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

Chapter 10

Bane returns home with Dartz to prepare for his first Bounty Hunter mission, he needed to gain a bit more of the Pirate's trust though...Azazel also has a plan for Taeger

Bane returns home with Dartz and allows him to get his Bandana cleaned unless he wants a taste of what Kami got

Bane has been poking the Pirate since they were half way to his house, he didn't know what his deal was or care as he warned calmly "poke me one more time, mate and I'll fuck up all yer fingers"

"So, you're still mad?" Bane asks as Dartz glared at him in response "this place looks like a dump...I ain't rich but I've still owned and lived in better places than this...terrible, asshole neighbors too"

He noticed a house with a little girl watching him through the window, she smiled and waved at him as he waved only slightly "blame the Ghoul Lord if you hate the place, not me who didn't have much of a choice"

"Ya don't get much of a choice in anything, do ya?" Dartz asks as Bane waltzed around the question "there's a sink in the back..."

Dartz gets to getting his bandana cleaned but pointed at Bane "don't think this conversation is over..." as Bane replied "you'll see first hand why they hate me soon enough"

Dartz simply nodded and left it at that, going to the back to clean his bandana "oh, I already knew it was cuz yer powerful but naïve, not to mention ya'd take help from just about anyone, if they seem genuine enough and you don't have a clue how to actually use all that power ya got to it's fullest potential"

"Fullest potential...I'll prove I can become stronger than you then" Bane said as Dartz chuckled and shook his head "you don't wanna be as strong as me...ya already are very close an' stronger than that Kami...just wait 'til I see him again" he finished washing his bandana and was using Wind magic to make it spin and float in the air while slowly applying Fire Magic to give enough heat to dry it completely then tied it back over his hair as it was before

Dartz' eyes opened in the same crazed manner as when he both heard Kami had raped Bane and when he came face to face with the man and it made Bane feel like a deer in the headlights...or like he was between the jaws of a Great White Shark "Ye should've gotten me bandana before I put it back on, mate...you intend to get this or die tryin', sure I have no interest in guarding someone so obviously weaker than me, much less dead, but don't take my words lightly that I won't kill you if you come after me with no intent to kill me for this bandana"

"I'll kill you then...but I'd prefer I didn't have to" Bane said as he felt a similar feeling to his own dark side in the Pirate who chuckled as he kicked the younger Ghoul in the chest, sending him back "prefer ya didn't have ta kill me, don't you get that both our prides and lives are bein' put on the line here or are ya just tryin' to see what'll happen if you piss me off?!"

"Maybe I can make you want to fight me...if I break yer idiot old man" Dartz suddenly was calmer, much calmer which was all the more dangerous as "Miss Tsume...I wouldn't hurt a woman as nice as her unless I simply held a grudge against her...yer expectin' company?"

Dartz sensed who was outside seconds before the door was knocked, despite them keeping most of the powers hidden as he hid near the door once there was a knock with one of his axes, as they couldn't sense him either

Once the door was open, Dartz strikes the seemingly unsuspecting Ryuken 'Scar' Salazar and Yamamoto Hatake as Dartz stopped as the unflinching Scar had a dagger already at his chest ready to dig his heart out "Ya good there, mate...ya think ya can thrust that dagger before I take ya head off?"

"My master is better than you think" Yamamoto said as he pointed at the dagger "that dagger better not reach your heart, the demonite it was forged with will liquify and kill you in minutes"

"I didn't come here without something worth dyin' for, matey...that's more than enough time to make certain you won't be too far behind, try yer best" Dartz dared "but if you withdraw yer fancy blade now, I'll never allow it this close to me again"

"Why are you even helping Bane?" Scar asks curiously as Dartz turned away from him "Let's just say...it's for self centred reasons mostly beside that we owe each other a debt"

He looked at Bane knowingly "Where's yer worthless partner at, anyway?"

