A/N: Hey so. I thought this would just be a two-parter with an epilogue capping off the arc, but it felt natural to end the chapter like this. Plus it got it out faster so thas a bonus. So, this is gonna be a three parter instead.
Also, this chapter gets a lil mushy so imma warn y'all real quick.
So yeah. Enjoy!
Chapter 24: Silhouette: Part 1
"How do we get home?" Orihime asked.
Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah. . . I didn't think that far."
"Let's just fly back to the meet point," Ichigo proposed. "It's our best option."
Danny felt a sting in his chest as he glared down at his zanpakuto. He knew Ichigo hadn't meant that as a jab. Clockwork knew their relationship had grown past that. It just would've been so much easier to use his zanpakuto to teleport them all. Unfortunately for him, his spirit had been quiet and unresponsive for who knew how long. "Alright," Danny grumbled.
The group took off into the ghostly sky at high speed. The feeling of the wind zipping past him did little to sate the frigid feeling ripping through him. He was no stranger to the cold thanks to his ice core, but this cold was much more than some chilly weather. Clockwork had all but confirmed his worst fears. Something big was going to happen, bad enough that he'd need Vlad.
Admittedly, he wouldn't hate having Vlad as an ally, but it was weird to believe the villain would ever change. He'd felt that even before he saw his messed up history. He wanted to convince himself that he had to be able to change Vlad otherwise Clockwork wouldn't have bothered in asking him to, but there was still that small voice telling him that he couldn't do it.
Not without Karitoriki backing him up.
Danny scowled as he tried to push back the unwelcome thoughts. Knowing his luck, the hollow parasite was still alive and whispering doubts in his ear.
'Danny, what's up with you?' came Dani's voice. 'You've been in this funk, lately.'
Danny sighed. 'I'm sorry. I really shouldn't- Wait you don't know?'
He could catch Dani shaking her head in his peripherals.
Danny didn't have the slightest idea what to make of that. He figured destroying his inner hollow would have consequences, but this felt absolutely weird.
Dani seemed to take his reaction differently. 'Don't worry. I can still sense your emotions.'
He winced at the thought of her feeling his mind-numbing worry, which in turn made him cringe at the thought of her feeling that. Geez, all this link stuff was starting to give him a headache.
'But what's going on?' she pressed. 'You seem so much more worried than before. And you're usually a basket case.'
Danny huffed indignantly at her jab. 'It's complicated. I promise that I'll tell you later.'
'No!'
Danny started at the volume and sheer insistence in her voice. He'd long since stopped flying and Dani had as well. She was staring at him with the same resolute look she'd had when she had faced Vlad and even Danny, himself, the day that they'd met.
Needless to say, it was a little jarring to have that look directed at him again. 'We aren't gonna wait. Not when this has been bothering you for so long. We need to talk now.'
Danny blinked slightly, reassessing his view of the child. The look she'd been giving him wasn't the same as the look she'd given him or Vlad. It was a front to hold back her real emotions.
She was afraid.
"Hey! What's the hold up?!"
Danny glanced over to see Renji, glaring at them. The rest of the group had stopped as well, waiting for an answer.
Danny turned back to Dani. Her adamant look hadn't changed all that much. It had only lost more of the fear and gained more of the steel. "Guys," Danny started, "don't worry about it. We had. . . something to take care of."
"Well hurry it up!" Renji barked. "We can't afford to wait all day when the Bounts and Vlad could be anywhere right now."
The group zoomed off once more with Dani and Danny working their way back to the front. The air between them hadn't gotten any less tense as they led the group. Danny spared a glance at the younger halfa to find her gaze fixed solely ahead of her.
'Well?'
'It's complicated' Danny warned.
'I'm your clone and we're half ghosts tagging along with Death Gods. I think I can handle a little complicated.'
Danny felt his lips twitch upwards despite himself. He felt a little more tension lift knowing that she wasn't so mad that she couldn't joke around. 'Alright. So what do you wanna know first?'
"Let go of me!"
Vlad sighed as he held Yoshino easily in a ghost shield. The constant screaming and kicking were starting to eat at his concentration, though. "I don't suppose that she has an off button, does she?" Vlad asked, glancing towards Jin.
The man was staring intently at the female Bount with an almost unreadable expression. "Release her."
Vlad's brows furrowed but he complied with his partner's wishes. With an unceremonious pop, the bubble shield fell and Yoshino fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Yoshino, to her credit, immediately got to her feet, aiming her hand at Kariya. In her clenched fist, on a finger, she held what Vlad had come to know as her Doll. "You are going to pay for what you've done, Kariya!"
