Here is my next chapter to MttM. Over 5K words ^^. I hope you like it so far. Have plenty more to come.

I Do Not Own Bleach or Danny Phantom!

Chapter Two

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Danny groaned under his covers and reached out for his alarm clock with a seeking hand, found the snooze button and hit it. Pushing himself up, he let the warm covers fall to his waist as he rubbed his eyes. He blinked blearily around before looking out the window to see the sky slowly lighting up from the rising sun. He sighed and slid out of bed, grabbing a new change of clothes and heading to the bathroom for a shower, seeing as how he didn't take one last night. As soon as he turned the water on and adjusted the temperature, he paused as memories from yesterday came back to his mind. As he showered, he thought about what had happened and whether it was a dream or not.

Hey, Zanpakuto… you there? He thought in his mind.

There was a faint chuckle that responded. "Yes, Daniel. I am still here. Do not worry yourself; last night was not a dream."

Danny couldn't help but smile softly under the water. Somehow pleased that it was not just some twisted dream. He finished up and dried off before getting dressed. He went down stairs and made a bowl of cereal, frootloops, and sat at the kitchen table to eat it.

Think I could try your name again, Eskimo?

There was a chocked laugh. "Eskimo?"

Danny scowled and stabbed the spoon into his bowl, sloshing the milk and fruity loops around. What? I have to call you something till I learn your name. And you remind me of an Eskimo.

The voice continued to chuckle in amusement. "I know. Don't take it out on your food, for it has done nothing to you. I was just surprised by the…nickname." He admitted. Danny remained silent as the man continued to chuckle for a few more seconds before he calmed down. "Hmm, yes, let's try again to see if you can hear my name yet. I am…"

Silence

Danny gave a depressed sigh and poke at his cereal again. "I don't know why this is bothering me so much…" Danny whispered out loud to himself.

"What's bothering you, Danny?" a voice asked from behind him, causing Danny to jump and bang his knee under the table. The teen gave a pained groan and turned to glare at the perpetrator.

"Nothing, Jazz. Just thinking."

Jazz looked at Danny closely before moving to get her own food.

"I take it that is your sister?" the Eskimo asked curiously.

Danny grunted an affirmative and continued to eat his food. Jazz sat down across from him with her own bowl of Cereal. "So what's bothering you, Danny? You know you can talk to me, right?"

Danny looked up at his sister, wondering if this was something he could share with her. He swallowed and looked back down, knowing that he could —indeed— trust his sister with his life. He took a deep breath and twirled his spoon around in his fingers.

"Something…happened to me last night." He ventured slowly. There was a clang, and Danny looked up to see Jazz had dropped her spoon, her eyes wide with horror as she stared at him. Danny glared. "Oh knock it off! I haven't even told you anything and you're already jumping to conclusions!" he spat before turning away and grumbled. "Damn overprotective sisters." He could hear his Zanpakuto laughing in his head. You shut up, too, Eskimo. The laughter died down to chuckles.

Jazz relaxed a little and scowled. "I heard that, Little Brother." She sighed and leaned back. "Alright, talk. What happened to you last night?"

Danny nodded and slowly told her what happened. All the details. The nightmares, lack of ghosts, the Hollow, getting severed from his body, his Inner World, his Zanpakuto — everything. As the story unraveled, Jazz's eyes grew wider and wider till they looked like they were about to pop out of her head and roll away on the floor. When it finally came to an end, he said; "I don't think I'm half ghost anymore… I think I'm something else. My Zanpakuto called me a… Soul Reaper."

Jazz was silent for a moment before she finally spoke. "Can... Can't you morph anymore?"

Danny shook his head. "Nope. I've tried using the simple ghost powers, but nothing works. I think I could… leave my body, but I don't know how…and neither does Eskimo."

Jazz blinked. "Eskimo?"

Danny grinned. "Yeah, seeing as how I can't hear my Zanpakuto's name yet, I call him Eskimo because he reminds me of one."

