Yay! Welcome to the celebration of our tenth chapter! And we're now currently over 250 reviews… which is like, amazing. Astounding. You have no idea how happy you people have made me and ChibiSamiSala!

I would love to say I have more fanart for the fic, but alas, I'm been a lazy bum and have a piece of work that's almost done, but isn't quite there yet. : Next chapter! Or if you want, feel free to stalk me on DA…. I like stalkers. :D

Now without further ado, chapter ten!

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Chapter Ten

Infection

"W-Well..." He smiled nervously, scratching his cheek idly. "I believe the first thing I ever said to you was 'boo'... and then you tripped over a pail." He gave him a small laugh.

Tucker froze.

Holy.

Shit.

He backed up slowly, his eyes widening. "Y-Y-Your...Phantom!"

"Uh..." Danny blinked, feeling extremely nervous again. How should he go about dealing with this? It's not like he can vouch for himself... Tucker as every right not to trust him. Oh well, let's try at those horrible social skills again... "Nice to meet you?" He gave him another nervous smile, and held out his hand.

Tucker took one long look at the ghost-boy's hand, before his eyes rolled back in his head, and he hit the dirt. Hard.

Danny blinked again, standing there silent for a minute, before his hand rose to smack himself in the face. Aw shit... "Why can I not lead a descent conversation without killing someone or making them end up face-first on the ground..."

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"You know, I hope you realize that every single one of these animals you have..." Sam wrinkled her nose, feeling rather idiotic sitting in a oversized birdcage, leaning up against the bars. It was just big enough for her to sit with her knees up to her chest, not leaving her much room to do anything but insult him. "Had a full family and children, how would you like it if I came along with a...giant gun thing...and killed your mother?"

A loud, annoyed groan could be heard from the other side of the room, where Skulker sat at a large chair, fiddling with a row of mechanics, looking up at the multiple screens that displayed data and percentages. That last stunt from bringing three humans into the ghost zone cost him... it was going to take a little while longer to return to his full power. "For the last time child!" He roared, turning around and giving Sam a horribly striking glare. "Sit there, and be quiet like a good little hostage! I don't care to hear from an over-active environmentalist about how my hunting irks them, and I didn't want to hear it fifteen minutes ago!"

"Well I don't care to be trapped in a bird cage that isn't even a decent size for a canary!" She snapped back, not fazed by his glare. Phantom had given her far worse looks. "And God, did you think to clean it before you let your last pet rot in it? This place smells worse then a septic tank." She snapped, kicking at the bars the best she could, the metal clanging loudly. "Oh just wait till Danny gets his hands on you, He'll tear you limb from limb."

"Oh, I doubt that, child. Your little ghost prince won't be able to set one foot into this stronghold once I'm done." He grinned, before going back to work on his large computer-like structure. A few moments later, a camera light blinked on, and a smaller screen flickered to reveal Danny, completely changed into Phantom - and carrying Tucker over his shoulder like a flour sack, completely out cold. "What's this? Seems we have an extra guest today..."

"TUCKER!" Sam gasped, trying to shift around enough to see the screen better, her eyes narrowing. Ohhh… that bastard. He probably knocked him out himself! at least he didn't leave him for animal bait out in the woods. "If either of you hurt him, I will personally dig your grave!" She winced, "Metaphorically!"

"Of for the love of... will you shut up, child?" Skulker turned around completely, getting up off his chair - before the metallic contraption on his arm began to beep, and a small green glow began to adorn his entire robotic suit. "Ah, well... I suppose it's time then." He grinned at Sam, before turning on his heels and walking to a rather large switch by a power converter. He flipped it up, and soon, every screen began to light up, and the thrumming of numerous machines echoed in the room. "Say goodbye to your prince and your little human friend."

"NO!" Sam Shouted, shaking the cage so hard that the damn thing fell off the table it was sitting on, hitting the ground so hard that she saw stars, and knocked the air clean out of her lungs. Silently she slumped over, Skulker vaguely noticing that it suddenly seemed very quite in his lair.

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Phantom groaned as he slashed away at the foliage with his free hand, an ethereal green light covering his entire arm. This boy really had to lose a few pounds... "You know," He spoke out loud, though completely aware Tucker wasn't going to wake up any time soon. "This would be a whole lot easier if you could walk yourself..." He took another step, before he froze completely, hearing the soft whine of charging guns. "Ah...shit..."

He roughly threw Tucker to the ground, following him as missiles flew overhead, having sliced through the air right where his chest would have been had he not moved. "Damn it Tucker! Wake up!" He pulled him off to the side, up against a large rock. If he continued to try and make it to Skulker's lair while dragging him along, he was sure to get hit... "Don't you dare make me slam a stake through your hand, because Sam will kill me..."

