Reviews:
Mizugami18: Oh, okay. I'm sorry, I guess I misinterpreted what you said.
Guest: Naruto? Uh... I think you may have left a review on the wrong story. Danny Phantom is the main character not Naruto.
Alder Hill: I left it intentionally ambiguous because I don't have the first clue about fashion or what looks good. But I personally imagine it to look like something along the lines of the Cainhurst Knight set from Bloodborne, minus the frills around the neck, or maybe this outfit, minus the hat: etsy com/listing/881702339. Except in black and white, with some red highlights or scrollwork here and there. The boots and gloves would be normal dress boots and gloves. As for the cape, I think it might be able to be worn either like Dan Phantom's or on one arm. If it's even possible for it to be able to do both, I'm not particularly familiar with how capes work. Either way, Danny is going to wear it on one arm like the cape on the Cainhurst Knight set. But that's just my own interpretation, and I honestly have no idea if it would actually look good or not, so you can imagine it however you like.
BarrettSlayer: I love some of your ideas. Depending on how things go I may include some of them in the story, if that's okay. Though I would try my best to put my own spin on them, of course.
germanjustiniano9: Estoy usando el traductor de Google para esto, así que lo siento si la traducción no es la mejor. Sí, eso tiene sentido. Yo ya estaba pensando más o menos lo mismo. Si Danny moría, todos los pecados de su yo futuro del futuro y del asesinato de sus padres en el presente pertenecerían a Danny, lo que significa que iría al infierno.
Heidao: I agree. Skulker deserved to be more of a threat than he was in the show, but yeah. It is a kids show so it makes sense that he would be dumbed down a bit so as to keep their 8 and up age rating. But I don't have that problem here, sooo...
Vlad and his clones tore into Skulker with ecto-weapon constructs after he had cleaved Skulker's arm off to force him to drop Danny. That was until Skulker broke away from Vlad and managed to knock some of the clones that tried to chase him away from him. "Plasmius. You know, I was going to hunt you down next after I finished skinning the ghost child. But it seems you've saved me the trouble by coming to me." Skulker stated.
"HOW DARE YOU HARM MY BOY!" Vlad roared before he and all his clones blasted Skulker with powerful beams of ecto-energy.
Skulker went flying backwards from the force of the blast and crashed all the way through a building and out the other side. Moments later dozens of missiles phased intangibly through the building before flying at Vlad and all of his clones. Seeing this Vlad had his clones shoot the missiles out of the air. "You wanted to fight so badly, Skulker?! Well, come out and fight me!" Vlad shouted furiously.
Skulker flew out from the building like his missiles towards Vlad with his wrist blades extended. Vlad parried the strike with his ecto-sword construct before delivering an ecto enhanced uppercut directly to Skulker's face, only to be blasted point blank by several of Skulker's lasers. Vlad cried out in pain from the blast as Skulker went flying upwards into the air. Before regaining his balance. "Hahaha! Finally, a challenge! You had better not try to run away like the ghost child!" Skulker laughed.
"Oh, don't worry. I don't intend to run!" Vlad snarled before sending dozens of clones to assault Skulker from both close up and from a distance. Using his main body he turned invisible and flew behind Skulker while he was fighting the clones before creating another sword construct and attempting to behead Skulker.
Skulker somehow intercepted the strike with his wrist blades before blasting Vlad with lasers that appeared out of his back. "Arg! How many weapons do you have?!" Vlad shouted.
"Enough to deal with the likes of you." Skulker said before slashing at Vlad with his wrist blades.
Vlad blocked the strike with his sword construct and attempted to counter. He had one of his clones try to cleave Skulker's head off again, only for a glowing green barrier to appear around Skulker before the blade could land. "Ah, it seems my energy shields have recharged just in time. Excellent." Skulker stated as he Vlad brawled, before his chest opened up and something akin to a tesla coil emerged from it before unleashing a blast of electricity that sent Vlad hurtling backwards and to the ground.
