Anime Closet Adventure Nine!

(HOME)

"Luuuuucifer~!"
"Hai, ma'am." Lucifer came approaching PheonixFox, Shikamaru, and the duct-taped Neji. Behind him walked Gaara, and along the ground he dragged yet someone else wrapped in duct tape.
PheonixFox leaned to the side to look at the other figure. "Ah! Itachi. I guess I expected it'd happen that way."
Lucifer nodded, and sat Itachi down next to Neji. Neither one looked happy, especially Itachi, since his eyes had been taped over.
"Who's this?" Shikamaru asked of the second victim.
"Itachi Uchiha. See?"
"Uchiha? You mean like Sasuke?"
"That's a yes and not a no! He's got the Sharingan! Only more powerful than Sasuke's! So it's no surprise he's been chosen like the rest of everyone!"
"Chosen?" Gaara asked.
But, apparently not having heard him, PheonixFox went skipping into the large, colorful house, and Lucifer slung Neji over one shoulder and dragged Itachi behind to follow. Shikamaru and Gaara reluctantly went in as well.

(Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro World)

"Missing."
"Hm?" Genuine asked as she licked his shoe.
"X is...missing."
"Mm...is he, now..?" she murred.
"It seems even his care-taker has no idea where he is."
"You'll find him."
"Yes. I will. This is quite annoying, however."
"How far could he go? There's only the world to escape to. Your world, Sicks."

(HOME)

"God bless you," L said dully as X wiped his nose after a sneeze.
Nekozawa was in action at once. "A rumor! Someone is spreading a rumor, X..." A pillow plapped at the back of his head, and he turned, insulted, to find Ed frowning at him.
"What a lousy superstition," he huffed. "He might just have a cold. Or allergies."
"Superstitions usually have to start somehow," Fai said with a smile, walking over to X and patting his head. "Are you okay, X?"
X nodded. "Just fine. I wonder where Ai is."
"Ai?"
X nodded. "Ai." He didn't elaborate.
"I want to explore, too," Alphonse said, "like Kurama and the others, but after what happened before I'm not so sure."
"I'm not afraid to go looking around," Fai said cheerfully. He looked down at X. "Want to come with me?"
"If that's all right."
"Of course."
Riku stood up. "May I come?"
"You don't even have to ask," Fai replied with a smile.
"Of course you don't! That's the point of having the freedom to explore!" Everyone turned to the door, and of course PheonixFox had returned. "Hi my dear adventurers! We have some more for you to meet!"
Edward grimaced. "There're already too many of us as it is, you dope."
"No, not enough. but we're getting there. The adventuring will start soon, so don't touch that dial! For now, we have these four, Shikamaru Nara, Gaara, Neji Hyuga, and Itachi Uchiha!"
Hiei took one looked at Lucifer behind her, carrying two of the new arrivals, and gritted his teeth. "You brought out that evil tape again, didn't you!?" he demanded.
"It's not evil, it's duct tape."
"I don't care if it can quack, crow, or wield a machete, it's annoying and despicable!" he accused.
PheonixFox brought out here silvery roll and cuddled it to her cheek. "It's strong, useful, and dependable! It is the master of the universe! All must bow before the mighty power of duct tape!!"
"You're crazy."
"Yes! Thank you!"
Lucifer came in and plopped Itachi and Neji onto two individual beds, as Shikamaru and Gaara sat on their own hesitantly. Itachi squirmed, mouth grim.
"Now! Let's run off, Lucifer! Oh, but wait! Kurama and Hao and Kayashima are missing! Are they exploring?"
A handful of the group nodded.
"Terrific! If any of you are looking for a certan kind of room, ask Lucifer or me whenever you get the chance, alrighty!"
Alphonse raised his hand. "Can you show my brother and I to a nonfiction library?"
"Certainly! Lucifer, head out without me, I'll be going shortly!"
Lucifer bowed, and with a curt "Yes, ma'am," he was gone in a flash. That's ninja for you.

