AN: Yey, the next chapter is here! And with it, a more proper introduction of Gokai, and a brief introduction of another new character! I like writing for Gokai. I probably shouldn't like it so much, seeing how much of a nutball the thing is. Just wait until we get to see it in battle. 3 Anyways, mixed feelings about this chapter. I wanted it to go on longer, but I started to lose my flow towards the end so I cut it short. Still roughly seven pages though, so not so bad.

Also, for those of you who are curious (I don't know if I've shown it to you before), but here is Gokai: bekuki. deviantart. com / art / DP-SOTR-Set-6-41267108 (take out the spaces!)

Shadow of the Reaper

Chapter Eight: The Pink Deathbringer

Daniel Masters had to admit, he was slightly afraid of the color pink.

Of course, it was nothing about the color itself that scared him- that would be just plain weird, but rather the conations the color brought with it. It wasn't that surprising really, since from the very first time he met the creature, it had always been dressed in pink.

"Oh, Daniel, it's good to see you again!" The creature chirped. From the behind it could maybe, maybe, be mistaken for a very strange woman, but from the front, it was obvious that there was something wrong with that.

Gokai Zaigouro was the most terrifying person Danny knew. Just calling the thing a person was an insult to people as a whole. Nobody deserved to have themselves associated with this twisted thing, nobody.

Not even Vlad.

"Gokai." Danny said coldly, his mismatched eyes falling over the Deathbringer, glaring at it. And indeed, Gokai was nothing more than an it- although it looked somewhat like a man, and wore women's clothing, albeit very strange woman's clothing, it had no gender, nor was it actually attached to the idea of being either male or female. If it was just that alone, maybe Danny could handle this strange thing, but that was not what was so terribly disturbing about it.

No, what was so terribly disturbing about it was shown in the fact that he had woken up to see it sitting on top of him. The pink haired, white skinned creature didn't seem to be inclined to move any time soon, either, smiling down at the younger Deathbringer, seeming very happy to see him.

"Would you get off of me?" Danny's eyes narrowed. If only it weren't Gokai, then he would solve the problem by a nice little head explosion. But, as it was, such powers did not work on other Deathbringers, it seemed. Danny had learned that early on, when he had tried it once. All it did was send a backlash of pain to him, as if he had just been trampled by a pack of full grown elephants.

After that, he never tried it again.

"Oh, but the view is lovely from up her!" It remarked, smiling still, reaching down one of it's hands to rest on Danny's face. As it was, it had it's body placed so that it held down his arms, so that he could not simply force him off. "So much better to see your charming face with~"

Danny had to hold in the urge to vomit, and instead, simply chose to phase through the floor. He came back up to the other side of Gokai, a good distance away from the pink wearing Deathbringer. It wouldn't do any good to run away from it. Gokai was damnably good at finding him. "Please stop doing that."

"Aw, Daniel, now that's no fun." Gokai pouted, getting up from the floor where Danny had been sleeping earlier. "I thought the two of us had something, after all~" It continued, in that same pouting voice as if this was some kind of playful lover's argument. "Look, we even had a child together!" It declared, waving it's hand towards another person in the room.

"We didn't do anything like that!" Danny spat out, growing annoyed now. He cast his eyes on the small girl who was standing off to one corner. "You just convinced Vlad to make her using my DNA, you creep." It was a request that had even creped Vlad out, probably because the man was quite aware as to the reasons it was being done.

Gokai Zaigouro, as it was, was completely obsessed with him.

Danny wasn't really sure when it had started. Maybe it was from the first day they had met, maybe it was later. All he knew was that it grew increasingly apparent over the years that Gokai was in love with him. He was probably ten when he noticed something was weird, but it wasn't until he was thirteen did he actually understand what was going on.

And it really freaked him out.

Considering the things he had seen and done in his long years as Vlad's pet assassin, that was saying something. It was probably the way Gokai went about it really, continuing to pursue him even after Danny rejected the white skinned creature again and again. Oh, the whole genderless thing was a contributing factor to it to be sure, but the man reason was that Danny knew very well what Gokai was capable of doing.

Calling Gokai psychotic was like calling Paulina mildly obsessed with him. It was nothing short of an understatement. There were no words that Danny knew that could describe the depths of Gokai's insanity. The creature loved to kill, and to play with his kills, carrying on it's missions for as long as it desired. If it loved someone, it turned around and tortured and killed them as slowly and painfully as possible.

