So here we are at chapter twenty-one. You people still rule for reading this and leaving me so many reviews! Without you guys, there wouldn't even be a Melody in Black!

Twenty-One: Breaking and Entering

Dan thought about how easy it would be to sneak back into Clockwork's lair, reset one of those stupid screens, and fly back to his own time. But then, if he went back to his own time and Danny died, would he vanish too? Dan gave a mental shrug as he dropped down to one of the lower levels of the Ghost Zone and perched himself on one of the cracked and tilting gravestones. There were still several bruises dotting his body but at least his eye wasn't swollen shut anymore.

The future version of Danny that would have been had left Vlad's mansion about fifteen minutes ago and had been flying non-stop through the Ghost Zone on a crash course to the Observants' lair. In his own time, he'd tried to wipe them out but two or three of them always managed to sneak away and hide somewhere else. This time, they weren't expecting him to take the initiative. Dan peered up through the dead branches of trees, or ghosts of trees since it was the Ghost Zone, at the strange expanse of green spectral energy swirling through the nothingness of the Ghost Zone.

Better get a move on… Dan hefted himself to his feet and paused in the air, his violet cloak swirling around his ankles. Perhaps a disguise would be more appropriate; Clockwork had told him to treat the mission with the utmost secrecy and stealth possible. Alright, so, told really wasn't the word to use; order was more like it.

Dan concentrated and a cold, white light swirled over his spectral body. Dan admired his new form with a sneer. He couldn't vary away too much from Danny's fourteen year old form when he changed but he could alter it so that no one would think it was the Fenton boy. His hair was a golden blonde and stretched a little longer than normal, the eyes were more gray than blue, and the usual T-shirt and jeans were replaced by a long black trench coat, tight black jeans, and no shirt so that a couple of dog tags clattered coldly against his bare chest. Dan let out a low chuckle; it was more than fun to ruin the image of his younger self.

The newly transformed Dan took a spiral into the air and shot off towards the Observants' lair again. It didn't take him long to see it looming on the horizon; he'd been closer than he first thought. Time for some stealth.

Dan flicked on his invisibility and hovered closer and closer, on the lookout for any wandering guards or observing Observants. Seeing no one, he dropped down onto the giant telescope that projected from the building, shimmying down it until he could squeeze through the gap between it and the ceiling. The Observants really needed to do something about that.

The future ghost dropped silently to the floor, invisible eyes narrowed as he scanned the domed room. A few bored looking guards and that was it. Dan trailed silently over the carpet, dog tags clinking around like tiny little bells. The guards looked around in confusion, unaware of where the noise was coming from. There were two kinds of Observant guards; the first was the kind with the personality, ideal for guarding doors and such because they were far more responsive, and the second was the kind that the Observants sent out to capture ghosts and sometimes humans. These goons were definitely the first kind.

Dan grabbed them both by the back of the head and smashed their helmets together and dropping them to the floor, stabbing his hands into them and tearing them apart. Ectoplasm went everywhere. Dan grinned at the mess he'd made, wiped his hands on his pants, and trailed through the now unguarded door. He now stood in a long hallway of white marble. Frowning, the ghost dug into his memory, trying to remember exactly where the Observants stored their containment units.

An Observant floated down the hall and Dan stiffened, shooting up to hover against the ceiling. But he'd forgotten about the dog tags. The Observant froze in the hall and turned his head (eye?) upwards, giant pupil swiveling around to find the source of the clinking. Dan had already clasped a hand over them to stop them from ringing out his position anymore but it was too late. The Observants were smarter than their guards and now they knew someone was in their lair who wasn't supposed to be.

Dan regained visibility suddenly and dropped down on the Observant so fast it knocked the other ghost out. Growling and forming spinning spheres of ectoplasm in his hands, Dan rocketed down the hall, barreling through several ranks of guards and singing the robe of one Observant with a blast of ecto-energy. Dan whipped around a corner, felt something catch on his neck, and choked, bucking to get away from whatever it was that had a strangle hold on him.

"You are disrupting the order of the Ghost Zone!" Snapped the Observant that had the chain to Dan's dog tags twisted in his hand, "You shall be aptly punished!"

"I…I…d-don't…th…think…s-so!" Dan wheezed and snapped the chain on the dog tags, falling head over heels through the air and leaving the Observant with nothing but the necklace, "Oh, here, have a gift." Dan flicked his fingers and vanished down a hallway.

The dogs tags started glowing neon green and before the Observant could process what was happening, they had exploded.

Cracks etched their way up the walls as dust rained down on Dan's head. He shook himself, sending another shower of dust cascading from his golden locks, and snuck around another corner. A fang-toothed grin etched itself onto his face.

"Now this looks familiar!" The ghost chortled, "Those idiot Observants are too egotistical to even think that someone would break into their lair!" Dan charged a sphere of ecto-energy in his hand and tossed it casually at the steel door before him. The explosion rocked the lair and clouded the corridors with dust and debris. The Observants' formally neat and tidy lair was now in a disorderly mess of chaos. Dan didn't care. He had finally found what he wanted.

A heavy steel door smashed into the wall opposite where it had been, leaving cracks that spread almost all the way up to the ceiling. Inside the dark room the door had guarded was a screech of claws on glass, a yell of triumph, and then Dan emerged from the smoke with one of the containment units over his shoulder.

