Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or Bleach.

Legend:

"Someone is talking."

'Someone is thinking.'

"A technique is being used."

Chapter Eight:

(Amity Park—The junkyard)

As Locker #724's mirror fell towards the earth, Danny released his hold on his laser-like attack. Once released, the ice-blue sphere surged forward and widened until it was a beam of pure energy. Then, as the beam approached the falling mirror, a familiar voice whispered into Danny's ear, 'Cero.'

Danny's eyes widened at the voice but he didn't have any time to question where it came from. He couldn't because, only seconds later, his energy beam—his 'Cero'—hit the mirror. For him, time seemed to slow down as he watched his Cero consume the mirror.

Instead of vaporizing the mirror completely, as he had thought it would do, the mirror developed a green outline and glow as Ghost energy surged from it. This energy was somehow able to hold back his Cero, which was weakening by the second. Frowning, Danny quickly charged up and released another Cero, whereupon his Cero's attack power was doubled as his second Cero merged with his first.

In the next few seconds, faint cracks began to appear on the surface of the mirror as the Ghost energy around the mirror began to waver. Soon enough, it appeared as if somehow had carved an intricate, spider web-like pattern onto the surface of mirror while the glow had almost vanished. The ornate frame of the mirror soon burst into white-hot flames that consumed it, the carved glass being the only thing left of the mirror. An enormous 'snap' was heard as the glow around the mirror finally vanished.

Now that that glow had vanished, Danny's Cero was finally able to surge forward and consume the mirror. However, while it did vaporize most of the mirror, some shards of the mirror were able to escape the attack. These shards then fell towards the ground like millions of silver raindrops, making a faint 'tinkling' sound as they hit the ground.

XXXXXX

(Earlier—With Sam, Tucker, and Sidney)

Once Danny had left the toolshed, Tucker had shared a worried glance with Sam. After what they had learned from Sidney, they didn't know what their friend was going to do. And, while they both wanted to go and help Danny, they also didn't want to leave Sidney alone. They had to convince Sidney to come with them.

After they had convinced Sidney to come with them, they had gone outside only to discover Danny—in his Arrancar form—shooting an ice-blue energy-beam at a mirror. Looks of understanding appeared on their faces as they figured out what Danny was doing, only to grow confused when his attack didn't instantly destroy the mirror. That confusion only grew when they saw the mirror seemingly resisting his technique enough that it had begun to dissipate.

Danny also seemed to notice this before he fired a second attack at the mirror. While the mirror still resisted the attack, the power behind it started to erode its 'shield'. Cracks appeared on the mirror's surface before it began to burn, whereupon the 'shield' finally broke seconds later. Once that had happened, Danny's technique was able to surge forth and consume the mirror, destroying it once and for all.

As the shards rained down around him and the others, an unexplainable and unknown emotion began to well up in Sidney's chest. His vision blurred as a wave of pure, unadulterated relief washed through him, making him go weak in the knees.

For the first time, Sidney felt unburdened and free. Without that mirror to pull him back into his old school, he would be able to go wherever he wanted. He could do whatever he wanted. After a moment, he shook his head; he couldn't do whatever he wanted, though he could still do a lot of things that he had always wanted to do.

The possibilities were endless.

It was only a few seconds later that Sidney's eyes widened with realization as his mouth opened slightly. He recognized that light emotion in his chest now; it was hope. He had hope that now, since the mirror had been broken, things would change for the better.

Sidney wept though, this time, his tears weren't that of sadness. No, this time, he was crying because he was happy. It was a rather odd feeling, to be crying and not be sad, though it also felt a bit nice.

"Are you alright, Sidney?" Tucker asked, having noticed that Sidney was crying.

Sidney looked up Tucker with a little bit of surprise clearly visible on his face. His surprise soon faded, however, and was replaced with a watery smile. "T-Thank you Tucker..."

"Sidney—" Tucker began.

"It's a-alright..." Sidney interrupted somewhat shakily. He took in a deep breath to steady himself before he looked back up at Sam and Tucker. "... I'm fine, sweet cats." Then, before either of the two Humans could stop him, he quickly floated over to where Danny stood.

Sensing him approach, Danny allowed an awkward expression to cross his face. He hadn't really asked for permission to take, or destroy, Sidney's mirror, so he didn't know how the Ghost would react. He guessed that, after hearing Sidney's story, he had wanted to vent against something. Sidney's mirror had been the easiest thing to take out his aggression on, since, to him, to it caused Sidney nothing but trouble.

