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

Legend:

"Someone is talking."

'Someone is thinking.'

"A technique is being used."

Chapter 10:

(Illinois—Amity Park—The junkyard)

Unknown to the participants of the recent fight, someone else had been in the junkyard and had watched the battle from start to finish. The figure had been quite interested in Danny's variants of Cero, as few Hollows or Arrancar actually took the time to develop any. The majority of them just preferred to use the traditional Cero or, in the case of Vasto Lordes and Arrancar, the Gran Ray Cero.

"Heh, the next generation will be powerful indeed."

There, sitting on top of a throne made out of sand, was the masked compatriot of Clockwork. He had been there since the battle had started and had been watching Danny's actions with rapt attention. When Danny had gone "berserk" the grin of his mask seemed to get wider, if that was even possible.

"Well, well, well it looks like 'that' power is still alive." The masked man mused. "Good, it looks like Clockwork was right after-all."

The battle had come to a halt now, and Clockwork's associate knew that things were wrapping up when Danny had hit Skulker in mid-air with his Cero. Lightly snapping his fingers, the figure's throne dissolved into thousands of small, transparent sand particles. The sand particles then flew from around the masked man and began spreading to encompass the majority of the junkyard.

The masked figure stared blankly ahead he watched his sand begin absorbing the ambient Ghost Reiatsu—turning green or black, depending on who's Spiritual Energy the sand absorbed. "Now," The masked man muttered, leaning forward on what was left of his throne. "Let's see how you'll react to Skulker's true form… young Fenton."

XXXXXX

(Meanwhile—With Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Skulker)

As the dust settled down, Danny felt the red haze that had been engulfing his mind begin to fade. The bone-like 'veins' slowly began to receed back to his choker while his eyes faded back to their original coloring. It was a couple seconds later before Danny slumped over slightly from the sudden rush of exhaustion that his still muddled mind felt.

"D-Danny?"

The sound of Sam's voice cleared away the last remnants of his former rage, allowing Danny to bring himself back to reality. His eyes regained their light and reason before they started darting around, glancing at the destruction with confusion. Seconds later, he was clutching his head in pain, as it felt like something was trying to break its way out of his skull.

"S-Sam?" Danny asked through his sudden headache. "W-What happened?"

Sam looked at him for a moment with something he had never seen in her eyes, fear; not for him but because of him. Danny reached out towards Sam for a moment before he noticed his newly grown claws. He recoiled at the sight; his hands appeared to have changed, with his fingernails having lengthened into viscous, bone-white claws that looked like they could rend steel. Danny then held his claws up to the waning light of the sun and could see that they were covered in the silver particles that Skulker had used and what looked like specks of Ectoplasm.

"Wha-? I d-don't understand..."

Sam tentatively stepped towards Danny, and he noticed that the fear still hadn't left her eyes. "Danny… you attacked Skulker… but… you weren't y-you. You used… two Ceros against him… and he fell to the ground…"

It was all coming back to Danny now; Skulker's ambush and attempted kidnapping, him and Sidney fleeing the house, and how Sidney was taken out in a surprise attack. He remembered the ensuing conflict between him and Skulker, how he was gradually losing ground until Sidney arrived to help him. He remembered how he and Sidney had fought together before Skulker had taken him down, and how Sidney had fallen shortly afterwards trying to slow Skulker down. He remembered how he had promised Sidney that he would be careful when he went back to fight Skulker, and how fruitless his efforts had been, once Skulker had transformed.

Danny couldn't remember much after that though. He remembered that Tucker had attacked Skulker with a bulldozer, and that Sam had tried to get him away as Skulker destroyed Tucker's bulldozer. After that though... nothing.

It was like he had been in a lucid dream and like a dream when he had woken up, he couldn't remember what he dreamed of.

Hearing a noise behind him, Danny twirled around, drawing his sword as he did so fully expecting Skulker to try and impale him on his sword. What he saw almost caused Danny to drop his sword in shock. Skulker was lying on the ground not even 100 feet away, though he looked nothing like the Skulker that Danny had known and fought against.