Jazz stared at Danny. Seeing that he was completely serious and not pulling some twisted practical joke on her, she sighed and leaned back to think. "You'll have to give me a minute to absorb everything you just told me, Danny. This goes against everything I have ever learned and know about. So what you're telling me it that some strange monster called a 'Hollow', ripped your soul out of your body and severed this Chain of Fate that ultimately killed you. You then proceeded to try and get away with your body where you then started to go through your own 'Hollowfication'. You went into your mind, into a place called your 'Inner World' where you met this man —your Zanpakuto that you nicknamed Eskimo, who told you to find a power inside of a box to keep from becoming a Hollow. You did so and you now have a sword that can purify souls and lead them on into the next life… did I miss anything?"

Danny flushed and shook his head. "No. That's the watered down version of what happened." She made him sound crazy with the way she said it.

Jazz reached up and rubbed at her temples. "This is so hard to believe." She looked up at her brother. "Could you do something to prove what happened? Just to 'put the nail in the coffin', so to speak?"

Danny's eyebrows furrowed in concentration before he shook his head. "No. Until I can learn how to exit my body again —less painfully— I don't think so. But once I do, I'll be sure to find you." He assured her with a small smile.

He then glanced over at the clock on the wall and gasped, shooting up and tossing his now soggy cereal into the sink before running upstairs. He grabbed his book bag from his room and ran back down the stairs barely avoiding tripping before darting out the door. Outside he found Sam and Tucker walking towards his house. He smiled and run to meet up with them. "See? told ya I would be earlier this time." He boasted, causing Sam to elbow him in the gut. He gave a gasping laugh as he rubbed the now bruised area.

"Great." She commented jokingly. "Now let's see how long you can keep it up."

They laughed and joked the whole way to school, until Tucker asked him a question.

"So, find anything last night?"

Danny paused and his eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I did." They stopped and stared at him. He shook his head. "During lunch, guys. We don't have time for me to tell you what happened and answer all the questions that I know you will ask."

They were reluctant, but agreed. They arrived at school in time and made it to class before the tardy bell rang. They finished their work while Danny waited expectantly for something to happen.

Finally, after the first three hours of school were over, Danny felt his Ghost Sense go off. He didn't know whether to grin or pout. Grin because things were seemingly back to normal. Pout because he couldn't go ghost to fight them. He also noticed Sam and Tucker looking at him in anticipation, waiting for him to ask to go to the bathroom.

He shook his head at them, making their eyes go wide. Danny then turned back to the front as a sudden thought hit him. Hey, Eskimo?

"Yes, Daniel?"

Why is it that I can't use any of my old ghost powers, yet I still have my Ghost Sense? It used to be a part of my ghost powers —my ice powers to be more accurate.

The Zanpakuto made a thoughtful sound before answering. "That is a good question. Sadly, the answer, I'm afraid I cannot give you. Not yet."

Danny groaned softly. Why not?

"Because." He said, and left it at that.

Danny pouted but dropped the subject.

He looked back at his paper, his mind now back on the ghost he had sensed before, hoping that some other competent ghost hunter —like Valerie— could take care of it. As the class continued, Danny couldn't stop fidgeting and looking out the window every few seconds, trying to find out if anything had happened. Soon enough, the bell rang, releasing the students for lunch. Danny stood, met Sam and Tucker's eyes and nodded —signaling them to follow him. He led them through the school, heading towards the football field and behind the bleachers. Once he checked to make sure it was clear, he turned to them.

"Can you trust them?" he heard his Zanpakuto ask faintly.

Danny nodded. Yes, I can. With that out of the way, he spoke to Sam and Tucker: "I believe that I found the source that was keeping the ghosts away from here. And more than likely my nightmares too."

He relayed what had happened last night, the same as he told his sister back home this morning. They pretty much had the same reaction as Jazz did; eyes about to pop and roll away. He was starting to wish he had a camera so he could take a picture.

"…and right now I'm trying to learn my Zanpakuto's name, but every time he says it, I can't hear it —like he gets bleeped out or something. So I'm calling him Eskimo right now till I learn it." Danny finished, and crossed his arms, waiting for some sort of reaction.

Tucker gave him a skeptical look. "Danny…it's not even April Fool's day yet…" he trailed off slowly.

Danny's eye twitched. "I'm not playing a practical joke on you. This is serious. I can't even use my ghost powers anymore." He told them with a bitter note.