However, Danny also didn't want a repeat of what happened with the Lunch Lady. "I'm sorry that I didn't ask you for permission, Sidney... but, I had to do it. From what you said, that mirror seemed to have caused you nothing but trouble and—"

Danny was prepared for a lot of things at this point. He had expected for Sidney to get really angry, like the Lunch Lady had when 'her menu' had been changed. He had expected for Sidney to attack him and was ready to deal with it. What he didn't expect, though, was for Sidney to interrupt him by wrapping his arms around him in a stiff hug. He never would've expected for Sidney to thank him but, not even a second after the hug had begun, Sidney had begun to thank him.

"Thank you so much!"

XXXXXX

(Meanwhile—Illinois—Outskirts of Amity Park)

Unbeknownst to Danny and his friends, a third party had detected a brief flare of Danny's Arrancar Reiatsu and was now making its way towards the junkyard. Through closer observation, one could see that this 'third party' was actually just one tall, unusually-dressed man.

The man paused for a moment before he stopped in the shadow of a building and pulled out a sleek, cellular phone-like object out from his sash. Flicking it open, he looked at the screen of the device; the Hollow's Reiatsu was still in the junkyard.

Stepping out from the building's shadow, the man's true appearance was revealed. He stood at about 6 feet with abnormally pale skin and purple-colored eyes. He was wearing the standard attire for a Shinigami—a Shihakushō—which consisted of a pair of white shitagi, a black kosode, a black hakama, a white hakama-himo, white tabi, and waraji. The odd thing about this man was that his brown hair was done up to resemble horns stretching up from his scalp. Another odd thing about him was that his teeth were sharp and triangular in shape, just like the teeth of a shark.

This man was Murasaki Hõku, the 4th Seat of the Gotei 13's 12th Division. He was also to be Amity Park's Shinigami for the next three-to-five months, courtesy of Mayuri Kurotsuchi-taichō. "Hm. It appears that the Hollow is either confident enough that he believes he doesn't have to hide from me or simply stupid..." Frowning, he kicked off the ground, towards the junkyard. "No matter. It shall be dealt with soon enough."

XXXXXX

(Earlier—The Shinigami Research and Development Institute—Lab #6)

Murasaki smiled to himself as he finished mixing the appropriate amount of chemicals into his beaker before he placed it on the burner so it could heat up. He cast a minor Kidō to monitor the beaker before he walked over to his desk, near the back of his personal laboratory. There, he stared at the picture of Nemu Kurotsuchi-fukutaichō.

Nemu was a slender and youthful looking Shinigami with green eyes and black hair with slightly parted bangs that was pulled back into a long braid. Her uniform consists of a short black kimono that extended to her mid-thigh with a white nagajuban under it. The sleeves of her kimono weren't as wide as those worn by most Shinigami and the upper parts of the sleeves are puffed. She also wore a traditional wide white obi with a red cord fastening it. On her left sleeve was a lieutenant's armband. In addition she was wearing white gloves that covered the back of her hands and wrists and a dark red choker.

Minutes passed before Murasaki was brought out of his admiration by the sharp, whistling sound of his Kidō releasing. Smiling, he walked back over to the beaker, hoping what he was currently making would please his fukutaichō. Or at least cheer her up a little bit.

"Hõku! Shelve your chemicals and put your little 'experiment' away—" Murasaki froze at the scratchy, all-too familiar, and hated, voice of Kurotsuchi-taichō. "—I have an assignment for you."

Murasaki quickly obeyed; capping and then shelving his beaker before he turned off his burner. He then turned around to face his taichō, making sure to keep the loathing he held for the man off his face.

Kurotsuchi-taichō had a very skeletal look, with a skull-like visage and gold eyes. His face was painted white with the inner portion of his face painted black with the exception of his nose. Both of his ears were gone, replaced with stubbed golden cones. He was wearing the traditional Gotei 13 uniform, with a white taichō's haori over it. He also wore a bloated purple cravat and a hat that was decorated with two spikes.

"Kurotsuchi-taichō." Murasaki inclined his head with a polite smile.

While on the outside, he was smiling, on the inside, Murasaki was raging. He hated his taichō with a passion and why wouldn't he? The man had abused, (both verbally and physically) and experimented on Kurotsuchi-fukutaichō, his own daughter. Not to mention all of the members of his division that he had blown up, experimented on, and killed off when they displeased him.

