I'm making bets with myself right now; how much do you want to bet that the next couple of chapters are going to filler? See, this is what happens when you don't plan things out and just jump right in. Compulsive moron. Ooooh, I'm calling myself names…insanity, come and take me!

Eleven: Dark Corners

Phantom was curled up on the grass in the park, panting, clutching his side, his green eyes dim with pain and terror. Beneath his black jumpsuit, stretching across his ghostly pale, glowing skin like a virus, was a horrible knotted mass of flesh. He'd been struggling against the pain, his breath had frozen in his throat, and he'd convulsed on the ground for what felt like forever. The agony had been horrible.

"Hey…it's the ghost boy…!" Said a childish voice and Phantom's gaze slid from his white gloved hand to the little girl standing in front of him, "Are you alright, ghost boy?"

Phantom tried to respond, he really did, but all that came out was a wheezing gasp. Grunting with pain, he tried to push himself off the ground but the wracking pains on his body had weakened his ectoplasmic structure. He wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"Do you need some help? Should Mommy call 911? Mommy said when someone can't move you call 911. Do you need 911, ghost boy?"

"No…" Phantom managed to gasp out, "No…hospitals…call Fenton…" He sank to his stomach on the grass, neon green eyes flickering a pleading look at the child.

"What's a Fenton?" The little girl cocked her head, "I'll get Mommy!" And she skipped off, back through the trees.

"C-curses…!" The young ghost started to drag himself across the grass, his limbs shaking with each laborious movement, "Have to…have to get…home…Danny…"

"See, Mommy, see! It's the ghost boy! The ghost boy!" Phantom looked up again, breathing heavily, to see the little girl had returned with the woman the ghost assumed was her mother, "He's hurt, Mommy, can we help him!"

The woman stared at Phantom and he stared right back, wishing with all his being he could go invisible; but that power, it seemed, he could no longer wield. His ice powers and his ghostly wail had vanished as well.

"What do you need, ghost boy?" The woman asked, still keeping her distance.

"Food, really…" Phantom murmured, "And…and…" His strength failed him, his eyes rolled back, and he tumbled into unconsciousness.

It was the warmth that woke him up. He turned over, blinked groggily, and ran a hand over his face, taking deep breaths to get his bearings. He had no idea where he was. Phantom sat up, rubbing his eyes, and plucked at the light blue sheet covering him.

The ghost boy swung his legs over the edge of the bed, stretching his arms towards the ceiling as he did so. The room was dimly lit and that was only because of the sunlight trying to get through the thick curtains on the window. The floor was a soft brown carpet, the walls were painted a light cream color, and there were a couple of pieces of furniture scattered over the area; a short dresser, a desk and chair, and a wastepaper basket.

He tried the door but found it locked. From the outside. Phantom frowned and turned intangible, slipping through the wood and peering out into the hallway. It was empty. Well, that was sort of odd. You'd think if someone was keeping a ghost "locked" in room they'd want someone standing guard or something.

His stomach growling made his thoughts turn to food. He may have been all ghost but that didn't change the fact that he'd been part of a human and so retained the needs of a human; eating, sleeping, etc. He headed down the hall, looking for the kitchen. It wasn't hard to find. Sitting on a polished wooden table was a bowl of grapes, apples, bananas, and oranges. Phantom grabbed a handful of grapes and started popping them into his mouth as he wandered into the living room.

He froze.

The fruit fell from his fingers to roll across the floor.

The little girl who had found him, her mother, and the man who was probably her father were all laid out on the couch with blank expressions on their faces. Hovering over them were two Observers and at least twelve guards.

And they were all looking right at him.

Phantom's mind went into overdrive.

He screamed bloody murder and launched himself into the air, sliding through the second floor and out the roof in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, the Observer's guards were right on his heels. Zigg-zagging through the sky, Phantom headed towards Fenton Works in the hopes that Jazz or Danny would be there to help him get these goons off his ectoplasmic wisp of a tail.

Dan Phantom was leaning against the window frame of the living room, starring absently up at the blue sky, when something caught his attention.

"Hey, Clockwork…"

"Mmm?" The Ghost of Time didn't even glance up from the book he was reading (A Wrinkle in Time XD).

"You know how we've been waiting for Phantom to show up…?" Dan took a couple of steps away from the window.

"Yes."

"Well, he's here!"

As if on cue, Phantom crashed through the window, sending glass everywhere, and lay sprawled on the carpet, panting heavily. Dan leapt backwards with a curse and Clockwork was on his feet in seconds, staff in hand. But in those seconds, Phantom was already on the move again. Seeing two very humanoid versions of ghosts he knew and knowing the Observers and their guards would be on him soon, he'd turned intangible and shot through the ceiling…and right into Jazz's bedroom.

After Danny had fallen asleep in his own room, the older Fenton sibling had decided to get some homework done to take her mind off of the situation. However, when Phantom came barreling through her floor that decision became a mute point.

Jazz screamed.

Phantom screamed.

Dan could be heard from downstairs screaming curse words no one even knew existed as several of the guards tried to force their way into the Fenton home.

Clockwork suddenly appeared in Jazz's room, his white-blonde hair ruffled and dangling in his eyes, his staff clenched so tightly in his hand his already pale knuckles were even whiter. A few trails of ectoplasm dripped off the end.

"Phantom!" The Ghost of Time whirled on the ghost boy and scowled when the drawstrings of his sweater smacked him in the face, "Get to Danny's room! Now! No time to explain! We have to get you two out of here! Dan can hold them off for now but it's only a matter of time before he's overpowered!" Phantom nodded dumbly and shot off. Clockwork turned attention to Jazz, "Help him if you can."

