Thanks for coming back, everybody! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been a little busy…
Ignoring everyone.
But now I'm back, with more fan-fiction-y goodness!
So, please.
Enjoy.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"Hrrg!"
"To your left, Ichigo!"
This is ridiculous, Ichigo thought to himself. "Hnng!"
"I meant your other left!" Danielle shouted, leaning back in the lawn chair to take another sip of lemonade.
Five massive machines protruded from the ground, each around five feet in height, and were a lot heavier than they looked. They had all been arranged in a circle, with all sorts of buttons and levers facing inward.
And, of course, Danielle was making Ichigo do all the work.
"Hrrnnng! Am I going to push all of these around?" Ichigo yelled back in protest, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow.
"Yup! You just keep workin' up a sweat, Strawberry," Danielle said casually. "And don't be too shy 'bout takin' off your shirt, either."
"I'd rather light myself on fire."
"That can be arranged." Donald said as he stepped outside, his arms full of machinery. "…Wait. What are you doing?" he asked, looking about at the circle of mechanical boxes, delicate lights flashing gently.
Ichigo straightened up tenderly, stretching the stiffness out of his back. "Preparing the teleportation field."
"… What teleportation field?" Donald asked.
Ichigo looked blankly at Donald for a moment, before blinking and turning angrily to Danielle.
Danielle, of course, only smirked and sipped more lemonade.
"… I didn't really have to do any of that, did I." It wasn't so much of a question as it was a statement.
"Daw, you're so cute when you're gullible."
"I am not gullible!"
"Daw, you're so cute when you're angry."
"Send me home," Ichigo said turning to Donald, boiling with frustration. "NOW."
"Just a minute," Donald said gently setting several of the gauges and wires down in the clearing. "I just need to run a few more calculations. If we rush this, it could end badly."
"How badly?" Ichigo asked.
"Well, you could wind up floating for eternity in the cold, empty vacuum of space."
"… Go ahead and, uh… do whatever it is you need to do first."
"That's what I thought."
HaVe YoU gAtHeReD tHe PrOpEr MaTeRiAlS?
Yeah, I've got everything you said. Are you CERTAIN this will work?
Oh, AbSoLuTeLy. ThEy'Ll AlL bE wArPeD rIgHt OfF tHe FaCe Of ThE eArTh. LiKe ThEy NeVeR eXiStEd.
See, when you start talking like that, I get decidedly nervous.
DoN't YoU tRuSt Me, My HoSt?
You'd have to be fucking insane to trust you.
So SaYs ThE bOy WiTh VoIcEs In HiS hEaD.
"EXCUSE ME! I appear to be out of lemonade!" Danielle shouted, waving around her now empty glass, pink plastic swirly straw bouncing around inside with a clink clink clink!
"…And?" Donald asked, turning to his sister.
"This is the part where someone does something nice for a damsel in distress."
"I'm not getting it for you. You're a big girl – do it yourself."
"I wasn't talkin' to you," Danielle said. "Ichigo'll help a damsel in distress. Right, Ichigo?"
Ichigo paused for a moment, as if teetering between furious and confused, which only ended in a sort of odd, tilted look. "Why the hell would I do that?" he asked.
"Oh, come off it," Danielle replied flippantly. "You've got a hero complex a mile wide."
"I do not!"
A high, shrill shriek was suddenly heard from inside the house at that moment.
"HANG ON, I'M COMING!" Ichigo yelled, dashing into the Miller residence.
Danielle's smug I told you so look went fairly unnoticed.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Ichigo asked panicking. "Why are you screaming?" he asked Rukia, who was relaxing in one of the dining room chairs.
"What? I didn't scream." She said, jabbing a thumb into the living room. "It was those idiots."
Curiously, Ichigo peered around the corner into the living room, only to find Renji and Grimmjow waving their arms about, desperately jamming buttons on wireless controllers.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! Why's the randomizer gone?"
"It vanished last wave, remember- FUCK! I thought you had Juggernog?"
"I DID, I DID! IT'S THE MONKEYS, THE FUCKIN' MONKEYS!" Grimmjow screamed in a panic, flailing in an attempt to escape a horde of virtual zombies. The wave grew closer and closer as Grimmjow fired off shot after shot, eventually being driven into a corner.
"Hey, Grimmjow." Ichigo said quietly, gently placing a hand on top of his left shoulder.
Yet again, a high pitched shriek echoed throughout the house. The controller flew at high velocity through the air, just in time to hit Donald squarely in the face with a painful sounding thunk!
"Who sc- oof!" Donald groaned, stumbling backwards and clutching his face. A small amount of blood trickled down his wrist as he pulled his hand away, but he didn't feel any pain.
Which was odd, because taking a chunk of plastic to the face usually hurts like hell.
"Oh, shit-nipples! I mean, uh… sorry?" Grimmjow said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I, uh… got a little wrapped up. In. In the, uh…"
Donald was trembling slightly, still slightly hunched over.
"…Four."
"…Er, what?" Ichigo asked, slowly backing away from Donald.
"How many this week."
"….How many what?" Grimmjow asked. "I didn't lose to zombies yesterday," he said.
"FOUR. PAIRS. OF. GLASSES." Donald said, gritting his teeth and enunciating slowly through the nosebleed. And, indeed, the fragile pair of glasses slowly slipped off of Donald's face and landed neatly on the floor.
Albeit, in two separate pieces.
