AN: Well, I'm happy to see all of the reviews that I got for the previous chapters! I hope to continue to live up to your expectations with these next six chapters. Strap in, because we're in it for the long haul.
Disclaimer: I still don't own Danny Phantom, or any other franchise used in this story!
Imperial Discoveries Part 2!
The Imperial Council certainly seemed like a motley crew at first glance. It was a council that mostly handled military affairs, but they also dealt with domestic affairs, making sure that the lives of the civilians were both safe and prosperous. It's why there was absolutely no poverty in the empire, and anti-racism laws were always heavily enforced. The Imperial Council was composed of the emperor, Danny Fenton, along with his teachers from the war. There was Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight. Naruto Uzumaki, the Seventh Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Monkey D. Luffy, a man made of rubber who was King of the Pirates. Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Soul Reaper and protector of Karakura Town. Son Goku, the Saiyan warrior who was raised on Earth. And of course, there was Danny's final teacher: Zuko, the current Lord of the Fire Nation.
But there's been some recent additions made to the council. All of them being trusted friends and confidants of the emperor.
These new members included Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and his Night Fury, Toothless. After them is Tia Harribel, the Tres Espada and currently the Queen of Hueco Mundo. Then there is King T'Challa, the leader of Wakanda. When they joined the empire, they gifted them with a portion of Vibranium which was used to help advance the technology of the empire to what it is today. Finally, there was Pharaoh Atem of the Monster Province, who had been brought back to life in a physical body midway through Danny's seven-year campaign to unite the lands beyond the Veil. It was a second chance at life for the Pharaoh, and he intended to use it wisely, even getting married to his childhood friend and eventual sweetheart, Mana, who was there with him at this meeting.
"Welcome esteemed members of the United Veil Imperial Council. I hereby call this meeting of the United Veil Imperial Council to order. First of all, I thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to visit the capitol and attend this meeting." Danny said as he started the meeting.
"Hey, don't worry about it, your Imperial Majesty. It's always a pleasure to visit." Hiccup said with a grin.
Danny frowned at the formal title as Urd and Tayuya silently giggled behind Danny's back, knowing how much their husband absolutely HATED formalities. Especially from his friends.
"How many times do I have to tell you to just call me by name? You know how much I hate formalities between us since we're friends, right?" Danny asked, though it sounded like a statement.
"Oh, I know. That's why I call you things like that." Hiccup said with a laugh.
And Toothless grunted his signature dragon laugh as he too thought that Danny's attitude at being called by his title was funny.
"In all seriousness, it really is great to see you again, Danny." Hiccup said as he gave Danny a pat on the back.
Danny just smiled and returned the gesture, resolving to get back at the Viking chief later.
"The feeling is mutual." Danny said before walking over to greet his teachers. "Good to see you again, Goku. How are the new recruits to the Saiyan army doing?"
Goku gave his signature 'Son Smile' as he said "The recruits are getting stronger and stronger every day. Vegeta thinks that they'll be ready for active duty in about a month."
"That's good to hear." Danny said, glad to know that security wouldn't be an issue.
Next he shook hands with Monkey D. Luffy, a man with a small scar under his eye, wearing a straw hat, and having this sort of childish yet mature aura about him.
"How are you and Nami doing, Luffy? Have the marine loyalists been taken care of?" Danny asked.
Luffy just gave a big old grin and laughed.
"Me and Nami are doing great, Danny! And you don't need to worry, because the remaining marine loyalists are officially gone. I can proudly and safely say that the navy is now completely and utterly loyal to the empire." Luffy reported.
Danny gave the man a grateful nod as he was filled with relief. No longer would the navy be controlled by the corruption and greed of the marines that once commanded it. And with careful screening and background checks, such problems would never arise again.
"Lord Hokage." Danny greeted with a respectful bow.
"Emperor-Dono." Naruto said as he bowed back. "Things in the village go well. With your recommended changes to the academy curriculum in place, our next generation of shinobi and kunoichi should be even stronger than my generation was at their age."
"Very good, very good." Danny said with a nod. "And how are you and Hinata doing? Those kids of yours still giving you a headache?"
Naruto couldn't help but sigh and run a hand down his face as he said "Don't get me wrong, Hinata-chan and I love our children very, very much. And Himawari is an absolute angel most of the time. But Boruto just can't seem to get his act together and STILL hates the Hokage with a passion! It doesn't help that everyone in the village expects him to follow in my footsteps and succeed me as Hokage one day, even though he's made it clear that he doesn't want to."
