AN: Thanks for the reviews yall! Here's the next chapter!
Chapter Two:
The Brainless Wonder, The Heartless Heavy Metal, And The Fraidy Cat
After about three hours of walking, Kagome's feet started hurting.
"Streets paved with gold are not easy on the feet," she said, stopping to rest. She looked around, and saw that they were near a cornfield, and a fork in the road.
"All this corn is making me hungry," Shippo said, "Do we have anything to eat?"
"We left all those groceries back at my house," Kagome said, as her stomach started to growl.
"Why don't you guys eat the corn," said a voice. "The crows certainly don't want it."
"Who said that?" Kagome asked, looking around.
"Up here," the voice said again. Kagome looked up, and hanging above her on a pole was Joey! Or at least he looked and sounded like Joey…But he also looked like a scarecrow. And to make things weirder, he was playing with a Rubix Cube. He was concentrating hard on it, and had one side totally red. His face beamed with pride, until he saw that the rest of the cube was all mixed colors. Then, he threw the cube on the road and yelled in frustration, "I'll never figure that stupid thing out! I'm a total straw head!"
"Why are you so upset, it's just a dumb toy," Kagome said, picking up the cube. She had it solved in two minutes.
But this made the scarecrow madder. "That does it! I'm total idiot!" he whined as he crossed his arms.
"That's not true," Kagome said standing, "The scarecrows in world don't know how to talk. And they can't move."
"What freaky world do you come from?" the Joe-scarecrow asked, somewhat appalled.
"My world freaky?" she repeated, "What about this world? I have to go see some crazy Wizard just to go home."
"You're going to see the Wizard?" he asked excitedly, "The powerful and wise Wizard of Shikon, who lives in the Crystal City?"
"Yeah," Kagome said as Shippo got up on her shoulder.
"Can I come?" he said, jumping down from the pole, "I've always wanted to go and ask him for a brain, but I've never had the chance to go."
"But if you can get yourself down from that pole," Kagome said, "Then why haven't you gone before?"
"Well uh…" he said sheepishly and blushing, "I've never had someone as pretty as you come with me."
"Awww, that's really sweet," she said, blushing too. "Ok then, we'll go together!" She took his arm, and they started walking down the left path.
"Wait," Shippo said, "I'm still hungry!"
Two hours later, they were walking through a gloomy looking forest, and an old shack stood left of the road.
"Are those pear trees?" Shippo asked, jumping down from Kagome's shoulder.
"Shippo, wait!" She chased after him, but he had already reached a tree and plucked a pear. Then, the tree threw him off.
"OW!" the kitsune yelled.
"Are you okay?" Kagome asked him, picking him up.
"The tree threw me down!" he replied, pointing to the tree. Then, to confirm him, the tree pointed a long finger like branch at him and shook it.
"What do you think you're doing?" said the tree, "Picking fruit off someone without asking is impolite!"
"I…I was hungry…and…" Shippo stuttered.
"Hungry? Hungry? Do I look like a food stand?" the tree asked angrily.
"Forget it, pal," Joey Scarecrow said, "You don't want them pears. They're probably rotten and full of worms."
This made all the trees mad, so they started pelting them all with pears! Joey Scarecrow jumped around, making faces at them while they aimed more fruit at him.
"He tricked them into giving us food!" Kagome said as she watched him dance around. "Come on Shippo," she said, picking up the pears. She went over to where some had landed on the left of the road, and as she reached for one, she saw a metal foot. She tapped it. She looked up, and what stood before her was…
"Duke Devlin?" she murmured. It did indeed look like Duke, but he was made out of tin, with an axe slung over his shoulder.
"Wow," Joey Scarecrow said, coming over, "I thought they stopped makin these! This is a real Tin Man!"
"Ole canm," the Tin Duke said through his shut mouth.
"What?" Kagome, Shippo, and the Scarecrow asked.
"Ole canmm," Tin Duke said again.
"Old man? Dish pan?" Joey Scarecrow asked, scratching his head.
