"You're kidding, right?" I scowled. "A blood sacrifice? To get out of a sword?"
"This isn't just a sword, boy." Fright Knight raised his eyebrow at me. "This is a separate reality; it's as much real as our world and the human world."
"But a blood sacrifice?"
"No, I was kidding. All you need to do is phase us out." He cracked a smile.
"You're a jerk." I pouted. I grabbed his arm and Wulf's, and phased us out. When we got out, we met up with Skulker, Ember and Azure. I smiled warmly.
"Welcome back!" Azure says, throwing her arms around me.
I kissed her cheek, wrapping my arms around her. I heard a cough behind me, and a snicker. I turned around to see Fright Knight with his hand over his mouth, snickering. I scowled at him. "What?"
"Ten years definitely changes things." He stopped snickering, and cleared his throat. "Skulker, my friend." He shakes Skulker's hand.
"Welcome back, my friend." Skulker smiled lightly. Wulf walked over to Skulker. "Don't—" Wulf licked Skulker, his long tongue getting slobber all over him. "Gross."
I snickered. Couldn't help it. It was always funny to see Wulf slobber all over someone who wasn't me. "Glad to see everyone getting along."
"No thanks to you, ghost child." Skulker mumbled.
I scowled. "You won't let it go, will you? It wasn't me doing it."
"It looked like you if I remember correctly." He crossed his arms.
"Listen here!" I balled my fists to stop from shooting him. "I was under mind control you good for nothing—"
"Danny!" Wulf called. "There's no need to fight."
"He started it." I pouted.
"That's a great way to act, King. You are no king of mine." Skulker walked away without another word.
"How dare you?" I walked after Skulker. "I will be King whether you like it or not!"
"You are not my King! This Kingdom does not need you." Skulker turned to face me, and stuck his finger in my chest.
"This Kingdom does need a King. I will be a better person when I am King. I can't make up my past mistakes. I can prevent future ones. Maybe someday you will find it in your heart to forgive my sins and we can be allies."
"I will never be your ally." Skulker hissed at me, and walked away.
This time, I didn't chase after him.
Skulker and I had never seen eye to eye, but this was extreme. I feared that this would be a big problem. Course, when you spend 10 years as a servant to an evil king, things like this are expected to happen. I didn't expect anything else, but I was actually hoping that everyone would forgive me when I assert myself as a gentle King. Abadon was not me, nor would he ever be. I was Danny Phantom, ghost protector. I'm done fighting ghosts, fighting anyone for that matter. The violence is behind me.
At some point, Azure had walked up behind me, and laced her fingers through mine. I sighed. "How will I start a new me if all everyone looks at is the old me?"
"You have to remind them of the new you. Everyone thinks Danny Phantom is dead; remember? I don't think anyone has pieced two and two together, you could just not tell anyone that you were Abadon."
"You helped create Abadon. Help me destroy him. Once and for all." I smiled. "I need a haircut."
"But I like the long hair." She untied my bun, letting the hair flow around my shoulders. She played with my white hair, twirling it around her fingers.
"It reminds me of Vlad, Azure. I need to separate myself from his evil." I looked into her eyes. "It also ties me to Abadon. I just need to be me."
"You're right, Danny, I know." She leans forward, kissing me gently. "How will we explain how Phantom came back to life, anyway?"
"Same way Fright Knight and Wulf did. We'll just say I was killed by Abadon and saved from hell." I frowned. "Speaking of them, we need to get back."
We walked back to the group, who were catching Wulf and Fright Knight up on the events of the last ten years. Ember wouldn't talk to me, but she wasn't outright hostile like Skulker was. "We have some work to do to make this all believable. Do you guys think you can keep my identity secret?"
Ember raised her eyebrow at me. "Keeping secrets again, ghost child?"
"Will you stop calling me that? I'm not a child anymore. I'm 27." I scowled.
"I'm 258. You're still a child." She ruffles my hair.
I sighed. "Yes, I'm keeping secrets. I believe this is for the best of the Kingdom that this keeps secret. I don't need any more unrest. I want everyone to be able to live their afterlife in peace, free from the tyranny."
"That's deep." Ember whistled. "Too bad you were the tyranny, huh? Killing Plasmius doesn't change the fact that you're a murderer."
"I know, Ember. I'm going to have to live with that guilt for as long as I live. I'm trying to turn a new leaf, but nobody's letting me!"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, everyone is turning around bringing up Abadon. He did this. I did that. Blah blah. I'm not Abadon! He is gone! He was a mind-controlled puppet, who died along with Vlad! I'm not him!" I balled my fists. "I'm Danny Phantom. I will be the best King I can be, fair and loyal, if you will help me out and forget my past. I've already embraced I will always be a murderer, and I'm not denying it. I'm trying to correct my past mistakes, not make new ones."
