Disclaimer: The only thing I own is my own imagination. Well, that and The Rise of the Guardians DVD

Chapter Nine-Pizza Pole

After a long and painful ride (well, for Inuyasha, anyway), the truck finally arrived at its destination-Pizza Pole.

"Next sleigh ride scheduled for thirty minutes!" An automated voice announced. Jack beamed as he looked out the window and saw a 'sleigh'. He unbuckled and looked out the window. A mother and her young son walked to the entrance, which looked like an igloo and was guarded by giant animatronic penguins.

"You're all clear to enter!" They said. "Welcome to Pizza Pole!" The family walked in, and Jack went to the back of the truck to get Inuyasha.

"Hey, Dog Boy!" Inuyasha groaned in pain from behind the tool box. It fell to the ground, revealing a dazed Inuyasha behind it.

"Oh, there you are." Jack said. "This place is guarded, so we have to find a way to sneak inside." Inuyasha answered by coughing as he pulled himself up, a Pizza Pole cup over his head. Jack, thinking that Inuyasha had come up with an idea to disguise themselves, nodded in approval.

"Good plan."

Some time later, another family entered Pizza Pole and were immediately greeted by the penguins

"You're all clear to enter! Welcome to Pizza Pole!" Inuyasha and Jack took that as their cue to move. Inuyasha was hiding in the same cup from before, while Jack was in a burger box.

"Come on!" Jack urged Inuyasha as they started to run. "The doors are closing!"

"Yeah yeah, I can see that!" Inuyasha snapped at him. They made it inside, but were forced to drop down and pretend to be random trash as some kids ran by. Jack accidentally ran into Inuyasha, and the half demon growled

"Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry." Jack apologized. They continued along and, as soon as they got into a place where they were sure no one could see them, ditched their 'disguises'. Jack ran over to get a better look, and his mouth fell open in awe. Pizza Pole was his dream come true. Ice and snow everywhere, with all sorts of fun games around every corner. A replica of the North Pole (the pole itself) stood in the middle of the floor, and around every corner, kids laughed as they bounced up and down in toboggans. Being the Guardian of Fun, Jack was immediately enamored.

"This place is awesome!" Jack breathed. Inuyasha looked around as well, trying to see if he could find Ed anywhere. He saw one kid playing an arcade game of some kind that involved a snow cannon, and another kid getting some soda, and another kid playing a Whack-a-Mole type game with snow gremlins, but no Ed. Suddenly, though, he heard his voice

"Hey Mom, can I play Blizzard?! Please, please, please?!"

"Ed!" Inuyasha said. Jack, who hadn't been paying attention, said

"Okay, now I've just gotta find the right sleigh…"

"Oh no, come on, this way!" Inuyasha grabbed Jack's wrist and hurried him to where Ed and his family were. "There's a special sleigh, I just saw it!" he lied.

"Oh yeah?" Jack asked.

"Yeah." Inuyasha said. He peeked out from behind a game, where Tricia was just wheeling Al around, the infant laughing happily.

"Where is it?" Jack asked. "I don't see it…" Suddenly, he gasped as he saw a large red 'sleigh', which was really just a claw game. He ran off just as Inuyasha said

"Okay Jack, get ready…" Tricia, Ed, and Al got closer. "…and when I saw go, we're going to jump in the basket." He turned to look at Jack, and was shocked when he saw him running to the claw game.

"Jack!" It was too late, however, and Jack jumped into the hatch, surprisingly not being seen by anyone. Inuyasha growled in frustration as Tricia, Ed, and Al went right by him. He had missed his chance.

"No!" He looked out at the family, then back at the claw game. "This cannot be happening!" He bared his teeth and stomped over to the game, determined to find Jack and flip him the bird. However, he had to hide as some more kids passed by.

Jack, meanwhile, climbed up the hatch, jumping and landing among a bunch of squeaky GIR toys.

"A STRANGER!" One of the GIRs shrieked.

"FROM THE OUTSIDE!" Yelled another GIR

"YAY!" Jack cringed a little at the noise. Man, these guys were loud. He then straightened up and addressed the robot toys.

"Hey there. Name's Jack Frost."

"Jack Frost?!" One of the GIRs squeaked in excitement. Immediately, they all flocked around him in awe.

Outside, Inuyasha pressed himself against the game he was hiding behind. As soon as the coast was clear, he ran into the claw game and climbed in, finding Jack talking to the GIRs.

"Look, I've got a problem, and need to borrow your sleigh. Who's in charge here?"

"The Claw!" All the GIRs said as one, pointing upwards where a claw glinted.

"The Claw is our master." One of the GIRs said.

"The Claw decides who will go and who will stay."

"This is stupid." Inuyasha said, facepalming.

"Hey idiots, you got any brains?!" A chill ran up Inuyasha's spine as he recognized the voice. He turned around, and his worst fears were realized. Vicky was at the snow gremlin game, stomping on some of the gremlins. The game timed out, and Vicky hit it with her paddle before tossing it away and walking over to the claw game.

"Vicky!" he gasped, jumping down on Jack. "Get down!" As Vicky fished around in her pockets for change, Jack glared at Inuyasha.

"What's gotten into you?!" Inuyasha returned his glare, hissing

"You're the one who decided to jump into this…!" One of the GIRs shushed them and pointed upwards.

"The Claw! It moves!" Indeed, the claw sprung to life, lowering and grabbing a bunch of GIRs, finally selecting the one right on top.

"I've been chosen!" The GIR squealed happily. "Bye, everyone! I'll you all around!"

"Gotcha." Vicky smiled. As she dropped the robot toy into the slot, she suddenly saw…

"A Jack Frost?! No way!" Inuyasha looked around worriedly for a way out. He could not let Jack get taken by Vicky. Finally he saw it-an emergency exit. Pushing some GIRs out of the way, he pushed against the door unsuccessfully for a few seconds before grabbing the latch and jerking it upwards, pushing the door open. At that moment, however, the claw activated again. It lowered, grabbing Jack.

"Yes!" Vicky cheered happily.

"Jack!" Inuyasha ran forward and grabbed his legs, pulling him back down. He may not have liked the guy, but there was no way he could ever face the other toys or Ed again without him.

"Hey!" Vicky shouted angrily from outside, pounding on the glass. Using all his strength, Inuyasha pulled Jack backwards, towards the open hatch. He managed to get himself outside, but before he could go any further, some of the GIRs showed up.

"He's been chosen!"

"He's gots to go!"

"What?!" Inuyasha said impatiently. The GIRs grabbed Inuyasha and moved him forward.

"What are you doing?! Stop it, you little freaks!" As much as Inuyasha wanted to clobber them all, he had no choice but to freeze as Vicky finally managed to pull Jack up, Inuyasha holding his foot.

"Alright, double prizes!" She dropped both toys into the hatch and reached down to claim her 'prizes'. Vicky looked from Inuyasha to Jack, a malicious smile on her face.

"Let's go home and…play."

A/N: Oh noes! Inuyasha and Jack are going to the monster's house! Not. Good. Still, next chapter allows me to introduce some characters, so that'll be fun. Oh yeah, forgot to say this last time, but I hope you guys had a merry Christmas and you have a good New Year.