A/N: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all that! It took a while, but iss here! Anyways, if everything works out, and 2020 doesn't decide to carry over into 2021, there should be about four chapters left in the Bount arc. Then we can get onto the arrancars and vizards! So enjoy!
Chapter 22: Shambles
"It's almost time, Clockwork!"
"I know, Plot. Believe me. I know."
"You're always so ready for excitement, but ya can't even muster up any excitement for this?!" asked the hollow, throwing his hands up. "We're about to hit a defining moment in history! Live a little!"
Clockwork shot Plot a quick glare. "With the other cases, we both had an idea of what would happen. We don't have the slightest idea of what is happening here. This is worse than the Dark Danny case, as far as I'm concerned. If things go wrong, it could spell the end of the Realms as we know them. So excuse me for not being more ecstatic."
Plot shrugged exaggeratedly. It looked almost comical with his loosely held shoulder spikes dangling around everywhere. "Eh, it might not even be that bad. So, what's the worry?"
"Is that even a question? You said it yourself: this is a turning moment in history. Everything is going to change soon, and I'm not entirely certain that it will be for the better."
"And releasing Dan helped that?"
"You know what had to be done, Plot."
"Really? Cuz it seemed kinda persona-"
"Only partially. And that change may not have even been enough."
"If you're so worried, then go and do something about it!" Plot shouted as he threw his hands up. His spikes were in a frenzy now. "Unless ya want me to do something?! I can go there right now!"
"I would much rather you not use your methods on Danny."
Plot muttered indignantly. "Whatever. The point still stands. We can see the future. We've seen the worst possible result. We've only got one chance at this. You and I both know Pariah is probably gonna rise. We both know my brother's coming back, too. Now, you can either sit there and be afraid of what might happen and let the realms go to shit, or you can fucking do something about it."
Clockwork merely watched the flickering screens. This new stress almost made him long for the days of monotony. "This might be the most serious I've heard you in ages. You almost sounded intelligent for a moment."
Plot snorted. "You can kiss my ass. I'm not always crazy."
"Nevertheless, I'll see what I can do."
Plot gave a slight stretch as he got up to leave. He was on his way to the door when Clockwork heard his voice. "You're plan wouldn't happen to involve Vlad, would it?"
Clockwork looked over his shoulder at the hollow with a knowing smile. "You'll find out. In time."
"Where are they?" asked Ichigo. "Should we head over and get them?"
Urahara stared of at the wall for a moment. "I don't believe we should. From what I'm sensing, they're on their way."
Ichigo looked at Urahara, indignantly. "What's wrong then? They should've been here ages ago!"
Urahara paused for a moment, before shooting Ichigo a quick smile. "I don't think it's anything to be worried about."
Ichigo stared at him skeptically but sighed knowing he wasn't gonna get a word out of the shopkeeper.
That was when three people shimmered into the room.
"You made it!" cheered Orihime.
"Yeah, sorry it took so long," said Dani. "We got a little sidetracked."
Ichigo frowned at Danny. His forehead was beaded with sweat, and his breathing looked heavier. Add on the fact that his eyes seemed to be focused on nothing, Danny looked defeated.
"Side-?"
"There's no time!" Yoruichi snapped. "Is your ghost portal working?"
"What?!" blurted Danny, his energy seemingly returning. "You have a portal?"
Urahara just smiled wryly before shielding his grin with a fan. "Who do you think helped make your parent's make theirs?" He turned back to Yoruichi. "It's still functional. I'll have to shake the dust off of it, though."
"Why can't Danny just teleport?" asked Ichigo. "We can get there faster that way, right?"
Ichigo could see Danny wince slightly in the corner of his eye. 'The hell is going on with him. . ?'
"We really need to teach you how to sense, Ichigo," muttered Urahara, his fan lowered. "His Reiatsu's in flux right now. If I had to guess, it'd probably be the hollow parasite causing this."
Ichigo glanced over at Danny, who still seemed more than a bit conflicted. The strawberry-haired shinigami made a mental note to talk to him later.
"Why isn't the same thing happening to me?" asked Dani. "We both got that weird spider link thing right?"
