Reviews:
BoredKing: The ecto-peeler and ecto-skeleton are two different devices. The Ecto-Peeler is the armor that Jazz wore in the Ultimate Enemy to try to fight Dark Danny, and Danny used a version of the armor portion of the ecto-peeler in this story during his last fight with Skulker where he lost his arm. The weapon portion of the ecto-peeler is effectively a disintegration ray as it peels ghosts apart layer by layer. The ecto-skeleton, on the other hand, is the giant mechsuit thing that Danny used to fight Pariah Dark in Reign Storm which multiplies his power by a hundred. But your suggestion about the ecto-peeler lead me to think about the ecto-skeleton, so thank you! And yeah... Sorry. This was my first time writing a date. I have never written romance before. So I apologize for not fleshing out the date better.
Akakiru: Danny can date Octavia and still be the Prince of Purgatory.
3DJoker: You really want Danny to have a Harem, don't you? I don't really see why, but I guess I've thought of a way it could potentially work.
DeadmanwalkingXP: Seriously? I guess I read too many Doom crossovers or something... I genuinely thought Charlie was the most common ship because of the Doom crossovers. I assumed it would be effectively the same thing in other fandoms because she is the main character of the series. So if I'm mistaken on Charlie ships being over done, I apologize.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST MY CROWN AND RING?!" Vlad roared at the Fright Knight who was currently standing before him with his head bowed in shame.
"It is exactly as I said. The angels had us distracted fighting them while another arch angel snuck past us and dispelled the wards we had placed around them. Their siege lasted for several weeks. We had no idea it was even happening until it was too late." Fright Knight stated in a grim tone.
Vlad snarled and punched a nearby wall so hard he bashed a hole straight through it. "DAMN IT ALL! THAT MEANS WE HAVE OFFICIALLY LOST OUR BIGGEST DETERRENT AGAINST THEM TRYING TO MURDER DANIEL! NOW IT IS PRACTICALLY GUARANTEED THAT THEY WILL ATTACK ON EXTERMINATION DAY! WHY DIDN'T YOU HAVE GUARDS POSTED AROUND THE CROWN AND RING LIKE I ORDERED YOU TO?!"
"We did. We simply didn't have enough of them, and the blood blossoms Heaven brought kept them all incapacitated while they took the time to dispel the wards. With all due respect, my lord, I warned you we should have brought all of the Knights back rather than leaving any to guard other artifacts and put down the frozen rebellions." Fright Knight stated.
"IF WE HAD DONE THAT, WHO KNOWS WHAT OTHER ARTIFACTS THEY COULD HAVE STOLEN?! THEN DANEIL'S LIFE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN DANGER BECAUSE OF THE ASSASSINS THEY COULD SEND MORE SO THAN THE ANGELS THEMSELVES! AND THE REBELS WERE AFTER THE CROWN AND RING AS WELL, THEY HAD TO BE STOPPED BEFORE THEY BECAME AN EVEN BIGGER PROBLEM!" Vlad shouted furiously.
"It was a bad situation my lord. We were doomed in either case. Either my brothers in arms were pulled away from guarding dangerous artifacts thus giving us more defense for the Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage but leaving the artifacts defenseless, or this would have happened." Fright Knight stated.
Vlad took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. "You're right… You're right… I shouldn't be yelling at you about this. You fought for weeks on end to protect my crown and ring… If anything, this is my fault. I should have come back sooner. Or better yet, I never should have left in the first place knowing Heaven was after Daniel… I am still the king. And as the king I hereby decree that we are getting the crown and ring back by any means necessary."
"But how? Heaven is sure to have them under the highest possible guard. They will not risk us being able to take them back." Fright Knight inquired
"Do you remember the 'armor' that Daniel used to defeat Pariah Dark?" Vlad inquired.
"I do… Why?" Fright Knight inquired.
"Because I still have it. It increases the user's power a hundred fold, however I am hesitant to use it as due to Jack's bumbling it slowly kills whoever uses it. I was trying to reverse engineer it so I could improve upon the design and make it safer to use, though I have had little luck in improving on the design. But considering the circumstances I am left with no recourse. This is my only option." Vlad explained.
