Troubles of Chibi Proportion

By Hwoarang Girl

/Summary/ When a spell goes wrong, Dark Magician is transformed into a chibi; but whilst the other duel monsters attempt to find a cure and keep the truth from Yugi and Yami, the knee-high mage is determined on making it far from easy for them…

/Disclaimer/ I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh.

/Hwoarang Girl's Notes/ Sorry I haven't updated for a while … so, due to my instability of updating, I present to you…

/Update Notice/ Leave an e-mail address in your review or send me a quick e-mail to: celtic_guardian_gurly@hotmail.com entitled 'ToCP Updates' or something similar, and I will automatically send you an e-mail and link when I do get round to updating, so you know exactly when I have updated.

Also, take note this chapter's flashback is set before the first Shadow Games, okay?

Chapter dedication this time goes to the latest reviewers to add this story to their ff.net faves! This is for you: -

Yami Tenshi

Shinimegami

Dark Magician Girl

Baby Winter (sorry it's taken so long for me to mention you! I know the feeling of having too many stories on faves… thanks for having it on you msn faves ^-^)

Chapter 4

Amber eyes clenched shut as the elf hit the floor with a loud thud, grimacing as he felt the brunt of the plummet on his back. He loosened his hold on the chibi mage he had taken all of the fall for, waiting until the surprised youngster clambered off of him before he attempted to pull himself into a sitting position.

Celtic let out a groan as his body protested to his movement, looking around on the floor at the crisp remains of boughs and the fluttering leaves slowly descending from the partly smouldered tree, before turning his attentions to the indigo-haired child whimpering as he regarded the mess he had caused.

"Dark," he sighed, wincing slightly as he extended out his arms, "come here," he said softly, watching as the chibi sniffled and nodded, before walking over and cuddling the elf.

"My bad?"

"No, you're not bad," the elf soothed, wiping a tear off of the mage's face.

Having sniffled twice, Dark proceeded on wiping his nose and face on Celtic's top before clambering up onto the elf's shoulders and holding tightly onto the long elfin ears.

"C'mon, let's get back, okay?" Celtic said, pulling himself to his feet as he supported the chibi on his shoulders.

"Oki…" the mage replied quietly.

A small smile flashed pearly fangs as a slight zephyr played with long, flowing silver tresses; Silver Fang had just about mastered walking on two legs with a fair amount of balance and was adjusting to the lessening of his some of his senses, and the confusing whirl of odd and quirky thoughts within his mind.

This was turning out to be somewhat of an adventure - though he found it slightly unnerving that he was often greeted by wide-eyed stares and some gawping as he passed other monsters; maybe it had to do with the lack of the pointless clothing and armour the more human like creatures wore. But he had always walked around bare… why did it matter so much now?

Silver Fang stopped on the spot, spinning on his heels to face the newcomer that was approaching from his blind side, his lips lifting into a snarl, his deadly fangs now bared as he growled warningly.

A high-pitched amused giggle rung through the air, as the silver-haired creature relaxed and the pretty smile returned, and the elfin warrior blinked whilst the chibi mage continued to laugh hysterically.

'I'm beginning to think nothing can surprise me anymore,' Celtic mentally noted, placing Dark on the floor before unfastening his cloak and throwing it over the unconcealed other, "Come with us, Silver," he sighed.

The tiny mage walked over to Silver Fang, who now had the dark blue cloak wrapped round his lithe shoulders concealing most of his flesh, and gazed up with intrigue. Silver Fang, recognising the chibi as the Dark Magician, bent down to observe what all the fuss had been made over earlier. As Silver did this, the chibi 's face lit up as his suspicions mounted.

"Celty, this Siver? Really?" the chibi questioned.

The elf nodded in response.

"Why is Siver a people?" Dark then asked.

"That's what I'd like to know…" Celtic murmured half in thought; decidedly thinking this day had already been too eventful for the sake of his sanity.

"Oki!"

