Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - When Money Is Worth More Than Life Itself

Chapter 8

Dartz is not too keen of Yang and his liking for Tsume seems to be bordering on lust, meanwhile Jinbei seems to have his own agenda and isn't planning on letting Tsujin and that annoying Bounty Hunter off easy...Raimundo being currently dead does intrigue him almost as much as Tsujin not seeking vengeance.

Bane and Dartz were at the top of a building as Bane began meditating and Dartz sat not far from him, leaning against a wall with his eyes closed "I haven't seen yer friend from the Library in a while..."

"You mean Tsujin?" Bane asks "yeah, he's a bit reclusive since father killed his twin brother...the day I became a Ghoul"

Dartz only nodded, he understood that it was a painful process to become a Ghoul and wouldn't want to know about Bane's experience as Bane notices that Dartz was completely relaxed and ignoring him...perfect

Bane pounced but Dartz kept at a safe enough distance with one large hand over his face "I ain't that relaxed, mate...so don't go gettin' any ideas" as Bane just noticed that his accent was strange to him "Can I ask where you're from, Dartz-san?"

Dartz looked at him before answering "I'm Scottish, matey...that should've been obvious by the way I talk alone usually" he then sighed and shook his head snarling "remember it cuz I ain't tellin' ya again!"

Bane sensed his magic and didn't need to be an expert to tell that Dartz was absolutely NOT pure of heart as he let go of Bane's face and smirked darkly as he touched his scarred eye "Taeger wants ya dead...once he comes lookin' fer ya, and he will, I'll repay that very favor I owe him"

"You owe that monster?" Bane asks as he tries to move away from the Pirate but found that he couldn't move as Dartz smiled as he pulled in the reigns on his overwhelming power and traced his scar with an evil grin "He tried to kill me and gave me this scar instead...he's gonna wish he did kill me when I find him"

Suddenly Tsume was coming their way with her brother but as soon as they close enough, Dartz got between them and Bane

"That's far enough, sweet'eart" Dartz got between Bane and his mother and uncle as he stared at Kurama "I don't trust you"

'Shinde shimatta, kaizoku... Watashi wa sofu ga Ghoul Lord o nagutta koto ga dorehodo kyōryokudearu ka o shōsan suru kikai wa nakatta... Watashi wa mushiro hokori ni omotte ori, chichi mo dōyōdearu' (Drop dead, Pirate...I haven't had the chance to admire just how powerful my nephew is to have beaten a Ghoul Lord...I'm rather proud and my father would be as well) Kurama says as he walked away from his sister and toward his nephew as Dartz slashed at him and scratched his cheek then licked the blood off as his eyes became sadistic "ye don't like me...good, yer not my cup o' tea either yaself and next time, I ain't gonna miss"

Tsume stepped forward and pushed both glaring men apart, making Dartz grin "that's enough, you two...I approve of this man as long as my son is safe but how can I trust you?"

"I can think of a few ways...smart woman" Dartz touched her cheek "most of 'em don't have anything to do with yer son...I know what happened to you because of that Kami guy and I ain't the type o' pirate that'll hurt such beauty, but don't push yer luck"

Bane gets to his feet and places a hand on Dartz' shoulder, his Dark Bane persona coming to the surface a bit 'Watashinohaha, Dartz-san o kizutsuke, watashi wa kesshite anata o yurushimasen... Watashi wa meikakudesu ka?' (Hurt my mother, Dartz-san and I'll never forgive you...am I clear?)

Dartz and Kurama both had wide eyes as no one made any sudden movements, even Tsume could fell Dark Bane's immense hatred but none of it really directed toward her or the two Ghouls for that matter as Dartz asks himself 'He's mair powerful 'at Ah thooght...almost tae mah level, but whaur is aw 'at power e'en comin' frae?' (He's more powerful that I thought...almost to my level, but where is all that power even coming from?)

Dartz then smiles at Tsume and kisses the back of her hand as he smacks Bane's hand holding him with the broad side of one of his axes without Tsume seeing "a pleasure meetin' ya, sweet'eart, name's Dartz with a 'z' at the end, what's yours?"

