Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sky was a deep red, a decent indicator that night had fallen in the Ring of Pride, and the usual time for the more notorious crimes take place without the usual hustle and bustle of the crowds which tend to cause distractions or interference or witnesses to silence. This night was no different as we find a few hell born residents chasing after a lone target.

The ones doing the chasing would strike fear into those who have taken a bit of money here and there, Loan Sharks. Four bipedal beings with various sharklike appearances, the largest being a great white with gleaming white teeth and a comically small bowler hat that somehow stayed atop his head no matter how much he shook his head bringing up the rear.

Next in size was a hammerhead with a fez sliding side to side as he ran just in front of the great white. Thirdly in the middle, the black stripes and orange skin couldn’t be mistaken, a tiger shark growling as their target kept just out of reach. Lastly, leading the pack as it charged towards his feathered target, with sharp white horns adorning the sides of their head and the black skin, a bull shark.

This chase had so far lasted twenty minutes, and Husk had been staying ahead by tossing cards behind him. “Why can’t you guys just give up?!” Grunting in effort as he flapped out of the way of a manhole cover thrown by the great white, before tossing two cards at the tiger shark that used a car to jump up towards him, the car alarm blared into the night. The tiger shark grunted in pain and fell towards the ground before growling in anger as he looked for the next place to jump.

“Can’t do dat, you owe money.” The hammerhead shouted out taking a couple pot shots with his revolver, but when you have to turn your head sideways and aim with one eye, the shots tend to stray from the target. Husk didn’t have to move much to ‘dodge’ the bullets.

“Stay still so I can shoots ya down!!” Husk just smirked, before he noticed the fatigue on his wings, and was thus too slow to notice the great white had given the tiger shark a leg up. Husk tried to flap out of the way, but the tiger shark was fast enough and grabbed onto Husk’s legs and dragged him to the ground where Husk was slammed then tossed down an alleyway, where he rolled and groaned in pain.

As he was getting up, he failed to notice the charging bull shark as he shoulder-checked Husk further into the alleyway. Husk didn’t stop skidding across the ground till he hit the dead end. The Loan sharks then slowly stalked towards their prey. The bull shark ready to charge again, the hammer head taking time to ‘aim’ his gun, the great white moved dumpsters aside to give the tiger shark more jumping points, as the tiger shark got low to the ground.

Husk coughed and groaned in pain, before attempting to get up. His first attempt resulted in face planting the ground, his second he was able to get on his elbows and knees, the third he used the wall, his hand slipped once, twice, thrice before he pressed his back against the wall. He huffed and puffed ‘who knew breathing could be hard, dammit Husk you used to be an overlord. Fucking act like it!’

With the odds stacked against him the Loan Sharks figured they would see fear and defeat in their target’s eyes, instead they saw defiance and determination; it caused them to falter for a moment which Husk capitalised on. “Come on!” Husk shouted out as he spread his arms and wings, with two handfuls of cards ready to throw, “I’ll take you all on!!” he stated proudly, the Loan Sharks paused, then chuckled.

“You can’t cut into Valentino’s profits from your time with Angel Dust and get away with it!” the hammer head stated. “Now pay up!” for the first time since the chase began twenty-five minutes ago, the revolver was held steady and aimed straight at Husk’s head, ready to blow his brain out. As the trigger was slowly squeezed, and cards were ready to fly from Husk’s hands they were both interrupted by a green bolt slamming into the great white.

This caused him to roar in pain; before another and another slammed into the same spot. The great white went quiet before he fell forwards; the tiger shark tried to get out of the way of his largest ally but ice appeared underfoot and caused him to slip and be crushed by the great white. The bull shark tried to find his target before he felt a tap on his right shoulder, then his left shoulder, right again before turning left and slammed himself into a glowing green fist which sent him into the alley side wall and before he slumped to the floor.

The hammer head tried to find who was interfering with business. “Show yourself you bastard!” It was in that moment the hammerhead felt a chill ran down his spine, as if someone had walked over his grave. He slowly turned back towards Husk, trying to aim his gun again, hoping to at least take out the target him and his boys had been hired for. He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked behind.

To then look back at Husk only to see a wide chest with a bright green stylised D blocking his view of Husk, then slowly looked up to see a face with glowing green eyes.
“Boo!” The hammerhead shrieked like a little girl, his grey skin turning white before he fainted in fear and fell face first next to his comrades.

Husk couldn’t even begin to comprehend what just happened as this stranger had not only stepped in, but helped him escape from a tight situation. He hadn’t felt this lucky in a long while. He knew he should be afraid, because this unknown person had dispatched four Loan Sharks in a matter of seconds without breaking a sweat; and yet his gut told him not to worry he was safe from this powerful being. If there is one thing he knew after losing his overlord status, it was to trust his gut; hadn’t led him astray before.

When Danny had followed the car alarm, the only noise he could hear in the dead of night; only to stumble on a four-on-one situation. Danny hadn’t thought much about helping someone in trouble, but couldn’t quite figure out what the situation was, until he saw a card on the ground. He looked at the words, before looking at the four he had taken down and back to the card.

Husk noticing his saviour was trying to figure out the situation was about to put his two cents in before he felt a chill down his spine and immediately wanted to run; because the chuckle this being had let out wasn’t natural, it wasn’t earthly and definitely wasn’t hell born. It was something else. “Oh, Loan Sharks, that’s actually really funny.” It was then he remembered the person he had helped and turned towards Husk. “Hi!” Danny smiled the stupid smile that always seemed to put people at ease and held out his hand. “I’m Danny Phantom.”

Chapter Text

Husk had to take a moment to shake his head, because he still couldn’t believe what he had seen. ‘This glowing kid took down four sharks and I couldn’t stop one.’ Husk gives Danny a once over noting the white hair that seemed to float and sway, the glowing toxic green eyes that reminded him of a certain Sin; and wonders if this kid could be under that Sin’s employ.

Husk took note of the full body covering: the chest with a stylised D glowing the same toxic green as Danny’s eyes, the collar and chest looking like a weird zebra the way the stripes are positioned. The green and black rings on the white boots and gloves. Speaking of gloves, Husk finally registered the outstretched hand in front of him as Danny has his head tilted, with a stupid smile and just waiting.

Husk sighed as he puts the cards he was about to throw back and dusts his hands before committing to the handshake. “Thanks for the help kid. The name’s Husk.” Danny was about to say something, but squawked instead.
“Dude, really? I’m a full-grown adult, I’m not a kid.” Danny crossed his arms and pouted.
“Says the kid who is pouting for being called a kid?” Husk chuckled as Danny gasped with his hand on his core.

“You take that back! I don’t pout!” Danny replied as he started to float and pointed a finger at Husk.
“Oh I’m soo sorry Glowstick.” Husk said with a voice dripping in sarcasm and smiled when Danny grumbled at the nickname. “But since you look twenty, have to call you kid.” Danny looked offended at being called a kid again, before looking back at Husk in confusion.
“How old are you then?” Danny raised an eyebrow, because Husk didn’t look old but noted he did sound old.

“Before or after I died? Or talking total years?” Husk asks as he leans against the wall then slides to the floor, the fatigue from the chase finally catching up to him.
“Before…After…total…. What are you taking about?” Danny was confused, granted not as bad as when talking to Clockwork, but still confused. “Also, you need a hand to get home? You look a bit rough.” Husk gave Danny a deadpan look before sighing. Given the time of night, he was already late for his check in at the Hotel; might as well get some help. Otherwise, Husk wouldn’t get back till morning with how tired he felt; it would help to have extra muscle on the journey back.

“I could use a hand, yeah. Can’t exactly catch a cab this late.” Husk holds out his hand, and when Danny gives him a confused look. “You gonna help me up or not?”
“Oh crap right, sorry my bad.” Danny quickly grabbed Husk’s hand before pulling him up. Danny noted for someone scrawny, he was heavy. ‘Maybe it’s the wings’ As Husk dusted himself off, Danny wondered what was next.

“Come on then, we got quite the walk to the Hotel.” Danny sighed. He started walking beside Husk, but just didn’t feel right and floated beside him instead. Husk just shrugged his shoulders and accepted the kid could fly without wings.
“You live at a hotel?” Danny floated on his back and looked to the clear dark red sky. ‘Where are the stars? And what kind of moon is that? Questions for later.’
“Not by choice kid.” Husk grumbled. Danny dropped a few inches to the ground being called a kid again. ‘Not by choice, questions for later’

“I have a name you know.” Husk just smiled at Danny, a smile Danny knew all too well when around his friends and family. The smile of someone about to tease him.
“Glowstick right?” Husk couldn’t help but chuckle when Danny squawked and pouted.
“Would you stop with the nicknames?” Danny crossed his arms again and continued to pout.
“But you are glowing?” Husk pointed out, still trying to figure out what the kid was.

“Yeah? Cause I’m a Ghost, what are you?” Danny stated as if it was obvious. Which it should be given ghosts have been a known thing for a few years now. Husk just shook his head, wondering how people talked with a kid that doesn’t know any better and just giving non-answers.
“First that doesn’t answer the glowing question.” Husk stated in a tired tone and wondered if this kid was right in the head.
“It totally does.” Danny stated in matter-of-fact tone…again. Husk just gives him a deadpan stare.

“Second do you even know where you are?” Danny was about to answer then stopped, put his hand on his chin and spun slowly in the air. Husk noted Danny was taking a solid look at his surrounding so decided to stay quiet. ‘Might as well keep an eye out for enemies on this walk. Fuck I hate walking. For once I’d be happy if Al summoned me right now. Be so much fucking quicker.’

“Well, I can tell I’m not in the GhostZone or Earth. So where are we?” Husk couldn’t believe it. ‘The hell is a GhostZone?! Questions for later.”
“How the fuck do you not know you are in fucking Hell?” Husk shouted, now confused how someone could be in Hell and not know it.
“Hell? Fire and brimstone, punished for all eternity. That Hell?” Danny said in a tone like one was reading a grocery list and shrugging as if it was a normal Tuesday.

“The other Rings might have fire and brimstone, but hell isn’t just that. But yep, you are in Hell. What did you do to end up here after death?” Husk noted that the walk back was quiet, not even the night life was alive. ‘Maybe it’s the kid, or the action is happening elsewhere.’ His gut was telling him it was just plain good luck, and when you get plain good luck, you don’t question it you accept it and move on.

“Dude, I’m not dead. Well not fully dead.” Danny finally understood why Husk didn’t recognise him, it’s because they aren’t on Earth or in the GhostZone. For once in a long time, Danny was something new and unknown; it was rather refreshing compared to the hero worship he got on the daily back in Amity Park.
“What you half dead or something?” Husk asked sarcastically, because you could only be fully alive or fully dead. There should be no in-between.
“Yep” Danny popped the P as Husk lost his footing before he looked at Danny as if he said that Hell is in Heaven.

“How does that even fucking work? You can’t be half fucking dead?” Husk shouted not even caring if anyone came along. Because this made as a much sense as Charlie trying to redeem the sinners. An impossibility.
“Says you, I’m half ghost thus half dead.” Danny puffs his chest out proudly, with the biggest grin on his face.
“You what?! That makes no god damn fucking sense?” Husk drags his face downwards with one hand trying to vent some frustration.

“Preaching to the choir on that one.” Danny gives Husk the finger guns while floating horizontal.
“Right...” Husk just grumbles, trying to figure out if he or the kid were on something.
They both stayed quiet, Danny floated beside Husk since he knew where to go. Granted it was going so slow. ‘Maybe I should offer him a lift instead, would be way faster.’

“You know Husk if you don’t want to walk all the way, I can fly you to the Hotel.” Danny offered with a friendly tone. Husk was about to call Danny crazy, but then thought about how Danny could just fly with no effort, was strong and had some weird energy about him; could be a way to clue Husk in further. ‘At least until I can ask The King of Hell’

“You know what kid, why not. Heck, I can even give you a run down on how this level of Hell works and give you a heads up about who you will meet at the Hotel.” Husk gives Danny a smile as he waits to fly back.
“First you have to stop calling me a kid, my name is Danny Phantom. Call me Danny or Phantom either work. Second, my type of flying will be different to what you are used to. Lastly, this might feel weird.” Danny stated as he flew behind Husk.

“What’s gonna feel weiiiiiiiiii…….” Husk couldn’t finish the sentence because Danny had grabbed Husk under his arms and turned him intangible. Husk was so focused on the weird feeling in his whole body because it was same feeling when Danny chuckled back in the alleyway. Whatever Danny did, just further confirmed that Danny wasn’t Earth born or Hell born, he was definitely something else. ‘I need a fucking drink and to talk to the King as soon as fucking possible.’ Husk was brought out of his thoughts when Danny waved a hand in front of Husk’s face.

“Hey Husk, Husk. Buddy you with me?? You who?” Danny had been trying to get Husk’s attention for the past minute.
“Huh? What? Still feeling weird here.” Husk kept thinking he was either dead again or was too light. Either way it didn’t feel right.
“That will pass the more I use my intangibility on you. Now which way to the Hotel?” Danny’s tone was friendly and filled with experience, which made Husk feel a bit better but knew it wasn’t something he wanted to get used to.

“Right the Hotel, if you go that way you will eventually see a big Hotel on a Hill. Quite big since the recent renovation.” Husk pointed towards the Hotel and loved the speed Danny was getting up to.
“So about that rundown?” Danny smiled knowing he was going to get a story of some kind and maybe some answers to previous questions.
“Oh right, let me start with the people you will meet and go from there. The first being Alastor”

The flight itself turned a three-hour walk, into an hour flight; mostly because as Husk was talking Danny was getting too intrigued by all the info that he would lose concentration on his speed and just ending up going a casual pace. The conversation went back and forth as they both asked questions and got answer back. Husk learned what ghosts are ‘Still doesn’t make sense’ and what the GhostZone is, along with the general reason as to why Danny is so far from home. Danny on the other hand learned about Hell and the Ring of Pride along with a basic history on the Hazbin Hotel residents all of which he felt like he would like ‘Except for Alastor, something in Husk’s tone just doesn’t sit right with me.’

Once they were getting close to the hill that the Hazbin Hotel sat on, Danny flew them halfway up so Husk would be able to walk and get some feeling back in his limbs; while Danny could rest from carrying someone for so long. “So, how’d you like the ghost version of flying Husk?”

“Definitely not my thing kid. I’ll stick to cabs, walking and my own wings.” Husk stated while unfurling and stretching his wings. “Not worth the postflight stiffness.” Danny nodded in agreement, remembering how Sam, Tucker and Jazz all said the same thing during the longer flights. They had come to the conclusion that because Ghosts were in a state of death, and humans were alive; the ectoplasm was trying to balance out the conflicting states hence the stiffness or minor onset rigor mortis as Sam called it, post intangible flight.

“That’s fair featherbrain. My team agree short flights are best.” Danny finally figured out a decent nickname for Husk, since Husk just couldn’t seem stop calling Danny kid. Danny had accepted it, and it made it better that it wasn’t to make fun or to be mean; it was just a simple fact for Husk due to the age difference, Danny is a kid in comparison. Husk just chuckled and gave Danny a small shove which was returned in kind. “I knew angels existed, which implied demons or Hell Residents did to. But just makes it more real when you have the proof in front of you.”

“I hear ya kid, I was the same prior to my first interaction with the exterminators.” Danny and Husk arrived at the door to the hotel. Husk opens and goes through first holding door long enough for Danny to come through. “Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel, Danny.” Husk just smirked when Danny gave him pout cause they both know Husk knows his name, just calls him kid or glowstick more often.

As they walked through the foyer Husk heads towards his bar. “A place where you can attempt to be redeemed and get into heaven.” Husk’s tired tone made Danny think of those used car salespeople who had repeated the same line one too many times, but didn’t dwell on it as the interior of the Hotel was exciting.

“Woah!” Danny did a short spin in the air as he took in everything he could see. “This place is way cooler than that darn prison.” Husk just sighed in response.
“From what you told me, the warden wasn’t much better. Also, you are allowed to fucking swear.” Danny just gave him a deadpan look.

“I have a reputation as an upstanding hero to keep up.” Danny knew how to swear, just that being a hero was more important. Plus, Jazz was always on his case. ‘Maybe that’s why the fruit loop swore in desserts. I should give that a try.’

“Sure.” Husk breathed in deep before speaking louder than usually but not shouting. “Everyone round up! We got a visitor!” Husk noted that he could only see Angel Dust, Vaggie and Alastor at the moment. ‘The others will come out eventually.’ Husk pointed back to Danny “Everyone this is Danny Phantom.” Danny floated back to ground level, before giving a wave. As Husk went behind the bar counter.

“Hi, it is nice to meet you all.” Danny tilted his head and gave a smile. “I’m just….in the area visiting.” Angel Dust perked up at the visiting part and decided to test his luck. He sauntered up to Danny and gave him a lustful onceover. Husk just shook his head knowing this might cause trouble, poured himself a drink.

“Oooo, visiting huh?” Angel adjusted his fluffy chest, noting Danny starting to blush green. “A cute thing like you, what kind of ‘visiting’ are you doing huh?” Even though Danny was twenty-two, he still couldn’t help but blush when flirted with. Sam knew he didn’t mean anything by it, just one of the many quirks she loved about him. Angel just grinned bigger as the blushed deepened. Danny gave a short cough, putting on his ‘no-nonsense tone’.

“I’m happily in a relationship. Thank you.” Angel just shrugged.
“Ehh worth a shot.” As he went to sit on the bar stool to hopefully get some gossip from Husk. Danny breathed in deep, and let it out feeling his blush go down. He then took notice of the other people in the room, but focused on the one in red.

“Who’s the red dude?” Danny pointed a single finger with a questioning tone. ‘I really should have paid attention when Husk was telling me what people looked like.’ Alastor walked up, adjusted his suit and introduced himself, with his radio voice.
“Well, Hello There!” Alastor gave a large grin and held out his hand. “My name is Alastor; it is a pleasure to meet you!” Danny had to shake his head a bit to get used to the radio effect. ‘A bit like the static when I use ghost speak. But he’s definitely not a ghost, ghost sense hasn’t been going off ever since I arrived in hell.’

“Oh Alastor, huh? I’ve heard of you.” Danny shook Alastor’s hand. “The Radio Demon, yeah?” Alastor’s already large smile grew larger and his chest puffed out a bit, loving the recognition. Husk on the other hand had a chill go down his spine ‘I’ve got a bad feeling the kid is gonna do something stupid.’
“Oh, I’m so glad my reputation precedes me!” Danny just smiled and thought back to what Husk had told him, as he voiced his thoughts out loud.

“Yeah, you’re the guy who almost beat Vox, yeah?” In an instant the relaxed atmosphere was charged with static and a rising tension. It didn’t register Danny had done something bad, because he deals with annoyed ghosts on the daily and this felt like any other day. Husk just faced palmed and loudly sighed, expressing his disappointment.
“Now you’ve done it.”

Chapter Text

Five minutes ago, the Hazbin Hotel had been in a welcoming mood with the guest Husk had brought in. Angel Dust had enjoyed the eye candy, but was respectful when said eye candy was taken; he may be a professional slut but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to respect boundaries.

Husk had been enjoying his drink, not from a bottle but on the rocks for once; and had even started a pleasant conversation with Angel before the tone shift had occurred. Vaggie had been walking towards the hallway to look for Charlie when Danny had walked in and was introduced, she would have acknowledged him but Alastor stole the attention of the room.

Vaggie figured since she was already on her way out, she could introduce herself alongside Charlie; a proper cheerful greeting and welcome plus she could be there to tone down the cheer if she noticed Danny was getting overwhelmed. But given how he was handling Alastor, she was safe to assume he was used to eccentric personalities ‘hopefully Lucifer isn’t around, there’s only so much eccentricity one can take in one hit’ Vaggie just shook her head as she entered the hallway; she had only taken three steps when she felt the wave of static crawl up her back.

Vaggie immediately turned around and ran into the main foyer where she saw Alastor slowly turning into his demon form as the air around him took on static qualities, Angel Dust had leapt behind Husk’s bar where Husk was seen facing palming; and Danny, their guest, was looking confused “Did I do something wrong?” looking between Husk and Alastor.

Vaggie noted the weirdest thing about this whole situation was that Danny had no hint of fear towards Alastor; it wasn’t just a lack of fear that would indicate Danny had no brains but was actually just shrugging off the danger. ‘What kind of life did Danny have to see Alastor as non-threatening!?’ Vaggie just couldn’t comprehend it, and was poised to step in if things got worse; but knew they needed Charlie or even Lucifer if it got out of hand.

Husk just gave the deepest sigh before responding to Danny “Yup.” Popping the p as he downed the rest of his drink, leaving the barely, if at all, melted ice clinking in the glass.
“No kidding, you don’t just pull that out from the start.” Angel piped in “That’s the quickest way to a fucking beating.” Husk merely patted Angel on the head; which calmed down Angel who gave a soft smile that Husk didn’t see.

Husk looked towards Vaggie and waved his hand towards the immediate danger. Vaggie just shrugged, and started to pull her spear out. Husk looked between Vaggie and the growing danger that Danny seemed to be oblivious to and just shook his head.
“Go find Charlie before the fighting gets out of fucking hand.” Husk gruffly dismissed Vaggie, knowing she could find Charlie faster than any of them. Vaggie looked at Husk then back at Alastor, who seemed to be building up suspense or was trying to get a fear response out of Danny; or was merely trying to stay composed.

“And make it fucking snappy, I got a feeling this is about to get worse before it gets better.” Angel put his two cents in, while looking for a way to escape the danger zone. But gave an involuntary yelp when Alastor spoke with such anger and venom it gave him the worst chills; similar to when Valentino got mad but at least Angel knew he could attempt to take on his boss. Alastor was just on a different level. Vaggie didn’t waste another second and ran off to find Charlie ‘Hope I find her soon.’

“I’M SORRY!” The static surrounding Alastor’s voice had reached its current peak, as he entered his partial demon form, Husk and Angel were having a bit of trouble understanding through the static. Danny on the other hand just had a blank look on his face. “IS THAT ALL YOU KNOW ME FOR?!” NEARLY LOSING TO THAT FUCKING BUFFOON?!” Alastor’s voice kept getting louder and deeper as he grew to his full demon size; the stitches on his mouth glowing green, the whole hotel foyer had darkened due to his shadow growing larger as his little voodoo demons crawled out of the inky blackness and inky tentacles grew from Alastor’s back.

Danny noted the random assortment of symbols glowing a neon green ‘That confirms demons and ghosts are separate. Not the same colour’ Alastor poured all his venom and hatred towards Vox and focused it on the roar towards Danny.

“I AM THE RADIO DEMON!!!” Alastor loomed over Danny, but hadn’t registered his lack of reaction; just kept going on a rant. “TORMENTOR OF SOULS, DEVOURER OF HOPE!” Alastor got right into Danny’s face, attempting to stare into his soul and breathed out green smoke. “WELL?!” It was at this point Alastor finally noted the absolute lack of true fear, he involuntarily started to shrink, the shadows were slowly being drawn back to Alastor and the static was becoming less.

Danny having dealt with over-the-top antics of all his ghost rivals, had since become used to it all; nothing surprises him nor gets a proper reaction unless he feels up to banter back. He just looked at Alastor, his mouth a straight line “Neat.” Danny gave a single thumbs up, having been in so many life and death situations he believes he’s developed a good sense of danger.

Granted Tucker, Sam and Jazz have had to smack sense into him more times than he can count; but after years of ghost hunting, he knows when something is easy, can be handled solo, duo or with a team, or when he is in over his head…so long as he is in the right state of mind.

“YOU….you don’t have the slightest bit of true fear of me, do you?” Alastor had stuttered, his static had gone down to a level that Husk and Angel could barely understand, Alastor was currently flabbergasted at this lack of reaction. He could sense fear of the situation, fear for collateral damage, fear for Husk and Angel; but no fear of himself. ‘This child, this Daniel wasn’t afraid of him and it made no sense.’  

Everyone held fear for the Radio Demon, everyone in hell and possible all of heaven held fear at his name; even those who had more power and status held a respectful amount of fear. It made no sense how a child could have no fear.

Danny scratched the side of his head, looking rather sheepish because he doesn’t like taking the wind out of someone’s sails when they give a performance. All the ghosts he fights have their own way to get Danny’s attention and have developed their own little ‘game’ to help each other blow off steam.

There are days where Danny isn’t feeling it and most of the ghosts respect it and there are days where Danny seeks out a ghost to fight, but they don’t want to. Thus, he is very familiar when someone is looking for a fight, wanting to blow off steam or are full of hot air. Alastor in this case had some pent-up frustration towards Vox and is currently taking it out on Danny, who knew he wasn’t in true danger…yet.

“No, not really.” Danny just gave a one shoulder shrug, before holding up an open hand “You’re like the 5^th scariest thing I’ve seen since I became a ghost.” He waved his hand in a circular motion “Even with all your horns and stitches and stuff.” Danny then floated up a bit and held his chin as if thinking. “If we are going on a scare factor, horns are just mediocre, yours are cool because it’s not your standard horn design, but they seem impractical.” Danny said as he floated around Alastor.

Danny held his chin as if he were in an art gallery critiquing a piece, Alastor just followed him with his eyes wondering when the attack would happen. “The stitches on a person are new to me, usually you’d have it on dolls or constructs. The inky tentacles, those are kind of neat.” Danny floated and landed a few metres away from Alastor. “Overall, in terms of presence, I’d have to stick you at 5^th maybe 6^th place.”

“Well, then I guess I’ll give you a taste of the fear I provide.” Alastor slammed his hand into the ground causing the inky blackness of the shadow to bubble and bulge. “Tentacles, grab him!” The tentacles shot out at inhuman speeds, wrapping Danny head to toe as the voodoo dolls surrounded him. “By the end of this charade of a fight, you will fear me, as others have!” Danny just looked at the tentacles, and flexed his body to get a feel of the tight hold he was in. He then looked at Alastor with a blank look and his smart-ass tone dripped into his voice.

“Wow, you can grab me with tentacles.” Alastor noted Danny tried to move. “If my hands were free, I’d be clapping at your minor achievement of catching a ghost. However, it’d be a shame if...” Alastor felt the change in Danny’s body before his eyes could register what had happened. For in a split second the tentacles had nothing to grab and in wake of the empty space they closed the gap.

Danny’s form took on a transparent blue look while his eyes glowed green. Alastor saw Danny just walk to the side through his tentacles as if they were nothing; for a moment Alastor’s demonic smile had slipped ever so slightly for he hadn’t faced anything like this before. As Danny finished stepping fully away, he gave a smirk to Alastor. “... I do that.”
“How did…” Alastor looked Danny up and down but his mind couldn’t figure out what happened. Danny on the other hand had dealt with many people and even a few different beings who had no clue that intangibility was real.

“Intangibility, ever heard of it?” Danny gave a raised eyebrow and small smirk. Alastor for once was rather quiet and gave a small shake of his head. Meanwhile Husk and Angel were glad Alastor’s shadow had retreated away from the bar far enough to give both of them some breathing room. Though they knew to stay quiet because this encounter was far from over.

Alastor decided to have his tentacles test this intangibility and had them take a few swings. The first aimed for Danny’s legs which passed right through; Danny decided to have some fun and took a step for each swing ‘Let him think I have to be still to turn on the intangibility. Be way funnier when he realises, I can turn it on whenever I want.’

“You.” Swing for the torso, one step closer.
“Literally.” Swing for the head, one step closer.
“Can’t.” Swing for the legs and torso, one step closer.
“Touch.” Swing for the head and legs, one step closer.
“Me.” Swing vertically from head to toe, one step closer.

Danny was now standing an arm’s length away from Alastor. Alastor’s smile had been dropping ever so slightly, his full demon form had been getting smaller now back to his partial form. He still loomed over Danny, but wasn’t towering. Danny merely outstretched his arm and aimed at Alastor’s torso, ever so slowly a ball of toxic green energy started to form in his hand, as it grew so did the brightness along with the power that was contained in a softball sized orb.

Danny decided to put on his serious voice, because even though he needs a battle to relieve some stress, he doesn’t know the durability of these demons. “But I can paste you all over that wall behind you.” Alastor noted the tone shift and even saw the slight edge that was in Danny’s gaze, eyes glowing the same toxic green as the orb. ‘The boy is either taking me seriously or trying to show that HE is the threat and one to fear.’ Alastor’s smile grew as he gave a static filled chuckle and gazed right back answering the silent challenge.
“Then let’s play.”

Vaggie had been sprinting through the hotel for the past five minutes looking for Charlie, but to no avail. “Stupid new hotel, fucking can’t make heads or tails of this shit. Why did this have to happen so soon after the reno?” Vaggie vented her frustrations to the empty hallway, wondering where Charlie could be.

Just as she turned a corner the hotel shook as if hit by an earthquake and caused Vaggie to lose her footing. She fell and rolled into the wall, the impact wasn’t enough to daze, but was enough for Vaggie to take a short breath before getting up and running again.

“Dammit, be fucking quicker if I could fly. But the fucking halls aren’t wide enough.” She was trying to remember the mental map of the new floorplan trying to figure out where Charlie could be as she ran by a huge double door; only to slide to a stop and run back. “How could I forget?! She was gonna check the ballroom.” Vaggie didn’t hesitate to slam the doors open and as they hit the walls the impact let out a huge boom in the empty ballroom that echoed back down the open hallway.

Charlie had been writing notes in a small book, trying to figure out what event could be hosted in such a large space when the boom hit. She jumped in the air and gave a short scream as she was forcefully brought out of her headspace. As she landed and was taking some deep breaths, she noticed Vaggie running towards her; at first Charlie started to smile but it dropped as she noticed the panicked look in Vaggie’s eye.

“Charlie, we got a problem!” Vaggie took a moment to take a breath, the sprint finally catching up to her. “Alastor is fighting a new guy and” A boom resounded throughout the hotel as it shook the light dust that had settled in the ballroom. “Is fucking tearing the hotel apart!” Vaggie swung her arms in frustration as her voice rose. Charlie swipes her hand down her face and groaned.

“Oh, what is Al- “Charlie stopped for a moment, finally registering what she had just heard. “Wait!” As she grabbed Vaggie’s shoulders with a massive grin on her face. “There’s a new person in the hotel?!?!” Vaggie could practically feel the inevitable happy squeal about to occur, if it was any other time Vaggie would have let it happen; this wasn’t the time. Vaggie broke Charlie’s light hold on her shoulders and snapped her fingers in her face.

