Rae A/N: Hey, finally got this next installation up ^^. And thanks to my Beta Daruku Jabubu because he helped me out on this. Gave a few ideas and advice before I posted it!
But, in other words…I went to a Skillet concert last month in Lousiville KY! I was soo happy too! I was third row away from the stage. *grins widely* I got some pic on my Deviantart account if you want to peak!
Chapter Four
Two weeks… two weeks had gone by since Danny had learned Tōshō's name and started learning how to properly fight with his spiritual partner and new friend. Slowly but surely, the ghosts had been returning back to Amity Park. No major specters yet, only the weak small fry that Danny could beat with one hand tied behind his back while laughing. Then again, he seemed to have grown a little stronger with these new powers.
The teen glanced off to the side with a relaxed smile as he watched his two best friends bicker for the fifth time that day: and it wasn't even lunch yet. It was something stupid, so he didn't even bother to follow the heated conversation. He was used to it.
He then turned away from them and glanced at the clock on the wall, reading off the time with a happy hum. Only ten minutes till the bell rang to release them for lunch. The teacher had already allowed the class to mingle, so everyone was talking amongst themselves. He could feel his stomach rumbling. He only had a bowl of cereal for breakfast almost five and a half hours ago at 6am when he woke up. And with how much energy he uses in fighting, he needed to eat often in order to keep up with his high speed metabolism.
He checked back with his friends when he realized that they had stopped arguing, only to see that they had turned away from each other with scowls on their faces.
Gaining a wicked idea, he ripped a sheet of paper out of his binder as silently as he could and started discretely folding it in triangles the length of his thumb. When they didn't even noticed what he had done, he smirked and placed a corner on the table and carefully took aim at the back of Tuckers head. He did some slight metal calculations on the angle and adjusted it just right, then flicked it.
The paper football sailed across the short distance and nailed his male friend in the back of his red beret and ricocheted off of him and thumped into Sam's black hair, getting tangled in the locks.
Danny almost fell out of his chair in peals of laughter at his friends' expression when they first turned at each other with snarls on their faces before realizing that the other was not the one responsible for the childish assault, but the blue eyed teen laughing his head off next to them. Sam picked the folded paper out of her hair and grinned at the laughing teen before she flicked it like a throwing star at him. It smacked right in between his eyes, making him yelp as his hands flew up to the offended area and chuckled when they both started laughing.
Seeing that his ploy was successful in making them forget about their disagreement, he grinned widely at them.
The teen's ear pricked up with happiness when the shrill of the bell rang through the school, signaling the start of lunch. He placed his stuff back in his book bag and slung it over his shoulder as he walked to the door, his friends falling into place by his side.
"Hey, Danny, what are your plans for this afternoon? " Tucker asked as they came close to the cafeteria entrance.
Danny smiled and shrugged. "Nothing so great. I was thinking of training with Tōshō if nothing came up. Got something in mind?" Danny told them honestly.
"Yeah! That new videogame from the movie 'Dead Teacher V' just came out this past weekend. Wanted to see if we could get it and see just how scary it is. I heard it's pretty creepy from all the reviews online!" The geek rambled happily.
Danny thought about it for an instance before his Zanpakuto whispered faintly within his mind: "You do need to keep up with your training, Daniel. But I do not see the harm in taking a day off once in a while. Enjoy yourself with your friends tonight."
Danny smiled wider, pleased that the blue haired sword spirit was willing to let him slide out of training for a day. You're awesome. Danny responded, earning a chuckle from his Inner World.
"Sure, I can play for an hour or two." Danny chuckled and nodded. "Tōshō's willing to let me skip training to hang out more today." Danny informed them, walking into the quickly crowding lunch room.
Tucker and Sam smiled widely at each other and fist bumped in glee. They proceeded to the lunch line to grab their food before heading to their normal table to eat and talk. Once they sat down, Danny glanced around to make sure no one was looking before pulling his bag into his lap and unzipping the front compartment to see a little furry red head peak out.
"You alright in there, Red? Need to come out?"
The small fox plushie nodded and crawled out before ducking inside of the teen's side by the wall to hide from prying eyes.
"Yeah, it gets crowded in there. I slept most of the time but…" he shrugged a small shoulder. "Even though it is the second largest compartment in your bag and ya cleared it out for me to travel in, I still like to stretch sometimes."