They realized that was indeed telling them the truth. "Wow…" they said in unison.

Danny sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I know. I'm still a bit surprised myself."

Sam looked up at him. "Danny… was that why you didn't go after that ghost during class? You can't use your ghost powers? But you said you have new ones, why not use those?"

Danny flushed. "Yeah well… there's a small problem… I… can't exit my body like Eskimo says I need to do in order to fight."

"I should be able to help you there!" a cheerful voice called, throwing the teens into a defense. They turned to see a man walking up to them. He had blonde hair covered by a green and white striped bucket hat that shaded his eyes. He wore green Japanese style clothes with a loose brown trench coat type of jacket and wooden clogged shoes. He held a cane in one hand, even though he obviously didn't need it.

Danny tensed and raised his fist, ready to fight. "Who are you?" he demanded.

The man smiled and pulled out a fan to cover the bottom of his face. "Me? I'm just a humble candy store owner. Name's Urahara Kisuke. But seeing as how this is America, it would be Kisuke Urahara. Pleased to meet you." They could detect a Japanese accent coming from his voice that sounded playful.

Danny glared at the man before slowly lowering his arms, but not his guard. "You said you could help me? What do you mean?"

Urahara hummed for a few seconds before he gave an "Ah ha!" and reached into his robe and pulled out a small round green pill. "This right here." He held it out to them proudly.

The trio looked at him like he was crazy. "Um… Mr. Urahara… how is a… pill going to help us? And how do you know about me anyways?" Danny asked.

Urahara grinned and waved his fan. "Oh, well I was just hanging around the neighborhood and I happened to hear you needed some help to become Soul Reaper again!" He said with an enthusiasm so fake and thick you could taste it. He was lying. Even Danny —Clueless number One— could pick that up.

Danny's eyes widened. "You know about Soul Reapers?"

"Uh huh." The man nodded behind his fan again. "Yup. I sure do. Know quite a bit about them too."

Danny blinked at him and looked back at the green pill the man still held in one hand. "You said that could help me. What does it do?"

Urahara snapped his fan shut with a grin. "It's called a Gikongan. Or to translate it for you, an artificial soul." He said and tossed it to Danny, who caught it by reflex.

He looked down at the small round pill in his hand before looking up at the man. "Alright…what do I do with it?"

Urahara smiled wider. "Well…you swallow it."

Sam glared. "And just how can we trust you? Giving out things to random kids —teenagers or not— is pretty suspicious if you ask me!"

Danny looked up about to give a retort of his own, but only saw the end of a cane rushing towards his forehead. He didn't even have time to react till it connected. Danny stumbled back, holding his now bruised forehead and cursing loudly. He turned to glare at the man but stopped when he saw his body lying on the ground lifeless at the man's feet, and Sam and Tucker were staring between the three of them with wide eyes.

Danny looked curious and wearily at the older man. "What did you just do?"

Urahara smiled and lowered his cane once more. "What does it look like? You were being stubborn, much like another Soul Reaper I know, so I went ahead and showed you I'm the real deal." Danny checked himself over and noticed he was indeed in his Shihakusho once more, his Zanpakuto slung over his back, a comforting presence.

"Alright… you have my attention." Danny said slowly, straightening up.

Urahara glanced at Tucker and Sam with surprise. "My my, I'm shocked they can see you. Most humans can't see Soul Reapers…" the man studied them for a second before smiling. "Ahh, I see. I guess being in a ghost infected town, and hanging out with the most spiritually powerful being in it gave them just enough Spiritual Energy to see you. Not much else though —unfortunately. Alright, I suspect your family might be able to see you too."

Danny looked up startled. "Wait, normal humans won't be able to see me?"

Urahara shook his head. "Nope. That's why it is good to have the Gikongan I just gave you. It's an artificial soul that will force you out of your own body so the fake one can replace it while you're off doing business. That way you won't be leaving some seemingly dead body lying around either. That would make quite the scene."

Danny nodded and looked down at the pill. "Thanks. I guess."

Urahara grinned and waved his fan at them. "Aw, no need to thank me. Like I said; I'm just a humble candy store owner. I'm pleased to serve."