“Charlie focus!” Another boom shook the hotel, both girls looked up and worry finally settled into Charlie’s face. “They are blowing up the hotel!” Charlie had to take a small breather as the ‘Battle for the Hotel’ was still fresh in her mind. Vaggie waited patiently until her girlfriend was ready.
“Right. Let’s go.” Charlie sprinted past Vaggie and headed out of the hallway with Vaggie on her heels.
“They are in the foyer; I think Angel and Husk are still behind the bar.” Vaggie’s tone held worry and fear, even though she knew both could hold their own; this was Alastor and an unknown.

“What?! They couldn’t get away?” Charlie’s voice held fear for her friends and hoped no one was seriously hurt. Vaggie grabbed Charlie’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
“That was the last place I saw them before coming to get you.” As she pulled her into a hug. “The two of them are tough, a fight like this won’t take them down.”

Charlie gave Vaggie a squeeze and a peck on the cheek.
“Thanks. I know they are tough, just needed a reminder.” Charlie gave a small smile which Vaggie returned, knowing Charlie was going to be alright. “Come on we need to hurry. Also, what about Nifty?”
“You’re guess is as good as mine.” Vaggie just shrugged.

Alastor without voicing his attack had his inky tentacles try to grab Danny, thinking he couldn’t attack if he was intangible; unfortunately for him he was dead wrong. The moment the tentacles phased through Danny, his softball size ectoball blasted Alastor into the wall opposite the front doors with enough force to shake the Hotel. Danny having been in many fights had both hands ready to fire if his opponent proved more durable than anticipated.

The dust had yet to settle but Danny had honed his sense in battle that nothing could surprise him; this didn’t mean he was fast enough to dodge everything but was at least able to minimise damage. If he was of sound mind this would be the case, unfortunately for Danny he wasn’t in the best shape. ‘Gotta end this fast, the longer it goes the worse I’ll get. Dammit, I just wanted answers.’ He was lost in thought too focused on the dust he missed the spear as it cut through his right shoulder.

Letting out a cry of pain before aiming where the spear came from and saw the voodoo dolls from before all in a circle ready to throw various weapons and objects. Danny not wanting to waste too much time, combined the two ectoballs and flew into the air and launched the ball to the ground causing it to explode into an ectodome that enveloped all of Alastor’s voodoo dolls and wiped them from the foyer.

This caused the hotel to shake a second time, albeit less than the first. As Danny was trying to clear his head and focus on the battle, he had failed to notice that Alastor, in his full demon form but half the size, was mid-swing and brought his arms up to guard. Alastor grabbed and slammed Danny into the ground with all the force he could generate in his half-size full demon form.

This caused a crater to form from the impact and shook the hotel for a third time. “Splendid. Simply Splendid. You seem to be quite the power house.” Alastor stood up and adjusted his suit. “I’m most intrigued by the energy you used. Tell me, can I learn to use it?” Alastor lifted his leg, and stomped where he thought Danny was, but noted he only felt the ground as a tremour shook the hotel. He immediately spread his shadows to try and figure out where Danny went only to get hit in the back by a blast from above.

“You know, you forgot to say the magic word.” Danny smiled while tossing a softball sized ectoball between his hands, but instead of toxic green it was a sharp blue. Alastor noted the different colour but couldn’t figure out what the different colour meant. “Also, I don’t think we should be fighting inside the hotel, I think the owner would be pretty mad.”
“Given I know the owner she would be more disappointed than angry.” Alastor turned towards Danny as he aimed his tentacles, hopefully to stop the blue ball before it could hit him.

Danny faltered in the air for a moment, almost losing the Blue ectoball.
“Oh god that’s worse. Everyone knows disappointment is worse than anger.” Danny righted himself in the air before getting into a pitcher pose. “Regardless, I think you need to cool off.” As Danny threw the ice ectoball towards Alastor, in response the tentacles shot forward to intercept the ectoball. Just as the tentacles where about to impact the blue ectoball a green open cylinder stopped the tentacles and allowed the blue ectoball to shoot towards Alastor who brought his arms up to guard thinking it was going to be like the previous green ectoball.

Instead of blasting Alastor away on impact it instead covered him in a thick layer of ice that stopped him from moving. Danny floated down and smiled big which for some reason infuriated Alastor. “That’s certainly one way to chill out.” Danny could hear Husk and Angel groan at his puns wondering how he could be this carefree in a battle. “I would say it was ice to meet you, but you gave a such a cold welcome.”

Alastor directed his tentacles to pierce the ice, causing it to crack and weaken enough for him to shatter the icy prison with his enhanced strength. “My dear boy, those god-awful puns aren’t suited for radio. You need to get new material.” Alastor swung with his arm covered in shadows as Danny created an ectoshield which withstood the impact but sent him flying to the wall above Husk’s bar.

“Hey! Careful where you’re fighting Al, you almost destroyed the bar.” Husk shouted, while Angel took the momentary pause in the fight to run to the nearest hallway and get away from the battlefield.
“Do remember who you are talking to Husker.” Alastor stated with such disdain that Husk wilted and immediately held his hands up in surrender, before also zipping towards the same hallway Angel went down.

“You know you should talk to your friends better, maybe then they could help you win this losing battle.” Danny’s voice was strong as he walked through the air dusting himself off. “ Also, what’s with the obsession with radio? Gotta be history there.” Danny stayed floating in the air as his fists glowed green.
“I can fight my own battles. Also didn’t Husker give you the details?” Alastor wondered, while covering his fists in shadows.

“Nope, he gave me the dot point version of your history on the notion” Danny hunched over, took on a tired expression and used a gruff voice to imitate Husk “Take it from me kid, better ask Al about the details. I only got an outside perspective.” Danny’s aura got slightly brighter which Alastor had noted as a general increase in power as Danny floated closer.

“Quite right Daniel, quite right.” Alastor chuckled as he stepped closer. “Though I feel like we should get the physical fight over with before discussing those details, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yeah, time to figure out how durable you demons are.” Danny grinned and Alastor grinned in return; they were no longer enemies but more so respectful opponents. Danny shot forward with speed that would put most overlords to shame, Alastor was not one of them.

The resulting impact of an ecto-powered fist and a demonic shadow power fist colliding caused the hotel to shake down to its very foundation; which in turn caused both Alastor and Danny to be pushed from each other.

“Sheesh you pack a wallop.” Danny shook his hand as he winced. Alastor flexed his hand noting how it shook involuntarily.
“Daniel you are truly amazing. I think it’s high time that we finally dance.” Alastor’s grin wasn’t just for show, it was genuine in the glee that he felt having found a potential rivel that could test him. Danny returned the grin with equal passion.

“I’m sure we can chat and dance? Well, I’m more used to banter but I can make it work.” Danny shook his arms as he felt his core humming in response to a much-needed fight.
“Yes, I’d better correct and elaborate on what Husker has told you.” Alastor swing towards Danny who returned in kind. They started to exchange blow after blow: fist for fist, kick for kick, tentacle for ectoblast.

Overtime Alastor kept shrinking down until he was in his partial demon form, not having the energy needed to maintain the larger form. They did not care about the damage to the hotel foyer, merely wanting to physically vent and relishing the chance to do so.
“I don’t care about the title or your rise to power and how you did it. I want to know what’s the deal with Vox.” Danny was smacked across the room into Husk's bar via a speedy backhand from Alastor.

Alastor gave a chuckle before answering. “Ahh, yes Husker wouldn’t know about that. I wanted to keep it quiet, but Vox wanted a bit of fame. He posted that I almost beat him. Which isn’t the whole story.” Alastor started to explain but was cut off as Danny had sent an ectoblast that sent Alastor flying to the wall opposite the bar. “He invites me to a meeting at what would become the V Tower.” Alastor spat showing his disdain for the Vees.

“Yeah Husk mentioned them, but how does that relate to you almost beating Vox?” Danny floated towards Alastor, but stayed at a distance. “Also, you good? You’re looking rough. Need some ice?” Danny asked holding up another ice ectoball.
“I’m quite alright, thank you for asking.”  Alastor gave a short bow as he dusted a sleeve. “You might need it by the end.”

“You aren’t wrong, might take an ice bath.” Danny rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the pain.
“Now, I was at the height of my fame and power when Vox came to me.” Alastor stood up straight and seemed to exude an aura, that Danny noted was more of a presence; much like when the fruit loop got mad or when he fought Pariah Dark, just weaker in comparison. “He was an upstart, trying to get big so came to me with an offer.” Alastor’s eyes glazed over as he remembers that day. He started to chuckle, it started small and then just kept getting bigger as his smile took on a manic look.

Charlie and Vaggie run into the foyer, thinking they would have to stop a fight; instead, they slowed to a walk then stopped in place taking in the damage of the foyer. The area where Husk’s bar resided was smashed to bits, the opposite wall was barely there, the middle of the foyer had a crater that was a few metres in diameter and maybe a meter deep; the only place that didn’t take any noticible damage was the front wall and door.

It was then they noticed Alastor seeming to loom over Danny, laughing manically. Vaggie took out her spear as she and Charlie rushed over. “Al what are you….” As they got closer, they noticed how Alastor was just laughing and Danny, even though he was roughed up just had a grin on his face. “Doooooiiiinnng??” Alastor, during his manic laughter was slowly going from his partial demon form to his normal form, so as he spoke his voice started to go back and forth between his normal voice and demon voice.

“He came to me with an offer to join him. Me, an Overlord! He was a nothing upstart and offered his hand to me. As if I was the one in need of a hand.” Alastor’s face was manic, to this day he still couldn’t comprehend the audacity Vox had that day. “So, I laughed in his face and gave a simple NO. But he wasn’t alone that day, he had the other two Vees and all three fought me at once.” Alastor growled out.

“That’s what happened that day. A three on one and yet Vox states I barely beat him, as if I only fought him.” Alastor’s manic laughter took on a darker tone, proving to Danny Alastor still had deep unresolved issues. Danny on the other hand couldn’t help but start to chuckle himself, at the absurdity of the situation; he just found a demon, of all things, that could relate to him, no one at home could come as close to relating to him like Alastor.

“Isn’t that the worst?!” Danny had a manic grin on his face. “You just want a fair fight, one on one, but NoooOOOOoooo!” Danny rolled his eyes as he stretched out the word then he brought his hands up and he took a mocking tone. “That’s not fun” He made quotation marks with his fingers. “We can’t do that. You’re too strong.” Danny huffed and rolled his eyes again, as he exuded an aura of annoyance on some of his past fights.

“Exactly!!” Alastor’s voice held so much glee, it made Danny feel good. Alastor did an impression of Vox, which was just him not using the radio effect. “You need a new campaign, rehaul your image, PR blast, rebranding, advertise.” Alastor was making hand gestures and rolling his eyes, and couldn’t keep a straight face because he found it so damnable funny, even Danny joined in on the laughter.

“Together we can rise above everyone else and get your face out there! MY FACE WAS MADE FOR RADIO!” For a moment Alastor’s demonic aura and static field came through, scaring Charlie thinking he was about to attack Danny, instead it disappeared just as quick as it started; Charlie and Vaggie’s confusion simply spiked as Danny let out a full belly laugh that caused him to float into the air.

“Right?! I understand completely!” Danny’s laughter died down enough for him to wipe a tear from his eye. “I refuse to sell out my image to capitalism. No matter how badly I need to pay rent.” Danny’s face took on a depressed look for a moment. “I saw the zeros, but I have my integrity as an upstanding hero to protect.” Danny’s smile was sad as he stood straight and puffed out his chest.

Alastor let out a guffaw which just confused Charlie and Vaggie even more.
“Now that is the kind of moral BS I can get behind. You have my approval, Daniel.” Alastor’s smile was wide as he held out his hand. Danny returned the smile in kind as he shook the offered hand.
“Right back at ya Radio Shack.” Alastor laughed and simply applied more pressure to the hand shake, as Danny returned in kind. Both just smiling and chuckling.

Charlie and Vaggie were just left dumbfounded at what they just witnessed. Their minds couldn’t comprehend how Alastor went from wanting to kill someone to approving of them in a matter of minutes. Vaggie seeing there wasn’t any danger hid her spear away. Charlie on the other hand just kept looking back and forth trying to connect the non-existent dots; in the end she just let a simple “The hell?” 

Chapter Text

Alastor and Danny were still in their little world of increasing the strength they were outputting into the handshake while still having a friendly smile on their faces. Vaggie was opening and closing her mouth repeatedly while she attempted to process the situation. She had left them on the brink of a brawl, only to return and find them on friendly terms. Charlie on the other hand, was intrigued by Alastor’s newfound friendliness towards someone new.

She felt compelled to intervene as she sensed small amounts of energy leaking from both of them, evident by their glowing eyes. She gave a cough and approached both. “So… I could be wrong, but are you going to fight again or is everything resolved?” Both Alastor and Danny blinked, looked at Charlie looked at each other and back at Charlie. Alastor gave a simple chuckle as he released the handshake with Danny, instead placing his hand on his shoulder and gesturing towards Charlie.

“Ah Charlie, come my dear! I have to introduce you to Daniel Phantom, our newest friend!” Alastor smile grew big, but even Charlie could tell it wasn’t his malicious smile, which she noted was both a good and bad thing. She turned to Vaggie who looked to Charlie, both shared a look that Alastor took notice of. Alastor narrowed his eyes towards Charlie and Vaggie who challenged right back; this was held for a few seconds before Alastor broke first and rolled his eyes. Danny was completely oblivious to this as he turned bashful again for having the attention on him.

“Well actually.” Danny rubbed the back of his head. “It’s Daniel Fenton. Well, I go by Danny. I think Alastor is being proper.” He gave a nervous chuckle as Alastor gave a chuckle in return.
“Yes, quite right, that is my mistake for not asking you to introduce yourself.” Alastor said in a tone that Danny couldn’t quite pick up on, the one time he truly missed Sam and Jazz; they were better at social cues than he was. ‘The extra eyes and ears were a huge help. Ancients I miss everyone.’

Alastor stepped aside so Charlie and Vaggie could properly introduce themselves.
“I should clarify, Danny Phantom, is my superhero moniker.” Danny gave a small smile, while Alastor simply tilted his head.
“Why introduce yourself as Danny Phantom, if your real name is Daniel ‘Danny’ Fenton?” Alastor leaned towards Danny while Charlie and Vaggie waited for a moment to speak up.

“I didn’t know if I could trust you guys. You know it being Hell and all.” Danny just pointed out the destroyed wall which had a hole one could see the red sky from, but then just shrugged. “But you all seem nice, and you only live once.”
“Too right you are.” Alastor gave a nod and a smile, which Charlie and Vaggie took as their cue to introduce themselves.

“Hey, name’s Vaggie. Would have introduce myself earlier, but rushed to find Charlie, before shit hit the fan.” She gave a look at the destruction of the hotel foyer. “Guess I wasn’t fast enough.” Danny looked to the floor rubbing the back of his head, while Alastor inspected his claws. Charlie on the other hand was too happy on having a new guest to let the damage ruin the moment.

She stepped forth grabbed Danny’s loose hand with both of hers and gave a massive grin.
“Well it’s amazing to meet you, Danny!” She shook the hand in earnest which caused Danny to chuckle at the energy. “I’m Charlie and I run this hotel!” She let go of Danny’s hand as she twirled away and sweep her arms to further indicate the hotel. It was at this point the wall of Husk’s bar fell forward, which caused a ball of dust to bellow out.

Charlie let out a nervous chuckle and shrugged. “Well, with Alastor and my dad.” Charlie gave a look to Alastor, then pointed to the wall. Alastor gave a sharp stare back, before giving a small sigh. Danny noted the shadow energy from before and tensed for an attack; except Alastor shot a ball of energy at the bar where it splashed and covered the area in shadow. Alastor snapped his fingers and in a black flash the bar was revealed to be in pristine condition.

Danny saw Charlie have a grin as she nodded towards Alastor who nodded in return. ‘There is way more going on in this hotel. Questions for later’
“Oh, your dad too? Who’s he?” Danny asked, trying to think of who could help with the hotel alongside Charlie and Alastor. Since Alastor was a powerful being that Danny was having trouble fighting, prior to them getting along due to his current energy levels. On a good day, Danny wouldn’t have had any trouble against Alastor.

“Well he’s…” Just as Charlie was about to answer, they heard a rush of footsteps coming from the hallway. As everyone turned towards the noise, they saw Husk and Angel first followed fast by Lucifer who rushed towards Charlie’s side.
“Charlie! What’s going on, sweety??” Lucifer asked in a worried tone, given what Husk and Angel told him after they had caught their breath having run around the hotel looking for him. ‘I need to make it easier to find me, in case trouble like this occurs again. Wonder if Charlie would be okay letting me put up duck signs towards my room or workshop. Time for that later.’

Lucifer had run with them, and much like Vaggie cursed the size of the hallways not allowing flight to be possible without difficulty.
“Oh, hey Dad! Come and say hi to our newest friend.” Charlie had a happy smile on her face as she waved her dad over. Danny figured might as well make a good impression, as he gave a small wave and friendly smile.

Danny noted how Charlie was taller than her dad; though what caught his attention was the white suit and apple topped cane. He couldn’t figure out why that was important, but the apple was key to figuring out who her dad was.
“Oh, hello Sir! My name is Danny Phantom, well Daniel ‘Danny’ Fenton. Nice to meet you.” Danny hoped his greeting would be enough. ‘Why do I have a bad feeling about this? There is something about him. Dammit brain work properly for once, what did Husk say?’

Danny couldn’t help but sense a hidden amount of power coming from Charlie’s dad, but couldn’t get his thoughts straight. He could also feel Clockwork’s stare, as if he was watching this moment; yet couldn’t remember any recent hint or riddle that could apply to this situation. Lucifer was giving Charlie a quick once over and even did the same with Vaggie before he sent a glare towards Alastor. He then sighed, knowing he’d be the one to help fix the damage minus the bar; luckily it was just the foyer so an easy fix. He then turned towards Danny.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to…” Lucifer stopped as he finally registered Danny. In that instant the hotel foyer got hot and intense. Husk and Angel stepped further away, thinking another fight was about to occur. Vaggie slowly moved a quiet and confused Charlie away from Lucifer and Danny. Alastor was invested into this reaction towards Danny. ‘Who is Daniel to get this reaction from the King of Hell?’

Lucifer’s features slowly morphed from his normal form into his demon form and narrowed his eyes at Danny; who would have taken a step back but his feet wouldn’t budge. Lucifer’s voice took on the demonic edge and was cold. “Hello. Ghost King.”

“Oh Shit!” In that exact moment, Danny’s mind finally figured out who this was in front of him and it was one of the many worst-case scenarios that Team Phantom had gone through when Clockwork revealed there were other realms once Danny took the throne proper. The myths and legends of the human realm were merely glimpses into those realms, and didn’t capture the whole story.

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz made sure to research all the potential threats and whether they could avoid becoming enemies; while Danny trained in his responsibilities as Ghost King. They would try to summarise their findings to Danny, who took the warnings but brushed them off. They’d gone their whole lives without any encounter from these different realms, why worry now.

Danny did however take Clockwork’s other warning very seriously. “The Ghost Zone or the Infinite Realms are connected to every single realm, past, present, and future. You are now the King of the Infinite Realms, the moment you took the Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage; a pulse was sent throughout the realms. Every King, Emperor, Ruler, God, and Governing Authority of their respective realm would know a new Ghost King was crowned and would be able to sense you, no matter which form you took.”

Danny had given an exhausted sigh, knowing at some point he would have to interact with the other realms, but chose to just deal with it when it happened. ‘Ancients, I wish I had Tuck’s PDA right now.’ He was very much regretting not studying the notes Team Phantom had created for him.

Danny wanted to fly away, but Lucifer’s glare told him to stay put or there would be consequences. Danny’s mind was going a mile a minute trying to remember the Royal Mannerisms crash course Sam had taken him through if he ever ended up interacting with the realm’s governing authority. At this point all he knew was to go along with whatever Lucifer proposed and to be respectful.

Alastor was thoroughly enjoying the tension and was quietly waiting for the shoe to drop. Charlie on the other hand was confused.
“Wait, Ghost King?” She looked between Danny and her dad then back at Danny. She gave him a once over, but shook her head thinking her dad was wrong. “Wasn’t Pariah Dark the Ghost King?” Charlie asked her dad with a tilt of her head. Lucifer gave one more intense glare at Danny, and he went back to his normal form to answer his daughter’s question.

“Oh yes, he was sweety.” Lucifer gave her a small smile, since how could she have known a new Ghost King had been crowned; since she wasn’t linked to Hell like Lucifer was. “Until about 8 years ago, when this young man.” Lucifer pointed his apple cane towards Danny, who gave a nervous wave, Lucifer returned the wave with a frown. “Took the throne from him.”

Charlie’s eyes widened and even took an involuntary step back. Because, she remembered the stories and warnings the old story books her dad read to her about Pariah Dark. And for a moment thought Danny might be the same, before she shook her head and corrected herself that Danny was nice. Alastor’s mind was racing, because he had never heard of a Ghost King before, let alone there being a previous one; he was hatching plots to try and gain a favour or two from Danny. ‘Having the Ghost King in my pocket would be an added bonus alongside Charlie.’

“Oh come on, let’s not talk about the past.” Danny tried his best to sound confident, but was still nervous in the presence of Lucifer, who simply rose a single eyebrow. “Can we let bygones be bygones?” Danny gave a shrug and a nervous smile, while Lucifer simply sighed as he took an imaginary speck of dirt off his cane.

“Oh yes, leave the past in the past, bygones and all that.” Lucifer wasn’t mocking Danny, but wasn’t taking him seriously either, especially if what he heard was true. The tone shift wasn’t unnoticed by all in the room, especially Danny who picked up something very subtle; but couldn’t put his finger on it. Lucifer looked up at Danny and gave a subtle grin and had a particular glint in his eye. “How about we talk about your present?”

The shift in atmosphere went from the familiar oppressive aura the King of Hell produced to something very unfamiliar and ice cold. Husk and Angel hugged each other tight, hoping it would provide warmth and comfort. Vaggie immediately moved Charlie further away from Lucifer and Danny; Lucifer gave a subtle nod of approval towards Vaggie.

Alastor on the other hand unknowingly took a step backwards, his body trying to gain distance; but Alastor couldn’t comprehend this reaction and fought the ingrown instinct that was unknown to him. Everyone looked towards Danny, who they noticed went from being a nervous mess to serious the moment Lucifer asked the question.

His eyes, went from a soft glow to intense brightness, as he glared at Lucifer. Husk, Angel, Charlie and Vaggie finally understood there was more to Danny then meets the eye. Alastor wondered where this side of Daniel had been during their fight and questioned if he was holding back this entire time. However, they all failed to notice something in Danny’s glare, something subtle that if you weren’t looking for it, you’d miss it; Lucifer knew the emotion Danny was currently conveying in the glare directed at him and took it in stride.

“Don’t.” Danny said it so plainly, yet in one word held too much emotion. It was a request, a demand, a challenge, a plea, a command. It washed over everyone, and they felt they should listen but the sensation passed quickly as the familiar King of Hell aura washed over them. Lucifer knew he had to tread carefully, but also knew Danny wouldn’t do something he’d regret. So, he decided to push a certain button. ‘I fucking hate politics, but gotta test the young man’

“Daniel, how is dear Samantha?” One moment, everything went still. No one breathed, no one moved. No one even blinked. No noise could be heard inside or outside the hotel; as if Hell itself become mute. They all looked towards Danny wondering what he would do or say.

They all noted his hair which glowed white, started to float up and become wispy like a soft flame. His pupils disappeared in the intense toxic green glare, and the glow like aura seemed to act like steam coming off his body. Danny shifted and everyone prepared for what came next; Lucifer just stood his ground.

“SHE’S DEAD!!” Danny roared as a wave of raw emotion washed over the Hazbin Hotel residents, causing some to shed a tear as they felt an intense sadness and sense of loss. “AND YOU KNOW! YOU KNOW SHE WAS KILLED BY AN ANGEL!!” Danny huffed, but his body was tense. Charlie gasped, then looked towards Lucifer.

“Dad?” In one word, Charlie asked multiple questions: Did you know Dad? Is it true? Why? She hoped it wasn’t true but given Danny’s reaction it wasn’t false. Lucifer merely sighed; his face was neutral as he spoke in in a sombre tone. He didn’t raise his voice, but everyone stayed quiet and listened.

“For the ‘crime’ of consorting with the half breed, she was taken out by the powers that be.” Danny was struggling to contain his boiling anger, knowing Lucifer wasn’t at fault but it didn’t change the fact that he brought up the taboo topic. Husk, Angel, Vaggie and even Alastor stayed quiet and chose to simply listen. The situation they were in was very delicate and thus less people interacting the better.

“Half-breed? How…what?” Charlie just tilted her head as she gave a confused look towards Lucifer and Danny.
“Danny Phantom. Daniel Fenton. Ghost King.” Lucifer took on a regal tone, as if reading an official document. Danny on the other hand took a stiff step towards Lucifer who gave a quick glare which stilled Danny.

Charlie was trying to wrap her head around what was happening. “Half-man, half-ghost. A walker between worlds and realms.” Lucifer’s tone held a certain sadness, as if he was regretting stating the facts. “An ‘Abomination unto God’ who’s fiancé and unborn child were killed by an angel for simply being bound to him.” Lucifer’s eyes held a silent apology to Danny who was holding back tears and rage; he grit his teeth and stayed quiet knowing if he spoke, he might let out a Ghostly Wail.

Husk’s ears flopped down as his heart dropped now knowing why this kid held a deep sadness to him. He wanted nothing more to offer a drink and a bartender’s ear in an attempt to console. Angel Dust wanted nothing more than to shoot the angel that caused this whole situation but at the same time wanted to go to bed and be held as he cried.

Vaggie’s mind was going a mile a minute, trying to figure out if an angel could have done that, let alone which one. Alastor licked his lips as a plan started to form in his head; wondering how to direct this rage at certain targets. Charlie gasped as a single tear fell; but then her dad’s words finally registered. “Wait, I thought angels couldn’t act directly on earth?”

She turned to Vaggie who gave a shrug, since she didn’t know if the rules had been updated since she was cast out. Charlie looked back between her dad and Danny. Danny at this point seem to have gotten control of his outburst of emotion as he let out a deep sigh; the overall glow died down at the same time as the cold atmosphere started to die down.

“They can’t.” Danny slid down the nearest wall, his arms on his knees and tears in his eyes. “Unless they’re acting on a direct order from God.” His voice was filled with such venom, but was overshadowed by the deep sorrow. Everyone held a pitying look towards the young Ghost King; not really knowing what they could do to help.

Lucifer still held the sad look in his eyes and sighed knowing this wasn’t done. ‘I hate being the asshole, but I need to see how stable he is and if it’s safe for him to stay.’
“For example, killing an abomination.” For the second time in a five-minute span, Hell went silent again.

Everyone looked towards Danny who shot up from the ground and floated above Lucifer, glaring with pupilless toxic green eyes and as he spoke there was a certain static that was unlike Alastor’s.
“THEY WERE NOT AN AMBOMINATION!! THEY WERE MY CHILD!!” Danny once more roared, sending a wave of rage, sadness and loss stronger than before.

Husk and Angel fell to their knees as they held each other in an iron grip, while Charlie and Vaggie leaned against the nearby wall holding each other trying to find comfort as tears fell from their eyes. Alastor’s smile was gone, his face was set in a neutral expression as a singular tear fell from his eye; as he fought to keep his knees from shaking.

Lucifer was the only one who stood strong as he lightly lent on this cane. He gave a sad smile and his eyes were soft. They all waited on what Danny would do; the energy he used vanished as quick at it came as he floated back to the ground. Tears were running down his face and held a hand to his chest above his core. “I…I lost them…before I could even know them.”

Everyone stayed where they were, no one spoke. The only noise were the shaking shoulders and quiet crying from Charlie and Angel. Lucifer let out a long quiet sigh as he looked down as his hand brushed the apple of his cane. With a similar sad tone, he broke the silence “I know that feeling.” Danny’s eyes snapped to Lucifer’s.

Green stared into Red. One was searching, the other waited. Everyone waited, the only one who saw Lucifer’s tears was Danny. Danny’s widened as if he found the answer he’d been searching for.
“You would know that pain. Wouldn’t you?” Danny stated in a tired, defeated tone. Lucifer gave a simple nod. Angel and Husk were able to get off the floor and move towards the bar.

They both sat on a stool and leaned on the bar counter; looked towards each other then back at the others. They gave each other a nod, knowing they would have to help Danny some how but knew to stay quiet and out of the way. Alastor took a few steps back, enough to separate himself from the conversation but close enough to listen in; which Vaggie glared at but couldn’t exactly drag Alastor away without some form of commotion breaking up the moment between Lucifer, Danny, and Charlie.

Charlie on the other hand, was in a state of confusion from the rapid back and forth along with all the new information she was learning rather quickly. Instead of keeping up, she was just reacting to the latest statement. She stepped closer so she was between Danny and her father.
“What are you talking about?” She was confused, because from what they were implying, she wasn’t the first child of her mother and father.

Danny’s eyes held an emotion unfamiliar to Charlie, the closest would be one of deep loss. It was similar to the eyes she saw in the mirror after losing Dazzle but knew in her heart it wasn’t the same; but could tell her father knew exactly what type of loss it was. Lucifer sighed, regretting this was how his daughter would learn she wasn’t the first child and that there could have been others.

“You remember how I fell from heaven?”
“Yeah?” Charlie tilted her head, as she waited for the answer to her question.
“That bitch.” Lucifer spat. “Cursed your mother so every child would die in her womb.” Lucifer sounded exhausted and defeated, having accepted this so long ago; and is now reliving these emotions alongside his alive daughter.

“What?!” Charlie gasped as tears started to stream down her face. A few tears fell from Danny’s eyes as he shared a look with Lucifer and nodded; Lucifer nodded back as a small weight was taken off his shoulder and heart knowing he wasn’t alone.