Jin kept his composure as he walked towards the woman, gingerly, as if approaching a scared animal. "I have only done all of this in the interest of the Bounts."
"Oh, save it!"
"I wanted a future with us together," he pressed. "Can't you see that?"
Yoshino grit her teeth. "Don't come any closer."
Jin paid her no heed as he reached for her hand. "I loved you. I truly did, and I hoped that I could spare you from this horrible fate. But it seems that it is truly unavoidable."
Yoshino's expression wavered for a moment, but she kept her Doll trained on Jin. "What are you talking about?"
Jin lowered his hand with a sad smile gracing his face. "You have a special maternal power within you. I could spot it the day I had first laid eyes on you. I had hoped that one day you would be by my side to accomplish my vision."
"So you didn't love me. You just wanted my power."
"Originally," Jin corrected, "but after I came to know you, I wanted you by my side to rule as equals."
"To rule?"
Jin spread his hands with his disarming smile returning. "It's the only true way we can live without hiding. We must show strength and not simply live. We have to thrive."
"What changed, Kariya?" Vlad noticed that the woman had lowered her hand holding the doll, but she was gripping it no less tighter.
Jin's smile fell as he finally came to a halt, just in front of Yoshino. "I came to realize that your power couldn't be triggered to its full potential without your death."
Yoshino gave an involuntary gasp and Vlad shifted his weight, averting his head to the sky. A sick feeling had begun eating away at him at the thought of Yoshino's death. It absolutely perplexed him. He didn't know Yoshino that well; he barely remembered her name, but for a moment, her death seemed like the worst event that could ever take place.
He rubbed at his eyes and let out a deep sigh. He would ignore it, like he'd done with other fleeting emotions.
"I tried to find another way." Jin was rambling now. "I tried to put it off for as long as possible, but there is no avoiding it. For the Bounts to live, you must die-"
"No!"
"-as a sacrifice."
Jin reached out and grabbed Yoshino's hand, gripping hold of the Doll. In one quick pinch, he snapped it.
The sky erupted with a column of fire.
'Who did you talk to?'
Danny winced at the question. He didn't want to tell her what he'd have to do. There was no telling how she'd take having to have her former "father" as an ally. 'Clockwork.'
Dani's eyes widened. 'Woah! Why did he come to you?'
Danny tried not to be too offended by her disbelieving tone as he shrugged. 'Nothing too important.'
'Danny. . .'
'Fine but you have to promise not to freak out.'
Dani frowned but nodded. At Danny's pointed look, she raised her hands. 'OK, I promise. What's so serious?'
Danny told her everything that Clockwork had shown her. By the end of it, Dani looked torn between confusion and alarm. Thankfully, she didn't look like she'd blow a gasket any time soon. 'What would he want us to convince Vlad?'
Danny shrugged. 'I told you. Apparently, we need him on our side.'
He didn't even believe himself on that one.
'How're we supposed to change Vlad?' Dani thought. 'That guy's a complete whackjob!'
Ah yes, the question he still had no answer for. 'I don't know.'
"Hey guys! I think that's it!"
Danny spared a glance ahead, and sure enough, the portal was still swirling strongly. It was in the same spot that they'd left it, maybe a handful of miles ahead of them. They'd be home in no time. "Alright let's go!"
The gang zipped into the portal, leaving the Zone behind.
Vlad watched with a heartbeat much faster than he'd like to admit.
The nightmarish flame from Hell had long since faded away, giving way to a fire golem. It was fairly tall with a powerful build, and it's blue flames flickered, weakly, like a leaf in the breeze. That alone was hardly able to grab his attention. Rather, he was far more focused on Yoshino.
Her gaze had become glazed over at the sight of her doll. She wasn't dead, but she might as well have been. "Goethe!"
The golem staggered towards her. "Master. . ."
"It is of no use, Yoshino," Kariya said. "My power is much too strong for you. You know this. Give in and make this easy on the both of us."
"You're insane!"
Jin gave an uproarious laugh as he held onto the woman's hand. Vlad wasn't certain of how he'd missed Jin's transformation, but it was quite easy to spot. His crisp suit had likely been burned away in the fire, leaving his chest and stomach open. A black ink symbol was inscribed on them, faintly glowing.
"I am willing to do what is needed for the good of the Bounts," Kariya corrected. "Now goodbye, my love."
Vlad felt his mouth move of its own accord. "Jin-"
"Goethe!" Yoshino cried. "Do it now!"
