Chapter 68:
To Normal.
I'm warning you, this chapter is weird and the second half is crack-ish. This may be the effects of Laptop Radiation XD. Or I'm just tired and in a silly mood, take your pick. But hey, this chapter would be boring otherwise.
"Uri?" Tsunayoshi says, taking a good look at the toy down the end of the hall way. Yes, it was Uri, he confirms as he walks closer and closer. And the plushie was in amazingly good condition too for being so old. Actually that made him think- just how far into the future was he anyway? But nevertheless, he could imagine that Hayato would take good care of it. Hayato was always so excited whenever he came around, treating Tsunayoshi like a king or an angel or something. He seemed so reverent whenever Tsunayoshi gave him anything, so it wasn't really a surprise that Hayato would take good care of the present that represented their friendship.
So that really made him wonder what it was doing sitting in the middle of the hallway? Whoever had placed it there was being a meanie, allowing something so important to possibly get damaged. They should return it to Big-Hayato's room immediately. In fact, Tsunayoshi would do it himself. It wasn't like he had anything else to do anyway.
But it seems that someone else gets there before him.
First of all thick gloved hands reach down, clicking a red collar and a leash around Uri's neck. He couldn't tell who it was since they were wearing an industrial face mask and overalls.
"There you are Uri. I've been looking everywhere for you." Says a voice, sounding deep and raspy, distorted due to the mask. "Come along now."
Uri stays where she is- of course she would, she's a stuffed animal after all. So this… person, whoever they were, yanks on the leash and drags Uri away. Well that wasn't any way to treat Uri! She was valuable to both him and Hayato. She would get dirty and possibly ripped, being dragged like that. He had to stop them!
Tsunayoshi runs up to the corner, ready to shout at the bad person, but finds them already turning the next corner. Uri was now on her side, paws to the floor, being dragged head first due to the collar. Tsunayoshi didn't think he'd be heard if he shouted, so he continued to run after the bad bad person.
He didn't stop to think why this person hadn't just picked Uri up instead. He didn't notice because he too talked to his stuffed lion, Natsu, and treated it like a real cat sometimes. He assumed that adults did that too- some of the Arcobaleno pretended Natsu was real too at times. To the mind of the child, placing a collar on a cat was a natural thing to do.
As Tsunayoshi gets around the next corner, he finds that the person is having a hard time dragging Uri. He was pulling with both hands, as if Uri didn't want to come along. If Uri was anything like Hayato, then maybe Uri really didn't want to go anywhere. The plushie bandit pushes open a door and pulls Uri inside. Tsunayoshi gasps, since that wasn't Big-Hayato's room, and quickly runs down the corridor and gets to the door. He wondered what was going to be inside…
The trip to this room wasn't pleasant for Uri either. She had only wanted to keep an eye on Chibi. Vongola Box weapons, with their special upgrade, were of course reflections of their owner's hearts, so both familiar and master cared for Chibi. So when she had seen Chibi nearly start to cry due to his violent expulsion from the room, she had meowed to cheer him up. But before she could move and go comfort him, someone- and she knew damn well who it was, very few people wore those clothes- had come along and shackled her. She hated being tied up like that.
But before she could show her distain, she was pulled and dragged along the floor. She dug her claws into the floor, trying not to be taken to that horrible room. She did stop for a moment, before another harsh tug caused her to fall onto her side. Her claws remained in the floor, creating tracks as she was dragged. But she was powerless at the moment without Flames from her Master, so there was nothing she could do to stop herself being dragged into the room she hated.
The 'bandit' had very good reason for going the lengths he was going to retrieve the Box Weapon. Uri had a tendency to scratch at people she didn't like, or didn't want to be with. Usually, the 'bandit' was okay; she saved most of her 'love' for Storm. But there was a special event happening today, one which she didn't like, and therefore, for today, he was an enemy. And since he didn't want his arms or face scratched off, he had worn a lot of protective gear. Holding Uri in his hands would only mean she was closer and could attack him more easily. That was why a collar and leash was used, to maintain a reasonable distance. Plus, she could jump out of his arms but it was harder for her to escape this special collar. Without Storm's consent there was no way she was disintegrating this collar and leash.
