To Save the World, Act Like a Five-Year-Old
L.A.: Yay! I have returned. I bet you all thought I quit on the story. Sadly, my life has been so hectic that this is the first time I have had to work on it
Amu: (is hiding behind random sofa)
L.A.: Why are you hiding behind the random sofa?
Amu: I'm prepared for when you are attacked by your readers.
L.A.: Eh, well hopefully you'll forgive me since this chapter is extra long. Also, I'm not doing review responses in the story. Instead, I'll respond to you personally. I figured you didn't want to have to read a full page of replies before getting to the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. I do though own my characters, and the cowardly Amu. (Amu: I heard that!)
Kurama was starting to get really annoyed with this place. He and Hiei had woken up in a cell, chained to the walls. With some clever maneuvering, they were able to get free. They had wandered the halls for an hour without seeing a soul.
Hiei paused up ahead as his frown deepened. "Do you hear that?"
Kurama faintly heard the sound of footsteps. "Sounds like someone's coming."
They tensed as two loud screams reached their ears. At the end of the corridor, Tori and Sira ran by followed by a giant dragon.
"Um…" Kurama said, his mind unable to process what he had seen.
Hiei shook his head. "Idiots."
"What the hell is wrong with this dragon?" Sira said. After running for ten minutes they found a hole in the wall. Tori, Sira, Haku, and Akira squeezed in just as the dragon reached them. It clawed at the opening and growled.
"Apparently it has issues," Tori glared at Sira. "Though this wouldn't be a problem if you hadn't wished for the dragon in the first place."
"Excuse me," Sira said as she dodged a claw. "I am not a masochist. I did not intentionally call a dragon here."
Haku whimpered as the quartet backed further into the crevice.
"So, since we're supposed to be all powerful how about you go out there and beat the dragon," Sira said.
Tori looked at her as if she were an idiot. "I'm sorry but no amount of power is going to convince me that I am not going to be barbequed if I leave this crevice."
Just then the dragon let out a loud shriek before running away.
The girls gave each other confused looks before slowly creeping out.
Kurama and Hiei were standing there looking slightly amused.
"How did you find us?" Tori asked.
"We heard you idiots screaming," Hiei said.
Kurama's lips twitched. "How did you get a dragon to chase you?"
"Ask Sira," Tori said. "She's the one who created it."
"I am not a masochist!" Sira said as she stomped her foot.
Seeing the two demons' confused faces, the girls told them about their discovery.
"Hm, that could prove useful," Kurama said. "Especially to help us find Yusuke and Kuwabara."
"Whoop de doo for us," Tori said as she glanced down at the ground and rubbed her arm.
Kurama frowned at Tori's sudden change in demeanor, however, before he could comment, a hole appeared underneath Sira and Haku.
Sira's expression turned to one of disbelief. "Mother Fu…" She dropped, both her and Haku screaming.
Hiei let out a sigh before jumping in after her. As soon as he was through, the black hole closed up.
Tori sighed. "Poor Sira, weird shit really does happen to her often."
Sira let out a groan as she came too. She found herself in the middle of what appeared to be a dungeon. "Great," she muttered, "back to square one."
"Get off," a voice said from underneath her. She looked down to see Hiei glaring up at her.
"Ack," She said as she jumped off and backed up a couple of spaces.
Hiei stood up and brushed himself off. Sira felt something brush up against her and saw Haku staring at her worriedly.
"Don't worry, Haku," She said as she scooped him up into her arms. "We'll be okay."
"Come on," Hiei said as he grabbed her and pulled her to her feet. "We need to get going."
His hand was still on her arm causing her to blush. Realizing this, she quickly yanked her arm away. "Fine, let's go." She said before quickly hurrying on ahead.
Kurama cast a glance at Tori. Ever since Sira had fallen down the hole, she had been relatively quiet. He was pretty sure though that the cause in her change of demeanor was something else. "Tori, is everything alright?" He asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
Tori flinched away from his hand. "It's nothing."
Kurama frowned. "Tori," He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to face him. "What's wrong?"
Tori looked away.
"She is worried about her powers, you see," Akira said as he casually groomed himself. "She's afraid that your love wasn't meant to be."