"Uh, Tsume...better not let my husband see you doing that, Dartz-san" Tsume smiles as she reaches for his bandana and Bane's eye widens at the look on Dartz' face "...and why are you with my son in the first place?"

"Yer the ones I should be askin' on why he wasn't hired a bodyguard in da first place after what happened to have so many o' them Ghoul Lords 'ere" Dartz caught her hand by the wrist over his head "an' 'aven't ye heard never to touch a Pirate's bandana...if ye wish to keep yer hands?"

"Get your hands off my sister, Pirate" Kurama stepped up as Dartz slapped him in the face "I thought I said keep yer distance, pampered pooch...I could care less fer you or her simpleton of a husband!"

"Don't hit people...I doubt they're gonna hurt me" Bane pushed Dartz away as he shot him a look then went back to sitting once they got off the roof, his eyes on Kurama as he massaged his scarred eye and smiled evilly "Get too close, pampered pooch and I'll slap ya straight into the afterlife...you're an eyesore"


Elsewhere, Kami was starting to get aggrevated with the Kurosaki Clan's interference in his plans for Bane as the three Ghouls were on the same side as far as he was concerned as long as they weren't his...

"You're strong...too bad you're going to die" Kami smiled as he was thrown back but kept coming as Juūshin replied "Stay down already...gotcha!"

Another third much larger puppet with three faces facing different directions came from underground and grabbed Kami in what looked like Turtle with the three human heads.

Kami smiled as he closed his eyes as Juūshin ordered "Take him out with a bang!" As suddenly the puppet began to glow, ready to detonate with Kami going nowhere in it's grip but a dark miasma of dark magic coming from him

Taji and Jiraiya were not far from Kami, although far enough not to care if they were blown away by Juūshin's trick to blow Kami into a million pieces and sew him back together, wailing on each other with the Fire variant of an ability Taji saw a Ghoul that used Water magic do that he could duplicate with his magma

"I've been waiting too long for this..." Taji sends his magma straight at Jiraiya who uses his fire magic to clash violently with it, pushing Taji back "I could only assume you were training...no matter how much you train though, you'll never be a match for me"

Taji was being pushed back only because he was letting it happen as he smiled and was no longer moving, causing Jiraiya to frown "Is that all you've got...sorry cuz I have so much power right now that I feel like I'm bursting at the seams!" Now a surprised Jiraiya was the one being pushed back as Taji looked sadistic


With Gedharm, he was now inches from his prize...but still no sign of the Ghoul Lord or anyone guarding such a coveted treasure

"Something's not right...are you gonna watch me forever, Ghoul Lord?" Gedharm began looking around and sniffing as he growled "this is far too easy, you may hide from my eyes but not my nose"

Just then, J'onn walked in "you're not as stupid as your associate, I see..." as Sabretooth was coming down the hall, followed by J'onn's guards as Gedharm looked unhappy "Associates...I don't know what you're talking about, as I work alone"

Suddenly, Victor charges past J'onn "Outside, NOW...you son of a bitch!" As Gedharm grabbed the Shadow Gems "Oh, it's you...please don't confuse this man...beast with any associate of mine...Ciao"

"Ciao, my ass!" Victor got up to Gedharm with an inhuman glow in his eyes as he punched the unsuspecting Orc through the nearest wall as the shadow gems fell to his feet as he looked at J'onn coldly "I'll be back fer those"

Gedharm was sitting on the ground with a confused look on his face as only he and probably the Ghouls saw a dark aura around Victor, magical in nature, that he himself wasn't aware of "Was that-no, he has no magic in his blood...then it must be that emotion, his hatred is so strong that it becomes visible and almost solid, but he doesn't seem too smart to be aware of it"

Victor came out after him "You...better not think I forgot what you did to me" Victor growled "I told you I'd punch your lights out, if it was the last thing I did"

J'onn watches from where Victor left him "Don't go out there..." he puts his arm in the way of the two Ghouls as they said, still wanting to beat the two unconscious or until they learned their lesson "but, sir..."