"Now, this is somewhat...spooky." Kayashima didn't look too well.
Kurama shrugged. "It's not as bad as I thought it'd be. But this is definitely what those two were talking about."
"This way, the library is this way!" they heard behind them, and they turned to out in the hallway to find PheonixFox leading Ed and Al by. She paused as she saw the three in the room. "Oh! I really like that room. Hope you enjoy it!"
Hao, having already stuffed the paper away, grimaced. "I really don't understand you."
"Then learn to~!"

(Kingdom Hearts World)

"Where is he?" a voice in the darkness echoed. "Where..?"
There was no answer, of course. He was alone in the deep abysmal darkness.
"My vessel has gone missing. He still has his powers. I can feel them. But he is missing."
Some punishment was in store for a frightened runaway...

Anime Closet Adventure Eight!

(Naruto World)

"Who are you?"
"Eep!"
There was a string of silence.
"I can see you, if you didn't know."
"Oh, I did, I was just hoping that you'd conveniently forget--"
"Get out of there, if you value your life."
"O_O!!"
PheonixFox stood up at once and faced Neji Hyuga head on. "Ah! I didn't know you were here! What a coincidence!"
"Of course you did. You've been crouching there for a good 10 minutes."
She paused. "Okay, you're right, so I'm here because you're here. I have my reasons, however~!"
"And that is?"
PheonixFox gave a malicious grin. "This is a kidnapping!!"

Meanwhile, a similar situation was taking place.
"Who are you?"
"Lucifer."
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to kidnap you."
"I'm not going."
"If you come willingly, it won't be a kidnapping."
"Then lead the way."
Who knew Gaara was so gullible?

(HOME)

Higuchi's whisper to Hiei had not fallen on deaf ears. Sometime later on, Kurama stood up and headed for the door.
Hiei looked up. "Where are you off to?"
He smiled. "To see if this place has a garden."
"Blah."
"Sounds...out-doorsy..." Higuchi said with a shudder.
"And too happy," added Nekozawa.
Kayashima raised one hand. "May I join you..?"
Kurama nodded. "There's no harm in it, I suppose."
Closing the book no one had seen him get in the first place, Kayashima got up off of his own bed and followed Kurama out.
After a moment, Hao stood to go with them as well.

(Naruto World)

PheonixFox now was sitting on top of Neji, who was of course wrapped in one of the universe's strongest elements, duct tape, when another figure appeared from among the trees.
Shikamaru Nara lifted an eyebrow. "Neji Hyuga? And..?"
"PheonixFox!" PheonixFox sang. "I actually came for you, too."
Shikamaru looked depressed. "You're not going to tie me up too, are you?"
"Not if you want to walk."
"I didn't get any choice," Neji growled. "Why's he different?"
"Because you wouldn't have come. You're too cynical."

Lucifer and Gaara, both null expressions on their faces, approached the small tea shop leisurely, and Lucifer stopped just short of the roof. "Itachi."
The lone customer, wearing a flat cone-shaped straw hat and a black robe with red clouds, paused in his sip, and finally placed the cup down on the table. "Who's asking." It didn't even sound like a question.
"This is Lucifer. I'm here to request you come with me to my master."
"Then tell him that I'm not interested." He picked back up the tea and sipped again.
Lucifer shook his head. "It's not optional, I'm afraid, Itachi. This is bigger than you believe."
"I don't care how pompous your master thinks he is. I have no reason to heed him. Now leave. This is your only warning."
Again, Lucifer shook his head, and brought out his own, ever-handy roll of duct tape. "Looks like it goes this way yet again," he said.