"Akira," Tori said as she glared at him. Her eyes widened as she heard Kurama laugh behind her. "That isn't funny." She said as she turned back towards him.
"Tori…" Kurama began.
"You don't understand," She shook her head. "I could have brainwashed you unconsciously. You probably don't even like me…" Her glare returned as Kurama burst out into laughter. "Why won't you take me seriously?"
Kurama quickly sobered up. "Tori, I have had S class siren demons try to seduce me with all their willpower and have had no effect. Do you honestly think you could do it subconsciously?"
"Well no, but…"
"Then quit worrying," He said as he pulled her into a hug. She blushed as they broke apart. "Now how about we find the others."
"What are you doing?"
Sira started slightly from her thoughts. They had been walking in silence for fifteen minutes before Hiei spoke.
She narrowed her gaze at him. "I'm walking, what does it look like." She started to walk again when she felt him grab her shoulder. She turned around and clinched her fists. "What?"
"Whatever you're so pissed off about, deal with it," Hiei said. "I don't want to have to safe your ass just cause you're too distracted to pay attention."
"Oh really," Sira said sarcastically. "Well, I'm so glad you care." She laughed. "Oh, wait you don't. You don't care about anything."
Hiei let out an exasperated sigh. "What are you talking about?"
"You don't just kiss someone and then disappear," Sira said.
"Hn," Hiei said.
Sira's face turned bright red. "Don't you Hn, me." She raised her hand to slap him but he stopped her hand inches from his face.
"You're trying my patience," Hiei said through clinched teeth.
Sira's shoulders drooped as her hand fell. "It's not like you would understand. You don't believe in love."
Haku cocked his head to one side as he watched Sira and Hiei stare at each other.
"You're right, I think love is a pointless emotion and humans are complete idiots," Hiei said as he walked by her.
Sira was about to protest when Hiei added. "However," He turned back to face her. "You, I tolerate."
Her eyes widened as her heart skipped a beat. To most people that wouldn't mean much but coming from Hiei…
"You coming?" Hiei asked.
Sira blushed and nodded. "Yeah, I'm coming."
Haku watched Sira and Hiei walk ahead. He was quite pleased with how things were turning out. With a bark and a slight wag of his tail, he quickly followed after him.
"Do you hear voices?" Tori asked.
Kuruam frowned slightly as he strained to listen. He smirked. "Sounds likes Yusuke and Kuwabara."
Sure enough around the corner, they found Kuwabara and Yusuke in a cage, hanging upside down in chains.
Tori giggled as she tilted her head to her side. "Hanging out are we?"
"You're so funny," Yusuke said as he squirmed slightly. "Not. Now get us out of here."
"Hm, it seems their hands are tied," Akira said as he gave Tori a grin. "Why don't you give your new powers a try?"
"Huh," Tori asked. "Oh, that."
"What is he talking about?" Kuwabara asked.
Kurama placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's worth a try."
Tori sighed as she opened the cage door. "Okay, but don't expect anything." She held her hand up against Yusuke's chains.
"What are you doing?" Yusuke asked, his voice a mixture between annoyance and nervousness.
Tori ignored him as she concentrated on melting the chains with her hand. She heard a loud hissing sound and gasped as she saw the metal glow hot red and melt away.
"How did you do that?" Yusuke said as he stood up and rubbed the circulation back into his wrists.
"I'm still figuring it out," Tori said as she finished melting the chains on Kuwabara. "Now let's find Sira and Hiei."
Haku let out a small whimper as he pawed Sira's ankle.
"I know how you feel," Sira said as she scooped him up in her arms.
A pair of burgundy red doors towered before them. Besides making her feel small, the doors also had an ominous feel to them.
"Uh, Hiei…" Sira began. "Maybe we should…"
He opened the doors and walked in.
Sira sighed. "Never mind then." She glanced down at Haku who was cocking his head at her. "Your master needs to learn to be more cautious."
"Sira," Hiei said.
She hurried inside only to stop a few feet in and gasp. "What the hell?"
The inside of the room was filled with machines that hummed at a steady rhythm. One wall was entirely covered in monitors. Each monitor an image of earth was displayed.
