Her Sweetness: Hey, you guys! I got kinda stuck on this chapter… here's hoping I can get over it and push through! By the way, Compy, I didn't think of that as a reference to LittleKuriboh but I guess you're right, I'll try to watch that.

Rascals R Wee

Chapter 11:

"I-I can't believe we did that!" Ryou panted (now wearing a janitors uniform that the three of them had stripped off of Earl) as he and his fellow hikaris ran down the corridors of NASA.

Yugi nodded, "I've never done anything bad before!"

"Does beating and stripping a janitor really count as bad? I mean, its not as if he is going to freeze to death, it's really warm outside," Malik added and they rounded another corner.

Ryou looked at Malik oddly.

'It's obvious who takes after their yami the most,' Yugi thought but did not say.

They ran past the large windows in the hallways, all with light shining through and onto the glossy floors. The parking lot could be seen from the windows and the street beyond that was visible with a few cars trailing back and forth. The guard's post could be seen as well but the hikaris paid little attention to that as they ran past but there was nothing to see there anyway, as the guard, Randy, had long since left his post.

That poor, half-way delusional guard was limping as quickly as he could to the building and, at the second that the hikaris entered the flight of stairs heading to the second floor, he reached the door the hikaris had come in through. He slowed a bit and saw that the door was open.

He slammed his fist into the open palm of his other hand. "Dammit! They're already inside!"

"You're tellin me, buster," said a voice from somewhere in the vicinity. Randy looked around and saw a middle-aged man's head pop up from behind a cluster of garbage cans.

"Earl?" Randy asked. "What're you doing behind there? Did you see three boys come through here?"

"I sure did! Little hellions came by and robbed me of my clothes!"

"What?"

"Even took my underwear. Man, I tell ya, can't no one go no where without bein harassed. I ask you, Randy, is nothing sacred anymore?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to catch those hooligans," Randy said, infused with a new determination, and started inside the building again, dragging his busted foot along with him. Earl watched him go meekly and wished that the boys had at least left him socks and shoes.

Inside the building, the three boys were getting tired of running, not as used to having to sprint long distances as their yamis who often were running from cops and rabid fan girls. Ryou was the first to slow and then finally collapse onto a wall coming out of the stairwell. He held onto the chrome edge and panted, whining, "Guys! Wait…!"

Malik and Yugi did as they were told and looked back, surprised to see Ryou in such condition.

"What's wrong?" Yugi asked. "Are you hurt?"

"Do you need a massage?" Malik asked, holding his hands out.

Yugi shot him a glance.

Malik shrugged.

"It's these darn bikini-style undies!" Ryou cried out, tugging at the seat of the janitors uniform at the same time. "The uniform is making them wedgie me!"

There was a pause and Yugi said in an I-told-you-so voice, "You shouldn't have bought those."

"It's okay, Ryou, think of them as a thong," Malik said.

"Their too thick!"

"You guys," Yugi now whined, "we have to keep going, this is a huge time waster!"

Ryou took this offensively and narrowed his chocolate eyes a bit at the spiky-haired boy. "Granny-panties," he muttered.

Yugi gasped. "Take that back!"

"I will not."

"All right, stop that! Yugi's right, this is a time waster. We have to hurry and get on that shuttle or—"

The voice coming over the intercom overrode Malik's admonishment to his companions and made them all look up.

"Harriet Monker, Jack Desston, and Tucker Dew, report to the launching pad ASAP. The countdown will begin in two minutes."

"Holy finger-monkeys!" Malik cried out, his hands flying up to the side of his face suddenly. "We gotta hurry up or we'll miss the rocket!"

"They didn't call us," Yugi said mildly.

Malik frowned at him.

Ryou, knowing the importance of them making it to Jupiter, sucked up his underwear-woes and violently picked out his wedgie. He raised his soiled hand to the sky, shouting, "Let's go!"

"I didn't need to see that," Yugi said, more than a bit perturbed with the whole thing.

Ryou and Malik raced off and Yugi trotted along as well, not wanting to be left behind. He honestly wondered how in the world they were supposed to find the launching pad since the place was huge and in obviously wasn't going to have a large, lit-up sign pointing to where they were supposed to be. And as he was about to bring this up to his taller companions, he skidded to a halt as they walked through a door with a large sign that read in flashing

LAUNCHING PAD

"Well, here we are." Malik and Ryou nodded to each other and entering with Yugi behind them, his jaw hanging a little.