Celtic couldn't help but smile as he watched what now unfolded; the chibi mage rose out a hand and began to pet the now humanised Silver Fang's head, ruffling the silver tresses as the other in question leant into the touch, just in the same kind of way Dark had and would always pet the silver wolf.

It gave the elf hope that things would return to normal soon… but more importantly, it gave his aching, sensitive ears freedom from the small magician's death grip.

* * * * * *

The Mystical Elf's long blonde locks swung as she turned her head and met eyes with Change of Heart. The blue-skinned elf tilted her head to the side, "Can I help you?" she questioned.

Change of Heart's large blue eyes sparkled as they caught the light and she smiled happily, "Actually," she began warmly, "I think I can be of help to you!"

"Yes…?" the elf questioned, a little bewildered with the sudden bursts of giggles the winged monster in front of her emitted.

"Summoned Skull was looking for you, to deliver some important message, but, bless the dear, he flew off in the wrong way. I tried to tell him, but for some reason he wouldn't listen, so I thought I'd come tell you. Heehee."

"…Thank you for the warning."

"That's okay! Am I being presumptuous in thinking this has everything to do with that adorable little mage I encountered on my way here?"

Mystical Elf frowned, and the other responded only with a dark smile.

"I thought as much," the blonde visitor commented, her tone of voice chillingly calm compared to her previous hyperactive rambling.

Without another word, Change of Heart flew off, and Soul Release approached the elfin woman from behind, "Perhaps we should pay Luster a visit; last I heard he was working on a temporary solution."

The blonde elf agreed silently, and the pair wasted no time in setting off.

* * * * * *

By the time the trio consisting of the elfin warrior, chibi mage and the now human wolf returned to the comfort of the indoors, Soul Release and Mystical Elf had been long gone, and they had found the room where they had last left them deserted.

But it seemed none could care less, and Celtic automatically collapsed onto the biggest chair in the room, lounging lazily upon it as Silver Fang retreated to a cosy corner and curled up in it contently, drifting off into a nap, leaving the chibi magician happily attempting to build a runway with cushions and pull off forward rolls upon them.

Dark let out a joyous giggle as his fourth attempt left him yet again veering to the side in a very undignified manner, before pulling a face at the laughing elf on the chair.

Dark's young face twisted into an expression that could only be described as a mischievous pout-scowl hybrid. No one mocked him and got away with it.

After the chibi blew a raspberry, he picked up the nearest cushion to hand and threw it at Celtic, quickly feigning innocence. Celtic sat upright, a playful glimmer in his amber eyes as he responded to the mask of innocence the young mage wore with a scandalised look.

Dark instantly scanned the room and made a move to find a hiding spot, but the elfin warrior quickly moved and caught him before he could, lifting him up into the air.

"Do you know what happens to impish little magicians who through cushions at other people?"

Dark shook his head quietly, and the elf smiled, placing the child on the floor and kneeling down to his level.

"Tickle torture!"

The young mage squealed in hysterical laughter, squirming in attempt to escape the relentless tickling, to no avail.

"Do you give in?" the elf asked playfully, and when the chibi managed to let out a somewhat breathless 'No', the tickling increased and the laughter grew louder.

"Give up!!! Give up!" Dark finally managed to squeak in between fits of giggles.

"Say please," came the response.

"Pease!!!!"

Celtic grinned mischievously; still not giving in, " Say mercy!"

"Mercy!! Pease!!"

"Well…" the elf teased, before finally stopping his attack, "since you did ask so nicely,"

The chibi mage proceeded in pouting, crossing him arms and pulling a face at the elf. "You mean."

"Well, if I'm mean then I shouldn't have stopped tickling you…"

Dark squeaked, crawling to the other side of the room as fast as he could before Celtic could get hold of him again.

The elf laughed with amusement, before returning to his seat.

"…Celty?" Dark called out, his face lighting up.

"Yeah?"

"We go dye Chaos now?"

Celtic grinned, fumbling around for the two vials, to check they were still there. "Sure!"