"… I said sorry."
Donald heaved for a moment, as if struggling with some deeper urge.
Regardless of whether or not that urge was to strangle Grimmjow.
"Get out of my house."
"Oh, is the teleporty – thingy wor-"
"Get. OUT."
Outside, Grimmjow nervously turned to Danielle and asked, "Ya think he's pissed?"
Daniele shifted in her seat, and asked "Was he smiling?"
"… No, I don't think so."
"Try hitting him again. That should do the trick."
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Donald sighed as he adjusted his final pair of glasses carefully on the bridge of his nose, gingerly attaching wires from the phone to his modified energy detector.
After everyone was gathered together in the clearing, Donald straightened up, clapping his hands together.
"It's nearly finished. All it requires is the energy input."
Silence greeted him as he looked around at the group of shinigami (and Grimmjow).
"Well… I suppose this is goodbye," Ichigo said, stepping forward. "It's been nice knowin' ya."
"Bullshit," Grimmjow said bluntly, stepping forward also. "You're all a bunch of wack-jobs."
"Even… even me?" Danielle asked, sniffling.
"Hell, 'specially you. Good riddance."
Danielle sweat dropped at his derision and sighed heavily.
"Do you really believe this will work?" Rukia asked Donald.
Oh, It'Ll WoRk, AlL rIgHt…
Okay, THAT makes me nervous.
"It… it'll work…" Probably… he thought to himself.
ArE yOu CeRtAiN eVeRyThInG iS pRePaReD?
I got everything together, just like you said. This had BETTER work. I don't want you stuck in my head any longer than necessary.
So CrUeL tO mE, mY hOsT…The voice replied mockingly.
"So," Renji said. "We gonna get this show on the road, or what?"
"Right," Donald said, whipping back to the device. "I'll need…"
ThE pOwEr InPuT, nEeD pOwEr!
I can handle this myself!
Donald shook his head, pushing his wavy mess of brown hair out of the way. "Right. Right. I need whoever has the highest energy signature to kickstart the machine."
Everyone in the group immediately turned to Ichigo. Excluding Ichigo, that is.
"…Me?"
"Obviously, idiot!" Rukia said, slapping him in the back of the head. "Hurry up so we can go home!"
"Ow! I'm goin', I'm goin'!" Ichigo grumbled, placing one of his palms on the teleporter cellphone.
Or, a bit simpler, the 'telephone'.
It was quiet for a moment, before Ichigo asked "… 'Kay. Now what?"
Oh, FoR tHe LoVe Of AlL tHiNgS oRanGe. Donald felt his vocal chords shift and turn painfully, and fighting his tongue, managed to say something helpful.
Well, tried to say something helpful. It's difficult to speak when an unidentified prescence is controlling your vocal chords.
"Brgl flrg ymnng bjfs tzzts num."
"…. What?" Ichigo asked, turning to Donald.
Let GO!
YoU'rE gOiNg ToO sLoWlY!
"I said, maybe Grimmjow should try helping – he does have a large spiritual pressure as well, does he not?" Donald said against his will.
Grimmjow shrugged and placed his palm on the underside of the phone, before yanking his hand back with a yelp. "Ah – it zapped me!" he mumbled. "Lil' fucker," and re-placed his hand on the teleporter.
Donald struggled as hard as he could against the pull of the Voice's will, staring intently around at the group.
Help – somebody!
"Er, Donald?" Danielle asked. "Are… you okay?"
"Kgkkkk." He choked out, his face turning numb.
SiLeNcE, yOu ImBeCiLe! YoU'lL rUiN eVeRyThInG!
"Sorry, what?" she asked again, looking concerned.
"AKBAR!" Donald finally managed to spit out.
"That doesn't ev- OH, SHIT!" Danielle squeaked. "IT'S A TRAP!"
Renji peered at her quizzically, asking "What's a trap?"
"The phone – back away, get back, get back!"
By the time Danielle had spoken, however, it was far too late.
"What the hell?" Ichigo said, yanking his hand back, only to find it glued firmly in place by an invisible force. Grimmjow faced a similar problem on the underside of the telephone.
"Hey – leggo! My hand, mine!" he said angrily, yanking futilely against the pull.
A sudden, heavy field of pressure seemed to loom over the group as Danielle felt like she was slowly being smothered. A dark shadow passed over Donald's face as a twisted grin twirled its way up his face.
"YeSsS…"
"What's going on?" Rukia shouted, panicking while yanking back on Renji to keep him from latching onto Grimmjow and Ichigo.
"MaNiFeSt…"
"… Donald?" Danielle asked, disturbed. A dark gleam had begun to form in Donald's eyes.
"I. AM. MANIFEST!" he roared, lunging for the teleporter.
Within Donald's head, a fierce struggle was taking place.
It's my head!
AnD I oWn It!
No, you don't!
WeLl, I dO nOw!
Out! Get OUT!
MaKe Me!
With a heave, Donald grappled Grimmjow, shoving him as hard as he could away from the device. Grimmjow, startled by Donald, grabbed Ichigo's wrist as multiple bright yellow ribbons of electricity arced through the air.
The zapping of lighting sparked, causing many surrounding trees to catch fire, and with a final blast of blinding light, the teleporter finally worked.
Donald mentally shoved as hard as he could against the Voice in a final attempt to regain control, and with that, the world went dark.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Next chapter coming up soon – reviews are welcome!