What is wrong with the world, Yugi wondered secretly and headed in after them.

But as soon as Malik touched the door handle, a strained cry reached their ears.

All three whirled around on their heels to see Randy bursting out of the stairwell door. He was panting raggedly and, for a stray second, Yugi wondered if he had a wedgie as well.

"S-Stop right there! I got you now!" Randy yelled at them, holding out a hand. The hikaris blinked at him.

"Look," Ryou said, "Malik, its that man whose foot you ran over earlier."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really!" Randy shouted, obviously outraged at having been forgotten so quickly. "Now halt, you hooligans! Halt or I'll shoot!" He reached back in his utility belt and grabbed an orange baton and brandishing it in front of them before he himself realized it was not a gun. He blinked in shock.

Yugi pursed his lips together tightly. "Shoot us? With your traffic-stick?"

"Um… but…" Randy was speechless.

"Let's go," Ryou said to his friends and they nodded, entering the door and Randy watched, still stunned, as it swung in his face.

The boys entered a large room that was bright with buttons and monitors flashing around them. There was rows of computers and at the front of the room was a large monitor that showed the large concrete area the boys had seen earlier only this time, the launching pad had a large rocket set upright and obviously ready for launch.

A scientist standing by one of the computers whirled around at their entrance, crying out, "Jack, Harriet, Tucker! There you are, we were worried sick. That's the last time we let the three of you go to the bathroom all at once. Well, get over here, we don't have very long."

The hikaris looked around, confused. Yugi's light bulb flashed first and he whispered to the other two, "He means us, guys. He thinks we're the astronauts."

Malik smiled. "Wow, great. Let's go then."

"Come on, come on," the man ushered them over and directed them to three space suits. They began to put them on, having the backs zipped up and Ryou squeaked timidly, having the zipped close in on his hair for a hot second. Malik had no trouble with his but when it was completely zipped on Yugi, he fell about three feet short, looking like a child inside it.

"Hmm," the scientist examined the poor teenager. "This suit fit all right in the rehearsal. Harriet, have you lost weight?"

"Well, I don't think so but—Harriet?"

Malik elbowed Yugi. "That's your name." He winked non too secretly.

Yugi whined, "Why am I the girl?"

The scientist thought this all to be a bit odd but hadn't the chance to say anything about it because, just then, the door burst open with Randy sweating and panting behind it. He trudged into the room, his baton wielded like a sword.

"S-Sir, step away from these imposters!"

"Imposters?"

"That's right! These aren't the real astronauts! They're hooligans from the street! They broke in through the front gates and broke my freaking foot!" He pointed the baton down at the broken and bleeding foot.

The man looked more than skeptical as he crossed his arms. "Randy, quite frankly, I'm getting tired of your weekly shenanigans. Last week, the swamp monster was raiding the faculty fridge and the week before that, Dracula was messing with the rocket's controls. Now, suddenly, these three who we've worked with for years are imposters. Where will it end?"

"But those things really did happen—"

"Silence. I've heard enough, Randy. You'll be lucky if I don't fire you later but for now, we have a launch to get underway and I don't need you… Hey, where'd they go?" The two men looked around for the three hikaris but they were no where to be found.

Suddenly the rocket on the large screen at the head of the room showed three figures in astronaut garments running towards the open door of the space shuttle. One of the figures was obviously having trouble running in his large suit.

Randy's eyes widened. "Bastards!" he shouted and went off to the other door, limping and growling.

"You leave them alone," the scientist called after him, "you hear me, Randy?"

Outside on the launching pad, the three boys were running across the way to the door that they saw had opened about a minute ago. Yugi kept tripping over the feet to his outfit and the helmet that came with it slid down over his face making it almost impossible for him to navigate his way with the other two.

"C-Come on, Yugi," Ryou panted as he ran side-by-side with Malik. He looked back at the shortest hikari as he staggered around in a dizzy circle. "Run towards the shuttle, you goose!"

"I would if I could but I can't so obviously SOMEONE NEEDS TO HELP ME!"