Vlad crashed into the roof of a building only to immediately have to phase through it as Skulker flew towards him and attempted to impale him through the throat with his wrist blades. Vlad saw the blades puncture the roof. Vlad then unleashed a powerful blast of ecto-energy that completely destroyed the roof in an attempt to blast Skulker through it. Meanwhile he had his clones surrounding Skulker and blasting him in a massive circle around him. The resulting explosion destroyed the entire upper half of the building and would have destroyed everything for several blocks had the blast Vlad's main body unleashed not directed the majority of the explosion up into the sky.
When it was over Skulker was floating there, his barrier having fallen again and one of his legs was now missing.
The fight continued for about two minutes. Vlad and Skulker traded blows furiously. Skulker managed to slash Vlad across the chest with his wrist blades, break several of his ribs, shoot him with more lasers, and managed to hit him with a rocket. Vlad managed to destroy several of Skulker's weapons, damage his suit even more, but continued to fail to decapitate him. Vlad was genuinely surprised by how much he was struggling against Skulker.
Eventually Vlad had his clones merge back with his main body before floating up into the air again. "I've had enough of this! I am ending this now!" He snarled furiously.
"And just how do you plan to do that, Plasmius? I can still fight, but you? You've been expending vast amounts of energy very fast. How much longer do you think you can keep this up before you end up exhausting yourself?" Skulker demanded.
Vlad didn't respond. Instead he grabbed his cape and spun, creating a massive ecto energy tornado. Skulker tried to shoot at him through the tornado with both ecto-lasers only for them to be redirected away by the ectoplasmic tornado. Skulker himself was then slowly but surely forcibly dragged into the tornado where his suit was ripped apart. He was then sent flying and crashed into the ground.
Vlad let the tornado dissipate and glared at Skulker who was now limbless and severely damaged. He was panting from exhaustion, he couldn't keep this up much longer. But it would seem he wouldn't have to as Skulker levitated back up off the ground and said, "My suit's too damaged to continue… I underestimated you, Plasmius. You've won this round, but I will not make the same mistakes next time!" He then flew away.
Vlad almost wanted to chase after him but he was in no condition to keep fighting and Daniel was in need of immediate medical attention. So Vlad decided to cut his losses, flew down, grabbed Danny, and immediately flew back to his lab at the speed of light.
(Danny)
Danny groaned groggily and opened his eyes. He found himself lying on a table in his and Vlad's lab.
"Oh, thank goodness you're awake… You had me scared for a while there, my boy." Vlad's voice stated from beside him.
"Vlad…?" Danny croaked looking over at him. He was immediately surprised to see Vlad bloody and bruised. "What happened to you…?" Danny asked, trying to sit up.
Vlad put his hands on Danny's shoulders and kept him laying down. "Ah, ah. Don't get up just yet. Your body is regenerating from your wounds, but you're still hurt. You should at least take a moment to regain your bearings first. As for what happened to me… I fought Skulker, and he is far more powerful than he should be. I barely managed to damage him enough to drive him off, though I myself nearly died in the process. That being said, there was something very clearly off about him. His voice was different, his armor was black, and his ecto-energy had turned red… But none of that matters right now. We can deal with that when you've recovered."
"Alright, Vlad… How long have I been unconscious…?" Danny inquired, his voice still rough and raspy.
"About five hours. Most of that was spent with me conducting emergency surgery to keep you alive long enough for your ghostly healing factor to start working. It's good that I've been keeping blood bags with your blood type in storage for just such a situation, otherwise you would have died of blood loss hours ago." Vlad explained.
"Why not just bring me to a hospital…?" Danny asked.
Vlad gave Danny a slightly incredulous look. "Are you serious, Daniel? Do you really need to ask? I don't trust the hospitals here in Hell as far as I can throw them! I'd trust a mad doctor from the Ghost Zone to save you before I trusted any demon to do the same. And I trust my own skills even more than I trust most ghosts. Besides, I didn't exactly have the time to go to the Ghost Zone and search for a doctor considering the fact you were mere inches away from death's door."
"Oh… Fair enough… Knowing Hell, the doctors would probably just steal my kidneys or something…" Danny muttered.
