A/N: This chapter is more for filling in the cracks than anything, but the next one should be, to say the least, interesting. :) Read on!
"Why do babies cry, anyway?" XR grumbled as he dragged Booster along by his space suit.
"He's probably just tired or hungry." Mira sighed, trying to rock Buzz into silence.
"Well maybe I'm tired and hungry; you don't see me crying about it!"
"Just pull a sandwich out of your chest." Mira suggested over Buzz's wailing. "You literally have an entire hardware store in there."
"Not a hardware store that carries chainsaws, LGMS!" XR muttered pointedly. "And what hardware store serves sandwiches?"
"I don't know, Hardware and Sandwiches R Us?" Mira shrugged, willing to do anything to get the bot off her back.
"Oh, yeah, they have a great turkey pita!" XR rolled his eyes as they entered 42. "Let's just blow this popsicle stand." He announced, dumping Booster in the middle of the ship.
"XR, can you hold Buzz while I fly this thing?" Mira asked, balancing the howling infant in one arm as she pressed buttons with the other. XR raised an eyebrow.
"You're joking."
"XR!" Mira implored, holding out Buzz, who let out an extra loud wail to make the point.
"You know how I feel about anything younger than two years old!" XR snapped, cringing away from the baby.
Mira rolled her eyes. "Come on, XR!"
XR firmly shook his head.
"You do realize we're never going to get out of here if I can't pilot, right?" Mira reminded. XR's eyes grew wide.
"Give me the kid!"
Mira thanked God and handed Buzz over to XR, and for some supernatural, unknown reason, Buzz stopped crying.
"Oh, for the love of craters!" XR huffed, flopping into his chair with the now-quiet Buzz.
"Who knows, XR, maybe you have a hidden fatherly instinct." Mira snorted as 42 took off.
"Ick." XR made a face. "Can we just get home so that I can pass it to off to Commander Nebula or something?"
"Commander Nebula?" Mira's jaw dropped. "Parenting? With kids?"
"Aw, come on, ol' Pops would whip these kids into shape in no time!" XR exclaimed. "A little boot camp, some level nine training-"
"They're babies, XR."
"Some level one training-"
"Ugh!"
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"Finally, we're back." XR huffed in exasperation as they landed, and Mira glared at him.
"I had to pilot a spaceship, for crying out loud! You just sat there with a sleeping baby in your hands!" She exclaimed in exasperation.
"Hey, this baby is heavy. I was getting leg cramps!" XR defended.
"You don't have musc-…Never mind." Mira knew how hopeless it would be to argue with him. "Come on, let's just get these two to the Commander."
"Alright." XR stood, holding Buzz out to Mira. She raised an eyebrow.
"Really?"
"I don't wanna carry him!" XR whined, pushing Buzz into Mira's arms.
"Okay, carry that one." Mira folded her arms defiantly, pointing to Booster, who giggled happily, outstretching his arms to be lifted.
"I'LL TAKE BUZZ!" XR zipped away, and Mira laughed, picking Booster up.
"C'mon, cutie. Let's get you to Commander Nebula."
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"Pops! Hey Pops! Pops?" XR rocketed through the halls of Star Command, Buzz barely staying in his grasp.
"What in the blue blazes?"Commander Nebula stepped out of his office (managing to slam the door on his ever-persistent desk) and right into XR.
"XR! Get that baby out of here, this is a high-tech base, not a daycare!" Nebula demanded.
"Wait, Commander, I can explain!" Mira came panting up behind XR, Booster in her arms.
"This had better be good…" The Commander growled.
"Oh, it is." XR assured with a smirk.
"Okay, well, ah…" Mira stammered . She would never have admitted it to anyone, but without Buzz at her side Commander Nebula could be just the tiniest bit intimidating.
"See, we got captured by Zurg-"
"Captured by Zurg?" Nebula demanded. "Cripes!"
"Hey, we tried our best-"
"Your best? Rookie, your best doesn't cut it here at Star Command!" A vein popped out on his forehead.
"Commander, if you would just let me finish-"
"I don't know how it works on Tangea, princess, but here we give one hundred and twelve percent!"
"Yeah, princess, one hundred and twelve percent." XR zoomed up next to Nebula, folding his arms.
"Would everybody stop calling me that?" Mira hissed. "Look, do you want to know why these two are the size of XR's right foot or not?"
Insulted, XR immediately looked down to his feet. "Hey, the right one is a little smaller than the left!"
"Fine." The Commander folded his arms. "State your report." Before Mira could even open her mouth, XR stepped in.
"There we were, surrounded by hornets." He began dramatically. "Buzz, Mira, and Booster had already been taken down by the swarms, but did I give in? Never! I fought like a madman, hornets flying everywhere, until finally, I was overwhelmed."
"Okay, Commander, that is not what happened." Mira cut in, not even stopping XR from continuing his account of the battle.
"I know." Nebula growled back. "You just gotta humor the kid 'til he wears himself out."
"The ray hits!" They tuned back in to XR's epic tale. "I open my eyes, and BAM! Buzz and Booster are baby-fied." He bowed proudly.
"And you, Ranger Nova?" Nebula turned to Mira.
"I ghosted through, sir." She replied quickly.
"Ah." Commander nodded. "So…you're telling me that I'm looking at Buzz Lightyear and Booster?" He frowned.
"Ah, yes sir." Mira winced.
"Well, doesn't that just put the lid on the jar." Commander Nebula muttered. "Alright, let's get these two to the LGMs."
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"Hmmm…" The collective trio of aliens murmured in unison when presented the tiny Buzz and Booster.
"Well? Can ya fix it?" Nebula asked impatiently.
"Scans." An LGM announced, taking the infants and waddling away.
"I swear, that is their answer for everything." Nebula grumbled. "Hey! How long is this gonna take?" He called to the retreating LGM.
"Patience." The alien replied.
"Yeah, Pops! Patience is a virtue!" XR reminded. The Commander scowled.
"Not one of mine!"
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"Alright, c'mon, XR." Mira stopped the robot after they had dropped the babies off. "You and I have to do some shopping."
"Wha-why?" XR whined. "I have a comic book to read!"
"Because they're our friends, and babies take a lot of work!" Mira reminded. "Now come on, let's start 42. There's a store on Capital Planet we can go to."
"Alright." XR sulked, following her into the spaceship.
"But my right foot is not modeling any baby clothes!"
"I didn't ask you to!"
