Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Danny Phantom or Bleach.


Legend:

"Someone is talking."

'Someone is thinking.'

"A technique is being used."


Chapter Nine:


(Illinois—Amity Park)

At the moment, one could find Danny Fenton jumping from rooftop-to-rooftop as fast as he possibly could. He knew that Ghost would follow, as he seemed determined to kill and then skin him, so he needed to draw the Ghost away from the city. He had eventually decided on heading to the junkyard because it was out of the way and, well, nobody would miss it that much if it was to be destroyed. Hell, Sam might even thank him for destroying it.

"Do you have a plan Danny?"

Danny turned his head to the side slightly and caught sight of Sidney flying behind him with a semi-worried expression on his face. He noticed that Sidney appeared to be sweating; probably a result of breaking out of whatever that Ghost had captured him with and their short battle with the Ghost. "... I think so—"

"Flèches d'argent Cent (One-hundred silver arrows)!"

Danny and Sidney's eyes widened at the familiar voice before they both spun around in the direction that they had heard it come from, tensing. However, instead of seeing the Ghost, they saw about a 100 or more arrow-shaped needles rushing towards them at dizzying speeds. Shocked, Danny didn't notice when Sidney took up a defensive position before he spread his arms apart, faint green Reiatsu emerging from his arms.

"Papier Bouc—!"

Sidney was unable to finish his sentence, and his technique, as a needle as thick as a tree branch suddenly embedded itself into Sidney's chest. Danny could only watch as thick green goo—Ectoplasm, Danny's brain supplied—emerged from the sides of his new friend's chest as Sidney's eyes widened in shock. Not a second later did Sidney begin to plummet towards the ground as he unable to maintain his flight any longer.

"SIDNEY!"

Horrorstruck, Danny quickly jumped down in an attempt to save Sidney, only to be stopped by the rain of needles that Sidney had tried to protect him from. Biting back a curse, he jumped upwards, where a heavy boot connected with his stomach and sent him flying backwards. His back slammed into a nearby wall, which then spider-webbed, before Danny recovered and looked up.

Coming into view, the Ghost lowered his outstretched leg before he grinned. Danny's eyes caught sight of the smoking wrist-launcher on the Ghost's right wrist; the same weapon that had been used to launch that thing that had stabbed into Sidney's chest. Did that mean the Ghost's initial attack had been a ruse so he could get rid of Sidney? The Ghost's next words confirmed this suspicion.

"Now that the pest is out of the way..." The Ghost said before he grinned darkly. "... we can have some real fun! Armes d'Argent (Arms of Silver)!"

With that, thousands of the silver particles flew out from the Ghost's body before they launched themselves towards Danny. As these particles flew through the air, they merged together to form a group of thin, metallic arms. Some of these arms had fists that looked like they would attempt to grab him—no doubt for another try at restraining him—while others were balled up into fists.

In response, Danny quickly got up before he withdrew his sword from its sheathe on his sash. He then took a deep and then applied Chōkasoku to his entire body before his form blurred. He raced throughout the grouping of metallic arms, only to stop when he was twenty feet away from them and 100 feet away from the Ghost. Then, flicking his sword, the silver particles gathered onto the blade were thrown off.

It was only a second later that the arms appeared to be cut into numerous chunks before they fell towards the ground. As the metal plummeted towards the ground, Danny turned to face his newest foe with a smoldering glare. He would pay for what he had done to Sidney.

"Hah! You think you scare me, Arrancar? I've seen scarier expressions from five year-old children!" The Ghost mocked before he paused. "And why aren't you using Sonido...?" Seeing the confusion on Danny's face, he then grinned. "An Arrancar not knowing Sonido? That's rich. You are a little oddity, aren't you?" Green Reiatsu started to gather around the Ghost. "But that just makes you a much more valuable piece of prey..."

The metallic chunks suddenly froze in mid-air before they dispersed into millions of silver particles. They then reformed into another barrage of Flèches d'argent Cent that then zoomed towards Danny. The entire process had only taken a second.

Danny's eyes widened for a moment before they narrowed in anger. His formed blurred again as he used Chōkasoku again. He stopped directly underneath the needles with a slightly misshapen sphere of ice-blue energy in his right hand. He then punched the sphere from his hand, where it became a beam of pure, destructive energy. "Cero (Zero)!"

Any and all of the needles that were above Danny was vaporized the moment that his Cero hit them. Unfortunately, there were a fair number of needles that survived, having been at the edges of the needle barrage. A silent command from the Ghost sent them rocketing down towards Danny, their forms shifting until they resembled silver spears instead of needles.

Danny didn't have much time to react. He managed to twist to the side as he took a step forward—avoiding a fatal blow through the heart—only for only of the spears to pierce through his sides with a clang. White tatters of clothing fell as Danny's hand instinctively moved to cover his bleeding wound.

"If my Fleches d'argent Cent was able to cut through your Hierro so easily..." The Ghost grinned sinisterly. "... then this will be easy!"

With that, the Ghost then dived towards Danny while his arms morphed into a pair of silver machetes. Danny barely had any time to regrip his own sword and bring it up to block a blow from the Ghost's machetes that would've cut both his arms off.