(HOME)

"Where are we REALLY going?" Kayashima asked.
Kurama glanced at him as they walked down the hall. "Ever since our first morning here, both Hiei and Higuchi have been acting strangely. I want to find out why."
"It doesn't sound so interesting to me," Hao said simply.
Kurama smiled. "Then why did you join us?"
Hao didn't answer, but instead dug into his pocket and brought out one of the papers he'd swiped. Wordlessly, as they walked, he read it. Kayashima gave it no interest, but Kurama asked. "What are those, Hao?"
Hao shrugged. "Papers."
"I see."
They found themselves in the hallway where the darkness room had been, and to their surprise the door had disappeared.
"Now that's not creepy," Kayashima said.
Hao shrugged. "After what's happened so far? I'm not surprised."
"I can't say I am, neither," Kurama agreed, and passed the blank span of wall without another glance, until the reached the two-way turn. He glanced down the direction PheonixFox had zipped down earlier. "It was in this direction, somewhere. Now, where to start?"
"I don't feel anything behind any of the doors, actually," said Hao, flipping the paper he was reading over. "But that was how it was with that other room as well. The moment the door is shut, it's a mystery."
Kurama nodded. "Which means we'll have to check them all one at a time."
Kayashima nodded, and headed for the first one. "Let's see what we find," he said, and opened the door.

Anime Closet Adventure Seven!

(HOME)

"Alrighty, Riku-chan--"
"Chan!?"
"--here's the deal~! You see, you may think that you will only make it worse, that you can't, because by gosh darkness is an evil mesh of nothingness that only takes and devours. Yes?"
"Hey! WHAT was all that!?" Ed called from inside the room where both he and Al were stuck.
"But darkness is simply what you find when the lights are turned off~!"
The lights in the hallway all simultaneously blinked out just then, and everyone jumped.
"And you even heard Lucifer, darkness and evil are different! That's D-I-Double F-E-Rent for ya! Got me?"
Riku sighed, exasperated.
"Besides, they're already bad off as it is. How can trying to help them be THAT bad?"
He looked her in the eye, even in the darkness of the hallway. "You're very persistant, you know that?"
"Hey, I'm trying to help out Ed and Al and Nekozawa here--"
"I'm good!" Nekozawa's gleeful hiss came.
"What about your sister?" PheonixFox asked PheonixFoxhe room innocently.
"Hum? Hrmm..."
PheonixFox chirped, "It'd be good to get them out quickly, you know?" she asked Riku. "If we leave them long enough, they'll miss a whole day or more from their lifespan. And Edward will be that much shorter for that much longer~!"
They heard an eruption of curses and shouting from the darkness, all melded together in an extremely angry babble.
"You could help too, Hiei," Kurama said, turning to his companion, but Hiei had turned away, ignoring everyone.
Some of them wondered why he'd bothered coming at all.
Finally, Riku combed his gloves fingers through his hair, and PheonixFox had a bishi-lover fangirl moment. "Fine, I'll try. But that's it. I'll TRY."
PheonixFox nodded enthusiastically.
He stepped forward and approached the door, and as they watched a bat-wing-like blade materialized in his hand. He closed his eyes, and black static ran down the length of the blade.
Everything was more or less quiet as the energy gathered. Fai looked on curiously from behind Lucifer.
All at once Riku ordered, "Everyone stand back!" and threw his hand forward. A hole began to bore in the darkness that was the room.