“To quote the fucking bitch!” Lucifer’s tone held venom as he mocked God “For the sin of the Tool rejecting its purpose, I shall remove its purpose.” Lucifer’s body was tense with building rage, but was pushed aside with practiced ease with a mere sigh.

“Oh my god…” Charlie couldn’t believe the audacity of God to cast such a punishment. The foyer was quiet once more as everyone let the new information sink in. Angel and Husk were taking turns drinking out of the same bottle, trying to drown the sadness. Vaggie walked up to Charlie and held her in a tight hug; Charlie broke and wept on Vaggie’s shoulder. She managed to put the dots together, that she wasn’t the first child of Lucifer and Lilith; she was the first born.

Lucifer stepped towards his daughter and placed a comforting hand on her back. Danny was taking deep breathes to try and gain some semblance of control and balance so as to not break down himself. Alastor’s mind was racing with all the new revelations and was making plans in his head. ‘This could be helpful for my goals and theirs. I’ve already got a favour from Charlie now I need one from The Ghost King.’

After a few minutes, Charlie was able to stop weeping but it didn’t stop the occasional tear from falling. She gave a tight hug to her father and a softly spoken I love you, which Lucifer returned along with a hug of his own as he slowly let go. Vaggie hand fell on Charlie’s shoulder who looked back at her girlfriend. Charlie gave a wobbly smile before it fell. She looked towards her father and Danny; she gave a small wave and turned towards the nearest hallway.

Lucifer and Vaggie shared a look, before he gave a nod. Vaggie was to take care and comfort Charlie, while Lucifer dealt with the current situation. Lucifer breathed a small sigh of relief knowing Charlie was in safe hands. He noted he would need to take the time to have a proper conversation about her ‘only child’ status. Lucifer kept staring at the hallway for a few moments longer, before he turned back to Danny.

He saw that Danny was somewhat spaced out still taking calming breathes; Lucifer stepped closer and slowly wave his apple cane in Danny’s face. Danny blinked, shook his head, and took one final deep breath before he felt ready to continue.

“Anyway, yeah.” Danny hadn’t felt this tired in a while, but was grateful he was still standing. “I lost her back in January and I have been looking for her ever since.” Lucifer nodded, before raising an eyebrow as he remember what the current month was.
“Danny, it’s…March” Lucifer finally saw the bags under Danny’s eyes. “Have you been awake this whole time?” Danny yawned before responding.

“Yeah. I haven’t even transformed back since it happened.” Danny’s tone made it sound like this was a regular Thursday for him; Lucifer’s eyes widened at the revelation as he took on a fatherly look.
“That’s not healthy.” Lucifer pushed his hat up a bit to scratch his head. “Like, I know I had to test you, one ruler to another but.” Lucifer stepped towards and float up in front of Danny and placed a fatherly hand on his shoulder.

Danny looked to the hand, then looked into Lucifer’s eyes, which held a certain amount of care that Danny was unused to from those outside of Team Phantom. “You need to rest. If you don’t take care of yourself, how can you take care of your subjects?” Danny looked away for a moment and let out a frustrated sigh because Lucifer was saying the same thing as Frostbite and Clockwork. He then softly shrugged off Lucifer’s hand and took a few steps away.

“But she could be out there!” As Danny swept his hand towards the front of the hotel. Lucifer knew Danny wasn’t referring to hell, but merely stating that Sam could be somewhere other than Earth and the Ghost Zone. “It’s been a month.” Danny’s voice cracked “A month.” He dragged his hand over his face and as it covered his mouth, he let out a small frustrated grumble. “A. Month!” Danny emphasised to both himself and Lucifer; especially since this was the first time in a long while that Danny openly acknowledge how long it’s been since he started his search.

He started to pace back and forth, while floating a few inches above the ground. Lucifer stood quietly as he left Danny vent. “And I haven’t seen any hint of her in that entire fucking time.” For the first time since arriving in hell, Danny swore. This caused Husk to do a spit-take with the rum he had been drinking, while Angel gave a soft chuckle. Alastor raised an eyebrow, knowing this wasn’t Danny Phantom the hero speaking, but Daniel Fenton a grieving Father and Husband.

Lucifer just took the swearing in stride, not knowing why it was odd if Danny swore. He let Danny pace back and forth for a bit before he spoke. “Well,” As he gave a soft clap which stopped Danny’s pacing for a moment. “At least we have a heading.” Lucifer gave a soft smile as his eyes held a certain amount of care for the young man, but also held a promise to help. Danny smiled in return and nodded.

“Yeah, Heaven.” As his feet touched the foyer floor, he eyes glowed with promise.
“Indeed.” Lucifer nodded back with eyes aglow. Alastor wouldn’t have been able to sense it, but there was an agreement between the two rulers, one of companionship and help towards Danny’s quest. Alastor let the moment last for a little bit before he spoke up causing Danny and Lucifer to turn towards him.
“And with that, I have a question.” Alastor’s radio smile was back, and he was ready to find out what the next course of action was.

If you wish to watch the tiktok series this story is based on here's the link: https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSFGko5pQ/

Chapter Text

“If Heaven is the target of your rage and malice.” Alastor pointed his hand towards heaven while giving his signature Radio Grin towards Danny. Lucifer simply raised his eyebrow wondering what Alastor was up to now; Danny tilted his head waiting for Alastor to give his idea. ‘He seems like a decent fellow, but he is in hell for a reason; what that reason is I don’t know. All I know is, he has a scheming look in his eye; let’s see where this goes.’

Danny had faced many enemies and frenemies who held a certain tone or look when they had a hidden scheme or trap, they wanted him to fall into; all the experience has helped pinpoint when it was directed at him, not so much the rest of Team Phantom. Alastor put his hands behind his back as he leaned towards Danny and Lucifer. “Then what are we waiting for? An invitation?”

“Alastor, you know we can’t just break in there.” Lucifer answered, with a tired shake of his head and a stern look towards Alastor. He already knew Alastor would be trouble but had a feeling this conversation would be dangerous for Danny’s fragile mentality. Danny meanwhile was staying quiet waiting for the shoe to drop, but also trying to figure out the meaning behind the looks between Lucifer and Alastor

“Why not?” As Alastor stood straight and summoned a ball of shadows to keep his hand occupied. “You have the ability to.” From the shadow ball a small winged voodoo doll appeared “Why don’t you just fly up there and look around?” Alaster questioned, as the winged doll flew up and dissipated in the air. Alastor’s smug grin left a sour taste in Lucifer’s mouth and he gave an annoyed sneer in return. Lucifer gave a small sigh as he consider his words and tone.

“After Adam’s demise at the hands of your little maid. There’s no way they’ll let us in.” Lucifer countered with a clipped tone, giving Alastor a side-eye and holding his apple cane in both hands. Alastor’s smirk dropped for a moment, having forgotten that small detail.

Especially since Heaven would be weary of anyone who was in the Battle of the Hazbin Hotel. But, from what little Charlie revealed about how heaven was during her visit, only the top members of heaven and the exorcists would be privy to the battle details. And if it is true what position of power Lucifer used to hold in heaven; Alastor gave a chuckle that made Lucifer raise a single eyebrow.

“You, my incredibly short fellow, can just go in and no one could stop you.” Alastor smirked and held a certain glint in his eyes that made Lucifer uneasy. Danny noted that since seeing Alastor and Lucifer interacting, this was the first time Alastor managed to put Lucifer off balance. ‘What could Alastor know or say that could cause Lucifer to be uneasy.’  “Afterall, God is MIA.” He announced. Lucifer’s eyes widened at this info, because it was news to him but also made him wonder how Alastor got this information. Before he could properly digest what Alastor said, he noted Danny step forward.

“God is MIA?!” Danny hopped into the convo then floated above Alastor and Lucifer as his mind raced with nervous energy trying to comprehend if this was true or not. And if it was true only one question stood out above the rest “Then, who’s commanding the angels?” Danny’s tone left no room on argument; it was either give the truth or he would force it out. Alastor had a smug look on his face having achieved his minor goal of getting young Daniel riled up. It also had the bonus on annoying Lucifer.

Lucifer rubbed his brow in frustration as he let out a heavy sigh, knowing Danny wouldn’t stop when answers were so close. ‘Time to look at damage control, before this gets out of hand. Alastor what is your game?’ He gave a glare towards Alastor, who was trying to act innocent by inspecting his claws; though the smirk on his face begged to differ. Lucifer looked towards Danny with tired eyes. “That would be Lute, the new commander of Heaven.”

“What?” Danny felt his whole world shift as he couldn’t believe it wasn’t God himself that sent the order, but potentially an Angel named Lute. His mind raced over the memories of the attack, trying to remember any clue that could point towards an angel in charge. The frustrating thing was that they had all looked the same…except one. “Look, all I know is that Sam was killed by an angel with a metal arm and a mask that looks like it’s straight from the circus.”

Danny’s whole-body shudders as he remembers Freakshow and the mind control. “And trust me, I know a lot about clowns.” His clipped, angry tone caused. both Alastor and Lucifer to take a moment to reevaluate what to do with Danny. Alastor made note that Danny had more control of his anger than originally indicated. Lucifer noted he had his work cut out for him to not only calm Danny down but ground him as well; however, that was the least of his worries with the info Danny revealed.

Lucifer screamed internally as if he couldn’t believe the fateful chance that it would be Lute of all angels to do the deed. His mind was racing trying to figure out how she even got passed God’s Mandate. Even if he was MIA, if Alastor was to be believed, she didn’t have the authority to bypass or make an exception unless God himself gave the order. “Lute does have one arm, so that was probably her.” Lucifer confirmed in a slow manner while looking at Danny trying to gauge his reaction.

“Oh good.” Danny’s face went blank and his voice was devoid of emotion as he turned towards the front doors. “At least I know her name now.” As he walked towards the doors his hair flickered in and out of the wispy flame state, his eyes flickered with intense toxic green glow, and his body aura gave light steam effect. He took slow steps as he started to mutter to himself wondering how to get to heaven, if Clockwork would stop him and if he could he kill an angel.

“Daniel wait. You have to rest up first, ok?” Lucifer calmly requested as he strolled up and grabbed Danny by the shoulder; hoping to ground him before he left and attempt him to rest. Alastor chose to stay in his current spot with an ever-present grin watching this unfold. Danny took a moment to register it was Lucifer who tried to stop him and for a moment it looked like Danny would actually stop, but the rage reared its head and he roughly broke out of Lucifer’s grip.

“Are you gonna stop me?” Danny, even though he was tired, was ready to throw hands as he turned towards Lucifer with hate filled eyes and eyes pupilless in the toxic green glow. Lucifer matched the star not with anger but with kindness and understanding. As much as Danny wanted to just blast the King of Hell away so he could run off, he had enough clarity of mind to not attack but to also listen for Lucifer’s answer.

“Yes. With one simple sentence.” Lucifer’s tone was neutral and his face held a soft smile. ‘Either this will stop him long enough to rest, or cause him to rage and I’ll be forced to step in.’
“What?” Danny took on a sarcastic mocking tone as he held one hand up to mime a mouth “I am the king of hell, obey me!?” Danny gave Lucifer a deadpan look; which he returned with a frog blink. There was a moment of silence that made Danny pause.

“Sam wouldn’t want you to die.” Lucifer delivered with care only a father could give. To deliver something in a gentle manner even if it was the blunt truth. A way to soften the blow to come, but wouldn’t let anyone do the deed. For a split second, Lucifer wondered if he had finally stepped over the line because Danny had exploded in toxic green flames only for them to die down as his eyes turned blank. His breath turned shallow as memories started to flood his mind.

**

Sam with a noticeable belly and long hair tied in a pony tail, was standing outside a gated two-story home at the end of a gothic style street. The house was mainly a faded white, with grey tiling but Sam could already see where the purple and green highlights could be added and the garden she would plant. “Danny, I think we found our home.” As she turned to Danny with a big smile and teary eyes as she hugged Danny.

“Welcome home ghost boy. I hope you’re hungry~” Sam sung as she moved around the kitchen, the smell of a vegan dinner in the air as Danny stopped at the threshold of the kitchen. Sam seemed to glide around the kitchen as soft music played.

Danny with a soft smile leaned on the threshold enjoying seeing Sam be happy and free. Sam stopped for a moment and looked at Danny, “What’s got you all mushy ghost boy?” As she pointed the wooden spoon at him. Danny stayed quiet as he strode towards Sam, gently took the wooden spoon away and placed it on the counter as he leaned in for a kiss. As their foreheads leaned on each other Danny softly replied “You Sam, always you.”

“Hey do you think our child will look more like me or you? I’m hoping you.” Sam asked as she leaned on Danny on the couch while a random movie played. Danny gave Sam a soft squeeze around the waist, careful around the growing belly.
“I hoping our child will have your confidence to take on the world.” As Danny settled his chin on top of Sam’s head. Sam just chuckled as she leaned further into Danny.

“Well I hope our child has your goofy nature; the world needs more life.” As Sam rubbed her belly, Danny laid his hand on top of hers and chuckled. “What’s so funny mister?”
“Just never thought I’d see the day; the all-time Goth of Casper High would want to see the world be brighter.” His chuckles turn into a belly laugh as Sam turns around and smacks his shoulders.

“Yeah well, I blame you for infecting me with brightness.” Even though Sam’s tone was annoyed, she held a soft smile that made Danny blush.

**

Danny falls to his hands and knees as his shoulders shake as he silently weeps. Lucifer kneels down and places a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “It’s not over.” Lucifer sighs as Danny’s breath hitches, letting Lucifer know he is listening. “Taking care of yourself isn’t cowardice.” Danny slowly looks up, with teary eyes, eyes filled with defeat and despair that pulls at Lucifer’s heart strings.

He continues to gently console Danny. “Can’t go into battle if you aren’t rested. Once you’ve had a proper rest and feast, then we’ll go get them.” Danny manages to sit up and lean against the wall next to the front door, with Lucifer next to him. “We’ll give em Hell together.” Lucifer was silent for a moment. “Heh, pun.” Lucifer gives a small chuckle at his unintended pun and even gets a weak chuckle out of Danny. For a moment they just sit and breath as Lucifer waits for Danny.

“But if she hadn’t of met me, she would still be alive!” Danny raises his voice in a frustrated and guilty manner as he looks at his hands as they give a soft glow. Lucifer sighed knowing what Danny was going through at the moment; he’s had similar thoughts for millennia after the rebellion against heaven and how he got his siblings cast out alongside him. But he’s come to terms with it and even talked with his siblings; even though it was Lucifer who led them, they don’t blame him for the consequences of the actions they took that day.

“Take it from me; lives spent together are worth it, no matter what happens.” Lucifer gets up from the floor and dusts himself off. He takes a moment before offering his hand to Danny. Danny looks up to Lucifer, more so at his eyes. Lucifer gives a soft smile and fatherly care; Danny blinks and gives a small smile back as he takes the offered hand.

Danny shouldn’t be surprised that even though Lucifer is smaller than him, he is just as strong if not stronger; even still it surprises Danny how effortless Lucifer managed to help him to his feet. “Now there is a comfy couch you and Alastor miraculously hadn’t damage calling your name in the parlour room.” Lucifer pats Danny on the back as he points towards the parlour room with his apple can. “I’m sure Vaggie is already sorting out a room for you, so we’ll wait for her to take you up.”

“Yeah…yeah. I’m…gonna take a nap. Thanks.” Thankfully Danny didn’t even notice that Charlie had come back to the foyer, which Lucifer noted her eyes were puffy. Once Danny was halfway to the parlour room, Lucifer stored towards his daughter.

“Alright, Charlie, dear, love, light of my life.” Lucifer used his sweet tone voice, which Charlie noted he used when asking for a favour. Charlie just shook her head, and gave her father a grateful smile that even though he noticed her current state, he didn’t comment on it; and was thankful for the distraction that was being given.

“Oh, dear. What is it?” Charlie asked, still shaken by the revelations revealed by her father. But willing to set it aside for the time being knowing there is a time and place. She even managed a small smile which her father returned in kind but both knew the smile didn’t reach the eyes.

“Would you be willing to go make a big dinner in the slow cooker?” Lucifer asked tentatively, having not asked his daughter to do…well anything in regards to household chores and tasks.
“Oh. Of course, why did you get so weird asking me that though?” Charlie tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. Trying to figure out why, since she distinctly remembers he did the cooking when her mother left ‘Then again, it is a great distraction.’

“Your mother has VERY strong feelings about traditional gender roles.” Lucifer gave a small shudder remember the first time he tried to cook and get told off by Lilith. “Danny will be hungry after his nap.” Lucifer saw Danny close the parlour room door and smiled knowing he would get even a moments rest. “Also, where is Vaggie?” Lucifer asked as he looked around.

“Ahh, that okay. Yeah, no problem, Dad!” Charlie happily said. “Oh, Vaggie is sorting out a room for Danny. Since we didn’t know how long he’d be staying better to be safe than sorry you know.” Charlie shrugged with a small smile on her face that caused Lucifer to chuckle. Charlie gave a small wave and skipped towards the kitchen while thinking out loud about what meat and vegetables to use.

“Bye~ ” Lucifer sang as he waved to Charlie. Once he sensed she had gone towards the kitchen area his smile dropped. “Alastor?” Lucifer noted he hadn’t moved from his spot in the foyer this entire time which actually creeped Lucifer out a bit, but couldn’t be helped. The moment Alastor looked towards Lucifer; he immediately flipped him the bird; which Alastor returned in kind. Lucifer slowly made his way to the kitchen, while Alastor strode away to his room.

*Elsewhere, in the Ghost Zone*

In a seemingly empty part of the green void in the Ghost Zone, where there was no door nor island nor rubble floating around. A swirl of green started to emerge as a ghost portal opened up; a lone being flew through and the portal closed behind them. “I really need to get on better terms with Wulf. As useful as he is, he is too loyal to the Badger.” Vlad Plasmius let out a frustrated sigh as he dusted himself off waiting for the one who called him here. Luckily, he didn’t need to wait for long as a yellow-green swirl started to form a few meters away from him as an Exorcist Angel with a metal arm stepped through.

Vlad stood tall and took on his usual confident mask when dealing with anyone he didn’t trust. “Given we don’t like wasting time I’ll get straight to the point, Lute.” Vlad gave a clipped tone and Lute took off her exorcist mask and raised a single eyebrow in response. “Daniel is in Hell. And he’s met with Lucifer.” Vlad waited for some kind of reaction from the angel, but Lute kept the same expression staying silent as if waiting for Vlad to finish speaking.

Vlad’s eyes glowed slightly but kept his voice even. “I kept my end of the bargain. Now we’re even.” Vlad crossed his arms and raised a single eyebrow. Lute gave a small smile as she tossed her mask back through the portal and reached inside.

“Good. Funny how you possessing me gets past God’s mandate.” She gave an evil chuckle as she pulled her spear out of the portal and points it at Vlad; who tenses at the sight of the angelic weapon knowing it could cause damage to his ghost form. “Now get out of here before I end you.” As she flew closer to Vlad and held the spear at his throat. Even though Vlad was panicking on the inside he kept his confident mask as he gently moves the spear aside as he floats backwards.

“It’s been a pleasure~ working with you.” Vlad bowed towards Lute while looking her dead in the eye. Lute merely huffed and walked back through the yellow-green portal that Vlad could only assume lead to heaven. As it slowly closed, Vlad flew off in a seemingly random direction until he saw the only bit of rubble found in this part of the Ghost zone.

It was shaped like a cliff side ledge, with enough space for someone to sit on and even lean on the wall; if the wall didn’t have something on it. Vlad only found this particular red-green portal thanks to Lute’s help and had made sure to keep it in this empty void of space away from everyone else. Vlad knew Clockwork would have knowledge of this portal but found it rather odd he never came to stop Vlad from using it. Regardless of the reason, Vlad flew into the portal to have a much-needed interaction with his Badger.

Danny was now well aware of is exhaustion; having been able to ignore it by focusing on his goal of finding answers and his search for Sam. He was in a semi zombie state as he shuffled towards the very comfy looking red couch; as his body slowly started to relax in preparation for his upcoming nap.

It felt like forever trying to get to the couch and the floor started to look tempting; Team Phantom had found him in weird spots in both human and ghost form snoring away. It caused a bitter sweet smile to adorn Danny’s face as he flopped on the couch; the soft squishy couch that slowly moulded to Danny’s form.

He slowly accepted his body was sinking into a deep nap “Okay, I’m just gonna nap…” As his eyes slowly closed, he let out a few breathes letting the world fade away. For a few blissful seconds that felt like a lifetime Danny’s body had finally relaxed for the first time since Sam was killed. For the first time in months, Danny felt safe enough to close his eyes and rest, even if for a few minutes it was better than nothing. Danny let out a sigh of comfort as he let the world fade away. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.

“Oh, young Badger, I finally found you!”

Chapter Text

“Wha…Masters?” Danny was shocked out of his nap that he had jumped off the couch and landed on the floor. He rubbed his butt having forgotted how had floorboards could be. He hadn’t quite registered what he saw, so just went with the usual response when woken abruptly by someone. “What do you…” Danny’s voice trailed off as his foggy eyes slowly cleared up, the green glow grew brighter as he finally registered Vlad Plasmius was not only in front of him but in Hell.

Vlad had his arms crossed as he waited patiently for Danny to get his bearings; unfortunately for Vlad he forgot to account for Danny’s tendency to go zero-to-one-hundred when in a tired state. Vlad had to float backwards a step or two to avoid Danny who went from the ground to the space above him in an instant; eyes and hands radiating eco-energy as Danny shouted “IT WAS YOU!!!”

“I…haven’t even said hello.” Vlad, having not calculated this reaction was on the back foot; especially the power that was radiating from the younger halfa. ‘I knew he had gotten stronger, but just from a surge of anger and he’s already radiating heat. I need to be careful.’ The older halfa thought to himself as he kept a close eye on Danny.

Given their long history of spars, fights and showdowns it’s a wonder neither had truly beaten the other; at this point it was an uneasy rivalry that kept them both growing in power, strength and skill. Unfortunately, for Vlad, he hadn’t taken account of the emotional stress and strain that Danny had been going through for the past month since Samanatha’s untimely and unjustified demise.

Vlad was more about calculations and logic, planning ahead and creating counters however, he forget one very important factor when fighting by logic; it only works when everyone is playing by the same rules or at the very least on the same battlefield. Danny had thrown the rulebook out and was willing to play dirty, something Vlad never expected and thus was caught off guard.

“YOU’RE BEHIND THIS!!” Danny roared as he grabbed Vlad by the throat with his right glowing hand. Vlad would have vocalised his pain but the strength put behind the chokehold and the burning sensation from the ectoplasm covered hand; only allowed him to let out a whimper of pain.

When Vlad looked into Danny’s eyes, he didn’t see the normal carefree young halfa, nor the somewhat serious eyes when he focused on the battle. ‘It would seem I have made a terrible mistake in my calculations on the Badger’s reaction to seeing me. I’d best figure out a way out and fast.’ Danny for once in his life was relishing in the shock and fear that Vlad was showing, it was somewhat intoxicating and was causing Danny to further give into his growing rage to the older halfa.

“I…have hrrk” Vald tried to voice but Danny’s grip tightened momentarily before loosening just enough for Vlad to speak, albeit rather strained. ‘I’m so glad I came as Plasmius, I would not be alive right now.’ Vlad coughed trying to get some air before continuing “no idea what you are talking about!” Danny’s grip didn’t get tighter, but the intensity of his ectoplasm grew and even for Vlad with years of experience in ectoplasm manipulation was having a hard time resisting Danny’s energy, let alone trying to phase out of his grip.

“Five TIMES you’ve shown up and been at fault for it, I know it was you!” Danny accused as he tightened his grip further as he pinned Vlad to the wall of the parlour room. Danny took notice of the ever-growing fear and frustration in Vlad’s eyes and face; but he knew Vlad was a master emotional manipulator and had fallen for the ruse time and time again.

Danny shook his head, before he refocused ignoring, what he thought was, Vlad’s attempt to get him to weaken his grip. But this time, Vlad wasn’t lying or putting on a show; Danny for once held Vlad's life in his hands and he didn’t even realise it.

“You have to be…believe me, I’m innocent!” Vlad croaked out, as he tried to get a grip on Danny’s hand, to find a gap or some leverage to help loosen the grip even by a tiny margin. But not matter what he tried; he couldn’t find a gap in Danny’s iron grip. Vlad looked around the small room hoping for anything to distract or even throw at Danny, it was then he spotted a vase.

It was small, seemingly empty and right behind Danny. He attempted to bring forth his ectoplasm in his hand, to try to ignore the pain from both the grip and the burning sensation but, it seemed Danny was too focused on anything Vlad might do and would adjust his grip or increase the intensity to break any focus Vlad managed to muster.

It was in this moment, that both of them realised something, the roles were reversed. Vlad was trapped with no way out and powerless to stop the incoming punishment; Danny had all the power and held Vlad’s fate in his hand.

“Well, that’s too bad.” As Danny’s eyes took on the pupilless green glow, as he relished in what he finally realised was genuine fear from Vlad. “I don’t believe you” As Danny grip slowly increased the pressure on the chokehold he charged an ectoblast in his left hand.

“Hello, misplaced aggression.” He spoke in a cold tone that caused Vlad to become pale as a sheet ghost. But it seemed fate was for once on Vlad’s side; as the parlour room door swung open revealing Lucifer striding in, having come to investigate the growing noise when all that should have been heard was Danny snoring.

“Danny! What are you doing?” As Lucifer walked towards Danny, ignoring Vlad entirely “I thought I told you to nap.” As he raised a single eyebrow with his mouth in a straight line; not even blinking that Danny had someone in a death grip. Though Lucifer did have a white-knuckle grip on his cane, having noticed Danny’s pupilless eyes; he was ready to step in even if it was to throw Danny through a window to get outside the hotel.

‘It would be a small price to pay so as to not cause more major damage to the hotel itself. Fucking dammit, why do I have to parent this young king?’
“You’re not my real dad.” Danny retorted with an angry sassy tone, but his pupils were blinking in and out of existence which clued Lucifer in that Danny was slowly calming down. Lucifer decided to take the comment in stride and play up on it, hoping it would throw Danny off his rhythm enough to stop him from making a decision he might regret.

“Don’t make me adopt you.” Lucifer stated plainly ‘Wonder if I actually could, I mean I’m who knows how old and Charlie needs a sibling.’ Danny and Vlad both paused as their brains sputtered. Vlad recovered first noting there wasn’t a hint of a lie in Lucifer’s voice but focused on Danny. Danny on the other hand was feeling too many emotions in one hit.

His eyes kept shifting between Lucifer, Vlad and the empty space in between; while his face kept shifting between expressions: rage, confusion, happiness, doubtful, hopeful. Instead of dealing with them he shook his head on focused back on his anger towards Vlad and his grip that never loosened. He gave a death stare to Vlad who smirked knowing he was about to go free; Danny dropped Vlad who gladly took in a deep breath while on the floor.

Danny turned towards Lucifer as he pointed to Vlad. “I know he did it, I don’t have any proof but I know it was him!!” Danny noted Vlad was coughing, wheezing and his attempts at speaking sounded croaky as he slowly recovered from Danny’s death grip. Which Danny took pride in; Vlad took one look at Danny’s smug face and gave a small growl which just caused him to have a coughing fit.

Danny gave a humourless chuckle at this display of weakness from his archenemy.
“I just heard.” Vlad coughed and took a breath as he slowly stood up. “I heard what had happened and I wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss.” Vlad said in a ‘sincere’ tone as he held a hand over his heart and sympathy in his eyes. Lucifer didn’t detect any falsehood in the statement itself, it was truthful.

But the intent and the actions those held falsehoods, ones meant to deceive. Also, the careful wording caused Lucifer to raise his eyebrow further and let out a short but quiet hmm.
“SEE?!?!” Danny wailed as Lucifer stayed quiet. “He NEVER talks like that!” Danny stated looking towards Lucifer as he pointed an accusing finger towards Vlad; who stayed oddly quiet while this occurred. Danny’s thoughts were also agreeing with him ‘I’m not the crazy one here, it’s the fruit loop standing before you.’

Lucifer merely sighed. “Quite, now before we continue this conversation.” All three turned their heads towards the knocking on the parlour room door to see Vaggie trying and failing to not look like a deer caught in headlights. ‘Why do I feel like doing another hotel battle would be safer than what’s happening right now.’

Vaggie thought as she felt the tension in the room, noting it was rather oppressive. Lucifer smiled at this rare opportunity given to hopefully and finally get Danny to sleep. “Vaggie my dear, perfect timing.” Lucifer put on a large smile and a chipper tone which caught Vaggie off guard, caused Danny’s brain to sputter and Vlad to enjoy the momentary peace. “I hope Danny’s room is ready?”

As Lucifer took Danny by the shoulders and gave a cold glare towards Vlad, who for once in his life knew to stay put and be quiet. Vaggie meanwhile was trying to figure out when Lucifer found out what she had been doing, when it finally clicked. “Charlie told you what I was doing?” Lucifer merely nodded as he manhandled Danny with ease pushing him towards the foyer. Danny tried to resist but noted even with his enhanced ghost strength couldn’t even slow Lucifer down.

“Yeah, it’s ready. I’ll take Danny off your hands while you deal with,” Vaggie took a moment to actually look at Vlad noting the horn like hair and unusually skin colour, before looking at Lucifer who gave her a hard stare; which she took as an order to leave “This unexpected guest, that Charlie doesn’t have to worry about.” Lucifer nodded.

“Hey, I didn’t agree to this.” Danny complained as Vaggie dragged Danny away, she noted only put in a little effort to resist. She figured even though Danny wanted to stay, he wanted to leave the situation more; which was why she rolled her eyes and kept a firm hold on Danny.

“Yes yes, go along.” Lucifer smirked at Danny’s protest. Once both Vaggie and Danny were in the hallway and out of sight only then did Lucifer close the parlour room door. He gave a tired sigh as he shoulders tensed up. He took a deep breath before he turned towards Vlad with a hard glare  “Now then.” Lucifer’s eyes went from normal to demon as he exuded a small portion of his King of Hell aura.

“Who the fuck are you and why the rule34 are you in my hotel?!” Lucifer commanded, causing Vlad, twice in one day, to fear for his life. Unfortunately for him, this was different. He had done his research on the other realms connected to the Ghost Zone and knew of the ruling parties.