Danny's arms shook from the strain of keep those machetes at bay, small beads of sweat appearing on his forehead before they ran down his face. He had guessed at how much strength the Ghost possessed, but he had never thought he would be this strong. It was only a couple seconds later when the Ghost smirked and became intangible, causing Danny to stumble forwards. Now behind him, the Ghost became tangible once more before he swung one of his machetes towards Danny's back.

The expected blow never came. The moment that the Ghost's machete was about to cut into Danny's back, a thick wall of paper had formed, intercepting and then halting it. Danny turned around as the Ghost snarled, knowing only one person that could've been responsible for the paper wall. 'Sidney!'

"I thought I had gotten rid of you, you pest!"

Sidney was floating in mid-air 10 feet away from Danny and Skulker, using his right hand to cover the enormous wound on his chest. Besides that, Sidney had a number of fresh bruises and cuts on his body; reminders of the place where Sidney had fallen to. Besides this, Sidney's clothing and hair was a bit ruffled up, as if he had slept in his clothes.

"You thought wrong..." Sidney panted before he lifted his left hand. "Poing juge!"

The paper that had been protecting Danny suddenly shifted before it assumed the form of two shopping cart-sized arms. Drawing his left fist back, both arms fisted before Sidney jabbed his left arm forward. This caused both of the arms to both the Ghost backwards, sending him into a nearby building.

As Danny rushed over to Sidney's side to see if he was okay, the Ghost's closed eyes snapped open before he ripped himself free of the building that nerd had punched him then wiped a trickle of Ectoplasm from his lip, saw the nerd's Poing juge coming towards him, and began to gather his Reiatsu. "Fantôme de choc!"

Unlike the last time this was used, this time the 'bubble' came out smaller but much, much faster. It quickly met Sidney's Poing juge, dissolved it with its corrosive properties, and then rushed towards Danny and Sidney. Seeing this, Danny quickly charged another Cero and released it. When the two techniques met, it caused an enormous explosion that hurled all three combatants meters backwards.

It was lucky that they were in mid-air right now; otherwise, that explosion would've taken down a few buildings.

"You... You think that you can beat me, Arrancar?" The Ghost seethed as he walked out from the smoke, furious. "I am Skulker, the Greatest Hunter in the entire Ghost Zone! You will not defeat me so easily!"

With that exclamation, the Ghost—Skulker—raised his arms as his machete-arms transformed into a pair of cannon-like structures. Charged with green Reiatsu, these cannons then began to unleash a barrage of green, spectral fireballs towards the recovering forms of Danny and Sidney. Sidney managed to go intangible to avoid most of the barrage, though a fireball grazed Danny's uninjured side.

Gritting his teeth, he tried to ignore the pain, instead focusing on using Chōkasoku to evade the barrage of fireballs heading his way. He however, didn't notice when Skulker slammed his cannons together before they merged into a single cannon before it began to glow dark green. He did, however, notice the enormous white-green fireball that Skulker released.

Danny realized that he could dodge the attack but, if he did, then who knows what the fireball would hit? Those other fireballs had hit nearby rooftops, creating small craters into the surface of the roofs before the craters started to burn. The few trees that had been hit were now stumps, while small green flickers of flame burned around them.

Who knows what would happen if Skulker's gigantic fireball hit anything.

Sidney seemed to have realized this too, for he became tangible before he summoned an enormous amount of paper. He continued to generate paper as he merged them to a gigantic version of his Papier Bouclier. It was only a few second later that Skulker's fireball hit the shield and vaporized the first 10 layers of Sidney's shield. Sidney, however, just continued to generate more and more paper to repair the burned layers of the shield, though it was obvious that he was weakening.

"Your pelt will be mine..." Skulker whispered into Danny's ears, causing his eyes to widen seconds before a small, green fireball impacted against his back. Not having expected such an attack, Danny shouted in pain before he slowly fell towards the ground, no longer having the concentration to keep himself in the air.

Sweating heavily, Sidney turned at the sound, only to see Skulker standing behind him and Danny falling towards the ground. Unfortunately it was taking all of his strength to hold back the fireball with his technique so all Sidney could do was watch as his newest friend fell, "Danny..."

XXXXXX

(Meanwhile—With Sam and Tucker)

Once they had finished the pile of Mrs. Fenton's cookies, both Sam and Tucker thanked the woman. Mrs. Fenton blushed slightly at their praise before she waved them off towards the staircase and asked them if they could tell Danny that it dinner was coming up.

"We'll tell him Mrs. Fenton." Sam promised.

"Yeah." Tucker nodded before he released a loud belch, which caused him to blush as both Sam and Mrs. Fenton's attention was turned to him. "Well,... Uh... Excuse me... and uh..." He grabbed Sam's arm before he pulled her backwards, running out of the kitchen. "Thanks for the cookies!"

Mrs. Fenton didn't respond; instead, she merely watched as the two teenagers rushed out of the kitchen and up the staircase. Sometimes, she couldn't understand what was going through the heads of teenagers these days.

XXXXXX

After Tucker had dragged her out of the kitchen, Sam had slapped his hand off her wrist before she glared at him. Tucker winced at the venom in her eyes and hastily apologized as he knew that she would begin thinking of ways to 'pay him back' if he didn't. Sam seemed to accept the apology, which relieved Tucker greatly.