Vlad nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Thus the reason I can not trust them. Anyway, is there anything you need? A glass of water, perhaps?"
"Yeah… That would be nice… It would help rinse the taste of blood and ectoplasm out of my mouth…" Danny said.
"Then give me but a moment." Vlad said before stepping away. A few moments later Vlad returned with a fresh glass of water in his hands. "Here is your water, Daniel. Just let me help you sit up so you don't reopen your wounds… And here you are, my boy."
"Thanks Vlad…" Danny said before taking the glass of water and essentially chugging it. When he was done he looked at Vlad and said, "I seriously owe you one for saving me back there… And for keeping me from dying after saving me." His voice sounded a bit better after having had something to drink.
Vlad shook his head and waved a hand dismissively. "Think nothing of it. And you don't owe me a thing. It's my duty as your guardian to look after and protect you to the best of my abilities. Jack and Maddie would expect nothing less…"
"What are we going to do about Skulker?" Danny asked.
Vlad sighed and looked at the ground. "I don't know yet. Just give me a few days and I'll think of something. In the meantime, be on your guard. And if you see Skulker again any time soon — which you shouldn't for a few days at least since it will take time for him to repair his armor — don't underestimate him."
"Yeah, clearly… I still have no idea how he could have gotten so strong. Is it really just upgrades to his suit?" Danny inquired.
"I have several theories as to what may be happening with him but none of them are good and none of them involve normal upgrades… Either Skulker made a deal with someone he shouldn't have, that's not actually Skulker but a demon posing as him, or he's found a powerful and very dark artifact that had been sealed away in the depths of the Ghost Zone that should have just stayed buried and forgotten. All three are equally bad options." Vlad stated in a grim tone.
"Wonderful… So basically, we're screwed." Danny muttered before drinking what remained of his water.
"Not quite. Don't be so pessimistic, Daniel. Now, I'll have to make a trip to the Ghost Zone soon both to retrieve the blueprints for our prison from Walker and to investigate a few things. But in the meantime, I will be staying around while you recover." Vlad stated.
"Alright. Though, before Skulker attacked I was going to tell you apparently Octavia's parents are throwing a party soon. She invited me to come and said it would be alright if you came too." Danny informed him.
"Oh! So that's what the new outfit you were wearing in your ghost form was for. I approve of the change in style, by the way. Very well then. Do you know when this party will be held?" Vlad inquired.
"Not exactly. She didn't give me an exact date. But apparently her parents got into a fight over the food and decorations, so it should be pretty soon I think. I can find out when they're holding the party when I talk to her again tomorrow." Danny stated. Then he remembered something, "Oh, shoot! I lost my shopping bag while I was fighting Skulker! It had my old jumpsuit and my cape in it!"
"You bought a cape?" Vlad inquired, raising an eyebrow at Danny.
"Octavia made me." Danny stated.
Vlad chuckled and placed a hand on Danny's shoulder, "Well, my boy, it's just clothes. They can be easily replaced. Especially the jumpsuit. And it's not like we're hurting for money so we could buy you a dozen of those outfits just like the one you bought today, cape included. Better yet, we can have them tailor made for you. Say what you will about demons, but Hell has some of the finest tailors from throughout human history."
"I'll just go back to Stylish Occult and buy a new cape exactly like the one I lost after school tomorrow." Danny stated.
Vlad frowned at that. "Still not a connoisseur of high end fashion, eh? Pity… I would still like to take you to get an outfit tailored for you some time. You will find your clothes to be significantly more comfortable if they are made to your exact specifications I'm sure."
"Fine… I'm a bit tired. Can I go back to my room to lay down? My bed's more comfortable than this table and it's not covered in blood." Danny requested.
"Very well. So long as you don't move your torso around too much it should be fine. Otherwise you will be running the risk of reopening your wounds. If you need anything, just call me and let me know. In the meantime, I will tend to my own wounds." Vlad stated.
Several days passed and it was finally time for the party. Danny reluctantly wore the cape, upon Vlad's insistence. Though the cape was short enough that Vlad did show him an alternate way to wear it, keeping it pinned to one arm instead of around his neck like Vlad's own cape. Danny preferred this method as it was different from the way his evil alternate future self wore his cape and the more he could distance himself from that version of himself the better.