Skulker's formerly flowing, flame-like green hair had become like burning straw, slowly smoldering from the heat that was once a fire. His skin was pale as bone, and he had deep dark bags under his murky, dark-green eyes. Danny could count every bone in Skulker's body now since his skin was stretched over them, giving each a clear outline. Extending from the base of his skull and from his wrists were small lengths of wires that gave off the occasional spark.

Danny winced at the sight of the emaciated Ghost in front of him; bile flowing up his throat as a sense of wrongness began to overcome him. He didn't know what to think at the sight, or how he should react to this.

"Heh, what's wrong Arrancar?" Skulker covered his mouth as he began to cough violently. Ectoplasm leaked through his enclosed fingers when he pulled them away, staining his hands a dark-green color. "Can't stand the sight of your own work?"

Danny backed up a step, barely aware of Sam's presence nearby, "My work…?"

Skulker was silent for a moment before he chuckled darkly—the force of his laughter shaking his frail body.

"You can't possibly have forgotten already, have you? After that pathetic friend of yours was knocked aside, you underwent a transformation; you went completely insane… and became a real beast." Skulker's face now possessed an ear-to-ear grin, made more sickening by the Ectoplasm staining teeth. "It was… inspiring."

"You're a monster." Sam spat at Skulker, startling Danny, since he had forgotten she was there.

"I'm no monster, you naïve little girl." Skulker stated with a brief glance at Sam. "Monsters are merely beasts that can't control their own actions…" He paused as another fit of coughs overtook him. "I on the other hand, can control my own actions, unlike the young Arrancar here." He looked at Danny. "No, I'm not a mere monster." Skulker looked at the two teenagers gleefully, his smoldering hair becoming a tad bit brighter. "I'm a Hunter."

Sam crossed her arms, "What's the difference?"

"A Hunter is someone who kills for the thrill of the Hunt. A Hunter brings down prey that is naturally stronger than the Hunter through tactics and superior technology. A monster is something that kills or destroys without thinking… without mercy." Skulker paused for a moment before he looked towards Danny. "That Arrancar may not look like it, but he is a monster… his whole race are monsters."

Danny's head lowered as he looked away—not wanting to hear anymore. Sam, on the other hand, had a look of pure murder on her face.

"How dare you? How dare you just kneel there and… and preach about how Danny is a monster when you're much worse than he could ever be? Danny had no choice in what he's become! It was my fault he's the way he is now!" Sam yelled as her fists clenched in fury and her eyes began to water. "Do you have any idea what it's like to have effectively turned your best friend into something you know nothing about?"

At this point, Sam choked back a sob, even though she did start to cry. Danny looked at her with surprise on his face, never having guessed what Sam must've been feeling all this time. 'Why didn't you tell us you felt this way, Sam?'

Tears continued to pour down Sam's face as the black-haired girl took a deep breath. She then glared at Skulker with anger in her eyes before she spoke once again.

"But… even though he's confused and frightened of his powers, he still uses them to help others. Even though it puts him in grave danger every time he fights, he still goes out every day and night to help all those who can't help themselves." Sam glared at Skulker furiously. "So don't you dare… don't you even think about calling Danny a monster!"

Danny was stunned and touched at Sam's words of faith in him. He hadn't known that she held him in such high esteem—when he himself had his doubts. But he did know that—after this ended—he, Sam, and Tucker were going to have a long talk.

Danny was brought back to reality by Skulker who released a deep ragged cough that stain the earth in front of him with his Ectoplasm. Once his fit subsided Skulker began to do something that Danny did not expect him to do; he laughed. "He… he he… HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

It seemed that whatever little sanity that Skulker possessed had been worn away. It was further empathized by the wiring that sprouted from his body as they violently began to whip around like angry snakes.

"You kids… you kids are just too funny! Acting like you understand how the world works and spouting such words filled with your 'hope' and 'conviction'!" Skulker looked at the two teenagers. "This world isn't a fair one! Nothing turns out like it should and the good die young…... just like him."

Skulker paused for a second as some sanity returned to his eyes and—for the first time—Danny could see something besides aggression in them. He could see a deep longing for something or someone, sadness, and an untold amount of pain.

