A/N: Fucking finally! I had no idea this would take so long XD. I will never underestimate just how busy life/college can get again. As such, I'm not gonna make any promises for when the next update'll be out, but I'll just hope it won't take nearly as long lol.


Chapter 28: In the Badger's Den

Danny's eyes fluttered open. He briefly started at the silky sheets beneath him, but quickly relaxed into them, their alluring welcomeness practically chaining him to the bed.

It had been just over a week that he had been living with Vlad Masters. It was a strange week to say the least. No food trying to kill him, no stray ghost technology trying to kill him, and. . . well an overall lack of things trying to kill him. Not to mention, the quality of life was to die for. He had eaten more food than he'd even known existed over that short week and watched almost as many channels.

It wasn't even Vlad's main house; it was one of his off-shot condos that he had in Karakura Town. He already had a house in Tokyo, but since Danny needed to be close by his friends, Vlad had willingly accommodated his wishes. Although it certainly wasn't done without his fair share of grumbling (there were many "Oh, I'd dread to be seen in this blasted suit"s) and other general rich person complaints, Danny considered it a step in the right direction.

After a minute or two, Danny reluctantly rolled out of bed. He meandered his way through his spacious room, getting dressed in his signature white tee and jeans.

It had been more than a little awkward going back home to pack his clothes after the fight he'd had with his parents. Well, it hadn't been much of a fight, but it was still something he could've lived without. Jazz had thankfully helped out, which greatly shortened the moving process. He would definitely need to thank her later.

'It would've undoubtedly gone faster if he'd asked his friends for help,' a little voice seemed to say. 'You all are supposed to be a team, right?' He pushed it aside; they didn't need to know about his family issues. Some things were better left unsaid.

As he walked out into the hallway, he felt a shudder travel up his spine and the familiar blue mist leave his lips. His eyes narrowed with annoyance at the sight. Well it seemed things couldn't all be going right. He was still living with the fruitloop, after all.

Danny turned the corner to see one of Vlad's personal ghosts cooking up some pancakes and bacon on frying pans along with some other food that he had no hope of naming.

The ghost looked like just about all of Vlad's other ghost servants; an amorphous, green blob with only hands. He'd been annoyed whenever he had first seen one of the man's many ghost servants. They'd triggered his ghost sense so frequently that it'd begun to reach levels of annoyance that he didn't know were possible. Vlad had assured him that he'd get used to it, but he still hadn't yet.

He didn't bother giving them a hello; they weren't much for conversation anyways. He whipped out his new phone, an LG Rumor Touch, (a gift from Vlad) to send out a text to Tucker and Sam. Vlad may have been a bit of a fruitloop, but he sure knew how to give a gift.

"I trust that you slept well."

Danny had to do his best not to jump at the sound of his voice. It was hard work getting used to living with the man without getting jumpscared by him with how much he crawled around. He leveled the best glare that he could muster while calming his racing heartbeat. "Geez! Warn a guy next time!"

Vlad gave him a Cheshire grin as he sauntered to the table. "I think that was quite warning enough, Little Badger."

Vlad sat opposite from him, his wide, self-assured grin never leaving his face. Danny's first instincts were to ignore him by losing himself in his phone. . . until he remembered that he was supposed to be reforming him.

Darn it.

Meeting the man's eyes made Danny wish he'd stayed engrossed in his phone. He was watching him like one of those snakes on National Geographic just before they ate a mouse or some other prey, like a predator on the prowl.

"So what's next?"

Danny started slightly at the question before raising a brow. "Huh?"

"You've moved in with me, had some downtime, and talked to your friends. What's the next step for you?"

Danny set his phone down on the table as he rubbed at his neck. He really hadn't thought that far. He'd just known that he needed to leave; planning anything else hadn't felt that much more important in those stress-filled moments. "I, uh, I'm not sure."

"I figured as much. Alright, then I trust you'll be ready to join me for training."

Danny frowned as he glared at him. "I'm sorry what?"

Vlad's shoulders shook lightly with a deep chuckle. "You didn't think that I wouldn't be making my own pitch for our stay, did you?"

"Why do I hate the sound of this?"