Vlad and Danny flew to Stolas' Mansion together. Landing outside they approached the front door and were greeted by an Imp with a clipboard in his hand. "Names, please." The Imp requested.
"Daniel Phantom and Vlad Plasmius." Vlad stated.
The Imp looked at the papers on the clipboard for a moment before nodding. "Very well. You may enter." He then opened the door for them.
Vlad and Danny entered the mansion and saw Stolas talking to a servant nearby. As soon as the door opened, Stolas looked over and saw them. Looking back at the servant he said something before walking over to the two of them. "Ah, Octavia said you two would be coming. Welcome… It's a pleasure to finally meet you both." He said, smiling at them.
Vlad bowed politely and Danny followed his lead. "Greetings, Prince Stolas. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. We both thank you for inviting us into your home." Vlad stated.
"Oh, nonono… I didn't invite you, Octavia did. Daniel, if I could have a quick word with you." Stolas said, still continuing to smile at the two of them.
"Uh, sure…" Danny said.
"Excellent." Stolas said before grabbing Danny by the shoulder and dragging him into another room. Shutting the door behind him he muttered a few words quietly enough that Danny couldn't hear them and the wall and door glowed with dark red light for a moment before said light began to fade. "There, now that fool out there won't be able to get in to eavesdrop…" Stolas growled before glaring at Danny, his friendly facade dropping immediately. "Don't think I don't know what you're up to, ghost."
"What do you mean?" Danny asked, now a bit more on guard due to Stolas' hostile behavior.
"I mean, I know the only reason you are pretending to be friends with my daughter is to get my book so you can escape Hell!" Stolas all but shouted at Danny. "Well, let me tell you, you insolent little brat, I have placed intense anti-ghost wards on my book. If you so much as touch it, you will quickly discover the true meaning of Hell. And if you ever harm my daughter in any capacity, I will make sure you suffer for the rest of eternity!"
"Seriously? You honestly think I'm pretending to be her friend because I want to use your book to go back to Earth? No. I don't think you understand my situation. Everyone I knew and loved back on Earth is dead. Even if I could leave I have nothing to go back to! And besides, do you honestly think your dumb book is the only way out of here?! Vlad has a portal to the Ghost Zone hidden somewhere, and it would be a lot easier for me to just turn invisible and follow him to his portal if I wanted to leave than it would be to steal a book I may not even be able to read from one of the most powerful demons in Hell!" Danny couldn't help but start shouting as his frustration at his situation and Stolas' unwarranted accusation started to boil over.
Stolas remained silent throughout Danny's entire tirade and seemed unfazed by his words or his shouting. "For all I know every word you said could be nothing but a bunch of lies. Especially considering the fact you single handedly caused armageddon in the future and killed me before Clockwork changed the course of history. What I said stands. I have my eye on you, boy. The instant you step out of line, I will make you regret it. Now that we know where eachother stand, I believe we are done here. You may leave and join the party."
"Fine…" Danny growled before marching towards the door, opening it, and walking out of the room. Vlad was waiting for him nearby.
"For some reason I couldn't phase through the wall and I couldn't hear a thing being said. What happened in there?" Vlad inquired.
"Nothing… Absolutely nothing…" Danny stated in an annoyed tone. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down he said, "Let's just go join the party."
Vlad looked at Danny for a moment before sighing and saying, "Very well." He then walked over to a servant and asked, "Excuse me. Could you please lead us to where the party is being held?"
"Of course. Right this way." The servant said before turning and leading Vlad and Danny to the mansion's ballroom.
Once they entered the ballroom, they were greeted by the sound of classical music and a large crowd of demons of all different shapes and sizes. No one was dancing or anything of the sort, much to Danny's relief. His school did give the students basic lessons on both etiquette and ballroom dancing since it was mainly a school for the upper class, but Danny still wasn't very good at it and he didn't want to embarrass himself.