"I see. And have you ever actually sat him down and had a talk, man-to-man, with him about this subject?" Danny asked.
Though he had a feeling he already knew the answer.
"Erm, well, no. But…"
"Naruto, the longer you wait, the harder it's going to be for him to express his concerns to you, especially since you're the village leader and seem to shoulder all of the work yourself. And the deeper this rift that's forming between you and your son is going to get." Danny said. "Take this as advice from a friend and an order from the emperor: sit down and talk with your son about what it truly means to be Hokage, and ask him what it is that HE wants to do with his life. Don't try to force him down a path that he doesn't want to go down. And above all, delegate some of your work to your assistants. They want to help you better manage your workload as Hokage, after all. It's why they're there. Don't force your children to grow up without their father truly being there for them."
No one said a word as the Seventh Hokage absorbed these words. Danny had told them all about his past, and how his parents, his father in particular, had tried more than once to essentially force him and his sister onto the path of becoming ghost hunters even though Danny, at the time, wanted to become an astronaut and work for Nasa while Jazz wanted to become either a psychotherapist or a neurosurgeon. And just look at how that turned out. Wordlessly, Naruto nodded as he resolved to do as Danny had advised.
"Okay… Okay, I'll do that." Naruto said softly.
Danny just gave his teacher and friend a reassuring smile as he knew that everything would work out for the better after this meeting.
He quickly exchanged pleasantries with the rest of the Military Council and learned several things from them.
Ichigo and his girlfriend, who is none other than Tia Harribel herself, are still going strong and recently got engaged. Anakin was now on the Jedi Council but has yet to become a Master since certain events involving his former Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, from returning to the Jedi Order at the time. And no, she's not dead before you ask. However, Anakin is training a new Padawan named Katooni and the young Rodian girl has truly flourished under the teachings of Anakin. Danny assured him that at the rate she was improving, he'd be made a master in no time. Atem and his wife, Mana, were expecting their first child in a few months. T'Challa had recently prevented a civil war sparked by his cousin, Erik Killmonger A.K.A. N'Jadaka. And Zuko, the former Firelord who was succeeded by his daughter, Izumi, had recently built a special sanctuary for the dragons of his land where they would be able to repopulate their species without fear of hunters.
"Son Goku, please review the minutes from our last gathering." Danny instructed as the meeting got underway.
"Yes, your Imperial Majesty." Goku said as he rose from his seat.
These meetings were some of the few times he'd tolerate such formalities from those he considered his friends.
"Our masked charity ball was a complete success and raised one hundred million zeni for the Retired Warriors Foundation." Goku reported. "And at last, the newest recruits to the castle guard are fully trained and ready for active duty."
"Excellent." Danny said.
Though he didn't feel that he needed any bodyguards as it were, his generals insisted upon there being a royal guard just in case. He reluctantly agreed as he remembered the old saying, 'better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.'.
"Ichigo?"
"As you are no doubt aware, despite your marriage to Tia's Fraccion, Mila-Rose, tensions between Soul Reapers and Hollows, the Arrancar in particular, are still quite high. This is mostly due to the actions of the remaining loyalists to the Central 46 who went into hiding after the war." Ichigo reported. "Scout teams have been dispatched to find and bring them in, but they have yet to return."
"We'll be ready when they do." Danny said, knowing that these loyalists could prove dangerous if left unchecked.
Next to take the stand was T'Challa.
"Daniel, I am pleased to report that with the help of Daimyo Koyuki Kazahana of Spring Country, Shuri has managed to create some new technology for the empire's military forces. New vibranium laced chakra armor for the ninjas of the army, kunai gatling guns, plasma rifles, EMP beads, enhanced energy shields, and a new generation distortion cloaking system. With these, we should have an edge should anyone attempt to invade the empire with the intent to destroy us." the Wakandan king reported.
"I think we should equip those gatling guns to the ships in the navy, just so that our soldiers have a little more long-range firepower to work with. We might also need to put more funds to the navy as several of our ships still need serious repairs." Luffy suggested.
"Then we might as well put more funding in towards the ground forces, too." Goku added.
Danny nodded at these suggestions.