"I hate to be that guy, but aren't we on a deadline right now?" Danny interrupted. "Y'know, a screwy vampire is on the loose and all that?"
"True words, Danny," said Urahara. "Tessai take us down."
"Give me your best, beast!"
The yeti gave a mighty snarl as he leaped from the ice, maw wide open. The ice splintered underneath his strong paws. Vlad made a finger gun and easily shot a beam into the throat of the animal.
He hardly even flinched.
Frostbite swallowed the halfa scowled as he felt the ghost's tongue flip him down his throat. Vlad turned intangible and easily flew out of the ruler's body, thankfully leaving the slimy saliva behind.
Vlad raised a hand and shot a green Ghost Ray into Frostbite's back. Frostbite spun around with surprising speed and whacked the halfa out of the sky. Vlad bounced along the ice before sliding into a building.
"Wow," Vlad huffed as he floated back upright. "You've become quite the damage sponge, haven't you?"
"SHUT UP, YOU INSOLENT FOOL!"
Vlad actually blinked in surprise. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I DESPISE THIS FORM! I DESPISE THAT YOU'VE FORCED ME TO USE IT! SO, THERE SHALL BE NO MERRYMAKING, NO QUIPS, AND, CERTAINLY, NO WITTY BANTER!"
Frostbite's shoulders hunched as he shook slightly. Vlad took it as the beast trying, in vain, to reel in his anger, but that theory quickly changed as more icy spikes protruded from his back.
"ICICLE BLIZZARD!"
Millions of icy spikes shot towards the halfa. Vlad just barely threw up a ghost shield in time, yet he still winced.
Again. And again.
Vlad gave a quick glance down in vague shock to see green ectoplasm staining his suit. Unfortunately for him, the lapse in concentration was all that it took for his ecto-shield to shatter.
Vlad bit back a scream as hundreds of icicle shards shredded their way through Vlad's body. Vlad had the sense to turn intangible halfway through the shower, but the damage was done.
Vlad was wracked with messy lacerations and holes all over his body. They were quickly beginning to heal, but the damage to his pride was not. He snarled with rage as Frostbite returned to his feet.
"Surrender."
Vlad was seething. Who was this nobody to tell him what he should do? He was the most infamous force the modern Ghost Zone had ever seen. He would tear the animal limb from limb, but he'd leave him his legs. After all, it would be quite difficult to bow without them. "Look, you backwater creature! You will bow before me!"
With a shout, twenty duplicates of Vlad were floating above the ruler of Far Frozen.
Vlad smirked, widely. "Believe me, creature. You will bow!"
Danny got the weirdest sense of nostalgia from being down in Urahara's secret lab/training ground thingie. The amount of training he'd had in there was mind-numbing. He'd hated it immensely at the time, but he couldn't help the sad smile twitching at his face. It was so much more simple then.
"Are you OK, Danny?"
Danny glanced over at his sister. He could see the worry lines creasing her face.
"Yeah," Danny mumbled. "I'm fine. It's nothing, really."
"Danny. . ."
"Look, it's not important right now!" Danny snapped.
Danny wanted to slap himself after he saw the hurt look on her face. He sighed before giving a quick smile. "I'll tell you later. I promise. I just don't wanna talk about it right now."
Before Jazz could make a response, Urahara's voice called out. "The portal should be right over here."
Urahara had stopped just short of, what looked like, a standard clearing of grass. He rummaged through his haori front for a key with a button. He pressed the button twice, allowing for a double-chirp to echo through the chamber.
The ground began to rumble as the grass started to recede, and the portal started to peek out of the hole. Soon, there was an entire metal platform with a ringed portal sitting upon it. It looked eerily similar to his parent's portal in Amity, aside from the dust caking the machine.
That and the on/off button wasn't on the inside.
"Here we are."
"Do we have any idea where we're going?" asked Uryu.
"Far Frozen," said Danny. "That's where the Infi-Map is."
"Where will we end up if we just go inside it?" asked Renji, poking at the machine. "This thing doesn't look safe, y'know."
"Renji-san, please stop poking the portal!" Tessai barked. "Anyway, we can choose with this control panel right here. We just put in the coordinates, and we're set."