Not even a moment later Octavia walked up to them, "Hey, Danny. Thanks for coming." She greeted.
Danny smiled at her and said, "Hey, Octavia. I just met your dad. He seems… uh… nice." Danny lied. He didn't want to risk hurting her feelings by telling her that her dad was a jerk.
She groaned and rested her face in one of her hands. "I'm so sorry about him… He can be a bit overprotective at times."
"It's fine. This is Vlad by the way. My second in command and adoptive father, I guess." Danny said, motioning to Vlad.
Vlad raised an eyebrow at Danny, "You 'guess'?"
"Sorry, I'm still getting used to the entire thing. It's still sort of weird to me. I mean just a couple months ago we were enemies." Danny said, looking at Vlad.
"I suppose that's fair. A bit disappointing since I really thought we've been getting closer lately, but fair." Vlad stated. He then looked at Octavia and bowed to her. "It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, madam."
"Right…" Octavia stated.
Suddenly someone else walked up to them from elsewhere in the ballroom. Danny immediately recognized the person as Alastor, the Radio Demon. He had met him shortly after killing Vox and Valentino as the Radio Demon had made it a point to come see Danny and thank him in person for killing his long time enemy. "Why hello there! It's good to see you again, Danny boy, it truly is! Life has been sooo much better lately ever since you violently murdered Vox! I still can't thank you enough for that! He was a pain in my backside for decades!"
Danny grimaced. "Hey, Alastor. Fancy seeing you here…" Danny said awkwardly.
"What's wrong, Danny boy? Not too fond of your good friend Alastor?" Alastor chuckled, noticing Danny's awkwardness.
"Ah, no. My sincerest apologies Alastor, I believe you've just caught Daniel at a bad time as it were. He and Madam Octavia here were just about to go hang out together to have a private conversation. Isn't that right, you two?" Vlad interjected before looking at Danny and Octavia.
"Yeah, that's right. Come on, Danny. There's a corner over this way where we can talk." Octavia stated before turning and walking off to a relatively empty corner of the ballroom.
"Sorry, Alastor, I don't mean to be rude. I'll try to catch up with you a bit later!" Danny said as he followed Octavia. He was so grateful that Vlad had given them such a convenient way of getting out of that. He had not been looking forward to talking to Alastor. The guy could be polite enough in casual conversation, but he was just so creepy. And Danny had done some research into him while he was trying to decide which Overlord to kill, so he knew just how horrible Alastor truly was.
"It's quite alright, we can talk later! Enjoy your evening!" Alastor said, waving at Danny as he walked away.
Once he and Octavia were far enough away Danny sighed and said, "That was a close one. I really didn't want to talk to him."
"You know, you're still probably going to have to talk with him a bit at some point tonight, right?" Octavia asked.
"Yeah I know. But I'd like to put it off as long as I can. The guy gives me the creeps." Danny sighed. He then smiled at her and said, "I like your outfit, by the way. You look great!"
Octavia smiled back at him. "Thanks. You look okay too. I see you're actually wearing the cape."
"Yeah, Vlad managed to convince me. At least wearing it like this isn't quite as bad as wearing it the same way Vlad does." Or the same way his evil future self did, but Danny didn't mention that part.
"I'm just glad you didn't wear the jumpsuit, honestly. Could you imagine how out of place you would have looked in that?" Octavia said motioning to the well dressed crowd filling the ballroom.
Danny chuckled at that and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, no kidding. I would have stuck out like a sore thumb."
"Right? Well, have you made any progress on finding this Skulker guy or figuring out how to deal with him?" Octavia inquired.
Danny shook his head. "Unfortunately not. Pretty soon Vlad's gonna go to the Ghost Zone or, uh… Purgatory. Sorry, still not used to calling it Purgatory or Limbo. Anyway, Vlad's going to try to investigate things there to see if Skulker found and took some dangerous artifact, if it's even the real Skulker, and if it is the real him, how he even got to Hell in the first place."
"Hm… You know, if I was him, I would probably try to attack you while you were alone and Vlad was off in Purgatory." Octavia stated.