He wished to have avoided interacting with them altogether, but it seemed the small amount of luck that freed him from Danny’s wrath only landed him in a worse spot. ‘Out of the frying pan and into the fire. How do I get out of this one?’ Vlad contemplated what to do and decided to go with his charismatic act to hopefully weasel his way out of this situation.

“Oh, well, I’m Vlad Masters and it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Vlad gave a small gulp as the oppressive aura grew stronger; Vlad noted it was rather strange feeling smaller than someone you had to look down on. “You must be Lucifer, and by the way, you are looking fantastic today, if I may say.” Vlad piled on the charm, hoping the compliment would at least lessen the aura a bit and give him some leeway to work with; it always worked with all the idiots he had to deal with during his business meetings.

Granted when all else failed he could fall back on overshadowing to get his way; which wasn’t an option this time round. ‘Time to put the charm up to eleven.’ Vlad was pleasantly surprised when Lucifer gave a genuine laugh and the aura lessened for a second.
“Haha, yes.” As Lucifer gave a smile at the compliment.

Some would consider him vain, but to those that knew Lucifer, a genuine compliment was always a treat to receive. Unfortunately for Vlad, he was trying to charm a being who could detect fact from fiction. Thus, was caught off guard when the oppressive aura returned stronger as Lucifer delivered his threat.

“About as well as you’ll look served up with an apple in your mouth.” Vlad gave a weak chuckle, knowing his attempt at charming the King of Hell failed. “Why the Rule34 are you in my hotel?” Lucifer’s tone grew colder with each word spoken.
“Umm…Isn’t this your daughter’s hotel?” Vlad asked, trying to once again avoid answering the question. Lucifer on the other hand just sighed and waved his apple can around.

“Yes, yes, yes, it is her hotel. But,” Lucifer slammed his cane into the ground with both hands. “I am the King of Hell. And where are we?” As he gave a wide wave emphasising his point. At this point he was getting annoyed asking the same question multiple times and decided to scare Vlad by giving a wide grin showing off his fangs and increasing the strength of his aura.

“So, once fucking more. Why. The FUCK. Are you here?!” Lucifer’s voice grew louder with each word as he ended with a growl that caused the room to rumble. Vlad never felt so small as Lucifer unfurled his wings and floated above Vlad. “Answer me, Dog.”

Vlad wanted nothing more than to run and hide. He finally realised the true nature of the situation he had landed himself in and knew he would only get away with his life if Lucifer decided he could. In this moment he went with the truth ‘Well the surface level truth. I just hope it’s enough.’ He gave a cough to clear his injured throat as he held his hand on his chest. “I’m just here to check on Daniel’s mental state and wellbeing. That’s all.” Vlad stated with as much worry and care he could muster.

Lucifer just frog blinked in response. Vlad would have screamed in frustration, but luckily, he had control of his facial features and kept the worried look.
“Well, you’ve seen it.” Lucifer floated to the door and opened it. “Now would you kindly piss off, before I fucking end you.” This was emphasised with a burst of his aura that caused Vlad to pale and stiffen in terror, which Lucifer took great satisfaction from causing.

A moment later, Lucifer was back to his regular self and the aura was nowhere to be felt. Vlad took a second to take a deep breath before slowly moving towards the door. “You don’t have to tell me twice, King of Hell. I’ll see myself out.” As Vlad turned intangible and invisible and flew straight out the front door.

As he left, Lucifer could faintly hear Vlad say “Holy shit.” in a tone of someone who just saw death and lived. Lucifer kept track of Vlad until he had left the hotel grounds proper, once he was gone, he stepped into the foyer.

“Alastor.” Lucifer said the name like a command, and Alastor appeared from the shadows to make a dramatic entry. In reality he had been close by the entire time, not wanting to miss out on any juicy details and had even seen Vlad leave. “Follow him.” Lucifer walked right passed Alastor and strode straight to the kitchen, to not only check on Charlie but see how the food was going.

Alastor on the other hand was relishing in the fact that Lucifer had just giving Alastor free reign on how to go about this task. Thus, he strode, with a pep in his step, as he looked towards the bar where Husk was currently cleaning and noted Angel Dust was nowhere to be seen. ‘Either went to his room or his occupation’ Alastor merely shrugged.

It was also at this moment, that the hotel’s maid and small bundle of chaotic energy finally decided to skip into the foyer only to start muttering about the mess; she started zipping about making comments and taking mental notes. She was just about to start the actual cleaning when she heard one of her favourite voices calling her.

“Husker, Niffty dear. Come along, we have a job to do.” Alastor announced in his radio persona voice, as he walked towards the front doors. Husk gave a deep sigh as he took a swig from a random bottle, knowing he was in for a job that was more trouble than it was worth. He quickly placed the bottle back and strode to catch up to Alastor, knowing the Radio Demon’s patience could run thin and didn’t want to test it today.

Niffty on the otherhand gave a manic chuckle as she rushed towards Alastor, ignoring the mess around her, knowing it would be here when she got back or Lucifer would clean it up; either way she was more focused on the job because it meant potentially getting to stabbed people. Once Husk was at Alastor's side he asked the obvious questions.

“A job? Aren’t you the one who gives out the jobs?” Husk wondered having heard the order Lucifer gave. He knew that even though he was the King of Hell, it was curious that Alastor so quickly took on the job. Alastor merely gave Husk a side eye but didn’t answer straight away, which further confused Husk.

“What’s the job?” Niffty asked with a manic giggle. “Oooo, are we killing another angel?!” Nifty’s voice was loud as she brandished her angelic dagger and made stabbing motions while continuing to giggle. Husk shook his head, but didn’t dare stop Niffty, to do so invites one to be a target for stabbing. Alastor chuckled at Niffty’s infectious energy.

“Calm yourself Niffty.” She stopped making stabbing motions in the air and went back to skipping next to Alastor as they continued to walk away from the hotel. “Husker, remember the ghost boy you brought in?” Alastor focused his attention on Husk, who was still trying to figure out the job.

“Yeah, he’s hopefully sleeping upstairs.” Husk sighed, cause he sure hoped Danny was sleeping. The kid needed all the rest he could get. At least he knew Vaggie set him up with one of the comfy beds ‘Lucky kid.’ At least Husk knew the kid would be safe since Lucifer and Vaggie were on guard. “Wait, why are following him if he’s in bed?”

Alastor merely rolled his eyes at how slow Husk was being right now. “Ha, no.” Alastor gave a quick response which caused Husk to frown and Niffty to smile bigger. “The target is someone like him, but older and potentially stronger.” Alastor leaned down to look Husk directly in the eyes. “We’re following him.” Alastor emphasised with a bit of his demonic voice and a tilt of the head that always unsettled Husk but just made Niffy happy.

Husk was going over the events this morning, in particular the fight between Danny and Alastor; his eyes widened and wondered if his boss had finally lost it.
“Didn’t…Danny walk right through your tentacles?!” Alastor’s ever-present smile became a thin line having been reminded how useless some of his attacks had been against Danny.

“You want to fight someone fucking stronger than him?!” Husk tried to avoid questioning his boss’s decisions, since it tended to anger the Radio Demon, however this was one of the rare times when Husk knew he could do so without fear of retaliation. ‘Why am I always the voice of reason in these situations?’ Husk thought to himself.

Alastor took a moment to calm down and register what Husk had asked. “Calm yourself Husker.” Alastor held up a hand, which helped to relax Husk, but didn’t take the tension from shoulders. Niffty was running circles around the both of them to help vent the ever-present energy she felt through the day. “We are just following him.”

Alastor smiled in seeing Husk relax. ‘Good, that means he’ll come along more easily, making it harder for him to back out of a fight.’ Niffty stopped for a moment. “Does that mean no stabbing?” She was ignored for the moment. Husk rubbed the back of his head trying to figure out the plan, but thought it quicker to just ask.

“Okay, but what do we do after we follow him?” Husk hoped it was just info gathering, fighting a potentially older Danny was nightmare fuel in its own right, let alone if Alastor couldn’t do anything against a ghost what hope did him and Niffty have.

“Find out what he knows.” Alastor’s smile grew to its max size. “And if we happen to catch him by surprise, tear his tongue from his head.” Alastor chuckled darkly as Niffty’s manic laughter grew in intensity. Husk sighed, already regretting his decision to leave the bottle at the bar.

Chapter Text

As Alastor, Husk and Niffty strode down the hill towards the main city, going over plans of attack and observation; since their target could very well overpower them given Alastor’s spar with Danny earlier. Niffty added her own manic ideas of various tortures, slices and stabbing all while brandishing her angelic steel dagger.

Husk tried to drown out her suggestions focusing on two things; keeping an eye out for anything that shouldn’t belong to hell and paying attention to the boss so he doesn’t mess up whatever plan was being made. Alastor was feeling rather light in contrast to the upcoming encounter, because he had been given free reign by the King of Hell himself, and thus he had no need to hold back; he didn’t have to be concerned with property damage nor the lives of the ring’s residents.

He even brought a new cane for the occasion, although it didn’t have the microphone; it did complete his outfit.
Even though the trio was on high alert neither of them noticed a Plasmius clone floating nearby invisible and intangible feeding info about them back to Plasmius prime.

Plasmius chuckled to himself as he patted himself on the back on planning ahead and leaving a clone back at the hotel in case something else happened when he left. He was grateful Lucifer didn’t notice or at the least didn’t care to dismiss the clone. Because without that clone he wouldn’t have found out about the plan to follow him; now he could counter and have his own version of fun. ‘Maybe my time in Hell hasn’t run out just yet.’

The trio had been walking through the city for twenty minutes and noted how the streets were empty and the surrounding buildings were quiet and had yet to find Plasmius. Alastor might not be showing it outwardly but Husk and Niffty knew he was getting annoyed. “It would seem that the aura both Lucifer and young Daniel exerted caused everyone to flee. One less annoyance to deal with.” Alastor said through gritted teeth.

Husk hoped something happened soon cause he didn’t want to deal with Alastor in his current mood. He did another sweep of the street, and had to do a double take before speaking. “Al he’s over there.” Husk pointed, and had a shiver go down his spine at the particular wide grin his boss had. “Okay, so what’s” Husk turned back to Plasmius and noted something was wrong when he turned around and stared right at Husk “Wait, what is he doing?!”

Plasmius smiled in a way that was meant to mock Alastor’s smile. He gave a mock salute and disappeared from sight. Husk, Alastor and Niffty immediately drop into a battle stance. Husk had cards at the ready in both hands, Alastor summoned his tentacles as his shadow grew darker and Niffty tightened her grip on her dagger as she hyped herself up ready to leap the moment Plasmius showed up.

“Where’d he fucking go?” Husk’s head was on a swivel, side to side to up to down, knowing if Danny could fly Plasmius could as well. “And since when can he turn fucking invisible?!” Husk turned to Alastor for a moment, who merely held a single finger up to his mouth to signal Husk to be quiet.

“This seems to be a grave miscalculation on my part.” As Alastor had a careful look of his surrounding, his eyes peeled as he slowly let his more demonic form come forth; knowing the extra power would be needed. He made a quick signal for Husk and Niffty to spread out; only for Alastor to swing behind him at the sudden voice right by his ear.

“So is math your only weakness or?” Plasmius dodged the swing of Alastor’s new cane by turning intangible giving a mocking chuckle before using a palm strike that sent Alastor skidding down the street. He then gave a back hand that sent Niffty into a nearby wall as she gave a comedic squeak like a rubber duck; then swiftly moving towards Husk who had thrown his cards only for them to slip through Plasmius’ intangible body and was sent down an ally by a solid kick to the torso.

Plasmius gave a chuckle when he heard metallic thud; he then turned his attention to Alastor and Niffty. He floated towards Alastor who seemed to still be recovering from Plasmius’ strike. “Oooh I didn’t know demons are squishy. Wonder how durable you are?”

Plasmius charged up an ecto-blast and held it point black at Alastor’s face. “Any last words before you disappear from this world?” Plasmius gave a dark chuckle having played executioner a few times over the years with enemies and targets that held something he needed. It gave him a sense of accomplishment and cemented the fact he was a being with power and the top of the food chain.

Plasmius was expecting Alastor to beg, plea or give a final speech of resistance. Instead, Alastor just chuckled, took a deep breath, and said two words.
“Niffty! Hamstring.” Plasmius was caught off-guard by Alastor’s confident smile that the power from the held ecto-blast grew dimmer as Plasmius tried to figure out what was happening.

“Hamstring? Why would…” Before he could get further, Niffty let off a manic cackle that seemed to echo through the empty street as she raced towards Plasmius and swung her dagger. Plasmius was able to turn his legs intangible before the blade hit but was shocked when the dagger made shallow cuts in both legs causing him to roar in pain as Niffty tried to scurry away.

“Fuck off!” Plasmius shouted as hit shot an ecto blast at Niffty, who was barely able to dodge the initial impact but was thrown by the blast wave. ‘How was that little brat able to hurt me? Nothing should be able to touch a ghost. Except for ecto-ranium…and angelic steel.’ Plasmius took careful note of the dagger and noted the metal seemed unusual.

“He can shoot lasers?!” Niffty screeched. “That’s not fair, only Adam could shoot lasers?!” She whined as she managed to get to Alastor’s side, as they both stood opposite Plasmius.

Plasmius meanwhile was frustrated at how a dagger could barely scratch him but disrupt his ghost powers for a few moments ‘I knew angelic steel could touch ghosts, but I didn’t think a mere scratch could cause an effect similar to ecto-ranium. Maybe I should have asked Lute for a sample for testing.’

Plasmius took his time getting up and even dusting himself off since Alastor and Niffty weren’t in a hurry to attack again. ‘I wonder where the feathered one went. No matter, the demons are human enough.’

“Flight, invisibility, intangibility, and that weird energy…maybe all ghosts have those. Let’s try this out.” Alastor’s shadow grew darker as he took on his partial demon form causing a murky green outline to cover one of his tentacles. Alastor swung his arm with an open palm towards Plasmius sending the green glowing tentacle towards Plasmius’ shadow.

Plasmius merely raised an eyebrow waiting for the effect since it seemed the attack had missed him on purpose ‘Or I wasn’t the target.’ As Plasmius looked down to seen the inky tentacle seemed to connect to his shadow. “Bubble!” Alastor closed his palm causing the tentacle to burst into liquid which shaped itself into a murky, but transparent bubble. “You can stay there for a bit.” Alastor took a calming breath as he maintained the bubble, constantly feeding it power to hopefully keep Plasmius trapped.

“That’s fine. You take a breather.” Plasmius gave a smirk, which annoyed Alastor. Niffty was racing around the bubble when she noticed Husk coming out of nearby alley.
“Husk!!” Niffty waved as she skittered over to what seemed be a woozy Husk. “What happened to you?” Husk leaned on the corner with an open paw as he rubbed his face.

“I got knocked into a fucking dumpster!” Husk growled out, as he held a single card ready to be thrown at the enemy; only to lower his arm when he saw Alastor had Plasmius in a bubble. Deciding he would take the lazy route; with a quick flap of his wings, he was beside Alastor as Niffty sped over to join up.

Meanwhile, Plasmius took his time to study the demonic bubble, getting a feel for the energy even trying to pop it with a swipe of his claw-like fingers. He tried pushing the bubble apart and noted there wasn’t much give in the walls. ‘Incredible! Who know there was another energy that could be moulded like ecto-energy?! I wonder if I could harness this in some way. But given the circumstances I should probably retreat till later; at least until I figure out how to get close to the Badger.’

It was at this point Plasmius decided to make a show of power, letting his ecto-energy leak creating a pink outline on his body; which Alastor and Husk were all too familiar with. “Uh Boss, what’s he doing?” Husk asked while getting his cards ready, knowing something big was coming.

“I do not know Husker, but something tells me to prepare for the worst.” Alastor looked down to Niffty and gave a quick nod and wink. Niffty gave a short squeal before running off down an alley to their right, while Husk just raised an eyebrow but shook his head. ‘Best to not question the boss right now.’

Plasmius figured he had given the trio a long enough break, so he glowed brighter to create a flash of light as he created two duplicates; who helped Plasmius with overpowering and ripping the demonic bubble to shreds. Alastor’s body was tense the entire time but did not show any outward discomfort; however, Husk knew the boss felt some pain from the bubble being teared apart but focused on the battle at hand.

The prime Plasmius grinned as he snapped his fingers causing the two duplicates to fly in two different directions. One zoomed straight at Husk who took to the sky while throwing his cards but couldn’t hit the duplicate. “Fucking dammit, I’m starting to hate Ghosts!!” Husk shouted as he dodge an ecto-blast from the duplicate chasing him as both flew away from Plasmius and Alastor.

The second duplicate flew to where Niffty last went only to find nothing in the alley. It flew slowly and had two ecto-blasts ready to go should the little demon pop up. However, even though it was a Duplicate of Plasmius it fell for a very human mistake; it didn’t look up. All it heard was a manic cackling before an angelic dagger rammed into its head causing it to pop and dropping Niffty on the ground who let out a small groan.

“Well, I guess that wasn’t the real one. Now Sir said to get somewhere high.” Niffty looked up where she had been before dropping to the ground. “And I was already at the top.” She whined for a second but shook it off. “Time to climb again.” Given her small size, she was able to use the grooves in the brick wall to climb while completely ignoring the usable fire escape next to her.

Alastor knew he was in trouble, since the original plan was for a three-on-one fight against Plasmius; to account for the higher experience and increase in power, but would never have imagined clones and a conniving mind. He could see Husk struggling in the air and was getting anxious that Niffty wouldn’t get into position.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford to appear weak; Alastor took a deep but calming breath as his shadow grew darker and bigger until it became a two-meter radius circle; and a static filled the air which reminded Plasmius of when a ghost flies past normal TVs. “While the minions play, the masters shall chat.”

Tentacles grew from the circle as green lines travelled along the asphalt. “Come mortal! Come dance with the RADIO DEMON!” Alastor announced in his radio voice loud enough it echoed in the empty streets.
Plasmius merely grinned “Alright radio demon. Let’s dance to your tune.” Plasmius launched three ecto-blasts one after the other.

Alastor’s grin did not falter at the sight of the three attacks. ‘They may hold quite a bit of power.’ Alastor merely titled his head to the left to dodge the first attack, took a step back to turn his body to the right to dodge the second. ‘But the speed is lacking compared to Adam’s.’ Alastor gave a sweeping bow as the third went right over his body.

The entire time he never took his eyes of Plasmius. “Oh, come now.” Alastor stood back straight and dusted his shoulders. “You can do better than that.” Alastor held his arms wide inviting Plasmius to try again. One thing Plasmius hated above anything else was being patronised by those he considered to be weaker and lower than him, especially those that were mocking him in turn.

He knew he shouldn’t let his emotions get the better of him, but with one duplicate down and the other having trouble with the feathered demon; his annoyance levels were reaching an all-time high. But Alastor’s dig pushed Plasmius over the edge. He held his arms outstretched to his sides as two orbs of ecto-energy grew size from a baseball to basketball, pouring more power than necessary into the attack.

“LET’S SEE YOU DODGE AN ATTACK BIGGER THAN YOU!” Plasmius roared with rage as he brought his arms together in front of him, combining the two orbs into a one three times as large. There was a single moment of stillness as if the Ring itself was holding its breath, then Plasmius launched an ecto-beam that took up half the street.

Alastor knew from his sparring match with young Daniel, that anything made with ghost energy was tangible, which meant it could be blocked or in the case of a massive beam, deflected. ‘I’ll have to put on quite the show, cause the power I need for this will make me rather weak. Luckily deflecting takes less energy than outright blocking.’

Alastor gathered his energy into his right arm and new cane to the point the only colour shown was black and toxic green; He made sure he was obscured from Plasmius’ view via the beam before he took a few steps to the left and swung his right arm into side of the beam.

Alastor had a brief moment of panic, thinking he had misjudged the strength of the beam; only for it to pass as the beam bent away from his arm into a slow arc and destroyed the lower half of a random building down the street in a massive pink explosion.
“Oh, too bad.” Alastor rubbed his right hand on his chest and gives a quick check of his nails. Plasmius growls in anger at the disrespect, but pauses when Alastor’s grin takes on a faint green glow. “MY TURN.”

Just before Alastor and Plasmius clashed

Husk was getting tired flying around; not used to long drawn-out battles where the opponent had no limits on flight time. ‘Come on Husk, figure something out. This ghost is a clone and can go intangible. There has got to be something.’ Husk had to furl his wings and do a quick drop to dodge an orb of ecto-energy; then unfurl to fly above another.

“Don’t you ever get tired?” As Husk threw another set of charged cards hoping to time the explosion. The clone merely grinned and allowed the cards to pass through and explode; but Husk saw no damage had occurred and wished he was back at the bar with how much trouble this was giving him.

“To answer your question, I do not get tired. You on the other hand.” The clone shot three blasts in quick succession, Husk managed to dodge the first two, but the third clipped his left-wing causing pain and discomfort. He tried to go for a rooftop but couldn’t properly control his descent headed towards the street. “Seem to be reaching your limit.” As the clone followed close behind a falling Husk.

Husk’s mind was racing trying to find a solution to both problems, that’s when his hand touched a very special card in his pocket. ‘I’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. Time to make a bet.’ With a plan in mind, Husk put his whole focus on trying to not crash land as well as aiming for an alleyway and preparing for the pain, he could hear the clone chuckling at his misfortune but Husk felt he would come out on top.

It may have felt like an eternity but was in reality only a minute, of Husk frantically using his right-wing to slow his descent enough until he was at a drop he knew he could land. The clone was enjoying its prey’s troubled descent while slowly charging up a basketball sized ectoblast.

Twenty feet from the ground, Husk furled both wings, landed and rolled on his right side but hissed in pain as the roll stressed his left-wing; but was overall fine and ended up in front of the alleyway. He saw the clone float down towards him, so Husk backed away into the alleyway; away from Plasmius prime’s eyes. The clone followed, while condensing the basketball sized ecto-ball into a small soccer ball.

“You know, I don’t often take pleasure in stalking downed prey. They always beg, it’s the same thing. It gets tiring after a while.” Husk was halfway into the alleyway when he stopped next to an open dumpster, while the clone stayed near the entry, the only light coming from the pink ecto-ball.

“But you, you have my interest. You keep resisting, keep trying to fight the good fight even though it’s useless. Reminds me of a certain badger.” The clone chuckled and smirkd while Husk reached for more cards. The clone familiar with the movement doesn’t even bat an eye. “You have no way of hitting me, and you’ve made it easier for me to destroy you. I’d hate to say goodbye.” The clone raised the ecto-ball above its head ready to throw but stopped at Husk’s raised hand.

“Before you finish me off, you mind if I get one last throw? Rather go down fighting since I can’t get a final shot of whiskey.” His right hand holding a set of cards with a faint glow. The clone raised an eyebrow and its smile grew bigger.

“Splendid, one final useless action with a brave attitude. That is a satisfying memory I will keep.” The clone gave Husk a hand wave to let the throw happen. Husk gritted his teeth as he throws the cards, letting out an angry yell putting all his strength in the throw ‘One final gambit, a gamble with my life. If there is one thing I know about gambling.’

The clone held the ecto-ball with one hand while turning intangible as the cards zoomed towards it. It didn’t bother to check the cards, knowing they would just fly through it and explode behind it. Instead, it focused on Husk, waiting to watch the last bit of bravery and rebellion leave his eyes; except as the first card flew through it, Husk’s grin grew bigger.

In that moment the clone looked down at the cards and for the first time noticed the third card as the second flew through the clone’s chest. It was different to all the rest; it had a noticeable glint the others didn’t, a silver glint. The last thought the clone had before the angelic steel card cut through its core was ‘Well played.’

The moment the clone popped out of existence, so too did the control on the condensed ecto-ball which started to glow brighter. Husk’s smile immediately dropped as he jumped into the open dumpster behind him. He was able to get one last look, before his view was obscured by metal; of a large pink energy attack.

The moment he landed in the dumpster a mighty explosion went off, destroying the lower halves of two buildings and the shockwave sending the dumpster down the alleyway. Husk thought he was in the clear as the dumpster cleared the alleyway and sped across the street.

He tried to climb out of the moving dumpster, but was too slow as it crashed into a car and sent him flying out of the dumpster and into a wall. For a moment he stayed stuck to the wall in shock then fell to the floor on his hands and knees letting out a strained “ow…” He took a moment to gather himself before standing up and hissing in pain. “Gonna need a few drinks after this.” As he holds his left arm. “Guess I’m walking back to the boss. Hopefully I make it time for my part in the plan.”

Back to the present

Alastor threw his arm towards Plasmius “Tentacles! Grab him and tear him limb from limb!” Six tentacles race from Alastor’s shadow and rush towards Plasmius, who didn’t bother to dodge even allowing the tentacles to grab him, noting their strength. ‘Rather impressive. In terms of brute strength above average. But against ghosts it means nothing.’ Plasmius simply raises an eyebrow as his body goes transparent.

With a mocking tone “Intangibility” as he casually floated out from the tentacles and unknowingly closer to the building behind him. “Can’t touch me now. Anything else you want to try?” Plasmius gives a smug smile to Alastor, knowing he can’t be hit.

Alastor just rolls his eyes, as he makes a show of raising his hand above his head as he gives a sharp snap and his ever-present grin staying big. “Niffty.” Plasmius who had stayed focus on Alastor realised he had lost focus on checking his surrounding for this demon’s allies. It was also at this moment he realised his other duplicate had been taken out. ‘What?! When?! How?! I have so many questions?!’

Plasmius was shocked to be on the back foot that when he heard manic cackling, all he could say was “Huh?” As he looked up to see Niffty jumping from the building right behind him. On instinct he raised his arms and stayed intangible forgetting what the dagger was potentially made from, which stabbed into both arms like a skewer.

“OOOOO, you bleed green.” Niffty cooed as she twisted the dagger causing the ectoplasm to bleed faster. Plasmius roared with pain barely noticing he had lost focus on his flight sending both himself and Niffty to the ground. Niffty was able to pull the dagger out and jump away from Plasmius to land safely. She tried to stab Plasmius again, but was too slow.

“STOP THAT!!” Plasmius roared in anger as he swung his arms causing a wave of ecto-energy to spew forth hitting Niffty straight on and sent her flying into a nearby car. Alastor shadow ported the moment the ecto-wave dissipated grabbing Plasmius’ right shoulder.

“Forgetting someone?” Plasmius still in pain, threw an ecto-energy enhanced haymaker at Alastor trying to send him flying. Only to be blocked by a cane covered in green/black energy. For a moment there was a power struggle, neither could get the edge over the other. Unfortunately for Alastor, he had lost quite a bit of energy deflecting the giant ecto-beam from earlier.

Plasmius’ attack powered through and snapped Alastor’s new cane in two. “You know, the last being to break my cane was Adam. Hilariously enough. Maybe it’s the human factor.” The cane disappeared into the shadows as the previous tentacles grabbed Plasmius and lifted him up. “DOWN!” Alastor’s demonic voice took on a heavy amount of static as Plasmius was slammed into the ground, to then forcibly bring Plasmius to his knees.

Alastor chuckled at Plasmius’ attempt to escape via intangibility, taking note the power didn’t seem to be working as Plasmius body flickered. ‘Seems angelic steel affects ghosts in a different way to demons and angels. I may have to get myself some.’ Alastor leans down and looks Plasmius in the eye. “Well old fellow, are you ready to give up now?” Alastor’s smile was at its largest size, as Niffty scurried to his left side and pointed the dagger at Plasmius’ face.

Plasmius could count the number of times he had been bested without ecto-energy after he got his powers on one hand, and still have fingers to spare. But with his intangibility on the fritz, and two demons in front of him and the feathered demon currently nowhere in sight he had to take this chance to get away. ‘Never thought I would have to use this so soon after figuring it out.’

It took a few tries, since the damage to his arms was causing spikes of pain to go through his body, but after a minute, Plasmius was able to take a deep breath. Alastor merely raised an eyebrow wondering what was about to occur. Niffty on pure instinct covered her ears. Plasmius was able to gather the necessary power needed for this final gambit, and let loose a yell, that grew in volume and power sending ectoplasmic sound waves down the street.

Niffty was sent flying down the street, while Alastor grew to his full demon form and dug in his heels and claws into the street. Plasmius continued the Ghostly Wail for twenty seconds causing cracks to form in the street and buildings, and all the glass in the surrounding area to shatter. He noticed Niffty was nowhere to be seen and Alastor was stunned.

Plasmius immediately turned invisible and ran through the nearby alleyway onto the street, before his invisibility gave out due to the lingering effect of the angelic steel. Alastor slowly went from his full demon form to his normal form, taking deep breaths as he did so. He kept his eyes closed as his ears were ringing something fierce but was fading fast.

His body trembled enough that Alastor worried his legs would buckle; but stayed standing. He took a moment to summon another replacement cane, a simple black rod with an unmarked pommel. ‘At least this is helping, until the effects of that attack properly fade.’ Alastor took deep slow breaths, not daring to move “All according to plan.” Alastor chuckled to himself.

Niffty took a solid five minutes to scurry back up the road and found Alastor standing in deep groves in the road a mere five metres from where she remembered Plasmius was. As she got closer, she saw Alastor’s body shake and grew worried.

“Sir? Are you okay?” Niffty’s voice was soft which caused Alastor to pause for a moment because it had been so long since he had heard genuine concern directed at him, from someone he considered as a friend. He shook his head and stood tall, dusting his suit and the ringing finally leaving his ears.

“Perfectly. It’ll take a little bit more than feedback to do me in.” Alastor said confidently, he noticed Niffty seem to disagree. She silently climbed up his body to check his head then crawled all over doing her own checks. Alastor allowed it and even chuckled at her behaviour, finding it rather adorable. After a minute, Niffty hopped to the ground and nodded her head as if satisfied.

“What’s next Sir?” She asked while balancing her dagger upright in her hand.
“Our part is over. So, we shall stroll back to the hotel.” Alastor did a few twirls of his replacement cane and started the long walk back to the hotel with Niffty trailing along. “Let’s hope Husker can play his part. I’d rather not have failure so close to the finish lane.”