"I love Spam?" Shippo asked, knocking on the Tin Duke's leg.
"OLE CANMMM!!" he insisted.
"He's saying 'oil can'!" Kagome said. "Where?" she asked him. He rolled his eyes over to a back pack- which looked an awful lot like Kagome's- over near an old bike. Kagome got the oil can, and started oiling Duke's mouth. He moved his jaw around, and then gasped as he opened his mouth.
"Oh man! That's a whole lot better!" he said. "I thought I'd never get to talk again." Kagome and the other two began to put oil on the rest of the Tin Duke's body, and he finally dropped his axe and sat down with a loud clatter. "I was stuck like that for over fifty years! It sucks to be made of metal."
"Are you feeling better?" Kagome asked him.
"Yeah," the Tin Duke said, blushing at her. "Thank you for helping me. But to be honest, being rusted for fifty years is the least of my troubles."
"Why's that?" Shippo asked him.
"Because…I don't have a heart!" he said over dramatically. "The tinsmith forgot to give me one and now…Now I'm heartless, friendless and alone!"
"Quit hammin it up," the Joey scarecrow said, annoyed.
"That's so sad," Kagome said, feeling sorry for Duke. "Maybe…maybe you could come with us? We're going to see the Wizard in Crystal City. He should give you a heart."
"Do you really think so?" the Tin Duke asked, looking happier. "Would you really let me come with you guys?"
"Actually," Joey Scarecrow started, wanting to object.
"We'd love for you to come," Kagome said, "And you can think of us as your friends."
"This is so awesome!" Tin Duke said, clattering as he got up, "A new heart AND friends! This is the best day of my life!" Kagome got the bike and the backpack, and wheeled it onto the road. Shippo got in the front basket of the bike, and put the rest of the pears in it while their two new friends got beside Kagome, and the four of them continued their journey on through the night.
Meanwhile, in his castle in the Haunted Forest, the evil Warlock watched Kagome in his magic mirror. Standing with him in his parlor were two of his guards, who both had fuzzy hats on and uniforms of black, green, and red, as well as one of the Wizards fiendish creations: a monkey with wings on it's back, and a wild head of black hair.
"Foolish girl," the Warlock said to the image of Kagome, "Skip happily to the Wizard. He will not save you. I will have vengeance for my sister, and the Jewel!"
As it got darker, the four travelers found themselves in a dark, scary wood. They heard owls hoot, and many strange sounds from the woods. And a pair of yellow eyes watched them from the shadows.
"This place gives me the creeps," Joey Scarecrow said as he looked from left to right.
"Me too," the Tin Duke said, "Anything could be in this forest…Like tigers or bears or…"
But he was cut off by a loud, thunderous roar. "LIONS!!!" Joey and Duke screamed. Joey turned left, Duke turned right, and they both ran smack into each other.
"Calm down!" Kagome told them both. "It's probably no where near-" But just then a blur of red and white sprang from the trees, and roared loudly again! It pounced on the poor scarecrow, knocking him down. Kagome had dropped her bike and ran behind a tree for cover. She looked and saw a familiar red kimono and head of white hair looming before the Joey Scarecrow and the Tin Duke. The animal stood up, and indeed was Inu-yasha except…he had a tail, and his hands and feet were furry and as white as his hair! The 'lion' made a fanged grin, and looked at his victims.
"So, think you can come to my forest unwelcome?" he asked them. He turned to Joey, "Are you scared, you pile of rejected mattress stuffing?" then he turned to Duke, "How about you, you bucket of bolts?" But then, he was distracted when a pear hit him in the head. "OW! What the-?" he turned and saw Kagome and Shippo throwing pears from the back pack at him.
"Leave them alone, you big bully!" Kagome yelled. But then, the beast started charging at them! Shippo yelped and jumped into Kagome's arms. She closed her eyes, and by reflex from her normal life, Kagome yelled, "Sit, boy!"
The wild animal yelped as he was pulled to the ground. Kagome opened her eyes and saw Joey and Duke run over to her as the beast got back up. He looked at her, and whined pitifully, "What'd you do that for? I didn't hurt them!"
