Third Person POV

The portal Clockwork had created dropped Danny and Fright Knight outside of Fenton Works, where it was early morning. Danny let out a long yawn, causing his eyes to tear up; he hadn't realized he'd been out all night. "I don't even think I could get a cat nap in now," he muttered.

"But you do not own a cat, my liege," Fright Knight added, tilting his head in confusion.

Danny chuckled, "It's just an expression, Fright. I was just trying to say that I'm gonna be really tired today." He ran a gloved hand through his white hair, "Thankfully, today is Sunday so I don't have to worry about Lancer smacking me over the head with Lord of the Flies."

"Why would the scholar Lancer hit you with a Lord of Flies? That would seem highly improbable," Fright Knight wondered aloud. "Do you wish for me to slay this Lord and his scholar?" the ghostly knight quickly added, drawing his sword.

Danny suddenly felt even more tired. "No thanks, bud. I think he's the least of our problems right now."

"As always, you are correct my liege," Fright Knight said proudly as he sheathed his sword. "Today is your Life Day after all."

Shaking his head a little, Danny turned to Fright Knight, asking, "Life Day?"

The bodyguard nodded, "The day you were granted life in this realm."

Danny's eyes widened. It was his birthday! "Oh crap!" he cried out, flying at full speed to his bedroom, ignoring Fright Knight's yelling at him to wait. Just as the young halfa phased through his bedroom window and the glowing white rings appeared around his waist to transform him back to his human form, his parents crashed through the door.

"Happy Birthday, Danny!" Maddie and Jack sang in unison. Maddie held a plate of fresh waffles in her hands while Jack held up a small banner reading 'Happy 15th Birthday Danny!'.

"I can't believe my baby boy is already fifteen," Maddie said, a giant smile on her face as she approached Danny with the plate of waffles and placed it on his bed. She kissed his cheek and ruffled his midnight black hair before moving out the way so Jack could give him a bear hug.

"Happy Birthday, son," Jack said happily in his booming voice. "Hurry and get ready, we have a busy day ahead of us." With that, the two ghost hunters left the room, leaving their teenage son more than confused.

Danny rubbed his eyes, yawning again. "And I thought Vizier was going to be my biggest problem today," he chuckled. He quickly got dressed and headed downstairs.

I am the Posh Line Break here to give you the gift of fashion. I do hope you will accept this ballgown, darling. I made it with your image in mind ;) (no matter if you are male or female or neither). Now, I shall let you resume reading the story.

In a local park Danny sat on a bench, drinking a slushie drink with an invisible Fright Knight. Danny was a little more than shocked when he had felt a tap on his shoulder as he went to buy the slushie and heard the bodyguard's request to try one.

"This chilled beverage is surprisingly delicious!" Fright Knight exclaimed happily.

Danny had to stifle a laugh. He had never seen (or in this case, heard) this side of the ghost knight before; normally he was very stoic and serious. To learn that he had an almost child-like side was a little weird but it was nice. The teen was glad that they had been able to put aside their differences and become allies. He dared think that they were becoming friends.

"Hey, Danny!" a familiar voice called out. Danny turned his attention away from Fright Knight to see Sam and Tucker walking up to him with their own slushies. "Sorry we're late man," Tucker apologized, plopping next to Danny on the bench.

"We would have been on time but Tucker spent almost twenty minutes picking out a tiny sweater for his PDA," Sam complained, taking up the other spot on the bench next to Danny.

In response, Tucker pulled out his beloved device which was wrapped up in a tiny yellow sweater. "Excuse me for wanting to make sure I don't destroy yet another PDA. I'm already at risk for being ground for the rest of my life with my folks for breaking the last one."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Anyway, what's with the sudden meet-up, Danny? And why the park?" she asked.

The halfa explained that after a quick breakfast his parents essentially kicked him out of the house and told him to come back by dinner. "And as much as I enjoy Fright Knight's company, I felt that I could use some human interaction for a bit," he finished with a laugh.

"Fright Knight's here?" Sam asked, looking around.

Danny nodded. "Behind us, drinking a slushie." Saying this caused him to receive odd looks from his friends. "He wanted to try one. Who am I to say no?" The teen defended.

"The next ruler of the Ghost Zone," Tucker reminded him.

Danny sighed, taking a sip from his slushie. "Yeah, thanks for reminding me," he huffed, "I'm still trying to figure out a way out of that. Turns out this whole Prince thing is causing more harm then good." He caught them up to speed on the 'earthquakes' happening all over the Ghost Zone, Vizier and his apparent connection to the Ring of Rage, and the upcoming coronation. 