Tsunayoshi had to be careful. This was the villain's evil lair he was about to enter. Who knows what monstrosities were hiding inside? But he had to save Uri from the bandit. He puts his back against the wall and holds his hands, clasped with his pointer fingers extended in the shape of a gun, next to his face. He looks both left and right down the hallway, checking for the villain's minions.
Singing the usual spy theme tune in his head, he prepares himself to open the door.
~Dun dun dun-dun, do do-dooo, do do-dooo, da-dun~.
At the critical beat of the song, Tsunayoshi grabs the handle and slowly opens the door. He'd seen Reborn on missions enough to have an idea about how to approach this. First his hands with his 'gun' round the corner of the open door, before he then pokes his head inside.
"For heaven's sake, Uri. You're just like Storm, can't sit still for 5 minutes for an examination." That was the first voice he'd heard, that of the Catnapper.
"Just a system scan and anti-virus check." Says a different voice. Oh there was an accomplice?
"Storm won't be happy to know that you've been troublesome you know." But suddenly the voice sounds different. Hmm, the mask must have been taken off. "Sky wouldn't be happy either. He's still worried about Storm due to how close he came to his time limit, we don't know whether that's going to affect you, so we need to check you over more than any of the others."
What were they going to do to Uri?! He had to save her quick. He fully steps into the room, being careful not to shut the door behind him so he could make a quick exit. There is a happy bark from his left. He cringes, now the bandit would know he was here.
Indeed, the two men turn around from the metal table they were looking at- how suspicious!- and stare at him. The 'bandit' was a red head, whilst his accomplice was blond. When they look at him their eyes widen. Ha, they must be surprised that they had been found out! Naughty villains were always defeated, they should know that. The blond one fiddles with the lollipop stick in his mouth. Maybe he was nervous? Well, they should be. He'd go and tell Storm about what they had done to Uri and he wouldn't be very happy, so he'd give them a good telling off. Big-Hayato seemed very loud in the future, so Tsunayoshi reckoned he would be good at giving telling's offs.
Wait a second… Blond. Lollipops. He knew who this was! This wasn't an evil minion accomplice, it was-
"Spanner!" Tsunayoshi sings, running up to hug the future mechanic. Spanner's lollipops were always the best! "So that makes you Shoichi." He deduces, turning to the other person. These two were nearly always inseparable, almost like brothers.
"C-c-chibi?" stutters Strategist (No longer an evil mastermind of any kind). His eyes move between the boy and the box weapon. Uh-oh, big problem. This was not good. He places a hand against his stomach. "What are you doing here? Weren't you with Storm?" He asks, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder to keep him facing Roboticist and the wall. If Chibi looked behind him it wouldn't be good.
"Hayato is with the Varia. They were having some kind of meeting so they chucked me out." Tsunayoshi pouts, crossing his arms as he did so.
"So your clothes," Roboticist states, waving a hand at the ruined shirt Chibi was wearing. If he'd met the Varia then just having a tattered shirt was amazing. He walks off into the sleeping quarters of their garage and finds a new shirt for the boy. He might catch a cold in those cloths and they didn't want that to happen.
Tsunayoshi thanks Big-Spanner for the shirt before answering the rest of Big-Shoichi's question. "I saw Uri and wondered what she was doing here. When I was about to pick her up and return her to Hayato's room, you came along and grabbed her." Tsunayoshi looked at the metal table infront of him. He took a few steps forwards so he could properly look over it. He wanted to check that Uri was still clean and not ripper from her travel across the floor. Hayato would be mad if she was damaged.
"Uri are you okay?" He asks, knowing full well he wasn't going to get an answer, but that's just what little children did.
The cat meows.
The cat nods.
The cat walks.
The cat licks him.
THE CAT MOVED!
Tsunayoshi's eyes widen dramatically at what he was seeing. Last time he checked Uri couldn't move. He hadn't seen a stuffed animal move since… the first time he had met the pair actually. So this must be the same!
"You put metal and gears and a voice inside Uri? You made her move like that teddy bear? That's so cool!" He squeals, getting excited. A moving plushie sounded awesome!
The pair of mechanics look at each other, first in horror. Due to the large time differences between their world and the world of Mafia Row, Box Weapons hadn't been invented yet. Scientist wouldn't have even started work on them yet. They didn't want to change the future of Chibi's world by telling him the truth of what these animals really were.