Except for Danny. Gokai had made a point of letting him know that the boy was just far too interesting for it to kill just like that. It would be just a waste. After all, it had told him once, there was only supposed to be one of them at a time. It seemed rather pleased that this mysterious enigma that was a second Deathbringer was pleasantly attractive.

"Aw, now that's just mean." Gokai pouted still, looking back at the small girl. She couldn't have been any older than eleven or twelve, though Danny knew she was really much younger, only made a few years back. "You're going to hurt poor Danni's feelings. She does love her father so very much!"

"I said cut that out." Danny snapped, glaring at Gokai. "Could you be any less creepy?"

Gokai paused for a moment, actually seeming to consider the question. "Well, I suppose I could. But that just wouldn't be a whole lot of fun, now would it?" It asked, and Danny found it suddenly in his face. It reached it's hands, cupping Danny's face in it and bringing it close to it's own. "After all, I love that look you get when you push me away, Daniel."

"I said, get away!" Danny hissed, shoving the Deathbringer away. The creature laughed, allowing itself to fall back, smiling all the while. Danny had no idea if it could even feel pain- he didn't seem to think it did. After all, the thing had gotten both of it's arms cut off at one point, and that smile on his face never vanished.

Although Danny was powerful as a Deathbringer, his power could never match Gokai's, not in strength or diversity. Most Deathbringers could indeed regenerate faster than humans, but it was only Gokai, it seemed, he could reattach it's own body parts. Danny couldn't help but think that most of it's added power came from it's utter insanity.

"That's enough already." The small girl, Danni, finally spoke. She seemed to be rather annoyed at the behavior of the two, though perhaps more so with Gokai. Danny had to admit, he felt really sorry for her, despite the fact that it was kind of creepy that she was a young, female clone of him. I mean, after all, she was being raised by Gokai.

It was obvious from first glance too, given the way she was dressed. Although she was not dressed in the same bright, pink and white colors as Gokai was, opting for more demure, mute ones, they wore the same style of clothing. Danny could never remember what it was called, other than that it had it's origins in Japanese culture- and that they sure weren't kimonos.

Other than the obvious facts of being younger, shorter, and a woman, Danny and Danni looked exactly alike, right down to the mismatched eyes and the two color hair. "Can't we please just get to why we came here?"

Gokai pouted again, though this time it was at her. "You're no fun, Danni. You take too much after your father!" It huffed, placing a hand on it's chest. "You should try being a little more like me every once in awhile! It would do you world of good, really."

At that, Danni looked like she was about to gag.

Frankly, Danny really couldn't blame her.

"Ugh." Danny grumbled, taking a seat in one of the chairs he had brought in here. "What did you want anyways, Gokai? Vlad mentioned you wanted to talk to me yesterday." He glared at him, reading himself for another sudden onslaught of unwanted affection. "And it had better not be just to try and molest me. If that's the case, then I'm leaving."

"Ah, there's that cold shoulder again!" Gokai grinned, lighting up all of a sudden. "That's what I love about you Daniel, you're so abusive to me! It's just so cute." It said, clapping it's hands together. Danny groaned in his head, knowing that his resistance only made the pink Deathbringer like him even more. He had tried not giving him any once, but it had only lasted for about five minutes. Really, there was only so much of Gokai that Danny could take before breaking down.

Needless to say, that was the day Danny learned that Gokai didn't have a gender. He'd just thought that it was some kind of weird crossdresser before. He shuddered internally, closing that door in his memories before it opened to far. There were some things in his life that Danny never, ever, wanted to remember, and most of them were about Gokai.

"Just get on with it Gokai." Danny said, growing irritated now. After the long day he had yesterday, Danny had gone to sleep almost as soon as he had gotten home. He intended to sleep all the way up until his meeting with Sam later in the day, and so he was even more annoyed that Gokai had ruined that plan. He wouldn't be able to get to sleep again, he knew.

"Fine, fine." The pink haired Deathbringer shrugged it's shoulders, still smiling at him. "I came to deliver a message, a very important message indeed!" It paused then, grinning. "Though you're right, I did in part come here to molest you." It said happily, causing Danny to shudder once more.

Danni was hanging in the background, trying to block out the words of the pink haired creature. It was a survival method really, otherwise she would have gone insane a long time ago. Compared to Gokai and even Danny, really, Danni was pretty sane. She did have her moments, though.