"Yes, Master!"
The golem's flames surged back to life as it soared into the sky. It zipped around the sky before making a beeline for Jin and Yoshino. Vlad felt a sudden urge to divert the blast and save the woman, but he moved too slow.
The woman wrenched herself from Jin's grasp and took the fireball head-on. A brilliant light obscured Yoshino from Vlad's vision, though he could still make out Jin's dumbstruck expression.
His first inclination was that Yoshino had just sacrificed herself to end Kariya's plans. He felt an unbridled sense of rage and sadness at the idea of Yoshino dying. Surprisingly, the anger was directed only partially at Jin Kariya. The rest of his rage was focused squarely on himself.
How could he have left her to die like a dog? Why didn't he fight Kariya? Why had he brought her there to begin with? He could feel his eyes heat up, no doubt flashing a deep red. It immediately ceased when he noticed something remarkable.
The fire wasn't burning her. Instead, it seemed to bond with her, becoming one with her. Where a normal woman had once been stood a fiery goddess with eyes just as bright as her flames.
If Vlad were a less prideful man, he may have admitted to the relief that gripped him.
"Kariya," Yoshino said. "Your time has come to die."
A bit of Jin's old cocky air had returned to him as spread his palms. "So bold, so misguided. It seems that I'll have to remind you who the true authority is."
The two disappeared in a flash of speed. One moment, they were in the sky. The next, they were only a few feet away from Vlad, battling it out. It was all he could do to keep track of them, even with his ghostly eyes.
From what he could gather, Yoshino's transformation had boosted her fighting capabilities drastically, making her fast enough to keep up with Kariya and strong enough to handle and dish out punishment. Yet, it was quite apparent that Jin hadn't even begun to take the fight seriously.
His diagnosis was proven true once Jin's arm shot clean through Yoshino's abdomen. There was a short scream (Vlad wasn't quite sure who it was) before her flames surged and sputtered out. She went limp within seconds, still impaled upon her lover's arm. It wasn't for long as Jin brushed the woman off like a piece of lint, sending her falling to the ground.
Vlad blinked in surprise. Yoshino looked up at him with a subdued reaction of surprise as well. She was held carefully within his arms instead of carelessly strewn along the ground.
He had no clue when he'd moved, but he did.
"Why. . ?"
Vlad started. It had taken him a while to realize that she had spoken, much less was still alive with her eyes being so glassy. So, he could only muster an unintelligent, "What?"
"Why did you. . . catch me?"
Vlad just stared at her for a moment, his mouth opening and closing not unlike a fish. Why had he caught her? It would've done no good. She was going to die of a fatal injury either way, so why did he do it?
"I don't know?"
The woman didn't look annoyed at his lackluster reply. Rather, she seemed quite amused, giving a weak smile. "I. . . I see. . ."
"Hey!" Vlad inwardly knew it was futile to keep her conscious, but he shook her lightly in some sorry attempt to keep her from drifting off. Her body began to dissolve in his hands, becoming supple and malleable dust that drifted off in the wind.
All that was left of her was her clothes. Clothes that smelled of roses and blood.
"I did love her." Vlad glanced up at the Bount. He just barely caught sight of a light vanishing followed by a light buzzing noise. The man himself was staring at his palm. He could've been reveling in his newfound power for all Vlad knew. "I think some part of me still does."
"Yet you killed her like this?" Vlad spat with more venom then he'd felt in years. "Without the slightest bit of regard for her body?!"
Jin turned to face Vlad. His face was no longer the calculated mask that it once was. It was now twisted into a malignant sneer, one Vlad would have reserved for an incompetent minion. "This was all part of the goal, Vladimir-san. I've said as much. I wouldn't have killed her if it wasn't necessary."
Vlad felt a chilling cold wash over him. Only this time, he was certain that it wasn't from his Ghost Sense. The Bount's reiatsu felt like a mountain on his back. He was certain that the man hadn't been that strong before.
In the blink of an eye, the pressure was gone.
Jin had already started walking away from him, clutching onto the Infi-Map. "Are you following me, Vladimir-san? If you're having second thoughts, I suggest that you get them sorted out."
Vlad stared down at the clothes for a moment. They still had a touch of warmth despite its vacant owner. If he blinked, in the brief darkness, he could see her face. He could hear her voice.
'Why did you catch me?'
He looked back to Kariya. The man was still watching him and waiting. His sneer had abated and left a simple expectant stare. It felt like he wanted him to do something, to say something. It ruffled the old rage inside him, but he pushed it aside.