Jazz starred at him.

"Do you want your brother to die!?" Clockwork shouted, losing his temper with the entire, nerve-racking situation. Jazz sped out of her room and the Ghost of Time closed his eyes, drumming his fingers agitatedly on his staff. The whole situation was getting out of his control and he knew it.

Muttering darkly, he ran out of the room and down the hall just as the door to Danny's room was blasted off its hinges and he came flying out to slam into his older sister.

Dan dropped down on all fours and swept his legs around, knocking a guard down and an instant later fired a hail of ectoplasm onto a group of them, sending them flying into the wall where they remained, dazed or unconscious.

One of them, struggling on the floor because of the ectoplasm leaking out of the hole in his side, looped his arms around Dan's ankle and jerked hard. Dan, not expecting the move, was sent crashing to the floor with a grunt of pain. Another guard swooped over him and slammed the butt of his staff into the Phantom's middle, sending an electric shock coursing through Dan and winding the ghost badly.

Wheezing for breath and getting angrier and angrier by the second, Dan reached up, grabbed the staff and, ignoring the electricity coursing through him, twisted the staff out the guard's grasp and spun to his feet.

"Ha!" He chortled weakly, spinning the staff to keep the guards away from him, giving him time to get his breath back, "Who's got the butt end of the stick now!?"

"You were supposed to be annihilated." Stated one Observer, pointing ominously at him, "Seize the future Danny and then proceed to capture Phantom and Clockwork as well. He has not been doing his duties."

"Well he's doin' 'em better 'in you!" Dan hissed and with a wild cry, launched himself back into the fray.

Phantom had darted into Danny's room to find the boy on his feet, tugging wildly at the door handle which Jazz seemed to have locked. He was so busy trying to open the door while fighting back his still tender injury that he didn't even notice Phantom hovering beside him.

"Danny, we've gotta get out of here! The Observers are coming and—!"

"Get away from me!" Danny screamed, falling back, striking out at Phantom as he did so, "Just…just stay away!"

"Danny listen to me! There's no time to argue! Let's go!"

"No! Stay back!" Fenton dodged to the other side of his bed and as Phantom turned to go around, Danny dodged to the other end, blue eyes wide, a sheen of sweat coating his face, "Go away! You're not real! I don't need you!"

The two began a game of cat-and-mouse, Phantom chasing Fenton around and around the bed, Fenton screaming all the while and Phantom calling him out. The ghost half was getting continually more and more frustrated as this situation wore on. Who knew how long it would be until the Observers and their guards broke past Dan and got into Danny's room to recapture Phantom.

"Stop RUNNING!" The ghost half shouted and a wave of emerald energy knocked the door off its hinges and sent Fenton flying right into his sister who was just outside his room. Phantom used a couple of words that would normally get him in a great deal of trouble and made to move forward only to be grabbed around the middle by Clockwork and hoisted into the air. The Time Ghost was stronger than he looked.

"Dan!" Clockwork yelled to thin air and a few moments later, the future version of Phantom appeared next to the very dazed Danny and Jazz, "Grab those two and let's get out of here!"

"Will do!" Dan gasped, appearing to be slightly winded, and he threw Danny over his shoulder and held Jazz around the middle, "Where're we headed?"

"The only place we're sure to be out of danger." Clockwork muttered as Phantom started to struggle in his grasp, "Vlad's."

Dan swore but followed after the Time Ghost, both of them dodging through the roof and zipping through the sky in the direction of the Mayor's mansion. Phantom was still kicking and screaming in Clockwork's grasp when they dropped into a large, empty study.

"LET GO! PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN! AHHHHHHHGGGG!"

"What is all that blasted racket!?" Came a voice and Vlad himself suddenly stormed into the room, throwing the door open with a bang. He stopped when he saw humanoid Clockwork with a screaming Phantom in his grip and humanoid Dan with both the Fenton siblings unconscious in his arms.

"Plasmius." Clockwork said shortly.

"Ah, the Master of All Time." Vlad sneered, though it wasn't quite as threatening as it usually was, "Jasmine and Daniel," He eyed them a little questioningly, "And…" He raised an eyebrow at Dan and Phantom, "Two Daniels?"

"PUT ME DOWN! CLOCKWORK! LET ME GO! THEY'RE AFTER ME!"

"Three." Hissed Dan and Clockwork waved a hand to silence him.

"Plasmius, we need a place to hide from the Observers." Vlad's eyes narrowed at the words.

"That was a demand, Clockwork, not a request."

"PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN!"

"Danny's in danger." The Time Ghost said in a low voice that still managed to carry over Phantom's screaming, "If the Observers get to him he could die."

Vlad put two and two together in an instant,

"Blackmail." He growled but turned on his heel and motioned for them to follow him, "And can you please silence that little brat!?"

Dan took the liberty of cracking Phantom a good one on the back of the neck, effectively knocking the ghost boy out cold. Clockwork rolled his eyes, muttering dark nothings under his breath, and followed Vlad, Dan smirking and trailing after him.

I tried to make this chapter longer to make up for my huge absence as of late. Hm, I just realized something. Even though summer is just around the corner and I'm going to be getting more chapters completed faster I won't have as much access to the internet as I do at school. And when I do…well, I'll probably be watching DP the whole time.

Hugs and cookies, guys! I'll try to update faster now! Have an awesomely super sensationalistic day!

And don't forget to review! Byes!