Bane shrugged "he could be anywhere...that's why I don't trust him" Bane adds as Scar says "he seems familiar...I'll help you get that bandana, Bane"

"That's the spirit...let's see what you've got to back up that big mouth" Dartz said as they went into the forest and the three surrounded Dartz

"Three on one, how unfair" Dartz said as he flipped over Yamamoto but as he got past him, he saw Bane coming in on his blind side "...fer you" as he caught the young Asakura and threw him against a tree

"This ain't a trainin' session, mates...yer not layin a finger on this bandana without killing me first!" Dartz said as he dodged as Yamamoto used his clan's specialty, lightning magic which he knew inherently long before ever learning Fire magic to strike Dartz through with a long distance blade known as Purple Raikiri, which was usually a close ranged ability but Dartz punched it away with his bare hand

"Well well, you remind me of someone of the Hatake Clan...he wasn't Japanese but he was hella powerful and crazy, nearly hit me square in the face with a similar ability when I pissed him off too" Dartz said "do ya recall the names Tyram and Kakashi?"

Yamamoto wasn't familiar with the name but was surprised to hear the other, Tyram as he asks "Tyram...is alive and a Pirate, I hardly doubt my own brother would stoop so low as to be a pirate" Yamamoto said as he clashed with Dartz, who chuckled "I only said you reminded me of him, mate...I never said either Ghoul was a Pirate but that explains why ya look so much alike but he was alive the last time we met...not an easy one fer even me to kill, that Tyram fella"

The sun was slowly going down as the four were oblivious to it as Tsujin began his sneak attack on the Pirate...

"End o' the line, mate" Dartz was mid-air over Bane but felt a grain of something fall behind his ear, turning he say what looked like living sand ready to kill him but he took a deep breath and blew, pushing himself out of the way of the attack as he looked around for Tsujin, slamming himself against a tree but recovering quickly growling "Ye can do better than that, right mate?"

He was now cornered but smiling uncontrollably "Haven't ye learned never to corner a wild animal?"

Yamamoto came in with a punch at the same time as both Bane and Scar came in with a kick, but Dartz blocked them all "it's been two days and it's already nightfall and none of yer tricks have worked to get my bandana"

"Which means?" Bane asks as Dartz continued "Ya lose my little challenge, so I ain't goin' anywhere and yer not goin' anywhere without me"

Bane seemed not to be bothered about it as he was when they met as Dartz said "I appreciate all yer efforts though...I still beat you fair and square and before ya ask, no I didn't know ya would lose"

"I think we should go just find Titus...I don't trust whatever he's up to" Bane said as he and Dartz left

"Titus?" Scar said once Bane and Dartz was gone as Tsujin asks "Isn't that the guy who has a bitter hatred but obsession with you after you had him thrown into the Crypt for attacking your sister and fifty plus other people?"

Scar nods "he's threatened to even kill me, but has barely even gotten near me since...he attacked my sister and nearly killed her secretly too, I just know it" Scar said "he's as powerful as he's dangerous and mad...he's as powerful as a Ghoul Lord too but near mindless if angered enough"

Elsewhere, Azazel decides that he should have a word with this Taeger person alone, but first...he needed to get rid of Baccus for a while and he has just the thing to do it.

"This is becoming quite mundane and boring..." Azazel said "this 'Taeger' will serve to be just as big a thorn in my side as Kami is"

Just as the two were about to clash fist again, Azazel popped in and out quickly...leaving Taeger alone and frustrated with what was going on and Baccus on the other side of the city, near where Dartz and Bane were unknowingly heading now.

"What the-?" Taeger swung his punch at nothing as he now found himself alone and getting very unsettled, not to mention his known anger issues which he actually has unlike Kami who he finds just acts like spoiled rotten child as he tried to qualm his own rage for now "Who's there?"

Azazel teleported a safe enough distance behind him as he dusted his hands, he wasn't a Demon Lord who was afraid to do his dirty work himself if he had to "so, this is enigmatic, cruel and sadistic, yet still very well and far more respected than Kami, Alphonse 'Wild Tiger' Taeger...you don't disappoint in the 'Wild' department, I see"

"So you're the Demon Lord I heard got his ass kicked by Kami, the weakest Ghoul Lord...it seems both our reputations precedes us...Azazel-sama" Taeger said "Did ya know that I was once called the Ghoul equivalent of you because of...my evil tendencies and that you're interrupting something important?"