"My lord, are we officially declaring war upon Heaven?" Fright Knight inquired.
Vlad was silent for a moment before eventually saying, "I sincerely hope not. It depends on how things go and their response to us taking back the crown and ring. If we can even do so in the first place."
(Danny & Octavia)
Danny looked at the mechanical arm he and Vlad had collaborated to make to replace his missing arm. It had a built in Ecto-Peeler for if he ever used up too much power and turned back into a human. Even as a human he would still be able to use the ecto-peeler to defend himself to some extent and the armor the built in Ecto-Peeler provided would give him much needed defense that he lacked in his ghost form. It was strange using his hand again after so long without it, but he could tell he would get used to it a lot faster than he got used to not using it.
He had learned how to create a crude arm out of ecto energy but it burned everything it touched. Or froze it depending if he infused the ecto energy with his cryokinetic power. He could also make an arm out of ice which he could grip things relatively normally with, but he couldn't manipulate his fingers quite as well as he could with the robotic arm that he and Vlad had made. The robotic arm was simply the most convenient option for everyday use, at least at the moment.
He and Octavia were currently walking through his territory together. Ever since they officially started dating they had started hanging out more. And that included while he was going about his daily activities. After all, it wasn't as though Octavia was defenseless. Far from it. She was nearly as powerful as her father which put her well above most overlords, and that included Danny at the moment. She was objectively the more powerful one between him and her and would be for at least a few years. She was technically more powerful than Vlad too, at least while he wasn't wearing the Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage. So it wasn't as though she couldn't hold her own in a fight. Granted, she didn't have pretty much any practice using her powers in battle unlike Vlad or Danny, but that was essentially a non-issue.
"You know, I think your new metal hand suits you." She stated as they walked. Cujo was walking right alongside her in his small form. The ghost dog had very quickly taken a liking to her after Danny had introduced them to each other.
"Yeah? I'm not sure about that personally. I guess I still miss having my actual flesh and blood hand. Though I'll admit it's nice to be able to use my hand again. It was frustrating trying to do everything one handed. Plus it gives me a greater range when using my sword. There was a lot the Fright Knight couldn't teach me in regards to sword combat because I only had one hand." Danny stated, resting his artificial hand on the pommel of his exterminator sword.
"You could always cover it up with your glove. It would be pretty much indistinguishable from your other hand like that." Octavia suggested.
Danny shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. But then I'd run the risk of destroying my glove if I ever used up too much power, turned back into a human, and had to use the built in ecto peeler."
"And? Seriously, how often do you run out of power and turn back into a human? It's pretty rare I assume considering the fact you mainly fight random thugs. So how is that a problem in the least? It's not like you're going to have to buy new gloves every day or something." Octavia said, looking at him.
"You're right, I guess. Anyway, Vlad says he's gonna be gone all day today, though he won't tell me why for whatever reason. So I guess I'm going to be completely free all day today. The weird thing is, he said he wouldn't be leaving any Knights to guard me." Danny explained, lowering his hand.
"Hm… That is strange considering how you lost an arm the last time you didn't have someone to protect you." Octavia said in a jokingly sarcastic tone. "Well then, it's a good thing I'm here. Don't worry, I'll keep you safe if any big scary ghosts come to kill you again."
Danny frowned at her. "Hey, back in Amity Park I would have been able to kick Skulker's butt any day of the week. It was entirely that stupid artifact's fault. If he didn't have that, I would've been able to beat him with one hand tied behind my back!" He said, pointing at her with his metal hand. He then glanced down at said hand. "Okay, bad analogy, but you get the point!"
"It's fine, you just need your girlfriend to protect you. I get it." Octavia teased.
Danny grumbled bitterly.
Octavia chuckled and wrapped her arms around him before kissing him. The kiss only lasted a moment before she said, "You're cute when you're frustrated, you know that? Anyway, I know you would be fine on your own, usually. But seriously, if Heaven sends another assassin to kill you, I will personally tear them limb from limb."
Danny sighed and returned her embrace. "I know… It's still frustrating. I'm used to fighting my own battles. I don't like being helpless if I'm ever on my own." Suddenly a wisp of icy breath emerged from Danny's mouth as his ghost sense went off. "Oh, come on! Really?!" He growled as he released her and drew his sword.
