Her Sweetness: I'm listening to that song, "Here's To The Night" by Eve 6. Haha, tell me in a review if that affects the chapter. I don't think so since this chapter doesn't take place at night.

Rascals R Wee

Chapter 20:

By the time Bakura finished his aerobics, Yami had gotten the chance to sneak in brushing his teeth by means of scraping the gunk off of his tiny chibi teeth, which, in any other situation, would be unacceptable but he decided to rough it. Marik could barely call that roughing it, he told Yami, and the young prince turned his head away and said something about morning breath. He received a hard slap.

They were finally on their way and walked under the covering where the plastic dishes were floating around in the morning breezes. None of them were tempted by the food, all three had their minds set on the freedom they would soon be given by the Wizard since they had completed their task. Well, sort of.

"I hope ta Ra he doesn't take points off cause ya waked up dat guy, 'Kura," Marik said, sending a light glare the thief's way. "If I have ta stay dis way any wonger than possible, I'll—"

"It wasn't my fauwt!" Bakura insisted.

"I'm sure he'll undastand," Yami said tentatively, "It was a accident."

Marik frowned.

There was silence among them for a while as they followed the tracks of the dollies that the crew had left behind when they went off to that day's location. The trail led them close to the trees on the left side of the clearing and there was a rustling from the bushes nearby. Yami stopped a little and turned his head.

"You guys hear sometin'?"

"No," Marik grunted and kept going, not paying Yami's conspiracies any mind.

"No, weally, I heard sometin'!"

Bakura nodded, "I tink I did too."

"An' I said no, dwammit! Ya always do dis! 'Kura, ya letting' Yami turn ya inta a swissie! Wook, dere's notin dere!" Marik stomped over to the edge of the woods and kicked a bush. "See? Notin!"

And no sooner did he say that did a chunky man in over alls leap out of the underbrush and scared Marik half to death. The tanned chibis screamed and crab-walked backwards on all fours, his lavender eyes wide.

Yami and Bakura paused and then pointed to Marik, shouting, "IN YER FACE!"

"OH SHUT UP!"

The man who they all at once recognized as Grandpa, though his bandana that usually covered his head was now over the lower half of his face, turned around and Yami yipped. "He's wight, 'Kura, gwoat later! It's time ta run!"

"Wait, wait! Don't go," said Grandpa, holding out his hand just as he saw Yami was about to flee.

"Why not?" Bakura tilted his head. "Yer afta Yami, wight?"

"Not anymore."

"Huh?" Marik and Bakura's voices rang together.

"Dats a wie!" Yami shouted, pointing at him. "Yer not yerself as wong as we're in our chibi forms! Ya still want me, yer wyin' so I'll put mah guard down."

"No, never, really. I've changed my ways."

Marik looked back at Yami. "Ya sound pawanoid, Yami. Get ova yerself, maybe he weally doesn't want you no more."

Yami chose to ignore this. He narrowed his eyes at Grandpa. "Wat made ya change yer mind den, huh?"

"Erm… well, you see, I just realized that trying to take you against your will was wrong."

"I towd ya dat afore an' you didn't wisten," the prince accused.

"Um… I found Jesus?"

"Wat's he got ta do wid anything'?"

"Oh, will ya stop bein' so damn suspicious!" Marik flailed his arms at Yami. "He's yer grandpa! Cweepy as he is, we might as well twust 'em."

"But he's a wyer!" Yami said desperately.

Grandpa held up his hands. "I only want to help."

There was a pause and Bakura put his hand under his chin and tilted his head, staring at the man. "I dunno, Mawik… sometin's kinda off about him. Maybe we shwouldn't be so quick ta twust him, he might be able ta outsmart us."

"A tossed salad could outwit you, 'Kura. C'mon, wets go." Marik walked foreword until he was side by side with Grandpa and began talking to the man, filling him in on everything that was going on at that moment, what with the Wizard and the wish and the blonde wig.

Yami gasped, watching them go. "Mawik's gunna get us in twouble, 'Kura! Wat're we gunna do?"

"I dun know about you, but I'm gunna find me a tossed salad an' challenge him ta a game uh chess."

"… Oh, for Ra's sake…"

Meanwhile, the hikaris had been traveling all night with Little Fruitcake leading the way. The kitten tried to tell them that he was not a hunting dog and couldn't do that sniffing scents thing very well but they would have none of that and Yugi shoved Yami's millennium puzzle to the cat's nose and forced him to take a big whiff. After that, Little Fruitcake found a direction and off they went.

The woods lightened as the morning sun found it's way through the thick tree leaves and down into the basin of the woods. The blood on Ryou's body had dried and he felt rather uncomfortable and said so.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have gone on a killing spree last night," Yugi said, one eyebrow raised.

"If I hadn't, we probably wouldn't have made it out alive."

"Either way," Malik shrugged his shoulders. "I bet you don't have a wedgie anymore, do you?"

Ryou paused. "No. I don't actually."

"Good on ya."

Yugi sighed as they continued to walk and, finally, looked down at the fuzzy white kitten whom they were following ever so faithfully. He said, "Little Fruitcake? We getting close?"

The kitten didn't look up from the ground he was sniffing but, discreetly, rolled his large brown eyes. 'You know, I wouldn't be rushing me if I were you. I barely think I'm going the right way anyways and you better be grateful that I'm giving this any sort of effort whatsoever and the only reason I AM is because you say my fucking name right!'

Yugi nodded to his companions. "I think that means yes."

Little Fruitcake groaned.

About ten minutes later, they came upon a cluster of trees that stood in their way, blocking them from the other side. Little Fruitcake obviously thought this was the way to go so he squeezed through and the hikaris followed suit and, appearing on the other side, they shared a group gasp at the sight of a whole movie crew set up.