However, a spark of relief enters their eyes when the boy continues to scream in enthusiasm. Metal, gears and a voice sounded like a basic robot. Lots of toys these days were made in that way. But it was the perfect cover story. Uri was now a cat-robot, a catbot, an UriBot.
"You like it?" Roboticist asks.
Tsunayoshi turns around and beams up at Roboticist. "I love it! I sometimes wish that Natsu would act like a real cat. I didn't know you could really make it though!" He had to tell Verde about this when he got home.
The happy bark from earlier sounds again, before something heavy lands on both of his shoulders. Tsunayoshi slowly turns his head to see what it was.
"Ahh! Jirou!" Tsunayoshi says in surprise. He gets a lick from the happy dog before the animal finally goes back onto all fours. Tsunayoshi gives the moving dog plushie a pat on the head. But wow, Spanner and Shoichi did an amazing job. It was hard to tell that they weren't really real. He looks up when he hears more animal sounds to find lots more animals in the room. There was all the plushies he had given his friends, Mukurowl and Kojirou and even Roll.
The hedgehog comes up and sniffs Tsunayoshi curiously. It must like his smell because it then rubs it's cheek gently against Tsunayoshi's leg.
"It's like Sky, but not Sky." Roll explains.
There is a collective head tilt from the others.
Jirou gives Tsunayoshi a sniff too. "He's right. Plus isn't Sky taller?"
Kangaryuu and Gyuudon nod their heads. Sky was taller than them these days, and this Sky was certainly not taller than them.
"Haha, but who cares? He's easier to jump on this way!" laughs Jirou, once again jumping up to put his paws on Tsunayoshi's shoulders. This causes the child to giggle.
"The Flame wavelength is different too. This one is untapped and tiny. We all know that Sky's Flame is huge and under control." States Mukurowl, flying over to sit on the metal table just above Tsunayoshi.
"The way my Master explains it, it's a baby Sky." Uri explains.
"Moo, just like my Master when we first met." Adds in Gyuudon. The child was around the same size.
Uri nods before turning back to Jirou. "Now back off. I had him first." She hisses, swiping a paw at the dog. How dare he slobber over Chibi like that! Since she was busy attacking the dog, she doesn't notice Kojirou go and sit in Tsunayoshi's hair.
"Extreme fight!" shouts Kangaryuu, punching infront of him with his boxing gloves. These two were always getting into fights and they were awesome to watch. They went at it like, well, cats and dogs. Roll sighs before moving out of the way and sitting next to Tsunayoshi. It wasn't as brave as his Master unless provoked, so he didn't want to interrupt their fight.
Jirou gets down and looks at Uri before crouching down and jumping from spot to spot. "Huunn, why can't I play with him? It's not fair. There aren't any rules saying I can you know." He whines.
"Hey now. Uri stop fighting. We need you for your check up." Strategist chides, picking the cat up using the rather thick gardening gloves- scratch proof of course. Uri squirms and tried to claw out in protest, but ends up only swiping at thin air. She yowls out, but the others do nothing to help her. They were all here for a check-up anyway, so she wasn't getting out of it.
This was yearly maintenance done on the Vongola Box Weapons to make sure that they were in top condition and that their programming was still working accordingly.
There is the sound of light tapping against the floor. Suddenly Gyuudon skitters and runs to be behind the metal examination table as far away from the threat as possible. Roll fluffs out it's spikes as Mukurowl flaps his wings threateningly. For coming across the room was a very dangerous Liger. Kangaryuu steps to be in the way, defending the boy; His Sparing Partner liked the child and the Box Animal wanted to spar against the child too, he apparently had some Extreme moves. The Liger raises a lip and growls in distain before walking on past the Kyangaroo.
Bester- also here for a check-up- pads all the way to Tsunayoshi before taking the back of the child's collar into it's mouth and picking the child up. Kojirou flaps his wings and quickly flies off since it's perch was no longer available.
Strategist and Roboticist only half take notice since they are busy trying to examine Uri whilst dodging flying paws and fangs. And well, Bester belonged to the Varia Boss- they weren't going to interfere unless they wanted their garage burned down or Chibi was in danger. He seemed fine at the moment.
At first, Tsunayoshi doesn't have a clue as to who these plushie-robots belong to. However, as he's picked up, an image flashes across his mind, his intuition providing the answer. This one was called Bester and belonged to Xanxus.