Danny smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I'll see if I can get another bag or something with more room for you when I can or see if I can rearrange the items so you can go into the larger section." Danny whispered to him, making it look like he was talking to his friends to anyone looking.
Red grinned up at him, large ears perked forward. "That would be awesome."
Danny chuckled and looked to Sam and Tucker. "So… about this Science project…"
A few hours later, school released the teens for the day, and so the trio quickly made their way to the nearest game shop to buy their desired video game. Red was now out of the bag and was hitching a ride on Danny's shoulder, ducking down to hide if someone passed by. They were all laughing and chattering about what they think will happen in the videogame, and on what level, until Danny paused in mid-step.
A ran chill down his spine as blue vapor leaked from his mouth into the air. Danny groaned and reached out with his senses to try and figure out what type of target he was looking for. When he felt no spiritual pressure, he deduced that it was just a ghost- not a Hollow this time.
He sucked at picking up spiritual pressure in the beginning, but with Tōshō's guidance and training, he was starting to get better at it. He still couldn't sense the weaker Hollows but the powerful ones were like a flare being sent up. Tōshō told him that so long as he practiced every chance he got, he would get better. Just little things like randomly reaching out to see who he could detect and where they were at. He could pick up Sam and Tucker's little spark of energy from the length of a football field away, but once they go past that radius, it was harder for him to find them.
He sighed and looked at his three friends with an apologetic expression.
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Ghost or Hollow?" she asked.
"Ghost," he responded and turned his head to look at Red. "Sorry, buddy."
Red grumbled before sighing and opening his mouth, allowing Danny to reach in and search for the green pill. Once he located it, he popped it in his mouth and swallowed. Soon he was shoved out of his body. He landed lightly on his sandaled feet before hopping into the air a few feet above his friends.
"You're welcome to join. I don't think it will be too exciting but you never know." The teen offered.
Red smirked and shrugged. "I'll hang around, but I'm not going to get too close to the fighting- like always."
Sam and Tucker exchange a glanced before nodding back up at Danny. "Yeah, we'll join! It might be the box ghost again though…" Sam said with slightly irritation at the last part.
Danny nodded and turned, leaping higher into the air, only making it about 100 yards away when he heard an obnoxious feminine laughter from his right. He skidded to a stop and twisted to face the sound, his blue eyes narrowing.
"So… what all the ghosts in the Zone are talking about really IS true!" the voice mocked, causing the teen to reach up and grasp Tōshō's hilt in warning. "This certainly is a makeover, Danny." A figure then melted out of the shadows in the corner of a building. "Trying to gain popularity now to try and boost your own self-esteem?"
"Spectra." Danny growled out. "What are you doing here? That last butt kicking a few months ago didn't teach you to stay away from me and my town?"
The shadowy form of the former therapist gave a laugh and waved a flippant hand. "Oh, you always were good for a laugh." She then grinned wider as she looked directly at the teen. "But if you must know, I came because I couldn't believe it when all the ghosts were talking about how the Halfa had changed and got some new abilities. I had to come and see for myself." She then hummed as she placed an index finger on her chin to look thoughtful. "Why the change? Were you too weak and your popularity level start to decrease? Decided to try and change your appearance with new powers and that flimsy sword on your back to try and regain your little fanclub in human form? That's really low of you Danny-boy. Ashamed of your old appearance? I mean, white hair as a teen must have left a really bad impression on people, don't you think?"
Danny felt Tōshō bristle like a pissed off wolf in his mind. "Flimsy? Did she just call me 'flimsy'!?"
Spectra then paused and took a deep breath in confusion. "I smell… irritation… and…" another sniff. "…anger, but none are from you."
Danny just gave her a deadpanned look and replied sarcastically. "You kinda lost me half way through the first sentence." He shrugged. "And that feeling is coming from Tōshō. He hates it when people put him down and degrade him like you did by calling him 'flimsy'. Tōshō is NOT flimsy." Danny sniffed in defense for his partner.
Spectra glanced at the teen like he was crazy. "Tōshō? Don't tell me you named that sword, did you?" She clicked her tongue and shook her head in mock disappointment. "That's a sign of insanity, Danny-boy. Are you finally going crazy?"