"Now, now, don't be like that Daniel," Vlad leaned forward in his seat. His smile, which was likely supposed to look sympathetic, looked about as real as a clown nose. "I merely want you to train with me. After all, there are a plethora of abilities that you haven't learned just yet."

Danny scowled. Vlad had a point. He'd barely scratched the surface of being a halfa, and Vlad had decades of experience. It was quite the no-brainer to go to him for training, but. . .

"You promise not to try and convert me into your son?"

Vlad laughed. "Now where's the fun in that?"

"Vlad. . ."

"What? I'm still on your side. Nothing evil about helping a fellow halfa grow more powerful. Is there?"

Danny glared at Vlad, ignoring the ghost scooping steaming food onto his plate. He was already starting to regret his decision. "Just don't transfer your fruitloop-itis onto me. I think it's contagious."

Danny took no small amount of joy in Vlad's annoyed eyebrow twitch.


"Again!"

Jazz dropped to the ground as an arrow whizzed over her head. Without a moment of reprieve, she rolled to her left dodging another. She barely registered the boulder next to her before she spun right into it. She clutched her head in agony, biting back a slew of curses, as she fell onto her back.

'Great. . . Taken out by a stupid rock.'

"Oh no! I'm so sorry honey!"

Jazz could barely hear her mother's hurried footsteps over the throbbing pain emanating from her forehead. Her heart felt like it was on the verge of jumping out of her chest with how hard it was working.

"Here, let me see!"

Jazz groaned and batted her mother's hand away with her free hand. She felt guilty at the action before pushing the thoughts away and standing on her own power. "I'm fine. J-Just a little dazed, is all."

She wanted to say I'm fine, Mom but she just couldn't bring herself to say it. Not after everything that she'd found out. She had partially been tempted to leave with Danny to sort herself out and watch over him. But ultimately, it wouldn't be what Danny needed: alone time, not time with his older sister doting over him. No matter how much it pained her to admit it. Besides, someone needed to be there for her parents as well, as infuriating as they could be.

Yet, she still didn't entirely understand why he had chosen Vlad, of all people, but the important thing was that he'd begun his healing process.

Now she had to focus on patching things up at home.

"I suppose that I should teach you Blut Vene." Her mother was musing now with pursed lips. She didn't seem to be affected by Jazz's previous knee jerk reaction, which she counted as a plus. However, there was a small part of her that wished she had noticed. It might have guilt or resentment; she couldn't quite pin the emotion down.

Ignoring her inner turmoil, Jazz stood up still pressing a palm to her tender forehead. There was likely to be one heck of a knot there in a few minutes, if the bruising was any indication. "Blut Vene?"

"It's a defensive technique of our people, the Quincy. It can rapidly enhance our durability on a body part or our entire bodies. It can stop some dangerous wounds and life-threatening injuries as well."

Jazz felt her frustrations wash away. That technique sounded remarkable. With it, she'd have no doubt that she could stand alongside her brother. "Can I learn it right now?"

"Slow your roll, you've barely mastered manifesting reishi for your bow! How about we master the other basics of gathering reishi first?"

Jazz pouted before shooting a glare at her chuckling mother. "I guess, but how is shooting arrows at me part of the basics?"

"It hones your instincts and reflexes. Not to mention, all of that movement gets you in shape! You're gonna need to be at the top of your abilities to take on Aizen's army. If they're anything like their master, they'll be absolutely ruthless."

Jazz felt her breath hitch despite her best efforts. Was she really going to fight an army? How had her life gotten that strange? Why had she let it? Christ! Her brother was going to be on the frontlines!

Her mind gave pause at the thought of Danny. She could vividly picture his cocky, self-assured grin, his eyes filled with a will of fire. Just those thoughts alone made her feel silly. Danny was a superhero, for goodness sake. A hero with a decent enough grasp on this new world she was only starting to uncover.

'He won't be doing this alone. We'll all be together!'

Jazz gave her mother an affirmative nod. "Right."

"Well, let's take a break. I need to talk with your father and Urahara-san about some things. I'll see if I can get some ice for your head as well!"

Jazz scowled as she drew her hand away from her forehead, barely managing to avoid wincing from the sudden movement. "I'm fine. I can keep learning."

"No, you aren't. You've been getting slower with every dodge. You're exhausted. Take a break while I talk with your father."

". . . Fine."