Danny shut his eyes and bit back a groan. ". . . Um coordinates?"
"You said you had a map, right Danny-san?"
Danny gave a sheepish laugh as he remembered his rather rudimentary map. "Well, um, yes, but, I don't think it's gonna work. . ."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that. Anything is better than nothing."
"I can't!" Danny cheered. His friends watched him, warily. Danny cleared his throat with a slight flush. "Um, I mean, I can't show it. It's back at home with my friends."
Urahara frowned. "Ah, well. Do you know if we can get close to Far Frozen? Where's the general direction from the center of the Zone?"
It was confusing enough navigating the Ghost Zone with his map. Trying to remember how to get there would be almost impossible. "Um, I think it's north?"
'Seriously?' thought Dani.
'What? I don't remember this stuff.'
"As good a lead as any!" chirped Urahara. "Tessai, put in the proper coordinates for me."
Tessai rushed over to the machine, typing a flurry of commands. It wasn't long after that that the machine began to whir with life and a portal sputtered into existence.
Danny got hit with a sudden bout of nervous energy. 'Ready or not, Vlad. Here we come.'
The many Vlad's swooped and dove all around Frostbite. He snarled and swiped at the ghosts only to strike at air. The yeti was taking on ghost ray after ghost ray from all directions with his fur becoming increasingly singed.
He howled in rage as he clenched in on himself, doubling over. "ICE BLIZZARD!"
The Vlad's immediately turned intangible, letting the ice shards pass right through them. It was almost like a dangerous dance Vlad was playing. He'd bombard the beast into frustration and back off when it snapped, letting it waste more of its energy.
His plan was running seamlessly.
Frostbite's head snapped back as he caught a green Ghost Ray to the chin. He collapsed with a thud, and the clones were on him.
They hit him with energy-amped punches and kicks and blasts, making the beast growl in pain. When he thought the beast had been thoroughly beaten, Vlad dispersed the clones with a smirk.
Frostbite was sprawled out on the ice, bruised and bloodied with burn marks dotting his fur. "Well, well, Frostbite. It looks like you weren't a match for me after all that ranting and raving. Any last words?"
Frostbite looked up at Vlad through his swollen eye. His irises burned with immense hate and defiance. It was admittedly unsettling. "GIANT FORM!"
"What's your opinion on this, Aizen-sama?"
"Nothing too bad. Everything seems to be running its course."
Indeed, Vlad and Kariya had teamed up and provided quite the useful distraction from his plans.
"Will you be acquiring, Kariya?"
Aizen smiled and shook his head. "Our ideals are not in line, and he'd be far more trouble than he's worth. Vladimir, on the other hand, can serve me well."
"Vlad?" asked Dan. "Why him?"
Aizen glanced over at him, still baring his ever present smile. "He's a valuable asset in terms of intimidation and connections. Although you're an accomplished inventor yourself, he has footing in the Ghost Zone that you currently do not."
"But what about your plan? They're going for the map if the ghost's messages are to be believed."
"All the more reason not to interfere. They'll do the work for us, and we'll take it from them. Dan, you'll be the one to do it."
Dan stared at the man. Aizen was looking at him with a gleam that he was positive he didn't like. It looked eerily similar to the way he'd viewed Valerie when she was his unwitting weapon of terror.
'What the-Where did that come from?'
"Are you alright, Dan?"
Dan just nodded as he straightened in his chair. It was probably nothing anyway. "I'm fine. I'll do it if I absolutely have to."
Aizen just gave a small smile as Dan ignored Kaname's whispered rebuke of the "vile ghost."
"I knew you'd be up for the challenge."
Dan just uncharacteristically shrugged and turned away.
"Do you think there's anyway Danny'll join us?" asked Gin.
Aizen pursed his lips as he leaned forward. His eyes looked like a storm was brewing, just on the edge of an attack. "I doubt he'd be willing, but there are ways we can take him out. I'm more concerned with Vladimir. If we can get him on our side, victory is as good as ours."
"Dani, do you know where we are?" asked Uryu. "It all looks the same out here."