Somewhere in the city

Plasmius had ducked and weaved through cars, zipped through alleyways and even a building or two. He despised he had to do this physically as the Ghostly Wail had drained his energy supply where he could barely float, let alone turn invisible or intangible. He was also losing quite a bit of ectoplasm from the stab wounds on his arms, but was grateful for his control over his body.

He was able to stop the bleeding and even absorb some of the ectoplasm back to at least seal the wounds up. It took more time and effort than he was used, but once it was finished a black ring appeared on his waist. It split in two, one going up the other going down; as Plasmius disappeared and Vlad took his place. He took a few moments to assess his human form to see if any damage had transferred over and gave a sigh of relief to see he was unharmed.

“That was too close for comfort. It would seem I would have to stop underestimating these demons.” Vlad looked up and down the street before striding in a western direction. “I also need to get my hands on some angelic steel to properly test it’s effects on ghosts.” He was lost in thought, but quickly shook his head to refocus on the now.

“Plans for later. Time to get out of this god forsaken cesspool.” Vlad took a deep breath, as he picked up the pace as he scanned the streets. “I hope that angel Lute can do her job and help me get the throne from Daniel.” Vlad growled to himself as he disappeared into a shadowed alleyway.

On the rooftop right above the alley Vlad had gone down, Husk had been leaning down making sure to hear Vlad the entire time. He stayed for a few extra minutes hoping Vlad would say something more except he had lost sight the moment Vlad entered the shadows. ‘Maybe he can use ghost powers in either form.’

He sighed and gave a quick flap of his wings to glide down to the street. “FUCK!” Husk shouted as he threw some cards at a random car, causing some minor damage and the alarm to go off. “Boss isn’t gonna like this and neither is Danny.” Husk complained to the empty street as he rubbed his temples.

“What trouble have you brought to us Danny?” He sighed as he started walking back to the hotel kicking a random rock down the road. “Oh well. At least it's not me they’ll be mad at.”

Chapter Text

Alastor was currently enjoying a cup of tea in the hotel’s kitchen as he watched Charlie dance to some quiet music as she was in the tail end of the cooking process. From the smell alone he could deduce she had a lamb roast with various vegetables, mash potatoes and gravy.

Though the proportions would indicate she was feeding at least twenty people, Alastor knew young Daniel didn’t have proper eating habits from the previous info he overheard during the talk between the kings. ‘Maybe young Daniel will eat more due to needing the fuel. He certainly needed the rest.’ Even though Alastor was resting, he was tense because Husk was taking his time.

He could still feel the chain he had on Husk so knew he was at least alive but in what condition was a different story. Alastor wasn’t worried for Husk per say, he was worried about the loss of information should Husk fail his mission. He must have been too focused on his annoyance of the situation to notice Charlie as she waved her hand in front of his face. He wouldn’t admit to it, but he did flinch having not even sensed Charlie approach.

“Hey. Alastor are you okay?” Charlie asked with a tilt of her head ‘Weird, usually Al is more focused. I could almost poke his cheek.’ Charlie was slowing moving her index finger to do just that when she saw Alastor’s smile grow big which caused her to freeze and look into Alastor’s eyes. They had a bit of stare off wondering who would break the awkward moment first. Alastor did consider himself a gentleman, so he let Charlie get away with almost poking his check.

“Charlie my dear, I am splendid, though a bit miffed if I do say.” Charlie took the moment to step away and go back to cooking, only to stop halfway and turn back to Alastor with the same head tilt as before.
“Why?” Alastor couldn’t help but chuckle at how adorable the Princess of Hell was during these moments.

It always gave him a sense of ease he could partially relax in, though it also gave raise to his blood-thirsty half to seize the moment of weakness. ‘Too bad that would be a death sentence. I have much to do and so little time to plan.’

“Husker is taking his time,” Alastor took the final sip of his cup of tea. “He should have arrived soon after Niffty and I arrived at the hotel given his ability to fly.” Alastor growled the last word as his grip on the cup was enough to cause a single crack. He let out a long breath as he placed it on the coaster.

“Oh, I forget he can fly. Guess he wanted to take the walk?” Charlie shrugged as she went to check on her timers. Once her back was turned, Alastor used a bit of his own power to repair the crack in the cup, though it took more effort since it was rather delicate.
“Perhaps.” Charlie heard the one-word answer, and decided to voice another possibility.

“Or maybe he got into a fight and one of his wings got damaged, so he had to walk.” Charlie stated as she focused on getting the mash potatoes just right.
“That…did not occur to me.” Alastor looked at the clock “Meaning he should be arriving soon.” As he stood up and straightened his suit jacket. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to check if he has arrived.”

Alastor strode to the door, but stopped just before as Charlie spoke up.
“Oh no worries. Oh, and if you see Danny or Vaggie let them know food will ready be soon, please?” Charlie raised her hands in a prayer, which they both chuckled at.
“I’ll be sure to pass on the message if I see either of them.” As Alastor gave a small bow and strode out the kitchen.
“Great, thank you Alastor!”

Just after the Alastor trio left the hotel to search for Vlad in the previous chapter

After Alastor had left and Lucifer had checked to make sure Charlie didn’t need help in the kitchen he had went straight to his workshop where he was currently working on a new duck. This one was different to others in his collection as the normal rubber duck yellow was absent.

Instead, it was a pale yellow, almost see-through in the right light with a black, white and green colour scheme for the outfit. With a quick look at the clock ‘Huh, seems it only took me fifty minutes to get this duck done.’ Lucifer noted it was a new record for him when it came to creating a brand-new duck, instead of a variant, but blamed it on his need to distract from his growing anger.

He had learned early on in his duck making, that he couldn’t create when angry. “Oh Danny, why did you have to bring trouble to my door?” Lucifer sighed as he place the new duck on the table while he grabbed some glowing green paint and a tiny paint brush.

“We had just recovered from the last battle, and yet you risk bringing another. You risk my daughter’s safety.” He heard the paint brush snap in his hands. Lucifer simply sighed as he droped it in a bin filled with countless other brushes. He grabbed another and finished painting the eyes a bright green.

“Yet I can’t turn you away. You need help before you lose yourself to your rage and grief.” He looked at the duck noting some spots needed a bit more paint to fill in the gaps. “I hope we can get through to you before it’s too late. To prevent another fall.”

As he put down the brush and inspected the duck one last time, he couldn’t help but admire that he had somehow achieved a sorrowful look in the duck’s eyes, even though they were two solid green circles. “At least I’ll have a gift for you, don’t know when or if I’ll pass it on.” He wiped down his work station before dusting himself off and donning his coat and top hat. “Whelp, time to check on Charlie and see if the trio has any info.”

Husk pushed open the main door and let out a tired groan. “Next time. I’m making sure to just steal a car.” He dragged his feet as he went towards his bar, completely missing Niffty zipping around the foyer cleaning up all the dust and small debris; more focused on finding an intact bottle. “So glad I asked for a metal box for the good stuff.”

He opened the door, grabbed a random bottle and leaned on the bar counter. Husk took a moment to see what he grabbed and noted it was a wine bottle of some random year and from the multiple words could at least tell it was a red wine. “Huh, wonder how this got behind the bar. I thought all the wine was in the kitchen.” For some reason, Husk felt opening this bottle was a bad idea but at the moment he was too tired to care about the consequences of his own actions; he was willing to take the gamble.

“Husker, you took your time.” Husk immediately jumped with a sound that one could mistake for a cat yowling, as he spread his wings and gave them a single flap. This gave him enough height to barely touch the ceiling. Once his heart stopped beating a mile a minute, he noted his hands were empty and started looking for the bottle.

He dropped to the ground and noticed the bottle in Alastor’s hands but also noted his boss was rather focused on the bottle. “Husker, you weren’t about to open this bottle to just gulp down, were you?” Alastor asked in a subdued tone as he gently placed the bottle on the bar’s counter and turned to Husk without showing any teeth.

Husk couldn’t tell what Alastor’s mood was in this moment, let alone how to navigate the situation he was in to get out undamaged. ‘Well, truth it is. Plus, I’ve got to update him, so maybe I can get away.’ Alastor noted Husk was taking his time in answering the question and raised a single eyebrow which caused Husk to sweat and pull on his bowtie.

“I needed a good drink. And grabbed the first bottle I found. Not much of a wine drinker myself, but was too lazy to care.” Husk answered in his nonchalant tone, with a hint of annoyance. Alastor merely hummed to acknowledge he understood.

“What’s so special about that bottle? I thought all the wine was in the kitchen?” Husk asked, noting how Alastor’s hand had never let go of the bottle as if he was protecting it.

“Yes, all wine is in the kitchen until the cellar is sorted. Except for this bottle.” Alastor smoothly moved the bottle from the counter back to the metal box and gave Husk a hard glare. “That bottle is mine and mine alone. And will only be opened for a specific set of circumstances.” Alastor voice was quiet but cold and left absolutely no room for debate or argument. Husk merely nodded. “Now what’s your report?”

Meanwhile on a random floor of the hotel

Vaggie was on her way down to see Charlie after making sure Danny was fast asleep. “Who knew getting a kid to sleep would be so hard? Oh well, at least he’s getting some now.”

“Who’s getting what now?” Lucifer asked, which caused Vaggie to jump and almost take a swing at the King of Hell with her spear. Luckily, Lucifer was quick and blocked the hasty swipe with his cane. And waited the single moment it took for Vaggie to relax.

“Sir, you scared me. You could have woken Danny.” Vaggie replied in a hushed tone.” Lucifer just raised an eyebrow in response.
“Weren’t you trained to be a killer? Your spatial awareness could use some work.” Vaggie points at her eye patch. Lucifer visibly winced. “Yeeaahh, not my best comment. Oh well. Shall we head down? Dinner should be ready soon.” Vaggie just shook her head.

She looked back at the door of Danny’s room, taking a moment to see if the noise had woken him. When she didn’t hear anything, it satisfied her enough to leave.
“Might as well get a bite before it all ends up in the kid’s stomach.” She replied as she stowed her spear.
“If we need to cook more, we cook more.” Lucifer stated like a father stating simple facts.

This caused Vaggie to pause and take a moment to think about the current situation. “Why are you so accommodating him anyway?” She noted Lucifer took a sombre expression and even rubbed the apple on his cane, which she has come to know as coping mechanism to ground himself in the moment.

“He is young. He needs guidance.” Lucifer sighs and takes a moment to look back towards Danny’s room. “As his elder, I have a sense of responsibility to help a fellow king.” Vaggie accepts the answer with a nod, but also decides to take a moment to poke Lucifer.

“And nothing to do with the fact that Charlie would be sad if anything happened to him?” She smirked when Lucifer looked offended.
“Of course not. I can have other reasons outside of my daughter’s reaction.” He huffed as he continued the journey to the kitchen.

“But it’s the main reason.” Vaggie teased more.
“I liked it better when I didn’t have people who could sass me and get away with it.” Lucifer pouted which caused Vaggie to chuckle. This in turn caused Lucifer to smile a little bit.

“Perks of dating Charlie.” Lucifer couldn’t believe it, but Vaggie had puffed her chest when she had said it. ‘I need something to win this. I can’t go losing to someone dating my daughter…Wait that’s it.’ Vaggie felt a chill go down her spine when Lucifer gave a small smile.

“You know… I haven’t given the shovel talk.” He stated in a calm tone, but with glowing demon eyes. Vaggie immediately gulped knowing she had lost this battle, and walked ahead of Lucifer.

“We should probably check on Charlie.” Vaggie would deny it up till the day she died, but she did not squeak.
“Only delaying the inevitable my dear.” Lucifer chuckled ‘Teasing my would-be daughter-in-law is rather fun.’

Back in the Main Foyer

“…and then Vlad took off away from the city.” Husk finished his report, noting that Alastor had been quiet throughout, but saw the growing smile that seemed to show more teeth than Alastor should have. “Well?”
“Lute conspiring with a man such as he, what a scoop!” Alastor gave a dark chuckle. “Though I have to admit this doesn’t seem very angelic of them, this seems more like Fallen behaviour”

The shadows around Alastor grow darker and his eyes shone brighter as his smile became sinister.  “Don’tcha think Husker?”
Husk just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms “Yeah, but I’m biased.” The sinister air around Alastor immediately disappeared when he stood tall and turned away from Husk.

“Bias is healthy. Now come on, let’s go give the ‘King’ the news update.” Alastor shook his head side to side when he said King, to give the air of mocking. Husk just scoffed before he followed, knowing that Alastor was going to poke fun of Lucifer one way or another. Luckily for them, it didn’t take long to find Lucifer and to Alastor’s surprise Vaggie as well.

It didn’t matter much to Alastor in the moment, since he was more focused on updating Lucifer. Though during the conversation Vaggie would wordlessly stare at Husk who would nod, shake his head or shrug during certain parts which didn’t entirely help the unspoken questions Vaggie wanted answered, but both she and Husk stayed quiet out of respect for their respective bosses.

Lucifer was giving Alastor his frog blink stare showing no emotion externally but internally he was starting to panic ‘If Danny hears about this, we might have to repair the hotel again.’

“…So that’s all we know now, Young Danial is indeed being targeted by that man.” Alastor ended in a clipped tone. Even though he held a bit of respect to Vlad, he would have loved to torture the man for information.
“You’re shitting me.” Lucifer’s mask broke and his emotions were plain to see.

“Ah, that’s a good look on you, confusion and befuddlement all over your face.” Alastor teased with a shit-eating grin ‘If only I had a camera, his expression is priceless.’ Lucifer took a moment to reset and think over the information he had just been given.

“Well, at least we know what he’s after.” Lucifer spoke to the group, but then his voice lowered as if he was thinking out loud. “What, with the Crown and Ring, he’d be pretty damn powerful and difficult to stop.” Alastor, Husk and Vaggie all saw Lucifer’s eyes shift to slits and glow only to go back to normal when he next blinked. Alastor on the other hand was more intrigued on the items Lucifer had chosen to focus on.

“What exactly do the crown and ring do?” Alastor tried and failed to hide his interest, which Lucifer picked up on straight away. He took on a deadpan expression and stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

“They grant unlimited power.” A record scratch sound effect echoed in the halls as Lucifer, Husk and Vaggie stared at Alastor. His monocle fell from his face, as he went slack jawed.

“They do what now?!?!” Husk couldn’t help but chuckle, wishing he had the video camera to capture this moment. Vaggie on the other hand was more surprised since she thought it wasn’t possible to break the Radio Demon’s carefully constructed mask. Lucifer was loving the fact he broke Alastor, and was relishing that he can keep Alastor on the back foot.

“Alastor, don’t get too excited, you can’t use them.” Alastor almost growled, like a toddler being kept from a new toy. “You’re a hell-bound sinner, not a ghost.” Lucifer shrugged as if to say ‘what can ya do.’
“Then what’s the difference?!” Alastor’s voice rose in volume as he placed his monocle back on.

“I lived.” His eyes took on a demonic glow.
"I died.” Alastor started to shift into his demon form, to lean over Lucifer. “I got unimaginable power that only puts me below you...” Static filled the air as Alastor’s voice became demonic. “…for rules that are ARBITRARY AND STUPID!”

Alastor’s shadow grew in size darkening the hallway which caused it to be filled with the eyes of his voodoo doll minions. Vaggie had her spear out ready to fight, while Husk merely took a few steps back behind Alastor to, hopefully, not be part of a possible battle. Lucifer just frog blinked and sighed.

“Yeah, rules that are stupid and arbitrary.” Lucifer’s eyes had glazed over for a moment, as if lost in thought as his hand tightened on his apple cane and a tiny bit of his Royal Aura leaked out. Then he blinked and the aura was gone, as he levelled his gaze on Alastor’s eyes.

“Sinners are not ghosts; ghosts are not sinners. There might be some who crossover, but it’s not in your favour.” Alastor stared down Lucifer for a few moments, trying to get a reaction of some kind, but all he received in return was another frog blink. Alastor gave one last growl before returning to his normal form and readjusted his suit. Vaggie relaxed and stowed her spear, while Husk took a few steps closer to be back at Alastor’s side.

“You just love breaking my fun, don’t you?” Alastor asked in a clipped tone.
“Well,” Lucifer clicked his tongue. “You told my daughter she could call you dad.” His eyes took on a demonic glow, as his teeth became sharp and his horns grew.  “So yes, I LIVE for breaking your fun.” As he floated to be just above eye level of Alastor.

Alastor tried to hide his annoyance in having to look up to usually short king. But he also knew he had lost overall, and would take the loss with dignity. He stepped aside for both Vaggie and Lucifer to go past. Vaggie gave one last eyebrow raise to Husk who simply shrugged. Both knew the tension between the King and Alastor was always weird, but this interaction was something else; they both hoped Danny wouldn’t be caught in the middle.

Once Lucifer and Vaggie had turned the corner, Alastor started walking the way he had seen them walking from. “Well, come along Husker.” Alastor prompted when he noticed Husk standing still instead of following from the start. Husk took one last look towards where the other two went and debated on joining them, except knowing his luck, his boss was headed to the one place he shouldn’t; but he had to ask.

“Where?” As he took a couple long strides to catch up to Alastor, already dreading the answer.
“To speak with young Daniel of course.” Alastor stated like one would talk about the weather. ‘FUCK!! Danny doesn’t need this right now. He’s finally got some place that could be considered safe. Can’t the kid catch a fucking break.’ Even though Husk was panicking, he had his classic disgruntled expression.

“And how will we do that? Do you know which room he’s in?” Husk questioned as he took a sip from his flask, which he noted was running low. Alastor’s grin lowered a bit, due to the growing annoyance of being questioned, but he chose not to let it ruin his current mood.

“I don’t need to know. We have someone who does.” He replied as he confidently keep walking in a direction.
“Boss, I don’t mean to disagree but Vaggie is the other way.” Alastor levelled a cold glare at Husk who wilted, then tensed when Alastor raised his hand. Husk held his breath only to flinch when Alastor snapped his fingers hard enough to make it echo in the empty hallway. They only had to wait a few seconds before they heard the tell-tale skittering of the hotel’s maid. Husk gave a defeated look at Alastor’s smug grin.

“Niffty dear, would you be so kind as to take us to young Daniel’s room?” Niffty squealed as she climbed Alastor like a tree, to then jump on Husk who flailed around trying to get her off. This just caused Niffty to laugh louder. The tussle only stopped when Alastor plucked Niffty off Husk who nodded his thanks. Niffty took a moment for her brain to catch up on what Alastor had asked.

“OOOOOO, he’s the BOY, right?!?!? I can’t wait to see him!!” Niffty frothed in anticipation and seemed to vibrate in Alastor’s hand.
“Down Niffty.” As Alastor placed Niffty on the floor. “Else I will get the spray bottle.”
“Aww……” Niffty frowned for a second, before she gave a manic giggle as he skittered in the direction of Danny’s room. She knew where to go, having cleaned it prior to the ghost boy’s nap.

In Danny’s room

Danny slowly came to wakefulness and groaned having been quite comfy in the bed, but knew he wouldn’t be getting more sleep any time soon. He decided to keep his eyes closed, letting his body slowly wake up in its own time; this in turn gave his brain time to start up. Danny used a bit of ecto-energy to enhance his hearing, having learnt this trick a few years back to help him spy and protect himself from threats.

The side effect or bonus, pending the way you would look at it, was that his other senses would get enhanced, to a lesser degree, at the same time. He managed to hear people approaching the room and decided it was a good idea to get up and hopefully find some food. Danny felt he had earned the right to be lazy and simply phased out from under the covers, floated off the bed and through the door; only to then phase his hand back through to make sure the door was locked.

Outside the room, he stretched in various ways that caused several joints to crack which caused him to groan in satisfaction. “That was a good nap. First proper one I’ve had in who knows how long.” As he started walking in what he believed the direction of the hotel foyer, he had forgotten to turn off his sense enhancement and noted a pleasant aroma in the air and took a few sniffs.

“What’s that smell?” Danny was so lost in trying to figure out the smell that he never sensed Alastor, Husk or Niffty approach, nor when Alastor leaned in.
“Hello, young Daniel, let’s talk.” Alastor noted that Danny flinched at his voice but before he could question why, Alastor noted how the ghost’s aura dimmed than disappeared which seemed to result in Danny relaxing.

Alastor not wanting to waste the opportunity given to him pressed on. “I hear you’re in possession of tools that grant you unlimited power?” As much as Alastor tried, he couldn’t hide his desire to know and even possess said items, if it was true they existed. Husk facepalmed and groaned while Niffty was barely holding herself back due to the threat of the dreaded spray bottle.

Danny gave Alastor his own frog blink, then took a deep breath in and out. ‘I’m way too under-caffeinated for this conversation. Also, I smelled food.’
“Dude I just woke up, can I have some food first?” Danny asked while he attempted to walk past the trio, only to have Alastor throw his arm across Danny’s shoulder and walked with him. Danny was too tired and hungry to care, so long as they kept going to towards the food.

“Oh pish posh, we’re already here.” Alastor stepped in front and gently stopped Danny from moving forward. “Just tell me.” Alastor requested, though to Danny it sounded like a demand, who in turn just gave a blank expression. He took another deep breath and gave a long sigh.

“Yeah, kind of.” Danny shrugged with his non-answer and noted static slowly filling the air. ‘Gotta love when people get annoyed for not getting the answer they are after. But I have no clue if demons can use them even if they are bound to me. Better be cautious, especially with Alastor.’ Danny thought since he still had no clue what rules Hell ran on.

“Yeah, kind of?” Alastor’s voice to on a static quality, like a radio with bad reception.
“Yeah, I put them in a vault where no one could get to them.” Danny stated as he walked through Alastor which caused him to shiver and pause since Alastor has never felt a chill that went down to the bone.

Danny managed to get a few steps away before Alastor spoke.
“You have access to tools that would let you take on the angels and you aren’t carrying them with you?” Alastor couldn’t comprehend not using something that would give someone the edge over their enemies, let alone unlimited power.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Alastor’s monocle fell of his face for a second time, while Husk stared wide eye at Danny. “I didn’t want to have access to unlimited power while on a rage trip.” Danny kept walking trying to silently end this conversation he didn’t want to start in the first place.

“Oh I see.” Alastor paused ‘I don’t believe Hell would have survived.’ Then his normal radio smile was plastered on his face. “But you might want to get them back; I found out why Vlad was here.”
Danny stopped mid step and immediately became fully awake. He turned one-eighty degrees and stared right at Alastor with glowing green eyes.  “Why?”
“Well you see…”

Meanwhile in the Kitchen

“Charlie dear you have outdone yourself on dinner.” Lucifer smiled as he took the last bite of his serving while Vaggie stayed quiet; though both Lucifer and Charlie could hear the quiet sounds of enjoyment as Vaggie savoured each bite. Charlie couldn’t be happier knowing she had done a good job which eased her worries on if Danny would enjoy it.

“Thanks Dad, hopefully Danny likes it.” As Charlie took the empty plates from the table to the sink.
“You have nothing to worry about.” Lucifer gave his daughter a warm smile and savoured the quiet moment. “But I do have a few things to do before the night ends.” Lucifer stood from the table and straightened his suit. “Vaggie be sure to keep Alastor away from Danny. We both know he needs a break.” Vaggie gave a simple salute as Lucifer zipped out the door.

Vaggie went to the sink and gently pushed Charlie out of the way who started to protest. “You cooked. I clean. No ifs or buts about it.” Vaggie gave a smug smirk as Charlie pouted. Vaggie gave her a quick peck on the cheek as Charlie stepped away from the sink; only to look to the door as Danny walked in.

“Oh, hi Danny! I hope you slept well!” Charlie greeted in a chipper tone, but maybe with a bit more energy than she wanted since she saw Danny give a tiny flinch at the volume she used. Danny took a moment to centre himself before he returned the greeting.

“Oh, hey Charlie. Sup Vaggie.” Vaggie gave a simple wave back as she focused on cleaning the pile of dishes left by her girlfriend. “I spelt ok. As much as I could in a new place.” Danny stated as he took a seat. “Just… got some news. Not really bad news, just… kind of annoying news, you know?” Danny fiddle with a fork on the dinner mat as Charlie took the seat opposite him.

“Oh, maybe?” Charlie didn’t understand the type of news Danny was getting at, but thought it best to keep the conversation going. “ What kind of news?” And almost regretted asking cause she saw Danny’s aura grow brighter and noted the fork he was holding start to glow to. Then the glow disappeared instantly as Dany gave a long sigh and placed the fork back on the dinner mat.

“Well, the reason Vlad is down here is because he wants to see if I’m mentally unstable enough to give up my throne.” Danny had got up from the table and started to pace, except to both Charlie and Vaggie’s surprise he paced three foot off the ground. “Cuz, I’m such a good guy that I wouldn’t want to hold on to this much power if I couldn’t trust myself.” Danny’s eyes grew teary as his hands glowed with his ever-growing emotions.

He took a moment to centre himself as he floated back into his seat. “But like… can’t I just have a moment to grieve.” Vaggie and Charlie could see the sorrow in Danny’s eyes and didn’t know how to respond. Danny let his head fall which gave a dull thud on the table. ‘I don’t know how to help Danny in this moment… But I can distract him.’ Charlie got up from the table and started to bring the dishes she had prepared, with the help of Vaggie, to the table.

As she approached the table she spoke to get Danny’s attention.
“That does sound annoying. But hey forget about that.” She placed the dishes in the middle of the table as Vaggie placed a bowl in front of Danny and Charlie. “Have some dinner. You need to get some energy back.” Charlie gave a warm smile as she waited for Danny to serve himself. Danny looked between the two demons and the food; he let out a sigh.

“Oh, uh.” He wanted to figure out what to do about the situation, but food sounded too good. “Okay, thank you.” As Danny served himself a large serving of mash potatoes and a few slices of the roast. It was at this moment he finally registered the smell wafting from the food. ‘This is what a smelled earlier.’ As his stomach gave a small growl; Charlie and Vaggie giggled while Danny blushed as he started to eat. He decided to live in the moment and just enjoy a simple dinner with his new friends.

At Husk’s Bar

“S-so… there a reason you didn’t tell Danny that Vlad is working with the angels?” Husk asked as he cleaned his bar; checking glasses, bottles and moving broken wood to the side. Only to jump in surprise as a wave of black-green shadows covered the bar for a few moments then dissipated, which revealed the bar back in the condition prior to the morning fight. Husk just shrugged, taking the win as he poured himself a shot on the rocks and a glass of wine for his boss.

“Well, considering the scope of his power and destructive capabilities…” Static filled the air as Alastor slowly grew to his partial demon form. “I didn’t want this hotel to become ground zero again.” Husk Alastor and Niffty all took a moment of silence to remember how much work it took to rebuild to hotel after the war with Adam.

Niffty was getting bored and wanted to go see Danny; she had attempted to hop off the bar stool she was on only to be caught midair by Alastor. “Niffty do please behave. We shall discuss the plans in the morning. Till then, do not approach young Daniel.” Alastor spoke with a tone of finality, which caused Niffty to pout but nod her head in agreement. Alastor placed Niffty on the ground as he himself stood and shifted back to his normal form. “Husker, Niffty it is late. I shall see you both in the morning.”

An hour later

“Thanks for dinner Charlie.” Danny gave a genuine smile which almost caused Charlie to squee loudly in delight but managed to stop herself and just vibrated in happiness. Vaggie had already cleared the table and was washing the dishes; she liked being busy if it meant it allowed Charlie to relax.

“Oh, it’s not a problem at all! Dad did say you could use some food after your nap.” As she started to dry the dishes.
“He wasn’t wrong. It’s… been a bit since I had a full meal.” Danny stared out the window lost in thought, as Vaggie and Charlie shared a look.

“That’s not good Danny. I’m pretty sure the people who love you wouldn’t want you taking such poor care of yourself.” Charlie placed a hand on Danny’s and gave it a squeeze as she gave Danny a warm smile. Danny gave a short chuckle as he squeezed back.

“Yeah… you’re right. I need to be better. I’ll work on it I promise.” Danny gave a genuine smile as he looked at both Charlie and Vaggie. ‘If Sam were here, she’d be whacking me with the Fenton Spoon so I couldn’t avoid punishment.’

“That’s good. And while you are here, I’m going to make sure you do.” Charlie stated as she continued to dry the dishes Vaggie had finished washing. Vaggie gave her girlfriend a judging look, but relented when she looked back at Danny. Danny merely raised an eyebrow, but noted there was a teasing tone at the end of the sentence and decided to play along.

“Is that a threat princess?” Danny teased. He had figured it out after learning Charlie was Lucifer’s daughter. Charlie grabbed a wooden spoon and pointed it at Danny, who raised his hands in surrender fearing for his life.

“A promise. As your host it is my duty to make sure you are taking care of yourself.” Charlie stated matter-of-factly as Vaggie just rolled her eye and smiled at Charlie having banter with someone that wasn’t her.

“So long as the food tastes as good as dinner, I’ll be more motivated to do so.” Danny gave a giant grin.
“Guess I’m cooking all your meals.” Danny couldn’t believe his ears, but his heart did skip a beat…in a purely platonic fashion and decided to test the waters by teasing Vaggie.

“Vaggie I mean this respectfully and platonically. I may have to steal your girlfriend.” As Danny made a mock attempt to grab Charlie, only to be stopped by a spear slicing the air between Danny and Charlie. Vaggie had grabbed Charlie by the waist and hugged her close.
“No you don’t. She’s mine.” Vaggie gave a low growl and kissed Charlie while smirking at Danny.

Charlie just rolled her eyes but played along.
“Sorry Danny, but I’m taken. You’ll have to settle for friend status.” As she kissed Vaggie on the cheek.
“Friend with food benefits?” Danny tried his luck only to get whacked by the wooden spoon thrown by Charlie. All three were silent for a moment before bursting out in laughter.

“Okay, I think we’ve had enough for tonight. It’s getting late.” Charlie stated as she gave a yawn.
“Yeah, even though the nap did some good. A solid night sleep will do me better. Night.” Danny waved as he decided to be lazy and float to his room.

“I’ll see you in the morning for breakfast.” Charlie shouted as Danny’s head phased through the ceiling. A few minutes later Danny had found his room and phased under the covers. Danny had thought with the nap he’d be up for longer, but with a full belly and a comfy bed he was out for the count in ten seconds flat.

Chapter Text

Danny woke to the sound of an alarm, which he could have sworn he hadn’t set in the first place; only to realise the ‘alarm’ was actually someone knocking on the door. It wasn’t frantic, but it was consistent; he knew he should answer, but he could take his time getting to the door.

