Edit: Reviews are at the bottom of the chapter. Sorry, I just thought this was too important to leave at the bottom.
I just realized how big of a mistake I made with this chapter. The ENTIRE interaction between Clockwork and Azrael was a fuckup on my part that should not have happened since it essentially completely invalidated the poll I had where I asked you guys who should win the wager. I am SO sorry. Having realized my mistake I have deleted the portion of the chapter with Azrael interacting with Clockwork. But I thought I should let you all know what I did and why, and that I know what my mistake was and exactly why it is a mistake.
Again, I'm so sorry. I guess this is a consequence of me rushing chapters out and not thinking things through enough. I should have realized the issue sooner. That's entirely on me.
Edit#2: I was originally planning on announcing this in the next chapter, but I'm having a bit of difficulty with it. So, I'm going on a temporary hiatus. It should be for just for like two or three weeks. Sorry. I just need a bit of time to rest and sort out the plot going forward. Just thought I should let you all know.
Danny stared at the letter in his hands. He had come to a decision regarding whether he would continue the bet or not just yesterday and had sent Lucifer a letter informing him of his decision. What the letter said basically boiled down to the fact Danny had to at least try to survive on his own rather than giving up on the bet. He was terrified, but that had never stopped him in the past. He always fought no matter how scared he was. Then this morning he received this letter back in the mail.
Opening it he read the contents.
'Pride it is then. I can respect a bit of pride, depending on the circumstances. Very well. We shall continue with the wager. If you can survive on your own, I will treat it as though you have won the bet. However, do not expect me to try to save you from your own hubris on Extermination Day when you inevitably find yourself overwhelmed. At least not until you have died once already. After all, pain and failure are the best teachers. Good luck, you are most certainly going to need it.
Lucifer.'
Danny crumpled up the letter and threw both it and the envelope it came in away. "Pride, huh…? Whatever… I have to believe they aren't going to use my friends and family as hostages. For my own sanity, I have to… It's the only way I can justify not siding with him and I really don't want to side with him… I just want to be left alone…"
He then went to go check on Vlad. Standing just outside the door to Vlad's room were two of the six knights that Lucifer would allow in Hell. And inside Vlad's room was a third, standing guard right at the foot of Vlad's bed. Vlad's nurse was there as well, changing his I.V. bag. Fright Knight had gone back to the Ghost Zone to manage things there while Vlad was recovering since Danny himself couldn't leave Hell.
"How's he doing?" Danny asked the nurse as he walked in.
"Not great. Natura's remedies have been easing the symptoms a bit but he's still in a coma and he doesn't seem to be recovering. Well, his wounds have pretty much fully healed but the disease itself isn't showing any sign of going away any time soon." The nurse told him, turning to face him. She was a sinner demon who had apparently been a nurse back on Earth but had ended up murdering her abusive husband before killing herself, thus ending up in Hell.
Danny sighed. "Alright… Just keep doing what you're doing I guess and keep him alive."
"That's what you're paying me for." The nurse said.
Turning, Danny walked back out of the room and found one of his own bodyguards standing there waiting for him. "Prince Daniel, apologies for interrupting your daily activities however I believe we need to have a talk."
"About what?" Danny inquired.
"About what Lucifer told us." The knight said in a very serious tone.
"Let's head over to the living room and sit down… This sounds like it'll be a long conversation and I'd rather not stand here for the entire thing." Danny suggested.
"As you wish, my prince." The knight responded.
Danny walked over and sat on the edge seat of the three seater couch while the knight remained standing. "You can take a seat if you want." Danny told him.
"I will stand. Regardless, I have been hoping you would approach one of us to discuss this but as you have not I have deemed it necessary to approach you instead. Prince Daniel, if even half of what Lucifer told us is true then we need to start preparing for the end of the year immediately. If Heaven is truly treating this as a war then we must do the same." The knight told him.
"What do you think I've been doing? The Ecto-Skeleton is my best and only real chance. That's why I've been spending so much time working on it lately." Danny told him.