It seemed the threat to his life was enough to make him stir, if the slam against the rock didn't, and blue eyes fluttered open with a groan. "...Sam...?"

"Sorry sleeping beauty, I really hate to break it to you, but Sam's still with Skulker, and right now, pretty much every weapon on this island is aimed at us." Phantom said bluntly, not taking any time to lace up his words. "And if you don't get your ass moving soon, you're gonna be as dead as I am."

"W-What!' Tucker yelped as a rocket went off to the side, and he scrambled to his feet, putting space between him and Phantom, eyes wide as he ducked a bunch of tranquilizers. "Holy CRAP!"

"Yeah, I would just love to buy a second home here." The silver-haired ghost stood to his feet and grabbed Tucker by the wrist, roughly pulling him along - having to create a bright emerald shield not three steps away to deflect poison-tipped bullets. "If you can't keep up, I'm not coming back for you. Is that clear?"

"Crystal." He gasped, never expecting to have to rely on the Phantom to keep him alive, and he stuck close, running after him as fast as he could, adrenaline pushing him along.

Though Phantom tried to keep himself from slowing down to help the poor boy along, he found himself doing it every few steps. Sometimes he wouldn't notice an arsenal of missiles heading his way, or trip over a trap... or just trip. "If you make it out of this alive..." He groaned after the sixth time he had to block a barrage of bullets with a weakening shield, holding a firm stance in front of the tiring boy. "Remind me to tell you that you really need work out more. Because right now, you're a broken third wheel."

"I'm so sorry I'm not dead and powerful like you." He panted, "Although...one of those might not be a problem soon." He stumbled, grabbing onto Phantom's waist band before yanking himself back up, hoping he didn't send the Ghost prince into the dirt.

He stumbled a bit, and helped the boy solidly to his feet - and not two seconds later, he had to blast a rather large rocket that took to the sky and aimed right for them. "For the love of-!" He growled, his eyes flaring a dangerously bright green as his aura began to mimick the same color, the wind beginning to pick up around the both of them. "Why won't you give it a REST!" He roared, before taking in a deep breath, and let loose a ghostly wail that shook the ground, emerald shockwaves bursting any machine in front of him at an impressive two-mile distance. Around them, missiles that were once aimed straight for them, began to swerve off course, and crashed harmlessly hundreds of feet away, as if the air itself was becoming distorted. Twenty seconds of the continuous bombardment of the otherworld ear-splitting howl, Phantom dropped to one knee, having to catch his breath. "Damn it..." He cursed, before strongly getting back up on his feet. He had lost more power than he thought from the trip to the ghost zone, and it was beginning to affect him. "Come on, it won't be long before the island repairs itself." He said with obvious frustration drowning is voice as he took solid steps ahead, green flames dancing around his feet and burning the grass in its wake.

Tucker couldn't believe how strong this guy was, he had warded off everything that could have killed them this entire way, but he knew that Phantom was tiring, and that in itself scared him. What could he do against this Island if the great Ghost Prince might fail. "Come on Man." Tucker said quietly, looking up at the skull that was looming overhead. They were so close, his shaky hands reached into his pocket, pulling out a PDA, trying to work while running and not tripping. Maybe he could do something...

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"What!" Skulker bellowed from inside his lair, reading over the screens with disbelief. "75 of all weapon artillery not functioning? Damn it!" He slammed his hand down harshly onto the control panel, thankfully not screwing anything up in doing so. "I thought I had powered Phantom down enough on the way here... BLAST!"

"Oh Boo-Fucking-Hoo." Sam growled, woozily sitting upright and finally righting her birdcage back up, panting as she glowered at him, deeply impressed that Tucker had survived this long, without passing out. She squinted, realizing that her friend had taken out his PDA, and she nearly jumped for joy. Come on Tucker... She thought painfully, nervously watching Phantom weakening. She couldn't help but be afraid for him...

"Say that again and I'll fry your pathetic husk of meat and bones!" Skulker yelled, glaring daggers at the equally frustrated girl in the tipped cage. If he didn't succeed with this mission, he wasn't sure if King Plasmius would accept his return... he needed to defeat Phantom.

Not soon after, Phantom and Tucker reached the base of the mountain, causing the ghost boy to look up with uncertainty. The one reason why he hadn't chose to fly the way there period, was because of the deadly accuracy the missiles would have in the sky. But now they had no choice... and e had to drag Tucker along with him. If he left him alone, he was sure to die in five minutes. "Grab onto my arm." He said sternly, before snapping his arm out in front of the boy, who still seemed to be messing with his PDA. "Stop playing with that goddamned piece of garbage and grab on." It was obvious Phantom was certainly not pleased with how this situation was turning out.