It was only a couple of seconds later when the duo arrived at the door to Danny's room and Tucker moved to open it. However, instead of opening like he had expected it to, the door didn't budge a single inch. Tucker tried to open it again before Sam gave it a whack, only for them to get the same results.

Getting a bit worried, both Sam and Tucker then proceeded to push against the door with their bodies, which allowed them to slowly force the door open. When the door was opened wide enough, both teenagers slipped into the room, only to pause at the sight of their friend's room; it looked as if a tornado had run through it.

The floor and walls looked as if they had been cut by a knife in some places while in other places it appeared to have been burned a little bit. Also, there were cracks in the wall near Danny's bed along with some fallen plaster. The only other things of note were the small scraps of paper and clumps of silver, sand-like particles scattered around the room.

"What could've happened here?" Tucker wondered as he looked around Danny's room. "I mean, we would've heard anything downstairs if something happened..."

"I don't know, Tuck..." Sam muttered. "But, I do know that there was a fight; just look at those piles." She gestured towards one of the silver piles and then at some of the paper. "Danny and Sidney probably got into a fight with a Ghost or something." There was a brief pause. "We need to find them, Tucker..."

Tucker turned and looked at his friend with a questioning expression, "And how are we supposed to do that, Sam? Those guys could be anywhere right now!"

"... Tucker, I have something to tell you..." Sam began after another pause, looking away from Tucker. "I should've told you and Danny this after it happened but... something held me back... Maybe I was afraid of telling you guys what happened but—" She sighed. "I have to tell you now. You see... ever since Danny defeated the Lunch Lady... I've noticed some... strange things happening around me."

Tucker remained silent at Sam's explanation.

"I've noticed that... when I'm around Danny, I feel a bit stronger somehow..." Sam admitted before she took in a deep breath. "I also see to be able to... 'feel'... where Danny is... even when I have my eyes closed or I'm not looking at him..." She shook her head. "It's really weird... though it seems to have a limit because if I get out of a certain 'range', I can't... 'feel'... where Danny is anymore."

"... I thought I was the only one."

Surprised, Sam spun around to see Tucker looking at her with an unusually serious expression on his face. "Things have been happening to you too?"

"Yeah... Sometimes, when I wanted something on, it would turn on before I could get up. Boy was I surprised when that happened..." At his words, Sam imagined Tucker screaming like he usually did when something surprised him, causing her to smile. "Also, I've been able to find things easier on the internet. I don't have to spend as long looking through pages of stuff to get what I want..."

It had been a bit scary at first, but he had come to accept this new 'ability' without too much fuss; it certainly made doing his life easier. It also helped a lot when he was searching for what the words Danny had supplied meant, as he had been 'provided' with a list of good translators instead of the crappy translators he had used before.

Now though, both friends were staring at each other and digesting the information they had learned from each other. It both confused and reassured Sam, as it meant that these things weren't only happening to her, but confused her as to why these things were happening. Could it have to do with helping Danny train or being around when Danny fought Ghosts?

"... How are we supposed to find them, Sam?" Tucker asked after a moment. "You said that you could 'feel' where Danny was but I know that you can't 'feel' him right now or you would have told me about it! So, how are we supposed to find them, huh?"

Sam flinched. Seeing this caused Tucker to sigh. He hadn't meant to raise his voice but the stress of their situation was getting to them. He didn't know what to do; his best friend and Sidney were out there somewhere. For all he knew, they could be hurt or, or worse. The worst part about it was that he didn't seem to be able to do anything to help!

Tucker turned back to Sam and was about to ask her something when he noticed something; Sam was standing in the same 'pose' that Danny had used when he had begun to learn how to use his powers. Tucker's eyes lit up before he was suddenly pushed backwards by an unseen force. Stumbling a bit, Tucker fell onto his knees in shock. Looking up, Tucker was dumbfounded by what he saw.

There were hundreds of thin, white ribbons floating in the air. He could only watch as these ribbons twisted and turned in the air like snakes, finding himself at a loss for words. Just what were those ribbons? Had Sam created them? If so then how?

Sam's right arm suddenly lashed out before it grabbed a pitch-black ribbon that Tucker hadn't seen. Sam then opened her eyes and looked at Tucker with tired eyes, "... It worked, Tuck..." She held up the black ribbon as the other ribbons began to fade from existence. "I can feel Danny now..."

XXXXXX

(Amity Park—The junkyard)

Danny crash-landed against an old, strangely pink minivan which folded under his impact. He grit his teeth from the pain in his back—feeling the numerous pieces of metal that had embedded themselves into his burned flesh—and told himself that it could have been worse.

If he had fallen from that height in his Human form he would've died. It was only his Arrancar form's steel-like skin and bones that had prevented him from becoming an extremely messy paint job on the back of this minivan. Getting up from the broken heap of metal, he winced again as a few pieces of twisted scrap raked against his body. He began pulling out the metal pieces as he looked up, trying to find out where Sidney and Skulker had gone. Not seeing them in the air, he was about to use Pesquisa, only for something to slam into his stomach and send him hurtling backwards.

He—and whatever had hit him—landed back in the same hole that Danny had just gotten out of. He looked up to see what had crashed into him, only to see Sidney who was in really bad shape. It was obvious by the burn marks that he hadn't been able to defend against Skulker once he had been knocked out of the sky, though he had managed to protect the town from Skulker's 'Mega-Fireball'.