"You were being a bully!" Kagome yelled.
"And how did you do that?" he asked, now angry. "Only the Witch of The East could do that, cause this necklace, " he pointed to the black and white necklace on him, "Only works for whoever has the Sacred Jewel!"
"Oh…ah…well…" Kagome said. She had tucked the Jewel beneath her shirt collar, but now, she got it out. When she did, all three guys loomed closer.
"It can't be?!" the 'lion' yelled with dismay.
"The Shikon Jewel!" the Tin Duke cried.
"The Shikon no Tama!" the Joey scarecrow exclaimed. Then, all three asked, "How did you get it?"
"I uh…I accidentally killed the Witch," Kagome said.
"Great! Now I'll never find the sword!" Inu-yasha the Lion said, sitting down and sulking.
"What sword?" Kagome asked him.
"The Sword of Courage," he replied. "It lets the bearer destroy his enemies with one stroke. I tried to get the Witch to tell me where, and she threw these stupid beads on me. She said if I ever get them off, then she'd tell me where the Sword was. But since she's dead, I'll never find it, and I'll be stuck with this necklace forever!"
"You could ask the Wizard where it is," Kagome suggested. Inu-yasha looked at her for a minute, then turned away.
"Feh," he said. "Why should I?"
"Because otherwise, you're stuck with that necklace, and I'll use their power until you get some sense knocked into your skull."
"I don't know where to find this stupid Wizard," Inu-yasha said, still sulking.
"We do," Kagome said, grabbing his arm and helping him up. "You can come with us."
"What?" Joey asked. "You want that deranged fur ball to come?!"
"No way!" Duke said.
"He's coming," Kagome said. "We might need his help. Besides, he can't hurt anyone if I say the 'special word'." she said pointing to Inu-yasha's necklace. She went back, got the bike upright, and said, "Now let's go boys."
The three odd companions looked at each other, humphed, and followed Kagome.
AN: Oh, the insanity! Please review!
Chapter Two:
The Brainless Wonder, The Heartless Heavy Metal, And The Fraidy Cat
After about three hours of walking, Kagome's feet started hurting.
"Streets paved with gold are not easy on the feet," she said, stopping to rest. She looked around, and saw that they were near a cornfield, and a fork in the road.
"All this corn is making me hungry," Shippo said, "Do we have anything to eat?"
"We left all those groceries back at my house," Kagome said, as her stomach started to growl.
"Why don't you guys eat the corn," said a voice. "The crows certainly don't want it."
"Who said that?" Kagome asked, looking around.
"Up here," the voice said again. Kagome looked up, and hanging above her on a pole was Joey! Or at least he looked and sounded like Joey…But he also looked like a scarecrow. And to make things weirder, he was playing with a Rubix Cube. He was concentrating hard on it, and had one side totally red. His face beamed with pride, until he saw that the rest of the cube was all mixed colors. Then, he threw the cube on the road and yelled in frustration, "I'll never figure that stupid thing out! I'm a total straw head!"
"Why are you so upset, it's just a dumb toy," Kagome said, picking up the cube. She had it solved in two minutes.
But this made the scarecrow madder. "That does it! I'm total idiot!" he whined as he crossed his arms.
"That's not true," Kagome said standing, "The scarecrows in world don't know how to talk. And they can't move."
"What freaky world do you come from?" the Joe-scarecrow asked, somewhat appalled.
"My world freaky?" she repeated, "What about this world? I have to go see some crazy Wizard just to go home."
"You're going to see the Wizard?" he asked excitedly, "The powerful and wise Wizard of Shikon, who lives in the Crystal City?"
"Yeah," Kagome said as Shippo got up on her shoulder.
"Can I come?" he said, jumping down from the pole, "I've always wanted to go and ask him for a brain, but I've never had the chance to go."
"But if you can get yourself down from that pole," Kagome said, "Then why haven't you gone before?"