"Yeah, I think I've seen this place before. I think we go that way from here. You might wanna watch out for one of the Skeleton ghosts, though. They can get pretty annoying."
Dani led the way as they flew through the Zone. Danny's clone trick was working perfectly. He didn't know how Dani was flying through the Zone like it was nothing. He'd gotten confused by the sea of green about three times already.
"Hey, so what's going on with you?"
Danny shrugged and glanced away from Ichigo in a very deliberate manner. "It's nothing."
"Bullshit. You mean to tell me you're just choosing to fly through the Ghost Zone with no idea where you're headed? I thought you'd be smarter than that."
Danny knew Ichigo was trying to rile him up. He knew he shouldn't bite, but it did nothing for the white hot anger bubbling in his chest. "I don't know, OK! I don't know what's happening anymore! There's Bounts and the fruitloop teaming up, hollow parasite things living inside of me, Kari won't talk to me, and now my powers don't work! I just don't know what to do!"
"Gah! I thought we already talked about this! Don't do this secrecy stuff, Danny! We're supposed to be a team. I've got some hollow problems too, y'know! We can fix them better together if you just tell us!"
Danny opened his mouth, but the protest died on his lips. "Yeah, you're right. I just didn't wanna burden you guys or anything like that."
"Don't worry about that. That's what a team is for."
Danny still couldn't believe Ichigo could ever be that wise.
"Oi! How long until we get there?! I'm starting to get hungry over here!"
"We should be there in a couple of minutes, Renji," Dani replied over her shoulder.
"Didn't you already eat before we left?" Uryu asked with a scowl.
"Hey! All this traveling has gotten my appetite worked up! It isn't my fault!"
Danny shivered as he felt the icy mist spill from his lips. He felt Dani's sharp spike in worry just as his eyes met a familiar enemy.
"Where do you think you're going, humans?"
"Walker," Danny spat. He still hadn't forgiven the ghostly warden for the ordeal he'd put him through.
"Phantom. I thought you were done coming through here with human items?"
Danny shrugged with an exaggerated yawn. "Things happen."
'Dani, you take the group while I distract him. This won't take too long.'
'Gotcha!'
He pretended not to notice that flicker of worry that entered his head. He instead raised his fists, glaring hard at the ghost. "How about I kick your butt again? You good with that Walker?"
Walker just smirked making Danny falter slightly. "Don't flatter yourself, boy. You'll fall this time. Guards, grab the humans and the female ghost!"
The ghosts leered greedily at their "would-be" prey. Danny glanced about them with anticipation.
'Finally! Something normal. Huh. I never thought I'd see the day that I'd be thankful for a ghost attack.'
Danny's eyes snapped back into focus the instant that the ghosts dove for him. Before they could even get close, Danny froze them in their tracks.
"Run now!"
Dani shot off like a bullet, leaving the bewildered team behind. After watching her in surprise for a second, Ichigo charged after her.
"C'mon guys," he yelled over his shoulder. The others quickly jetted after him just as Walker and his goons fazed out of the ice.
Walker flowered down at the him, menacingly. At least, it was supposed to be. The Warden's attempt to look menacing fell a bit flat, thanks to his soggy fedora.
"Now that you've had your bath, we can get to your beat down!" smirked Danny.
"Funny, kid," laughed Walker. "I was just about to tell you the same thing."
"I can't believe this! How many abilities are you going to pull out of your ass?!"
He was no longer dealing with a mere yeti. He now had to contend with a thirty foot monster. Why couldn't things just be simple?
"Take this!" Vlad fired and green Ghost Ray at the beast. . . only for it to freeze feet before it reached the ghost. It fell to the ground and shatter into millions of harmless fractals.
"Hm. This doesn't look too good."
He was beginning to tire slightly and Frostbite showed no signs of fatigue. He had no idea how long he could hold the transformation for, so his plan for a battle of attrition was seeming less and less plausible. 'He seems to only increase in strength and size as he gets more enraged. Not to mention he gets colder as well.'
Vlad lit his hands in fire as he supercharged an attack. Frostbite was foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog. 'Well, at least he doesn't seem too bright when he's like this.'
"Let's see how you fair against this, creature!"