"Did you two honestly think that you could beat me? Hah!" Skulker laughed as he came into view again, floating in the air only 50 feet away from Danny and Sidney. His smirk seemed even more cruel then before. "And now that I've defeated the pest... it is time for this hunt to finally end. Armures de Constriction!"

With that, Skulker released an enormous stream of silver particles from his hand towards Danny and Sidney. As the particles flew through the air, they merged together into several tentacles before they spread out to try and surround Danny. Danny cursed before he quickly grabbed Sidney and used Chōkasoku to vanish from view with Sidney. The metal tentacles rammed into the space he had formerly occupied, only for Skulker to roar as his 'prey' had eluded him once again.

While Skulker vented, Danny slowed to a stop a long distance away from where Skulker was before he placed Sidney down behind some broken water heaters so he was out of view. He made sure Sidney was comfortable and turned to leave, only for Sidney to grab the bottom of his pants. "... Be careful, Danny..."

"I will." Danny nodded, which caused Sidney to let go. He then vanished with another use of Chōkasoku and raced towards Skulker's former location while drawing his sword again. Skulker, however, wasn't there, which forced Danny to use Pesquisa and another Chōkasoku to find and catch up to the Ghost.

Finding him standing near the trash compactor, Danny raised his sword high above his head before he brought it down towards Skulker's head, intending to end this in one blow. Skulker seemed to have sensed him however, as he suddenly turned intangible and dodged to the side. Danny's sword cut through the air where Skulker's head been moments ago before it pierced deep into the ground. With a tug, Danny ripped his sword free of its earthen prison and used Chōkasoku to race towards Skulker again.

This time, his sword managed to cut through Skulker's left shoulder before the Ghost turned intangible, causing Danny to lose his balance and stumble through the ghost. Coming to a halt ten feet away from Skulker, Danny turned around and was surprised to see that, instead of blood or Ectoplasm, numerous sparks were emerging from Skulker's shoulder.

If Skulker's body was releasing sparks instead of Ectoplasm, which meant that it wasn't Skulker's real body; it was a fake. If that was true, though, where was Skulker's real body? Was he even fighting the real Skulker or was it something else?

"Damn you, Arrancar!" Skulker cursed as he placed a hand over his wound, a small amount of oil still leaked out from his fingers though. "I should have finished you when I had the chance! Flèches d'argent Cent!"

With that, Skulker released an enormous amount of silver particles from his right arm, which then reformed into hundreds of silver arrows. These arrows quickly zoomed off towards Danny, though they weren't fast enough to catch him before he used Chōkasoku to run away.

Danny came into view again a good thirty feet away from Skulker, only this time he held his sword in his left hand while an ice-blue Cero was charging in his right hand. Skulker didn't have any time to react before Danny moved his hand towards Skulker, with his palm facing out, and released his technique. "Cero!"

"Shit."

With that Danny's Cero impacted against Skulker's body before it seemed to consume him in a blaze of blue light. After consuming Skulker, the Cero then continued on towards the ground, burning thirty feet into the ground before it finally dissipated.

Danny waited for a couple of moments; waiting to see if Skulker was going to attack again or give some indication that he was still alive. He relaxed when no such sign came before he turned around and jumped into the air. He was about to use Chōkasoku to go get Sidney when a loud rage filled yell rang throughout the junkyard.

"YOU LITTLE PUNK!"

Hearing this, Danny's eyes widened before he spun just in time for Skulker's metallic fist to crunch against his face. The force of the blow sent Danny hurtling backwards and into a nearby pile of cars that, when he hit them, proceeded to waver before they fell down onto him with a crash.

As the cars fell on him, Danny couldn't help but wonder how was Skulker still alive; hadn't his body been hit and then destroyed by his Cero? Skulker couldn't have dodged it, as he had seen Skulker being hit. So, how could Skulker have survived?

It was only when Danny—sporting numerous new cuts and a large, quickly-forming bruise on his face—got out of the car pile by uses of a quick Cero that he noticed Skulker's terrible condition. He hadn't really been able to get a good luck at him before, as the angry hunter had almost broken his nose him before he had the chance, but he could see him now.

Skulker had numerous mild-to-serious burns scattered all over his body and the Ghost's clothing hung on his body in burned tatters of their former glory. Skulker also had numerous chunks of his body missing which revealed a large amount of circuitry and synthetic muscle underneath the missing skin.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Skulker roared as his flaming hair flared, becoming a dark green while gaining about three inches in height. "I'll kill you for what you've done to me! Corps du Géant (Body of the Giant)!"

With that, Skulker released an enormous wave of Ghost Energy that almost forced Danny to his knees as he shielded his eyes from the sudden gust Skulker's Ghost Energy had kicked up. Danny was barely able to see how most of the objects—metal objects—around him and Skulker gained a green glow. If he possessed a bird's eye view, he would've seen that any and all metallic objects within a 200 meter radius of Skulker had gained that green glow and started floating into the air.

In the next moment, everything with that green glow suddenly lurched forward and raced towards Skulker. Danny was barely able to keep up with the sudden barrage of metal objects that came at him and that was while he was using Chōkasoku.