However, he couldn't publically show his hatred for Kurotsuchi-taichō, lest he end up like the others. He just had to wait until the right opportunity to come up and then he would kill the man, ending his tyrannical reign over the 12th Division once and for all.

"Follow me Hõku. I will explain to you your mission's specific details on the way to Surveillance Room 3-B." Kurotsuchi-taichō paused, eyes narrowing. "Well? Come on, you dimwitted imbecile!" He snapped. "I have other things to do!"

With that, Kurotsuchi-taichō spun around before he began walking away, Murasaki following close behind. As they walked through the pristine halls of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, lower-ranked Shinigami fled when they caught sight of their taichō.

When they had finally come up to Surveillance Room 3-B, Mayuri pressed a number of buttons on the keypad next to the door. A few milliseconds passed before the door opened with a 'hiss' and they walked into the room. Hearing them, the Shinigami in the room turned, paling slightly at the sight of Kurotsuchi-taichō.

"Get back to work!" Kurotsuchi-taichō bit out, causing the grunts to nod quickly before they quickly turned around and resumed their previous duties. Still a bit miffed but satisfied for the time being, Kurotsuchi-taichō turned back to him. "Now, as for your mission Hõku... I have caught onto brief, lower-level 'flares' of Hollow Reiatsu in Amity Park that these idiots—" He paused to glare at everyone in the room, causing them to flinch. "have missed."

'They actually failed to detect a Hollow?'Murasaki thought in slight shock.

Normally, the surveillance division of the SDRI was known to be able to pinpoint where a Hollow was going to appear in the Gense—the Living World—moments of even minutes ahead of when it would actually appear. If that wasn't impressive enough, they were also able to determine the 'level' of Reiatsu that the Hollow had, a feat unheard of 50 years ago.

To actually find out that a Hollow had somehow gotten around their technology was very unsettling. If one Hollow could hide from them, then who was to say that other Hollows couldn't develop a similar ability?

"That is where your mission comes into play." Kurotsuchi-taichō said, inadvertently snapping his 4th Seat out of his thoughts. "I have... arranged... for you to be assigned to 'guard' Amity Park. In actuality, you will be searching for the source of the Hollow Reiatsu and, once you find it, capture and/or kill it..." He frowned. "But do be sure to kill it as a last resort... If it's dead then I can't... find out... how it got past our detection."

XXXXXX

(Presently—With Murasaki Hõku)

Murasaki was snapped out of his thoughts when he sensed a huge flare in Hollow Reiatsu. Looking ahead towards the junkyard, he witnessed a single, ice-blue beam fly out of it. 'What the—that was a Cero!'

While Murasaki was stunned for a brief moment, it soon faded, leaving him to begin analyzing what he had just seen. Judging from the size of the Cero, how well it was formed, and from the level of Reiatsu he had detected within it, that wasn't a standard Hollow's Cero. No, it was far worse than that.

"An... An Arrancar! **!" While he was still rapidly approaching the junkyard, Murasaki's hand reached into the folds of his Shihakushō before he pulled out his Denreishinki. "I've got to report this!" Flicking it open, he fumbled around with the buttons before he put it to his ear and waited. "C'mon, guys..."

"I'm afraid that your little device won't work..."

Murasaki's eyes narrowed before he stopped himself in mid-air and turned, putting away his Denreishinki with one hand as his other went for his Zanpakutō. If the guys back home hadn't gotten his message, and this voice knew that, then it probably had caused it.

However, as soon as Murasaki had finished turning around, he caught sight of a pale white face. In the next few seconds, he and his vision were consumed within a literaltorrentof golden sand. Unable to use Shunpo, he struggled, trying to break free of the sand that held him but to no avail.

"Goodnight, Murasaki Hõku. I hope you have pleasant dreams." The voice said before Murasaki detected a strange, unfamiliar Reiatsu wash over him. "Sommeil de sable (Sleep sand)."

The sand around Murasaki lightened in color before it rushed towards his eyes. Seeing this, Murasaki quickly closed his eyes and jerked his head backwards as far as he could. The sand, however, passed over his face and caused him to feel drowsy.

Unwilling to surrender so easily, Murasaki instead pulsed his Reiatsu and disrupted the Reiatsu that was threatening to lull him into unconsciousness. This also had the added bonus of blowing the sand a few inches away from his body, allowing him to tighten his hold on his Zanpakutō.