"Well uh…" he said sheepishly and blushing, "I've never had someone as pretty as you come with me."
"Awww, that's really sweet," she said, blushing too. "Ok then, we'll go together!" She took his arm, and they started walking down the left path.
"Wait," Shippo said, "I'm still hungry!"
Two hours later, they were walking through a gloomy looking forest, and an old shack stood left of the road.
"Are those pear trees?" Shippo asked, jumping down from Kagome's shoulder.
"Shippo, wait!" She chased after him, but he had already reached a tree and plucked a pear. Then, the tree threw him off.
"OW!" the kitsune yelled.
"Are you okay?" Kagome asked him, picking him up.
"The tree threw me down!" he replied, pointing to the tree. Then, to confirm him, the tree pointed a long finger like branch at him and shook it.
"What do you think you're doing?" said the tree, "Picking fruit off someone without asking is impolite!"
"I…I was hungry…and…" Shippo stuttered.
"Hungry? Hungry? Do I look like a food stand?" the tree asked angrily.
"Forget it, pal," Joey Scarecrow said, "You don't want them pears. They're probably rotten and full of worms."
This made all the trees mad, so they started pelting them all with pears! Joey Scarecrow jumped around, making faces at them while they aimed more fruit at him.
"He tricked them into giving us food!" Kagome said as she watched him dance around. "Come on Shippo," she said, picking up the pears. She went over to where some had landed on the left of the road, and as she reached for one, she saw a metal foot. She tapped it. She looked up, and what stood before her was…
"Duke Devlin?" she murmured. It did indeed look like Duke, but he was made out of tin, with an axe slung over his shoulder.
"Wow," Joey Scarecrow said, coming over, "I thought they stopped makin these! This is a real Tin Man!"
"Ole canm," the Tin Duke said through his shut mouth.
"What?" Kagome, Shippo, and the Scarecrow asked.
"Ole canmm," Tin Duke said again.
"Old man? Dish pan?" Joey Scarecrow asked, scratching his head.
"I love Spam?" Shippo asked, knocking on the Tin Duke's leg.
"OLE CANMMM!!" he insisted.
"He's saying 'oil can'!" Kagome said. "Where?" she asked him. He rolled his eyes over to a back pack- which looked an awful lot like Kagome's- over near an old bike. Kagome got the oil can, and started oiling Duke's mouth. He moved his jaw around, and then gasped as he opened his mouth.
"Oh man! That's a whole lot better!" he said. "I thought I'd never get to talk again." Kagome and the other two began to put oil on the rest of the Tin Duke's body, and he finally dropped his axe and sat down with a loud clatter. "I was stuck like that for over fifty years! It sucks to be made of metal."
"Are you feeling better?" Kagome asked him.
"Yeah," the Tin Duke said, blushing at her. "Thank you for helping me. But to be honest, being rusted for fifty years is the least of my troubles."
"Why's that?" Shippo asked him.
"Because…I don't have a heart!" he said over dramatically. "The tinsmith forgot to give me one and now…Now I'm heartless, friendless and alone!"
"Quit hammin it up," the Joey scarecrow said, annoyed.
"That's so sad," Kagome said, feeling sorry for Duke. "Maybe…maybe you could come with us? We're going to see the Wizard in Crystal City. He should give you a heart."
"Do you really think so?" the Tin Duke asked, looking happier. "Would you really let me come with you guys?"
"Actually," Joey Scarecrow started, wanting to object.
"We'd love for you to come," Kagome said, "And you can think of us as your friends."
"This is so awesome!" Tin Duke said, clattering as he got up, "A new heart AND friends! This is the best day of my life!" Kagome got the bike and the backpack, and wheeled it onto the road. Shippo got in the front basket of the bike, and put the rest of the pears in it while their two new friends got beside Kagome, and the four of them continued their journey on through the night.
Meanwhile, in his castle in the Haunted Forest, the evil Warlock watched Kagome in his magic mirror. Standing with him in his parlor were two of his guards, who both had fuzzy hats on and uniforms of black, green, and red, as well as one of the Wizards fiendish creations: a monkey with wings on it's back, and a wild head of black hair.