Skulker raised his uninjured hand and, in an instant, all of the metal froze in mid-air before separating into bite-sized pieces. As soon as that was done, the metal then converged on Skulker, soon concealing the Ghost from sight. The metal then began to build up into a vaguely Human-shaped blob before the metal began to add definition to it as Skulker's new body stood up.

First came the metallic, armor-clad legs and feet and then the waist. This was then followed as Skulker's chest formed before it became armored as well. Skulker then stretched out his arms as his horned head formed, with a magnificent sword being forged after his fingers had formed. The last of the metal was then used to create armor plates on his arms and a helmet for his head, preventing everything except for his eyes and mouth from being seen.

Skulker snapped open his green eyes and locked onto Danny's stunned form. He gripped his sword with force that would crush any ordinary building as his mouth twisted in anger. "I'll make you pay for what you have done with your life!"

XXXXXX

(Meanwhile—With Sam and Tucker)

"What was with those ribbon-like things, Sam?" Tucker asked as he and Sam rushed through the darkened streets, panting as he forced his body to keep up with her. "Your body glowed and then all of those ribbons appeared. You grabbed that black one and then said you could 'feel' him again."

Sam didn't answer for a moment, "Unlike the other stuff I told you about, I've only recently found I could make them appear like that by gathering my energy... and I realy don't know that much about them, Tuck..." She paused. "I haven't played with it much becuase it's really exhausting to draw them out... but, I've found that everyone seems have one of these ribbons..."

"Really?"

"I'm pretty sure of it, Tuck... The second time that I did it, I grabbed one ribbon and followed it to where my grandma was taking a nap into her room and then to my mom... So I'm sure that everyone has a ribbon. I hadn't really looked for our ribbons but... I did look for Danny's..." She held up her hand that was clenched around the now-invislbe ribbon of Danny's. "It was easy to find it, since, unlike the others, its black."

Tucker bit his lip in thought but didn't say anything right away. He thought about the reasons why Danny's ribbon would be black, thinking that it may have something to do with Danny being an Arrancar. But, if that was the case, would Ghosts have differently-colored ribbons to?

It was then that Tucker stated to remember all of those odd occurrences that had happened him and Sam ever since Danny had gained his Arrancar powers. This brought on a new question "Sam, what are the colors of our ribbons?"

"… Our ribbons are unique, Tuck." Sam said as she turned her head slightly, lowering her pace until she matched strides with him. "… They aren't black like Danny's… but they're not white either. They're gray."

Tucker was silent, contemplating what Sam had just said. If normal people had white ribbons, and Arrancar like Danny had black ribbons, what did it mean to have a gray ribbon?

XXXXXX

Sam and Tucker had just made it to the junkyard when a familiar, ice-blue beam shot into the sky. The two teenagers looked at each other for a moment before nodding. It was then that both of them rushed over to the chain-link fence that surrounded the junkyard and began to climb it. The fence made jingling sounds as the pair climbed upwards until they made it to the top and leapt towards the ground below.

"Sam where's Danny now?" Tucker asked.

Sam concentrated for a moment before she turned to a specific direction, "I got it, though we may want to hurry. His ribbon is moving fast. Let's move."

Tucker nodded before he started to run towards where she could sense Danny's ribbon to be, Tucker falling into step behind her. They moved until they had to take a quick breather, leaning against the side of a pink minivan as they took in great lungfuls of air.

"Why… is he moving around so much?" Tucker panted. "… Couldn't he… just stay in… one place?"

Sweat poured down Sam's face, "He must have… a good reason for it, Tuck."

"… Sam? T-tucker…?" A familiar voice croaked.

Surprised, Tucker moved aside and opened the door he had just been leaning on. The pair's newest friend, Sidney Poindexter, lay in the driver's seat, looking horrible. Sidney's usually pristine, white outfit was stained with dark-green Ectoplasm that seeped from a large, circular wound on his chest. His hair was matted together with sweat and his eyes were unfocused, his glasses gone. All in all, Sidney looked like he was only minutes away from death's door, again.

"What happened?" Sam whispered.

Sidney didn't move, "D-Danny and I were ambushed… I was ambushed when I-I came into Danny's room, Danny w-when he came u-up the stairs… by a Ghost named Skulker... I m-managed to get free and attacked… we battled for a l-little while before Danny t-taunted… him, and we left…

"After t-that, I caught up with D-Danny… and Skulker ambushed us again… I was taken down… I came back up to h-help when I c-came to… to h-help Danny but Skulker was too strong…I managed to crawl in here after Danny got me out of the fight."

Sam and Tucker looked backed at each other for a moment before they turned back towards Sidney. As one, they both asked the same question.

"How much about this "Skulker" do you know?"

XXXXXX

(Amity Park—The junkyard—Danny vs. Skulker)

Soon after Skulker had formed himself that new body with his Corps du Géant, Danny had found himself in deep trouble. He had quickly discovered that Skulker's new form had greatly increased his strength and that massive sword of his made fighting Skulker close-range a bad choice. After all, he couldn't get within ten feet of Skulker before that thing would try and bisect him.

So, all that left for Danny was long-range. He had tried charging up and then releasing those crescents of energy from his sword towards Skulker, though they only left tiny scratches that quickly healed. This left Danny with only one real technique to use, two if he counted the one he hadn't gotten total control of yet, against Skulker.