The walk upwards to the shop was a quiet one. Jazz didn't know entirely what to make of it, but she knew that she hated it. She wanted to be able to talk with her mother about. . . something. Her inner psychologist was screaming at her to do something, to fix it, but she had no idea where to start.

Not to mention it would've taken her mind out of Yoshino.

She knew what Danny would've told her: she wasn't strong enough then for the Bount's death to be on her. She wasn't responsible for Yoshino's life, only Kariya was to blame. She knew these things to be true, yet she couldn't bring herself to admit it. Even if she did admit it, Jazz was sure that it wouldn't be enough to make that woman's ghost leave her. The way Yoshino had looked so broken, her eyes silently asking for help, pleading. . . the rest of them hadn't seen that. They hadn't-

"Jazz-chan, are you alright?"

Jazz blinked. Once. Twice. Suddenly, she found herself aware of her surroundings.

She was back in the airy Urahara shop, standing in front of the man himself. Jazz felt her face flush a bit. "Sorry, Urahara-san, I was just thinking."

"It's alright," he replied, holding his fan to his mouth. "I'm the last person who can fault someone for exercising their mind! I just wanted to know how your training's been progressing. I hope your mother hasn't been working you too hard, eh, Jazz-chan?"

Jazz smiled, grateful for the distraction. "It's been fine, Urahara-san. I've got a lot of work to do, though."

"Well, if there's anyone who can whip you into shape, it'd be that dear mother of yours. She's as much of a hard worker as she is a genius."

"Stop it," her mother said, rolling her eyes. "I wanted to talk to you about some of the preparations for Aizen's attack. Have you heard any word from the Soul Society?"

"Not much. Yoruichi's been running some scouting missions with the Onmitsukidō. They haven't come up with much aside from the fact that Aizen isn't in the mortal world or the Seireitei."

Jazz found herself tuning out some of the conversation as she walked around the shop. It was truly interesting seeing the type of stuff the man had acquired. It all looked so normal yet she knew better. Just about everything there was spirit related. She could imagine Sam would have a healthy appreciation for the items.

Jazz squeaked slightly as she bumped into something. Someone would have been more appropriate if the 'oof' sound that she heard was any indication.

"Hey!"

Jazz flushed as she bowed towards the irate kid. "Sorry there, Jinta-san! I should've been paying more attention."

"Yeah just watch it!"

Jazz watched him amble onward and felt her mouth moving before she could stop herself. "Say, if you don't mind me asking, do you live here?"

Jinta scowled. "Yeah, what of it?"

"Nothing it's just. . . are you and Ururu souls?"

Jinta gave her a pointed stare. "Whaddya think?"

Jazz felt herself getting flustered for a moment as she shrugged. What was she thinking? Of course that was a weird question to ask considering she barely knew the kid. What had she even wanted to do with the information had she gotten it? Was she really this desperate for distractions? "Well, uh-"

"Jazz, come with me! Tessai's made some breakfast, so we can eat now and then get back to training!"

Jazz blinked in surprise. Had she really been gone that long? She tried to apologize to Jinta, but he was already stalking off, shaking his head and muttering under his breath. She let out a sigh as she walked after him. 'Maybe some breakfast will clear my head. Hopefully, it won't attack me.'


Danny had to admit. When he'd heard that Vlad wanted to train him, he'd first questioned where they'd go. Of course, he could train on his own, in his inner world, but, one, Vlad didn't know about that and two, he couldn't take anyone else inside. That'd be interesting if he could though. . .

Instead, they stood on Mount Everest. It seemed a little overkill for training but effective as well. The wind whipped at him as he hovered over the snowy landscape. He was thankful for his ice core making the chill relatively manageable. A glance over at Vlad told him that the man was doing fine as well.

"How come you aren't cold?"

Vlad smirked. "Fire core. It tends to help buffet the cold."

Danny gave him a nod. "So what are we gonna do? Fight? Cause I think I'm a little too strong for you-"

Danny was sent tumbling head over heels into the mountainside. The force caused a fair amount of snow to fall on him. He sat stunned in the snow before he shook his head and phased out of the snow, shooting Vlad a heated glare. "The heck was that?! I wasn't even ready!"

"You must always keep your guard up, Daniel. Always."