"Foolish girl," the Warlock said to the image of Kagome, "Skip happily to the Wizard. He will not save you. I will have vengeance for my sister, and the Jewel!"
As it got darker, the four travelers found themselves in a dark, scary wood. They heard owls hoot, and many strange sounds from the woods. And a pair of yellow eyes watched them from the shadows.
"This place gives me the creeps," Joey Scarecrow said as he looked from left to right.
"Me too," the Tin Duke said, "Anything could be in this forest…Like tigers or bears or…"
But he was cut off by a loud, thunderous roar. "LIONS!!!" Joey and Duke screamed. Joey turned left, Duke turned right, and they both ran smack into each other.
"Calm down!" Kagome told them both. "It's probably no where near-" But just then a blur of red and white sprang from the trees, and roared loudly again! It pounced on the poor scarecrow, knocking him down. Kagome had dropped her bike and ran behind a tree for cover. She looked and saw a familiar red kimono and head of white hair looming before the Joey Scarecrow and the Tin Duke. The animal stood up, and indeed was Inu-yasha except…he had a tail, and his hands and feet were furry and as white as his hair! The 'lion' made a fanged grin, and looked at his victims.
"So, think you can come to my forest unwelcome?" he asked them. He turned to Joey, "Are you scared, you pile of rejected mattress stuffing?" then he turned to Duke, "How about you, you bucket of bolts?" But then, he was distracted when a pear hit him in the head. "OW! What the-?" he turned and saw Kagome and Shippo throwing pears from the back pack at him.
"Leave them alone, you big bully!" Kagome yelled. But then, the beast started charging at them! Shippo yelped and jumped into Kagome's arms. She closed her eyes, and by reflex from her normal life, Kagome yelled, "Sit, boy!"
The wild animal yelped as he was pulled to the ground. Kagome opened her eyes and saw Joey and Duke run over to her as the beast got back up. He looked at her, and whined pitifully, "What'd you do that for? I didn't hurt them!"
"You were being a bully!" Kagome yelled.
"And how did you do that?" he asked, now angry. "Only the Witch of The East could do that, cause this necklace, " he pointed to the black and white necklace on him, "Only works for whoever has the Sacred Jewel!"
"Oh…ah…well…" Kagome said. She had tucked the Jewel beneath her shirt collar, but now, she got it out. When she did, all three guys loomed closer.
"It can't be?!" the 'lion' yelled with dismay.
"The Shikon Jewel!" the Tin Duke cried.
"The Shikon no Tama!" the Joey scarecrow exclaimed. Then, all three asked, "How did you get it?"
"I uh…I accidentally killed the Witch," Kagome said.
"Great! Now I'll never find the sword!" Inu-yasha the Lion said, sitting down and sulking.
"What sword?" Kagome asked him.
"The Sword of Courage," he replied. "It lets the bearer destroy his enemies with one stroke. I tried to get the Witch to tell me where, and she threw these stupid beads on me. She said if I ever get them off, then she'd tell me where the Sword was. But since she's dead, I'll never find it, and I'll be stuck with this necklace forever!"
"You could ask the Wizard where it is," Kagome suggested. Inu-yasha looked at her for a minute, then turned away.
"Feh," he said. "Why should I?"
"Because otherwise, you're stuck with that necklace, and I'll use their power until you get some sense knocked into your skull."
"I don't know where to find this stupid Wizard," Inu-yasha said, still sulking.
"We do," Kagome said, grabbing his arm and helping him up. "You can come with us."
"What?" Joey asked. "You want that deranged fur ball to come?!"
"No way!" Duke said.
"He's coming," Kagome said. "We might need his help. Besides, he can't hurt anyone if I say the 'special word'." she said pointing to Inu-yasha's necklace. She went back, got the bike upright, and said, "Now let's go boys."
The three odd companions looked at each other, humphed, and followed Kagome.
AN: Oh, the insanity! Please review!