Unfortunately, Skulker had realized which technique Danny was thinking about. He seemed hell-bent on not allowing Danny not to charge another Cero, using the bladless side of his sword to send Danny hurtling towards a nearby pile whenever he even looked to be charging one. This had caused numerous new injuries for Danny, though he refused to give up so easily.

So, after getting up from another pile of junk, Danny decided to try his luck. He quickly released a series of crescents from his blade to distract Skulker before he charged up a quick Cero with his left hand. However, Danny's distraction didn't hold up as Skulker came bareling through his attacks and swung his massive sword towards Danny with the intent of cutting the Arrancar in half.

'Crap! I have to dodge!' Danny thought before he used Chōkasoku to run behind Skulker, just avoiding the tip of Skulker's blade. Unfortunately by doing this, he almost lost the 'grip' he had on his forming Cero, though he somehow managed to hang onto it.

Skulker's head turned as Danny's Cero finished charging, "You little—!"

"Cero!" Danny announced as he released his Cero, allowing it to race forward and hit Skulker in the face. Skulker was thrown off balance and tumbled backwards before he fell onto an old pile of junk with a mighty boom. Bits of the now-crushed junk were sent into the air alongside a great deal of dust, obscuring Skulker from Danny's view.

'... I think that bought my some time...' Danny panted as he tried to regain some energy.

Unfortunately, Danny wasn't that lucky. Skulker charged out of the cloud of dust with an absurd amount of bite-sized metal pieces clinging to his body but mainly on his face and head. Danny quickly dodged the charging Ghost, and as he dodged Danny could see the metal was being absorbed by Skulker's skin; healing the wounds that his Cero had created.

Skulker stopped and then turned towards Danny, smirking all the while. "Do you see now? Even your precious Cero is worthless to you now as I can simply regenerate from it." Skulker's sword glinted as he turned it in the air slightly, readjusting in his grip. "Now, it's time to finish this hunt!"

With that Skulker charged towards Danny while swinging his sword in a flurry of movements. Danny, being smaller and faster then the berserk hunter ghost, was able to dodge most of the slashes but for the ones that he couldn't dodge he had to block with his sword.

'Geeze it feels like my arms will be torn off by just blocking him!' Danny thought in pain as he blocked another attack.

Another sword strike from Skulker caused Danny to instinctively bring his own sword in preparation for the incoming blow. It was only when Danny saw the sneer on Skulker's face that he realized he had made the wrong move.

Skulker hit him with a brutal spartan kick, creating a sickening bam as his metallic limb met Danny's flesh. Danny himself was forced to release all the air in his lungs as he sailed backwards, a trail of blood flying from his opened mouth. Danny's impromptu flight ended when he crashed into an old 1980's refrigerator. Coughing into his hands a bit, while ignoring the blood that now stained them, Danny pulled himself from the refrigerator and glared at Skulker.

"Don't try and act tough Arrancar; we both know that you are on your last legs." Skulker sneered as his massive form slowly walked towards Danny. "At this point, all that matters is how you can keep me entertained before I decide to end this hunt."

Danny tried to glare at the mechanical Ghost, but he found himself lacking in the strength to do so. 'As much as I hate to admit it… he's right. I'm running out of steam. If I don't finish this fight soon then I'm gonna lose this battle.' He thought, before he released a sigh. 'It looks like I'm gonna have to use that technique.'

Gathering up what was left of his spiritual energy Danny sheathed his sword and began to concentrate. When he had gathered enough, he moved the energy to his fists, causing them to start glowing ice-blue in the waning light.

Skulker, not knowing what Danny was doing, planned to finish the fight before Danny could complete his technique. Moving at speeds that should've been impossible for someone of his size, Skulker quickly approached Danny, intending to slice the Arrancar in half. Before his blade could actually touch Danny though, he vanished within another blur of Chōkasoku-enhanced speed.

Appearing a short ways away from Skulker, Danny continued to charge his attack, heedless of Skulker's actions. Skulker, seeing that his attack had failed to connect, tried to hit Danny again and again but the results were the same; Danny would simply use Chōkasoku to move out of the way. Eventually, Skulker lost control of his emotions, again.

"Stop running you sniveling coward!" Skulker roared angrily. "Face me like a real man!"

"You asked for it." Danny said from behind Skulker. Turning around, Skulker could see that both of Danny's hands now held fully-charged Ceros. Unbidden by the sight before him, Skulker took a step backwards. "Forgive me, but I haven't practiced this move a lot… so bear with me if it doesn't meet your standards, Skulker. Cero en Espiral (Zero Spiral)!"

Unleashing both Ceros from his hands, Danny then watched as they started to circle each other before they assumed a loose helix-like shape as they raced towards Skulker. As his technique approached Skulker, Danny knew that Skulker had realized that he couldn't dodge; he simply didn't have the time to do so.

Skulker did, however, have time to say two words before Danny's newest technique hit him. "Oh, crap…"

Danny's technique made an enormous boom as it exploded against Skulker's massive frame. Danny absently noticed that this explosion was much larger than anything he had ever produced before as the winds of his attack blew through his hair. As the smoke from the explosion began to clear, Danny prayed that this fight would finally be over. He didn't have that much, if any, energy left in his body anymore so if this didn't end it then he would be finished.