The Box Animals growl or glare at Bester as the liger takes the child away. Bester just gives an apathetic look back- which was scary in it's own right. "My Partner was interested in him earlier. We're looking after him." He explains around the mouthful of shirt he had.
He walks back over to their side of the room, the side with the cushions, carpets and a warm radiator. They were going to stay in comfort whilst here.
Tsunayoshi wonders where this lion with stripes was going to do with him. It was so big and really scary.
"Umm… Please Mr Lion. D-don't e-eat m-m-m-m-me. I-I-I don't taste very g-good. I-If you're mad that I-I j-jumped on X-Xanxus then I'll a-apologise." Tsunayoshi stutters. He didn't want to be eaten. He was too young to be eater. He still had so much to do! He wouldn't even get to say goodbye. The Lion with stripes was so big it would eat him in one gulp.
Tsunayoshi is surprised when he's dropped onto the middle of the carpet instead. He looks around and finds a few other animals around too. And then there was a small Box siting there too. He decided that he didn't want to touch that box.
"Ushishishi! The one who tried to jump on my Master eh?" giggles Mink as he runs up and scurries around Tsunayoshi. He quickly runs up the boy's arm and slinks around the boy's shoulders. He leans up and bites the child's ear, drawing blood. But before he knows it, Mink is pinned down on the floor on his back, and no matter how hard he wiggles he can't get free. Nor can he bite those holding hands.
The others laugh at him. Pinned down by a child. Pathetic.
"Vrrooii! Now we know why our Partners were interested in him. How does it feel down there Mink?" The Shark laughs.
"Ka-ching! Why don't you attack him and try for yourself. Unless you're scared of a child a quarter of your size?" Mink bites back, hissing at the shark.
The peacock walks over and opens it's tail feathers, giving off a quick burst of Sun Flames to heal the bite. The child doesn't notice the Flames, but he does notice the pretty colours and openly gapes at the display. His grip on Mink lessens and he escapes.
"I'm not fixing you if you attack this cutie~" Explains the peacock, turning this way and that to give the child an excellent view of the way his feathers shimmered.
"I don't care what you do with him. Just keep him over this side. We can laugh at those pathetic glares of jealousy from the others." Bester growls, nodding towards the Vongola Box Weapons that were still watching.
"What an excellent idea!" agrees the Electric Ray, flapping it's wings. Bester puts a paw on the nearest wing, digging claws in to make the ray stop. All that fanning was moving the warm air from the radiator.
"How much longer is this going to take? I'm bored." Whines Mink, batting the small box around the carpet.
"Stop whining brat." Shouts the Shark, swiping at Mink with his finned tail. Mink jumps over the tail before laughing at the shark. "It'll be done when it's done. Just don't cause any trouble or I'll flatten you."
"Ushishishi, try that and I'll turn you into Shark Sashimi before you can even finish roaring." Mink replies, grinning madly.
"Shut up Trash." Growls Bester. He places one large paw on the child's back and uses it to drag the child closer to him. Bester then lays down, one paw firmly still on the child's back, whilst the rest of him curled up in a comfortable position. "If anyone wakes me up before it's my turn, we'll be having a new statue in the garden." The others nod, some protesting the threat, but all still comply.
Mink runs over the lying-down child and curls up on the boy's shoulders. "Well then, I shall sleep too. Nothing else to entertain me here." The shark, peacock and ray all follow suit, although the shark remains look out instead of sleeping.
Tsunayoshi was sure that he was going to be eaten when the lion dragged him closer. But instead it just forced him to the floor before pinning him to the ground and falling asleep. He was going to be a snack when the lion woke up he was sure. Then the mink climbs onto him too, at least it didn't try to eat him this time. Eventually all the animals lie down and fall asleep. Tsunayoshi listens to the sounds of their animalistic breathing and snores and eventually finds himself feeling sleepy too. He had been woken up early this morning by Squalo. He really needed another two or three hours of sleep. And the warmth from the lion with stripes and the very fluffy mink and the radiator made it harder and harder for the small child to keep his eyes open. Only a few… minutes wouldn't…hurt…
When Uri has finally finished her examination and told the Mechanics exactly what she thought of them, she jumps down from the table and realises that Chibi is missing. When she asks the others where he's gone, they all point to where the other group of animals were. She flicks her tail in distain and annoyance before shouting at the others and asking how they could let it happen. None of them can give her an answer. So instead she wonders across the room, nose in the air, before coming to the sleeping mess of animal limbs. She parades straight in and finds a nice spot next to Chibi's stomach before lying down and going to sleep herself. She had tired herself out with all the scratching and protesting she had done today.