"Kamu,— (Bite,—)!"

"I'm growing tired of you." The voice interrupted Murasaki mid-sentence as sand quickly wrapped around the man again. This time, the owner of the voice had infused a large enough portion of his energy to disrupt Murasaki's activation of his Shikai. "Now,sleep!"

Murasaki managed to get out a muffled curse as he struggled within the sand before his eyes began to close. Unlike last time, the voice's Sommeil de sable had enough power to overpower his own Reiatsu and forced him into unconsciousness.

XXXXXX

(Later—The Ghost Zone—Clockwork's Lair)

In the farthest region of the Ghost Zone lay a single, floating island that no sane Ghost would venture to, even if they knew about it. Of those rare few that did know of the island, they avoided it because of their fear over the island's single occupant.

The island itself wasn't that remarkable, as it wasn't that big of an island and it only had two types of vegetation—moss and vines—growing on and around it. What was remarkable though was the factory perched on the top of the island. The factory stood at what appeared to be three stories in height and seemed to be made entirely out of old gears, clocks, and other thing that people had ever associated with time. Further adding on to this was the fact that, if one could close enough, they would be able to hear the 'ticking' of a clock along with the grinding of gears.

In the very center of the factory, though, was an old and weary clock tower that stuck out like a lighthouse on the edge of a cliff. And, standing behind the 'face' of the clock tower's clock was the creator and owner of the island and factory; the fabled Clockwork, the 'Ghost of Time'.

Clockwork was a Ghost with light-blue skin, crimson-colored eyes, a stern expression on his face, and a long blue tail instead of feet. He wore a long, violet cloak, a lavender tunic, and violet-colored gloves. In his hands, he carried a long dark-grey staff that ended in a 'V', with a clock hanging in the middle of the 'V'. The only other thing of note about him was that there was a see-through, rectangular plate in the middle of his chest, allowing anyone to see the numerous gears on the other side of it.

At the moment, Clockwork was doing the one thing that tired even his legendary patience and calm-headedness; he was arguing with one of the Observants.

The Observants were an ancient group of Ghosts that appeared to be nothing more than large, green eyes, a torso with a pair of clawed arms, and a long green tail. True to their name, the Observants kept watch over both the Human World and the Ghost Zone with their powers, the ability to see into the past, present, and future like Clockwork himself was able to. They, however, had a more limited sense of time then he did, which often lead to arguments between them.

"I'm telling you Clockwork... that boy needs to die!" An Observant shouted angrily, glaring at the fabled Ghost. "You know that his presence will bring us unwanted attention from Hueco Mundo and the Seireitei! And if they actually find about us—you know what will happen then."

Clockwork sighed before he turned away from the annoying Ghost, his back hunching as numerous wrinkles and a long, silver beard appeared on his face. "You know that as long as I am here that the Ghost Zone will not be discovered by either of those two realms."

The Observant clenched his clawed fists together so hard that his claws pierced the flesh of his hands and caused dark, green-colored blood to drip onto the formerly-pristine floor. Why did Clockwork always have to question him and the other Observants? Couldn't he see that they were only trying to help and preserve both the Human World and the Ghost Zone?

"We know that you're helping that Arrancar boy, Clockwork..." The Observant muttered, drawing Clockwork's attention, before his voice began to raise. "We also know that, if you keep helping him, the other two realmswilldiscover us! And if that happens, those thousands of years hiding away from them and carefully manipulating the time stream will becomemeaningless! We cannot allow that to happen because..." He scowled. "Youpitythat child's fate!"

Clockwork frowned himself before he shifting once more. This time, he became as small as a five year-old while his back straightened and he lost all of his wrinkles. He then rounded on the Observant, the heat of his glare forcing the other Ghost to back up. However, despite this warning, the Observant seemed incapable of letting the subject drop.

"Clockwork—!"

"Enough! I have absolutelynothingto do with that child!" Clockwork almost-yelled, losing his temper as he flew towards the other Ghost, forcing him back. "Since we have hid from the Shinigami and the other Spiritual Races, I have been manipulating the time stream and cloaking Ghosts whenever they happen to use their Reiatsu in the Human World!"

"B-but..."

"BE GONE!"

The Observant fled, fearing for his life, as Clockwork had never seemed angrier than he did at this point. He should have foresaw what would happen if he had pressed on with his case but hadn't, his own anger having blinded him.