Danny tensed and scowled at the leechy therapist. He then smirked and tilted his head. "You're the crazy one, Spectra. A therapist? Seriously?" he then cocked a wicked grin. "Did you know… that if you split therapist in half, it spell's 'the rapist'? That is a very disgusting title to want to bear." He chuckled when her face turned into one of outrage. "Oooh, touch a sore spot? Not a beautiful title to have 'the rapist'. Ugly."
Spectra snarled. "I am beautiful! I will be eternally young! I am not ugly!"
Danny snickered and shrugged. "Keep telling yourself that."
She then raised a hand, causing Danny to tense and pulled Tōshō out of his sheath a few inches, but was startled when she simply snapped her fingers. For a second, the teen was confused— until a green blob slammed into him from behind, knocking the air out his lungs and slamming him into the ground.
Bertrand! How could I have forgotten about that miserable henchman! The teen snarled as he rolled over, pulling his Zanpakuto around in a swipe, managing to nick the ghost with the tip before he got out of range.
"Constant Vigilance, Daniel!" Tōshō reminded from his mind. Danny only responded with a sharp nod of his head before zero in on the shape shifter.
"Still working for the old hag, are ya? "Danny jabbed as he pulled himself into a fighting stance with his Zanpakuto held out in front of him, balancing on the balls of his feet.
Bertrand morphed into a green panther-like creature and smirk back at the teen. "What can I say? We have the same goals in the afterlife."
Danny faked confusion. "Hair growth treatment?"
The midget man scowled. "No! Eternal youth!"
The teen shrugged. "Close enough."
The shape shifter then launched himself at the teen with a snarl, tail lashing. Danny ducked to the side in a roll to avoid the attack, before planting his feet back on the asphalt and slammed himself in the spectral panther's side, in an attempt to run him through with his blade. But his face was met with a massive paw that slammed him back into the ground, dragging down across his chest, ripping his Shihakusho and torso to shreds.
The teen gave a yelp of pain and planted his feet on the big cat's stomach and shoved upwards as hard as he could, kicking Bertrand off of him and into a surprised heap a few dozen feet away. Danny reached up with a hand to pull the tatters aside to get an evaluation on the wounds. Deep and painful, but he could still fight for a while before he would start to lose too much blood.
He groaned as he rolled onto his stomach and pushed back up to his feet. A movement in the corner of his eyes causing him to look over and see his friends hiding in an alley— watching the fight from a safe distance. But he could see their concerned expression from all the blood on his chest. He gave them a smile to signal that he was fine, before he turned back to the two ghosts in front of him.
Spectra tsk'd and floated a few feet closer. "Still just a loser, Danny. Even with these new powers you're still weak. You traded your ghost powers for what? A flimsy sword?" she mocked.
Danny could feel and hear Tōshō growling lowly in his mind, his sword pulsing coldly in his hand. "Call me flimsy one more time you-" Tōshō started to threaten, but Spectra's following words caused Danny to focus on what she was saying rather than his partner.
"Oooh, there's that flavor again! You must tell me where it's coming from!" Spectra's beamed happily, sniffing the air greedily. "It reminds me of a snow cone on a hot summer day."
Danny scowled and tightened his hands on Tōshō's trying to sooth him out of his indignant rage. "I told you before— but you didn't believe me. Perhaps…I should unleash him to prove it to you." Danny said and he held his blade in front of him, point angled up at a 40 degree angle. "Freeze all Enemies… Tōshō." Danny intoned, causing his spiritual pressure to rise as his sword morphed.
Spectra and Bertrand took a startled step back when the energy around him formed into the face of a snarling wolf; the eyes seemed to focus on them before it vanished completely. Once the torrent of energy settled, they noticed that to boy's sword looked white with a blue reflective sheen, a chain and ball of fur dangling from the pommel and an icy snowflake shaped guard.
Spectra snarled. "Get him!" she ordered and Bertrand was off like a bullet, Spectra right by his side as they charged the teen. Danny leapt into the air above them and formed a platform of energy under his feet to launch himself higher. He twisted to glare down at them and swung his Zanpakuto in an arc. "Hyono Arashi!" he yelled, the blue energy wave freezing into ice as it hurtled towards his two opponents below.