Seeing this Cujo morphed into his larger form and started growling as he sniffed the air and looked around.
"Danny, what's wrong?" Octavia inquired, surprised by this sudden change.
"My ghost sense just went off, that means there's a ghost nearby." Danny growled.
"You're joking…" Octavia said in a deadpan tone.
"Unfortunately, I'm not…" Danny said as he looked around. He then spotted something in the air flying towards him and Octavia.
Not even a second later a massive creature covered in pure white fur, with large claws, an arm made of ice with a skeletal arm inside said ice, and had horns made of ice landed in front of them.
Danny pointed his sword at the ghost. "Who are you? Another assassin sent by Heaven to kill me?" He demanded.
The creature seemed taken aback by this. "Peace, oh Great One. I am Frostbite, leader of the Far Frozen. I mean you no harm. Quite the opposite in fact. But first… Heaven is sending assassins to kill you? What do you mean by that?"
Danny was confused for a moment before eventually lowering his sword. "Cujo, down boy." He ordered, and Cujo immediately reverted back to his smaller form. "You really aren't here to kill me?"
"Of course not! I came all this way to rescue you from the vile depths of Hell! Is that a demon standing beside you…?" Frostbite inquired, staring at Octavia.
Danny pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "It sounds like we have a lot to talk about… Out in the middle of the street like this probably isn't the best place for this conversation so would you mind following me somewhere we can talk a bit more privately?"
"But of course, my King!" Frostbite said jovially.
Octavia grabbed Danny's arm and pulled him a bit closer. "Danny, are you sure about this? You don't even know this guy. For all we know, he could be lying to try to lure you into a false sense of security."
"I doubt he's going to be any more powerful than Skulker and we outnumber him. So even if that were true we would be fine." Danny responded.
"Alright… But if this goes wrong, I blame you." Octavia said, giving Frostbite a wary look.
Danny then wrapped his arm around Octavia's waste and floated up into the air. "Alright, follow me." He said to Frostbite.
Frostbite nodded.
Danny then turned and flew back to his Penthouse with Frostbite and Cujo following along behind him.
Turning himself and Octavia intangible he flew the two of them through the wall of his Penthouse and inside. He set Octavia down and the both of them sat down on a two seater couch in front of the currently inactive television. Said couch was usually for guests as Vlad had his own reclining chair and Danny usually sat on the edge of the three seater couch but he and Octavia would often share the two seater whenever she came over.
Frostbite and Cujo both phased through the wall shortly after Danny.
Danny motioned to the three seater couch. "Go ahead and take a seat."
"Why thank you, Great One. Now, would you please explain why you said Heaven is trying to kill you?" Frostbite requested.
"You first. Why are you here and why do you keep calling me 'Great One'?" Danny inquired.
"How else am I supposed to address the True King of the Ghost Zone? Anything less would be disrespectful! As for why I'm here, as I said earlier I am here to rescue you from Hell and bring you back to the Ghost Zone where you belong. You see, a Usurper has stolen the Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage and has claimed the throne which rightfully belongs to you considering you are the one who defeated Pariah Dark. We need you to return so you can overthrow this usurper as you did Lord Pariah, and claim your rightful place as King of the Ghost Zone." Frostbite explained.
"My people have been trying to rebel against the false king but we have been met with little success. He sent his vile knights and an entire army to fight us and end our rebellion. However, just today he pulled back the entirety of his forces thus giving me the perfect opportunity to come find you."
He then held up what looked like a scroll of some sort. "This is the Infi-Map, my people's greatest treasure. It is a complete map of the infinite vastness of the Ghost Zone, including all portals both natural and man made between the Ghost Zone and the other realms. It can lead an individual anywhere. It is what I used to find you! And with it, I can easily bring you back to the Ghost Zone."
When Frostbite was finished talking, Danny sighed and shook his head. "I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding…"
"Whatever do you mean, my King?" Frostbite inquired.