"You...my equivalent?" Azazel asks in shock, though it was clear that he was being very sarcastic in a mocking manner that didn't do wonders for Taeger's mood "Don't kid yourself...you're strong but equally as stubborn and stupid if you think you're my equivalent"

"Care to prove me wrong, Demon Lord?" Taeger growled "or are ya gonna just hop around all night?"

Suddenly Azazel's tail whipped around Taeger's neck as he threw him as Azazel stood where Taeger was standing as Taeger sat up with an even more angered look "Ya know what, I hate sarcastic people like you...they die a very painful, but slow death"

"You are an idiot..."Azazel was not being sarcastic now as Taeger snarled "I won't be when I skin you like the rude, little pig you are and keep that twitchy little spade-tipped tail o' yours as a souvenir, now will I?"

Azazel's tail wasn't twitching, but now it was reacting violently to Taeger's threats...something Azazel already couldn't stand as the only Ghouls than managed not to piss him off for his time here were Bane, his friends (because they clearly knew better) and the even more rude Dartz who just wasn't stupid, despite being a bit overprotective "try it, you overgrown electrical outlet and see what I can do when I'm really ticked"

Taeger got up and the two pick up where he and Baccus left off, charging at each other as Taeger back flipped, kicking Azazel into the air then grabbing his tail, a weakness the Demon Lord had long overcome as he recovered and kicked the hand away from his tail as the tail slashed Taeger across the face deeply

Taeger stumbled back, his face had a very deep slash across it that almost showed bone, as he licked his own blood as the wound sewed itself up like it was never there despite some blood still on his face and shirt that he could care less for "Ya know, when an animal tastes it's own blood, it'll only want to taste yours even more right?"

Azazel ran at him with a powerful kick but he clashed with an equally powerful punch as he growled 'Watashi wa terepōto suru koto ga dekiru anata no yōna aite to wa kesshite tatakatta koto wa arimasenga, kore wa anata to anata no chīsana torikku no tame no gyō no owaridesu' (I've never fought an opponent quite like you who can teleport, but this is the end of the line for you and your little tricks)

Azazel then teleported again before Taeger could grab him but Taeger managed to catch his kick from behind and put enough of his Black Lightning in him to kill another Ghoul as he was shot back, barely hurt or fazed "Unlike Kami, I was never praised for my wisdom, but I was never that stupid that I'd fall for the same trick more than once"

Azazel managed to punch Taeger hard enough that he was easily sent flipping but he stuck his hand in the ground to center himself as he crouched an rubbed his jaw "Oy, that smarts...are you angry with me, Demon Lord...why ya put so much distance between me and that old clown Baccus?"

Azazel didn't answer as Taeger tries to shoot him down but he teleport away and lands on the already annoyed Ghoul's shoulder "What a pest of a Demon...are you sure you're an actual Demon Lord?"

"There is only one Azazel, you will learn to respect that title soon enough...did you think I would allow you to harm Bane Asakura and get away with it?" Azazel growls as Taeger growls right back "I will eat him...I don't care how many a corpse like you I have to step over to do so...he has me obsessed"

"Your very presence sickens me...so evil, yet so very unintelligent" Azazel teleported away from him but he lit the forest path ablaze, preventing the Demon Lord from leaving "Nobody talks down to me like that and lives to tell the tail!"

While Azazel is keeping Taeger busy, Dartz and Bane was almost to the entrance of the city on the Binge Eater's side and Dartz could already feel that something was very wrong besides what he could already could see was wrong

"Something's off here..." Dartz said with a scowl as he walked behind Bane as a group of Binge Eater, extra aggressive ones at that, were barricading the towering gates, if not just trying to break it in some way which was still a very high possibility despite the fact that magic was useless on any entrance in or out of either side of the city or the ones that lead to the forest between each side

"We don't have time to waste here..." Bane says as Dartz said nothing as he scanned the area while following Bane closer to the gate as one of the Ghouls noticed him and stopped them in a way that was disrespectful even to the Pirate "Where do you think you're off to?"

"Beyond that gate's our destination-" Dartz said as he was stopped in his tracks by a fist to his jaw by the Ghoul "I wasn't talkin' to you, baka, I was talkin' to you" the punch was so sudden that Bane barely registered it happening as the man, Jak shoved Bane

Dartz was about to singe the man but saw a man falling from a height that wouldn't kill him but would leave a mark if he his the ground at that speed as he used the surrounding trees to catch the man only to be surprised to see that it was his former captain, Baccus "Do ya like flyin' or somethin', Cap'n?"

