It's a Small World Horror Style
L.A.: Ugh…I can't stay on schedule. At least I'm still updating weekly. That's got to count for something, right?
Amu: (is judging)
L.A.: You know, that was last chapter. It's in the past.
Amu: (is still judging)
L.A.: Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
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Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. If I did, the characters would hate me and the ridiculous scenarios I would put them in (maniacal laugh).
Sira and Tori stared down in amazement Nothing had changed. Everything was frozen in time.
"You think it's those time glitches again?" Sira asked.
Tori had thought the same thing. "Maybe, but they didn't used to last this long."
Sira's eyes widened. "What about the others?" They turned to face the den. "Do you think they were affected as well?"
Tori shrugged. "If it's like before…"
Sira nodded. "Only one way to find out."
They quickly entered the den. To their surprise, everyone was still acting like normal. Opening presents, talking, and laughing.
Kurama looked up and noted Tori's bewildered expression. "Is something the matter?"
All eyes turned to them. Tori shifted nervously. She always hated being in the spotlight. "You could say that."
Sira jerked her finger back toward the kitchen. "I think time's broke out there."
Yusuke frowned. "You sure you're not drunk?"
Sira glared at him. "How about you look outside and tell us what you see?"
Curious, the group headed toward the kitchen and crammed around the window. To Tori's relief everything was still frozen. Though technically she wasn't relieved that the problem still existed, just glad that Sira and she didn't look crazy.
"Well that's weird," Kuwabara said.
Botan turned toward Tori. "Did this happen a lot before?"
Tori nodded. "Yeah, we called them time glitches."
Sira frowned. "But, they never lasted this long."
"And they generally affected everyone but us," Tori added.
Yusuke smirked. "Then we should go out there and figure out what's going on."
Kurama crossed his arms. "But is that a good idea? What if we were to get stuck in the time glitch as well?"
Keiko and Yukina watched nervously.
"We could probably get you out of it," Sira glanced at Tori who nodded. "At least that's how it worked last time."
Botan frowned as she typed on her hand mirror communicator.
"Any word from Koenma or Hiei?" Yusuke asked.
Botan shook her head. "Something's blocked the reception."
Tori glanced out the window. Everything was still frozen, even the falling snow. It was like being stuck in a snow globe. Tori shivered at the thought. "Well, we better do something because it doesn't look like it's stopping any time soon.
The group traded uneasy glances.
Botan decided to stay with Keiko and Yukina and keep trying to contact Koenma. The rest stood at the entrance doors leading to the outside.
"So," Sira said. "Who wants to go first?"
Yusuke smirked. "Ladies first."
"How gentlemanly," Tori rolled her eyes.
Sira shrugged. "Whatever we should be fine." She grabbed Tori's hand and dragged her toward the doors. She shot one backwards glance at Yusuke and smirked. "Chicken."
Yusuke scowled. "Hey!"
Before he could comment, Tori and Sira were out the door.
Cold air slapped Tori in the face. She blinked a couple of times as her body adjusted.
Sira shivered beside her. "Guess we were right."
"Yeah," a puff of cold air came out of her mouth. It was colder than she had expected. "Yay, us."
"Damn it's cold," Yusuke said as he and the others approached them. Apparently the time glitch wasn't affecting them either.
"It's winter," Kuwabara said as he rubbed his hands together. "It's supposed to be cold."
Kurama frowned. "But not this 's something different about it. Something not natural."
Tori didn't like the sound of that.
"Well, that's not creepy or anything," Sira murmured.
Yusuke shrugged. "Whatever. Let's just find the problem already."
The group slowly trudged down the street. They were careful not to touch any of the frozen people just in case it hurt the people, or worse somehow pulled them into the frozen spell as well.
It was weird walking among the frozen. She felt like she was walking among mannequins. They were so still that Tori had to keep reminding herself that they weren't dead.
After 15 minutes of searching, the group started to get restless. So far, they couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary. Just a sea of frozen people.
"Aw, come on," Yusuke groaned. "There has to be something we're missing."
"Is there anything you can think of that happened before that could help us now?" Kurama asked. Tori noticed that he was the only one who didn't seem affected by the cold.