"But I do suppose that I do owe you one, Arrancar." Danny's face took on a confused look, as he didn't know why Skulker would thank him. "If I hadn't decided to hunt you then I wouldn't have had a chance to study that marvelous portal that your parents built…"

Skulker lifted one of his wire-covered arms into the air before he thrust it straight down, into the hard earth beneath him. When his fingers reached the ground, they encountered no resistance; it was as if they were submerged into water. "Passerelle au purgatoire (Gateway to Purgatory)."

From Skulker's submerged wrist came a dark and white liquid that seeped out of the wounds on his arm. When the two liquids hit the ground they started to spread outwards, violently churning and twisting around each other as they did so, forming a whirlpool of darkness and light. Skulker started to slowly sink into the whirlpool, smirking all the while.

"You may have eluded me this time Arrancar, but this hunt is far from over! In fact it has only just begun…"

When Skulker had fully submerged, the whirlpool dissolved into black and white smoke; leaving nothing behind on the ground. Danny found himself staring at the spot where Skulker had been previously—not knowing what he was supposed to do now. After a few moments of tense silence, Sam spoke up.

"Danny, are you alright?"

Danny was silent for a few seconds before he sighed, "No Sam, I don't think I'm alright… But, that doesn't matter right now; Tucker and Sidney need our help."

Sam didn't say anything in response to Danny's statement—merely walked a bit behind Danny as they went to retrieve Tucker. What neither of the two teenagers noticed though was a strange, metallic Lava Lamp that had fallen from Skulker's body when Danny had destroyed it. They also didn't notice how it was now glowing with a bright green light. As they walked away from it, small cracks had started to appear on the surface,which allowed a single drop of dark green liquid to fall onto the ground below.

XXXXXX

The masked man looked on as Danny and Sam went off to retrieve their friends, feeling both pleased and saddened at the same time. He was impressed that Danny had been able to defeat Skulker, though the boy was almost defeated himself, as Skulker was one of the more powerful individuals among the newer generation of Ghosts.

He was saddened though because of the issues that Danny and his friends were going through, or would be going through. As an accomplice of Clockwork, he knew that this battle was nothing compared to the fights that the three children would be force to face in the future. Even though he didn't like having teenagers fight battles that they knew nothing about, he knew that if young Danny didn't become stronger, then all could be lost.

'May whatever deity maybe listening, please forgive my sins for I cannot.' The masked man thought as he looked upwards, a frown hidden underneath his mask.

The masked man was immobile for a few moments, he had one more item of business to take care of before he could leave. He then sighed deeply before he snapped his fingers once again, recalling all of his scattered sand particles back towards himself. The sand particles swirled around above his hand for a moment before transforming into a beautiful glass rose that glowed with a red light, which the masked man held by the stem. Pausing for a moment to examine the rose, the masked man idly thought about his past.

'What am I now? Once I was a man, then I was an ideal; now all I am is...Cinq.'

The Ghost, now known as Cinq, started to turn into sand with the oncoming winds of night. As the last of the sand blew away, a small tune could be heard on the wind. 'Rappelez-vous, souvenez-vous du cinquième de Novembre.'

XXXXXX

Danny and Sam found Tucker lying amongst the disturbed pile of old refrigerators that Skulker had hurled him into. It took them a minute or two to reach their friend but, when they did reach him, they were both startled by the condition that he was in.

All in all, for being in an explosion Tucker was pretty well off, injury wise. The explosion that Tucker had been in had left him with some burns and scrapes on his body along with a few lumps here and there but nothing serious. Sam thought that he might have a concussion—as he had seemed to hit those refrigerators pretty hard—but, without a doctor present, they couldn't be sure.

The two teenagers managed to wake up Tucker after a couple of moments and were happy to see him awake, despite the complaints that he made. Danny and Sam then helped Tucker get up by offering him their shoulders, which he graciously accepted. After they helped Tucker to his feet, they began to navigate their way out of the pile of refrigerators and towards the general vicinity to which Sidney was hidden in.

When they reached Sidney, Danny left Sam to support Tucker while he went into the vehicle to get Sidney. He had been extremely relieved to find that Sidney wasn't bleeding anymore and that the Ghost's wounds were slowly beginning to close, though he was worried about how pale Sidney was.

Sidney opened his eyes when he heard Danny's footsteps, "... Danny?"

