The return of Dark!
Rukia had run away from Ichigo's in an attempt to protect him from what was to come. Drake was returning from the library when he noticed something was off in the atmosphere. He looked up from his book and that's when he saw her. His attitude changed in an instant.
"Great… and my day had been going so well too!" he growled.
"What the… what do you want, Dragon Breath?!" retorted Rukia irritably.
"How many (bleeping) times do I have to tell you not to call me that brat?!" he snarled angrily.
"I've…stayed too long in this world…" said Rukia for no reason.
"You're quite right!" said someone from above, "But then, because you stayed too long, you got to live a lot longer than you would have!"
"Renji! Renji Abarai!" said Rukia in shock.
"Rukia Kuchiki… You were so lost in thought after being here for a few months that you didn't even notice us!" said Renji.
"Wait a minute… Rukia's in a Gigai?! No wonder she's such a weakling!" chuckled Drake.
"And who are you supposed to be?" said Renji.
"I'm Rukia's classmate. Though if you kill her I won't stop ya!" replied Drake coldly.
"More like you couldn't stop him, nerd-boy," retorted Rukia.
"Bakudo 33: Pale Fire Crash!" said Drake clearly as a fire ball shot towards Rukia and missed her by a hair.
"What?!"
"Call me a nerd again brat…and next time I won't miss," said Drake angrily.
"Impressive… I didn't think there would be another Soul Reaper in a Gigai here," said someone from behind Renji.
"I ain't a Soul Reaper…though you were correct about me being in a Gigai," said Drake smoothly.
"I don't care who you are, but if you can use Bakudo, then I'll have to kill ya," said Renji with a smirk.
"Knock yourself out. It's not I really give a damn anyway. You two couldn't kill me if you tried," snorted Drake.
"Is that right? We'll see 'bout that!" said Renji as he drew his Zanpaku-to.
"Roar, Zabimaru!"
"Cute… But do you really think a baboon-snake crossbreed can beat me?" said Drake trying not to laugh.
"WHAT! You're bluffing! There's no way you can possibly see Zabimaru in his true form!" said Renji off-guard. Drake took the opportunity and vanished from the Soul Reaper's sight. He reappeared behind Renji and knocked him down with ease.
"No way… How can a nerd do that to a Soul Reaper?!" said Rukia in shock.
"Brat…I thought I made myself clear. DO NOT CALL ME A NERD. I wasn't always a bookworm," said Drake amused.
"Bookworm or not, you're gonna regret doing that!" snarled Renji. Drake easily evaded the attacks Renji used.
"Please don't tell me you're tiring out already! I'm just warmin' up!" laughed Drake.
"Impossible… how can he evade all of Renji's attacks?!" said Rukia.
"Renji, enough playing around!" growled the other Soul Reaper annoyed.
"But Captain Kuchiki, I'm not playing! This guy is quicker than he looks!" said Renji.
"Actually, Daisuke's grandfather could evade your attacks…and I mean that literally," said Drake.
"I've had it to here with you, little boy!" grumbled Renji as he released his spiritual pressure. (He figured if Drake could use Kido spells, he could also have a hard time standing in strong spiritual pressure. Yeah right!!)
-----
"Um, are you trying to slow me down or something?" said Drake casually.
"What!"
"Well it does feel like the force of gravity around here increased, but that's about it."
"How can you still be able to stand?!" said Renji and Rukia in unison.
"You want the truth? This outta be amusing!" snickered Drake as he drew out one of his black feathers. Its glow was blindingly bright before vanishing, when it dimmed down, Drake was no longer there. Instead stood someone with purple hair, amethyst eyes and a playboy smirk. Almost immediately the pressure around the area became near unbearable. Renji was having difficultly staying up.
"Your spiritual pressure is strong, I'll give you that. But it's nothing compared to someone who's soul is tied to an endless existence," said Dark with a laugh.
"Drake, your hair…!" said Rukia.
"My name ain't Drake, you annoying brat! It's Phantom Dark!" said Dark bored.
"I don't care if your name is Nancy! You're going down!" said Renji with difficulty.
"Renji, that's enough. I'll handle him, seeing as how he's too much for you," said Kuchiki.
"Go for it. You still can't kill or harm me though," snorted Dark.
"Scatter, Senbonzakura," said Kuchiki. His sword deteriorated into a storm of what appeared to be cherry blossoms. Dark took one look at that and knew he'd be in trouble if they made contact.
"Oh no you don't!" said Dark; he dropped his energy field and said, "Wiz! Come here!"
"KYUU!!!" cried Wiz as he transformed into Dark's jet black wings. He took flight and said, "I don't care if you're stronger than Renji, but I won't let you get the better of me!"
"How are you…?" said Rukia.
"Like I said before, brat. I wasn't always a bookworm!" said Dark with his playboy smirk. The petals darted straight at him; he took out another feather and blocked them easily.
-----
"If the police couldn't catch me, what makes you so sure that you can? They've tried for years and never could defeat me!"
"I don't need to defeat you, only kill you," said Kuchiki. Once again the petals came; Wiz was scared.
"Hey Wiz, get ready to become my doppelganger, 'kay?" said Dark so quietly only his familiar could hear him.
"Kyu…!"
"NOW!" said Dark as Wiz detached from him. A second flash of blinding light and instead of one Dark, there were now two.
"Here's a question for you, Soul Reapers," said Dark.
"Which of us is real…" said the second Dark.
"And which of us is a doppelganger?" said the first. (Both were in midair with wings of black.)
Both Soul Reapers attacked them at the same time. Renji went after the real Phantom Thief, while his captain attacked With. Dark evaded Renji with ease; With wasn't as lucky.
"KYUUU!!!!" Wiz's cry diverted his attention; he grabbed his familiar before the rabbit-like creature could fall too far.