Spectra and Bertrand looked up and gasped in alarm at the ice arc bared down on them. They split and jumped out of the way, the ground freezing where it impacted, sharp pillars of ice stuck in all directions in the cracked ground.
"What the heck was that?!" Bertrand shouted.
Spectra scowled as she hissed. "I dunno, Bert, but he can't last much longer with those wounds you left. We can simply wear him out before we finish him."
Danny watched the two ghosts, feeling himself growing weaker from the blood loss as he started drawing more energy into his sword about to prepare another attack. He started to pull his blade around him, over a shoulder, about to swing down, but paused when Spectra and Bertrand suddenly split up, looking like they were going to try and flank him. The teen scowled and turned towards Spectra and swung down, sending another frozen arc towards her. He couldn't hold back the hiss of pain when he stretch and pulled at his injury, fire burning in his veins.
Spectra dodged the attack and then sent her own ecto blast at the Soul Reaper. Danny shifted to the side to evade, but ended up moving right into Bertrand's path.
Danny screamed when he felt sharp claws sink into his shoulder blades, digging into his muscles as he was then thrust down to the streets below. He choked on a cry when he impacted, feeling the asphalt break under the force. He rolled a few times before coming to a stop, his whole body burning in pain as he lifted his head, vision swimming.
"Damn…it…" he grounded out, seeing them descending down in front of him, landing ten feet away.
Spectra gushed in glee as she smirked at the weakened teen. "Good job, Bertrand! Now let's finish him off!" Bertrand grinned at the praise as he shifted back into blob form. "Why thank you! Any particular way you want to kill him? Beheading is always fun. A bit messy though." They chuckled as they started walking towards the boy.
Danny felt a jolt a fear shoot through him, and tried in vain to make himself get up, let alone move. Acting on pure instinct, Danny hissed viciously at them like a rabid animal, trying to threaten and scare them away. But they were ignoring him completely as they moved closer and closer, discussing ways to end him.
No…go away…get away…stop…don't do this…leave me alone. Danny's mind thought, begged and pleaded.
Move…come on…get up…fight back…get up…don't…let it end…like this…not like this…
Move…
Fight…
"If ya don't get up now, Aibou, I will take over." A voiced piped up from within his mind, sounding extremely pissed.
Wha? Who…are you? You sound familiar…
"Doesn't matter. Get up. NOW! I won't tolerate weakness! If you don't get up in the next five seconds- I'll take over! And you might not like how I end things! Matter a fact, I might just keep control."
At that threat looming over his head, Danny struggled even harder to make himself get up, all the while watching as the two ghost grew closer and closer.
"Three seconds."
Danny finally managed to get his hands under this chest so he could push up.
"...One. Not fast enough. Step down. I'm taking over." The voiced snarled and Danny felt his connection to his body snap like a cord drawn past its limit.
"Che. Losers."
Finally, Bertrand and Spectra paused, frozen at the sound. Curious, they looked down at the teen and noticed that he was now moving, arms pushing him up off the ground— a bit sluggishly, and then onto his feet. But his head was bowed the whole time, hair covering his face. But the duo could swear they were seeing something white shifting in the air around his head- towards his hidden face.
Bertrand scowled and sniffed. "Did you say something, brat?"
"Damn right I did." The distorted voice responded back. The teen's head then lifted and looked straight at the ghost, causing them to fall back in shock. "Gonna do something 'bout it?"
A white and blue mask was now forming along the teen's bottom left jaw, crawling up across the bridge of his nose and towards his left eye. Radioactive green on black eyes were narrowed as a wide smirk twisted the teen face. It chuckled, hand clenching tightly on Tōshō's hilt, shifting its weight onto the balls of his feet.
"What the…?" Bertrand began.
Spectra narrowed her eyes at the Soul Reaper, sniffing the air. "That scent…and flavor…"she muttered. "You're not Danny, are you?"
The creature chuckled and shrugged. "Maybe… maybe not. Doesn't matter, because either way, I'm gonna kill ya!" he then charged at them with a screeching laugh, swinging his blade towards their head. The duo screamed and jumped out of the way, the razor sharp blade missing them by inches. "Aww, running away takes out half the fun!" he paused as a thoughtful expression passed over the teen's half-masked face. "On second thought, keep running! Thrill of the hunt is every predator's favorite part of the game!"