"It's okay, Yugi," Malik said. "Just follow the sound of my voice!"

There was a pause.

"Well, you have to keep talking then!" Yugi shouted, irritated.

"Stop, you hooligans!" Randy yelled, coming out of the door after them. Even with his busted foot, he was gaining on Yugi terribly quickly. "Come back here!"

"M-Malik? Is that you?" Yugi began to wander blindly to Randy with his hands outstretched.

Malik and Ryou saw this and gasped soundlessly. "No!" Ryou yelled. "No, Yugi, wrong way!"

"This way!" Malik screamed. "Come to me!"

"Come here," Randy growled.

"Guys, this isn't funny! Where are you?" Yugi called and by the sound of the young teen's voice, he was close to or in tears. Suddenly he yelped when he felt two large arms around his torso and Ryou and Malik had seen that Randy got a hold of him.

Ryou shrieked. "Yugi! Oh no! Malik, do something!"

"Um… um… oh gosh…" Malik looked around, obviously at a lose for what to do. Yugi and Ryou were both wailing uncontrollably and Randy was laughing like a madman. But before Malik could do anything, a butt-load of security came bursting through the doors they themselves had come through. The men in uniforms exactly like Randy's (only whose utility belts had real guns instead of tiny batons) apprehended Randy and let Yugi loose.

"W-What are you doing!" Randy protested. "They're going to get away!"

"Shut up, you!" A man pistol-whipped Randy across the face. Randy yapped and the guard who'd done it whispered to his cohorts, "I've always wanted to do that."

Yugi was sobbing by the time he reached his friends and they all shuffled hurriedly into the shuttle, the doors closing behind them and they hadn't been aware but the whole time that had been happening, the countdown was going on and as soon as Yugi walked in, the door shut and the engines revved up.

This airport wasn't so different than Domino International, the chibis noticed. There were loads of people, the norm for a building this size but finding the exit wasn't all that hard. They came to it without further interruption and, on the way out, Bakura had asked why they didn't try to just find another plane in order to leave Melbourne and get to New Zealand that way.

"Cause," Yami said lightly, walking through the automatic doors and onto the sidewalk with the other two joining him, "I dun wanna chance meetin' up wid anoder one uh Marty's kind. Pwane trabel is too confined."

Bakura nodded. "So, wat do we do now?"

Yami opened his mouth to speak and then, just as quickly, closed it. He shrugged.

They both looked at Marik who was grinning from tiny ear to tiny ear. "Wucky for you, I gots a pwan."

"Oh, weally?" Yami cocked his head to the side. "Wat?"

"Neber you mind, Phawoah. Wets jus find out which way New Zeawand is and head dat way."

"Um… well…" Yami looked around and thought back to those geography lessons he'd had going to school with his hikari. "Uh… New Zeawand should be east uh here. Dat way." He pointed.

So the three little chibis began walking down the sidewalk, joining the foot-traffic. They weren't hassled but they did garner more than their fair share of attention what with them being so small and cute and Bakura still only had on a shirt, having given up his pants in Domino International.

"Yer dwawin' attention agwain, 'Kura," Yami said worriedly.

"Well, sowee." Bakura rolled his eyes. "I cwant hewp it if people're attracted to mah manwiness."

Marik cackled. "Manwiness mah foot, you're eben smawer now den you were when you were big," he said, pointing to Bakura's groin. Bakura growled and jumped on Marik and they began to fight.

Yami almost stopped walking to break them up but, at the last second, decided against it. 'Let em fwight. I ain't got time for dis stuff, I gotta get at New Zeawand,' he thought and began to walk on. As he did, taking his tiny chibi steps, he thought about all the problems they had caused so far and thought about the sure-fire future problems. And, after all, even though they may sometimes tolerate each other, they all really hated one another. And was that really a way to travel? With enemies?

Yami shook his head, answering himself no. But he stopped nonetheless, turned around and went back to them, getting into the middle of their fight and getting scratched up a fair bit before breaking them up. They stood, arguing still and walked along side Yami. He frowned at them and, unknowingly, enjoyed the sound of their hating each other.

'It'd prowaby be weird any oder way,' he thought.

TBC…

Her Sweetness: Thanks for reading! Please drop me a review!