"There is a Reaper here!" Gokai announced, clapping it's hand together once more. "Leaving in this very city! I always thought there was one, but I only just confirmed it's presence." It put up a finger then, taking a stance like a scolding mother. "And that just will never do."

Reapers. Danny frowned. For a long time, he had thought Reapers and Deathbringers were one and the same, but Gokai had made sure that he had known they were different. Danny wasn't exactly sure what the differences were, really, as Gokai had never gone into detail, beyond saying that they were bad and wicked people. Of course, since it was Gokai that had said it, he kind of took it with a grain of salt. Gokai wasn't exactly the most trustworthy person to come to for answers, he was always manipulating them to it's own ends.

"And?" Danny asked, arching an eyebrow. "Why bring this to my attention? You're the one who is usually all gung-ho about tracking down and killing Reapers." The other thing that Danny knew about Reapers was that they weren't nearly as uncommon as Deathbringers. "I thought you would be all over something like that."

"Mm, well, yes." Gokai said, smiling, clearly remembering past kills as it spoke. "But I thought I would let you have a shot at it this time, Daniel!" It sounded excited. "All you've been doing is just blowing heads off worthless humans, and that's just such a waste of your powers. Really, Vlad will never learn the proper use of a Deathbringer, no matter how much I instruct him in the matter."

"But that is beyond the point." It said, waving a hand as if dismissing the thought. "It's time for a real challenge for you Daniel, a real threat that could actually kill you!" Gokai sounded strangely excited saying that last part. "Although she's just a low level Reaper, really, but good enough for a starting point. It's probably why I never sensed her up until now, honestly."

"Well, that and I've been far too busy." Gokai said offhand, and Danny found himself thinking that he never wanted to know what Gokai did when he wasn't bothering him. "But anyways, if you do a good job with this, maybe I could even convince old Vladdy-pants not to make you kill Valerie."

Now that was an offer that surprised Danny. Did Gokai just offer to do something nice for him? He couldn't help but let the surprise show on his face. "What's the catch?" He asked, suspiciously.

"Oh now, Daniel, why must there always be a catch with you?" Gokai asked, sounding upset. "Just thinking of it as a birthday present that involves murder and destruction!" It said chipperly.

"It's nowhere near my birthday." Danny arched an eyebrow. "And you're all about catches, Gokai. I have every right to be suspicious of you."

"Well then, just think of it as a wedding present!" It said happily, smiling.

"No." Danny said quickly, and bluntly, barely even letting the pink haired Deathbringer finish it's sentence. Oh god, there was a mental image that he didn't want in his head. "I am not marrying you, Gokai. Not now, not ever."

"Fu, you're no fun." Gokai pouted again. "But really, Daniel, I mean it. If you kill the Reaper and bring it's heart so that I may confirm it, I'll talk to Vlad about the whole killing Valerie deal." It said, lifting up it's hands.

Danny paused for awhile, obviously having to think about it. It sounded like a good deal, on one hand. Killing people he didn't know was kind of what he did for a living, even if it was a Reaper. If Gokai hadn't sensed it before now, it must have not been very powerful, and would probably be easy to take out. After all, Danny had plenty of experience in killing difficult people. Furthermore, he would be able to spare Valerie's life, and she was one less friend than he was willing to lose.

On the other hand, it was Gokai making the offer. Despite the Deathbringer's assurances that it was an honest offer, with no catch, Danny couldn't help but be suspicious of it. Gokai wasn't exactly known for telling the whole truth, and it was possible that it could be keeping something from him. Perhaps the Reaper was someone else he knew about and loved- maybe even Jazz.

And that of course, would be just as bad as having to kill Valerie.

Eventually, Danny heaved an annoyed sigh and stood up. "Fine, Gokai, you have a deal." He told him. "I'll start tracking the Reaper today."

"Oh good, I knew you would agree!" Gokai clapped it's hands again, smiling. "Well, then, Daniel, I must be off, sad though that it is! I'm afraid that there's this little blonde girl in Kentucky who I would absolutely love to see be hit by a bus and then mauled by a bear!" It continued to smile as it said this, as happy as ever.

Danny made a face, silently feeling bad for that blonde girl. She had no idea what was coming for her. With that, Gokai and Danni took their leave, and Danny found himself relaxing. That hadn't been as bad as he thought it would be, Gokai usually tried to molest him a lot more than that.