"If you're not that ghost punk, then who the hell are you!" Spectra demanded as she came to float a good dozen yards away, forming an energy ball in her palm.
The hollowfied teen smirked and twirled his Zanpakuto by the hilt like a baton. "I can't answer that, 'cause I don't have a name." he told her as he crouched down slightly and stopped twirling his blade to point the tip at her. "Not that I would give it to ya anyways."
Bertrand landed beside his partner, now in the form of a wolf as he snarled, green hackles raised.
The ghosts attempt to intimidate the hollow only causing him to break out into peals of laughter. "Aww, that's a cute little puppy! All bark and no bite! Weak!" he cackled.
Spectra hissed and threw her ball of energy at the teen. The blade came up and deflected it away and into the side of a nearby building. At the display, the leech-like ghost felt a shiver of fear go down her spine.
The masked teen smirked. "What was that? An attack?" he chuckled. "I'll show you a real attack!" he then raised his palm and with a low whine, a ball of radioactive green energy, much like Danny's ectoblast, started swirling to life in his palm, slowly growing larger. "CERO!" he yelled and unleashed the blast, letting it rip towards the petrified duo with the sound of tearing fabric. The blast exploded on impact. When the flash and smoke cleared, he could see the ghosts lying immobile on the ground, bleeding from burns and gashes that the attack had inflicted.
The hollowfied Danny gained a serious expression and placed his Zanpakuto over his shoulder and walked towards them, stopping only four feet away to look down on them. "Che… that wasn't fun." He was silent for a few seconds, as if waiting for a response, but when neither ghost moved, clearly out cold, his lips curled up. "Ah well. Might as well finish you now. One less problem for Aibou…" he lifted a hand and pointed a single finger at them and started charging another cero on his fingertips. "Goodbye, losers."
"DANNY, STOP!"
He canceled the attack and twisted around with a confused expression to see Danny's trio of friends running towards them. "Stay back." He ordered. "This is none of your concern, humans." He paused to look at Red in Danny's human body. "And Gikongan."
Sam's purple eyes were filled with a mixture of fear and anger. "I don't know who you are, but give Danny back! Don't do this!"
The hollow scoffed before curling his lips at her. "Last chance. Step back now and I won't kill you along with them." He jerked his head towards the unconscious specters. "You're not worth my time killing." He sneered at them, then turned away, and resumed charging an energy ball.
"NO!"
The hollow gave a gasp that was followed by and enraged screech as he felt a body- or two- slam into him from behind, knocking him to the ground, the weight following him. If he were a normal human, the two human's might have been able to hold him down, but alas, he was not human. He gave a roar and jumped to his feet, pulling them with him before flinging them away, sending them skidding across the road. He snarled, duel colored eyes flashing as he turned towards them and stalked, fully intending to rip them to pieces.
Sam and Tucker, the two that had jumped him, pushed themselves up to their elbows to see the pissed, half-masked creature in Danny's body moving towards them with the grace of a natural born predator on the hunt, the skull-like mask with sharp eye-teeth now taking up over half his face. Swallowing in fear they shuffled back, trying to get away. The hollow raised his sword above his head, before bringing it down. The humans scream and jumped out of the way.
Sam currently had tears in her eyes, unable to believe that her longtime best friend had turned into this monster, which was now trying to kill them. "Danny, snap out of it! Don't let him control you!" she yelled.
Tucker, whose knees were trembling violently from fear, quickly slinked around the hollow to get to Sam's side. "Y-yeah! Dude, don't l-let him do t-this!"
The hollowfied teen cackled and twisted towards them. "Danny's not gonna get control back. And even if he did, I'd still find a way to beat him down! If he was too weak to take them down—" he pointed towards the ghosts still lying on the ground, Red was kneeling next to them, checking on them. "— then I won't let him keep control! He'll get us killed!" he then narrowed his eyes. "I don't tolerate weakness. Not from anyone—especially Aibou!"
"Aibou?" the geek couldn't help but voice in confusion.
The hollow sneered before raising his blade once more. The two teen's turned and attempted to run out of range, only to scream when a frozen wave of energy slammed into the ground behind them, the shockwave sending them through the air and onto the sidewalk, frost covering their lower limbs making it hard to move. They pushed themselves up when they heard an insane and echoing laughter growing closer to them. They twisted and rolled, going in opposite directions, just as a whiteish blue blade, slammed into the ground, kicking up cement.