Not fair, she thought as she shivered.
"We already told you, it never lasted this long," Sira said as her teeth chattered. She looked absolutely miserable. "Seriously, I would not hold out on this."
"Maybe we should head inside?" Kuwabara's lips were turning blue. "Cause it's seriously cold."
"Yeah, except we'll still be stuck in this mess," Yusuke said, bitterly.
Suddenly, the sound of a music drifting through the air. It was tinny sounding, reminding Tori of a music box.
The others were still arguing completely oblivious to the sound.
"Guys. Shh. Don't you hear it?"
The guys frowned at Tori. "Hear what?"
Sira's eyes widened. "No. I hear it, too. Is that a music box?"
Tori nodded. "That's what I was thinking."
Yusuke looked annoyed. "What are you talking about?"
"Are you guys feeling okay?" Kuwabara added.
Tori turned to Kurama. "You guys don't hear it?"
Kurama shook his head. "No. We do not."
Sira and Tori traded worried glances. "Either we're going crazy…"
"Or we're somehow having powers that won't let us be affected," Tori finished. Tori wasn't sure which she would rather have happening to them. Sure the powers could be great, but then there was the problem of accidentally creating a fire breathing dragon. The crazy part didn't sound so great either.
Sira shrugged. "I guess there is only one way to find out."
Yusuke motioned in front of them. "Then lead the way."
It was a lot harder to find the source of the music than Tori had originally anticipated. The sound echoed and distorted leading them down dead ends and circles.
"This is pointless," Kuwabara moaned. "We're never going to find it."
Kurama glanced at the sky. "Can you still hear it?"
He sounded polite as always but Tori knew him well enough that he was beginning to doubt them. "Yes. We're sure." She knew she was sounding curt and she knew it wasn't Kurama's fault for not remembering their previous relationship. Still, it ticked her off that he couldn't just trust her. That he couldn't remember to trust her.
Kurama stiffened while the others raised their eyebrows at her in suspicion. Apparently it had come out harsher than she had intended.
"I think it's just around the corner," Sira said, breaking the tension.
Tori sent her a grateful look. She could always count on Sira having her back.
Yusuke crossed his arms and glared. "You better be right."
Sira rolled her eyes. "How should I know? This isn't an exact science you know."
They reluctantly rounded the corner and promptly came to a stop.
They had come to a roundabout. The center had been transformed into a creepy it's a small world installation. Human size clockwork figurines moved in stiff repetitive actions in the center. There was even Dalmatian wagging and cocking his tail. Up above them, a music box hovered in the air singing its eery tune.
"Well, this is disturbing," Tori said.
Sira's eyes twitched. "I am so having nightmares after this."
They slowly approached the installation. Besides their mechanical movements, there was nothing else out of the ordinary. No creepy villains popping out. No figures attacking them.
Kuwabara kept his sword at his side as he eyed them warily. "Do you think a demon would do this?"
Yusuke flinched when a figurine turned and waved at them. "Not one on the database."
Kurama frowned as he leaned forward to study one of the figurines. "You know. There is something strange about them. Something…"
Tori peered into one of the faces. There was something about the eyes. The way they looked. They appeared afraid, confused, and almost… "They look like they're alive." Tori said as a cold shiver ran down her spine.
"I see you are enjoying my artwork."
Everyone whirled in the direction of the voice.
The speaker looked like a boy no more than 10 or 11 years old with brown slicked back hair and purple eyes. There were strange metal growths on each side of his jaw bone and forehead which upon closer examination appeared to be screws. He hovered above them, sitting cross-legged with a piece of wood in his lap. The way he held the knife against it made it appear as if he was in the process of whittling.
Despite his appearance, the boys didn't take any chances. Yusuke had his spirit gun trained on the boy while Kurama and Kuwabara had their rose whip and sword poised to strike.
"Who are you?" Yusuke said, never once putting his hands down.
Tori and Sira discreetly moved behind the gang. No point being in the line of fire if the time came.
The boy cocked his head. "You're rude. Didn't anyone teach you manners?" He smirked. "Though if you must know. They call me the Toymaker. Even a simpleton like you should be able to guess why I'm called that."