Danny scowled as he lit his hands up with ghostly energy. "Alright, fine! Let's go!"

"Feel free to use your shinigami powers. I have a feeling you'll be needing them."

Danny frowned. "Don't get cocky, Vlad. You really can't keep up with me if I do that."

"Suit yourself."

With that Vlad crossed his arms and fell into a stance Danny couldn't recognize. His hair started to sway more violently from the wind. No. That wasn't right. It was writhing like a fire all on its own, not dissimilar to Dan's hair. Steam started to rise from his body as flames began to dance along his form, transforming his clothing into flame. The very snow beneath him began to melt as Vlad grew brighter.

Soon, he was standing as a fiery demon.

Even without actively sensing Vlad's reiatsu, Danny could tell that he'd gotten stronger. Much stronger.

"So, how about it, Daniel. Am I still too weak?"

Danny charged, throwing a punch. Vlad knocked it aside, easily, much to Danny's surprise. He knocked Danny back with a sharp backhand, following up with a devastating gut punch. Danny was sent flying across the terrain before he crashed into another slope, more snow raining down on him.

He felt like he'd just gotten punched by Kenpachi and then roughed around by Dan for good measure. He spat out a glob of blood that had begun pooling in his mouth.

"Is that all, 'Great One?' Frostbite would weep to see you in such a sorry state."

With a roar, Danny charged forward unleashing a deep Ghostly Wail. He could feel the terrain split and crater under his powerful shout. Once he felt thoroughly satisfied, Danny ceased his attack. He probably shouldn't have hit Vlad with such a powerful move, but dammit the fruitloop deserved it.

Danny heaved a deep sigh as he looked over the carnage. There was a shallow burrow dug into the ground maybe four feet in width that had to have stretched on for a good ten yards or more. It was hard to tell in the mix of steam, snow, and smoke that had been kicked up. That attack would likely be enough to keep Vlad out of commission for only a handful of hours, thanks to his ghostly healing.

It served the fruitloop right.

"Is that all?"

Danny gaped as, from the steam and smoke, Vlad appeared unfazed.

"You'll need to try much harder than that to take me down, Little Badger."

"What is that? What happened to you?"

Vlad grinned savagely with his fiery arms spread wide, his whited-out eyes staring into Danny's green ones. "Pay attention to this form well, Daniel. This is the ultimate power of a ghost. They achieve a level of untold strength, but as a result, their core is visible for the world to see. One strike to it and they're erased forever, much like a Bount when they pass."

"And you decided to use that thing?!"

Vlad shrugged. "I don't typically use it, but it's never a bad option to have. I can teach you this trick and much more! Now, come and see this form's power for yourself!"

Danny simply stared at Vlad as he took in the new information. To think that the ghosts Danny'd fought in the past had such a technique in their nightmarish bag of tricks was. . . unnerving to say the least. To think that his future self had a move like that. . .

Danny sucked in a deep breath. "Fine."

Black rings traversed Danny's body as he shifted into his shinigami form. He drew his zanpakuto in one swift motion, relishing in the familiarity. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Danny was in front of Vlad with a quick Flash Step, swinging at Vlad's head with the flat of his blade. Vlad easily caught it and threw it wide, knocking Danny off balance.

Vlad's retaliatory fire-blast would've struck Danny in the side if he hadn't turned intangible in time. Using his momentum from being knocked askew, Danny returned to tangibility, spun, and knocked Vlad upside the head with the flat of his blade, sending him skidding across the mountain.

Vlad's fiery aura flared as his sudden flight came to a screeching halt. He righted himself in mid-air, grinning as widely as ever. "I see. It would seem that I can't phase through your sword."

Danny blinked in surprise. That could definitely come in handy in the future. Maybe whenever he got back to Amity, he could just whack ghosts into submission.

Or maybe not. Who would know?

"No matter. I'll best you, yet. Daniel. Behold, the power of-!"

"Sir, sir!"

Danny shuddered as his Ghost sense went off just as he spotted a vulture furiously flapping against the harsh winds.

"Bah!" Vlad exclaimed. "What is it now?"

The poor vulture ghost looked absolutely bushed and miserable with its feathers matted with snow. Not to mention that he looked absolutely terrified. "Y-You have a me-meeting in five minutes, s-sir."