He cast one final glance down at the clothes before teleporting them away with a wave of his hand. "Where next?"
The gang of teens tumbled out of the portal and onto the ground. Danny had an elbow in his gut and a foot in his eye, but he couldn't have cared less. He phased out of the heap and was up on his feet, all in Urahara's personal space. "We need you to get the Senkaimon thingie running!"
Urahara looked absolutely out of his element for once, leaning away from the teen. "The Senkaimon?"
"Yes! The Bounts could be there any second now!"
"My apologies, Danny-kun," Tessai said, "but how do you know?"
Danny groaned as he waved frantically. "Clockwork told me! Now let's get going!"
"Clockwork's real?!"
"Oh my. . . Can we just get moving?!"
Urahara seemed to finally snap out of it, holding his fan to his mouth. "Correct again, Danny. I can always trust you to have your head on straight. Follow me!"
The group hurried after the shopkeeper while Dani and Danny kept in lockstep. 'Is there anything else bothering you?'
Danny shot Dani a pointed glare without ever breaking pace. 'Are you serious right now?'
'Hey, I'm just trying to make sure we've got everything covered!'
'Well you don't need to worry about it because I'm fine.'
Danny tried to ignore the long look Dani was shooting his way.
"What happened here. . ?"
Danny blinked in surprise, leaning around Chad's massive form to spot the commotion. The result wasn't easily apparent; he could spot a glimpse of his dejected parents but that was about it.
Urahara had walked over to meet them at some point and was now talking animatedly. Once a few more people filed into the room, Danny was able to get a wider view of the devastation.
The door was completely totaled while bits of wood littered the entrance. It was nothing compared to the opening square which looked like a hurricane had run through it.
That wasn't even mentioning the pieces of cracked roof strewn across the floor.
"What happened?" Danny muttered absolutely wide-eyed.
"Where's Yoshino?" asked Orihime.
She was right, Danny noticed. The Bount was nowhere to be found. He turned to his sister who looked no less distressed than their parents had been. "What happened, Jazz?" he asked.
Jazz just shook her head. "Vlad. He took her right under our noses! I couldn't even do a thing about it!"
Danny wanted to curse. Vlad and Jin always seemed to be one step ahead of them. Forget one step, they were probably light years ahead of him at this point.
Danny spun back towards the still chattering adults. "Can someone get the Senkaimon open?! We're wasting time here!"
Urahara nodded with a deep frown. "Right. This'll take a couple of minutes to set up and bring out our Bount trackers. In the meantime, why don't you fill us in on what your friend told you."
It was growing a little bothersome to repeat his story again, but it went by a lot quicker than whenever he'd first explained it, mostly because he omitted some of the specifics with Vlad. Thankfully, they'd had the sense not to interrupt him. By the end of Danny's rundown, the whole room seemed to become graver.
"So," started Ichigo, "we've gotta meet them in the Soul Society and convince Vlad to join us?"
Danny waved a hand, listlessly. "Yeah, something like that."
"What could possibly bring on a cause for this?" Renji asked.
"It would have to be because of Aizen," Uryu said. "The two of them together have to be something else for us to need to keep them apart like this."
Danny could feel that familiar, unwelcome feeling worming its way through his gut. Vlad and Aizen together was something he didn't even want to pretend to imagine. The unhinged fruitloop paired with the calculated power of Aizen could only spell disaster.
"Danny, can we talk to you in private?"
He suddenly became aware that his mother and his father were watching him. Danny glanced over at Jazz, but she gave him a slight smile and nod. Both of which were much tighter than usual. "Uh, sure?" he finally spoke.
The trio walked off to a separate room, far enough from any wandering ears. His parents were watching him with far more seriousness than he'd ever seen from them (especially from his father).
"Danny," Maddie muttered, "what did Clockwork show you? About Vlad, I mean?"
Danny squirmed a little, giving a little half-shrug. "It was just some stuff from his college years. No big deal."
Danny cringed at the lie. Well, more like half truth. His parents didn't seem to buy it, watching him just as intently as they had before. He felt like a bug under a magnifying glass.
Just as the silence was reaching its peak, Maddie relented as her face softened. She put her hands on his shoulders, giving them a small squeeze. "I just want you to know that whatever you saw in there isn't us," she said with a soft smile.
Danny's brows scrunched. "Huh?"
Jack lumbered over, still adorning a serious look. He looked so oddly out of his element that it was jarring. "What your mother is trying to say is, we made some mistakes that we weren't proud of back then. So many things went wrong with Vladdy. We were young and dumb and radical."
