stories that I'm planning, would be pre or post Phantom Planet. I finally decided on post, as it gives me new grounds to explore, rather than the usual business that's already been explored a lot on the original show.

Hope you enjoy and review!