"Yeah, it's me, Sidney. Just hold on for a moment; I'm gonna come in and get you out of there." Danny said as he slowly grabbed Sidney by the waist, lifting the Ghost over his shoulder, before he slowly crawled out of the vehicle.

XXXXXX

After making sure that Sidney was alright for now, the Amity Trio had realized that they needed to get somewhere safe. It was upon Sam's suggestion that they go to her house, which she had never invited them to before today, that they left the junkyard with Sam leading the way. The quartet quickly travelled the distance until they had entered Amity Park proper, where they had to be careful unless they wanted to be seen. They didn't want to be caught as beaten and blood-splattered they were—as that would raise uncomfortable questions. Questions that they would't be able to answer.

It was 20 minutes later when both Danny and Tucker began to notice something. Every house that they passed by seem to grow larger and more extravagant with all sorts of insane attachments to them. When they passed by the house with the helicopter pad attached to the roof, both of them realized that Sam was leading them towards the rich section of town.

"Err, Sam? Where are we heading?" Tucker asked as they passed by a truck-boat-truck.

Sam looked back at her friends for a moment before she turned back to the direction that she was walking, "We're heading to my house Tuck."

"Then what are we—" Tucker asked, only to be interrupted.

"We're here." Sam suddenly stated as she stopped in front of the final house on the lane.

The house was huge, easily four stories tall and just as wide. The siding of the house was a vivid, light-blue in color with a dark-gray roof. It also had multiple windows that dotted the front and sides of the house—each of them positioned in an orderly fashion.

Surrounding this house was a 10-foot tall iron fence that separated the Amity Trio, and Sidney, from the house's enormous yard. The yard itself was immaculate, with a few tasteful decorations here and there, and a gravel path that led straight towards the house.

"Sam!" Danny and Tucker shouted—eyes wide as they looked towards their best friend. "You… You live in a MANSION?"

Sam frowned as she looked away, "Yeah. My great grandpa invented that deli toothpick cellophane twirler… and my family has been living off of the money he earned ever since."

Danny and Tucker were confused, beyond the fact that they had no idea what the heck was a 'Deli Toothpick Cellophane Twirler' was, but they put their confusion aside. For now, they needed a way to get into Sam's house without being found out by Sam's parents. Going in through the front door obviously wouldn't work.

"How are we going to get inside Sam? I don't think your parents would like us dragging in a bleeding Ghost into their house…" Danny said to his friend as he stared at her.

Sam's frown slowly turned into a smirk before she motioned for them to follow her. The two teenagers shrugged before they followed Sam until they were facing the eastern section of Sam's house, where she suddenly stopped. Before either Danny or Tucker could ask her why she had stopped, Sam moved to the iron fence before she wiggled four iron bars out of their places.

Danny and Tucker smiled before they went through the opening that Sam had made, with Danny being careful not to jostle Sidney too much. After they had made it through, Sam picked up the bars before she too crossed over and placed them back into their positions afterwards. When that was done, the quartet quickly moved towards Sam's house, making sure to be as silent as they possibly could.

Once the quartet had gotten to the side of Sam's house, the black-haired girl pried open one of the windows with a hairpin. Danny made sure that he had a good grip on Sidney before he climbed through the window. Tucker then came through the window not ten seconds later, with Sam following him through the window not a second later.

The quartet then proceeded to pad their way down the hallway, with Sam once again taking lead of the group. As the group travelled, Tucker and Danny got glimpses of many different portraits depicting members of Sam's family.

In one photo was a fairly young couple, who were standing in front of a Hawaiian Tiki idol with pink puka-shell necklaces around their necks. The woman in this photograph was fair-skinned with purple eyes and orange-colored hair that ended her shoulders. She was wearing a beautiful pink sundress which only seemed to accent her natural beauty and a pair of pink flip-flops. The man in the photograph had short, straw-colored hair and dark-blue eyes. He was wearing an ironed white shirt with a pair of tan khaki pants, along with a pair of dark-blue sandals. The only other thing of note about this man was the logo on his white shirt, which was too small for Danny to see properly.

Another photo showed the same couple from the original photo, except the woman had a slightly rounded stomach, and an elderly woman who was sitting in a wheelchair, whom had one of her hands on the younger woman's stomach. The photo after that showed a young, black-haired girl in a pink sundress who looked like she wanted to rip the dress off and burn it.