With a yawn Danny phased out of the bed and gave a full body stretch once his feet touched the floor. The several pops and cracks his joints made caused Danny to groan whether in pain or pleasure he couldn’t answer; with a final torso twist and crack of his neck he could finally register words through the door.

“Danny, Hey Danny.” The distinct voice of Vaggie with an edge of annoyance creeping into her tone. “You better open the door or so help me I’ll bust it down myself.” Danny noted the knocking had become harsher but without some coffee he wouldn’t be fully awake to properly deal with an angry… ‘Huh, is Vaggie a goth? Maybe goth adjacent. Whatever.’

Danny gave a long sigh before phasing his head through the door, which caused Vaggie to jump back and brandish her spear; Danny couldn’t help but chuckle at being able to scare Vaggie. “Fucking hell, give some warning before you pull that ghost shit. I could have stabbed you.” Vaggie complained as she sighed and stowed her spear.

Danny gave her a frog blink and shrugged; though considering only his head was out the door to Vaggie all she saw was Danny’s head tilt and bob up and down. “Yeah well, I didn’t ask for a wake-up call. Then again, I need coffee to wake up.” Danny gave a deep sigh that spoke to Vaggie on a spiritual level. ‘Honestly there are some days I just don’t want to wake up. But Charlie is a morning person…God, I love her.’

“No kidding. Coffee is on the breakfast menu Charlie is making. Along with bacon.” Vaggie informed while inspecting her nails.
“She is a goddess. But I think I’ll take a quick shower.” Danny states as he gives himself a quick sniff, his head halfway through the door. “Bleh, maybe I need a dunk instead.” Vaggie shook her head, but decided to take a quick whiff of the air and noted there was a certain level of stink.

“Bleh, agreed. I hope that stink isn’t on the sheets or you’re cleaning them.” Vaggie waved her hand in front of her, before she remembered she had wings and gave them a quick flap to create a large breeze to keep the stink away from her. Danny just blinked at the casual display of wings only to have Vaggie’s words register in his mind.

“I’ll just phase the grime off on the floor. It makes cleaning easier.” Danny shrugged again as Vaggie rubbed the bridge of her nose.
“I’ll still send Niffty. It is her job as maid after all.” Vaggie started to walk away from Danny’s room.
“Huh never would have guessed. Give me like…twenty minutes and I’ll be in the kitchen.”

“Fair enough. If you take any longer, I’ll take your portion of bacon.” Vaggie gave a teasing smirk as Danny gasped as he held his hand over his chest; Vaggie gave a chuckle only to have a finger in her face.
“Charlie wouldn’t let you.” Danny gave a shit eating grin knowing he had the upper hand in this exchange.

Vaggie just shrugged and walked away.
“No. No she wouldn’t. Doesn’t mean I can’t make your portion smaller.” Vaggie’s eye held a promise which Danny knew she would go through with. ‘I thought I had the upper hand. Guess I need to learn more about the hotel dynamic.’
“I’ll be down in twenty minutes.” Danny stated simply and phased back into his room to have a lengthy hot shower, along with washing down any grime that was on his jumpsuit.

Twenty minutes later

“I hope Danny will enjoy breakfast. Actually, I hope everyone will since I’m making enough for everyone.” Charlie was looking over the portions she had just finished prepping along with a fresh pot of coffee. Vaggie just shook her head at her girlfriend’s antics as she munched on a single piece of bacon.

“Babe, at this point you could have made plain toast and Danny would enjoy it.” Vaggie gave a soft smile to Charlie who took three quick hops to hug Vaggie. For a moment it was just them in the kitchen enjoying each other’s presence; nothing would ruin it.

“Nah I’m not one for toast, not after the kitchen incident when I was a kid.” ‘Except for a certain ghost phasing through the ceiling as he makes a snarky comment.’ Vaggie sighed as she watched Danny float over the bacon taking two pieces as he floated to the coffee pot.

Instead of taking a mug like a regular person Danny poured the coffee into a bowl which left only a quarter left in the pot; only to pour said quarter straight into his mouth. Charlie and Vaggie were shocked knowing how hot fresh coffee is and were about to rush to check Danny; only to realise he wasn’t in any pain; which just caused them to adopt confused looks.

Danny who was none the wiser to the reactions he had caused, simply ate the bacon he took in three bites and took a long drink of his coffee bowl. He let out a satisfied sigh only to register the shocked looks of Vaggie and Charlie. “What?”

“You just drank coffee straight from the pot.” Charlie pointed out with a very worried tone as her hand shook.
“Oh right…so the heat doesn’t really bother me since I figured out how to cool things down before they reach my tongue.” Danny stated as if it was any other Tuesday.

“What do you mean cool down?” Vaggie asked with a single eyebrow raised. Danny raised one in return as he held up one hand and created a palm sized snowflake.
“I have ice powers.” Danny stated with his eyes now a gentle glowing blue. Charlie and Vaggie noticed it had a different feel from the toxic green.

They couldn’t quite put their finger on it until they noticed Danny playing with the snowflake making it dance around his hand, along with 3 smaller snowflakes. This dazzling show of power had both girls mesmerised, even more so when they noticed the soft smile Danny was now sporting.

It was in that moment both of them realised the difference between the colours. When Danny’s eyes were green there was always a sad air around him, and his eyes were barely clinging on to any shred of hope he could find, let alone keeping his rage on leash lest his power leak out.

But with his eyes now a gentle blue, the air around him was positive, happy, and relaxing; as if he didn’t have a care in the world but to simple be in the moment. Danny let out a small chuckle when he noticed the girls staring intently at him and adopted a cheeky grin as he made the snowflakes fly around both of their heads; only for his smile to grow larger at seeing the wonder in their eyes.

For that one moment, he could forget about his current situation. For one moment, he felt pure joy. For one moment, the pain in his heart was gone. For one moment, nothing else existed.

The kitchen doors opened as Alastor and Niffty strode in. Before Alastor could make a comment on the casual display of power; Niffty zipped up and on the table with a manic grin “Is today the day we hunt down the traitor Vlad for conspiring with the angels?!” Charlie and Vaggie immediately froze and looked at Danny, while Alastor was gathering energy should he need to do damage control.

Niffty none the wiser to the tone shift carried on “We shall make him pay for his transgressions!!” As she cackled Danny’s eyes slowly shifted from blue to toxic green. In that moment the kitchen was silent, no one moved or made a sound as all eyes turned to Danny as a toxic green aura was slowly glowing brighter.

“Niffty…” Alastor sighed as Danny’s neck creaked when he looked towards Alastor.
“What?” Danny’s tone was strained, as if he couldn’t decide to be angry, sad, or shocked. Alastor slowly stood up, while Vaggie dragged Charlie away from Danny.

Niffty finally stopped cackling and took notice of the atmosphere but didn’t understand the consequences of her actions. “What? Did I say something?” Danny’s eyes glowed intensely as he took slow steps towards Alastor, the kitchen tiles cracking with each footstep.
“You knew?” Danny’s voice cracked with his growing emotions, while Alastor took the time to inspect his nails.

“Of course I knew.” He stated in a matter-of-fact tone. “I didn’t want you reducing the hotel to rubble.” He dusted his shoulders and readjusted his jacket. “Charlie would be most upset.” The kitchen stayed quiet; the only noise came from the low hum of Danny’s energy as he slowly floated a few inches above the ground.

None of them moved, waiting to see what would happen. It started so weak, everyone thought it was their imagination, but it was Charlie who saw the ripples in the glass of apple juice on the table. Something was causing a rumble through the ground.

It was then they took notice of Danny as he slowly walked to the kitchen door, yet his feet weren’t touching the ground, but with each step the tiles cracked. They all saw him raise his hand into a fist, but it was Alastor who noticed something new.

“I thought that was in a vault?” Alastor held a hand up to stop the girls from rushing forward, knowing Danny was in a fragile state and anything could set him off.
“What’s safer than my body?” Danny asked coldly as a glowing crown appeared above his head. The kitchen doors slammed open as Danny walked through the threshold, it was then they noticed Lucifer walking towards them with a nonchalant smile, even though the rumbles were growing stronger.

“I heard the sound of plot happening, what’s up?” Lucifer finally took notice of Danny and the kitchen doors forced to stay open, along with Charlie, Vaggie, Niffty and Alastor in the kitchen. He then levelled his gaze back on Danny and took notice of three things: the ring, the crown, and his eyes.

“Oh, that’s bad.”Lucifer stated while slowly raising his power to match Danny’s, but knew this was a fragile situation. ‘Definitely not good. Luckily, he’s facing me. And with Alastor acting as a shield, I should be able to shut this down.’ He gave a quick nod to Alastor, who nodded back and slammed his cane into the ground creating a sickly green barrier. ‘At least that’s one less thing to worry about. Now then time to focus on the young king.’ He took a breath to steady himself as he took on his partial demon form.

“Daniel! Stand down! You know you don’t what to do this.” Lucifer’s voice was laced with his royal authority but was gentle, intending to deescalate before a fight started. Danny’s head creaked side to side as if trying to figure out who had tried to command him. He also noticed there was a new aura, something powerful, and it was trying to stop him from leaving.

His eyes finally settled on Lucifer, and noticed instead of the usually bright yellow eyes, they were now rimmed in red. ‘He’s in my way.’ Danny slowly raised his arm as a green ecto ball grew in his hand.

Once it was level with Lucifer, he fired a large ecto beam that would have hit the top half of Lucifer, if he didn’t swat it aside and out the front foyer wall. Danny noted how easily Lucifer had deflected his beam, while Lucifer looked at his hand and noted minor burns.

‘Seems ghost energy can damage higher beings. I’ll have to put more power into this. Not only that but if this continues.’ Lucifer noted that Danny’s power had been steadily increasing this entire time, and alongside it the rumbling was getting stronger. ‘This entire hill might crumble.’ Lucifer sighed, knowing a fight was gonna happen one way or another, but no one could say he didn’t try.

“Don’t do this.” He laced this heavily with his royal authority, hoping Danny would bow. But it seem Danny’s rage was breaking through the command.

“He took my wife from me.” Danny growled out, the flame on his crown glowing brighter. “He took M̶̫̀̑͝Ỳ̵̢̬͝͝ ̷̧̝̅C̴̖͌̄H̸̡̓͛Ï̷̙̈Ĺ̴̤͙̌̈D̵̨̩͆̋!̷̙́̿͠ͅ ̵̺̱̥̏F̶̢͈͙̐r̵͖̫̐́o̵̧͖̳̔͆͠m̶̪̼̩̈.̵̨̛͍́ ̵͙̀͘͠M̴͕̓e̶͖̓̿͋.” As Danny’s power and anger grew, so to the static of his voice as he slipped into ghost speak unknowingly. All the while the flame went from toxic green, to bright toxic green to almost white. Lucifer took a moment to adjust, thanking his stars that he could understand every language.

“And so you’ll take his life?” Lucifer’s wings sprouted as he hovered at eye level with Danny, slowing entering his full demon form. “Is that what this is Daniel?” Lucifer waved his sceptre around. “Where does it end?” Danny stared down the King of Hell, only to look away to take a moment to think.

“It ends where I̷̱͑ ̴̥̕s̵̞̀a̶̜͘y̴̝͊ ̴̺̿ḭ̵͌t̵̬̐ ̵̞̂d̶̠̎o̸̺͗e̸̲̊s̷̹̅!” Danny’s voice was filled with so much malice, the static was screeching causing everyone but Lucifer to wince and cover their ears.
“Oh.” Lucifer frog blinked and sighed.

“Move!” Danny stated, unknowingly used his own royal authority in an attempt to command Lucifer. Everyone in the kitchen moved further from the door, while Alastor merely added more power to the conjured barrier. Lucifer closed his eyes and let the command wash over him like water down a duck’s back ‘Got to love ducks. But at least that’s confirmation he’s lower than me…for now.’

Lucifer gave a final sigh, as he took a deep breath to prepare himself for the unavoidable fight. He opened his eyes to reveal full red eyes. He was now in his full demon form. “No.” Lucifer stated calmly and clearly as he held his cane with both hands just above the ground.

Danny, lost in his growing rage let loose a narrow Ghostly Wail; this allowed Danny to use less power for a more targeted attack. But just before the attack hit, Lucifer slammed his cane into the ground with another calm “No” which let out a burst white energy lined with black that consumed Danny’s attack and spread until it covered the entire foyer.

Danny took a moment to look around and attempted to get a sense as to what had occurred, but couldn’t think straight. All he knew was that Lucifer was the cause, which meant he had to get rid of Lucifer and he could escape.

He charged a larger ball of ecto energy and unleashed another giant ecto beam, Lucifer casually raised his cane and deflected the beam once more as it crashed into the white/black wall and dissipated like a wave against a cliff face. ‘Third strike and you’re out’

Lucifer checked his cane, making sure there was no damage and noted it was smudged with some ash. He readied himself for a clash of kings, for that is what it had become. “Fine.” Lucifer’s voice was resigned “Let’s do this.” As he stared straight into Danny’s gaze.

Outside the barrier

Charlie, Niffty, Vaggie and Alastor all stood still in wonder of the power displayed by Lucifer. Since none of them had ever seen it before. There had been rumours, but it always clashed with the silly, duck obsessed persona Lucifer presented when around the hotel. Alastor took a moment to sense the strength behind Lucifer’s barrier and noted while it was stronger than his own, it was in a different way.

Charlie slowly stepped towards Alastor. “Thank you for the barrier, but I think you can let it down.” Alastor glanced at Charlie, wondering how she couldn’t sense the power, only to realise this would be the first time she has seen this, or at the very least in a battle sense.

“Charlie, my Dear. I will not do so.” Alastor readjusted his stance and grip on his cane to steady himself.
“Why not?” Charlie’s head tilted in an adorable fashion.
“Even though that is your father’s barrier, it has a different feel to it.” Alastor’s eyes narrowed, wondering if Charlie could sense the difference.
“Different?” Alastor sighed and continued to comment without answering.

“And given we don’t know full scope of young Daniel’s power; we are better off having two barriers instead of one.” A single sweat drop went down Alastor’s face. ‘Seems whatever Adam did and the fight with Vlad, has left me less than recovered.’ He took a long slow breath, which Vaggie noted as odd. ‘I can’t show weakness, not when I’m focused on defence.’ Charlie merely nodded as she focused on the white/black barrier wondering what was happening.

“Is it just me or has the rumbling stopped?” Vaggie asked, hoping to distract Charlie. It was then all three of them realised that yes, the rumbling had stopped and that it had gotten quiet. “Where’s Niffty?” Vaggie, Charlie and even Alastor looked around, only to see Niffty pressing her face against Alastor’s barrier as if trying to push through to get to Lucifer’s barrier.
“Niffty, what are you doing?” Alastor questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“I need to get through to touch the glowy wall. It’s pretty.” She mumbled out as her face was pressed against Alastor’s barrier. Alastor, Vaggie and Charlie all simultaneously facepalmed at the child like reasoning.

“Hopefully, this doesn’t last long breakfast is cooling down.” Charlie stated with worry, since breakfast always tasted better when fresh. Alastor was about to answer, when Lucifer’s barrier shuddered and cracked from some sort of impact that created an aftershock that made the kitchen doors swing violently.

It made everyone wobble for a few seconds. They all noted a faint eerie noise leak through, which sent a small shiver down everyone’s spine.

“Well, that was ominous.” Vaggie stated while rolling her eye. She went over to Charlie and squeezed her hand in comfort. “Your dad is fucking Lucifer Morningstar. If anyone can get Danny to calm down without too much damage, it’s him.” Charlie squeezed the hand back and nodded, staying quiet and focused on her dad’s barrier.

The cracks slowly disappeared, much like their view as the door slowed to a close, even as more impacts occurred no new cracks appeared. The question they all silently asked, was Danny getting weaker or was Lucifer getting stronger?

Inside Lucifer’s barrier

Danny was consumed in his rage, letting loose a relentless barrage of ecto-blasts and beams. With each successive beam the intensity kept growing, from his usually glowing toxic green, to bright green and almost bordered on white. The Crown of Flames was now pure white flames while the Ring of Rage was glowing intensely. Lucifer deflected each beam and blast, shielding himself with heavenly light tainted by demonic darkness.

“LET. ME. Ŏ̶̞̈͜Ư̷̬̒Ů̴̺͠u̸̗̕ṵ̶̽͝ư̷̦̩u̴̼͒ͅŤ̵͖T̵͂̇ͅT̷̰̂t̸̙̿͜ẗ̴́ͅẗ̸͙̼͋!!” Danny let off another narrow ghostly wail which Lucifer dodge by shapeshifting into a snake, but was unprepared for the shockwave when the wail hit his barrier; it sent him flying towards Danny. The impact was strong enough to crack Lucifer’s barrier and leak the remnants of the wail. Danny saw the snake flying towards him and raised both hands above his head as they glowed blue.

Lucifer managed to get his bearings in time to turn back to normal as Danny swung down with an ice claymore. Lucifer used his cane to block the overhead attack. The moment the weapons connected a shockwave of white and green energy burst out and sent both Danny and Lucifer flying away from each other.

“Danny, I’ve tried to be reasonable.” Lucifer stood up and brushed his suit. “But I can’t get through to while you are consumed in rage.” Danny flew straight at Lucifer throwing an ecto-enhanced haymaker. Lucifer gracefully dodged under Danny and slammed his cane into his stomach with a white flash that launched the ghost into the top of the barrier.

Danny grunted but shook the impact off and flew for another haymaker. For the next few moments if anyone could witness, they would have seen an odd but rather graceful dance. Lucifer fluidly dodged each attack thrown at him while counter-attacking with his cane. Lucifer chuckled with each hit that impacted and taunted Danny with each dodge.

Danny growled in frustration as Lucifer barely dodge each attack, having not dealt with a slippery foe since his search had begun. The young ghost glowed with power, then condensed it into a single point; Lucifer took a moment to figure out what was happening only to have his grin drop “Ahh crap baskets.” As Danny let loose an explosion of echo energy that slammed Lucifer into the barrier and bathed the ‘room’ in green light. Both took a moment to catch their breath.

“L̶̮͒e̵̫͋ṯ̸͎̊.̶̞̓͗ ̷̻̐M̸̜̕e̵̙̹̓̊.̵̨͆̽ͅ ̸̨̺̚Ỏ̴̼̐ú̵̗̩̾t̸̮͂!” Danny growled, once again unknowingly used his royal authority as he slowly stalked towards Lucifer. Lucifer brushed dirt off his suit as the command washed over him stronger than before. Lucifer nonchalantly took off his hat to shake out anything that had gotten in. To both their surprise a single rubber duck fell out.

“Wonder how that got there.” Lucifer ignored Danny and picked up the duck, wondering which one it was. Danny couldn’t believe he was being ignored; it was then he came to startingly realisation, Lucifer was toying with him. ‘Fuck it. I’m getting out of here.’ Danny let out a low growl.

Lucifer oblivious to the danger he found himself in as he inspected the duck. “No, that’s the wrong yellow for that series. And the eyes are a different shade. There is a button, wonder what it does?” Lucifer pressed the button and bubbles shot out from the rubber duck’s beak. “Now I remember you, you’re...” Lucifer was cut off when an ecto-beam consumed the rubber duck in a flash of white.

For one moment all of hell held its breath, for they felt a sense of dread that made them fear for their afterlife. From the lowest imp to the highest demon and even the Sins. For that one moment Hell had felt the return of its King. For that one moment Danny’s rage had disappeared and was replaced with a primal fear.

An old memory, a warning from Clockwork crossed his mind. “Remember Young King, never damage or destroy a Royal’s prized possessions. They can be people, objects, or concepts. You may find yourself in a battle you can’t walk away from.”

Danny knew he had royally fucked up, but Lucifer was distracted. ‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.’ He sent a beam of ice and froze Lucifer in a solid block of ice. He smirked seeing the attack was holding and went to phase out of the barrier, only to find out he couldn’t phase through.

Danny made several attempts with normal and ice ecto energy but couldn’t make a single scratch on the barrier. “What the d̶̰̓ḙ̴̓m̸̗̓ŏ̶͓n̷̬̉i̶̡̊c̵͔̀ ̵̻̄h̸̞͗ė̷̬l̵̹͒l̵̟͝ is this made of?”  He was about to let loose another Ghostly Wail when his ghost tail was grabbed and he was harshly slammed into the ground.

“Cute word choice, given I am an angel” Lucifer’s stern voice made Danny pause for a bit and actually think about the situation he was in ‘Wow…I really can’t keep out of trouble without my family. Whelp in for a penny.’ Lucifer swung his cane down with a white glow that Danny was able to dodge by morphing a hole in his torso; this gave Lucifer pause.

Danny smirked as he wriggled around the glowing cane only for Lucifer to give him a deadpan look with one eyebrow raised and caused his cane to let out a flash of white. Danny was sent flying into the barrier from the burst of white energy and had to blink several times to even see spots.

“Have you had enough young king? Or shall we keep going?” Lucifer’s voice was steady and calm as he slowly walked towards Danny twirling his cane. Danny meanwhile was focused on getting his vision back and failing to ignored the growing dread of the hole he had dug.

The moment Danny’s vision cleared up is the moment he could focus on the white glowing cane about to hit his face. In a moment of pure instinct, he turned intangible, only to get the full impact of the mighty swing. He slammed into the barrier and slid down to the ground but before he could even think about dodging, he was smacked upwards, sideways, downwards, and back up.

Danny felt like a pinball back in Clockwork’s tower. He couldn’t think straight, he couldn’t plan, couldn’t dodge; all he could do was try and gather as much energy as he could to make his aura powerful enough to act as armour. ‘I haven’t had to use the ring and crown in a proper fight before, but now is a good as time as any.’ He focused on his frustration of being trapped, of being denied his chance to take Vlad down and of not being able to go after the angels…which Lucifer was one.

Lucifer on the other hand was enjoying playing whack-o-mole with Danny especially when the ghost’s aura was getting stronger to withstand the blows. It had been awhile since he could cut loose and he’ll admit to taking some guilty pleasure from playing pinball with Danny for vaporizing one of his most beloved ducks. ‘Quabble Beaksworth the First, I will miss you.’ Lucifer gave a satisfied sigh having vented his anger out and slammed Danny face first into the ground one final time. “Now then young king I think it’s time for you to calm down hmm?” Lucifer smirked and heard a muffled reply.

Using his cane, Lucifer leaned down tilting his ear towards Danny. “Sorry didn’t quite catch that.” It was then Lucifer heard a low growl, then a rumble through the ground and realised why Danny had been glowing brighter; it wasn’t to make a stronger aura armour it was to gather power. He looked towards Danny’s head only to be hit by a white green fist that sent him careening into the wall of his barrier.

Lucifer was stunned and stuck on the wall for a moment only to slide down and land on his knees. ‘When’s the last time I took a hit like that?’ Lucifer wiped his mouth and noticed a bit of blood ‘Guess he still has a bit of rage to deal with.’ He stood and dusted himself off only to hear muffled words. “You may want to speak up young king, I can’t quite hear you from over there.” Lucifer chuckled as he floated back to the middle and saw Danny hunched over with his crown ablaze with white flames.

“I said.” Danny took a deep breath. Lucifer immediately tensed and gathered energy in front of him attempting to make a personal shield in an attempt to mitigate the damage from the next attack.
“LET!” Danny’s body glowed with so much power it leaked out of him like radiation.
“ME!” He let out a small exhale before taking in another breath as he stood tall and leaned back.
"Ö̸̷̵̵̵̻O̴̷̷̷̸͎͗O̵̷̷̵̷̮̅O̸̶̷̵̵̟͌Ȍ̴̸̵̴̵̟Ú̴̸̷̶̸̹Ů̷̶̷̶̴ͅU̵̵̷̷̷̟͑Ṷ̷̶̸̷̷͗U̴̵̸̸̶͙͗Ȗ̷̶̵̶̶͖Ù̷̶̵̷̴̘U̸̴̵̸̷̪̽Ț̵̴̴̸̸̔T̴̶̵̴̷̡͑T̸̷̴̶̶͚͂T̴̸̶̷̶̯̿Ṯ̷̷̸̷̵́Ţ̸̶̷̴̵́T̷̷̸̷̸͙̉!̴̴̷̶̴̦̕!̶̷̷̵̴̫̌!̵̴̶̴̴̰̆!"

Danny pointed his mouth directly at Lucifer to direct the most powerful attack in his arsenal at full power, enhanced by the Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire. All his anger, rage, frustration, grief, and sorrow was poured into this attack. The ghostly wail’s tones shook the barrier as it warbled from dissonance of the banshee like screeching and the weeping wallows.

Lucifer managed to disperse the initial impact enough to slam his cane in the ground to reinforce both his personal shield and his barrier. His heart wept hearing the raw emotion from Danny, and wished nothing more to comfort him. But knew this was a long time coming.

Hopefully, after the emotional dam had burst, Lucifer could finally get through to Danny. Otherwise, he may have to resort to more drastic measures. Danny being a ghost, didn’t really need to breath, meaning if he wanted to, he could keep the Wail up for as long as he had power; which with both the ring and the crown he wouldn’t run out. But he was also human, and was subject to human limitations; you can only scream for so long before you run out of steam.

To Danny it felt like an eternity had passed by in a blink.
To Lucifer, it felt like a blink had been stretched into eternity.
To the group in the kitchen, they worried the barrier would pop like a bubble.
To the Ring’s residents closest to the hotel, they felt the cold touch of death shiver down their spine.

Danny’s wail slowly started to die, before eventually petering out. Lucifer sighed with relief seeing his barrier held up and that his shield managed to limit the damage he could have taken down to a quarter. But he knew it wasn’t over yet especially since Danny’s eyes were nothing but glowing balls of power.

“I ask again. Let me out.” Danny’s voice was hoarse, somewhat breathy but wouldn’t be considered weak. Because for the first time since he was told about his battle-won title, Danny felt like a king…or at least what a king would feel like demanding from another noble.
“Nope.” Lucifer curtly answer with frog blink.

“LET. ME. K̵̡̛I̷̩̅L̵̰͊L̴̪̀.̶̝́ ̶̡̇H̷͎͊I̷̧̽M̵̰̿!” Danny’s voice roared, but caused him to have a coughing fit. He had almost forgotten how bad his throat would get have a full power wail.
“Nooope.” Lucifer made a p pop. Danny roared in frustration as he created another ice claymore and swung, launching a wave of blue ecto energy that Lucifer just side stepped.

“Why stop me? You don’t have any reason!” Danny flew towards Lucifer and started swinging his blade, but in his weakened state and anger, his swings were sloppy and easily dodged. “You just keep saying no!” Danny made a horizontal slash and rested the claymore on his shoulder and wondered where Lucifer went. Only to see him laying on the blade of his claymore with a smirk.

“I don’t need a reason. Boop.” Lucifer cheerfully tapped Danny’s nose as he lazily flipped over Danny’s attempt to grab him and landed a few feet away. He stood with one foot slightly behind the other, did a slow quarter lean and spread his arms wide. “I am the King of Hell.” Lucifer had a shit eating grin on his face ‘Never in my whole life would I thought I could pull off an anime villain pose. But it felt so fucking right.'

“AND I AM THE Ķ̵̅I̷͖̾̄N̶͙͔̋͝G̴̩̈ ̸͚̈̓O̵̬͈͝F̶̫̖̈͝ ̸̛͖Ģ̷̛Ḩ̶͑̽O̸͓͝S̴̼̈́̏Ţ̷̏̽Ś̸̺̫͌!” Danny stomped his foot and let loose a pulse of energy that shook the barrier and attempted to give off the impression he was still in fighting condition. But even Lucifer could see the signs of fatigue. ‘Guess I should end this’ Lucifer charged his cane with energy as he air-dashed towards Danny.

He tossed the cane forward and Danny countered with his claymore; resulting in another, albeit weaker flash of green and white and black. This caused Danny to close his eyes only to feel something grab wrist and squeeze sending a sharp intense pain down his arm, but only for a moment. Once the initial wave of pain passed, he was able to open his eyes, though he had to wipe tears away and was shocked to see Lucifer inspecting the Ring of Rage.

“Cool ring.” Lucifer slipped it into his shirt pocket. “Now for the crown.” Lucifer’s eyes blazed with confidence as Danny felt his strength drain alongside his inflated rage. For second time since this fight had begun, Danny felt fear and worry as Lucifer slowly air walked towards Danny who reflexively took a step back. “Just stop, Danny. This isn’t you.” Lucifer’s voice was calm, slow, and slightly pleading as he subtly infused it with his royal authority.

He noted it affected Danny, even though the young king shook it off the next second. It confirmed for Lucifer he could be reasoned with. Danny was taking ragged breaths as his mind raced, his emotions frayed and energy low. He let loose a roar and swung his claymore into the ground resulting in a large area covered in a thin layer of ice.

“HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?” Danny roared, his eyes glowing with fading light. His aura barely visible and the flames on the crown had died down to ecto-green. Lucifer could see the tears welling up in Danny’s eyes, his teeth grit as if trying to hold on to anything that would prevent the emotional collapse. Lucifer honestly regretted his next move, he always hated being the reason for tears, but it had to be done.

“Because you are hero!” Lucifer’s eyes slowly went from full red to red rimmed, yellow centre. As he took slow purposeful steps closer to Danny, being cautious of the ice. “Because you fight and put your body and soul on the line time and time again.” Lucifer stayed well out of arms reach, but could see Danny fighting for his life not to break down.

Lucifer kept pushing. “You do it to save lives. Look at yourself!” Danny looked at his trembling hands, then noted the ice on the ground wasn’t frosty but clear, clear enough to be reflective. “Is this who you want to be?” Danny took a look at his reflection, noting how the crown was barely lit he turned away and looked around the battlefield.

Even though he couldn’t see any damage, he could recall each moment. He then looked at the claymore stabbed into the ground. He had made sword in the past, usually when someone else was using a weapon to help even the playing field; but it was always blunt.

This time he took careful note of the edge; it was razor thin. This scared Danny, because that meant he was trying to do damage, trying to end the fight. He felt something on his cheeks, his fingers came back wet.