"Aw, come on, you've gotta be kidding me!" At least four rows of the Observants' guards blocked the disguised ghost from exiting the room, "Oh well, Clocky never said this was going to be easy…!"

He set the containment unit on the floor, pushed his blonde hair from his face, grabbed the end of the device again, and swung it around with a wild cry. Half of the first row of guards went down, their armor dented and caved.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!!" Dan screamed, holding up his hand to form a huge sphere of energy, "OR PERISH!!" Streamers of green light erupted upwards towards the ceiling and then arched down to rain upon the scattering guards.

"You are disrupting the order of the Ghost Zone!" A voice hollered and Dan dodged out of the way, toting the containment unit with him, as an anti-ghost net shot down and snapped closed over the floor where he had been moments before.

"Shut up!" Dan screamed at the Observant floating near the ceiling as he dodged further down the hall, "The Ghost Zone has no order! It is a place of disorder and chaos! Why do you think ghosts thrive here!?"

"Silence, Dan Phantom!" The Observant snarled, pulling another anti-ghost net out of thin air, "The Ghost Zone will have order! The order that it had when The Ancients ruled!" The Observant spun the net around and let it fly, "Know your place!"

Dan swore loudly, let his disguise drop, and somersaulted backwards still hauling the containment unit around. Then he braced his legs, faced the oncoming guards and Observants, sucked in giant breath, and let out one of his largest Ghostly Wails since he'd torn down the barrier around the future Amity Park.

The Observants' lair was rocked to its core and by the time the ghosts within it had gotten their bearings back, Dan Phantom had vanished.

Danny was asleep.

For the first time in a long time.

Sam knelt over him and pulled a blanket up to his shoulders with a sigh and shake of her head. Of course he'd fall asleep on the couch, what sort of silly logic possessed her to think that he'd take the effort to find a bed?

Phantom, on the other hand, was wide awake. He was all ghost and didn't need as much sleep as humans, but that didn't stop him from looking terrible. His right arm was draped uselessly over the armrest of the chair he was curled in, his green eyes were wide and glazed, and there were dark lines under his eyes, darker than usual.

"Hey, you okay?" Sam asked him from across the room.

"Mm-hm…" He replied softly, not blinking.

"You look terrible."

"I know…"

"I think you should get some sleep."

"Can't…" Phantom blinked and focused on the Goth girl, "I can't sleep. I keep having nightmares and it's killing me!" He shuddered and tugged at the left shoulder of his outfit. Sam frowned.

"It's like babysitting a couple of six year old twins." She mumbled, pulling another blanket out of the nearby closet and throwing it over Phantom's shoulder, "Only you two are each one half of my boyfriend."

Phantom's cheeks turned pink.

"Hey, Plasmius! I got your stupid machine!" Dan slammed the containment unit on the floor with a snarl.

"Hmph," Vlad snorted, turning away from a control panel he'd set up, "Why don't you make yourself useful, then, and stick it in there?" He pointed to a metal stand on the floor. Dan hissed at him, flicking out his forked tongue, but dropped the containment unit into place anyway. A low chuckle came from behind him and the future Danny whirled around to see Clockwork hovering in the air with a knowing smile on his face.

"Thanks for being so helpful, you good-for-nothing Time Ghost!" Dan snapped, stomping up to Clockwork, "What gives you the right to sit around here while I work my butt off!?"

"To make everything as it should be." Clockwork replied with an even bigger smile.

Sorry, my friends, no sneak preview for you. You were close but not quite close enough. Try again next time!

…………………

Okay, I'm just too obvious, aren't I? I'm such a sucker! Because you guys actually take the time to review and keep reading this even though I don't update very often I think you've earned the rights to this secret ending. That's right…just keep scrolling down and you'll find the awesomeness of the second half of Melody in Black.

Melody in Red was only the beginning…

SNEAK PREVIEW

Melody in Black: Esprit de Corps II

Now that the moment was here I wasn't so sure of myself but it was Tucker's reassuring presence and Clockwork's words that made me take the initiative, "Mom, Dad, you love me…no matter what, right?" I asked shakily.

"Of course, Danny!" Dad answered in his usual boisterous manner.

"You're our son." Mom replied.

"Th-then you swear you won't…you won't hate me for…anything?" The words were getting stuck in my throat and it was taking a lot to push them out, "You wouldn't…hurt me at all?"

"Danny, what's wrong?" My mother's brow was knitted with worry and she made to move towards me but I took a step back. I wasn't finished yet.

"I've…"

"You're tastes have not changed since you arrived here…"

"I've been keeping a secret from you guys." My voice was starting to shake and I had to force it steady.

"It's time for you to go back and pick up where you left off. You know what you have to do."

"I'm…I'm…"

"Well, it's like you say: 'Everything is as it should be'."

"I'm the Ghost Kid. I'm Danny Phantom."

End of Sneak Preview

Whoooo! How do you like them snickerdoodles!? Never thought I'd write a fiction where he actually told his parents! And, yes, MIB 2 is in First POV and for very good reason. You guys are lucky I'm so nice, I haven't even told my friends what the second MIB is about. Mwahahaha!

Leave me a review! Tell me what you thought! The first Melody in Black is almost at a close and that's when you'll find out how Melody in Red started all of this…!