"Very well, then we'll increase funding for the navy by fifty percent, and our ground forces will receive a thirty percent increase in funds. And our ships will be equipped with those gatling guns as soon as repairs are finished. Is that acceptable to everyone?"
He received nods all around as everyone agreed with this proposal. And as the meeting went on, a certain entourage from the other side of the Veil was completely unaware of what was about to happen to them thanks to a certain member of the Stealth Force.
***Meanwhile…***
At the Western Springs Hotel, Vlad and his entourage had just arrived and were now getting settled in as they began to go over procedure for the diplomatic meeting with the emperor where they would, hopefully, receive his help in driving back the ghosts that were destroying not just Amity, but the rest of the world as well. Still, some were less optimistic about things going smoothly than others.
"Vlad, are you absolutely sure that this will work?" Maddie asked.
"Of course. What makes you think my plan wouldn't?" Vlad replied with a question of his own.
"Well, while that receptionist was having our IDs scanned, I noticed the employee doing the scanning had given her a subtle shake of the head, like they knew that our IDs were fake." Maddie explained.
But Vlad just waved her off.
"Oh, you're worrying too much, Maddie. I assure you; those fake IDs were made by the best hackers money can buy, and they spared no detail when creating them."
Maddie still didn't look convinced but decided to just drop the subject for the moment. She was more concerned about how they were going to meet up with the emperor of this kingdom, as she was certain that like most royals, he would be very busy. And it's not like they could just make an appointment to speak with him.
…Could they?
'Questions for later.' she thought to herself
But all were broken from their thoughts and activities when the windows to their rooms were shattered and the doors busted down as these men and women in, what appeared to be black ninja uniforms, busted into their rooms. Jack instantly moved to protect his wife and daughter and certainly got the drop on them as he proved to be much stronger than they thought he would be, but they quickly recovered and subdued him rather quickly as some of the more physically strong members managed to wrestle him to the floor.
"GET DOWN ON THE GROUND! HANDS BEHIND YOUR BACKS!" yelled one of the Omitsukido.
Mentally swearing at the situation and knowing that he couldn't reveal his ghost half with so many witnesses from Amity Park around, Vlad and the others complied. They quickly found their hands cuffed behind their backs as they were arrested by the Stealth Force.
"Good job, boys and girls. We caught ourselves a clan of rats attempting to infest our home." Soi-Fon said as she strode in with a smug grin. "Search them for any weapons and put them in the van. They'll be brought before the emperor to face judgment for their intrusion upon our land."
She mentally reminded herself to recommend her Lieutenant for a pay raise when she next spoke with Danny. Seeing the looks of confusion on the faces of Vlad, Jack, and the GIW, but mostly Vlad, Soi-Fon laughed as she gloated.
"Don't look so surprised! Our scanning technology is very advanced. Advanced enough to easily tell a fake identification from a real one." she said.
Knowing that the jig was up, the GIW members tried to fight their way out even with their wrists cuffed but were easily subdued by the more experienced assassins apprehending them. A few pressure point strikes and they were rendered paralyzed for a time, while some of them would be taking an unscheduled nap. The Fentons, Sam, Tucker, and Valerie knew that they didn't stand a chance against these guys and that the only reason Jack even had the upper hand at first was because they underestimated him. So, they resolved to go quietly.
Vlad, however, was seething on the inside as he mentally kicked himself for underestimating the technological advancement of this empire. Though it seemed to be relatively new, it would seem as though it was advancing along quickly. He tried to subtly use his ghost powers to go intangible and phase his way out of the cuffs but found himself unable to call upon his powers. It was as if they were being blocked by some unknown force.
"Don't even think about trying to use your powers to escape, ghostly one. You may have been able to fool those buffoons who came here with you, but my kind can easily sense rogue spirits such as yourself." Soi-Fon quietly growled into Vlad's ear before he was loaded into the van.
As the doors were closed and the van drove away, the Mayor of Amity Park only had one thought on his mind.
'It seems like my chances of getting help for the world's ghost problem won't be as easy as I thought it would be. And neither will my subtle takeover of this empire, come to think of it.' Vlad bitterly thought to himself.
***To Be Continued…***
Ending AN: Ohhh, Vlad's in trouble!~ There's no sneaky, sneaky into this empire while Danny's in charge! Just what will happen to the Amity Entourage when they're brought before the emperor? And just how will they react when they see who the emperor really is? All this and more in the next chapter of The Phantom of the Empire! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!