Danny sighed and leaned up against a wall. "That's sort of what I'm afraid of. But if he's smart he won't attack Vlad and I while we're together. But if we stick around each other for too long, he might try to upgrade his suit even more in order to fight both of us at once. And to figure out what to do about him we really need to know what's actually going on with him. So this is a sort of necessary step. I just have to be prepared to deal with him when he attacks me again."
"Just be careful, I guess."
"I will… So what's new with you?" Danny asked.
The two of them continued talking for a while. The ballroom door opened a few times over the course of the party as more people arrived. Some of the guests had servants announce their presence while others did not. After about thirty minutes the doors opened again and a servant announced, "The Royal Family has arrived. Lucifer Morningstar, Lilith Morningstar, and Charlie Morningstar. Everyone please bow to the Royal Family."
Danny's eyes widened in surprise. "Woah, they're here?"
"Danny, bow!" Octavia hissed urgently.
Danny bowed in the direction of the door but kept his head up to look as the three newcomers entered the ballroom. Just seeing Lucifer sent chills down Danny's spine worse than when he fought Pariah Dark. He could practically feel the evil radiating off of him. It was absolutely terrifying. He almost wanted to turn invisible, intangible, and start flying away right then and there.
Eventually Lucifer said, "You all may rise." And everyone stopped bowing.
"So that's him, huh? The King of Hell…" Danny muttered as he stopped bowing.
"Yup. I knew that dad invited the three of them but I didn't expect them to actually come. They rarely attend any parties or events that they don't host themselves. I mean they do sometimes but not often." Octavia explained.
"I honestly don't know if this was lucky for you and your family or unlucky." Danny stated.
Octavia shrugged. "A bit of both, and sort of neither. It really just depends on how the night goes. If it goes well, it could be either lucky or more likely just okay. But if it goes bad it could be unlucky or extremely unlucky depending on just how bad it gets. That being said, with them here my parents aren't likely to argue with each other and they will do everything they can to ensure everything goes well. So everything should be fine."
"Great. Now I'm half expecting Skulker to burst in and start attacking." Danny muttered.
Octavia rolled her eyes. "As long as he doesn't have a death wish he won't. Do you have any idea how powerful all of these demons are? The Overlords here are pretty much the weakest ones and all of them are overlords for a reason. Sure, considering the fact he nearly killed you he might be able to fight an Overlord one on one. But this many together? And that's not including all the Hellborn demons here, most of which are more powerful than the Overlords could ever hope to be."
"I guess you're right. He ran away and hid in Amity Park with the other ghosts when Pariah Dark was freed. So he's not dumb enough to jump into a fight like this. Or he shouldn't be, at least." Danny stated.
"Ehem, excuse me if I'm interrupting but are you that new Overlord, Danny Phantom?" Said a feminine voice.
Danny looked at the source and was immediately surprised to see it was Charlie Morningstar. "Uh… Yes… I am. Why? Am I in trouble for something?" Danny asked cautiously.
"Oh, no not at all! Well, sort of. It's just that I've heard that you're planning on building a city and a prison to maintain order in that city." Charlie stated.
"Okay, what about it?" Danny inquired.
"Well, do you think it would be a good idea to add a sort of rehabilitation program to your prison for all the prisoners? Instead of just locking them up and waiting for the Exterminators to come execute them, wouldn't it be better to work to help them become better people and eventually be released?" Charlie inquired.
Danny crossed his arms and gave her a confused look. "Become better people? If they wanted to be better people they wouldn't be committing crimes in the first place."
Charlie shook her head. "I disagree. I think a lot of them believe they can't be better people and thus don't even bother trying. I think all some people need is a chance to start trying to turn their afterlives around."
"Hm… I'm not sure I agree with you, your highness. But Vlad is in charge of the design of the prison. He's even getting help designing it from a prison warden in the Ghost Zone, er… Purgatory. And from what he's told me, it's going to have two separate prison wards. One for minor crimes that will be better protected from the Exorcists on Extermination Day and a death row that will be opened up for them to freely execute the prisoners in that branch of the prison. So I'm hoping not everyone will end up being executed by the Exorcists and will learn that there are legitimate consequences for their actions. Beyond that, I'm really not sure how they could possibly be rehabilitated. But if you have suggestions, I am certainly willing to hear them." Danny stated.