"Just keep a close eye on him...and the other one" J'onn said as Logan appeared

Gedhard drew a glyph but Victor was quick and already too close for the drawn glyph to be effective as Victor smiled "not this time"

Suddenly Logan appeared, kicking Victor in the face as he was still being chased by J'onn's bodyguards "you two idiots are at it again?!"

Victor laid on the ground with an indescribable look on his face as one of the Ghouls chuckled until they got a nearly crippling glare from Creed grumbling "Weren't you being chased, runt?"

"We're getting out of here...not playing around with the Orc" Logan scolded as Victor looked at Gedharm, who now looked twice as murderous as he did before thanks to Victor ruining his nearly perfect plans as Victor agreed "sorry, I'll be content with punching him for now but his face felt like punching steel reinforced concrete" noting that Gedharm's skin was hard and more resilient than it looks as they left.

"Next time, you get chased around and nearly incinerated by Ghouls, I am not dying for you" Logan threatened as the Ghouls that were chasing him smirked as one asked in a way too deep voice "Wanna have another go at it, chibi-sama?" As he and his comrades cracked up at the expence of the two mutants, mainly Logan who they were chasing out of sheer boredom and could've caught him with blindfolds on if they wanted to and really tried

Logan and Victor watched J'onn from the corner of their eyes as he watched them leave as Logan thought '...and what the hell are you looking at?' The Ghouls may have thought chasing him was fun, but as Victor learned, he was livid and really pissed at them for it

Victor thought 'Trouble...he's got a troublesome feel to him that I don't particularly like about him, but worth keeping an eye on despite the trouble'


Back with Bane, he heard someone or thing calling out to him and ventured away from the others when he saw Dartz run around a corner...oddly, something was weird as he sensed something stronger coming from the stranger that he hadn't felt with the Dartz that's determined to be his bodyguard regardless of if he actually wants it or not...

Bane was alone for a moment as Dartz was gone with his infatuation with Tsume and Kurama went after them to make sure no advances were made on bis sister while he wasn't there to snap the Pirate in two...or try

"Dartz-sama seems quite strong..." Bane said thinking about it "and I don't sense him having any intent to hurt her, or anyone elsefor that matter, unless she touches his bandana without permission, hell I don't think he's ever even hurt a woman before"

Bane then smirked evilly at a plan to have Tsume help him get his hands on Dartz' bandana "he seems to really like my mom and ignore me for the most part with her around...I wonder..." he said to himself thinking that he may not be as aware of Bane's actions, if Tsume was present at the moment

Suddenly he saw Dartz going to the back of a building...alone with his usual deceptive smirk and Bane made his way there and followed

What he found however wasn't Dartz, as much as he wished it was as it still looked as Dartz but with black clothes, skin, eyes and hair etc as he turned to face Bane with an evil grin as Bane saw a crystalized form of Black Demonite at his feet, possibly leftover from his encounter with The One and grabbed it and slashed the creature across the face

It healed though and revealed himself to be the forefather of all Ghouls that Ryujin met before as it turned to Bane's fear, the darker version of himself and replied in a voice that wasn't Dark Bane's "Demonite...where's that come from?" He asks "I am all but immune to the effects of even the strongest Demonite as it was used in my creation as well as my punishment until I grew an immunity"

"Who are you?" Bane stepped back but was frozen when the King of all Ghouls entered his mind 'I am the first Ghoul to come into existence, I go by many names but you may call me Nekron, Bane Asakura'

"What are you and how do you know who I am?" Bane asks skeptically "I don't appreciate you invading my thoughts...exactly"

"I only wanted to speak privately...I have no mean to be harmful to your existence no more than you are a threat to my own" Nekron-Bane smiled a bit too sweetly, reminding Bane of Azazel "I wish to show you a glimpse of the possible future that I'm sure we both don't want to come to pass"

Nekron enters the darkest part of Bane's mind, showing him everything he was seeing and was able to predict...this was no mere prediction was Bane's feeling as it was going to happen as he saw what looked like himself as an adult facing Kami and they were fighting seemingly on par with each other