"I mean, Vlad is my adoptive father. And he only took the throne so he could send the Fright Knight to protect me from Skulker who had been given a dangerous demonic artifact by Heaven along with a couple angelic artifacts. Alright… You asked me why Heaven is sending assassins to kill me. So let me explain…" Danny said before giving Frostbite the entire explanation of what happened between him, Clockwork, and his future self. He then went on to explain how and why Heaven sent Skulker to kill him, and Vlad's wager with Lucifer.
The more Danny explained, the more grim Frostbite's expression became. When Danny was finished speaking Frostbite said, "I see… This is grim news indeed… So the 'usurper' we have been rebelling against isn't an usurper but is, in fact, the legal Regent by right of adoption and in the name of defending the True King until he has fully matured. But the Regent has made a deal with the Devil regarding who will be your legal father should Heaven attack on this 'Extermination Day'… I don't like it… I understand his reasoning but I don't like it. So, if I may be so bold, allow me to offer you an alternative way out of this horrible situation you find yourself in. Come back with me to the Ghost Zone. There you can claim the Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage and take your place as the rightful king. Then you will not need Lucifer or the Regent to defend yourself from the angels."
"Do you honestly think Clockwork would have let you come here if he thought you would help me escape? No. He would have frozen you in time and taken that map from you. Which presumably he could do any second now if he wanted to. So the moment I tried to leave with you, he would do just that. Besides, Vlad made a deal with Clockwork. In exchange for sending him to Hell so he could help me, Clockwork forced him to sign a contract saying he wouldn't help me escape and he would do everything in his power to keep the crown and ring in a completely separate realm from me. So if I went to the Ghost Zone, he would be forced to try to bring the crown and ring to Earth in order to keep them away from me." Danny said.
"Clockwork even came to my father and every other member of the Ars Goetia who have books that allow them to create portals to Earth and made deals with them to ensure Danny could never access their books." Octavia added.
"This is not good… When I return to the Ghost Zone I shall go speak to the Avatar of Time and try to make him see reason. You are actively trying to be better than your counterpart from that alternate future so there is no reason for him to keep you here like this. In fact it is actively doing more harm than good." Frostbite stated in a serious tone.
"Honestly, even if I could leave Hell, I don't really have a whole lot of reason to do so anymore. My friends and family are dead, everyone on Earth thinks I'm dead too. Even if you helped me escape, I have nothing to go back to. And I'm still just a kid. I don't know how to rule an entire realm like the Ghost Zone. I'm learning politics from Vlad but I'm still not very good at it. Plus…" Danny looked at Octavia and put an arm around her shoulders. "I have a girlfriend now. I don't want to just leave her like this… If you can convince Clockwork, I guess I'd be willing to go back to the Ghost Zone when Octavia and I are both eighteen and are old enough to live on our own. That's four years. Do you think the Ghost Zone can manage with Vlad in charge for at least four years?"
Frostbite sighed and scratched his chin. "Four years… That is quite a while but we managed to survive with Pariah Dark as king for several thousand years. So Vlad Plasmius ruling for a mere four years as Regent is but a blink compared to how long we suffered under Pariah's tyrannical rule. But that is not my main concern. My main concern is the fact you are in grave danger from the forces of Heaven if you stay here in Hell, and if you are adopted by Lucifer I dread to think how the King of Hell shall influence you. Especially if I am unable to convince Clockwork to let you free from the confines of Hell and you remain here longer than a mere four years… I hope you don't mind, but I will be maintaining regular contact with you while you are here in Hell just to ensure your wellbeing. If I think you absolutely need to get out of here, my people and I will not hesitate to go to war with the Avatar of Time for you. I have great respect for Clockwork as one of the ancients who originally imprisoned Pariah Dark, but I strongly believe he is making a mistake in this case."
Danny smiled at Frostbite. "Thanks. I appreciate the sentiment, but you should really look after your own people before worrying about me. I'm not worth going to war with one of the most powerful ghosts in existence over. If worst comes to worst the Ghost Zone can go back to the way it was before Pariah Dark was freed and Vlad took the throne. And anyway, protecting me is the entire reason Vlad took the throne anyway. As long as he has the crown and ring, Heaven isn't going to risk starting a war with him."