"Holy crap," Malik whispered. "What's going on here? I thought this was a rural place, not some Hollywood setup."

"Apparently, it's reversible," Ryou said.

'Oh, yeah, they're filming Lord of the Rings,' said Little Fruitcake though he was ignored. Thinking this to be a good time, he sat down and began to clean his fur.

Yugi began to walk further. "Well, this is fine. We'll just ask around and see if anyone's seen our yamis. Surely they'd be easy to spot out here." And so, without giving thought to the possibility that maybe all these cameras were perhaps shooting a scene, he wandered blindly next to a man dressed in armor and tights and a rather mussed up, blond wig.

"Excuse me," Yugi said, tapping him on the shoulder.

The man, who happened to be Orlando, turned around and blinked at the young teenager.

"Hey!" Peter called from behind camera number two. "Who the hell are you?"

Yugi turned and blinked at him. "Me? My name's Yugi."

"Well, Yugi, you just killed the shot!"

Orlando pouted, eyes shining. "But that's the first take I got right!"

"Well, we have to scrap it so get back into character. And you, Yugi, get your butt out of our shot. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I-I don't want any trouble! I was… Well, we—" he pointed to his companions just a few feet away, "just wanted to ask if any of you have seen three little boys? They'd be only children to your eyes but their really old."

An older man who was dressed in his character's costume of white robes leant on a nearby tree trunk, sipping a latte near Viggo. He cocked his head to the side, recalling his visitors late last night.

Peter looked at Yugi and then shook his head. "Great. I knew I shouldn't have posted our filming location on my blog. All the freaks and weirdoes come out of hiding. And they weren't all that well hidden to begin with."

Malik pursed his lips. "But we aren't freaks!"

"Or weirdoes," Ryou added.

"Sure you're not. And I'm Tina Turner. Security!"

"Wait!" they shouted.

"Uh," one of the nearby cameramen looked to Peter and whispered, "we don't really have a budget for security."

"Huh? No security? What would we do if there was really a threat?"

"We'd really be in trouble."

"Oh, for… Alright, listen, you people can stay and cosplay or whatever but don't get in the shots anymore; Orlando already has trouble remembering his lines and we just got him through a huge giggle-fit."

The now-blond looked at Peter and snickered, starting to turn red in the face. "Don't mention it or… hehehehehehe! Oh gosh… teeheeheehee!"

Ian got up from the tree and walked over to Yugi and the others who were a bit put-off and dismayed. "Hey, guys, I didn't really want to say anything but I guess I should… I saw the boys you were looking for last night."

Ryou brightened. "Did you? Where, where?"

"Well, back in my trailer. They were asking me to grant them a wish or something. When we were leaving the grounds this morning, I saw some old man in the bushes, muttering to himself about little boys."

"Grandpa?" Yugi wondered aloud. "Oh no, he'll probably try to kidnap Yami!"

"Why?" Ryou asked.

"I dunno, for some odd reason, he wants Yami as he great-grandson. I think it's really weird but, you know, whatever turns you on."

"Now that's disturbing."

Ian shrugged at them. "Well, you know, just thought I'd mention it."

"We're so glad you did," Malik said and nodded to them. "Let's go and see if they're still there."

Yugi shook his head. "I don't think they will be, guys."

"Why not, Yugi?"

"You know how they are. They never stay put. They may be miles from where they were last night. We'd be better off traveling with these guys since our yamis have, for some reason, shown an interest in this guy. Don't ask me what the wish thing is about, 'cause I have no freaking idea but I really think they'll come back to him."

"You're right," they said in unison. Malik called over to Peter, "We can hang around you guys, can't we? Just tag along…? We won't be any trouble."

Peter was too busy trying to get Orlando through his giggle-fit. "Alright, imagine your mom being slashed to death by a man in a hockey mask. Then you're at her funeral and it's open-casket."

Malik frowned. "I guess that means yes."

The three of them sat down and got situated, waiting and rather enjoying themselves as they were getting some "behind the scenes" action. One of the cameramen who weren't working at the moment walked over to them and held out a brown tray with drinks on it. "Low-fat mocha latte with caramel foam and chocolate sprinkles?" he offered.

They looked at each other, shrugged, and took them.

At that moment, a little ways away, the chibis who were accompanied by Grandpa were hiking the land, still following the tracks of the dollies and the footprints. Yami was still very wary of Grandpa and Bakura was wrapped up in trying to remember how to play chess. Marik, however, was feeling very comfortable and high and mighty when he told the old man that he was tired of walking and rode on his shoulders.

Marik had long since informed him of their situation and all it's components.

"Ey, wait a minute," the little blonde said when they began to stray from their path of tracks. "Where is ya goin', old man? Dere obiously gone dat way!"

"It's a short cut," he answered.

Yami stomped his foot on the ground. "No! We're goin' da oder way! Mawik, get down fwom dere!"

Marik growled. "Dun you tell me wat ta do, Yami."

"But… but he's wyin! We shouldn't be wid him!" He turned to the thief beside him. "You'll bwack me up, wight, 'Kura?"

"Uh… lessee… da horsey can do wainbow jumps ova de oda pieces, wight?"

"Ugh!" Yami slapped his forehead.

"Keep goin', ya old fart," Marik told Grandpa.

Yami's eyes began to water and he followed, knowing something was amiss but not wanting to leave his fellow yamis. No matter how stupid and deluded they were, he felt a sort of responsibility towards them. And so they continued off the beaten trail and into the woods.

TBC…

Her Sweetness: Review, please!