Vlad blinked in surprise before stifling a groan. "Ah, I can't believe I forgot about the company meeting today! We'll have to resume this some other time, Daniel. Most likely tomorrow."

Danny's mouth opened to protest but he closed it just as quickly. The day hadn't gone too bad. He could chalk the day up as a W for the whole reforming Vlad assignment and quit while he was ahead; no need to push boundaries and start a fight or worse (cause Vlad to start pushing boundaries with him). Still, he couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed. He really wanted to see how far Vlad's new form could go. "OK."

The two of them began to head back to the condo, easily outpacing the vulture ghost.

Danny spared a glance at the billionaire. He knew that he'd decided on not pushing the subject, but he was too curious about that form. He needed to know how many people knew it and just how many could use it." Hey, when'd you learn about that form?"

"Ah, it was a bit of an. . . accident and trial and error."

"Wow, could you be any less specific?"

Vlad chuckled. "I'll tell you when you're older."

"Jerk."


Danny was sitting on the couch aimlessly as he flicked through channels when a ghost servant alerted him of Dani and Uryu's presence. He was quite surprised at first and had to stretch out his senses just to make sure the ghost wasn't pulling a prank on him.

It wasn't.

He didn't have much reason to believe that the ghosts would try anything like that (considering they all acted so lifeless. . . er no pun intended) but he didn't put it past Vlad. Although it'd be awfully petty, petty was definitely a part of his MO.

He walked out with no small amount of caution. He didn't know what his friends were doing there. Dani had made it quite clear how much she'd opposed him staying with Vlad despite understanding his decision. Maybe she'd changed her mind? But why was Uryu there and nobody else?

Danny swung open the door to see Uryu and Dani. Dani was dressed in her usual attire: a beanie, a worn blue hoodie, red shorts, and sneakers. Uryu was dressed more formally in a white button down short-sleeve shirt and black trousers. Funnily enough, this was about as casual as Uryu got most days.

Dani was looking every which way as if expecting a surprise attack. He couldn't blame her after everything she'd been through with Vlad. For Uryu's part, he just looked thoroughly put off. For what reason, Danny couldn't quite fathom why.

"What are you all doing here?" Danny asked.

Dani's eyes finally focused on Danny's as she smirked. "I just wanted to make sure you were still alive. I'm surprised that he hasn't stuffed you in a monkey suit yet."

"Ha, ha. Well, the day's still young. But seriously, why? Not that I'm mad or anything, just what gives?"

"I wanted to take you and Uryu out to the city."

Danny's brows narrowed. He felt his mood sour considerably. Pity. It was about pity. "Dani, I don't need-"

"Pity, yada yada. I know! Quincy boy over here gave me the same spiel, but he needed to get out of his dumb house and so do you. Besides, we haven't really had a chance to hang out on our own. I just. . . I just wanted to hang out with you again without some type of life-threatening thing getting in the way."

Danny's scowl melted at that. He wanted to kick himself. Although she'd once been an enemy, many moons ago, he'd quickly become her first friend. Of course she wanted to hang out with him, and here he was being a grade-A jerk.

"Alright, cool," Danny replied. "Just let me get better clothes."

Danny hurried back inside and threw on his usual plain white shirt with the red oval in the center. He inwardly thanked Jazz for reminding him to pack it. Before long, the trio were on their way throughout the streets of Karakura Town.

Dani for her part stayed relatively in check, merely satisfied with keeping her head on a swivel as she walked and spoke. It was almost as if she had to take in every sight possible before it disappeared. Danny and Uryu shared a knowing smile over the girl's head. He couldn't blame her too much. Karakura was much different from the sleepy town of Amity Park. He found himself appreciating some of the sights himself.

"How have you all enjoyed Karakura Town so far?" Uryu asked.

Danny's brow quirked upwards at that. "It's pretty cool. I can't say much about it, though. I haven't had much time to enjoy it yet."

Uryu nodded. "I can imagine. There's a couple of things we can check out. I know a nice arcade nearby."

Now Danny was definitely suspicious. Uryu? At an arcade? Something had to be up, but he wasn't gonna turn down a trip to the arcade. "Yeah, that'd be awesome. How about it, Dani?"