"I apologize for my impudence but that is not nearly sufficient. It is but one artifact and it cannot be used for extended periods of time without rendering the one using it unconscious or worse killing them." The knight responded.
"Alright, then what do you suggest?" Danny demanded.
"Lucifer stated Heaven is creating anti-ghost weapons and countermeasures using ecto-ranium and blood blossoms. I suggest we do the same against them. And not only that but I also suggest we bring out some of the most potent anti-angelic artifacts in Purgatory, both ghostly artifacts made by us during Lucifer's rebellion and demonic artifacts that we captured during that time. The ones that are not already in use are dangerous but considering the circumstances their use is more than justified. Furthermore, they are taking the battle to us. That means we have the advantage in terms of preparing the location in which we will fight. So let's prepare it. Let's set up powerful anti-angelic wards, prepare traps for them, gather and arm demons to fight for us. We should use every advantage we have, and if we do not have enough, we must make more ourselves. We have several months. That should be more than enough." The knight told Danny, gripping his halberd in both hands.
"Wait, do angels even have weaknesses?" Danny inquired.
The knight nodded. "Of course they do. If Ghosts and Demons do, why wouldn't they? Admittedly the materials are rarer and harder to acquire but they do exist. One is a metal similar to ecto-ranium called infernium which can only be found in the depths of the molten metal cores of planets in the realm of the living. It is extraordinarily difficult to mine, but not impossible for a ghost. We merely need to find ghosts to mine it for us, but with the influence of the throne that should be a simple matter. The second material I am unsure if we will be able to acquire as only the seven deadly kings can produce it. I doubt Lucifer would be willing to provide it for us and he may have ordered the other six not to do so either. It is essentially the demonic equivalent of holy water and can temporarily weaken angels if it enters their blood streams while also causing the target crippling pain."
"Wow… I guess I sort of just assumed that God wouldn't have given angels weaknesses like ghosts and demons… Weird…" Danny muttered. "Anyway, Vlad managed to set up a lot of connections here in Hell. I guess I could try using those to try to get this 'unholy water' or whatever it is. I'm not looking forward to having to try to make deals with any of the seven deadly kings but I'll see what I can do. As for the Infernium, Frostbite is coming to visit next weekend so I can ask him if he can help. Even if his own people can't do it, I'm sure he can find ghosts who can do it and would be willing to help. And I guess I can try reaching out to people to gather more people to fight for me but I honestly don't expect much in that regard. No one wants to risk dying again on extermination day. Though building more weapons… Some technology in Hell seems pretty advanced so I guess I could try to hire some demons to help me build weapons and defenses."
"Very good. Then I have but one more piece of advice. In the time I have been guarding you, I have witnessed you destroying the souls of three separate demons on three separate occasions. And I have witnessed you absorbing some of Natura's power to gain abilities similar to her own. However, if you can do both of those things then you should be able to take it a step further and outright devour the souls to grow stronger, much like how some ghosts can gain power from things such as feeding on dreams, fear, depression, or wishes. At least in theory. I have no idea what the limits of a half breed such as yourself are." The knight explained.
"What?" Danny asked, completely horrified by the prospect. "Y-you expect me to not just destroy people's souls but eat them?!"
"Yes." The knight stated bluntly. "Prince Daniel, I am aware of your strong sense of morals. However, this is not the time to be squeamish. We need every advantage we can get if you are to survive this. If that means you have to devour the souls of a few demons, so be it. You can not afford to consider the morals or ethics of such a thing when Heaven is doing everything within their power to destroy you."
"But… I… Wh-what about you guys? You have to be able to do that too, right? Why can't you do it instead?" Danny asked, hesitantly.
The knight shook his head. "No, we do not have the ability to consume souls or anything else to gain power like you can. None of us except Fright Knight, at least. He can feed on the fear of those around him to grow stronger and the fear and despair of all of those trapped in his realm of fear feeds him as well. He currently has well over a thousand angels, humans, ghosts, and demons trapped in his fear realm in total and is thus highly powerful as a result. But he is the only one of us knights with an ability like that which is the reason he is the most powerful of us and the Ghost King's second in command. He is the only one of us with the potential to rival any of the Ancients assuming he has enough fear to feed on, which he currently does not. But even if he trapped tens of thousands within his fear realm, even he has an upper limit. He can not surpass the strongest of the Ancients. And even at his strongest, he will not be enough to save you on his own."