'Please...' Danny thought pleadingly. 'Please don't let him get up again… Let this battle finally end. Please…'

However, it appeared as if Danny's pleas were unheard. Skulker lumbered outside of the acrid smoke, looking extremely ** off. He had a right to be angry though, as the majority of his new body was charred with small fires here and there.

"I'll kill you!" Skulker roared furiously

"You've said that a lot of times today, but I'm still alive, aren't I?" Danny wondered why he had said that aloud, as it seemed to make Skulker angrier than he already was, if that was even possible.

Danny didn't have any time to react as Skulker suddenly rushed towards him. He attempted to use another Chōkasoku but was too tired, leading to Skulker batting him away with the flat of his blade. His impromptu flight was ended when he crashed in a pile of old couches. He tried to get back up but his body seemed to ignore his mind.

"So ends the pa—" Skulker gloated as he walked over to Danny, only to be interuppted mid-sentence.

The enormous, yellow arm of a crane had come out of nowhere and just smacked Skulker in the gut. The unexpected blow sent Skulker careening into a far pile of rusted SUVs with a dazed expression on face. Danny looked up weakly and saw the driver of the crane was none other than his friend Tucker.

'Wait… If Tuck's here, then that means—' Danny thought.

Sam came into view at that moment, abandoning her previous position behind a stack of old refrigerators as she rushed towards him. When she reached him, Sam slowly helped Danny to his feet, confusing him. What were his friends doing here?

"What are you guys doing here?" Danny asked.

Sam pulled one of his arms to rest over her shoulder as she helped him stand, "We came after we found your trashed room. I'll explain how we found you later… right now we need to get you away from here."

"And I'll keep the Transformer-wannabe over there busy until then." Tucker said, flashing Danny a quick smile. "Quit gawking already, go! Don't worry 'bout me; I've always wanted to fight a Transformer!"

It was at that moment that Skulker got up from the pile of old SUVs, roaring his rage to the world. The Ghost then launched himself towards Tucker's crane, dodged a swipe from it, before he used the hilt of his blade to smash into the bulldozer. He continued to do so, dodging the increasingly frantic swings of the crane's arm, before the machine exploded.

Tucker was sent careening out of the explosion, his body slightly charred, and into a pile of old refrigerators. Danny's eyes widened before they narrowed into slits, an overwhelming sense of white-hot rage beginning to take over.

"Tucker!" Sam yelled, obviously worried for her unconsicous friend.

"You worms believed that you had a chance against me? Hah!" Skulker began to gloat as he approached Sam and Danny. "You weren't even players in this hunt!"

It was then that Skulker swung his sword towards Sam and Danny, causing Sam's eyes to widen. The sword was mere inches away from them when Danny's arm snapped up, catching the blade in a vice-like grip. No matter how hard Skulker pulled at his sword, he was unable to remove it from Danny's hold.

Danny looked up with an unreadable expression on his face, "I'll kill you."

The bone-white chocker that Danny wore began to grow thin, vein-like bones that started spread towards his chest and the back of his head. When these 'veins' reached Danny's face, they dipped into his eyes like tree roots dipping into pools of water. Darkness spread from the submerged veins turning his sclera of Danny's eyes turned black and his irises turning gold.

Even while those 'veins' spread across Danny's body, Danny's fingernails slowly morphed into wicked-looked claws. His posture became hunched as he slowly stood up from the ground, his silver locks hiding his face from view. After a moment, Danny looked up, revealing his rage-filled face.

The next second, Danny moved. He crushed the sword that was within his grip, surprising Skulker and Sam, before he let go of the ruined weapon. Skulker barely had any time to move before Danny was upon him, using his energy-enhanced claws to recklessly tear strip after strip of metal from Skulker's body.

As Danny dug into Skulker's body, the metal that Danny was digging into transformed into silvery, sand-like particles. These particles tried to constrict Danny, but the silver-haired Arrancar was not to be stopped. An ice-blue Cero quickly formed in front of Danny's open mouth, completing itself in less than three seconds.

"Cero lanzas (Zero spears)!"

Instead of his traditional Cero or even Danny's new Cero en Espiral, Danny's technique formed a spherically-shaped sphere as it exploded forward. This spear pierced through all the metal that surrounded the area near Skulker's heart, vaporizing everything in its path until it exploded out from Skulker's back.

This stunned Skulker long enough for him to lose control of his sand-like particles, which then proceeded to fall to the ground in clumps. Skulker didn't have time to reestablish control over the particles as Danny was upon him again, with Danny grabbing his head, claws first.

While he held onto Skulker's head, Danny began to spin around. Skulker's enormous, wounded body followed his own as they span faster and faster, disorienting Skulker as the speed continued to increase. Danny then released Skulker with a powerful toss, sending him flying through the air. The second that Skulker left his hands, Danny began forming a Cero in his hand.

"Cero!"

Danny's Cero ripped through the air directly at Skulker, who had no time to react. Skulker's massive body was then consumed with Danny's Cero, where he began screaming as the Cero began to vaporize his metallic body. The junkyard then became quiet as the battle between the two supernatural beings came to an end.