Dani nodded with a wide smile, seemingly none the wiser. "Sure! Let's do it!"


A lone teen sat on a rooftop, crisscrossed with his chin resting on his fist. He watched the three kids enter an arcade, completely unaware of his gaze. "Hm. Interesting. Still so inexperienced, Great One. I can't wait to see if you live up to the name."


The arcade looked pretty new. There were all kinds of lights flashing in the dimly lit building, chatter filled the air as multiple teens, a few adults, and kids wandered about. Danny's eyes jumped from machine to machine like a kid on Christmas. It had been too damn long since he'd been able to play arcade games.

"Oh man!" Danny exclaimed. "That's Street Fighter! We've gotta play!"

"Alright just stop yanking my arm!" Uryu scowled.

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Dani rebuked as she sped alongside them. "I call first match!"

"I guess I'll just watch for the first round."

"Alright then."

They reached the machine and Danny fished some money out of his wallet. He put one quarter into the machine for himself and Dani.

The match didn't last all that long, but it was fun. The highlight had to be whenever he'd hit Dani with a flurry of combos right out of the gate. There was nothing she could do besides look on in growing ire. He had to stifle his laughter when he saw her eyes flash green. She probably would've sent the whole arcade to kingdom come if she'd heard him laugh.

"Looks like you didn't get my gaming skills when you were made huh?" Danny teased.

"Shut it, Inviso-Bill."

Danny rolled his eyes as he grinned at Uryu. "Uryu, you've got next!"

He seemed like he'd been observing the game with the detail of a surgeon before he turned to look back at Danny. It was unnerving to say the least. "Alright."

"Hey, don't get so nervous. This isn't like fighting hollows in life or death stuff or anything."

"At least all of that makes sense," Uryu grumbled as he walked towards the controls.

Danny spared him one more glance, before nodding to him. "You ready?"

"Yes, I think I can do this."

Uryu was floored quite easily. Danny hadn't been expecting much, but dang that was depressing. It couldn't have taken longer than a minute for him to win. Still, he couldn't exactly say that out loud, now could he? "Hey, not everyone does great on their first try. It'll take some more practice."

The Quincy looked like a kicked puppy. "Is there anything else we can try?"

Danny shrugged. He scoured the games. There wasn't much that would suit the Quincy much better. At least, that's what he thought before he saw it: the perfect game.

A face-splitting smile quickly wormed its way onto his face. "Uryu, I think we've got a game for you."


Danny had led his friends into the Laser Tag doorway. They currently found themselves in the armory getting properly strapped up and armed.

"I don't know about this, Danny," Uryu murmured as he fiddled with his vest. "I've never done this before."

"Ah, it's basically hollow hunting with a gun and armor! You'll do fine."

"If you say so."

"Danny, Uryu? What are you guys doing here?"

Danny turned to find none other than Keigo and Tatsuki walking towards them. Keigo was decked out in the green gear while Tatsuki was adorned in the red. "Keigo and Tatsuki? What are you two doing here?"

Dani smiled innocently at them (a tell-tale sign for evil, if you asked him). "You're not on a date, are you?"

Tatsuki blanched. "No way! We just happened to meet each other on the way in."

Keigo gasped as he held a hand to his chest. "So cold, Tatsuki-san! To deny it so brazenly!"

"Who are you though? I don't think we've met before?"

Danny was quick to respond. "She's my little sister, Dani. With an 'i'."

Tatsuki looked them back and forth with a smile. "Huh, you two do look pretty similar. You've got the same spiky hair and blue eyes."

'You don't know the half of it' Danny inwardly snorted.

"Should we all be together on one team?" Uryu asked, straight to the point as always.

"I don't think it'd be fair," Danny replied, off-handedly as he picked out a set of green gear.

"Why not?" asked Tatsuki.

Danny froze. Why did he have to be such a nut-brained idiot? He couldn't very well tell her that it'd be unfair to have two halfa shinigamis on one team, could he? He slowly turned to her, hoping and praying that his ears weren't as red as they felt. "Uh, w-we're t-too strong of a group. Uryu, Dani, and I are pretty darn good shots, and you're like the strongest girl in Japan, right? I-It wouldn't be fair."