"Fair enough. I'll give you another chance. Skulker will come around at some point." Ember crosses her arms, looking me up and down. "We'll make a King out of you yet."
I smiled. "Thank you, Ember. I need ghosts that can support me."
"Well, I can't say it will be easy, because it won't be. Not everyone will support you." She put her hand on my shoulder. "I'll do what I can. If I were you, I'd go assert your dominance anywhere you can."
"Will do." I walked away from Ember, grabbing Azure by the hand. "Want to do for a detour?"
"With you? Always." She smiled.
Two hours and a haircut later, we were roaming around in the human world. "Wow, Amity Park got really big." We were flying in the sky, zagging through the skyscrapers, trying to find Jazz Foley's house. I eventually spotted it, and we landed on the porch. I morphed back into Danny Fenton for the first time in several weeks. The cool energy passed over me, and I opened my blue eyes. I let out the air I had been holding for a while.
"It will be fine." Azure touched my shoulder.
"I know." I ran my fingers through my short hair. We had buzzed it short, and it had went back to its usual mess. I smiled and rang the doorbell. I heard shuffling, and after a minute or two, the door opened. The woman who opened the door was tall and slender, with short red hair. My eyes immediately went to her arm, where it was sliced off at the shoulder. The memory washed over me, and I tasted bile. What kind of brother was I to do this to her?
"Can I help you?" She spoke, looking me up and down. "Do I know you? You seem familiar."
"Jazz." I choked out. "It's me. Danny, you brother."
Jazz stiffened. "My brother has been dead for ten years. How dare you play this prank on me?"
"No. Jazz, it's actually me!" I grabbed her hand, and she jumped at my touch.
"You hand is cold, just like a ghosts." She frowned. "Danny?" She reached out, touching my cheek with her hand. "I'm dreaming, I have to be… I've finally lost it."
"Lost it? You're not dreaming! I'm actually here!" I pulled her into a hug. "It's really me."
Jazz started to cry quietly on my shoulder. "Oh god, Danny…"
I sniffed, my wall breaking. I cried into her head, making her hair wet. "I missed you, Jazz."
After a moment, Azure cleared her throat, and Jazz pulled away from me. "Come in, Danny." She walked back into the house, leaving the door open. I looked at Azure, who smiled lightly at me. I grabbed her hand, leading her into the house. The walls were shockingly white, and the floors were dark wood. To the right there was a couch with chairs, and a TV. To the left, there was a dresser with a bowl of keys on top of it. Further back was the kitchen and a dining room.
"Nice house, Jazz." I took a seat on the couch, and the two women settled on either side of me.
"Thank you, little brother." She smiled. "Haven't got to say that for ten years."
I frowned. "I'm sorry, Jazz."
"What was it like? To die?" She looked at me intently. "Did it hurt?"
I shook my head. "Faster than falling asleep."
"How did you come back to life, anyway?" She stroked my hair. "Your hair is so long."
Oh Jazz, if only you knew.
"I know. I need a haircut." I smiled at Azure.
"Oh my god! I hardly noticed you were with someone else." Jazz exclaimed. "How rude of me! I'm Jazz Foley, Danny's sister."
Azure shook her hand. "I'm Sam Masters."
"How come I've never met you?" Jazz looked Azure up and down. Azure was in her human form, her long black hair cascading over her shoulders. Her bright purple eyes were slightly lined with black eyeliner, drawing them out even more than they already could. She wore light blue jeans, with a light pink top.
"I only went to Casper high for about a year. I was popular, but I kept mostly to myself." She replies. "My father and I moved out of Amity Park soon after the death of Phantom."
"Phantom's death was the hardest thing I had to deal with." Jazz hugs me again. "You were killed too young. Tell me what happened. We never could figure it out."
I thought back. "I was captured by Walker. He was ordered to kill me by Vlad. He nearly succeded, but I was able to get myself free. I almost escaped, when Vlad cornered me. Walker then phased his hand through my chest and ripped out by heart." I grimaced, reciting only a half-truth. I left out the part about me killing Walker. I had ripped out Walker's heart; I never died at all. That was my last memory as Phantom, before being turned into a puppet.
Jazz gasped. "That evil man! If I ever get my hands on him, he's dead! Him and Walker!"
"They're both dead, Jazz. They'll never hurt anyone again." I smiled. "We're free."