Danny deadpanned. "I somehow have a hard time believing that." He sighed and turned to his friends. "Believe me now?" They blushed in shame for doubting him and nodded. He moved and rejoined with his body once more. He flexed and stretched making sure everything was functioning before he stood up and turned back to Urahara, only to find him gone. Danny blinked. "Well, that was odd." He said.

They all jumped when they heard the bell, which signaled the end of lunch, ring across the campus. Tucker and Sam bolted, thinking Danny was right behind them. But when Danny at turned to follow, he paused, noticing a few items on the ground where Urahara had stood before. Danny walked over and picked them up, noticing a cell phone and a piece of paper. He heard Sam and Tucker yell for him to hurry up, so he stuffed them into his pocket, along with the Gikongan pill and turned to chase after them.

Once was sitting on his desk, Danny pulled the items out of his pocket and turned the folded piece of paper over and opened it.

Dear Mr. Fenton,

I figured I would give you this Soul Pager with my number already installed into it. So if you ever need some help, just give me a call. It can also track Hollow's for you if you ever need to. Oh and another word of advice. To keep from losing the Gikongan I gave you, might I suggest sticking it inside of a plush toy? It does wonders to keep from losing them! That stubborn Soul Reaper I had told you about before came up with the idea. Pretty nifty, eh?

Your Humble Shop Keeper,

Kisuke Urahara.

Danny couldn't help but smirk at the note and stuffed it back in his pocket. A plush toy, eh? When he got home, he would have to see what he could do.

The day passed smoothly after that, so Danny and his two friends all headed to his house after detention. When they got there, Danny called for Jazz to meet them in his room as they climbed up the stairs. The boy dropped his bag and started pacing his room.

A moment later, Jazz joined them and looked curiously between the trio. "Alright, what did you need, Danny?"

Danny nodded his head towards his bed, telling her to sit. When she did, Danny began. "I promised that when I had a way to prove to you what happened, I would tell you —or show you." He told her, making her sit up straight with rapt attention.

"You can leave your body?"

"Wait- you told her?" Sam questioned, looking pointedly at Danny.

The blue eyed teen rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah, I told her this morning during breakfast." Sam nodded slowly. Danny turned back to Jazz. "As for your question, yeah, I now have a way to leave my body." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Gikongan pill and tossed it in the air. "At least…I believe so. I haven't tested it yet, but that Urahara character said it would work." He said, catching the pill once more.

Jazz blinked. "Who is 'Urahara'?"

Danny shrugged. "Just someone who apparently knows about Soul Reapers that approached me. He said this pill will— gah! Never mind, I'll just show you… I hope." He then popped the pill into his mouth and swallow. After a second, nothing happened, then Danny felt himself getting pushed out of his body like something, or someone, shoved him out of it. Danny stumbled out and blinked before he looked down at himself. Yep, back in the black robes. He turned to see his body standing there, blinking a few times, before looking at Danny.

It gave a lopsided and relaxed grin. "Yo." He said, giving a slightly wave to the group.

Danny blinked in awe that it actually worked. He walked over to his body and studied it. "Do you have a name?" Danny asked. When his body shook his head, Danny sighed. "Guess will have to do that too." He turned to his audience and saw their own awed expression. "Yeah, weird- I know."

Jazz cleared her throat and looked nervous. "So… this is a fake soul that will inhabit your body while you are off doing… Soul Reaper stuff? That's a little past the line of 'weird', Danny."

Danny sighed and folded his arms, tucking his hands inside the sleeves. "I know, but for now, this is the best thing that I've got."

Jazz nodded and looked at Danny from head to toe. "You know, this outfit had the same color scheme as your ghost half's hazmat suit." She pointed out, tapping her finger against her chin. She then looked behind him and noticed his Zanpakuto that was sheathed on his back. "So this is 'Eskimo' I take it?" she asked, reaching out to gently touch the handle.

"Please don't let them manhandle me." He heard his Zanpakuto, much more clearly now, ask in a pleading tone.