Twin fireballs hissed angrily through the sky before impacting against Frostbite's chest. There was a slight sizzle as steam made its way through the air. It hadn't even left a scratch.
"DIE SCUM!"
Vlad blanched as he narrowly dodged a giant ice blast. He was certain it never touched him, yet he could feel shivers starting to rack his body. He wasn't entirely certain if he could handle taking a direct hit from one of those blasts.
"Could I offer a recommendation?"
Vlad glanced down at Jin. "What is it?!"
If Jin had heard Vlad's biting tone, he didn't show it. "Perhaps you could implement your ghost weaponry."
Vlad wanted to smack himself. "You're right! I should've thought of it earlier!"
Vlad raised a fist and made a clone. The clone quickly turned invisible and flew off, awaiting further instructions.
Vlad held out his hand and, with a flash of light, he grasped his premier ghost weapon. "Brute! I hope you can still understand the words I'm saying?"
"GRRRAAHH!"
"Wonderful!" Vlad smiled. "You're going to die here."
His clone reappeared in front of Frostbite, its body encased with flames. It hurled a fireball at the beast's chest only for it to fizzle out harmlessly. He grinned maliciously, in spite of that, as his clone still maintained his fiery shield as he flitted around the ice behemoth, always keeping a foot of distance.
Vlad observed carefully. His clone's flames didn't seem to waver all that much, and, although it seemed slight, the King of Far Frozen was beginning to tire. He winced slightly as he felt the beast's powerful paw smack his clone hard in the abdomen. He let his clone dissipate into a cloud of pink smoke as he lit another fireball in his own hand.
Vlad hurled the blast at the yeti. It zipped through the air before slamming into him, eliciting a hiss of steam and a cry of pain. Vlad laughed, uproariously. His assumptions seemed to be correct.
The beast was weakening.
Danny rolled away from a lazily thrown Ghost Ray. He served around another blast before he took a stray blast to the chest. With a gasp, he was sent flying into a nearby island. He had to blink some fluttering spots out of his vision from the sweat dripping into his eyes.
He slumped back against a jagged stone, poking into his back. Normally, he would've been on his feet, but it was taking everything within him just to stay in ghost form. The couple of minutes he'd had to rest were far from enough.
When he came to, he found himself surrounded by the entourage of grinning ghosts.
"You're going to be shut away for a long time, Phantom," Walker drawled with a sly smirk. He didn't even wanna think about what Walker would do to him if he caught him again.
Danny glanced around him with no small amount of concern. At least, he did until he had the smartest idea ever. "Come at me, bozos!"
Walker and his goons leaped at him with their fists cocked back, only for Danny to return to his human form. He was able to see the ghosts' eyes widen just before they crashed headfirst into the floating rock.
Danny transformed back with a flash of light, before cracking his knuckles. Walker and his cronies were a tangle of limbs pushing and screaming at each other. He almost felt like pausing just to admire it, but unfortunately his common sense overrode the urge. "Now, what should I do with you? Oh! I know! Freeze!"
In an instant, all of the ghosts were frozen solid. Their hateful glares shone through as Danny waved cheekily at them before heading towards his friends.
Vlad took a deep breath as he looked deep within himself. He didn't have too much in the tank, but he should've had enough to knock that monster into next week.
"I wonder, heathen," Vlad shouted. "Where do ghosts go when they die?"
Frostbite snarled as he charged towards the hovering ghost. The very ground shook with every step and icy gusts started to ripple across his exposed skin. Taking that as his cue, Vlad let a fiery aura swell to life.
The cold lessened dramatically, but there was still enough to elicit a shiver from the halfa.
"Alright, fool," murmured Vlad. "Come closer."
Vlad surrounded his Plasmius Maximus in flames, taking great care not to accidentally melt it in the process. That would make things terribly difficult, after all. When the beast got in close enough, Vlad shot off to meet him with a sonic boom.
He fired a series of eye lasers into the ghost's arm as he dodged a giant swipe. The resulting wind was almost enough to knock him off course, but he pushed ahead with gritted teeth. Vlad could see the yeti tensing up in the corner of his eye. The ghost was no doubt attempting his scattershot attack again, but Vlad pressed on with more speed. He arrived at his destination, the head, just before Frostbite let out a shout.