As soon as Clockwork felt the Observant finally leave his lair, he took a deep breath before he shifted into his adult form. Short, black hair formed as he grew taller and stronger until he looked like he was twenty years old. He then looked towards a presence in the shadows that the Observant hadn't been able to see.

Clockwork chuckled inwardly at the irony. On the outside though, his face was blank and emotionless. "How goes your mission?"

There was no immediate reply. Instead, a copious amount of sand surged out from the shadows, swirling together as it gathered ten feet away from where Clockwork floated. As it gathered, the sand began to merge together and harden, soon assuming a throne-like form. And, once the throne had formed, the remaining sand swirled to the top of it before it began to form into an all-to familiar figure.

The figure in question had pale white skin, shoulder-length brown hair, and a white mask over his mask itself was of a smiling man, whose ear-to-ear grin rested beneath a pencil thin mustache. The eyeholes of this mask were narrowed into dark slits, obscuring any sign of its wearer's eyes. He was wearing a black suit with black, leather gloves and a wide-brimmed hat. As Clockwork observed the figure, said person fiddled with the blood-red rose in his grasp.

"... 'The mission' goes well, Clockwork." The man said with a light English accent. "However, the Seireitei appears to have discovered the trace amounts of Reiatsu that managed to escape your barrier..." He frowned underneath his mask. "Of course, based on the information I've gain from the Shinigami sent here, the Seireitei wouldn't have discovered it at all, if not for Mayuri Kurotsuchi."

Clockwork frowned, "You didn't hurt the Shinigami to get that information did you?"

"Oh, please." The man scoffed, turning away from Clockwork. "Who do you take me for...? That parasitic shadow, Nocturne? I didn't hurt the brat..." Then, seeing Clockwork raise an eyebrow, his frown grew. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"I am afraid that your record speaks against you and, as long as you wear that medallion, I cannot see for myself to see what you have done."

"Youknowthat those guys deserved exactly what punishment I dealt out for them!" The man bit out angrily. "Youknowthat, if I didn't step in,shewould've been hurt or evenkilled!"

Clockwork stared at the man for a moment. "While I thank you for helping me on that matter, did you have to send all thirty of them into the Human ER?"

"... I guess you're right." The man reluctantly admitted before he sighed. "Just believe me when I tell you that I didn't hurt him... I merely used my Sommeil de sable to put him to sleep... the Shinigami was able to actually disrupt it and almost released his Zanpakutō until I upped the 'dose'."

Clockwork's eyes widened in slight surprise. To actually hear about someone that could resist his associate's Sommeil de sable, even temporarily, was extraordinary. To actually manage to escape the technique and then almost release his Zanpakutō spoke highly of the Shinigami's skill.

"Do you believe that the Seireitei will notice his absence?" Clockwork asked.

The man before he waved his hand dismissively and looked towards the one of the numerous screens that hung on the walls. "Not likely. I put him in a 'Sleep Walking' State." The man explained. "As long as he is under it, his mind will be trapped inside of a 'dream' that I've personally crafted for him while his body will be mine to control. And as long as I'm in control of him, making frequent reports to his superiors about his mission shouldn't be too hard..."

"And what of his mission and when he is supposed to head back to the Seireitei?" Clockwork asked.

"When he is to head back to the Seireitei, I'll manipulate his memories and make him actually 'remember' exactly what I made him report to his superiors..." The man paused as a small smile formed underneath his mask. "His mission itself will be the problem, but I think I can handle it. I'll just make him believe it was a Menos with a unique cloaking ability that killed."

Clockwork allowed a smile to appear on his own face, content that his associate had this problem handled. He then turned around to a nearby wall of screens—which depicted events in time that were happening 'presently'—and stared at one screen in particular.

This screen depicted the half-Human, half-Arrancar child that the Observants wanted him to kill; Danny Fenton. Clockwork, however, had no real reason or want to kill the boy. No, he actuallyneededthe boy if the future he had foreseen was to come to pass.

Seeing this, the man on the throne got up before he walked over to stand beside Clockwork. He spared a brief glance at the screen depicting Fenton before he turned to another. This screen showed a darkened street where a Human with unusually orange-colored hair was standing next to a downed petite, black-haired Shinigami. As he watched, the Human took the Shinigami's Zanpakutō and plunged it into his own chest.

