I'm Humanity's Last Hope, But My Hot Arch Enemy Came to My Balcony?

For Phicc Phight

Dan Phantom had disappeared two years ago after he was a hair's breath away from destroying the last of humanity. The anti-Ghost shield was destroyed, and their weapons were useless against him. The last thing Valerie Gray saw was a younger Phantom with Sam and Tucker alive and fighting. Then she woke up in the hospital, with her father at her bedside, praying. Much like the citizens of Amity Park, who huddled up in their homes, praying for Dan's wrath to be quick and painless. And many believe someone had answered their call, for in the disbelief and silence Amity Park rebuilt itself once again. A new shield was erected, and life moved on for those who survived, leaving those like Valerie Gray behind, wishing to be rid of the gory past. But how could she let go when she knew he was going to come back, and when it came to Phantom, she was never wrong.

"I didn't know where else to go." The sound of the rain smashing upon the metal roof was drowned out by his words.

Valerie's grip loosened at the sight of him. Dan Phantom, humanity's greatest threat, was standing at her balcony door, his left arm reduced to an oozing green hole, and his ghastly blue skin bleed through his ripped suit. He smelled of sulfur and fire, with half of his white cape, reduced to half of its size. The remaining half had been burnt to a black crisp. All while green ectoplasm ran down his body in thick rivers. With a sigh, she moved aside and let him in.

Phantom's hulking form came into the light of the apartment, limping past the kitchen before throwing himself upon the velvet bench, his head resting against the wall of photographs. Star had been the one to come up with the idea. A gallery of photos, one for everyone she cared about, so that when they passed they wouldn't be forgotten. Valerie tried to remember when this all started, was it freshman year when Phantom started showing up? Was it when he ruined her life (for the first time) and made her father lose his job. Valerie chucked in her head, at fourteen she was so angry and frustrated. Her home was gone, her friends had dropped her, and the two of them were forced to move into a run-down apartment building. The first week they lived there, the water heater broke. She remembered crying in the locker room the next day, ashamed at having to use the school's showers to clean herself. Phantom was smaller back then, but it wouldn't be the last time he ruined her life.

Her first aid kit was an army green metal box filled with borrowed medical supplies and surgical tools. Her fights with Phantom and other paranormals had made her medical expenses skyrocket, and Valerie found it easier to collapse on her couch and fix herself up.

"I'm going to have to clean the area up before I can fix it. It's going to sting," She said.

"Do your worst," He said. His smirk was smacked clean off his face when Valerie grabbed the remainder of his suit and pulled it off his shoulder. The fabric was soaked in ectoplasm and had begun to harden over the hole. Dan bit his lip, grunting in pain. "This must make you happy, to see me like this."

"Why would you say that?" The wet fabric was cut clean off his skin, landing on her hardwood floors with a splat. The skin around the wound was torn, with parts stretched and twisted into small skin strands. It looked more like torn leather than skin. Deep in her medical kit she pulled out a brown bottle of peroxide.

"I don't need that. Unlike you humans, ghosts don't succumb to infe-" He cut his own words off with a loud grunt. Ectoplasm started dripping out of his clenched mouth, as the foam of the peroxide cleaned the dirt and debris away.