The possessed teen turned towards the goth, making her his first target. His grin widened when he realized that she was now cornered, seeing as how she rolled right in a corner between two buildings, meant for a dumpster to be placed, but was empty instead. He chuckled and raised his blade once more—
Only to freeze as his eyes widened, a choking sound escaped his throat. His eyes shot towards his raised arm and weapon that was shaking. "No." he whispered before snarling. "NO!" he howled as his whole body started trembling with strain, his other hand coming up to grasp at his mask.
"Get out!"
The arm with the weapon started to waver around, not quite swinging but, more like unsteadily waving. The hand grasping the mask, started scratching, pulling pieced and chunks away, slowly revealing more of the teen's face once more, his right eye changing back to the human blue and white.
"AHHH!" the hollow howled in rage, eyes locking on the goth teen once more, his grip on the swords tightening before giving a wild swing towards her, unleashing a weak 'Hyono Arashi' before he lost full control back to the hybrid. The mask finally crumbling as his howls turned into human screams, mixed with pain and fear.
Sam screamed when the blast hit the building a few feet above her, slamming into the old brick and cement that was unable to hold up against the assault and broke down.
Danny, who was falling to the ground because of the exhaustion that was left after the mask broke apart, looked up just in time to see a huge slab of wall break free and start falling towards the girl. "NO!" he screamed.
A blur slammed into her, tackling her out of the way. Danny gasped and watched as the two tumbled to the ground, somersaulting over each other till they skidded to a stop— well out of harm's way now. The teen nearly sobbed in relief when he saw Red pushing himself up and away from the dazed and shocked goth, his own eyes wide with shock. The Gikongan then glanced over at the drained teen to see the relief on his face, and managed to give Danny a weak smile. Danny smiled back before black spots started dancing across his vision.
"Thank… you." He muttered to Red, before allowing his head to drop back down and closed his eyes, sinking down into darkness.
The teen blinked his eyes back open when a bright like peak through his eyelids. He saw stormy grey clouds above. Confused he turned his head to see that he was lying on the ground, sunk deep in white fluffy snow. Confused even more he pushed himself up to a sitting position to see a snowy tundra with mountains and rock formations around him. Realizing he was back in his Inner World, he called out.
"Tōshō!?"
"Yes, Daniel?"
Danny twisted to see his Zanpakuto spirit sitting on a boulder with a single knee drawn up to his chest, scarf once more wrapped around his neck and covering half of his face, blue eyes solemn. "Wha…what was that? What's happening to me?" the teen asked, referring to what had happened to him in the real world.
Tōshō sighed softly, eyes closing. "I'm sorry, Daniel."
Danny bristled, fear turning into anger. "Sorry!? I don't want that! I want to know what's happening!"
Tōshō opened his blue eyes once more to look Danny straight into his. "I'm afraid I don't have any good words for that. But I will tell you that this will not be the last time that 'that' comes into play, Daniel. Please be on guard. I do not want to see you hurt." His blue haired Zanpakuto warned.
Danny, seeing that his sword spirit was just as concerned as he was, calmed down a little, but kept his firm stare in place. "But you do know what is going on, don't you?" the teen pressed.
Tōshō nodded slowly. "Yes. That was your Inner Hollow, Daniel. Another power that was formed that night two weeks ago. But he is based off pure instinct. It is not easy to reason with instinct. It is raw and powerful."
Danny's shoulders sagged upon listening to his words. Letting out a sigh, his eyes dropped onto the white untouched snow. "It's him…isn't it? That copy you had me fight to learn your name?" At Tōshō's nod, he sighed and ran a hand through his saggy black hair. "He… he almost hurt them… Sam and Tucker… How could something like that… be a part of me?"
The blue haired man sighed, jumped down from the boulder and walked over to the teen. "Do not blame yourself. This was not something you could prevent. The best thing you can do, is try to make the best out of a harsh situation. You are strong, Daniel. Don't let other people tell you otherwise. What other people might be lacking in— you are stronger at. The world is filled with opposites and similarities. Not everyone can have the same strengths, just like not everyone can look the same. Someone might look like you, but that doesn't make them the same. It could be personality or preferences. Don't judge them because of it."