Danny and Tucker saw many different photos that showed the progression of time, as that black-haired girl in the sundress eventually grew up into the Sam they knew. Coming up to the end of the hallway, Danny saw a single end table with a framed photo on the table top.

It was an old black and white photo that was slightly faded, but Danny could still make the out the people in the picture. Standing outside what looked to be condemned building was a black-haired woman alongside two children, who Danny assumed to belong to her. The woman must have been a relative of Sam's since they shared a few facial features with each other, but she had much longer hair than Sam, which ended in the middle of her back. This woman was also wearing a patched-up dress and worn-looking black slippers.

On the woman's left was a teenage boy with shoulder-length, black hair and dark eyes that only seemed to accent his dirtied face. He was wearing a patched-up shirt that tucked into his semi-clean, dark trousers.

On the woman's right was a teenage girl with a similar shade of hair to the woman, the weird thing was that she could've been passed off as Sam's twin. The only things that were different about them was that she had shoulder-length hair, and was wearing a dirtied dress.

'Hmm, I wonder who those people are. Why does that girl look so much like Sam?' Danny thought as they moved past the picture.

Not having time to ponder this question, the silver-haired Arrancar filed it away in his head along with the numerous other questions that had formed since he had seen Sam's house. After a few more twists and turns through the hallways, Sam stopped, mid-stride, in front of a pitch-black door.

"We're here." Sam said as she opened the door to her room.

Sam's room was mostly like Danny and Tucker had envisioned it to be whenever they had imagined what it may have looked like: the walls were painted a gothic shade of purple, with posters of lesser-known bands and spider-webs littering it. Around the room there were a couple of bookcases full of books about poetry, the environment, and even one book about 'How to properly protest'. A large computer sat on top of a large desk, which was only a few feet away from an enormous plasma screen television.

The only odd thing about the room was the small, penguin plushy on Sam's gothic-looking bed. It had purple feathers with a white underbelly, yellow beak, and beady purple-colored eyes. The plushy also had a pair of purple bat-wings on its back, a tan pouch around it's waist, and two peg-legs where its feet would normally be. All in all, it looked like the perfect plushy for Sam; it was an endangered animal but it was also different at the same time.

"Put Sidney on my bed, Danny." Sam said as she started to look for anything the could use to patch Sidney up with.

Danny nodded before he walked over to Sam's bed, where he gently laid Sidney down. It was only a moment or two later when Sidney groaned weakly and opened his eyes. The Ghost went as if to move but Danny stopped him, as Sidney was in no condition to be moving.

Sidney had multiple burns littering his body along with several lumps and bruises, which varied in a wide range of colors. However, the most serious injury Sidney had at the moment was the enormous, bleeding hole in the middle of Sidney's chest. While it had stopped bleeding as much, and appeared to be closing around the edges a little bit, it was still bleeding none the less.

"Don't move, Sidney…" Danny could feel the guilt eating away at him as he said this, as Sidney wouldn't be in this condition if it wasn't for him. Sure they had only known the odd Ghost for a little more then a day but he already began too grow on them. "… Skulker hurt you really bad, but… we're going to help you get better, okay?"

Sidney tried to nod his head in acknowledgement but could only nod his eyes since his head couldn't move. The silver-haired Arrancar then nodded once to himself and turned his head towards Tucker and Sam, who were coming towards the bed, Sam holding onto a first-aid kit.

"I don't know how much good this will do Danny, but…" Sam opened her first-aid kit as she said this, before rummaging around inside of it.

As Sam began to pull things outside of her first-aid kit, Sidney's eyes circled the room. He eventually came to spot the strange penguin doll only half a foot away from him. Sidney's form then started to waver, turning into a light green smoke, which shocked the teenagers present.

"Sidney!"

Danny, Sam, and Tucker all felt an intense sense of fear as they stared at Sidney's rapidly evaporating body. They didn't know what to do, as none of them had ever been in a situation like this before.

"We need to do somet—!" Tucker began, only to stop mid-word when he saw the green smoke was beginning to move. "Uh?"

As though guided by some unseen wind, the smoke started to move towards the stuffed animal lying on Sam's bed. The smoke slowly began to seep into the fabric of the plushy, even as Sidney's form became fainter and fainter before it disappeared altogether.

