31DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN DANNY PHANTOM
Late one evening in a small remote village, a traveler made his way towards the Salty Spittoon Inn and Tavern. A favorite hangout for local thugs, lowlifes, and bounty hunters. Inside the dregs of society were either getting drunk, hitting on women, or fighting in brawls. In other words, business as usual. Just then all the rucks ceased for a second as this stranger entered the premise. He was a young man probably in his early twenties, his clothes were worn out and dirty with a medium sized travel bag, but his most distinguishable feature was this large over-sized sword strapped to his back. Ignoring the fact that practically everyone there was marking him, he sat himself at the bar.
"So what can I get for you stranger?' the inn keeper asked as he spat into a glass and wiping it down.
"Water please, and in a clean glass," the man requested placing two copper coins on the table.
"That's an odd request," the inn keeper noted, placing the glass that he was 'cleaning' on the table and filling it with dirty water. "Any thing else?"
"Yes, do you have a vacancy? I need a room for the night." the man asked pushing the glass of water away.
"I do, but it's gonna cost you 50 copper pieces per night." the inn keeper told him.
"50," the man sighed sadly looking at a near empty money bag. "Listen I don't have much money now but I give you my word that I will be able to pay." the man begged. Before the inn master could respond three men approached the stranger from behind.
"Oh you poor pathetic traveler short on cash. How about you sell us that fancy sword of yours for 50 copper." the one in the middle threatened licking his lips.
"Sorry, this sword is important to me, but thanks for the offer." the man said calmly.
"Why you insolent! Do you know who I am? I'm Big Bubba!" the middle thug identified himself. The other patrons began backing away, knowing what's coming.
"Nice to meet you," the man said sounding unimpressed. "Question, do you have a bounty on your head?"
"Indeed, I have a 300 gold coin bounty dead or alive!" Big Bubba boasted directing everyone's attention to the wanted posters on the wall. 300 gold bounty is an impressive amount, but too low for him to be a wizard. Most likely Big Bubba is a gang leader that's been terrorizing the area.
"Inn keeper, it looks like I will be getting that money sooner than I expected," the man grinned.
"YOU DARE MOCK ME!" Big Bubba screamed drawing out his sword. Just then, faster than the eye can follow, the stranger grabbed a nearby fork and flung it at Big Bubba, hitting him square in the throat! The tavern was silent as Big Bubba dropped down dead, impaled by a simple fork. Seeing their leader downed so quickly and easily, the other two ran out of there as fast as they could. A second later everyone went back to their regular business.
"I would like a plate of your beef stew and a room for the night. You can use his bounty as payment." the man suggested. The inn keeper shrugged as he prepared a plate. After all these sort of deaths are rather common in his establishment, but this is the first time anyone paid with a dead body. As the man waited for his meal, two other guys approached him.
"Excuse me, but I believe you owe us an apology!" one of them demanded.
"Excuse me?" the man asked in confusion.
"Big Bubba!" the other screamed. He was our bounty and you stole him!"
"I see," the man said calmly. Judging by their outfits, these two men were low level bounty hunter. They never go after wizards and focus mainly on criminals. Doubtful they ever gone after anyone who's bounty is over 100 gold pieces. "Well if you want, you can claim his bounty. All I ask that you pay for my room and dinner." the man offered. The bounty hunters took time to consider it. The room and meal would total about 55 coppers. A mere pocket change for a 300 gold bounty. A reasonable trade, but for some reason, it irritated the bounty hunters.
"You insult us sir!" The bounty hunters reached for their weapons, when a small bag filled with coins landed on the bar.
"Please allow me to resolve this situation and pay for this gentleman's meal," a mysterious voice offered. They all turned to see a tall muscular man with an eye patch. "Long time no see Ghost."
"Bullet!" the man sneered. "And the name's Danny!"
"Bullet," the bounty hunters gulped. "As in one of the Sanctuary's top enforcers and Walker's right hand man!"
"Never mind that, didn't you hear him! He called him Ghost!" the other bounty hunter cringed.
"Ghost? As in the Grey Ghost! And we almost picked a fight with him!" the first hunter cowered.
Bullet smiled a threatening smile at the two low life bounty hunters. "I've agreed to pay for his meal, so why don't you two just skedaddle," Bullet advised. Not needing to be told twice, the two bounty hunters started to drag Big Bubba's body away. "Well Danny I see that your just as sharp as ever. Inn keeper a round of ale for me and my friend." Bullet ordered taking a seat next to Danny. The inn keeper arrived with the food and drinks, along with Danny's room key.
"What do you want Bullet?" Danny said as he ate his food.
"To offer you a job of course. There's a difficult witch in the area and I can use a man of your skills to well you know. There's a lot of coin in it for you. Consider this as a down payment." Bullet offered sliding a small box in Danny's direction.
"Sorry not interested," Danny said sternly. "Why don't you send some of your goon squad to hunt her down."
"I did, and none have returned," Bullet said seriously.
Danny could where this is going. While Bullet is not above sending Hunters to their deaths, if he loses too many then he might lose his standings in Sanctuary. But hiring someone else, someone who could actually succeed will be beneficial to him. "Well why don't you just ask Valerie? I'm sure she'll take the job and your money."
"I did, she's one of the hunters that disappeared." Bullet informed him. Danny dropped his spoon in shock of this news. He was silent for a few seconds before he broke out in laughter.
"You really had me going there for a second," Danny laughed, wiping a tear from his eye.
"No joke," Bullet insisted.
"Well even if you are serious, and I don't think you are, I'm out of the game and no amount of money will ever convince me otherwise!" Danny got up, grabbed his room key, and walked away. Leaving behind Bullet, the package, and his half eaten plate right there.