"I hope those two are worth it, Clockwork." He muttered as he stared up at the screen. "Otherwise, everything that we have done will be meaningless."

Clockwork didn't look at him, "I know."

XXXXXX

(Illinois—Amity Park—The Fenton residence)

Soon after everyone had calmed down from Danny's destruction of Sidney's mirror, they had all gone back into the toolshed. The three teenagers were still reeling from the massive amount of information they had managed to get from Sidney, so they avoided asking anymore questions. They also avoided asking any topics that they thought might upset Sidney, in fear of upsetting him. SO they decided to explain to him some of the changes that occurred in the last fifty years.

This had led to a massive amount of confusion on his part. While he had been able to understand what the three teenagers were saying, the terms and that they used were new to him, so he didn't know what they meant. He also didn't understand some of the events they mentioned. So, eager to learn, Sidney had asked his new 'friends' about the words and the things they had mentioned.

When Sidney had asked them that, it had really hit home that Sidney was originally from the 1950s. He probably didn't know how the world had changed since his death and couldn't understand the 'slang' words that they had grown up with. This realization led them to begin a brief lecture on what had changed since the 1950s. It really helped that Sam was into history and that Tucker could look up things on his P.D.A.

The three teenagers had explained everything up until the 1980s before the alarm on Tucker's P.D.A. went off; it was time to go. They had then explained to Sidney that, because Danny had promises to be home soon, that they would be heading over to his house for a bit.

After a little bit of convincing, Sidney had agreed to follow behind them invisibly and high enough in the air that people wouldn't run into him. It wouldn't do for a Ghost to be seen in the town, especially after the Lunch Lady's attack. No, that would only lead to Ghost Hunters showing up and trying to capture and/or him. And who knew what they would do to him after they had captured him.

When they had gotten to Danny's house, Sidney turned visible for a brief second to give his new friends a wave before he flew through one of the second story windows. He had been told which window connected to the room that housed Danny, so he would be waiting there until his friends came up.

It was only a few moments later that Danny opened the door to his house—which was rarely locked in the daytime unless his parents or Jazz was out—and walked inside. As soon as he did though, he got a whiff of melting chocolate-chip cookies that made his stomach growl in remembrance. His mom was cooking her state famous chocolate-chip cookies.

"Mmm..." Tucker closed his eyes as he breathed in the scent, sighing. "You're mom really makes the best cookies, dude."

Sam nodded in agreement but didn't say anything. Instead, she allowed herself to walk towards the source of the heavenly aroma with Danny and Tucker falling behind. What could she say?Mrs. Fenton's cookieswere afoot and she was hungry.

When the trio reached the kitchen, they found Mrs. Fenton pulling out a tray of chocolate-chip cookies from the oven before she placed them onto the stove. On the counter was a half-empty mixing bowl, the counter had a cooling rack full of cookies, and the sink had a few measuring cups and powder in it.

Seeing them, Danny's mom smiled. "Hi kids. I guess you smelled them, right? Well, I'm making them for Jack's birthday party tomorrow." She paused when she saw all three of the teenagers deflate before she put a finger to her chin, looking thoughtful. "Although I do have a few cookies lying around here somewhere..."

At the mention of his dad's birthday, Danny winced and was grateful that his mom didn't seem to catch it. With all of the things that had happened, he had forgotten about it. That was to say that, if his mom hadn't just reminded him about it, he probably wouldn't even have a few hours to scrounge up a good birthday present.

His two friends, however, didn't seem to notice his sudden stillness or, if they did, they didn't care at the moment. They had practically ran over to the table where his mom had just laid down a small plate of cookies before they each grabbed one. Biting into their cookies, they each sighed blissfully; it was still as delicious as they remembered it to be.

Seeing that he would get no help from his friends, Danny told his mom that he would be heading up to his room. As he turned and began walking up to his room, he thought about whether Sidney could help him think of a present for his dad.

Danny's thoughts were interrupted as soon as he opened the door to his room. He caught a flash of what he assumed to be Sidney before a long tentacle made out of silver, sand-like particles shot out and wrapped around his torso. He was then pulled into the room so quickly that it made his head spin, the door almost slamming shut behind him.

He didn't even get the chance to make a sound as the sand-like stuff rushed upwards and covered the lower half of his face, effectively gagging him. It was only a few milliseconds later when the sand-like stuff wrapped around his wrists, bound them together, and then formed a 'cord' that surged upward and attached itself to the ceiling. This left Danny hanging with his hands above his head, wriggling around like a worm as he struggled.