Shadows of people passed Bane, Wolverine and Sabretooth were the only ones he knew right now as well as what looked like a blue Azazel as Nekron pointed at the blue elf-like mutant "This one will come to be very important to you..." as a set of villains appeared alongside Kami the same way including Michael who was in a comatose state due to Kami betraying him then laying a very powerful magical curse on him that was eating away at him slowly and painfully as Michael's criminal cohorts as well as Taeger were left with the choice to either follow Kami or die where they stood at the rogue Ghoul's own hand...Nekron wasn't going to reveal any names that Bane didn't already know as that would affect the future events in ways even he couldn't predict and Taeger as well as Dartz were alive though Dartz was clearly different and both were nightmarishly stronger compared to now

Suddenly, Bane could smell very strong alcohol as he woke up and found himself laying on his back as Dartz was running down a building toward him and looked pissed but happy at the same time

"Oy, brat...how dare you not tell me that Kami raped you?!" Dartz barked as he came down on Bane feet first but Bane's shadows caught him with a sort of hand, feet inches from Bane's face as Dartz looked really mad as his eyebrow twitched "I want to have a few words with this 'Kami Kurosaki' scalliwag right now"

"He's a former Ghoul Lord and he's dangerous!" Bane argued as Dartz shut him up with a dark glare "I'm dangerous too...and not in the mood currently to give a shit"

Bane threw Dartz back as he landed on his feet "Who told you that?"

"Tsume...he raped her too, huh and made you watch by my lucky guess" Dartz said "How dare he do that to a kind woman like her?"

"You're a Pirate...why should you care?" Bane asks as Dartz revealed with a slap over his head "You're right, but I've honestly raped more men than women...and they deserved it for hurting a woman especially in my presence"

"You what?!" Bane jumped to his feet as he glared at Dartz suspiciously, not planning to let him out of his sight with Tsume again "Fine...let's go."

Bane left as Dartz watched him go thinking 'What I hope ye never live long enough to learn is that not all Ghouls are mindless killers and pawns and I'm one of the few that is highly intolerant child abuse or underaged sexual misconduct of any kind...that explains why ya mates 'er cautious o' me but I ain't doin' somethin' like that without a goddamn good reason and outfsight of minors' it angered him further when he thought about how Taeger is in leagues with such a demon as well as he followed Bane, not noticing Nekron hiding in the shadows

"Interesting" Nekron said walking out once Dartz was gone, he was in the form of a younger Dartz from before he was even a part of Baccus' crew, his flowing red hair in a ponytail reach the center of his back "two souls that have seen the same pain in different ways...I can barely distinguish what that man has even become on the inside anymore..." he chuckles as he disappears into the wall and followed the two


Elsewhere with Taeger and Baccus, they could fell Dartz' crippling power increasing with no end and he was nowhere near them yet.

Taeger and Baccus both froze as they felt Dartz' power, though having shared a ship with him made Baccus more used to it even though it caused both of their noses to bleed and Taeger to tremble

"Shit...looks like somebody just gone to tuggin' Dartz' last wrong nerve...I honestly feel really sorry fer that poor dead baka" Baccus chuckled, uncaring that it won't be long before his former right hand's power has elapsed his own without him even noticing as Taeger's knees looked ready to buckle as he thought 'T-that's Dartz?...no way, he feels like a totally different person!'


Elsewhere, much closer to Dartz and Bane, Tsujin and Aerron was still facing Jinbei when Dartz suddenly crashes the party for an even bigger one...

"I've just about had it with all these annoying, traitorous Kurosaki clansmen around!" Dartz came out of nowhere and embedded Jinbei mid air in a tree as he stared at Tsujin with a crazed look "You joinin' him, mate or ya comin' with us, decide...NOW"

"D-" Tsujin was about to attack Jinbei as Aerron slapped him "Don't. Even. Think about it...we're coming with you"

The three left as Tsujin looked at Jinbei, but closed his eyes "Could you be any more inconsiderate, baka?"