Sam and Tucker took a long time to take in what Danny had just told them; so long that their slushies had lost their slush and were now just flavored juice. "Wow man, that sounds rough," Tucker attempted to comfort.

"Rough doesn't even begin to cover it," Danny replied sadly. He sighed and felt a rough hand gently grip his shoulder. From the corner of his eye he could see no hand, so he knew it was Fright Knight attempting to comfort him.

"My liege, it pains me to see you at such a crossroads. But know this, no matter your decision in this matter, I shall proudly stand by your side as your knight," Fright Knight said in a hushed voice as not to draw attention to himself despite being invisible.

Danny smiled, feeling a little better knowing that one ghost wouldn't force him to take the throne. "Thanks, FK," he exhaled.

Sam quickly stood up, removing the lid from her melted slushie and downing it in one gulp. "Enough with the sad talk!" she exclaimed, holding her empty cup to the sky, "For now, we party!" 

A grin appeared on Tucker's face and he grabbed Danny's wrist. "For once, I agree with Sam," he chuckled, pulling Danny to his feet. The three friends started walking back to Fenton Works with a still invisible Fright Knight trailing close behind, happily finishing off his slushie.

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As Danny opened the door to Fenton Works he was immediately greeted with party poppers and a group of people shouting "Surprise!" at him. After the initial shock, Danny glanced around to see the living room decorated with streamers and balloons where his Mom, Dad, Jazz, Valerie and her dad were all standing with party poppers. Sam and Tucker giggled behind him.

Valerie rushed up to Danny's side, grabbing his wrist and pulling him inside. "C'mon Birthday Boy, you just gonna stand there with your mouth open all night or are we gonna party?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at the teen.

Danny laughed and immediately forgot about everything he had been worrying about all day. His mom showered him with kisses and his dad gave him such a strong hug that Danny wondered if his spine was permanently re-arranged. He shook Valerie's dad's hand as the lights suddenly dimmed.

Maddie walked into the room carrying a rocket-shaped cake with seventeen burning candles on it as everyone began singing Happy Birthday. Danny thought of a wish and blew out his candles with everyone cheering. After everyone got a slice (including Fright Knight who had sneaked one when no one else was looking), presents started piling onto the coffee table. 

Danny received a Dumpty Humpty shirt and their newest album from Valerie, a book on space from Jazz, and an envelope from Sam. He had been instructed not to open it until later or risk a severe shin-kicking courtesy of her combat boots. Tucker had disappeared shortly before the presents starting being opened, insisting his gift 'had to be saved for last'.

Now was the gift Danny was secretly dreading the most. The one from his parents. Every year without fail, they would give him some device related to ghost-hunting. It had gotten so intense that the gift they gave him for his last birthday nearly made it his last.

Maddie and Jack held a medium-sized box and placed it in front of Danny. "Sweetie, your father and I put a lot of thought into your gift this year," Maddie said with a smile, "we hope you like it." Danny gave them a sincere smile in return as he carefully opened the box.

"Uh, Fenton? Can you hurry it up a little. It's not like you're defusing a bomb," Valerie chuckled.

Danny laughed in response while thinking "Where my parents are involved, it just might turn into that."

The young halfa finally opened the box and slowly peered inside. The contents weren't glowing, that was a good sign, so he dared to get closer and fully looked inside the box. His eyes widened in surprise. Inside the box rested a model rocket kit. He looked up at his parents in surprise. "I... I love it! Thank you so much!" he shouted, jumping to his feet and hugging his parents. He felt his parents let out a breath that they apparently had been holding as they hugged him back.

As they broke apart from the hug, the doorbell rang. Jazz got up to answer the door and returned with Tucker, holding something behind his back. "Alright, it's time for Tucker to blow all of your gifts out of the water," he said rather smugly. He removed his hands from behind his back and handed Danny a tiny wrapped box.

The halfa unwrapped the gift, raising an eyebrow to his best friend. To his surprise and confusion, inside the box was a tiny black and white collar. "Uh, thanks man," Danny said, holding it up, "Just what I wanted?"

Tucker nodded. "Now, if you would all just follow me," he began, walking past the confused party-goers and heading to the kitchen. He grabbed another slice of cake (that had been severely depleted courtesy of one invisible knight with an apparent sweet tooth) as he headed to the backyard with everyone trailing behind him. Danny looked over at Sam to see if she knew what was going on but received nothing but a similarly confused look.

As they reached the back door, Tucker turned to Danny. "I now present to you, the best gift you will ever receive," he declared, throwing open the door and leading everyone outside. They were immediately greeted by the yapping of a beagle puppy. It had brown ears and brown fur around its eyes with white fur on its snout. Black fur ran down its back with a stripe of brown fur across his neck and just before its tail which was black with a white tip. Its chest and underbelly were white with white paws excluding one brown paw.