PheonixFox cheered. Hao rolled his eyes in response. "You have such a cynical aura..." Kayashima noted of him.
Hao glared at him.
The intensity of the power boring through the darkness intensified gradually as Riku got more confident, but he was cautious enough to not go to strong. The progression sped up slightly.
Hiei, however, had never been one to be patient. Here he finally turned around and stomped up next to Riku. "Scoot over! I'll help..!"
Surprised, Riku stepped back and sideways a bit, and Hiei's hand was soon engulfed in black and red. He grinned, and shot it at the darkness in the room. "Something this simple can't do anything against ME."
"Oh? Let me help too then." Smiling pleasantly, Fai stepped forward, and placed one hand on a shoulder of each of the boys.
The power emitting from their hands stengthened noticeably.
PheonixFox cheered again.
The darkness in the room was washing away, and as they all watched it turned to smoke, pouring out in vapors from the door and down the hall, towards the exit's direction.
Finally, it completely receded, and there, in a plain room with a tile floor and plain, white walls, void of furniture, stood Ed, Al, and a slightly disappointed Nekozawa.
"Yay~!" PheonixFox ran up to hug Hiei, but her shoved her off, and so she wrapped an arm each about Riku and Fai's necks. "That was fantastic!"
Edward tugged her off of them though and held her by the collar. "Fantastic!? What WAS that?"
She cheerfully flicked his nose. "Darkness! Didn't you hear me the first time?"
"Then what the heck is this stuff DOING here!?"
"I don't know."
"Isn't this your house!?"
"Yes?"
"What's with the question mark!?"
"Young master, please do not hastle the mistress," Lucifer said, coming forward and peeling Ed's fingers from her shirt.
"Why not!? She's the one who dragged us all here! She even said we could go anywhere we want! What was with that room then!?"
"Dark. Ness. See?" PheonixFox said. As she said the last word the lights came back on, and everyone yelped and hid their faces against the light, PheonixFox being no exception.
Ed growled as he shielded his eyes, "Why don't you explain to us why we're all REALLY here, eh!?"
"I already have~!"
"Explain more CLEARLY."
"Eh? Well, adventures are where you have a purpose, no? You're out to explore, or vanquish something, or save someone. Maybe it's finding treasure, or climbing a mountain, or meeting someone extraordinary! So if that's what an adventure is, what we'll be doing from here on out is no short of an adventure~! Lucifer and I aren't gathering you all here all willy nilly just because we feel like it, you know."
"You could have fooled me," Ed muttered.
Nekozawa, still in the room out of the light of the hallway, raised the hand his cat wasn't on. "I'm not into adventure, actually."
"I'm going to have to agree with him," Hao said.
"Well it's much safer here than it was out there~!" PheonixFox chirped.
Hei kicked her in the head, and she went flying like a torpedoe to the end of the hallway. He shouted down after her, "You kidnapped us using duct-tape you idiot!! D:<"
Thankfully, however, Lucifer caught PheonixFox before she could hit the wall and set her on her feet. "Thank you, Lucifer!"
She turned to face the others down the hallway and waved. "Toodles! ^_^" And with that she disappeared down to the right.
Higuchi nudged Hiei and whispered, "That was in the direction of THERE, wasn't it..?"
Hiei shuddered. He was determined not to think about it.