He looked towards Lucifer, eyes lost in a sea of remorse. “I…” Danny’s power flickered “I…I don’t…” Lucifer noted he was reaching out and took the chance. He slowly morphed to his normal form, as Danny powered down as well; the crown disappeared.
“You can get past this, you can heal. Trust me.” Lucifer offered his hand.

Meanwhile in a room of the hotel

“Honestly, you’d think they would fucking tone down the party favours. People are trying to get some beauty sleep you know.” Angel Dust had just attempted to get a nap in when rumbling of the hotel and sounds of explosions and screeching kept him awake. ‘It’s not the worst time I’ve had trying to get a nap. Reminds me a bit of new year’s eve, but way less hectic.’ He sighed as he pet Fat Nuggets, his pet pig. “Then again, I wonder what’s going on down there…” Angel hopped off the bed to stretch his legs

“Based off the explosions, probably nothing.” He stretched all his arms out and let out a low moan when he felt his joints pop. Only to freeze as the situation finally dawned on him “Wait. Cherri’s not here.” He immediately hopped towards the door “Fuuuuuuu….” Slamming the door shut behind as Nuggs let out a huff, as he did a small twirl on the bed to make himself comfy and settled down.

A few moments later, Angel arrived in the hallway leading to the foyer but before he could race forward, he noticed Husk standing halfway from the foyer threshold. Angel slowly walked over, only to finally notice the odd white and black barrier. Angel shook his head, knowing Husk would have the answers or at least an idea. “Oh, hey Husk! What’s ah…what’s going on?” Angel wouldn’t admit it, but the barrier gave him the creeps. It was in the exact moment the barrier started to break from the top down. Husk turned his head and took notice of his company.

“OH, hey Angel.” Husk gave a small nod as he turned his focus back on the foyer. “Danny and Lucifer were throwin down. Danny wanted to kill someone who was causing him trouble, and Lucifer didn’t want that.” Husk finished off with a shrug. Angel held up one finger, but no words came out. Took a moment and tried again as he attempt to understand what Husk just said.

“Right, cuz that’s…bad?” Angel tilted his head, since the concept of wanting to kill but being told no was rather foreign for the sinner. Husk just rolled his eyes as the white and black barrier had finally reached the floor to reveal Danny waving away Lucifer’s held out hand, only to shift from his knees to his butt.

Lucifer shrugged as the power that made his barrier slowly returned to him. “Oh, seems they’re all good now. That took fucking forever.” Husk rolled his eyes, but Angel saw the small smile on this face and knew he didn’t mean it.

Husk turned towards Angel and waved him to follow “Come on, let’s go get some breakfast.” Angel without a moment’s hesitation walked alongside Husk.
“Oh fuck yeah! Free food.” Angel and Husk shared a laugh. “Wait, why were you in the hallway?”
“Ahh I was on my way to breakfast, but I had slept in. Wings still on the mend somewhat.” Husk stretched his wings, only to wince when his muscles strained in protest. “Walked to the hallway and saw the freaky barrier. And since there wasn’t a way around, figured just wait and see.”

“So you were being lazy.” Angel teased with a raised eyebrow, since he knew there was a backdoor.
“Yeah, I was. But that’s only between you and me.” Husk chuckled as they both walked through the kitchen doors. Only to stop at the threshold to see Alastor’s green barrier stopping them from getting into the kitchen.

Alastor merely raised an eyebrow and noticed Lucifer’s barrier had disappeared. “Hey Boss, the fight’s over.” Husk gave a wave. Alastor’s eyes glowed for a moment, before he exhaled a long breath. His barrier slowly faded from view until all that was left was a lime green mist that Alastor breathed in.

“Much better. Now then, I believe breakfast is cooling down. Time to dig in.” Alastor announced and walked towards the table. Charlie was struggling with wanting to be a good host and to go check on her dad and Danny, she bit her finger as her mind raced with the choice at hand. Vaggie placed a hand on Charlie’s shoulder and gave a small nod. Charlie gave a big smile before she rushed to the foyer only to be stopped by a wincing Husk as he had blocked the doorway with his wing.

“I wouldn’t do that princess.” Husk stated softly as he slowly furled his wing. “Fight may be over, but the situation is still raw.” Tears welled up in Charlie’s eyes, looking between Husk and the foyer. She noted Husk wasn’t going to stop her if she decided to go into the foyer, but she took a moment to think about the situation.

“Yeah, you’re right Husk. I think my dad has it handled.” She sighed and wiped her eyes, and then did a full body shake. “Okay breakfast is up, I’m going to set aside a serving for my dad and Danny, at least that way it’ll be warm when they are finished.” Charlie strode to the cabinets to get plates out.

Husk noticed Vaggie given him a hard stare, only to soften and mouthed ‘Thank you.’ Husk just gave a shrug as him and Angel joined the others. None had noticed Niffty had slipped away, since Lucifer’s barrier had disappeared, there wasn’t anything keeping her attention.

Foyer

Lucifer and Danny were just living in the moment. Lucifer was letting Danny feel his emotions without judgement, while Danny appreciated the company; he always found it easier to process when not alone. Lucifer had seen Angel and Husk walk by towards the kitchen ‘Probably to get breakfast.’

It was at that moment that Danny’s stomach growled, and in the quiet foyer sounded like roar. They both looked at each other for moment before bursting out with laughter. It broke the last bit of emotional tension, making it easier to interact.

“How ya feeling, Danny?” Lucifer asked gently, while leaning on his cane. He had a soft smile which reminded Danny of Clockwork. From time to time, he would see that smile on Clockwork and it always made him feel safe, seen, and secure.

It was in that moment several things clicked. ‘If Lucifer is Charlie’s dad, that makes him a parent. An emotionally available parent. Who just gave me the father smile like when Dad would during tender moments…like Clockwork does all the time…when did I get ghost-dopted?!’

Lucifer just waited, as he noticed Danny go through several emotions and figured something must have clicked for him. Danny shook his head and focused on the present. ‘Right, Lucifer question…how do I feel?’ Danny took time to feel his body, breathing and ecto levels with slow steady breaths.

“Physically and emotionally tired.” Danny answer slowly, as he gently floated an inch of the ground only to drop after a few seconds. “And energy drained…not fun.” Lucifer just raised an eyebrow. Still with the soft smile on his face. “Sorry. That’s the second time you’ve had to cool me down.” Danny stood up and rubbed the back of neck in embarrassment.

“Trust me lad, I get it. First you thought it was an angel, and you were right.” Lucifer floated up and put a hand on Danny’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze and pat. Lucifer then laid on his cane and floated around Danny who chuckled at the angel’s antics. “Then you realised it was the man who’s been trying to fuck your mum, and kill your dad and/or you.” Lucifer felt a growl in his throat that he coughed away and Danny rolled his eyes at. Lucifer chuckled in embarrassment.

“So….You’re fine. Trust me, I get it.” Danny gave a tired smile “Come on, let’s get you breakfast, Charlie will have my hind if I keep you any longer” Lucifer shuddered.
“Nah she wouldn’t do that, she’s way too nice.” Danny replied as he floated next to Lucifer.
“You are right, I doubt she could do anything bad without feeling bad.” Both of them laughed and Lucifer wiped a fake tear only to pause at Danny’s odd smile.

“Vaggie on the other hand…” Lucifer’s face dropped.
“You wouldn’t…” Lucifer pointed a finger towards Danny who had one had on the kitchen door.
“Try me Fallen One.” Danny’s head twisted ninety degrees so his smile resembled the text-based emoji :D. Lucifer just gasped, took a deep breath, and raised his hands in defeat.

“Alright, you win.” His eyes turned pure red for a moment.  “Low. Blow.” Danny sweated nervously, only for Lucifer to smile and toss something at Danny; who fumbled trying to catch it almost letting it fall. Danny managed to catch it at the last second wondered what Lucifer tossed him only to realise it was the Ring of Rage.

Danny’s shocked expression caused Lucifer to laugh and swing an arm around Danny’s neck and pat his head. Danny pouted in return but felt fuzzy knowing Lucifer trusted him with the Ghost King Artifacts. “Come on, food is getting cold.”

Both entered the kitchen where they saw everyone but Niffty were enjoying a Charlie made breakfast. Charlie made some fresh eggs, bacon and hashbrowns when she noticed Danny was on his third plate. They all chatted about random topics to pass the time. Danny even told them of a couple of his ghost encounters as a teen which got everyone smiling and laughing; even a genuine guffaw from Alastor which surprised everyone only to laugh again at the ridiculousness of the situation.

It was in this feel-good moment that the resident maid decided to zip on in. “I need food. Is there any left?” Niffty hopped on the table to find two pieces of bacon, a hashbrown, and a spoonful of eggs. She scooped it up and stuffed it in her mouth in one go, chewed for a few seconds then swallowed. It was only when she was licking her lips that she noticed everyone looked at her in fear. “Was I not meant to eat that?” Only to look at Alastor who shook his head and sighed deeply.

“Niffty, you really do know how to cause chaos.” Alastor looked at someone behind Niffty, which got her curious. “Do be gentle, she does the cleaning.” Niffty turned around and was face first with a small but bright ball of green energy at the tip of someone’s finger. She followed the finger up the arm and to the face. Due to how her brain functions, fear could be considered foreign, but she knew what it was and how it felt. And in this moment, looking into the green, voidless eyes she felt true fear.

Without thinking she immediately hopped off the table and sprinted for the door hoping to find safety in the walls of the hotel. The doors had just opened enough for her to slip through when she was launched by a burning ball of ecto energy that caused her to go flying through the foyer and landed face first on a couch; her butt smoking without heat. Alastor raised an eyebrow at the display of control shown ‘To use the energy to push, rather than focus on damage. They hurt more when we fought. Interesting.’

Alastor’s radio smile was on full display. “Do you feel better then, young Daniel?” His only response was a low-level burst of energy that caused his hair to puff up like a cartoon cat after getting blow-dried; everyone gave a belly laugh in response as Danny wiped a tear from his face.

“Yeah I kind of do.” Danny gave a soft smile and looked at each of the people in the kitchen, aside from Angel Dust who he hasn’t interacted with much. Everyone else has been nice or even helped him in one way or another. In this moment, he realised he wasn’t alone and he had help. It made getting past the hurt seem doable.

Chapter Text

Danny had been floating in the foyer for the past half hour. He had been kicked out of the kitchen earlier by Charlie who stated that the kitchen could be cleaned later. He had attempted to phase through Charlie to help with the clean up only to be snagged by Lucifer’s cane and unceremoniously tossed out into the foyer. He was told to just relax and chill, since he still needed to recover from his months on the road.

Danny stared at the ceiling as he attempted to solve his current dilemma; he had found himself in an odd mental state. It wasn’t calm, it wasn’t unfeeling since he could still feel the rage towards the angels but it was still for want of a better word, much like the rest of his negative emotions. Unfortunately, it was the same with his positive emotions.

Even though he was smiling and laughing earlier with everyone over breakfast it was only after everything was said and done, did he realise it was his body going through the motions of social interaction. He knew logically he had felt happiness, joy, and cheer, but they didn’t last long enough; it was like the moment after he had felt them, they disappeared like smoke.

It didn’t help that Niffty had been trying for the past five minutes to grab him through various means of hops and jumps from different furniture and scraps. With each failed attempt she let out random grunts and whines. ‘I’m surprised that hasn’t been cleaned yet, Husk’s bar has been fixed. Maybe I should help out after I sort myself out. Though it would probably work better if I could mute Niffty, I can only take so mu…’

It was in that moment something clicked in Danny’s brain, why his emotions felt whack, they were muted. And he only ever got like that when he was emotionally exhausted with a mix of mental and physical exhaustion; but since he had gotten a decent night’s rest he could say he was at most at 40%. Danny gave a chuckle at remembering his mom’s advice after finding him crashed on the couch one to many times.

“Danny dear, you need proper rest regularly. One good night doesn’t make up for the twenty restless nights…” Maddie looked her son up and down noting the bags under her son’s eye. “In a row. Now off to bed mister, no more patrols until you get at least three days of proper rest.”

Even though he had grumbled the entire time, Valerie and Team Phantom were able to take care of patrols for the next three days which didn’t do much for his mental state, but his body loved getting the rest. His parents managed to distract him by learning about the different kinds of ghosts that could appear in Amity Park and how to manage them. It didn’t stop his parent’s initial violent reaction to ghosts, but it was the start of them breaking old habits.

Danny smiled at the memory and noted he had become restless just floating in the hotel, he needed to get out and get some air. Even if he was in Hell at least moving around outside would be better than staying inside, maybe he could even go flying later. Regardless he needed to let Lucifer know, better to seek permission than ask for forgiveness later since he was a guest in this realm. Luckily for him Lucifer was walking out of the main hallway headed towards the bar. Danny quietly floated over and landed just behind Lucifer.

“Hey Lucifer.” Danny waved as Lucifer turned around giving a big smile when his eyes landed on the ghost.
“Danny, my boy what can I do for you?” Lucifer asked gently, since he could sense the young king was a bit off. ‘Granted, it’s stark difference from when he first popped up, but still. More work needs to be done.’ Danny took a moment to compose himself with a deep breath.

“Just wanted to let you know, I’m gonna go for a walk.” Lucifer gave Danny a deadpan stare with a raised eyebrow which caused Danny to panic and raised his hands in a half surrender half placating manner. “Not going after Vlad I promise. Even I know I’m not up for that at the moment.” Danny stated, more for himself than Lucifer. It was a habit Tucker and Sam had drilled into him about saying statements out loud for his mind to actual register but also doubling up as a means for his friends to know he understood the situation. Because there was a difference between thinking a statement and saying a statement.

“I just need some air to help clear my head. Figured going for a walk would help with that.” Danny finished with a shrug and waited for Lucifer to answer. Lucifer took a moment to respond because he was highly impressed with Danny. ‘He actually knows when to take a rest, either he grew into the habit or the people close to him drilled it into his head. Either way, hopefully this is the start to recovery after his months long non-stop hunt.’

“No worries.” Lucifer stated with a big grin and a quick wave of his hand. “Totally get it. You’ve been moving constantly prior to your stay here, so I get wanting to stretch your legs.” Lucifer took a moment to look around the foyer only to notice both Vaggie and Charlie enter from the main hallway. He waved to both of them “Charlie, Charlie.” Charlie looked over to see her dad and Danny standing next to Husk’s bar and walked over, giving a wave to Danny. “Danny wants to go for walk; you mind going with him?”

“No worries at all.” Charlie nodded then turned to Vaggie “You mind getting groceries?” Vaggie nodded.
“No worries, Hun.” Vaggie gave Charlie a kiss on the cheek. Charlie opened the main door letting Vaggie go first. She unfurled her wings, and flew off towards the town. Danny was a bit in awe at the sight of wings for the first time in Hell. Charlie gently pushed Danny outside and was about to close the front doors when Lucifer called out.

“Oh, make sure he doesn’t get eaten by the cannibals.” Lucifer shouted, knowing one of the places Charlie would want to show was in their territory.
“By the who?!” Danny exclaimed with wide eyes as he poked his head through the threshold. This caused both Charlie and Lucifer to chuckle at his expense.

“Sure thing Dad!” Charlie gave a big grin as she grabbed Danny’s collar and while closing the front door. “Come on, I’ll show you some of the beautiful places this ring has to offer.” Danny was still in shock trying to figure out if they were pulling his leg or not as Charlie dragged him away from the hotel.
“Oh uh okay sure.” Danny nodded and floated long enough to orientate himself so he could walk beside Charlie.

Lucifer gave a grateful sigh knowing Danny was in safe hands with his daughter, and since Vaggie was out and about, chances of getting into deep trouble were rather slim. He sat himself at the bar as Husk walked in. “Okay with that we should be fine. Right? A moment of peace?” Lucifer asked, since to his current knowledge there wasn’t anything pressing targeting Danny.

“As far as I’m aware, yeah should be.” Husk took his time to clean any glasses he had missed prior to breakfast. They both took a deep breath and sighed in relief, relishing the quiet that settled in the hotel foyer. Lucifer held up two fingers and was about to ask for drink when the doors to the hotel slammed open with enough force to swing back and loosely closed. A deep voice with a slight metallic reverb shouted out into the foyer.

“DANNY PHANTOM!!” Lucifer raised a single eyebrow and swivelled on the bar stool to see who would disturb the peace, only to see what looked like a buff robot with a green flame mohawk. Lucifer gave a single flap of his wings to land in the centre of the foyer and gave a fake smile while furling his wings.

“Hello there.” He greeted curtly, wondering whether he should toss the intruder out or not. ‘It hasn’t even been five minutes, not even five minutes. Why do I have to deal with this nonsense? Probably cause I threatened to adopt the kid.’ Lucifer thought to himself as he wondered what type of crazy he was getting into.

“I am here for Danny Phantom!” Skulker loudly proclaimed while charging up one of his many ray guns. “To prove I, Skulker, am the greatest hunter, I SHALL HUNT THE GHOST KING!!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. ‘Surely the whelp heard me.’ Lucifer frog blinked at the weapon pointed in his general direction and took a moment to process what he just heard. He rubbed his face and sighed.

“Can you do this another time?” Lucifer replied in his tired dad voice, that had never failed to cause Charlie to pause whatever she was doing. Skulker, who had been on a hair trigger waiting for Danny to attack immediately stiffened and powered down his ray gun as it disappeared into one of the many compartments on his suit.

“Oh, right.” Skulker floated down till he was hovering just above the floor. “His wife.” He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as he gave a small cough to clear his throat. “Ahem, I forget that he would be mourning. That was rude of me.”

“Rude?” Lucifer scrutinized Skulker “You were trying to hunt him.”
“Ugh, well yes. Because I am a hunter.” Skulker waved his hands up and down in front of him. “Not a dick.” Skulker gave a deadpan expression as if it was the most obvious fact of the universe. Lucifer gave him one last hard glare, not sensing a lie.

“Alright, you aren’t going to hunt him.” Skulker nodded. “I’m guessing you got excited and such, understandable.” Lucifer chalked it up to a dynamic he knew nothing of as he only knew of Skulker from the purple gorilla story. “But I have to ask…” Lucifer let a little of his royal authority leak out. This caused Skulker to take an involuntary step back. “Why in the fucking hell are you here?”

“Oh, w-w-well, we had to find him.” Skulker voice stuttered a bit due to the overwhelming aura he could sense from Lucifer. ‘Who is this person? And why does he have a similar aura to the Whelp when he finally gets serious?’ Skulker felt like he was missing a key piece of information to figure out the puzzle in front of him.
“We?” Lucifer questioned only for him to realise a second later, since Danny mentioned his ghost enemies tend to travel in a group if he was ‘missing’ for too long. “Oh no…”

“HEY SKULKER! DID YOU FIND HIM YET?” A female voice shouted from outside.
“FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU…….” Lucifer’s groan could be heard throughout the ground floor of the hotel.
“In here guys!” Skulker shouted to the group outside. The doors were slammed open again by a young woman with blue flaming hair in a ponytail, though this time they stayed open as more came through. It was also at this moment Angel Dust left the kitchen to sit at the bar; Husk having poured him a drink as Angel hoped for a show.

“Oooo…I’m really digging this place.” Ember took out her guitar as she felt the need to start playing something. “It’s got killer vibes.” She floated away from the door as she started to tune her guitar to fit the vibe ‘I’m feeling something heavy but epic. Guy in the white suit seems to be the boss, at least from the size of the hat.’ Ember chuckled to herself, her hair flickering in size as she got ready to play. The next to enter was a middle-aged man in overalls and a beanie, whose eyes seem to be more focused on the hotel than the atmosphere as if calculating the measurements and getting more excited about something.

“It’s a box!” Box ghost was giddy as his smile got bigger sensing all the cubed rooms in the hotel. “It’s all boxes. Boxes!” He shouted only to get a quick slap to the back of the head from the ghost behind him, which made Boxy calm down. He rubbed his head, but gave a nod of thanks. The next to float in was a middle-eastern woman in an Arabian attire, unlike the other ghosts, she had no legs but rather a wispy tail.

“So many unfulfilled wishes…” Desiree marvelled at the sheer amount of wishes she could sense. “But you’re all dead, so it doesn’t count.” She gave a depressing sigh as she was so close yet so far from being able to fulfil her obsession. Skulker gave a quick look outside to make double sure it was only them, since it wouldn’t surprise him if another ghost popped out without notice and closed the doors.

“Yeah, just take a seat where you want over there.” Skulker pointed towards some furniture that wasn’t being used, even though one couch still had some wood piled on one half. “And ask the bellhop if you need anything.” Skulker pointed his thumb at Lucifer who had been pinching his nose attempting to stay calm in the wake of the ‘guests’ in his daughter’s hotel. Only for his control to crack at what Skulker had called him.

“Bellhop?” Lucifer was in disbelief, shock, and growing rage. Angel noticed and gave a chuckle which caused Husk to pay attention.
“Oh, this is going to be amazing.” Angel waved his empty glass, silently asking for a refill which Husk obliged with a roll of his eyes. Lucifer on the other hand was failing to process being called such a lowly title, his left eye started to twitch.

“Bellhop.” His voice was too calm and his body tensed as he looked towards the floor. Skulker, self-proclaimed greatest hunter, seemed to be unaware that his status of predator was shifting to prey.
“Yeah. Aren’t you?” Skulker raised an eyebrow. “I mean…” He waved his hand up and down towards Lucifer. “With the suit.” Lucifer felt something inside snap, as he finally looked up at Skulker. He pursed his lips, nodded his head, and gave a single tsk; it expressed his disappointment, rage, and disbelief all in on short action. It was in that moment Ember had tuned her guitar and started to strum, slowly growing in intensity and volume.

“Ember, what are you doing?” Skulker asked with a raised eyebrow since he knew she never played the big numbers unless it was for a reason.
“Oh, you know…” Her flaming hair grew in size turning from a ponytail into a bonfire pointing to the ceiling as she kept playing her heavy rock music. “Setting up the boss music.”
“Boss music?” Skulker raised an eyebrow having turned his back to Lucifer. “Why would we need…”

“Bellhop.” Lucifer’s stated in dangerously calm voice, one that anyone in the room could tell he was anything but calm. Skulker immediately turned around and noticed Lucifer had a certain aura around him and that his eyes weren’t yellow anymore.
“What are you…your eyes are doing a thing-“ Skulker slowly floated away from Lucifer, which just so happened to be open space as Husk and Angel were at the bar while Desiree, Box Ghost and Ember were on the opposite side. This gave Lucifer free reign of the middle and Skulker didn’t realise just yet that he was trapped. “Who are you?”

“Oh, my eyes.” Lucifer gave a dark chuckle. “They’re just alight with all the burning fucking rage directed at your complete disregard to my very fucking existence.” Lucifer’s smiled with teeth too big for his mouth as his eyes glowed red and he slowly morphed to his full demon form and circled the middle of the foyer. Skulker followed suit, trying to keep some distance between him and the angry bellhop. Skulker’s systems were sending out warning bells as he focused on the red flame that appeared between Lucifer’s horns. Skulker did a quick scan of the room, and noted the front door was now behind Lucifer and his back was to the interior of the hotel. ‘How didn’t I notice getting cornered?!’

“I seem to have made a tactical error.” Skulker chuckled weakly as he charged up his jetpack hoping for a quick getaway. “But I still need to know; who are you?”
“You know what? Fuck it!” Lucifer waved his arms wide. “I AM LUCIFER FUCKING MORNINGSTAR!”

“Oh fuck.” Skulker’s faced dropped and all plans to escape left his mind. He had done research into other realms to see if there was anything worth hunting. He had come across heavy hitters he vowed to avoid, he never thought the King of Hell would have such a small appearance. ‘Then again the whelp was tiny but had more power than he knew what to do with.’ Skulker was attempting to calculate his chances of escape when he noticed Ember increased the intensity of the music to fit the vibe. “Will you cut that out?!”

“Oh don’t hold it against her.” Lucifer gave a flap of his wings and twirled his cane. “The vibes in this place are perfect for musical numbers.” Lucifer stated as he gave a nod towards Ember. Skulker on the other hand was starting to sweat, and he didn’t know his suit had that function.
“I KNEW I liked the vibes here!” Ember shouted in glee as she played with passion.

“Great for you, BUT I’M ABOUT TO DIE!!!” Various blasters had been deployed and were charging. Skulker hoped it would be enough to survive his incoming demise.
“Don’t be silly, you can’t die again.” Skulker felt like that was worse than it sounded. “I will however, make this LAST.”

Skulker fired five different blasters and lasers at Lucifer, hoping at least one of them would hit. Unfortunately for him, Lucifer was faster. He twisted his body and head just enough for all five attacks to barely miss him. Skulker fired again and again and again. All the while every time Lucifer dodged one wave he took a step forward. In ten waves, he covered a quarter distance to Skulker.

In twenty he was halfway. In twenty-five waves, Skulker was losing his mind as his systems attempted to keep up with Lucifer’s speed. Skulker knew he had to launch his whole arsenal if he wanted to survive this fight especially before Lucifer got his hands on him. In the short pause it took for Skulker to activate everything, Lucifer was able to close the gap and swing his white glowing cane. Skulker immediately turned intangible to dodge the attack knowing nothing could touch a ghost except for a specific material.

‘Why am I flying sideways?’ Skulker thought to himself only to see the cane swinging from the opposite direction. ‘And now I’m flying the other way.’ He looked at his hands noting the slight glow and transparency when intangibility was active. ‘How am I getting hit?’ Lucifer appeared above Skulker and swung down sending him towards the ground. It was in that moment his systems finally registered the hits causing him to stiffen and drop his intangibility. ‘Oh, this is gonna...’ Skulker crashed into the ground and created a small crater. ‘Hurt like hell…’

He looked up to see Lucifer ready to slam his glowing cane into Skulker’s head with an overhead swing. ‘Emergency escape!!’ Skulker’s jet pack deployed sideways and blasted him away managing to dodge the hit by a hair. However, the moment Lucifer’s cane hit the ground a flash of white light blinded everyone for a few seconds and caused Ember to pause the music.

Once everyone blinked the spots out of their eyes, they saw a golden dome large enough to cover majority of the foyer but small enough to not push people against a wall. It was also translucent enough to have a clear view inside. Lucifer was in the middle of the dome, head held high and a grin the seemed larger than his face should allow, with a golden aura around his body as the flame that was once red was now white. Skulker was attempting to phase out of the dome, his jet-pack was on full blast as he pushed with all his might…and falling to even phase through the edge let alone the full inch thickness.

“It would seem I have trapped the hunter.” Lucifer stated calmly. “Not so great now, are you?” Skulker seethed with rage, his pride as a hunter was being questioned. His jet-pack was deactivated as he slowly turned back to Lucifer. Once again, every compartment on his suit was opened as he deployed every weapon he had; he noted it rather odd Lucifer allowed him. Skulker shook his head and made sure he aimed everything at Lucifer. “Ember be a dear and start the music back up. This dance needs some atmosphere.” Ember’s grin was massive and mean as she played the music stronger and louder. Skulker realised Lucifer wasn’t taking him seriously, which hurt his pride more.

“I’LL SHOW YOU WHO’S THE GREATEST HUNTER WHEN I TAKE YOUR PELT!!” Skulker shouted as every ecto-ray, ecto-blaster, missile, machine gun, net launcher and even a couple darts were fired at Lucifer. Lucifer merely raised an eyebrow and tapped his cane just before the first attack hit. The impact from Skulker’s arsenal was enough to shake the hotel for a moment, while smoke obscured everyone’s view outside of the dome.

“Not even the whelp could survive that. Now to get out of…” Skulker found the dome was still up. “Here?? How!?” It was in the moment he heard chuckling behind him as the smoke began to clear, so to the reason why the attack didn’t work. Skulker was in disbelief when he saw Lucifer was inside a smaller dome, completely unharmed.

“The look on your face is priceless.” Lucifer continued to chuckle as he tapped his cane on the ground three times. This cause his smaller dome to burst out clearing the rest of the smoke. “Now, then. Since you’ve had your big attack. I believe it’s my turn.”

Meanwhile with Vaggie

Vaggie had managed to reach the city and found the correct grocer in under five minutes. With the list given to her by Charlie, she was able to nab all the items in record time, but checking out was another issue. There was only one register and the person in front of her had a full cart and a book full of coupons. ‘I fuckin hate couponers!’ Vaggie let out a low growl ‘At this point Charlie and Danny will be asleep by the time I get back.’

Luckily for her the cashier was rather experienced with coupons, as they didn’t bat an eye at the book. They just cracked their knuckles and got to work. Vaggie’s annoyance at the situation slowly dissipated into awe at the speed in which the coupons and items were scanned; her jaw dropped seeing that the store actually owed a whole dollar to the customer.

“Next.” Vaggie was frozen in shock until she got pushed from behind, and gave a meek smile to the cashier. After paying and taking the bag, she checked her phone in case Charlie had texted; she checked the time and noted she had spent twenty minutes overall in the store.

“Well guess Charlie and Danny are having fun. But I’ll send a text just in case.” Vaggie took the few seconds to send a check in message before she unfurled her wings and took off towards the hotel. A few minutes later she was at front door and noted there was music playing; but unlike any she heard in recent times.

“Huh sounds like a party, guess Charlie and Danny came back early and made a new friend.” Vaggie thought out loud as she entered the hotel she shouted out “Alright Charlie! I’m back with more groceries…”

She waved the few bags she had only for her eye to widened at the sight of Lucifer beating the ever living shit out of Skulker in time with the music being played by Ember while inside a transparent dome. Lucifer picked Skulker up by the neck with a tight grip making the metal creak under the pressure before being thrown down hard enough to crater the ground. ‘We just got that fixed from when Danny and Alastor fought…you know what not my problem.’ Vaggie thought to herself as she watched the train wreak in front of her.

“Now, tell me Skulker...” Lucifer placed a foot on Skulker’s chest with enough force for the metal to groan in protest and sparks to start flying as he leaned over Skulker’s face. “WHO IS YOUR DADDY?”
“You are Lucifer.” Skulker sobbed, tears running down his face. “You are! You are my daddy!”
“Ah ha! There we fucking go!” Lucifer laughed in triumph while Skulker continued to sob. Vaggie meanwhile pursed her lips, closed her eye, and took a deep breath. On the breath out she surveyed the foyer and noticed three new guests to the right while Husk and Angel were at the bar. She walked over and asked “Where’s Charlie?”