"Get off me, baka?" Baccus snapped as he pushed Dartz away "Where the fuck am I, mate and where's Gedharm?"

"Gedharm has his head trapped in some book...you know him and we be on the other side of the city" Dartz explained as he walked off, cracking his neck as Baccus glared at him "I dunno if ya wanna learn how to fly or somethin', but gimme a minute"

Dartz walked over to the Ghoul who hit him "Put him down before ya get hurt, mate" as when he didn't, a kick to the face made him do it

A woman came up to hit Dartz as she snarled "How dare you get into our business, outsider?" but before she could, Baccus grabbed her arm and squeezed as his nails sunk into her skin, he was still overprotective of Dartz, who was an orphan on the brink of starving to death when they met but always a fighter, despite the loner already being able to kill anyone who crossed him, including Baccus as she made the mistake of looking into his intimidating angry eyes "fuck off before I do something I think I should regret even thinking about, bakayaro"

He let go of her, but his silvery-grey eyes still seem to have a dark hold on her as he left her with the hope that she had enough common sense to not waste the life he spared as he almost never spared the lives of other, especially if they were strong enough to seriously hurt Dartz or any one of his pirates as he turned on Dartz "Care to give me an explanation as to what you're doin', matey?"

Dartz could tell at a glance that his captain was unbelievably angry despite his 'calmness' and he didn't want anyone setting either of them off at the moment "I'm his bodyguard now, Cap'n..." he pointed at Bane "as fer how ye got halfway across a city in seconds, I'm as confused as ye may be"

"Maybe he was teleported...only person I know can teleport over vast distances is the Demon Lord, Azazel" Bane said "...no idea what he could want with Taeger guy though...I doubt it's anything good though as he seemed itching to fight Kami or gain his attention after losing to him before...I don't think Kami can kill him though and he knows it"

"You look familiar to a young Asakura I fought a long time ago..." Baccus says as he got closer to Bane while rubbing his chin "I think he's the clan head by now, but damn I hated that guy...he was too nice to be trusted or left alone"

Dartz then punched the gates of the entrance open, then stared around at the Ghoul, he was going through here even if he had to fight them all to do so "Oy, ya staying here and fight or are ya comin' with us"

Baccus gave a scowl "I think I might stay a while to teach these simps who they're dealing with...I can't make up my mind" his scowl turned to a devious smirk Dartz knew all too well as he did not have time for Baccus to make up his mind replying "Oy, make up yer damn mind anytime this century before I do it fer ya!" He knew well that Baccus was trying to tease and annoy him

"Let me through or you'll be sorry" Baccus became deathly serious all of a sudden as he walked "Ya don't need to be so tightly wound, Dartz-san...Taeger isn't anywhere near here"

"Shut up and c'mon...before I leave ya behind" Dartz shook his head as they left and Baccus replied "ya mean before ya try to leave me behind...I'm bothered about this Kami fella, ain't he the guy Taeger said he grew up with?"

"Don't start me with that guy..." Dartz said rolling his eyes in very poorly hidden disgust

Within a few hours, they made it deep into the forest...Bane heard speculations that Kami had a number of interconnected hideouts here that weren't really as out of commission as they came upon one of them by mistake to find Zaraki Kurosaki there before them and more than eager to fight Bane...

The three Ghouls came upon a house...it seemed to be like no other but perfectly normal at the same time, if it weren't isolated in the middle of nowhere in the forest far outside the city and that while they couldn't sense anything quite out of the ordinary yet, they felt like they were being watched as Dartz says from Bane's right "I get the odd feelin'...we ain't alone here"

[Suddenly the screen splits on the three as the door was blasted off it's hinges and straight at them as Dartz and Baccus went to either side and Bane somersaulted high over it]

Zaraki walked out slowly as he applauded the three "Good job tracking me here, Bane Asakura...now, entertain me before you come with me willingly to create a new world"

"I am not going anywhere" Bane snarls as Dartz adds "...without me or with you"