"Sheesh…you are waaay too tense!" said Dark.
Byakuya's sword reverted to its original form and he struck Dark in two places. This was because he was under the assumption that Dark was a Soul Reaper. Dark plummeted at first, and then broke his fall by flapping his wings.
"Ow…what the hell was that for?!" griped Dark.
"Impossible…how can you still be standing? I severed the two connections to your powers!"
"Who said I was a Soul Reaper like you three? I don't get my power from my soul, idiot. I get it from emotions," snorted Dark.
"You're kidding. How can someone get their powers from emotions?"
"I'm not human…nor do I have an actual soul! How many times do I have to repeat myself before you fools get it?!"
-----
"What's going on here brother?!" said Kurama irritably.
"Damn…figures you'd come to ruin my fun," Dark said irritably, "How'd ya find me? Wait… don't tell me you used…?"
"Um… He asked me to find you, Master Dark," said Towa nervously.
"Towa, stay away from the jerk with the scarf! His sword can slice and dice you before you can get away! And as for you Kurama… keep an eye on With. I got some unfinished business with these jerks!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH DARK!!!!!" roared Kurama, "Do you want our Tamers to find out who we really are?!"
"Who said I was using Hikari magic, moron?"
"If you don't knock it off now I'll…!" said Kurama in a warning tone.
"Bite me… Hell, I bet you anything that Renji here will call Krad an angel of a certain sort…" Dark snickered.
"I don't know who you two think ya are, but you're in for a world of hurt!" said Renji annoyed.
"Dark…I'm scared of the tattooed weirdo…" said Towa.
"I told you that the tattoos made you look weird Renji," snorted Rukia.
"Shaddup!" said Renji irritably.
"Dark, let's head back to the house before those damn Hollows gather reinforcements…" said Kurama.
"Make me! If you want me to go home, then get rid of these two morons first," snorted Dark.
"Fine… it seems I have no choice other than to beat the hell out of you and drag your purple-haired ass home."
"Hey! Are you two idiots even listening to me?!" said Renji angrily.
"Eh? Were you sayin' something?"
"THAT'S DOES IT! YOU ARE SOOOO DEAD!!!" roared Renji as he activated his Zanpaku-to. Kurama didn't bother to waste his time dodging. Instead, he gave Dark a look; the other nodded and grabbed Towa before taking flight.
"Since you seem so intent on fighting, why don't I teach you a lesson?" said Kurama amused. The light he gave off was so bright that almost no one saw the white feathers that flew all around him.
"What the hell…? Where'd the angel-freak come from?" said Renji.
"Angel…Freak?! This is coming from a man who had to have eyebrows tattooed on himself?" retorted Krad.
"So what're you supposed to be? The Angel of Mercy?" snorted Rukia and Renji.
"Oy, brat! You know how I hate it when you called me a 'nerd'? Well my opposite here hates being called an angel of MERCY. In fact, he hates it so much he sets aside his desire to kill me in order to slaughter whoever calls him that!" laughed Dark evilly.
"Quite right, Dark Mousy," said Krad.
"I don't know who or what you are, but if you continue to get in our way I will be forced to kill you," said Byakuya.
"Why are you here? What is it that you're after?" said Krad coolly.
"We just came here to get a fugitive is all. If you stand aside now, we might just spare your insignificant lives," Renji said irritably.
"Fugitive? You wouldn't be referring to the brat over there by any chance?" said Krad.
"I AM NOT A BRAT!!!!" Rukia said angrily.
"Oh? Then why do you always act like you're better than everyone else, short-stuff?" retorted Dark.
"QUIT CALLING ME THAT, DRAGON-BREATH!!!" growled Rukia loudly. Dark just stares at her for about ten seconds before chuckling evilly. His amusement is cut short as an arrow made of spirit energy whizzes past Krad and nearly hits Renji! Krad and Dark look at each other; as if by an unspoken cue, they both fly off into the night. Uryu appears out of the shadows…
(You can probably guess what happens next. It mostly follows the original series!)
"Mind telling me what THAT was all about?!" griped Krad.
"I wasn't looking for a fight! They're the ones who started it!" protested Dark.
"I'm sure…"
"Honestly! Rukia got on my nerves with that stupid nickname, I shot the Pale Fire Crash and almost hit her, and then that creep with the tattooed eyebrows came after me!"
"Why didn't you just walk away then?"
"Did those guys really seem like they'd LET me walk away?!"
"True…but you could have at least left poor With out of your fight. He looks like something a cat dragged in."
"I thought he could dodge the attacks those guys made…I never thought he'd actually get hurt!"
"That's your problem…you rarely think before you act!" snorted Krad. (For some reason neither of them had even noticed that it had begun to rain…)
Both Dark and Krad quickly ran into the house to get dry. They both knew all too well that Towa and With hated getting wet! After drying off, they fell fast asleep as the rain continued to come down. Wiz curled up close to Dark while Towa fell asleep next to Krad, still in her bird form.
-----
Daisuke and Satoshi dropped by the next morning.
"Hey Towa, With!" called Daisuke. (By now the barrier recognized them and let them walk through without any problems.)
"Hey Dai-chan!" replied Drake as he walked into the living room.
"What happened to With?!"
"I got into a bit of a fight. I know you guys were planning on leaving him with us, but I think it would be safer to take both of them with you."
"Where are you two going?"
"We don't know, but we have some unfinished business and I don't want either of them caught up in it," said Drake.
"Okay…but when can we bring them back?" asked Daisuke.
"We'll call you when our thing is over with," said Kurama.
"Good luck, guys," said Satoshi as they left to catch their flight.
"Let's go see Urahara," said Kurama after they left.
"Fine…but I won't take any lip from that jerk!"