Danny chuckled and reassured him. Don't worry, I won't. You are very sharp and I wouldn't want them to accidentally cut themselves on you. He then reached up and grasped the light blue handle and drew him out of his sheath with the sound of rasping metal. "Yeah, this is Eskimo. But he asked to not let you 'manhandle' him." Danny said as he held the sword out in front of him horizontally.

"You wouldn't have to worry about me cutting them. Normal humans can't be cut by our blades."

Danny blinked at him in surprise. Really? Well that's a good thing then. He then turned to his friends once more, who were now inspecting the blade up close. When Tucker reached out to test how sharp the blade was, he pulled back with a yelp when he finger went through the blade as if it were water. "Eskimo said that normal humans can't be harmed by the blade of a Zanpakuto." Danny reassured them with a laugh. When he could start feeling the Spirit blades discomfort with all the attention, he quickly sheathed him in his scabbard once more, getting waves of gratitude from it against his back.

Danny crossed his arms back into his sleeves —finding it to be a very comfortable thing to do— and looked back at his friends… and body. That's gonna take some getting used to. Danny thought, much to his Zanpakuto's amusement.

Sighing, Danny looked at his twin. "So, what do I do to reenter my body?"

The Gikongan looked a little put out, but then grinned. "Oh, just walk into it. It should force the pill back out again."

Danny noticed the soul's reluctance to go back to being a pill, so he smiled calmly at it. "Don't worry, we plan to get you a temporary body to inhabit while you're not using mine."

The look-a-like blinked in surprise at the new Soul Reaper, before giving him a relieved and grateful smile. "Sweet. Ready when you are."

Danny nodded and walked over to it and pushed entered his body. He felt the pill come up his throat causing him to cough and spit it out into the air. He reached out and snatched it, looking back down at it. "Alright, time to find you a new host." Danny said, walking out of his room into the hallway, so focused on the task at hand he forgot the others were following him.

"Danny, wait!" He heard his friends call as they came up behind him. "What do you mean by that?"

Danny blinked at her confusedly before grinning sheepishly. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Urahara said I could use a stuffed animal or a plushie to store the pill until I need it. That way I won't lose it." He explained then pointed up. "I was about to go into the attic to see what I could find for the Gikongan. I know a lot of my old stuff toys were put up there for storage."

They all heaved a relieved sigh. "Thank goodness, man." Tucker said, adjusting his glasses. "We thought you were going to find a real body to put that thing in."

Danny snorted. "Where the hell am I going to find one of those?" he joked before turning and reaching up to grab the string that was dangling from the ceiling. He gave it a tug and some wooden stairs slid down, leading into darkness. He started to climb up the steps, and entered the dark attic. He looked around and moved out of the way so his friends and sister could join him. Once he sensed that they were all up there, Danny asked: "Anyone got a flashlight?"

Click.

A light lit up the attic, to show many piles of boxes that were lined against the walls. Danny turned to see Sam was holding a cord that led up to a light bulb hanging above her. She offered a sheepish smile. "The thing kept hitting me in the face. So I yanked on it and… Voila." She said, letting go of the cord.

Danny grinned. "Well, good job." He turned back to the dusty space around him. "Well, anything you find that could be used, just throw it in the middle. We can pick something after we search through everything." Danny said, moving over towards a nearby group of boxes.

They searched for over half an hour till all the boxes had been checked. Once they were finished, they met up in the middle of the floor to look at all the candidates. They looked through them and managed to get rid of a few possibilities. Danny picked up an old red stuffed fox plushy and held it up. "How about this thing? It used to be mine when I was a kid." He asked, checking it over for any rips or tears. Once he was sure it was all in one piece, Danny smiled. This used to be his favorite toy, and to find it was still in good condition pleased him.

Jazz smiled. "I remember that thing. You used to always bring it with you everywhere when you were in elementary school."

Danny chuckled. "Yup." He then looked at it before taking the green pill, and slid it into its partially opened mouth filled with fake teeth. He waited a moment to check and see if anything happened, and jumped when it started to cough and squirm a little.

Danny grinned widely. "Well, it works!" he placed to plushy on the ground and waited as the Gikongan got used to its new body. It looked up at Danny, Sam, Tucker and Jazz with wide eyes, before offering a grin.