"No Wait!" He struggled, before the PDA gave a Excited beep, and the ground in front of them opened up, the massive bolder moving to the side, and Tucker ran in quickly, shouting out a happy yelp. "Come on!"

Phantom blinked, looking completely dumbfounded. With a solid push forward, he glided down the hall, easily catching up with the excited techno geek. "What the Hell did you do?" He gazed down at the PDA in his hands, that still seemed to be working on something. He lightly tapped his fist against the boys head, grinning. "My god, you are useful for something."

Tucker grinned widely up at him, before focusing on his PDA again. "His security system is detailed, but has a lot of holes to allow him enough range to change things. Its not Match for me." He ran quickly, eyes glued on the screen. "That way, just follow me." He stated firmly, slowing down to a stop before he gave a laugh, a very very happy one, sticking the PDA in Phantom's face. Weapon system 50 disabled.

"Holy shit..." Phantom laughed, planting his feet firmly on the ground as he stared at the screen. "Lead the way Tuck, I've got your back, okay?"

It didn't quite register that he was being treated like an old friend by the Ghost prince, All that did was the fact that he was closer to getting Sam away from that psycho, and that he wasn't dead yet. He weaved his way through the map on the screen, tucking his PDA in his pocket as he climbed up a ladder into a very thin space, that he realized was the ventilation system, that lead right into the room that had the only other body heat other then himself in the vicinity. Sam had to be up there.

Phantom quietly followed, but phased through Tucker, entering the ventilation system first. "Tell me where to go...alright? No telling what you might run into if you go first."

He nodded, half crawling, half shuffling with the PDA in one hand, the stylus in the other. "There's a big fan before we get inside the room, I'm trying to disable it right now..." He muttered, "It won't do any damage to you, but to me..."

"I've got a better idea." He grinned, and motioned for him to follow. "Let's get to that fan first. Which way?"

He blinked, before pointing left, a bit frightened of what the man had in mind. "It's about, a hundred yards ahead, and to the right."

They quickly made their way down, cold air now rushing towards them both, but they stayed back a ways, so it wasn't too horrible. "Hey," He whispered, making sure to keep his voice low lest they be heard. "...What would happen if I just blew the thing up?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe go crazy and slice everything up around it? Including us?" Tucker hissed, just as low. They were right below the room, and if Skulker had good hearing, he probably would hear them if they spoke up.

"Aww c'mon, it'll be fun." Phantom grinned widely, looking more like a kid than a powerful ghost.

"What if Sam is in the way?" He stuck the PDA in his face again, where against a lot of cold green there was a small bundle of red and purple, tipped over to the side. "It would kill her!"

"Fine, fine... we'll do it the boring way." He rolled his eyes, before he reached out and grabbed Tucker's arm. "You're probably going to feel like being dunked into a tank of ice water, okay?" He gave him little warning before he turned them both intangible and invisible, and flew right through the fan, and down through the metal exterior of the vent.

Sam cursed, rocking the cage again, trying to re-right it again, so incredibly exhausted from the past couple of days. She was so hungry that her stomach stopped feeling anything, and now, she was stressing over where her two friends...well, one friend, one phantom, went. She prayed that they weren't dead, and she glowered over at Skulker lifting her voice at him. "Hey Asshole!" She shouted, "What's wrong, things not going as you planned? Or are you just too stupid to realize when you're done for?"

"That's it!" He bellowed, rising up from his chair and stomping towards the caged girl, pointing his fist at her as it began to glow green, charging up his energy. "I may not be able to kill you, but I can at least make you suffer within an inch of your life!"

"Go ahead and Try me!" She shouted back, glowering at him as she kicked at the cage. "You can't even give me a fair fight, you have to lock me up to take me out!"

Skulker glared and stepped forward, about to rear back his fist, ready to tear her apart into twenty different directions - before it seemed like his entire head was thrown back from a nonexistent blow, and he stumbled back... just as Phantom appeared in front of him, clenching his hand with a small hiss. "God DAMN! Note to self... don't punch metal without any ecsoplasmic energy to back it up..."

"SAM!" Tucker shouted, running to the cage to try and break the lock, pulling at the cage door. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of here." He whispered, at least righting the cage for her, setting it solidly on the ground.

"What the- how did you two get past my security system!" Skulker bellowed, reaching for his arm to charge up his arsenal of weapons.