"He'll come around," Bullet said confidently. "Inn keeper, give me another round of ale."
Up in his room, Danny placed his giant sword next to his bed. Laying down he stared up at the ceiling. 'Ghost' It's been a long time since anyone has called him that. Not since he and Valerie went their separate ways about 2 years ago to be exact; and 5 years since he first took that name after leaving his home of Amity Park to pursue the wizard Vlad Masters after he stole the Ring of Rage. Danny couldn't help but recall the day they started on this journey together. Of course Valerie wasn't stupid enough to bring an untrained boy to hunt down such a dangerous wizard armed with a powerful Relic right from the get go! No, instead she took him out into the wilderness for 1 year survival training and regular training. During that time (which Danny affectionately calls the Year of Agony) Valerie taught him the basics of hunting and tracking. Which Danny took up rather quickly. (even though it took him 3 months to tell the difference between a squirrel in the bushes and the wind in the trees) But those skill will prove to save his life on more than one occasion. (plus it would also determine whether or not he would have anything to eat) In addition that all that, she also taught him advanced fighting styles (both armed and unarmed) and a basic use of Hunter's tools and weapons. Next to the sword his favorite weapon is the gauntlet with the spring loaded switchblade and cable launcher.
After one year of training, they then began the hunt, which proved to be more difficult than anticipated. Unlike most other wizards that obtain Relics, Vlad Masters did not set up his own kingdom. Nor has there been any word of a new and powerful wizard rising in the world. It just seemed that he just disappeared off the face of the Earth taking the Ring of Rage with him as well. At first they thought that he might have been killed, but then why hasn't the ring resurfaced on who ever killed him? Then they thought that maybe Vlad got buried somewhere with the ring. While that seems plausible, it's unlikely. So the hunt continues until they can confirm that Vlad is dead or until they locate the ring. It was in the first few weeks of the hunt that Danny learned the hardships of a Hunter. Their equipment, while impressive and powerful, were very expensive and prone to breaking. Heck his gauntlet alone costs more than his old full body armor back home and he has to repair it about 5 times a month! Not only that but they also needed to pay off informants, bribe officials, and buy food and shelter. Not wanting to attract too much attention to themselves, they simply hunted down wanted criminals for money; but even so they didn't make enough to finance their mission. Out of desperation, Danny finally agreed to take on contracts. Thanks to Valerie's negotiation skills, (taught to her by Skulker) they manage to take on some high paying jobs. Mainly escort duty, bodyguard, and occasionally hit jobs. As their success grew so did their reputation. And because they wore the same hunting outfit, most people mistakenly thought that Grey and Ghost were one and the same, so ended up being called the Grey Ghost. Which helped give them the element of surprise over their targets. Things were going great until one day Danny found out that some or rather a lot of the contracts were from crime lords! Naturally Danny confronted Valerie about this, but she merely justified it by saying that they need the money. Danny couldn't argue with that, but working with criminals goes against his code of honor so he leaves her. Valerie didn't do or say anything to try and get him to stay, and that hurts him most of all!
Off on his own, Danny discovered just how unprepared he was for this life. Without Valerie's connections he had buy replacement parts mainly from the black-markets. Most of the time they were either second hand or poor quality, often breaking after a couple of uses. Even worst, without her intel he had no idea how to find Vlad. All he had to go on are rumors and hearsay, most proved to be a dead end. On more than one occasion he felt like giving up and heading back home to Amity Park, but of course his pride and honor wouldn't allow him to quit! So the hunt continues, which is why he's here in this run down old town. He heard rumors that the local witch named Spectra was one of the last people to have met with Vlad Masters. As far as he could tell Spectra is a mid level wizard with no special abilities. Normally Danny would already be wary of her, but after what he said about other Hunters including Valerie got him really worried. If this witch can take down Grey then Ghost might be in over his head, especially since all of his gear was junk.
*KNOCK*KNOCK*KNOCK*
The sound of someone knocking on his door broke his train of though. Getting up Danny answered the door to find one of the waitress there. "May I help you?" Danny asked.
"The master said you left this," the waitress said handing him the box that Bullet tried to give him.
"That belongs to the other guy I was with," Danny said.
"He said it was a gift," the waitress responded nervously.
Danny couldn't help but suspect that Bullet must have intimidated her in some fashion, so he graciously accepted it to give her peace of mind. After carefully examining the package for booby traps, Danny cautiously open it. Inside he found springs, screws, and a bunch of other spare parts. All top of the line stuff, most likely from Sanctuary. Everything that he needed to repair his equipment. "Bullet you sly dog," Danny scoffed, but feeling a bit worried that Bullet knew exactly what he needed. Reaching for his sword, he opened the secret compartment revealing the power source for his special blade: The Crown of Fire! One of if not the most dangerous Relic of all. For reasons unknown (magic is funny that way) Danny discovered that he has the ability to control the crown's fire even when he's not wearing it. So long as it's near his person. Naturally he didn't need the fancy tech to use the blade's power since he could just the crown's power directly; but he needed this deception to help keep the crown's location a secret. As far as everyone knew the Crown of Fire is still buried somewhere; and his sword (now dubbed Striker) is just another one of Sanctuary's fancy toys. Using Bullet's 'gift' Danny quickly repaired his gear and took out his grayish color hunting suit out of his bag. After getting dressed he then walked over to the window. "Sorry Bullet I'm not taking your job, but I do have business with Spectra! Let's go Striker!" Danny then jumped out the window and ran off.
Inside the tavern Bullet was still guzzling down his ale, when off the corner of his eye he spotted a gray figure in the window heading towards Spectra's mansion. "Predictable as always," Bullet grinned finishing his drink. "Inn keeper another round ale! I'm celebrating!"