Suddenly Fright Knight came flying into the room, carrying an unconscious Vlad in the broken remains of the ecto-skeleton. Along with him were five other Ghost Knights. "Prince Daniel, I have come to report the current situation!" He declared in an urgent tone, dropping Vlad's unconscious body on the ground. It was then he noticed Frostbite. Pointing Soul Shredder at the yeti he exclaimed, "The leader of the rebels of the Frozen Wastes! Explain your presence here immediately!"
Danny immediately got up and stood between Fright Knight and Frostbite. "Calm down! We were just having a conversation. Apparently the rebellion has just been one huge misunderstanding. Now, what is it you need to report and why is Vlad unconscious and wearing the ecto-skeleton that mom and dad made?"
Fright Knight lowered his sword but kept his gaze firmly locked on Frostbite who was glaring right back at him. "The situation is absolutely catastrophic, Prince Daniel. Heaven has stolen the Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage. Lord Plasmius led the entirety of our forces in a full scale invasion against Heaven to reclaim them, but we have failed! Lord Plasmius spent too long in this accursed armor and fell unconscious mid battle against Michael. The Angels did not hesitate to take that opportunity to destroy the armor as much as they could before I personally pulled Lord Plasmius out of the battle. He surely would have died had I not acted as quickly as I did. However, with the Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage in their possession, their attack on Extermination Day is all but guaranteed. You need to start preparing for the worst immediately."
Danny felt his blood run cold as Fright Knight explained the situation.
Frostbite stood up. "I must go. I will be back to check on how the situation is developing soon, but I must go report all of this to my people. I will speak with you again soon, Great One." He then phased through a wall and vanished from the penthouse.
Octavia stood up and walked over to Danny. "Danny, what are you going to do?"
"I… don't know… Right now, I guess I should get Vlad out of the ecto-skeleton and see if he needs help. After that… We'll see…" Danny said before walking over to Vlad. Turning his hand intangible, he reached through the wrecked armor, grabbed Vlad, turned him intangible as well, and pulled him out of it. Danny could immediately tell he had a few wounds but none of them seemed immediately life threatening. So he carried Vlad to Vlad's room and laid him on the bed before walking back out.
He then walked back to the two seater couch and sat down again, blankly staring at the ruins of the ecto-skeleton he used to lock Pariah Dark back into the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. Octavia sat down next to him again. "It's just one thing after another today isn't it?" She asked.
"Yeah." Danny muttered, still trying to process all of this.
"Sooo… What's with the giant robot thing?" She asked, motioning to the ecto-skeleton.
"It's an exoskeleton my parents made when they were still alive that increases the wearer's abilities a hundred fold at the cost of slowly killing whoever uses it for too long. Vlad is lucky to be alive right now… It's what I used to defeat Pariah Dark by locking him back in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep…" Danny explained.
"Hm… Do you think you can make one that won't kill you? Because that sounds really useful for Extermination Day. You know, considering that they have the crown and ring and are pretty much guaranteed to send an army to kill you now." Octavia inquired
Danny shrugged. "I don't know… I guess the wreck is right here so I might be able to take it apart to learn how it works. If I can figure that out, I might be able to fix it. Maybe. It depends on how broken it really is. But building a whole new one myself? Let alone one that won't kill me if I use it for too long? I'm not sure."
"Well, even if you and Vlad lose your wager, I'll still be here for you… Just try not to lose your other arm, on extermination day, alright?" Octavia requested.
"No promises." Danny responded, giving her a small smile.
Sorry this chapter took a bit extra time. I was busy dealing with stuff around my house and it was hard to decide whether to include Vlad losing the Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage or not.
Well, it seems the vast majority of people don't want Lucifer to win the wager. That's two votes for Lucifer, four votes for Vlad (one vote being in review form), and five votes for Danny using the Ecto-Skeleton to defend himself so far. I think it's pretty obvious at this point what you guys want so I'll be taking that poll down in a couple hours. If you want another outcome, you have until 8:00 P.M. California time to vote for anything else. I know I said I would wait until Extermination Day, if I'm remembering right, but I honestly didn't expect this wide of a gap in the numbers.
Now, I have a new question. This one is less serious but I know at least a few people wanted this. Do you guys want Danny to have a harem or not? I only ask because it's been brought up a few times so I want to see what you guys actually want to read. I'll be posting a poll for this in a few hours, once I take down the first poll.