"I can't believe how easy it was to capture you..."

Hearing the voice, Danny looked upwards and then glared at his apparent captor. It was a Ghost with flaming, green-colored hair and a highly mechanical appearance. He was wearing a black wife-beater with gray gauntlets with an assortment of small, digital screens on his arms and black combat boots. Around his waist was a belt with a silver, skull- shaped buckle and a small, plump pouch.

Danny struggled against the sand-like stuff, channeling some of his energy into it, only for the stuff to tighten around him, cutting into his wrists and face. His scream was muffled by the gag, which only caused the Ghost to laugh.

"I should've warned you Arrancar... My Armures de Constriction (Constriction Armor) tightens around my prey more when they struggle." He smirked. "And using Reiatsu will only cause it to tighten by a margin significant to how much you used to try and break out of it." He paused. "But, enough about my technique... You're probably wondering who I am, aren't you?"

Danny's angry retort was muffled by his gag before the sand tightened around him again. His had flew back from the sudden pain before it fell forward, where he proceeded to glare bloody murder at his captor. It was good to know that the Ghost could tighten his 'Armures de Constriction', though useless unless he could actually use it to help him escape and then beat the crap out of the Ghost.

Unbeknownst to Danny, the air in the room slowly began to cool down. This was followed by a thin sheet of what appeared to be ice appear at the tips of the Ghost's boots before it began spreading upwards like a snake.

Feeling this, the Ghost looked down and saw the ice. He shattered it with a minor pulse of his own Reiatsu before he turned on Danny, "Why you little pest! Did you actually think that such a weak attempt could do anything to me? The Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter! Hah!" His eyes narrowed into slits. "Now, instead of keeping you in a cage with my other pets, I'll skin you—"

The Ghost never got to finish his statement as, at that moment, Danny's closet door was forced open by a literal wave of paper. Following this, Sidney floated out of the closet, looking at the other Ghost in the room with an enraged expression on his face.

"You! How did you—?" The Ghost demanded.

"None of your business you bully!" Sidney retorted, cutting the other Ghost off, before he shoved his hands forward and shouted "Poing Juge (Judge Fist)!"

The paper around Sidney's body surged forward before it began to come together and form a pair of bowling ball-sized fists. On the sidelines, Danny watched as the Ghost dodged the first strike by jumping backwards, before his sand-like particles formed a shield to intercept the second blow. Sidney, however, wasn't even close to being done yet.

With a jerk of his hands, the paper making up Sidney's Poing juge separated from one another and developed a green glow. These sheets of paper then began to spin around like miniature buzz saws before they all flew at the other Ghost from all directions. Seeing this, the other Ghost quickly allowed his shield to expand into a dome to block Sidney's attack.

It was only a few seconds later when Sidney's paper collided with the Ghost's dome-like shield. Like a buzz saw, the majority of the paper began carving into the shield while others sheets swirled around the dome and left deep gouges in it.

Within his dome, the Ghost scowled. "Do you know that you're really annoying? But..." He began gathering his Reiatsu to himself. "nothing I can't deal with. Fantôme de Choc (Ghost Shock)!"

With that, the dome around the Ghost collapsed inwards before a solid 'bubble' of Ghost Reiatsu surged out from the Ghost. Every piece of paper that came into contact with this bubble instantly corroded away until there was nothing left. Then, as Sidney was summoning more paper, the bubble actually popped and released an enormous shockwave. The force of the shockwave was enough to rattle all of the furniture in the room as well as slam Sidney into a nearby wall.

Sidney recovered seconds before the furniture stopped rattling. Seeing that the other Ghost begin to lunge at him, he hastily summoned a swarm of paper before he sent it forward. As the paper flew, the sheets came together until there were 10 miniature and white swords in the air.

However, the other Ghost was not one to go down so easily. He quickly vaulted over the incoming swords and then landed in a crouch. His head snapped up to Sidney before he kicked off, hand outstretching, before he slammed Sidney against the wall. His hand tightened around Sidney's throat hard enough to make Sidney lose control of his paper and start choking him.

"Did you really think that you would be able to defeat me?" The Ghost sneered.

Choking, Sidney's hands clawed at the one holding his throat, to no avail. "I... don't need... to beat... you..."