Danny paused to muse over it in his head before looking back up into Tōshō's eyes. He saw kindness in the blue depths, eyes that weren't judging the teen because he had a darkness that lived in him. Danny smiled back softly. "That's true. I guess." He smiled a little wider. "Thanks. But…" he paused as he looked away again- smile vanishing. "W…what about Sam and Tucker...?"
Sighing, the older man placed a hand on the teen's shoulder. "If they are true friends, they will stick by you, even try to help you overcome it." The spirit paused for a second, looking strangely uneasy as if thinking his words carefully before adding: "The best thing you can do, is approach them on the subject and explain to them what happened. Maybe things will turn out good- yes?"
Danny nodded slowly, hope slowly reflecting back in his blue eyes. "Yeah…we have all known each other since kindergarten. That should count for something… right?" he asked.
Tōshō grinned under his scarf. "Yup." He then lifted his hand and mussed the teen's already messy hair. "Now go on. I think it's about time you rejoined the real world."
Danny gave a playful scowl at his Zanpakuto turned mentor and swatted the hand away. "Yeah, guess so." He grinned up at the man. "Thanks again, Tōshō." He said, before slowly fading from his Inner World.
"Anytime, Daniel. Just remember what I told you…"
Coming back to his senses, Danny slowly cracked open an eye to see the white ceiling of his bedroom. He looked around to see that Red was snoozing away on the floor— still in his body— as he leaned back against the bedframe.
"Red?" Danny whispered. He cracked a weak grin when Red snorted in his sleep before shifting slightly, still asleep. Lazy Gikongan. The teen thought. "Red." He called louder and reached out to give his friend and light smack on the back of his head. At that, the other black haired teen jolted and opened his eyes in surprise.
"Huh?" Red glanced back to see that Danny was awake. "Danny? Dude, thanks the gods you're okay!" he sighed with relief, as he stood up next to the teens bed to look down on him. "You alright? Those wounds before were pretty bad— but they looked like they were healing quickly while I tried to patch you up."
"You?" the teen questioned, eyebrows furrowing.
Red paused and looked hesitant before he slowly answered the question. "Yeah…after…the incident, Sam and Tucker quickly went home…hardly spoke ta me— only ta ask if ya were alright. But once I confirmed that ya were still alive, they…kinda split. Looked like they were about ta piss themselves." He then frowned deeply. "After I got ya home and patched ya up, I tried ta call on them, to make sure they weren't hurt, but they weren't answering their phones."
Danny felt his chest give a pained twinge at that information. "I…I didn't hurt them…did I? I…don't remember too much, only bits and pieces. Enough to know that I - he- IT… tried to… kill them."
Red nodded slowly. "They're mostly fine, just a couple of bruises here and there, nothing to worry about. And I got Spectra and Bertrand back inta the Ghost Zone too."
Danny nodded slowly and looked away. "Once I'm up and about again- hopefully by the end of the day- I'll give them a call or visit them to check on them. And to… apologize." He looked back at Red. "Sorry, Red."
The false spirit smirked and shrugged. "No need. I know it wasn't your fault either. I think that your friends will be fine. They were probably just spooked and needed to calm down." He gave the teen a pat on his shoulder. "No worries."
"Hakuna Matata." Danny muttered dryly with a weak grin. At Red's confused look, Danny chuckled. "Sorry, movie reference. I might need to have you watch that movie. It's a classic."
Red grinned. "Sweet. Sound intresin'. What's it mean?"
"No worries."
Red snickered. "Might steal that phrase then." He said, making Danny chuckled. "So, think ya can take a shower? I only got ta patch ya up. The wounds should be just about healed by now."
Danny pushed himself up slowly to a sitting position and swung his legs over the side of the bed to place his feet on the floor. "Hmmm. Yeah, I don't think it will be a problem. It doesn't hurt too much."
Red grinned. "Sweet."
After a moment, Danny was back in his body and Red was once more in control of the stuffed fox plushy. The boy stretched and popped his back. "After my shower, I'll give Sam and Tuck a call." He looked a little depressed then. "I hope they won't be too mad at me."
Red smirked from his spot at the foot of the bed. "Hakuna Matata." He quipped, making the teen chuckle as he left the room to the bathroom.
He just hoped it came to be true.
End Chapter Four.
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