Zaraki simply smirks with a pure evil look in his eyes 'Anata no yūkan-sa, shōnen... Shikashi, watashi wa tokuni anata ga ikite iru hitsuyō wa arimasen, anata ga karada to yobu sono kanari yūyōna kara no naka de... Ghoul King, sono saisho no Ghoul ga sono chikara o motsu yō ni, anata no mono wa watashi no mono ni naru koto ga dekimasu' (how valiant of you, boy...but I don't particularly need you alive, much less in that rather useful shell you call a body...I just need the Ghoul King, the first Ghoul to possess that body so his power and yours can be mine)

'Ima sore wa chōdo soko ni machigatte iru, nakama' (Now that's just wrong there, mate) Baccus says, already disgusted with the man before him as he looked at Dartz, who had a rather anger but amusing, to him look on his face as he attacked "I've had about enough of listening to this stupid donkey!"

Dartz attacked Zaraki but the Ghoul was fast, getting behind him to do a devastating mid air suplex on him, the other two Ghoul cringing at the sound of Dartz' neck snapping as Zaraki mocked "Aw...I think I broke the only legitimate pirate here..."

"Dartz!" Bane said as he suddenly began to stagger...his voice changing a bit as his body was bathed in flames that forced even Baccus to keep his distance from him as he thought 'this kid...at first glance he's a total weakling but that must be because his real power is triggered by his very intense emotions...just like...' he looked at Dartz as he shut his eyes, the memory of Dartz as a boy, severely tortured by humans and Ghouls and nearly killed multiple times until he thought Baccus wanted no less than his death too 'Not another one...'

"That was my right hand man, you son of a bitch!" Baccus shot past Bane, ready to slap Zaraki and his lower jaw in two different directions but he grabbed Dartz' leg and slammed him into Baccus

Dartz was unconscious but his eyes were still open as Bane went and picked up Dartz' treasured bandana as the flames took the form of a sort of cloak around him in the form of a wolf with nine tails, reacting violently with his rage as he got from feet away to mere inches from Zaraki with a kick to the face but the after shock sent him flying and only stopped by hitting a tree a distance away

He then went over to Dartz and tied his bandana back on his head just as he was regaining consciousness then turned to face where Zaraki was as he freed himself from the tree to see the destruction Bane caused, which made him wonder what he could do when he really went all out as he sensed a group coming towards Bane's location and smirked as he looked at the injury Bane inflicted on him "I should go now...you will come to me sooner or later, Bane Asakura" as he suppressed his magic and left the area

As for Bane...they soon found that they were surrounded but could no longer sense Zaraki anywhere as Kuro Inuzuka and 13 other members of his clan, with their dogs made their presence known but Bane seemed either unable or unwilling to calm down as Dartz struck swiftly, knocking him unconscious as he raised Bane's bloodied hand to Kuro "Looks like we got part of what ya wanted, mutt-guy"

The dog sniffed the blood then licked it off as Kuro asked with concern "Is he going to be alright?"

"Aye..." Dartz said as he tied another bandana around Bane's arm and got on the dog with Bane

Baccus was as astounded as he was confused as he came to Akamaru's face "Oy, why're a feedin' yer mutts steroids to get 'em so big?"

"That's their natural size, ya baka!" Another member of the group, an woman named Ino said "Why would we give then that crap humans use knowing that they'll die?!"

"Ay yi yi, haul yer ass up here and let's get outta here already, Cap'n" Dartz said "the faster we do that, the faster I get off this thing"

"I'm surprised yer even up there when yer a cat person and not a lover of dogs, Dartz..." Baccus said as Dartz said "I don't hate dogs...doesn't mean I want a dog that's three times my size...shut it and get on already, Cap'n!"

"Geez, I'm comin'...startin' to wonder who's really the captain here" Baccus got on as the were taken back to the city

Scar, Yamamoto, Tsume, Kakuzu, Ryujin and Yang went to Bane's house to find the Inuzuka Clan's dogs in his front yard...

"Where on Earth does this kid find these friends...?" Ryujin thought out loud with a look of slight shock at how many dogs were here as Kakuzu snarled "I don't want to lose a limb because you baka were too nosy to pet the giant dogs..."

