Mixed-Up Manga
Chapter two
It took awhile, but they finally decided they would split up. Kyo and Ichigo would be team one, and Ed and Inuyasha would be team two. Sesshomaru wouldn't work with anyone. He said he would be fine by himself. Team 1 would go north and team 2 would go south. Sesshomaru could go whichever damn place he pleased. And, after that was decided, they split up.
Ed didn't like the south. He had always hated it. The reason why was now just ahead of him. The milk factory. It was an old building; just looking at it told you that. Some of the parts had collapsed and had been replaced by newer parts; so the factory looked quite odd, some parts were different colored because of that.
This was the first place they would look. It was rumored that the milk factory held secrets. Ed thought that this was the stupidest thing he had ever heard. A milk factory holds the secret to get those girls back? That's retarded. Ed thought.
"Hello over there!" came a woman's voice.
"Who was that?" Inuyasha asked.
"I dunno." Ed said, he wasn't the least bit interested in who it was. He just wanted to get through the milk factory.
"Would you like some milk? It's free." Said the woman who had appeared in front of them now. She was a chubby woman. She had brown hair that was graying with age and was carrying a silver tray with a cup of milk on it.
"No, thanks," Said Ed, he despised the taste of milk, "We're kinda busy, so we best get going."
"Are you sure? If you drink this milk, I'll tell ya a little secret." Said the lady in a tone that made Ed suspect she could really give them some information.
"Ok, Inuyasha, why don't you drink the nice lady's milk?" Ed asked.
"Oh no," said the woman, "I want you to drink it, it might make you grow taller."
"WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' SO SMALL A FLEA COULD CARRY HIM OFF?" Ed shouted so loudly, the people on the streets turned to look at him.
"She didn't say that." Inuyasha said, sounding impatient. He wanted to save Kisa, and this lady was taking up the precious time that they had.
"Fine. I'll drink the stupid milk." Ed said reluctantly. He took the milk and drank it in a swift gulp. After making a few gagging noises, he asked the woman what secret was.
"Oh yes," said the lady, "I had nearly forgotten. That old factory over there, it was abandoned a few days ago. They are planning to tear it down and make a strip mall."
"That's all the information you have on this place?" Inuyasha asked, annoyed that this woman was still here and giving them useless information.
"No," the woman said, "I've heard there was something in the basement; some magical power."
"Then why haven't you gone down there to find it?" asked Inuyasha, who was doing most of the talking now because Ed was on the ground rolling in agony after drinking the milk.
"It is said to be very dangerous down there." She said, and then she left.
"That was useless." Ed said.
"Oh, so you recovered. I thought you might die for a second." Inuyasha said sarcastically.
"Whatever. Let's go to the basement of that stupid milk factory and find this magical power, if it exists." Ed said, running towards the building.
The inside was worse than the outside. It had old, discarded things lying on the floor and it smelled of rotten eggs. They must have let the milk sit to long. Inuyasha thought. Every once and a while there was an occasional squeak of a rat. Both of them thought that the place was too disgusting to have, at one time, made milk.
"Yuck," said Ed, "This place looks like a dump and it smells like a manure pile."
"My nose," said Inuyasha, whose nose was ten times stronger than a human's, "I think I'm gonna be sick."
"How are we gonna find the basement in this mess?" Ed asked.
"How do we even know there is a basement? If you ask me, that lady was untrustworthy." Inuyasha replied.
"Well, we better start looking." Ed said, and started to search.
After a few minutes they stumbled across a room with stairs in it. The stairs led downwards and both of the boys quickly moved down them.
In the basement, it smelled fresher and there was no trash on the floor. In fact, the only thing in the room was a small pedestal. They hurried toward it, there was something on it; a piece of paper.
"Oh great, we finally get this far and what do we find? A useless scrap of trash." Ed said angrily.
"Well let's read it." Inuyasha replied to Ed's remark.
Ed held it up and read aloud, "The chosen ones will gather, and one bye one to create a special power. The first chosen one has a small problem. You can find the next chosen one at a cheap but sunny place."
"What the hell does that mean? Who are the 'chosen ones'? And what the hell does a 'small problem' mean?" Inuyasha said, getting aggravated.
"I don't know," Ed said, "but we have to find out."
Meanwhile, Mustang was getting a cup of coffee. He had no idea where to start searching. Coffee usually helps him think, so he went down to the coffee shop and got a cup of it. Where to start? He thought. Then he looked at the coffee, it was a creamy brown color. It looked good, so he took a sip. He quickly spit it out; it tasted like dirt. He was never going to go to that coffee shop again. Wait, dirt, that's it! Lot's of demons appear in the forest, maybe that is where they have taken the girls! Mustang thought. He quickly got a cab and went to the dark, forbidding place.
Mustang wasn't too far off. The girls were being kept in the forest, but even if he looked for an eternity he wouldn't find them. They were in a secret cave, hidden behind a barrier.
"What do we do now?" Megan asked, a little shaken by the demons.
"What are we supposed to do? All we can do is sit here." Nikki said, she was playing with the lighter she always kept in her pocket.
"Stop playing with that, are you trying to burn us all to the ground?" Kisa said loudly. She was annoyed at being stuck in the cave.
"I might be, it depends." Nikki responded.
"Oh, shush. They might hear us." Ann said.
"I guess we just have to wait to see what they want." Kisa whispered.
"They probably want to eat us." Megan said quietly.
"Why would they just pick us then? I mean we are from almost completely different places; the only exception being Ann and me." Nikki said.
"Oh yeah, you guys are from the same place." Kisa said.
"Well, it is weird that they'd pick people who don't live very close together. I guess they must have a plan." Megan said.
"It doesn't matter either way. We need to get out of here." Ann said.
Ichigo and Kyo weren't having much luck. They had searched most of the northern part of town when Ichigo started talking to air.
"We're looking for something called the Jewel of Ages; have you seen it?" He asked to apparently no one.
"Who the hell are you talking to?" Kyo yelled at him.
"A ghost, but she says she hasn't ever heard of it." Ichigo responded.
"What?" Kyo asked a bit puzzled.
"Yes, I see dead people." Ichigo responded.
"Ok, you're creepin' me out." Kyo said and started to walk ahead.
"Wait; hold up, I'm coming." Ichigo said, and with that the two of them disappeared into a crowd of people.