"Oh my gosh!" Danny cried out, as the puppy ran to his feet. The teen quickly scooped up the tiny puppy which quickly started licking his cheek. "Tucker, you didn't," he said, turning to his friend while the puppy snuggled into his embrace.

"Oh yes I did," he replied with a grin. He gestured behind him where puppy food, a dog house, leash and food and water dishes were strewn neatly. "I already asked your parents, and they said it was OK. Sam and Jazz helped pay for all this," he explained, crossing his arms and looking rather proud of himself.

Danny scratched the little puppy behind his floppy ears before letting him down to run around and sniff all the people curiously. He walked up to Tucker and gave him a hug before hugging Sam and Jazz. "Thank you guys, so much," he said, choking back tears.

"So, what are you gonna name him?" Valerie asked as she knelt down to pet the excited beagle puppy. She waved her hand in front of his face and he yapped happily, trying to playfully attack and pin it down.

Danny looked down at the puppy and was reminded in a way of the ghost dog he had dealt with when he first got close to Valerie. He had named that dog Cujo. Danny tilted his head thoughtfully. "How about, CJ?" he said. The puppy turned its head to Danny and hopped over to his feet, jumping onto his leg and yapping happily.

Sam chuckled, "Looks like he likes it," she commented.

Danny scooped up the puppy. "Yeah, you like that name, don't you CJ?" he asked in a baby voice. The puppy yapped again and licked Danny's nose and cheeks, causing the teen to laugh.

After everyone played with the puppy for a bit longer, it was time for the party to end. Danny thanked everyone for coming and said goodbye to his friends. He thanked his parents and Jazz for throwing him such an amazing party and offered to help take down the decoration but his parents shooed him off to bed, insisting that they would take care of it as he had surely had a long day. CJ followed Danny upstairs to his bedroom, or at least attempted to; his little puppy legs were too small for the stairs so Danny just carried him up.

As Danny entered his room, he was greeted by Fright Knight sitting on his bed. "I do hope you enjoyed your birthday party, my liege," the bodyguard said cheerfully, his green eyes squinted in joy. Danny nodded, laughing as he pointed out some icing stuck on the ghost knight's helmet

CJ hopped over to Fright Knight and started yapping at his feet and growling softly until he petted the little beagle's head. CJ then seemed to decide that Fright Knight was not a bad person and started yapping for more pets.

Fright Knight stood, picking up the beagle and placing him gently on Danny's bed. "Before you retire for the evening, as it is still your birthday, I myself have a present for you," Fright Knight said, grabbing a small box off the bed that CJ had started playing with. He looked down at the box and then to Danny. "When I was just a young ghost, I was told that one day I would come to serve the greatest leader the Ghost Zone would ever have," the ghost knight started, "I used to think that was Pariah Dark, but I now see that I was wrong. Now, I have no doubts."

Fright Knight took a step closer to Danny, kneeling before him. "I understand you are hesitant to take the throne and I by no means am trying to pressure you to accept this," he quickly assured, "As I said before, I shall stand by you no matter your choice. Yet still, I was told that when I feel the time is right, to give this to the being I felt would be the one to save the Ghost Zone from ruin." He lowered his head as he presented the box to Danny.

Blushing from embarrassment, Danny took the box. He opened it and had to quickly close his eyes to prevent from being blinded by the bright light emitting from the box. Once the light had died down, Danny looked at what was in the box. It was a small, smooth, round, white crystal that shimmered with light. It was connected to a sliver chain and in the center of the crystal had his symbol in a black vein looking design. He was in awe of the gift, mesmerized by its beauty.

"Fright Knight, thank you so much," he said, closing the box and looking down at the still kneeling ghost, "but what is it?"

Fright Knight rose and patted the teen's shoulder. "I believe as the Time Master would say, 'All will be revealed in time'," he said with a laugh. Before Danny could press the question, Fright Knight bid him goodnight and disappeared to do a search of the perimeter.

The young halfa felt like even if he waited for Fright Knight to come back he wouldn't get any answers to his questions. The teen sighed, ruffling his hair and changing into his pajamas. He climbed into bed, giving CJ another scratching behind his ears and snuggling close to the warm puppy.

As Danny finally closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep with CJ curling up next to his chest, a glow emitted from his right hand as the Ring of Rage materialized on his finger, shining its menacing light upon the unaware teen's face.

A/N: Man it feels good to be back. That's all. I have so much planned for this story ^-^
See you all in the next one!