"That's enough, you two" Tsume got between Scar and Kakuzu as they went inside as Ryujin scowled "Bane needs new friends...you'll all kill each other before anyone would even think of killing you or him"

Ryujin went in first, but before he could even step in, one of Dartz' axes nearly took his face off as it was thrown as his eyes met the very irate pirate's glare as Scar asks "What's going on here?"

"Where's Bane?" Tsume asks as Dartz says pointing in the back "in the back somewhere meditating...he warned us not to bother him and has been actin' awfully weird since he heard from that good-fer-nothin', big mouthed pain in the groin Kurosaki that they want to use him like a friggin' test subject then kill him, I'm startin' to hate that clan...very much"

"You really want to make an enemy of one of the world's fiercest and largest clans, Pirate?" Ryujin asks, sensing Dartz' anger 'Anata wa shinda nō ka nanika arimasu ka?' (Are you brain dead or something?)

"He be quite the fighter...saved our asses" Baccus leaned against the wall, smoking a cigar but itching to get his hands on Taeger again or Azazel "stop acting like he needs constant supervision all the time...we have our own problems to deal with once that Kurosaki comes after Bane again"

"What was his name?" Ryujin demanded as Dartz obliged "called himself Zaraki Kurosaki..."

Dartz could tell that Ryujin wasn't surprised to hear that name as he was also angered "That tears it..." he growls as he walks out but Tsume stops him "What are you planning to do?"

"End this...like I should have the day he was born" Ryujin said coldly as Dartz watched him with his arms folded "I can tell, he's more than some random member o' yer clan to ya, ain't he?"

"He's my son...and this is no longer your concern, outsider" Ryujin says as Dartz ran up to him with a punch to the face as he cracked his knuckles with an evil glint in his eyes "Hurry back, mate...that's only the tip of the iceberg"

Ryujin left, meanwhile with Bane, he was struggling with his darker half as he meditated, unaware of what was going on around him...

Bane was deep within his own conscience as the Kami within his mind walked around him with his hands behind his back and a sad look

'You know...no one can protect you from what is to come, right...?' Kami said kneeling behind Bane with both hands on his shoulders, they were cold...Bane wasn't able to feel this other Kami like this, they were either never able to touch or the other Kami simply didn't want to touch him for a reason 'that is why I decided to intervene of my own accord and help you...with the power Kami Kurosaki gave to you'

"Gave...to me?" Bane repeats and wanted to immediately jump away from this Kami but neither his spirit nor his body was listening to him right now as the Kami of his mind nodded 'Yes...remember, the real Kami lost more than he thinks when he tried to take your heart and soul to replace his, he knows nothing of my existence or power as I never came, per se from his being but from his beloved Black Flames'

"So...you're not evil?" Bane was shivering now, what Kami did to him replaying in his mind over and over which was worse as he was unable to forget it for the life of him as this other Kami replied 'No...I never was but that isn't enough to gain your trust, is it?'

"No..." Bane said as he forgot that the Kami was a part of him, thus could read all of his thoughts 'but you still have hope...so I will give you knowledge on all the six base elements (Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, Light, Darkness) and other things but I have to teach it to you once you start meditating and come here'

Bane felt reassured by this as he stops meditating and goes inside to find everyone discussing how to deal with Zaraki Kurosaki, who apparently is the reason the Kurosaki Clan (well, some of them) are after him as he asked "Where's Ryujin?"

"Dartz chased him off..." Baccus snitched as Dartz glared at him grumbling "Why you rotten..."

"He figured that he should've ended all of this before it began" Dartz added as Baccus shot him a look

"We're leaving in the morning to meet the Asakura and Uzushio Clan, by the way, so come prepared" Kakuzu quickly changes the subject "be ready..."

"That is going to be interesting, to say the least but Father doesn't seem too thrilled about it for some reason" Bane said as everyone asked "Good, now where's the liquor?"

"Why would I even have liquor in my house?" Bane asks, caught a bit unexpected by the question "...and I don't see the occasion to be drinking anyway!"

A/N - Bane finds out that Zaraki is the reason why the Kurosaki Clan is after him, but he has no time to worry about it when there's the whole idea of what his grandfathers would be like and most of all, what their impressions of him will be...all and more next chapter!