The penguin plushy then started to shudder, as though it was someone who was just waking up. It then slowly blinked open its eyes, twisted its head around, before it looked towards the stupefied teenagers in front of it.

"Why are you cats staring at me like that?" The plushy asked with Sidney's voice.

XXXXXX

(Meanwhile—In the junkyard)

Now that the battle between Skulker and Danny had finally come to an end, the junkyard had become quiet once more. The small creatures that lived in the junkyard slowly ventured out of their hiding places and, finding no trace of those strange energies, went on with their lives.

One small mouse scampered over to the broken remains of a Lava Lamp, which had continually leaked dark-green slime until now. Its whiskers twitched before it went to lick the puddle of dark-green liquid, as it was quite thirsty.

Before the mouse could even lower its head though, a gloved fist shot out of the dark-green liquid and hit it in the face. The force of the blow sent the mouse careening through the air as it squeaked in distress and then crashing into a pile of garbage.

"You think I'd let you drink me?" Technus demanded as his body slowly reformed from the dark-green puddle, causing it to slowly shrink. "Well, think again!"

The mouse squeaked from sheer terror before it turned tail and ran in the other direction. Technus smiled before he proceeded to look around at his surroundings. His grin grew before he began laughing, as he was in the Human World once more.

"Wonderful, that fool Skulker not only loses to that newborn Arrancar but he managed to get me into the Human World undetected." Technus became intangible as he said this before he made his way into Amity Park. "Now I can begin may plans, and no one will stop me."

Omake #2: Kaizō Konpaku "Kon" vs. Chash123:

At the moment, Chash123, or Chash, was madly typing away at his keyboard when the door to his room was thrown open by? Chash spun around in his chair, only to come face-to-face with a furious... yellow lion plushy? "Who are you, plushy-san?"

The lion plushy seemed to get more ticked off, "I'm Kon you big jerk! And I want to know why I haven't been given any screen-time! I'm an important character!"

"Hm? Kon... I'm an avid fan of Bleach, but I don't remember ever seeing you before." Chash paused to scratch his chin while he thought. "Oh! You must be one of those Mod-Souls from the filler arc about those Bount characters..."

"WHAAATTTT?" Kon started to wave his arms frantically. "HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW ME? I'm practically the mascot of the entire series! They have an entire section of the franchise dedicated to me!"

Chash looked at Kon like he was crazy, "I would think the mascot for Bleach would be someone important but loveable... someone like Rukia Kuchiki, Orihime Inoue, Nel Tu or even that spirit-girl from the first episode of the series."

Kon fell to his hands and knees in shock, a cloud of depression forming over his head. "Rukia-neechan, how can you do this to me?" Looking up, anime tears fell from his eyes. "What else can I do besides being adorable and loved by millions for being a trademark character?"

It was at this point that Sidney Poindexter, in his new Penguin plushy body walked into the room, holding a script for Chapter Eleven. "Um, sorry to interupt you, Chash-san but... I have some questions as to what I'll be doing next.

Kon's depression immediately evaporated at the sight of the new plushy.

"YOU, YOU CAN'T BE SMALL AND ADORABLE. I'M THE ADORABLE ONE." Kon pulled out a large double-sided broadsword and gripped it's handle tightly. He began to run at Sidney. "THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE PLUSHY CHARACTER!"

BOOM!

A bolt of lightning hit the sword setting Kon on fire. The lion plushy screamed for a couple of moments before he fell to the ground, swirls in his eyes. Sidney was confused, and about to ask Chash what had just happened, when he saw the man smirk.

"It's true that there can only be only character, what's-your-name… but you forget that I can control everything here." Chash stated darkly before he brightened. "Besides, Penguin Sidney is so much cuter than you!"

Kon groaned miserably.

Techniques:

1. Passerelle au purgatoire (Gateway to Purgatory): A technique that Skulker created after he studied the Fenton's Ghost Portal for a couple of days. This technique causes two differently colored liquids—one black and one white—to seep out of the user's body and onto the ground. These two liquids swirl around each other until they resemble a whirlpool, which is when the portal is complete and the user can enter it.

A/N: Author's Note: This chapter was updated as of 7/17/2012.