Unbeknownst to the Ghost, while Sidney had been attacking him, he had also been directing some of his paper towards Danny. As their continued, Sidney's paper had been cutting away at the Ghost's Armures de Constriction. When the Ghost had grabbed Sidney by the throat, the paper had cut enough of it away.

"... I just... needed to... distract you..."

With an enormous pulse of his Reiatsu, Danny shattered the remains of the Armures de Constriction, sending bits of the silver material in every direction. Before the Ghost could react to this sudden development, Danny's form blurred as he raced towards the Ghost and kicked it in the side. The Ghost gasped from the sudden pain before he went sailing backwards and crashed onto the wall above Danny's bed. As he slumped to the ground, bits of plaster from the wall fell onto the Ghost's head, further aggravating it.

When the Ghost recovered, he quickly unleashed a wave of silver particles towards Danny. Danny, however, merely blurred out of sight again before he reappeared a foot away from the Ghost, his unsheathed sword falling towards the Ghost's head. Seeing this, the Ghost quickly transformed his right arm into a silver machete and blocked the strike. Sparks danced in the air as each weapon pushed against each other.

"Your peltwillbe mine, Arrancar." The Ghost growled.

Danny's eyes narrowed, "I don't think so."

With a snarl, the Ghost backed up a bit before he crouched down and kicked Danny away from himself. Plaster fell once more as Danny's back hit a nearby wall, almost crashing through the wall, before he slid downwards. Grimacing, he slowly got back up, never noticing the silver particles that his enemy had just sent forth.

Sidney however, did. So, racing towards Danny, Sidney conjured a large amount of paper around himself before he leaned forward and slammed his hands together. "Papier Bouclier (Paper Shield)!" The paper surged forth and came together in a good-sized, rectangular shield. There was a sound not unlike raindrops hitting a rooftop as Sidney's shield blocked the Ghost's particles.

Having been allowed a temporary breather, Danny slowly came to one conclusion; he couldn't allow this battle to continue here. If it did, not only would his room get more trashed, the battle could eventually spill out into the rest of the house or attract the attention of his parents. Realizing this didn't mean it would be any easier to get the Ghost out of his house, though. He needed to think of some way he could lure the Ghost away.

Danny's eyes widened as he suddenly thought of an idea. So, leaping out from behind Sidney's shield, he smirked at the Ghost. "Catch me if you can you mechanical freak!"

With that, Danny accelerated his movements until his form was a blur and raced out the opened window. Since he wasn't in his room anymore, he wouldn't have seen Sidney unleash another torrent of paper at the Ghost to slow him down before he flew out the window. Nor did he see when the Ghost recovered from Sidney's attack and growl.

To the Ghost, it didn't matter where his prey ran, or if his original ambush had failed. He would not accept defeat, and would get that Arrancar's pelt if it was the last thing he ever did!

Techniques:

1. Sommeil de sable (Sleep sand): A technique that allows the user to infuse sand with Reiatsu that, when wrapped around a target, causes that target to feel drowsy. The standard 'dose' of this is able to knock beings with no or little Reiatsu unconscious while those with a lot of Reiatsu may resist it. In that case, the user can increase the 'dose' and the sleepiness that this sand transmits to the target to try and knock the target unconscious.

2. Armures de Constriction (Constriction Armor): This is a technique in which Skulker uses his Nanobots to trap his prey. After capturing the target, the Nanobots will tighten around it if the user struggles too much or if the target attempts to use his/her Reiatsu to break free of it. The Nanobots will also tighten into the target if Skulker orders them to. However, if the majority of the Nanobots have been cut away, a strong enough pulse of Reiatsu will blow the remainder of them away.

3. Poing juge (Judge Fist): This is a technique in which Sidney transforms condenses a large amount of paper into a pair of small fists. Because Sidney has condensed the paper into a small space, this technique is very fast in both speed and momentum. A straight punch from one of the arms would leave a small, fist-shaped dent in most metals.

4. Fantôme de choc (Ghost Shock): Skulker compresses a large amount of his energy into a single 'bubble'. This 'bubble' has corrosive properties, and as such, it will start dissolving the things it touches as it expands. When this bubble "pops", it releases either a shockwave or an explosive blast.

5. Papier Bouclier (Paper Shield): This is a technique in which Sidney leans forward and slams his hands together. This causes the paper around him to surge before him and merge into a closet-sized, rectangular shield of paper.

A/N: Author's Note: This chapter was updated as of 6/23/2012.