"I guess," Tatsuki muttered. "So are we gonna get everyone else in on it and make it all the girls versus all the boys?"

Danny let out a breath of relief. He fought the urge to glare at Dani once he felt the mockery and incredulity rolling off of her. Instead, he focused back on Tatsuki. "Nah, we can just make it a competition between-"

Danny paused as a chill ran up his spine and settled in his throat. It felt like his Ghost Sense was just on the verge of being triggered. He took a quick glance around the area but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. 'Man that's weird. . .'

"Between us?"

Danny's refocused on Tatsuki, who was staring at him. "Huh?"

"You meant between us, right. You kinda trailed off there."

"Ah, sorry, yeah. Between us."

"Alright, I call red."

"Cool. We've got green then."

Dani shot him one last concerned look before she headed off with Tatsuki, leaving Danny alone with Keigo and Uryu. The trio headed off to their end of the base as they awaited the start signal.

"Man, I hope you and Uryu are as good as you say," Keigo said. "I'm gonna hate trying to beat Tatsuki."

Danny grinned as he slung his gun over his shoulder for effect. "Have a little faith! Uryu and I will carry us to victory. Right, Uryu?"

Uryu fiddled with his gun before giving Danny and Keigo a resolute nod. "We've got your back. We won't let you be defeated so long as you don't do anything idiotic."

Danny couldn't help but blink in surprise at Uryu. 'He does know that he doesn't have to be so serious, right?'

"Hey, don't forget about the rest of us, man!"

Danny frowned as he stared at a sandy haired teen. His green hoodie stuck out of his laser tag vest, matching well with the vest's shade of green. He had his gun slung over his shoulder as he stared them down with a lopsided smile. That wasn't what had gotten his attention, though. He had a distinctly foreign accent. British maybe?

"You're not from around here, are you?" Danny asked.

The teen nodded with his ever-present grin. "Neither are you."

Danny finally placed his accent as Australian. "Yeah, my parents brought me along for, uh, business stuff."

"Huh, interesting. I guess you could say that I'm here on a little business of my own."

Danny just gave him a nod before glancing back at Uryu. It seemed he was more than a little suspicious as well, if his laser-eyed stare was anything to go off of. It wasn't to say that the newcomer was a bad person or whatever, but he just felt. . . off. He wasn't the best sensor in the world, but he could tell that much. The strangest part, however, was that the teen's Reiatsu felt familiar in a way.

He almost felt like Vlad.

"Hey, it's about to start!"

Danny snapped out of his reverie at Keigo's voice. Sure enough, a countdown had begun. He stole one last glance at the mystery teen before shaking his head. If the guy wasn't causing any trouble, then Danny wasn't gonna bother interrogating him. Besides, they had a Laser Tag match to win.

When they were finally permitted to move, Danny headed forward, calling behind him, "Uryu, Keigo, follow me!"

"What's the plan?" Uryu asked, quickly falling into step with him.

"Once they let us out, us three will stick together. There's nine of us in total and nine of them on Dani's team, so we're evenly split. We'll cover each other's blind spots and shoot our way to victory."

"That seems rather rudimentary."

"Should we really be so close during all of this?" Keigo muttered. "It feels like we'd be easy targets grouped together like this."

Danny chuckled as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "Ah, you're free to go. I just wanted to help show Uryu the ropes."

"Huh?! Uryu-san doesn't know how to play?! We're screwed!"

Uryu groaned. "No need to be so dramatic."

"It'll be fine, Keigo," Danny replied. "We've got this."

"Definitely!"

Danny's eyes narrowed as he turned to glare at the sandy-haired teen. He'd seemed to pop-up out of thin air, still bearing that same lopsided grin. "You again?"

"Yeah, I can protect y'all from the side, a little ways away from your group. They won't even see me coming!"

Before Danny could retort, a voice boomed in the darkness.

"START!"

Music started pulsing in time with the lights overhead as the green team started to roll out.

"Alright guys," Danny cried. "Stick with me!"

A chorus of affirmative responses rang out (one of them being the Australian guy). The walls around them were fairly high as they walked through various walkways, their guns at the ready. His eyes flickered towards the various stairs above them. Thankfully, it didn't seem like anyone on the red team had gotten there yet. "OK, Uryu, you remember where to shoot to take somebody out?"