"Big brother's watching," Sira said as she glanced towards Hiei.
He was staring up at the ceiling. "There's something in the cage above us."
A pair of big, very familiar, eyes peered out of the cage.
Sira grinned. "Hey, it's the molester."
The Argos' eyes narrowed. "Would you call me by my name." He frowned. "Preferably before your boyfriend over there kills me."
Hiei's glare was deeper than usual and his hands were balled in fists.
Sira laughed sheepishly. "Oh, he's not really a molester. He just creeped me out the first time I met him."
"Hn," Hiei said before he flitted up to the cage and freed the Argos.
"Do you have any idea why there are monitors, here?" Sira asked as they landed on the ground.
The Argos nodded. "The one who has been pulling the strings the entire time is named Dante. Apparently, he has been planning to take over the different dimensions via a…" He trailed off as footsteps approached them.
Everyone tensed as the doors creaked open. Akira popped his head from around the door.
"Oh, we thought we heard someone here," He craned his neck back. "Don't worry guys, the coast is clear."
The others slowly entered.
Tori grinned when she saw her best friend. "Sira, I'm glad you're alright."
Sira pointed upwards. "Personally, I think someone up there thinks it's hilarious to put me in awkward slash dangerous situations."
"Now isn't the time for frivolity," The Argos anxiously scanned the room. "He wouldn't have left here without a reason. He…" The Argos stopped as he paled.
Everyone slowly turned to face the entrance. A giant creature stood before them. It wore a long hooded coat that reached the floor. A dragon-like tail dragged on the ground sounding like nails on chalkboard. Its three fingered clawed hands reached up and removed its hood causing the group to gasp. It had the head of a king cobra.
"So," The creature's eyes narrowed. "It's seems everyone is here."
"Is that Dante?" Sira asked the Argos.
He nodded slightly. "Yes, he's the most dangerous he…"
"Silence!" Dante yelled. With a flick of his wrist, shadows wrapped themselves around the Argos and dragged him off to the side. "I won't let you ruin the surprise, you wretched creature." He grinned as he looked over them. "I see that you found my monitors."
"What are you planning to do," Yusuke said with a smirk. "Take over the world?"
Dante's teeth gleamed in the dim light. "Quite the contrary, I plan to take over all the worlds." He motioned to the monitors. "These monitors show all the earths in all of the dimensions." His head swiveled to Sira and Tori. "Including yours."
Both girls gasped as they turned back to the monitors.
The Argos broke out of the shadows' hold and yelled. "You're crazy. If you opened that many portals you'll disrupt the fabric of time and space."
"If it means that I will control all the worlds then so be it," Dante hissed.
"We'll stop you," Kuwabara's spirit sword materialized in his right hand. "You can't defeat all of us."
"You won't be able to stop me," Dante said as he raised his hands. Sira frowned as she noticed thin silver strings extend from his fingers to the ground. "You'll be too busy fighting yourselves." He raised his hands. As he did, the group's shadows were pulled from the ground and forced into fighting positions.
"Shit," Yusuke muttered.
Immediately Kurama, Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara charged their shadows while Tori, Sira, Haku, and Akira cowered in a corner.
"Huh, how come we don't get shadows to fight?" Sira asked as she watched Hiei dodge his shadow clone's fire. "Are we the rejects or something?"
"You're actually complaining?" Tori said in disbelief.
Both girls winced when Kuwabara was slammed into a wall nearby.
"Uh, no" Sira said. "I was just stating an observation."
They were distracted by growls off to their right. The Argos was busy trying to free itself from the shadow binds.
Tori and Sira quickly ran over and pulled the shadows away from Argos. As soon as they fell to the ground, the shadows dissolved.
"Please tell me you've figured out the answer to my riddle," The Argos said.
"We did," Tori said.
"But how can we help defeat him." Sira glanced back at the battle. "The others can't even get near him."
Indeed, Kurama, Hiei, Yusuke, and Kuwabara couldn't get anywhere near Dante. The shadow clones seemed to know their every move. Tori and Sira could tell that they were getting exhausted. They wouldn't be able to last a lot longer.
"Look over in the corner," The Argos said. "Do you see that strange glowing machine?"