The glow at the tip of Yusuke's gun grew brighter. "Why you-"
Kurama held out his hand to stop him. "We are just passing by. Trying to figure out what is going on. You wouldn't happen to know what caused this time freeze?"
Yusuke reluctantly dropped his hands.
The Toymaker shrugged. "No Idea. I'm just taking advantage of it." He motioned around him. "So many fresh canvasses to work with."
Tori glanced around. What did he mean by blank canvases? The only things around them were people frozen in time… Tori's face paled. "Oh, no."
Sira clutched her arm beside her arm beside her. Apparently she had come to the same conclusion.
"That's sick," Kuwabara said.
"Oh, I am so going to kick his ass," Yusuke cracked his knuckles for emphasis.
The Toymaker smirked. "This is going to be fun." He snapped his fingers. The figurines straightened up and turned toward them. "Let's see how you fair against my creations."
The toy like people slowly approached them.
Kurama flicked out his rose whip. "Sira, Tori, stay behind us."
He didn't have to worry. Tori wasn't about to engage in the fight. The way the figures walked toward her reminded her of the classic b-movie zombies.
Sira shivered. "Why does everything have to turn into a horror? I feel like I'm in the Walking Dead. I hate the Walking Dead."
Kuwabara charged toward the crowd, his sword raised above him.
Tori's eyes widened in panic. "Kuwabara! Don't! They're just innocent people."
Kuwabara came to an abrupt halt nearly tripping over himself. He dematerialized his sword. "You've got to be kidding me. How do we beat them then?"
No one was able to answer because the crowd attacked. The boys tried to fight back but they were operating with a handicap. Trying to take the people out without hurting or killing them was difficult.
Tori winced when Kurama wrapped his rose whip around a figurine. The whip emitted a strange rose hue and the figure immediately passed out. When the figurine collapsed the rose whip realized him. To Tori's relief, there were no scratches on the person.
"This is crazy," Sira said as she eyed the the battle warily. "What do we do?"
"You're the writer," Tori gasped when she saw Yusuke take a punch to the face. He staggered but remained on his feet as he continued to fight. "You figure it out."
Sira rolled her eyes. "Easier said than done." She glared at the music box. "If that would just shut up…"
"The music box," Tori said. "That has to be what's controlling them."
"Kuwabara," Sira yelled. She stopped when she saw him take a kick to the groin. "Never mind. He's got problems of his own."
Tori turned to Kurama. He was nearby focused on a group of slowly approaching figurines. "Kurama!"
He quickly turned to her looking at her, confused.
"The music box." Tori pointed to the hovering music box. "You need to get the music box."
She was afraid that he would doubt her again but he simply nodded and hurled his whip at the music box. It made a cracking sound before wrapping itself around the box.
"No!" The Toymaker shouted as he reached toward the music box. "Leave my precious alone!"
"Golem, much?" Sira said with a smirk.
Kurama proceeded to reel the music box in. Before he could make it a few inches, the Toymaker was upon it.
"Let go!" He yelled as he pulled his knife out. In one fluid motion, he cut the rose whip.
The whip let out a shriek as if it were alive. Kurama jerked back but it didn't matter. The whip lashed out and struck the Toymaker.
He howled as dropped the music box and grabbed his face.
"The music box!" Tori yelled. She and Sira were the closest. There was no option, they had to get it before it hit the ground and broke into pieces.
The next few moments felt as if they were in slow motion. The music box inching closer to the ground, each step closer so agonizingly slow. The shouts of the gang distorted.
It looked like they weren't going to make it. That the music box would be destroyed. Tori reached out her hand as she lurched forward.
As she caught it, another pair of hands reached out and caught it as well. Tori looked up and saw Sira smiling at her.
And then the world turned dark.
L.A.: And that's it for this chapter.
Amu: (is still judging)
L.A.: What? No comment about how I should quit doing so many cliff hangers?
Amu: (will judge L.A. until the end of time for the atrocity she has committed)
L.A.: I'm sorry, okay? Here have some pie. (gives Amu pie)
Amu: Fine. I will accept your apology…for now…
L.A.: Anywho, you know what to do. Read and REVIEW!