"So ya did keep your promise!"

Danny snorted. "Of course. I won't go back on a promise, even if I wanted to."

The fox toy smiled. "Then I'm happy I got stuck with ya."

Danny reached out a hand and the fox climbed up his arm and onto his shoulders where he sat. "Next step is to think of a name for you."

The Gikongan looked down at his body then back up with a thoughtful expression. "How 'bout… Red? Like my fur."

Danny studied him before nodding. "Red it is then." He then turned and headed back down stairs, out of the attic. Once down, Danny moved to the side and brushed off any dirt and dust that collected on his clothes. The group headed back into Danny's room, and allowed Red to investigate his new living quarters.

Danny sat down on the bed and heaved a tired sigh. "Man, these days just keep getting weirder and weirder. I bet that there will be a day when nothing surprises me anymore."

The other three teens laughed, but couldn't help but agree with the statement.

Danny looked at the time on his clock and groaned. "I guess it's almost time for you two to head home, eh?" Sam and Tucker nodded.

"Yeah, Dude. We do have our own families to live with. Not everyone can have the weird family that you have." Tucker commented.

"Hey!" Jazz protested, making everyone laugh once again.

Sam reached out and gave Danny's shoulder a playful punch. "Just make sure to keep out of trouble while we are not here to save your ass. Got it?"

Danny pouted. "But that's what I'm good at!" That got everyone going again, and Red was even chuckling in amusement from his spot by the window.

After a few minutes of cracking jokes and rolling on the floor, Sam and Tucker bid their farewells and left to go to their own homes. Jazz went back to her room to finish up on one of the essays she needed to turn in when she returned. Her parting comment was: "Just be glad tomorrow starts the weekend. That way you have a few days to get to understand these new powers of yours."

Danny plopped down on his bed and sighed, feeling Red jumping up to join him. He looked down at his new companion and grinned. "So, how much so you know about Soul Reapers?"

Red curled up at the foot of his bed and shrugged. "Not much. But I do know that ya are having trouble with learning ya Zanpakuto's name, yes?" Danny nodded sullenly. "Go to your Inner World."

Danny stared down at the fox plushy with wide eyes. "Go to my Inner World? How do I do that?"

Red snorted. "How would I know? Do I look like a Soul Reaper to ya?" he then sighed. "I don't know, Danny. Perhaps ya could become a Soul Reaper and try meditating?"

Danny looked thoughtful for a minute as he stared up at the ceiling above him. After moment, Danny nodded and sat up, looking at Red. "Yeah, guess I could give it a shot. It's not going to kill me." He paused but looked thoughtfully at Red. "But…how am I going to get that pill back."

Red hesitated before sighing miserably. "Damn, guess ya'll have to reach down my throat to get it. And that doesn't sound pleasant…" he fox mumbled.

Danny winced and nodded. "Yeah. But I have no other way to get it, do I?"

Red got up and walked over to Danny and sat before him, large red ears perked with determination. "It's not like it's gonna kill me," he echoed Danny's previous words, causing the teen to crack a grin.

"Alright, you ready?"

Red nodded and so Danny reached out to grab him and shoved his hand into the Fox's mouth. After a few seconds of searching, his fingers brushed against the smooth surface of the pill and he grabbed it, pulling it out of the now limp plushy. As soon as he got it Danny wiped it off on his shirt before tossing it in his mouth and swallowed it.

Suddenly, Danny was shoved out of his body once more as Red took over. Danny smiled sheepishly at Red. "Sorry about that." He said.

Red waved it away. "Meh. Coulda been worse." He then reclined back on Danny's bed. "Go ahead and do your thing. I'll just take a nap."

Danny nodded before sitting down in the middle of his floor and crossed his legs. He pulled out his Zanpakuto and placed it in his lap, to try and feel closer to it. He then closed his eyes and relaxed. He let his muscles unravel as he evened out his breathing. Slowly, his mind began clearing and so he began searching in the darkness for any way to enter his Inner world.

He suddenly had the vision of a drop of water hitting a smooth surface, rippling out. The ripples turned white as it went, turning his whole vision ivory. He opened his eyes.

End of Chapter Two!

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