Vlad quickly thrust out his hand, zapping Frostbite with his Plasmius Maximus.
"ICE PRISON!"
Vlad's eyes barely had the time to widen in surprise as his world was bathed in a wide flash of light.
Dani stopped in surprise at the huge flash of light shooting off to her right. It looked like a giant cylindrical beam shooting off towards the sky. The energy being emitted from the scene was the most powerful she'd sensed since leaving the Soul Society.
"What the hell is that?" breathed Ichigo.
"It's coming from Far Frozen!" Dani answered. "C'mon guys!"
Vlad groaned as propped himself up on his elbows. There was a cloud of mist spreading wide across the battleground, obscuring the wide scarring and the likely dead Yeti.
At least Vlad hoped he'd be dead after all it took to fight him. The last time he'd had to fight that hard was against Pariah Dark. Thankfully, as powerful as Far Frozen's leader was, he was no Pariah.
"Still," groaned Vlad as he levitated to his feet, "if I ever have to fight him again, it will be far too soon."
With a wide arm swipe, the mist violently scattered revealing an odd sight. There was a giant, jagged iceberg (probably a good fifty feet high) with a wide hole near the top. Most importantly, Vlad could see a shrinking shrinking Frostbite inside.
"Ah, so this the 'Ice Prison'. It's definitely underwhelming."
Vlad blasted the structure with a quick Ghost Ray. Vlad hurriedly threw up a shield as the iceberg splintered shooting hundreds of ice shards every which way and Frostbite was sent skidding across the ice.
Vlad draped his cape over himself as he quickly teleported to the downed ruler. Vlad ground his heel into Frostbite's face as he grinned with long withheld satisfaction. "Now this is more like it isn't it, beast?"
Frostbite glared up at the halfa. He looked like he was barely on the edge of consciousness. "The only beast here is you, Plasmius!"
Vlad's eyes narrowed, slightly before he caught himself. In a blink, his condescending smile was on full-force. "Hmph. Not very original. Enjoy your hibernation."
Vlad pointed his finger at the yeti-ghost as a pink Ghost Stinger sprang forth. Frostbite jerked for a moment before falling still.
"You've had your fun, I presume?" asked Kariya.
Vlad glanced over with a strange feeling inside. It wasn't exactly relief, and it wasn't elation. It felt empty and tired. He hoped that he didn't look as conflicted as he felt. He put on a semblance of his usual smile as he turned to face Kariya. What he saw made his grin falter.
Jin had a good poker face, almost as good as his own, but Vlad could something resembling his current emotions. There was a whirlwind of emotions with the forefront being fatigue and emptiness.
Vlad had no idea what to make of it.
"Vladimir, are you alright?"
Vlad blinked in surprise before focusing in on Kariya's face. The mask of control had returned. "Ah, yes. This was a long time coming. I'm still not entirely certain how you can help me, though."
Jin smile seemed thin. "Once we've orchestrated my plan, everything you've ever wanted will arrive. Trust me."
Vlad didn't bother to mention his past experiences with "trusting people." Instead, he placed a hand on the Bount's shoulder to prepare for teleportation. "Where to?"
"The Soul Society."
"Hold it, fruitloop!"
Vlad's heart twinged at the sound before swelling with rage. It was a welcome feeling to feel such a familiar emotion. "Danielle. Ever the thorn in my side, I see. It's nice to see that your still, ah, stable."
If looks could kill, Danielle would have erased Vlad would've been erased from existence. The rage in his chest dimmed slightly into a smaller bitter melancholy.
Which only made Vlad angrier.
"Now is not the time, Vladimir. We'll deal with them later."
Vlad scowled at the man, but later composed himself, giving the clone a winning smile. "We'll meet again, Danielle. Send Daniel my regards."
With that, Vlad grabbed hold of Jin and teleported away, leaving only wispy pink mist.
A/N: Thank you all for reading this far (I know iss been a lot XD)! Hopefully it doesn't take as long for the next chapter to come out. Stay safe and awesome y'all!