Danny felt the heat, building in his chest. He hadn't felt anything like it since the time that his parents told him that they knew about his ghost side. Young, dumb, and radical? That was all he and Vlad were gonna get? "But you did it again?" he spat.
Danny didn't know what had possessed him to speak, but he was glad that he'd said it. His parents paused for a moment before Maddie finally found the words to use. "We. . . We realized the importance of it much later. Becoming more familiar with these things could protect us and the world."
Danny felt his jaw twinge as he balled up his fists. "These things?"
Maddie's eyes widened. "No, I didn't mean-"
"I think you were quite clear on what you meant. I've got a halfa to talk to."
"Danny-kun. . !"
Danny glared behind him to see Orihime, watching them with her wide doe eyes. "Um, sorry. . . Is this a bad time?"
Danny's face softened. "Nah, you're fine. I was just about to leave."
His mother gave him a tight smile and a final shoulder squeeze before heading out. His father gave him a "soft" clap on the back that had him ready to fall on his face. Danny finally headed out alongside Orihime feeling worse than ever.
"Danny-kun," whispered Orihime. "Are you sure that you're alright? It seemed really bad back there."
Danny gave her a slight smile that probably looked more like a grimace. "Yeah, yeah. Peachy."
Jin stood off to Vlad's left. He hadn't changed his facial expression much over the past couple of minutes. His self-assured smirk was plastered for the entire world to see as if he hadn't just killed the "love of his life". It was starting to piss Vlad off.
"My brethren," Jin said, "it is time for us to take our place in the sun. We'll head to the Soul Society with enough power to topple them. We will enact our next phase with these."
The snarky female Bount was quick to point out the obvious. "There's nothing there."
Jin laughed softly. "Ah, yes. Correct, Yoshi-san. Allow me to demonstrate."
He opened the Infi-Map and muttered a command, disappearing in a flash of light.
"Incredible!" A bespectacled Bount muttered. "This is the power Master has been searching for? Simply amazing!"
Strangely enough, Vlad hadn't the heart to correct him in his usual haughty manner. He couldn't feel anything except for the suffocating heat ballooning in his chest. He wanted to unleash it on something (honestly even someone would do the trick), but he couldn't find the urge to act. His body felt numb, and it made him frustrated.
It'd all started because of that damn woman.
His attention was brought to a familiar flash next to him. Jin stood holding a familiar bug-like thing about the size of Jin's head. It buzzed lightly as it sat firmly in the man's grip. It didn't take him long to realize that that had been the source of the buzzing whenever Yoshino had died.
It looked truly pitiful, seemingly staring at Vlad from Jin's clutches. He wouldn't have given the insect a second glance before then, so what had changed? Whatever it was, Vlad was certain he didn't like it.
"This is the key to our freedom!" He held out the thing for them all to see. "This Bitto can grant the Bount that drinks its contents unimaginable power!"
"The content of the Bitto are human souls, Master?" a ginger-haired man asked. "Living human souls?"
"Correct, Mabashi-san. There's a world of humans that I've unleashed an entire swarm of the bitto upon. We will go there and drink their power. Once we do, we'll arrive in the Seireitei as an unstoppable force."
"Are you insane?! That's against our Bount code! It spits in the face of-"
"Our tradition?" Jin finished. "Sacrifices must be made and tradition may be the weakest of those sacrifices. It was tradition that kept us apart and easy pickings for the humans, hollows, Quincies, ghosts, and the damned Shinigami! To survive, we must shed these shackles and claim our power before they take it for us!"
Mabashi looked no less convinced, but the other Bounts looked far more resolved than they'd been before.
Vlad felt that heat rise up again. He wanted to scream at them. Didn't they realize that Jin had killed Yoshino? He had to wonder if they would even care if they did know.
The man himself didn't seem conflicted in the slightest. He raised the Bitto to his lips and drank. There was not even the slightest hitch as Kariya squashed the Bitto into a mess of reishi.
The dumb insect gave Vlad one last pitiful look before it went. 'Why didn't you catch me?' it seemed to ask.
Vlad didn't have an answer.
"Now, my Bounts, it's time we go and take back our destiny!"
A/N: I'd appreciate feedback for this new writing process I've picked up. Is it good? Does it leave more to be desired? I just feel weird about writing like this lmao. I do like that it helps me write faster, though.
But yeah, stay safe. Stay awesome. Peace.
Uploaded: March 28th 2021