Anime Closet Adventure Six!

Ha! A-ha-ha-ha-ha! My last two chapters were on Writers Block.

I'm sorry. D:

I can't believe I did that. X'D

Here's the next chapter!!

(HOME)

"Lucifer! Oh Lucifer? Where'd you go?" PheonixFox called when she, Nekozawa, and Kayashima all entered the very decorated house.
Nekozawa was on cloud nine by her calls. "Lucifer? Satan himself? Oh, did you bring me to meet Satan himself?"
PheonixFox shook her head and grinned. "Nope! He's my butler!"
"Satan is your butler?" he asked, apalled.
"No, for you see, Lucifer is a cyborg demon butler ninja!"
"Demon?" both boys echoed.
"Demon!" she affirmed. "Low maintenance, good company, and multi-purpose!"
"And just where do I get one of these?" Nekozawa asked enthusiastically.
"Oh, I wouldn't know. Lucifer was my butler to begin with."
They both looked at her, puzzled.
She shoves them forward, as they'd started to slow down, and they both nearly stumble. "Let's go-go-go! We don't want to keep everyone waiting~!" She sang.

(Tsubasa World)

"Fai."
"Mm?"
Fai, curious, turned around, and found a man in black robes hemmed in red bowing to him at the waist. "I am here on behalf of my mistress, PheonixFox. I would like to request for you to accompany me back to the estate."
Fai cocked his head. "Mm? Estate? Where?"
"Who knows?" Lucifer said, seriously.
Fai's eyebrows raised.
"Will you be accompanying me, or won't you?"
"I certainly don't see why not."
"Thank you kindly." Lucifer bowed once more and headed away, Fai following cheerfully.

(HOME)

"Whoa!!"
One moment, Edward had been opening a door. The next, he was gone. His voice, however, certainly wasn't.
Surprised and instantly worried, Alphonse rushed in, and disappeared just as quickly, shouting, "Big Brother!"
"What is this?" Edward's voice demanded. "I can't move! Where am I?"
"Big Brother? Where are you?"
"Over here! Can you move? Follow my voice!"
"I'm stuck, too...T_T"
"You can't be serious... o_o;"
"What's going on?"
Everyone turned and found PheonixFox running towards them from down the hall. Behind her tailed two more figures.
Kurama explained, "Edward ran into the room and disappeared, and then his brother went in to help him. What is this room, anyhow?"
"Oh? Well, I don't know."
"You DON'T KNOW??" demanded Edward from inside the room. "Just get us out of here!!"
"Please..!" added Al.
"Well, let's see. I think someone should go get Riku for us. Hiei would be useful, too. Someone go get them for me?
Kurama nodded dutifully and headed down the hallway, X following close behind.

Minutes later they returned, and not only with Riku and Hiei but L and Higuchi as well. "What is it?" asked L.
"Ed and Al made a booboo," chirped PheonixFox.
"Don't put it that way!" Edward shouted from insdie the room, and the newly arriving four looked at the doorway in surprise.
"Why did you ask for Riku and Hiei though?" Kurama asked PheonixFox.
"Oh! It's darkness! ^^"
"What?"
"Darkness! Black, smothering darkness! Ed and Al are in a room full of darkness! Only select few can control that element, like Riku and Hiei with his hellfire magic stuff."
Hiei glared at her.
"We don't want to leave Ed and Al in there all eternity, do we?" she asked.
"A-a-all eternit-t-ty?" stuttered Al's disembodied voice.
Riku shook his head. "I can't trust my powers that much. I'd probably just make it stronger and engulf them."
"Now THAT doesn't sound good at all!" hollered Edward.
"Silence!" PheonixFox called, and kicked the door closed before turning back to Riku. "You won't know if you don't try, you do realize, Riku."
Someone tapped PheonixFox's shoulder, and she turned around to see it was Kayashima. "Nekozawa went running in there right when you mentioned darkness," he said, gesturing with his thumb towards the door.
She looked from him to the door and back. "Sheesh. o_o;" She opened the door again. "Nekozawa?"
"Not here~!" his voice came out cheerfully.
PheonixFox sighed.
"Ma'am."
Behind her she now found Lucifer, standing beside Fai. She grinned. "Fai! Fai D. Florite! Woo!"
"Who?" Ed and Al chorused from inside the room.
PheonixFox turned back to Riku and Hiei quickly. "Please, one or both of you, can't you help them?"
Hiei glared at her. "You seem awfully sure we even CAN."
"What seems to be the trouble?" Fai asked politely.
"Ed and Al and now Nekozawa are stuck in the darkness room," said PheonixFox with cheerful demeanor, but she seemed worried. She looked at Lucifer. "Can YOU go get them?"
Lucifer shook his head. "This is darkness, not evil. I can do nothing."
HiguchiGirl frowned and bit her thumb. Now what?

Anime Closet Adventure Three!