"Yeah, it's not that hard," Uryu grumbled. He didn't need to look back to know that the Quincy was shooting a glare his way. "You don't need to protect me."

"Never fear, Uryu-san!" Keigo exclaimed. "We will carry you to victory! We will protect you till our final breaths!"

Danny grinned at Uryu's growing ire. "Yeah, what Keigo said."

"Person to your right!"

Danny didn't even bother to check who'd shouted out. He simply spun with honed instincts and fired a quick shot at a red member's chest. He barely registered the teen's groan as he went to thank whoever gave the tip. To his surprise though, the mystery teen was no longer among them.

He made to ask before he thought better of it. The teen had said that he'd be guarding from a distance anyways. Maybe he'd already gotten started?

"Danny-san, I think we should keep moving," Keigo muttered. "I feel so exposed in the open like this."

"For once, I agree with Keigo."

"Hey?! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Exactly what I said."

"Wah~! So cruel, Ishida-san!"

"Alright," Danny started, ignoring the distraught Keigo. "Let's go then."

A sudden sound went off as Keigo's gear turned off. "Gah!" he shouted. "What was that?!"

Danny turned in the seeming direction of the shot. He just barely made out Tatsuki's dimly-lit smirk as she ducked away behind a building.

"Darn," Danny drew back against a wall as Uryu followed suit. "We could be completely surrounded right now! Where's that guy when you need him?!"

"I'll go scout out our situation."

Danny pinned Uryu back against the wall with his free hand, shaking his head."No way, man. I'll check it out. No way in heck am I gonna let your first laser tag game end so quickly. And in a loss no less."

"Eh, I thought you were telling Keigo not to be so serious!"

Danny rolled his eyes as he let go of Uryu. "That was you. Don't worry about just staying out of sight!"

Not waiting for Uryu's retort, Danny ducked off, staying close to the wall. He barely spotted a flash of red as he blasted them in the chest. "Alright, that's at least two down. Where are the rest of you. . ?"

He had to admit, as much as he wanted to win, he was partially just enjoying the thrill of it all. It wasn't quite likely battling a ghost or anything like that but it was a welcoming feeling to not have to fight for somebody's life. Danny jerked in surprise as looked down to see his gear turn off with a sharp zap. His eyes searched before he saw Dani smirking at him, her gun still pointed at him. "Ah, too bad, Danny. Gotta do better than that!"

Just like that her gear went out to both of their surprise.

"Indeed, little lady. Couldn't have said it better myself."

The sandy-haired teen stalked out from behind a corner, looking quite pleased with himself. Danny glared at the teen as he threw a hand up and let it slap against his leg. "Where the heck have you been?"

"Sorry about that man. I was busy taking out the surrounding guys. The only person left is the purple haired one. Now that's a tough one to catch."

"Tatsuki! Is Uryu still-"

"Yeah, he's fine."

"Is he still by the wall?"

The teen gave a little wince, cocking his head slightly. "Eh, not so much, buddy."

Danny heaved a sigh. He should've expected as much. "Alright, whatever! We can still win this! Ah, for Uryu, of course."

The Australian fixed him another lopsided grin as he turned and stalked off. "Uh huh. I'll go give him back up."

Boom!

The music cut out and screams filled the air as wisps of blue mist left his lips. The staff were working hard over the comms to try and get everyone calm to little to no avail. "Dammit. . . This was supposed to be a free day."

"You got this or me?" Dani asked, slipping off her vest and laying her gun down.

Danny just barely managed to control his temper before he responded to Dani. Even so, he could still feel the green threatening to creep into his eyes. "I've got it. Stay back here, it shouldn't take long. Whoever this is is gonna regret messing up my Laser Tag game!"


A/N: So yeah, I kinda felt that I should write a bit of a lighter chapter to have the characters hang out for a bit before I drop them straight into the arrancar arc. There's a few plot threads that I gotta get sorted out and this helps with that which is kind of a bonus!

So, yeah, I think we've got maybe four more chapters before we hit the arrancar arc for real? Maybe less? Highly doubt that there'd be more.

Anyways, let me know what ya thought of the chapter in the reviews. Feel free to fave or follow or whatnot. Have a good one!

Uploaded: November 23rd, 2021