"There has to be some other way… I… Destroying souls is one thing but devouring them is… Even if I knew how I… I just can't. There's no way I could bring myself to do something like that." Danny said, still trying to process the implications of such an ability. Would doing something like that make him a cannibal? Or would he be something worse…? He had no idea, but he did not want to resort to anything even remotely like that if he could avoid it.
"Very well… Just keep it in mind and consider my words. Not just your life, but your very existence is at stake. Do you truly believe you should risk being so squeamish? You already destroy souls, by comparison this is no worse than what you are already doing to those who cross you. Anyway, that is all I have to speak with you about for the moment."
(In Heaven)
"This is foolishness in the extreme! By trying so hard to kill the boy we are doing nothing but forcing him to side with Lucifer! And it's only going to force him to get stronger faster!" Azrael exclaimed.
"Calm yourself. It may seem that way now, but I'm sure Gabriel knows what he's doing. And he has raised some good points. The boy is a threat and he does need to be dealt with. Especially with how the ghosts actually invaded Heaven not long ago. I know it was to reclaim the Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage but still, the sheer audacity to do such a thing…" Michael responded.
"The invasion wouldn't have happened had we not essentially forced them to do so by stealing the crown and ring in the first place… Look, I know the boy can be a threat if he is allowed to become one. That's why I suggest we do literally anything else other than attacking him and pushing him to join Lucifer. We are being our own worst enemies in this case! Surely you must see that! Practically half of Heaven agrees with me!" Azrael responded.
"And what would you propose we do instead?" Michael inquired patiently.
"I… I don't know but this… The way things are going now is only going to end badly, I know it." Azrael said in a frustrated tone.
"Well if you end up thinking of a more peaceful solution please do come let me know. I am more than willing to hear you out. Until then I expect you to follow orders whether you like them or not. Understood?" Michael inquired.
Azrael sighed. "Yes… I understand."
"Good! Then is there anything else you wished to discuss with me?" Michael inquired.
"No. There isn't." Azrael stated.
"Well then you are dismissed. Oh, and try to relax a bit. The Lord may have isolated himself from the rest of creation, but he is still with us. I have complete faith that this is still all part of his plan and he is infallible thus everything will turn out for the best in the end." Michael stated, smiling at Azrael.
"You're right, of course… Good day." Azrael said before turning and leaving.
Reviews:
Chaosh.H.A.O.S: Ghost rider is not a character from Danny Phantom and I will not be turning this into a multi-crossover with Marvel. Johnny 13 is pretty much the closest thing to Ghost Rider that I would be willing to include in the story. As for Ghost Writer, I can't really include him either. Just like Desiree, he would be a bit too much of a Deus Ex Machina.
redkitsune01: If I wrote another version of the story, it would be completely different. All from one minor change. Vlad never learned where Danny was and thus Clockwork would never send him to Hell to help Danny. It would butterfly effect out from there. Essentially, the same story but a completely different timeline and thus a different outcome.
germanjustiniano9: I'm glad I didn't mess up the breakdown. I was a bit worried about that. As for your suggestion, I was also considering Princess Dorathea. I mean she is a princess. But I was also considering Ember since she's closer to Danny's age.
Heidao: God hasn't said "No" because he cut himself off from the rest of creation after Lucifer's rebellion. He doesn't intervene anymore, and it would take a lot to force him to intervene again. On top of that it would be a literal Deus Ex Machina.
Adrianfilex622: I'll admit I like the idea of him devouring souls. Not only does it provide him an alternative means of becoming more powerful but it also provides him a bit of a moral dilemma. Is he desperate enough to consume souls to become stronger or does he stick to his morals and avoid it? As for the angels supporting Danny on Extermination day... We'll see.