Magmia Flare KING PHANTOM 3 of 3

Hi. I would like to begin with apologizing a billion and one times for being so late. I hope that the quality of the writing makes up for it. I will update before February 1st, I can guarantee that. I apologize again.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

Chapter 4- Acceptance

Danny and his friends walked out of the school two minutes after the bell rang. The halfa glanced around anxiously. There had been a suspicious lack of ghosts during the day, and that hadn't happened in two years. The anxiety had thankfully not affected his test, considering the fact that he had English third period and a lack of ghosts until then was not too worrisome.

Tucker, however, decided to make then best of the calm. "You guys want to go to Nasty Burger? I heard they added a new item to the menu: Triple decker burger with any topping you could want, even another burger!"

Sam cringed and whacked Tucker upside the head. "As much as I would love to see you scarf all that down, we need to go see Clockwork."

As they rounded the corner toward Fentonworks and away from Nasty Burger, Tucker let out a little whimper, "Nasty..." and Sam whacked him again.

Before the argument could get out of hand, Danny took Sam's hand to calm her down. Tucker was smart enough to see that he should not continue and fell silent. The trio kept walking, quickly getting into an argument over who the most annoying ghost was: Box Ghost or Kempler. Sam said Kempler, Tucker said Boxy, and Danny kept going between the two. They walked into Danny's house, finding a note on the fridge:

Hi kids!

We went to get fudge and ghosts. We'll be home before dinner.

Love you!

Mom and Dad

"Well, that solves that problem. Let's go." Danny led the way down to the lab and transformed while Sam and Tucker boarded the Specter Speeder. On the way to Clockwork's Tower, Danny noticed again that odd lack of ghosts. There wasn't a single ghost in sight.

"Calm down, Danny." Sam said to her very agitated boyfriend. "You look like you expect the whole of the Ghost Zone to attack you."

"I don't. That's the problem. There have been zero attacks all day. Only Skulker has shown up, and he suddenly left half way through our fight. That hasn't happened for two years, and you expect me to not worry?" The halfa responded, trying to look everywhere at once. Finally, he spotted the Tower. As they approached, the door opened, encouraging the humans to fly right in.

Once they were inside and Sam and Tucker had disembarked the Specter Speeder, Clockwork appeared in his signature purple cloak from his time portal.

"Ah, hello Daniel, Sam, Tucker. Thank you for coming." The Time Master started.

Upon seeing that her boyfriend had gone a little weak kneed, Sam spoke up. "Thanks for having us, Clockwork. Why did you want to see us?"

"Daniel needs to understand why he is the next king, and why he cannot say 'no' to taking the throne.

"To begin, you must understand how you challenged Pariah Dark for his life." Clockwork waved his staff in the air and a screen appeared in front of the small group. In it was the Ghost King himself, standing tall with a crown of fire on his head.

"A little ragged round the edges, eh, child?" He said in a loud confident voice.

The screen panned around to see Danny in his Phantom form, wearing his parent exo-suit, complete with the Danny Phantom logo on the front. "What do you say we ditch the snappy banter and get right to the part where I kick your butt?"

The screen switched back to Pariah Dark, "Very well, I accept your terms!" Clockwork waved his hand again and the screen dissolved, leaving those last four words echoing over and over in Danny's head, slowly getting louder. I accept your terms. I accept your terms.

"You see, Daniel, Pariah took your words to mean that if he lost, then he would forfeit his throne and afterlife. Now, you have two options: 1- you can have everything stay exactly the way it is and not accept the crown, but the Ghost Zone will officially be lawless outside of the specific cities that have emerged. It will slowly crumble into civil war and destroy the Ghost Zone and the human world. Or, 2- you could take the throne and lead the Ghost Zone into its most prosperous and peaceful time in millennia. It's completely your choice."

Danny sighed and glanced at Sam and Tucker. They looked back with a mixture of defeat, acceptance, excitement, and anticipation in their eyes. He sighed again.

"What do I need to do to get ready for this c-cor-coronation?"

Clockwork smiled, "All you need to do is not bother Princess Dorathea's handmaidens as they take your measurements. I will tell you the time and date as soon as the invitations are done printing." He looked at Sam and Tucker. "You two too."

Danny seemed to have gone onto autopilot, only nodding his head. "Anything else?" The halfa asked in an expressionless voice.

"Nothing that cannot be dealt with later."

Danny nodded and walked back to the Specter Speeder, with Sam and Tucker following quickly after him with a hasty goodbye to Clockwork (from Sam). The trio flew home in silence. Finally, Danny spoke in the same small voice he had used the night before, scared, confused, and nervous.

"I guess we better tell Jazz."

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Chapter 4- Acceptance