The machine that he was referring to was round in shape. There were slits at the top allowing a bright white light to shine through. It was winking making the girls believe that the light must be moving within the machine.
"Yeah," Tori said. "So."
"So, that machine is what gives Dante the power to go to other dimensions. Generally, it's safe but the amount he's acquired together in such a small amount of space makes it unstable." The Argos looked back at him. "Plus, the fact he is using it as energy for himself, we could have a huge problem on our hands."
"So, what are we supposed to do?" Sira asked. She cast a glance at Dante to make sure he wasn't paying attention.
"I want you two to go and disperse the energy." The Argos said. "Be careful though, it's almost as hot as the sun."
"Say what?" Sira said.
"Almost as hot as the sun?" Tori whimpered.
"You'll be fine," Akira said. "Although I would hurry because we don't have much time."
"There is no way I can convince myself that I'm not going to be burned to a crisp," Tori said.
The Argos sighed. "Look, I chose you two for a reason. You are a writer and an artist, the two most creative and open-minded class of people there are. Most people don't understand that when you write or draw your characters that you see them in explicit details in your minds. For that temporary time you are in your craft, they are real." He placed a paw on each of their shoulders. "That why I know that you can do this."
Both girls were stunned for a moment, unsure of how to react.
"Damn it," Sira said with a glare. "Why did you have to go and be sweet and motivational?"
"Come on, let's go save the world, then" Tori said.
Sira motioned Haku to stay before grinning at Tori. "You always wanted to say that didn't you?"
Tori grinned. "Yep."
The two girls quickly crept across the floor, keeping one eye on the battle while the other was focused on the machine. Getting closer, they could feel the heat emanating from the machine.
"I am an ice cream," Sira muttered. "I big freaking vanilla ice cream."
Feeling suddenly nervous, Tori reached out and grabbed Sira's hand. "Okay, I'm as cold as ice. I can't be burned." She said.
The heat dissipated a little.
Once they reached the machine, the girls were forced to squint. The machine was making a loud whirring sound.
"So, any ideas?" Sira asked.
Tori grinned sheepishly. "I was hoping you had some."
"We suck as heroes," Sira said she examined the lid and tapped a button. The machine made a beep before the lid flew off.
Both girls quickly looked back and were relieved to see that Dante was still distracted by the others.
Upon closer examination, the light looked almost syrupy with a hint of purple.
"We could pick it up," Sira said. She wasn't sure where the thought came from but the more she thought about it the more it made sense.
"Uh, light's intangible." Tori said
"Yeah, but we can influence this world," Sira said with a grin. "Let's just pretend it's putty."
"Wow, I never would have thought that acting like a five-year-old would help me save the world," Tori muttered.
Both girls casted nervous glances at each other before sticking their hands into the machine. Their hands burned so bad that they both thought they would scream but the feeling soon was replaced by a strange numbness.
Frowning, they pulled their hands out. Each girl had an orb of the energy sitting in their hands.
Dante let out a growl as he turned to face him. The shadow clones scrunched up and slowly evaporated. "You two!" He stomped towards them angrily. "I should have gotten rid of you a long time ago."
Both girls took a step back, praying the guys would get to them in time.
"What should we do?" Tori said.
The orbs began to glow in their hands. A loud shrieking sound filled the air as everything became white. The girls closed their eyes, sure they were going to die.
A couple of seconds later, the shrieking stopped. Tori and Sira carefully opened their eyes and found their breath caught in their throats.
"No way, no freaking way," Sira said.
Christmas music filled the air as the smells from the food court greeted them. They were back at the mall and it was still Christmas.
"But," Tori said, her eyes filled with tears. "We don't know if they're okay." Her gaze drifted to the ground. "We never even got to say goodbye."
L.A.: The end.
Amu: (is still hiding behind random couch) You have a death wish, don't you?
L.A.: Of course not which is why there is still one more chapter after this.
Amu: (is refusing to quit hiding behind random couch) That means we get to have a party, right?
L.A.: Only if you quit camping behind my couch.
Amu: (peers cautiously from behind random couch) Eh, maybe later.
L.A.: (mutters) She better not leave me any presents. Anyway, please read and review!