"I've never been a considerate Pirate all my life...I ain't startin' now" Dartz narrowed his eyes "Yer choice, mates...die with him or come alone and live a day longer"

"Dartz, stop being mean" Bane scolded as Dartz simply growled at him and left, leaving Tsujin and Aerron behind to make their minds up as the two looked at each other as Aerron shrugged and they followed Dartz as Tsujin looked at Jinbei again to see he hadn't moved but was now smiling as he said, barely audible enough that Tsujin alone could hear him say

- 'Dono yō ni kandaina, anata wa mada sorera o futatabi miru koto wa arimasen... Ima made' (how insolent, you still will never see them again...ever) - were his last words before he fell unconscious and left Tsujin with even less hope


A/N - Dartz found out that Kami raped Bane and thus, is solely responsible for Bane's distrust of other Ghouls...he plans to show the whole Kurosaki Clan who's really crazy as he is furious that Kami hurt Tsume and doesn't care that he was such a dispicable Ghoul Lord to begin with, but what will Taeger, much less Kami, think about this? I'm planning a X-Men Evo/Avengers story with Kami as the main villain and a good Taeger and Dartz (later Bane) being present on the Hellicarrier when Kami boards it and screws with the Avengers...expect Taeger teaming up with his favorite Avenger, Hulk, Kami literally turning Tony Stark's Iron Man armors against him after nearly dismantling both Vision and Ultron at the same time and Dartz finding his least favorite Avenger who keeps touching his treasured bandana and goes as far as to steal it, being chased all over the Hellicarrier by a very angry Ghoul Pirate


Elsewhere, the Uzushio Clan were on their way to the vantage point where they are to meet the Asakura Clan as the head of the Clan, Idate Hiachi...Yang's father who has been given death threats before for trying to approach his only son.

Idate was proud but wary, already hearing about his son...and Kami...and his grandson's exploits but he wasn't thrilled about meeting his son

The last time they met, they were both human and Ghouls didn't even exist for very long with the Demon currently in the human world at the time, he tried to shelter the young independent Yang and they ended up fighting, which Yang used as a reason to escape and lie that he was being ill-treated by his family...which people believed given Idate's temperament but he's never laid hands on his family

Idate was silent as his arms were folded, listening to a more detailed version of his grandson's exploits with the man who supposedly raised his son

"Wait...he what?"Idate said stopping the man with a raise of his hand as he moved his naturally white long hair out of his face as the story teller flinched "Uh, Kami Kurosaki raped Bane and Tsume Asakura, the boy being sexually abused repeatedly and convinced him that it was all his father's fault...although his father was nowhere in the city"

"What in the hell was Yang doing outside the city while his son and wife were in the goddamn city in the first goddamn place?!" Idate suddenly snapped as the informan took a healthy step away from him but was pulled back to his spot beside him as he was shaking "Uh, Yang had moved out of the city prior to getting married and the boy being born, sir...the culprit was his master"

"What happened after that...?" Idate said calmer but he was still pissed...really pissed with Yang "the other Ghoul Lords intervened...impressed that your grandson was ably to fight full power Ghoul Lord on his own...he was even given the power to banish him, but made a life long enemy in the process...the banished Ghoul Lord is still trying to get back into the city to this day"

Idate was silent as he heard this, as he went back into his carriage, which he was supposed to be in to begin with and meditated "May I join you, sir?"

Idate opened one eye to look at him, but closed his eye and shrugged "If you wish...but should you not be leaving now?"

"Yes, but can you blame me for not trusting the Ghoul Lord?" The man said "the previous Ghoul Lord took up the mantle again as Ghoul Lord once the banishment was over and done with and no one trusts him anymore, your son even stormed his residence and fought him...demanding answers"

"Yang?" Idate asks as the man nodded "hai, Idate-sama, the former Ghoul Lord was a very well respected man"

"Hn..." Idate went back to being quiet, he wasn't angry or even grumpy anymore but still mad at Yang for what happened and expects a full explaination once he gets there


A/N - Yang's father seemed impressed, but equally displeased...what's gonna happen father and son finally meet? R&R and find out!