After a minute had passed, Danny's Cero dissipated, leaving a thick blanket of dark smoke behind. When this smoke cleared, it revealed a heavily-burned figure lying at the bottom of a deep crater. However, the figure at the bottom of the crater was definteltly not Skulker.


Poindexter's Encyclopedia:


"Welcome to another edition of Poindexter's Encyclopedia!"

As soon as the audience's cheers had died down, Tucker walked out from behind the curtains and onto the stage, dressed in Sidney's Poindexter Encyclopedia attire. Seeing this, the audience began to whisper, wondering where Sidney was and why Tucker was there, wearing Sidney's outfit.

"Hello, folks! My name is Tucker Foley and I'll be filling in for Sidney for this segment." Tucker stated with a smile before he frowned. "Unfortunately, Sidney couldn't be here; Skulker really did a number on him during their fight."

"Boo!"

Now, now... settle down. Settle down, please! Calm—" Tucker paused as the audience stopped 'booing'. "Thank you. Now that you all have calmed down, we'll begin with today's segment; 'Ghost Hunter' Skulker…" He stated before he turned to the screen behind him, pressing the button on the remote he had.

The screen came alive with a full-body shot of Skulker's original metallic form. Tucker walked up to the picture before he took out a long, white pointing stick from nowhere before he tapped the screen to draw everyone's attention to it.

"Because of his normally frail and pathetically weak Ghost body, Skulker has used his control over Nano-bots to create body-armor that is attached to his central nervous system." Tucker said to his now-silent audience. "That is why he is able to feel pain even while his main body isn't damaged."

Tucker then tapped the screen with his white rod, causing a new picture to take form on the screen. It was a picture of a cloud of silvery Nano-bots flying from Skulker's outstretched hands, towards a target that wasn't on the screen.

"Skulker's power, 'Millions d'armures (Million armor)', allows him to produce billions of Nano-bots from his body and control them. He can manipulate them into various forms, limited only by his imagination." Tucker said, the screen flashing through numerous pictures of Skulker's attacks.

"Excuse me?"

Tucker looked towards the front row of his audience, where a fair-skinned teenager with blonde hair was trying to get his attention. He smiled. "Yes Star?"

Star bit her lip, "Could you explain how Skulker is able to control metal?"

"Oh, that. Now folks, Skulker's control over metal is his "Millions d'armures's" strongest but most energy-taxing ability. He mostly uses it as a last resort, when he believes himself to be losing in a 'Hunt'…"

"What are you doing, whelp?" A familiar voice demanded.

Tucker turned, eyes widening, to see Skulker stalking towards him with an angry expression on the Ghost's face. As soon as he saw the Nano-bots rising from Skulker's skin, he panicked and ran shrieking from the room. He didn't want to die, becoming one of Skulker's so-called "trophies"!

"… Does he know he's running towards the Lunch Lady's dressing room?" Skulker wondered aloud as he bent up and picked up Tucker's discarded P.D.A. "Looks like he dropped it when he ran… it's mine now….."

"GAHHHHHHH! NO!" Tucker screamed. "NOT THE VEGATABLES! PLEASE, ANYTHING BUT THEM! ANYTHING!"

"VEGATABLES ARE GOOD FOR YOU! NOW EAT!"


Techniques:

1. Millions d'armures (Million armor): Skulker's power. It allows him to both create and control nanobots in a variety of different ways. He is only limited in how he uses this power by his imagination and his amount of Reiryoku.

2. Flèches d'argent Cent (One-hundred silver arrows): Using his Millions d'armures, Skulker can produce nanobots that will then come together to form 100 arrow-shaped projectiles that will zoom towards an enemy at high speeds. Even one of these arrows have the ability to puncture steel, which can make this a deadly attack if Skulker's opponent cannot dodge.

3. Armes d'Argent (Arms of Silver): Using his Millions d'armures, Skulker can use his nanobots to form a pair of arms like Sidney's Poing Juge or a grouping of smaller arms to overhwelm foes. This technique is mainly used by Skulker to either injure or capture his 'prey'. At any moment it could be dissolved into nanobots by Skulker, surprising the enemy, before he uses the nanobots for anyother attack.

4. Corps du Géant (Body of the Giant): Skulker's ultimate 'Battle Form' that is created when Skulker uses his Millions d'arures ability to control metal. He effects all of the metal within a certain radius of himself and then forces the metal into bite-sized pieces, which will then converge on him before begining to form his new body. While this body greatly increases Skulker's power and durability, its weight greatly lowers his speed.

5. Cero en Espiral (Zero spiral): A variation of Cero that Danny Fenton has come up with during his short time as an Arrancar. To use it, Danny makes a Cero in each hand before launching them towards and enemy while using his control over the two Ceros to force them into a double helix-like shape. This greatly increases the power of the technique as well as giving it some drill-like properties.

6. Cero lanzas (Zero spears): A variation of the traditional standard that Danny Fenton first displayed while in his 'Beserker Form'. Instead of the traditional beam, Cero lanzas is made by condensing a Cero into the shape of a vaguely spear-like shape. It is considered a one-hit kill technique because of the great piercing power it possesses due to its shape, though those with high enough defenses may be able to survive it.


A/N: Author's Note: This chapter was updated as of 7/12/2012.