“Oh, her and Danny are still out on their walk.” Angel answered nonchalantly more focused on the beatdown. Vaggie let the answer roll around in her head for a few seconds then nodded and shrugged her shoulders.
“Alright. I’ll go finish cleaning the kitchen and put the groceries away.” She then waved her empty hand towards the chaos. “Let me know if something new or worth caring about happens.”
“Yeah yeah.” Angel waved one of his hands at Vaggie as he looked back at the beatdown “Is that the Boston Crab? Haven’t seen that in a while.”

Lucifer was crushing Skulker’s legs and bending his back enough that sparks were flying everywhere as the metal continued to groan in protest. “Alright everybody, are you having fun yet?” Lucifer raised his arms up as he did a slow circle like a wrestler hyping the crowd up.

Ember was lost to the music, her fingers groaned in protest but she pushed through.
Box Ghost was bobbing along while hugging a box of tissues Niffty had given him.
“Nooooooo…” Skulker sobbed as he shook his head and attempted to crawl away.
“No.” Desiree replied with a monotone answer.
“You don’t count.” Ember immediately replied.
“Oh piss off!” Desiree clapped back while giving Ember the bird who returned it in kind with two.

Meanwhile out in the city

“Look around Danny, isn’t it beautiful?” Charlie did a twirl as she swept her arms outwards “The buildings, the parks! The people are a…” They both saw a random person get stabbed and mugged in an alley they passed by. Charlie winced while Danny looked pale, well paler than a ghost. “Little murder-ry, but that’s fine! We can help them get to heaven, no matter what. All of them.” Charlie finished on a hopeful note, though her smile was strained as she looked towards Danny for some sort of positive reaction.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty enough place…” Danny did a careful scan of the area to see if they were in any danger. He did note that some of the residents had lingering stares for him over Charlie. ‘Guess cause I’m new and a stark difference to Hell’s residents, it’d make sense they focus on me.’ Danny thought to himself as he continued “Especially if you like red, which apparently you do.” Danny waved his hand up and down towards Charlie’s red clothes in a teasing manner which caused Charlie to giggle a bit.

Just a little quiet for me.” Danny finished with a shrug
“Why would you say that?” Charlie facepalmed and groaned into her hand.
“What? That it’s quiet? That’s not a bad thing.” Both of them heard explosions and shots fired in the distant. Danny turned towards the noise “Oh, that’s why it’s a bad thing.” Danny rushed towards the chaos while Charlie followed behind. They rounded the corner to see a brawl happening in the street and a random alley. Danny took a moment to analyse the situation, but Charlie piped in quickly.

“Those Loan Sharks are attacking that imp.” Charlie stated worryingly.
“It’s the guys that were attacking Husk when I first came to town.” Danny paused for a moment, with a finger to his chin. “Oh wait…” Danny took another look “Are they the same ones? Is that fishiest?” Danny thought for a moment before he nodded at his own question. “Do we help out?” As he turned to Charlie.
“I mean…the Loan Sharks are kinda bad so…” Charlie shrugged at Danny since she can’t stop him from interfering, but also can’t lie about the morality of literal loan sharks.

“Good enough for me.” Danny flew over and pushed the imp to the side and behind him “Stand aside imp. Hey guys remember me?” The various Loan Sharks paused at the sight of Danny only to roar in anger.
“It’s the fuckin wanker who took out Johnny. Get em lads!!” The Great White in the middle shouted, who Danny assumed was the new leader. The sharks took a few steps forward only to get interrupted by the imp.

“Oh, what the fucking miscarriage canon did you get fired out of? I’ve got this fucking handled!” The imp in question stepped beside Danny and raised a rather intricate pistol. Danny just frog blinked at the imp as he raised one hand and fired a large ectobeam towards the Loan Sharks while keeping eye contact with the imp. The Loan Sharks were sent flying out across the street crashing into cars and walls; one even went through a store window.

The imp stayed quiet for a moment ‘Well fuck. I’m in deep shit. Better play nice.’ The imp threw his hand out “Nice to meet ya kid. The name’s Blitzø, the O is silent.”
“Oh, uh I’m Danny Phantom. Nice to meet you, Blitz.” Danny shook Blitzø’s hand. “Unless, ‘The O is Silent’ is a part of that?” Danny tilted his head to the side. As they both walked out the alleyway.
“Ugh no.” Blitzø dusted his shoulders and checked his pistol. “My named used to Blitzo. I changed it so the O is silent.”

“So, the O is there…but it’s as useful as the G in lasagna.” Danny teased.
“That G is doing hard work. The Italians…” Blitzø had a finger pointed at Danny ready to continue the debate only for Charlie to pop up behind them.
“Uhh guys?” Charlie got their attention and pointed at the oncoming wave of loan Sharks.
“Oh.” Blitzø’s tail drooped to the floor as his arms went slack.
“Huh, that is a lot of guys…What’s the plan?” Danny’s hands glowed in preparation to fight. ‘I don’t think I have enough juice to take them all down. Must be at least twenty of them…too big to count properly. Clockwork did say…’

“Well, considering I’m out of ammo…RUN LIKE A BITCH!” Blitzø shouted as he attempted to run, only to realise he was running on air as Danny had grabbed him by his coat collar.
“Wait, Blitzø, you’re a hellborn right? Not a sinner?” Danny placed Blitzø on the ground.
“I should be running, but yes, I’m not a bloody sinner. I’m a hellborn. What’s it to ya?” Blitzø had his hands on his hips as he spoke in a condescending tone.
‘Whelp, I hope those lessons from Clockwork actually work.’ Danny took on a shadow like form and stepped into Blitzø. The moment Danny disappeared Blitzø tensed and flopped at the waist.

“Danny? What did you do?” Charlie was worried for two reasons. One she had never seen Danny do anything like that before and two, because the mob was closing in on them.
“Whoa! There’s some power here.” Charlie had expected to hear Blitzø’s voice but was surprised when she heard Danny’s voice. It seemed Danny had taken control of the Blitzø’s body but seemed to be jerking around. “Hey, calm down and let me work.” Danny talked to Blitzø as he managed to smooth out his movements. “Wonder what we can do?” Danny charged up an ectobeam and noted his usual toxic green colour was now mixed with some hellish red energy.

Danny took a moment to admire the mix of colours and the power at his fingertips. He slowly raised both hands and aimed at the oncoming mob of sharks and fired a massive infernal ectobeam. The Loan Sharks, at the sight of a massive energy attack attempted to stop and run away, some managed to jump to the side, but the majority were caught in the attack. Those hit by the beam were sent flying down the street, while the lucky few who had managed to dodge were shaking likes leaves in the wind.

“Whoa what the hell was that?” Charlie asked rather concerned.
“Hell is in fact what it was.” Danny answered matter-of-factly
“I don’t get…” Charlie tilted her head in confusion.
“I’ll explain later.” Danny stated as he scanned the street to see how many Loan Sharks were left standing.

He noted he had taken out about half the mob in that initial blast along with a few cars and part of the street. ‘So that’s what I can do with a lower realm born…I don’t think I want to know what I could do with a higher realm born. I’m once again coming to terms how terrifying I can be.’ Danny shuddered at the thought because it reminded him of the dark timeline. He was brought out of his musing when Blitzø spoke.

“Wait, are you using me like a puppet?” Blitzø asked, but only Danny could hear him.
“Yeah, I am.” Danny answered hoping to focus on the incoming mob.
“I’d say deeper, but sock puppet works for me, Daddy.” Blitzø used a semi-sultry voice to tease Danny
“Gross dude. Time to finish.” Danny replied as he charge up an attack in each hand.
“That’s what he said. HA!” Blitzø chuckled while Danny just groaned having walked into the joke. He waited until the mob was closer as they had split into two groups; one to each side of the street.

“Don’t worry about property damage, shit happens all the time.” Blitzø decided to pipe in since he noticed Danny was hesitating. Danny nodded his to head to show he heard Blitzø, but it wasn’t property damage he was worried about. The Loan Sharks were ducking between cars and pushing fleeing residents out of the way. Danny noted the street was as empty as it was going to get once the sharks got within two car lengths; he took one final calming breath and mumbled a silent prayer that only the sharks got hurt.

Danny moved in front of the left-side car and fired the first infernal ectobeam; it ripped through the top of the cars as it slammed into the various sharks. It acted like a battering ram as it sent them in flying in various directions. Danny then flew the short distance to the right-side car and fired the second infernal beam, with the same result. Danny noted the sharks landed in various position in the street, some crashed into cars others through shop windows and one was left hanging from a street light. “And that’s all of them.” Danny gave a chuckle and satisfied sigh. “Man, it’s nice to have a battery to use.” Danny let out a large yawn. “I’m still so tired.”

“So…can you get out of him now?” Charlie tentatively asked as she walked up to Danny, since she was still unsure on what Danny did.
“Well, yeah but it’s not like something is gonna happen…” Danny shrugged as Charlie facepalmed mumbling some sort of complaint.

“Blitzy?” A silkie voice questioned from behind Danny, who turned around only to look up, way up ‘I really need to stop testing the universe…also Blitzø is shorter than I thought.’
“Right, that’s the owner of this body. Okay.” Danny attempted to smile and wave to defuse the situation before it got hairy “Hi, I’m currently driving the body around…”

“What do you mean the owner of that body?” Stolas’ eyes started to glow with infernal power.
“Whoa whoa one second!” Danny hopped out of Blitzø’s body “Okay, Hi I’m Danny. See he’s fine.” Blitzø was holding his head as he swayed a bit, he shook his head a few times then blinked and focused on Stolas.

“See it’s all good.” Danny stated weakly. Stolas raised a single eyebrow as his many eyes narrowed at Danny.
“I just needed a battery cuz I haven’t gotten enough proper rest in a while. I don’t sleep well anymore unless I’m dead on my feet.” Danny gave a nervous chuckle only to realise he didn’t know this demon’s name. “Sorry manners. Who are you?”

“I am Stolas, of the Goetia. And you?” Stolas leaned down and gave the air a sniff “You smell like a mortal soul.”
“Calm down Stolas. He was inside me consensually.” Blitzø commented as he grabbed Stolas’ leg and dragged him a step away from Danny.
“You LET HIM INSIDE OF YOU?” Shadows grew around Stolas like a cloak as his many eyes glowed intensely.

“Blitzø for the love of fuck.” Danny complained as he facepalmed. Charlie stayed quiet since she couldn’t figure out the situation yet.
“Stolas calm ya tits. I’m okay. Just a new experience.” Blitzø arched his back enough for bones to crack, which Blitzø moaned at. He continued to do a few other stretches to see if anything was out of place. ‘Huh, whatever the kid did seems to have made things better. Haven’t felt this loose in a long time.’ Blitzø thought to himself enjoying the lack of pain.

“Are you sure Blitzy?” Stolas asked still concerned with his imp’s health as he leaned down to get a better look. He even attempted to stroke Blitzø’s cheek only to have it gently swatted away.
“I’m fine. I was in the middle of dealing with some loan sharks when he stepped in to help me.” Blitzø turned to Danny. “Thank you.” He was about to turn back to Stolas but instead pointed his pistol at Danny. “Don’t tell anyone I said that.”

“But Blitzy, he possessed you! That’s not the kind of sleight I can let go of!” Stolas complained, his eyes still glowing, but the shadowed cloak had disappeared.
“Mr Goetia sir…Um Danny is the Ghost King.” Charlie piped in while make a strained smile.
“Oh.” Stolas’ voice was but a squeak as his entire body puffed up and all his eye went wide having lost any glow.

For a brief moment even Blitzø got worried about Stolas, since he had never seen him scared stiff before. Blitzø reach out to grab Stolas’ hand, which seemed to jolt the avian demon. Stolas immediately brushed down his feathers to at least look proper. “Well, I have less to say, other than if you dare to harm Blitzy again ever…” He tapped his finger on Danny’s chest as he leaned down to look him in the eye.

“Arg Stolas.” Blitzø managed to get Stolas’ attention with his groan “If we leave now, I’ll use the bear traps on you, ok?” Stolas went quiet for moment, slowly rose to his full height turned and walked away. Blitzø gave a wave to Danny and Charlie as he caught up to Stolas.
“Bear traps?” Danny could not for life of him figure out how bear traps would work. Even Charlie was at a loss for words as she shrugged in answer.

“So shall we continue our walk?” Charlie asked with a head tilt, though she noticed Danny was focused on the sky.
“Sure, but take my hand.” Danny reached out his hand with a soft grin on his face. Charlie was rather curious as to what Danny had planned, but since he hadn’t been dishonest since he arrived in Hell; Charlie doesn’t hesitate to take his hand. With a firm grip on her hand Danny extended his intangibility and ghost telekinesis to help lift Charlie off the ground and slowly floated above the buildings.

Danny had figured out over the years that if he slowly introduced the sensation of flying, then people were more likely to fly with him in the future. Most compared it to a roller coaster while others wondered if this was how birds felt. After a few minutes Danny decided to up the speed to his patrol pace which caused Charlie to grip his hand tighter.
“You okay there?” Danny asked worryingly since he didn’t want to deal with fear vomit. Charlie giggled in response.
“Yeah! This…this is great!” Charlie gave a big grin as Danny looked forward to make sure they didn’t run into anything.

“What, never been flying before?” Danny teased. Charlie rolled her eyes in response.
“Nah, it’s just the first time you’ve smiled for real.” Danny was caught off guard for a moment, only to realise that Charlie was correct. Every other smile she had seen until now had been pleasant or sad smiles. ‘I guess flying really does help me.’ Danny thought to himself as he enjoyed flying with someone.

“Hey fly that way, we can get a bird’s eye view of the park.” Charlie requested and Danny all but happily obliged. They spent the next twenty odd minutes with Danny flying wherever Charlie pointed. Charlie had a permanent smile on her face while Danny felt lighter than ever, the only time he could remember feeling this positive was prior to losing Sam and his child.

Danny took a moment to land them on the roof of a random building near the edge of the city, so he took take a small breather before flying them back to the hotel. “Thanks for the lift, Danny. It’s always nice to see the city from above.” Charlie gave Danny a hug and a big smile.
“Yeah well…it’s the only way I know how to destress.” Danny returned the hug, but also ended it shortly after. He sighed before he sat down on the roof’s edge his legs dangling.
“If that’s the only way you know how to destress, then it must have been a lot of lonely nights.”

Charlie joined Danny on the edge. She noticed Danny didn’t reply straight away, but stayed patient. 
“Yeah. More than I’d like to admit.” Danny let out a long sigh as he stared out at the night sky.
“What about above? On earth? You have any friends or family to take care of you? Or remind you to take care of yourself?” Charlie was growing more concerned, but also had been waiting for a moment like this to actually ask these questions. She had been wondering about Danny’s well-being and past health ever since he joined them at the hotel.

“Yeah but I kind of pushed them away after Sam….” Danny took a steadying breath as his eyes started to tear up. “Tucker is the mayor, he’s busy with stuff. And my parents and Jazz have been a mess since… so I’ve been dealing with it alone.” Danny had turned away from Charlie feeling ashamed.

“Come on Danny, that’s what family is for.” Charlie placed a comforting hand on Danny’s shoulder; he turned back towards Charlie his eyes still glistening with unshed tears. Charlie gave small smile only to then tilt her head and ask “Wait, did Dad adopt you yet?”
“Wait what?! He was serious?!” Danny lost his balance and fell off the edge, but immediately floated. Charlie and Danny both looked at each other for a moment then burst out laughing.

Meanwhile at the V’s Tower Pent House Suite

Valentino strode through the penthouse doors shouting “VOX! Our Loan Sharks got taken out by some green-eyed albino Nightwing!” He knew  his voice was loud enough to carry through the open space floor plan. Vox had been at his standing desk when he had heard Valantino come in.
“What are you talking about? Those were vicious Loan Sharks!” Vox paused as he registered the second half of the sentence “What do you mean some green-eyed albino Nightwing?” Vox asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I DON’T KNOW!! All I got told was it was a pale as a ghost, green-eyed, white haired Nightwing.” Valantino waved his hands in the air letting out a low growl at how useless the sharks were.
“Pale as a ghost and white hair, hence the albino comment that was actually kind of smart for you Val.” Vox chuckled as he teased Valantino; he knew it would get under his skin.
“Fuck you Vox.” Valantino’s eyes growled red and he puff out pink smoke.

“Alright.” Vox waved his hands in a calming gesture. “Well, that’s fucking annoying. Guess it’s the waiting game to get the money from Blitzø.” Vox flipped a prepared table to vent his frustrations. “What about this albino fucker? What else did you hear about him?” He crossed his arms waiting for more info.

“Well, he apparently possessed Blitzø, then started blasting green/red energy everywhere.” Valantino took a drag from his cigarette holder. “But apparently he can just fucking do that, so I don’t fuckin know.” He took a long drag, held it for a bit then puffed out a smoke ring and blew out smoke pellets. Vox took the time to note three out of five went through the ring.

“White hair and green energy blasts? That doesn’t sound like a hellbound…does it?” Vox’s face was flipping through every recent sinner and resident of Hell that had popped through in the past few weeks. It was always good to have names to faces just in case.
“No. But we’ll find out.” Valantino brought out his phone to start contacting his associates to put the word out while Vox went back to his desk. Neither noticed an odd green glow from one of the wires smoothly going towards the screen.

“Okay then, I’ll start…start…st…” The moment Vox touched the keyboard the green glow jumped from the screen to Vox’s fingers. It travelled up his arms, paused at his chest before it settled on Vox’s head. Vox’s body started to jerk and spark as his screen face went through several different windows before it settled on a scrolling error message. “ERROR! ERROR! NEW USER!” Vox spoke in a generic computer voice which concerned Valantino since this was the first time he’d since Vox like this.

“Vox? Vox you okay??” Valantino took a tentative step towards Vox slowly reaching out to Vox, only to see him slump at the waist. Just before Valantino touched Vox’s shoulder, he stood ram rod straight which caused Valantino to hop back in fright. He was about to throw an ash tray only to been stunned at seeing an unusual face on Vox’s screen. It looked like a rather handsome man with green skin, white hair and what he could only assume were black rectangle lenses for eyes. But what was most unusual was it was only a head floating on the screen.

“MY NAME IS TECHNUS, MASTER OF ALL TECHNOLOGY!” Technus exclaimed as he laughed manically.
“What. The. Fuck.?” Valantino’s body went slack because he couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing, let alone hearing. Vox’s mouth had moved but it wasn’t his voice that came out. It was at this moment that the main doors of the pent house opened as Velvette walked in typing on her phone.

“Hey guys.” She tapped a few more times and sent her latest message, looked up for a few seconds only to see Vox’s screen glowing green, a manically laughter in a voice she knew wasn’t Vox’s and his body jerking and sparking like an energy surge was going through his body. “What the rule 34 is going on?” For once Velvette was at a loss on what to do, her phone forgotten in her slack arm.

“Velvette, please help!” Valantino rushed over and grabbed Velvette by the shoulders. “Vox has been possessed.” Valantino had moved Velvette in front of him like a shield, even though he towered over her.
“I. Can. See. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G!” Technus was completely unaware of the Velvette and Valantino, as he was lost in the Vox’s systems, admiring the amount of reach and power he had at his fingers tips. “This is a pretty swanky set up you got here. Oh, so many screens.” Technus chuckled to himself as he swiveled Vox’s body in circles.

Both Valantino and Velvette held a bit of fear at this comment; they both knew Vox’s screen room was where he could monitor everything in the ring with the multitude of cameras at their disposal. They had never thought about what could happen if someone else was able to tap into the system.

“Get out of Vox!” Valantino turned to Velvette “Do you have any ideas on what we can do?” Valantino pleaded hoping she had any idea. Velvette took a moment to look at Vox then looked at Val. She smacked Val’s hands off her shoulders, spun on her heel, and walked towards the penthouse doors. Valantino was stunned for a moment, then shouted “YOU BITCH!!” His only answer were the doors being slammed shut.

“Now…” Technus linked his new body’s fingers and stretched them out in front of him, he let out a satisfying sigh when he felt his fingers crack. “Let’s see what…WAIT…Who’s Angel Dust??” Technus twitched his index finger like one would when using a mouse only to have his vision invaded. He immediately grabbed his head as he screamed in agony.

“WHY IS THERE SO MUCH PORN?! WHAT IS…WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU ALL?? WHY? WHAT?” Technus wanted the nightmare to end, but it just kept going. The speed at which the files were flying across Vox’s screen face was growing, not even Valantino could make heads of tiles of what images were being seen.
“Why are you bringing Angel Dust up?” Valantino asked curiously, but noticed Technus either completely ignored the question or couldn’t hear him.

“I CAN’T…” Vox’s body twitched and sparked as the green glow grew brighter. “I NEED TO.” Technus gave a strangled scream “I. AM. GONE.” The green glow instantly intensified acting like a flash bomb; luckily Valantino managed to close his eyes and shield his face with his coat to lessen the blinding effect. Once the light died down, Valantino slowly lowered his arms as he blinked his eyes; even though he closed them in time, the intensity of the light flash still made spots appear in his vision. His vision quickly cleared and he was left looking at Vox once again slumped at the waist but slightly smoking, which quickly dissipated.

“Vox? Are you okay?” Valantino asked while keeping his distance, no point getting near if it meant he could get possessed. This time round though, Valantino picked up and tossed the ash tray at one of Vox’s hands. It made the arm swing loosely, before it bounced on Vox’s foot. In that exact moment Vox’s body jerked up as his arms flailed around.

“Bleh! What the rule34 just happened?!” Vox exclaimed as he shook his head a few times, trying to get his vision back to normal. He smacked his head a few times as his screen went through a different static fuzz with each hit. It was only on the fifth hit that Vox managed to get back to default.

Valantino just raised an eyebrow at the sight before him.
“Well…you were possessed by someone.” Vox gave a shuddered in disgust.
“Fuck okay. First thing I’m doing is upgrading my security.” Vox quickly checked his desk to see if any damage had occurred. He noted nothing was amiss and headed to his screen room.

“Oh, protection. There’s a good idea.” Valantino teased, he knew it would get under Vox’s skin. He smiled in victory when he saw Vox stop mid-step. Vox’s head creaked as it stiffly tilted and turned towards Val. Vox couldn’t get any words out, but his expression read ‘You didn’t just…you got jokes…I’m going to hit you later.’ Valantino just chuckled in response.

Meanwhile back in the sky

Danny was starting to feel the drain on his energy reserves from flying for so long, let alone with someone and keeping invisibility up the entire time with the occasionally intangibility to protect them from random objects. Danny figured he had enough to land them at the top of the hill but not in front of the hotel. If Charlie noticed him misstep on flat ground, Danny didn’t know.

He just took the time to dust himself off, even though a quick usage of intangibility would have done the job; it was a grounding trick Jazz had taught him which doubled as a way to reset if he felt a bit off. Charlie was skipping twirling and hopping towards the hotel as she babbled about the flight and the differences between flying with Razzle and her father.

Danny took it in stride just enjoying the infectious happiness Charlie was giving; it also made him forget the pain in his heart for a moment too. It was then Charlie looked back at Danny with a massive grin and gave a small squeal as her hands shook rapidly. “We have got to do that again, maybe even take Vaggie with us.”

“Whoa whoa. I’m not a taxi service, let alone the third wheel on a date.” Danny stated and crossed his arms in front of him like a X.
“Hey it wouldn’t be a date; it’d be three friends flying high in the sky.” Charlie weakly argued. Danny gave her a deadpan look that she gave an embarrassed chuckle at.

“Doesn’t Vaggie have wings?” Danny tilted his head as they both stayed outside for a bit longer, simply enjoying each other’s presence.
“Oh right…I actually forgot about that.” Charlie blushed in embarrassment as Danny chuckled in amusement.

“See so she can take you flying.” Danny tapped Charlie on the forehead with his index finger.
“But it’s not the same, plus it wouldn’t last as long.” Charlie whined as she rubbed where Danny had tapped.

“Oh so stamina issues aye?” Danny asked with his hand linked together behind his head.
“What no! There’s no issues with her…” Danny wiggled his eyebrows which caused Charlie to blush hard in response. She immediately slapped Danny’s shoulder; Danny just laughed as he turned intangible to dodge the other slaps. “That is not what I meant and you know it. Now turn solid so I can hit you mister.” Danny floated away from Charlie before he turned solid, chuckling the whole time.

“Well, I’m sure Vaggie will know what you meant when I tell her.” Danny gave a shit-eating grin as Charlie gasped.
“You wouldn’t…” Charlie’s eyes narrowed as they took on a red glow.
“Only one way to find out.” Danny sing-songed.
“First one to Vaggie wins.” Charlie challenged.
“You know I can just fly through walls?” Danny crossed his arms with one eyebrow raised.
“Without powers.” Charlie amened.
“Oh a challenge huh…hmm.” Danny took a moment to think about it. “Nah.”
“What why not?” Charlie whined.

“Cause I’d win.” Danny stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
“What, no you wouldn’t” Danny didn’t say anything, just grabbed Charlie by her suit collar and lifted her up enough so her feet were in the air. Charlie just gave a nervous chuckle seeing Danny’s point. “Okay yeah, you’d win. Just toss me to a couch as you ran on by.” Charlie sighed as Danny lowered her to the ground.

“Exactly. Figured I’d save you the embarrassment.” Danny smirked knowing he had won this round.
“Why you…well…okay.” Charlie sighed in defeat. Danny took that moment to ruffle her hair. “Hey stop that.” She took a moment to tidy her hair. “It takes effort to tame this hair I’ll have you know.”

“Don’t worry I know. Got enough grief from Sam whenever I’d mess with her hair in the morning.” Danny gave a sad chuckle. Charlie immediately gave Danny a hug who returned in kind.
“We’re here for you Danny, for however long you stay.”

“Thanks Charlie.” Danny tightened the hug for a moment before letting go. They both wiped their eyes and took steadying breaths. Charlie took the initiative and headed towards the hotel Danny followed soon after. However, the closer they got the more they could hear some sort of muffled noise. It wasn’t until they were outside the door they could recognise it as music.

They stood outside the door for a few moments trying to figured out what was playing. To Charlie it was completely unfamiliar, whereas to Danny he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it was oddly familiar and surprisingly gave him a sense of both dread and comfort. For the half-life of him, his brain couldn’t make the connection but it was on the tip of his tongue. Charlie having had enough opened the door and strolled in.

“Dad! We’re back! Danny’s feeling way better after his walk.” Charlie shouted out not knowing where her dad was until she saw him standing in the foyer. She turned back to Danny when he spoke.
“Hey don’t need to shout that out for everyone to hear.” Danny stated with a minor blush from the potential embarrassment.
“How else am I meant to get Dad’s attention.” Charlie and Lucifer raised a single eyebrow towards Danny.

“Touche.” Danny rubbed the back of his head, as he turned his focus on Lucifer and stepped closer. “Wanted to say sorry about going full emo on you.”
“Oh pishtosh, Danny. What kind of fun can you have in life without being a little dramatic, you understand?” Lucifer moved his hands in a dismissive wave as he gave a gentle smile. Danny returned the smile in kind only to realise something was off. ‘Why is Lucifer taller? He barely got past my chest, now he’s a head shorter than me. Why would…oh?’

It was then that the music registered as he looked at Lucifer’s feet. “Skulker?”
“Hmm?” Lucifer looked down for a moment, then beamed at Danny with pride. “Oh, you noticed my new rug!” Lucifer wiped his feet on Skulker’s face. “I do believe the brand is Skulker.” Danny just frog blinked in response, to then turn to the origin of the now familiar music.

“Ember.” She gave her guitar a quick strum in response. After the major beat down Lucifer gave Skulker she had started playing some of her more mellow pieces. The vibes were too good not to play anything, but she couldn’t keep the energy going; so, she just played something so it wasn’t quiet.

Danny turned to the next ghost, which surprised him since he knew she couldn’t grant wishes in this realm. “Desiree.” She just rolled her visible eye and scoffed.  Danny gave a tiny nod in response and turned to the third and final ghost.

“Box Ghost.” Said ghost had stayed quiet the moment Danny started talking. Usually, he would be shouting out ‘Beware!’ but the atmosphere had turned rather tense for some reason when Danny had noticed them. Boxy had learned, through many mistakes, that when Danny was tense it was better to stay quiet. He simply nodded his head and hugged his tissue box tight.

“Good to see you all.” Danny took a deep breath in and sighed. “I’m gonna stand over there for a moment.” They all watched Danny go and sit on the opposite end of Husk’s bar, away from Angel Dust. No one knew what to do, since the ghosts had been waiting for Danny, but knew he needed time to process seeing them. Lucifer pursed his lips trying to figured out if Danny needed a friend or a father figure. But he was interrupted by his daughter.

“Um…Dad, who are these people? Danny knows them but…” Charlie wavered off, a bit of fear in her voice. ‘Good she recognised a potential threat. Maybe she is learning…though more likely is that if Danny is powerful, how powerful are they and would they cause trouble. Better appease Charlie and keep things chill.’ Lucifer took a moment to compose himself then gave Charlie a showmen smile.

“Oh these are his sometimes antagonists. And this one.” Lucifer tapped his foot on Skulker’s face. “Decided it would be a great idea to call me a bellhop.” Charlie took a quick notice of the foyer and noticed it was once again damaged as she focused on the new crater her father and his rug were in.

She gave a single nod. “Okay, that makes sense.” She then turned to other ghost guests “Umm…Can I get you anything? Water? Juice? Wine? Vodka?” Charlie asked, not knowing if full ghosts could have anything.
“Coke?” Ember asked
“Flushed it all.” Angel Dust answered with a tilt of his head
“Dammit!” Ember’s hair momentarily flared with her anger as she crossed her arms and scowled.

Charlie eyes widened as she did a quick check to see if anything caught on fire and also noticed a lack of smoke smell. ‘Strange, must be a ghost thing.’ She shrugged but looked towards Box Ghost and Desiree.
“The Box Ghost requests cubed water in a square glass.” Boxy asked in the third person which Charlie nodded at as she turned to Desiree.
“Wine. Preferabble aged from the middle east. If you have it.” Desiree smiled as Charlie’s face was scrunched in thought trying to remember what wines they did have.
“I’ll be right back with refreshments.”