"A Reaper, huh?" He said out loud, looking out the window of the small room Vlad had given him. "I wonder where I should start."

Meanwhile, Valerie Gray was busy trying to track down Danny. She had missed him at school the other day- she hadn't thought he would go, and so she hadn't gone either, instead spending the day trying to track down Danny. In the end, it had been a wasted day, as she had turned up no leads.

However, today was different. Smiling to herself as she looked at the address scrawled hastily on a scrap of paper. She wasn't too proud of how she had gotten it, but for every day that went by, she began to feel that her chances of talking to Danny before the council found out about him grew slimmer and slimmer.

She wasn't sure why she wanted to find him so badly. The council had told her about Deathbringers, that they were wicked and vile creatures who spread death to all those that surrounded them. Merciless and cruel, and clearly insane, they had no qualms about killing someone who had been their friend or lover just the day before. They couldn't be allowed to exist.

But Danny, Danny didn't seem that way, Valerie had thought. She knew Danny. She had been friends with him for a long time now, and he wasn't like that. He had a little bit of a temper, sure, but he was hardly a deranged killer. Besides, Valerie thought, there were supposed to be two other Deathbringers around. How did she know that Danny was the one who was the cause of all of the deaths?

Of course, his numerous absences without explanation didn't exactly work in his favor, but Valerie thought she should at least talk to him about it before she made her choice. If he really was like that, and was just keeping his true nature a secret, then she would let the council know about him. If he wasn't...

There must have been some way to protect him from them, she thought.

Valerie brought her vespa to a stop outside of the office building. She frowned, looking up at the skyscraper, wondering what Vlad was thinking making his son move into a place where people worked. She'd never really had a great impression of the man, he always kind of came off to her as a bit of a prick.

"Let's see," Valerie said, looking at the floor and room number on the piece of paper. "Eighth floor, room number 809." She said, getting off her vespa and parking it. She made her way in, and located the elevators. Of course, the biggest challenge was finding a way to bring the topic up. I mean, it wasn't like she could just go up to him and tell him flat out that she was a Reaper, could she?

That might be why she wasn't very mad at him for lying, she thought. She had been lying to him as well. Being upset about it would be downright hypocritical of her. The elevator had come then, and Valerie got on it, pressing the button for the eighth floor. As the doors to her elevator closed, the doors to the one next to her opened, letting off Gokai and Danni, the three of them just missing each other.

She hummed to herself a little as she waited for her stop, some of the people who got on after her giving her odd looks. She smiled a little bit at them, trying very hard not to look suspicious, but failed miserably at it. She was rather pleased when the elevator got to her stop, getting off as quickly as possible. "I think that was quite possibly the most tense elevator ride I've ever been on. And I here I only thought those happened in movies."

Looking around, she spotted a sign directing people towards the differently numbered sections. Spotting the one with Danny's room in it, she headed down it, and easily found his room. She was about to knock on the door when it opened and Danny came out, and so she ended up hitting him on the head instead.

"Danny!" She sounded surprised, quickly pulling away her hand. "I'm sorry, are you alright?" She asked sounding worried. "I didn't expect you to just come out like that!"

"Ah." Danny rubbed his head, glancing down at Valerie. "Well, I didn't expect to see you here, either." He remarked, hoping that she hadn't run into Gokai and Danni on her way up here. "Um, what brings you here?" He asked, then paused, arching an eyebrow. "Wait, how did you even know where I was?"

Honestly, Danny had been kind of wanting to avoid Valerie until the whole issue of him having to kill her blew over, but if he tried to escape her now, she might get suspicious.

"Um, I asked one of your maids." Valerie told him. With my fist. She added in her head. To be fair, it was that haughty maid from before. She had it coming to her, she figured. "She told me I could find you here. Anyways, Danny, I've got some things I want to talk to you about. Could we go back inside?" She asked. "I would kind of like some privacy."

Danny paused for a moment, then nodded, stepping back inside, letting Valerie in. "Make yourself at home." He told her.

"Ah, thank you." Valerie ducked in, pausing to take a look at the room. Geez, but it was small. How did Vlad expect Danny to live in here anyways? He really was a prick. Not to mention that there wasn't even a bed in the room. Of course, now wasn't really the time for that, and so she found herself a chair, sitting down in it.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Danny asked, leaning against his bookshelf.

Valerie paused for a moment, trying to think of the best way to phrase her next question. "Danny." She began, looking up at him. "What do you know about Deathbringers?"