"Danny look out!" Sam shouted, leaning forward in her cage to look up at the green eyed halfa, before looking up at Tucker. "Tuck, do something!"

"I'm trying!" Tucker growled, working on his PDA. "It's a bit harder to hack into him."

"Don't worry, this freak won't be able to touch me." Phantom gave the offending ghost a cocky grin, as his hands began to crackle with green electricity, his eyes glowing the same fierce color. "I'll have him dismantled in thirty seconds."

"Not today, whelp!" Skulker slammed his fist against the contraption on his arm - just as two bright red lights shone from either sides of the room, and shot directly at Phantom. He turned intangible, figuring that lasers wouldn't be able to hit him... but alas, they pierced right through him, making his entire body glow a bright crimson, and made him fall to his knees. With a painful ethereal scream, he clutched his sides tightly, his vision going white. After what felt like an eternity later, as the light dimmed, he lurched forward, coughing up a mix of green and red liquid... ectoplasm and blood.

"Danny!" Sam gasped, shaking the cage violently, before turning her eyes up to Tucker panicking. "Tucker, you gotta get me out! Let me out now!" She kicked at the cage again, growling.

"Just a second..." Tucker growled, before giving a little cry, the screen beeping up at him weapons system 95 disabled. That would have to do. He looked about quickly, before grabbing a knife off of the table Sam had been placed in, and crouched over the lock, shoving it into the old metal, grunting as he tried to force it open.

"Where is that overwhelming confidence, prince?" Skulker mocked, watching as Phantom shook violently, and continued to vomit ectoplasm, the crimson mortal blood mixed in with the green liquid. "Can't handle my new invention? You really are all talk, aren't you..."

The ghost teen coughed again, as he leaned up, emerald eyes glaring daggers at the mechanical specter. "Y-You... bastard..." He wheezed, his muscles tensing as he tried to get to his feet, but no avail. "Don't you dare...hurt them...!"

The metal groaned, before it cracked, both the knife and the lock splintering, sending the cage rolling and Tucker Flying, crying out in pain as he hesitantly pulled the splinter of knife from his leg, watching as Sam scrambled out of the cage, a bit of blood dribbling from her head where she had cracked it on the cage when they had went flying. "Stay away from him!" She cried, grabbing the remains of the knife, jamming it into the metal armor on his back, making it spark and splinter.

Without any hesitation, Skulker whirled around, the knife still lodged within his metal exterior, but unable to do much damage. His arm flew across her chest, knocking her back to the ground. "Pitiful human child...! You have outlived your usefulness!"

With a quivering arm, Phantom placed one hand in front of him firmly on the ground, as green energy began to flood from it, moving like water against the ground, and to the distracted Skulker as he advanced towards Sam. Quickly the green light crawled up the specter's legs, and turned to crystal, holding him firmly in place with the spell. "Tucker! Power him down, quick!" He yelled, ectoplasm dripping from his lips.

She hit the ground hard, feeling something crush inside of her when she landed. She groaned, rolling over to her side as she tried to get back to her feet. "Ugh..." She groaned, Tucker scrambling to her side, before looking up at the hunter, cursing as he grabbed his PDA, energizing a program before he stood up with a panic, stuffing the prongs of the PDA into Skulker's chest, watching as the Virus downloaded into the Suit's System.

"What? NO!" Skulker cried, as his entire mechanical suit began to crackle with electricity, as the PDA flashed 'download complete' on the screen - causing the green light in the specter's eyes to fade... and his entire body slumped, the power completely cutting off.

"Tucker..." Phantom groaned, still barely able to hold himself up on one knee, as he motioned towards the lifeless suit. "Remove the helmet..."

The teen did as he was told, pulling the helmet off with a nervous look back at Sam, who coughed up blood, falling back to her side, hugging her side tightly, eyes unfocused as she watched him. He dropped the helmet to the side, eyes wide at what was inside.

With a loud groan, Phantom was able to step forward, and reached inside, pulling out a tiny green ghost... who seemed to have Skulker's voice, only... much tinier. "Let go of me! I'll destroy you all!" He flailed around, before the ghost boy threw him to the ground, his hand glowing a bright green.

"Skulker..." Phantom grinned weakly, as he raised his hand. "I relieve you of your duties..." The green around his hand sparked. "You are dismissed." And with that, the green energy engulfed Skulker's body, and as it faded... nothing was left but a small pile of ash.

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Aww, see? That cliffie wasn't too bad. Be glad, because the next update probably won't come until next weekend. D: But it will be comin'!

Poor Skulker... I so love him in the show. He's one of my favorite villains... D:

So until next time y'all, ciao ;D

Zoey