The rest of the Vongola Box Animals look between each other, amazed by Uri's bravery. Carefully, they all wonder across to that side of the room and find positions where they could sleep too. There was nothing like one big group hug.
Strategist and Roboticist sigh and wonder how they were supposed to conduct their check-ups now? They could barely see Chibi right in the middle of it all, but at least he was definitely breathing and alive. In the end the pair resort to poking the Weapon they want until it wakes up. They didn't want to face a whole horde of angry Box Weapons if they woke them all up.
When Tsunayoshi wakes up, it's to find himself no longer surrounded by fur sadly, but in an armchair instead. He also has a light headache. He looks up when the door opens and smiles when he sees that it's Big-Hayato.
"I brought you your clothes Chibi. Get dressed. It's time to go." He explains, leaving the small pile next to him.
Go? Go where? Tsunayoshi wonders as he gets changed.
Storm leads Chibi through the Neo Vongola Mansion, underground into the room belonging to their multi-dimensional time transporter device. Chibi rubs his head as the headache gets a little worse.
Scientist comes over and wraps a bracelet around Chibi's wrist. Then he looks up at Storm. "Everything is ready." Storm nods before turning to Chibi.
"Chibi, we're going to send you home. There are reasons that mean that you can't stay in the future for very long, so we need to send you back before you get sick."
Oh, that's where he was going.
"Okay then." Tsunayoshi says, looking up at Big-Hayato. "Thank you for a really good day. I had a lot of fun. Tell everyone that I said bye." He gives Big-Hayato one last hug before turning to Verde. "I'm ready."
He wasn't going to cry, for to him, this wasn't a goodbye at all. It was just a see you later. He wasn't really going to leave them. It's too bad that Chibi didn't know he'd also jumped dimensions rather then just jumping into the future.
Scientist nods before starting to press some buttons on a huge computer. Strategist and Roboticist type away on other computers, and all three are talking to each other, reciting numbers and really long words that Tsunayoshi doesn't understand. Then the bracelet on his wrist starts beeping, just like what had happened to Storm before he would leave Tsunayoshi all alone in the dark cell.
"Thank you. Bye bye." He smiles before there is a sudden cloud of baby blue smoke.
Tsunayoshi blinks, and coughs as the smoke envelops him. Luckily it quickly dissipates and he finds himself back on Mafia Row. The Bovino were still shouting, about the same topic even. And there was still that bird in the exact same spot he last saw it, and the clock was still telling the same time. He looks down at his wrist and realises that his bracelet is no longer there.
He must have been brought back to the moment he left from. That meant that no one would miss him. That was good.
So with a smile on his face as he thinks about his adventure in the future, Tsunayoshi skips down Mafia Row towards Hayato's house. He still needed to apologise after all.
"You can come out now Juudaime. Chibi's gone." Storm says as the smoke clears and no one is standing there. Sky comes out from his hiding place, rubbing away the ends of the headache.
"So did you have fun with him?" Sky asks, with a sly grin on his face as Storm blushes. "Oh, what happened? Tell me." He pleaded. But Storm wouldn't say anything.
He'd have to ask the others then. Someone would tell him. One way or another.
There we go people. Another arc done. For those who asked why the Arcobaleno weren't in a panic, here's the reason why. I'd planned this ending for this arc from the start, or else there would have been scenes of the Arcobaleno panicking at the start of some chapters.
And now we come to our sentence:
There are places, and there are times, that are different from what we were expecting. But we'll take it all in stride and enjoy the change, before things return to normal.
That's kind of deja-vu gone wrong. It kind of summarise Tsunayoshi's feeling about this arc, since people are the same yet different, especially because he doesn't realise those aren't His people, but totally different people.
So I'll see you all for my next arc. I only made one hint towards it this time, so good luck guessing!
See you all then!
Phantom Hitman 1412
First Published 06 January 2013