Charlie's expression changed quite a bit over the course of what Danny said. It started out with disappointment when he said he disagreed with her, turned to curiosity when he mentioned getting help from Walker in designing the prison, turned to horror when Danny said they would freely open death row to the Exorcists to have them execute the demons imprisoned there, then she smiled at him when he said he was willing to hear her suggestions if she had any.
"You're actually willing to listen to my ideas?" She asked excitedly.
"Yes? I mean why wouldn't I be? It's not like I have anything to lose from hearing your suggestions. And who knows, maybe you've thought of something I didn't or maybe you have a point I never considered. I don't know. Look, I'm fourteen. I barely have any idea what I'm doing at all. I'm honestly relying on Vlad for figuring out stuff like this. So, yeah. I'm open to suggestions." Danny told her. He saw Octavia facepalm out of the corner of his eye, though he honestly didn't understand why.
"Yes! Awesome! Well—" Charlie started.
She was cut off when a voice shouted, "Charlie, dear? Where have you run off too?"
"Oh, shoot! I need to go. But we should really continue this conversation at some point in the future!" Charlie said before turning and walking away. "Coming, mom!"
"Danny, what the fuck was that?" Octavia demanded when Charlie was far enough away.
"What? What did I do?" Danny asked, completely confused.
"Why did you just outright tell her that you have no idea what you're doing, and are relying on Vlad to figure things out?! You just displayed weakness in front of one of the most powerful and influential demons in all of Hell! Granted, given her reputation, I sincerely doubt she's going to use that against you, but still! Had that been anyone else in this room, they would absolutely try to exploit that weakness however they could. Be that through kidnapping or killing Vlad to leave you vulnerable or whatever else." Octavia scolded him.
"Oh… Right… I didn't think about that…" Danny muttered, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
Octavia sighed. "You can be a real idiot sometimes, Danny. Just try to be aware of who you're talking to and how they might use what you tell them in the future."
"I'll try. I'm still new to all this political stuff. I was just a normal teen back on Earth. I never needed to worry about this sort of thing before I was sent here and I became an Overlord. I've been trying my best to learn from Vlad." Danny explained.
"Whatever… Anyway, you're actually going to listen to Princess Charlie?" Octavia inquired.
"Like I told her, yes. Why wouldn't I?" Danny asked.
"Because she doesn't exactly have the best reputation here in Hell. She's known to be quite naive and idealistic with some rather… eccentric ideas. I mean, you're trying to build a prison, not a daycare." Octavia told him.
Danny shrugged. "Just because I hear her out doesn't mean I have to implement all of her ideas. Trust me, I'm not going to let my prison become anything remotely resembling a daycare."
"Alright then. Just warning you ahead of time."
The party went on like that for a bit until Stolas announced it was time to dance. Some demons stayed in groups off to the sides and talked while others went closer to the middle of the room for the dance. Danny and Octavia stayed where they were, neither one being interested in dancing.
The dance lasted for several hours before finally starting to wind down and come to a stop. When it was over Octavia decided it was about time they go talk to the other demons that were present before the part was truly over and they all left, just to maintain the illusion of politeness. So she and Danny went their separate ways.
Danny decided to go find Alastor and just get it out of the way so he wouldn't have to talk to the Radio Demon again for a while. Danny tried his best to put what he had learned from Vlad to use and be as polite and cordial as possible with all of the demons he spoke to.
While they were out of earshot of the Royal Family several demons did ask him if he was the bastard son of Lucifer. He told them no, but didn't bother explaining that he was half ghost.
Eventually the party came to an end and Vlad and Danny went home.
Sorry if I disappointed some of you by not having Skulker attack the party. It just wouldn't make sense for him to do so with so many powerful demons there. Especially when Lucifer showed up. A bit of an anti-climax, I know, but one that makes sense in my opinion given the context.