(Majin Tantei Nougami World)

"Okay, Lucifer. This is going to be somewhat tricky."
Lucifer frowned. "That's an understatement, ma'am."
They stood near the top of a very tall building, overlooking the city. PheonixFox sang, bored. "Oh where, oh where, has that little shape-shifting clone with a bad memory and murderous intent gone? Oh where, oh where could he be? With his body maleable and his eyes so alone, oh where, oh where could he be~?"
"That's a few extra syllables--"
"Yes! I know! It's meant to be that way."
"If you say so, ma'am."
"So do you sense anything?"
"Not yet."
PheonixFox sighed. "Now if only L had accepted the invatation to help us find him. Tch. Skeptical about how a person can transform at will. He would have been helpful in helping us look."
"Ma'am?"
"Oh! Yes?"
"I feel something."
She perked up. "Do you now?"
"Gas. -_-"
"O_O"
She inched away, and took another look down at the city. Suddenly she spotted a person in the crowd with a shoulder bag, small trinkets poking out of it. "Oh! Ai. That's useful."
"Hm?" Lucifer looked down and spotted her. "Should I ghost her?"
She paused, and looked up. "Ghost?"
"Follow her."
"Oh. Yes, please do."
He bowed, and was gone.
PheonixFox smiled, glad he was on her side. But then she quickly frowned.
"Now, how am I gonna get down...he's the one who brought me up here... -_-;"

(HOME)

"Alright, what's gotten into you?"
Hiei jumped, face covered in surprise, and he turned around to see Kurama looking at him. "W-what do you mean?"
"We all noticed how you and Yuuya-san looked at PheonixFox."
"W-well..."
"Don't even make us THINK of that," Higuchi interupted, copulsively shivering. "It's too..too..."
"There's no word for it.... =_=" Hiei said, flopping back onto his bed. "Gah! And this bed is too WHITE! And why am I sharing a room with you all!?"
"Didn't you read the title?" L explained. "These are the closet adventures. Thus, we are living in a closet. Or at least through it."
They stared at him in confoundment.
Higuchi asked slowly, "You don't believe in shape-shifting clones, but you think..? o_e?"
"Well. It was all I could think of."
"Mm-hmm..."
"What are we supposed to DO here, though?" Hiei grumbled.
Kurama shrugged and smiled. "Anything we want. Didn't you hear her?"
"But we don't even know where anything is. And I'm NOT wandering around again after last time."
"But WHAT happened LAST time?"
"Nothing! Stay off it!"

(Fullmetal Alchemist World)

"Letter."
Edward looked up grumpily at Mustang. "What?"
"A letter arrived for you two. you and Alphonse."
The boy was immediatly suspicious. "You didn't read it, did you?"
"Of course not. that would be rude. I'll just steal a peek later."
Growling obsceneties Ed swiped the letter out of Roy's hand and stormed out of the room, Alphonse following fretfully.
He ripped open the letter as they walked and read it out loud to Al. " 'Dear Edward and Alphonse Elric! You're invited to my estate! Isn't that wonderful? A bunch of others have already arrived, and you're a part of the next batch! Our purpose is...well, we don't have one, but we thought there'd be more finesse in a letter this time...' " Ed paused. "Who wrote this? they sound so...immature!!"
"Now, brother, let's not judge...do you think we should try?"
Edward frowned. "No way. It even says there's no purpose to it."
"So then what's the harm?"
Ed was still skimming down the rest of the letter. "Hey, look at this. 'We're looking forward to you joining our growing adventure family'? What the heck? Who wrote this, a little kid?"
"Who knows the word 'finesse'?"
Ed grimaced. "Ha ha. Seriously."
"Big brother..."
Edward closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine. We'll visit. But the whole family line has given me the willies."

(Shaman King)

Elsewhere, someone else got a very similar letter.
Hao Asakura.
He frowned, and tossed it aside. "How piteous."
The fire demon growled overheard in response. It was more of a neutral sound than anything.
Considering, Hao picked up the piece of paper again. "Maybe I SHOULD go. and put this annoying child out of their misery...and everyone elses..." the more he thought about it, The more he was sure he was going to go.
It's just weird how it works that way sometimes.