The elfin warrior couldn't help but laugh as a familiar expression appeared on the mage's face - it was usually referred to as the 'Chaos killer' look, as anyone who had been around Dark enough would have recognised it as the exclusive look applied only to situations which involved some kind of mischief, disobedience or annoyance directed towards the Magician of Black Chaos.

After picking up the chibi and getting to his feet and beginning the trip to Chaos' dwelling, Celtic's mind replayed the first time he had seen the look.

~ Flashback~

Chin length lime-green hair tucked behind a pair of long, elegant elfin ears bounced as a pair of keen amber eyes scanned the forest floor from the safety of the tree bough the elf was perched upon. The young warrior furrowed his brow as more of the wild creatures ran below his position, fleeing from whatever lay not to far ahead from him as his acute sense of hearing picked up on a pair of raised voices - though he was too far to hear the words that were being exchanged, he could tell the conversation was anything but pleasant.

Still, despite his common sense nagging him to turn around and leave it be, his intrigue was stronger, and so he straightened up, judging the distance and positioning of the nearest outstretching branch from a neighbouring tree that could hold his weight, before leaping across to it, pausing a second to regain his balance before repeating the process and moving closer to the scene.

When he finally came into earshot, his movements because more stealthy and hushed, as he listened in on what was being said whilst closing the gap between them so he could see what was going on for himself.

"You should not have-"

"It was my decision to make! You don't need to keep treating me like a child!"

"I will treat like one as long as you act like one! You are still young, thus you act too much on impulse, your powers are unfocused and dangerous, and you are full of insolence! You're a high level Dark Spellcaster, and other monsters' fear of you is a hazard to yourself, and then there's the powerful dragons!"

The young elfin warrior froze on the spot. Dark Spellcasters! If they caught sight of him spying on them, he was as good as dead! He looked over to them, and made a mental note to kick himself if he lived long enough to do so. He was perched in a tree that formed part of the line that was surrounding the clearing both black mages stood, and any sudden movement or audible sound on his part was definitely not advisable. He was going to have to wait until they were gone to make a safe escape…

"That's your opinion!" the second of the Dark Spellcasters argued, his young porcelain face contorted in a defiant scowl, icy-blue eyes glaring from under his fringe whilst a hand unconsciously ran through his longish indigo silken hair. He was quite tall and slender, very lithe in build and clad in purple, and clutched a long teal staff tightly.

"And that's precisely why you should heed it! I have learned it from experience!" the first of the black mages retorted, his eerie pink eyes returning the glare, which was enforced by the contrast made by his discoloured skin, and raven wild locks.

"Well I want to learn for myself, from my ownexperiences!" the young mage countered.

Unfortunately for the young elf perched in the tree, any further heated discussion between the two Dark Spellcasters was abruptly cut off when he realised he was balanced upon a branch on the verge of breaking, and before he could move safely to another, the one sound he dreaded more than anything rung out.

CRACK.

The tensioned glare shared between the two mages was broken, as both gazes automatically fixed to the source of the crashing sound hat had followed the snap of the bough.

The elfin warrior could barely breathe as the throbbing pain of injuries caused by the plummet overcame his body, the cold, haunting stares of the black mages bore into him, and realisation that his last defence, his sword, was lying about four metres behind him, out of his grasp.

He could barely focus on the words that were now being exchanged between the pair, and could only make out the numerous gesturing towards him, as the waves of pain continued to course through him.

What was taking so long? If they were insistent on doing something to him, did they really have to keep taking for so long and did the taller, older freaky one have to keep sending him death glares?

The elf raised a hand to his head, "Look, your arguing is really getting pointless. Old freaky mage, it's his life and whatever you say is obviously going to have no affect on him whatsoever, and as touching as it is that you want to protect him, he's going to have his own way. And please, if you're going to kill me or leave me half dead in a pool of my own blood or whatever you do, please can you get it over with already? Incase you couldn't tell, I'm in a lot of pain here, my ears are ringing, I can't reach my sword and I have about twenty splinters in my buttocks alone. Thank you for listening, it's much appreciated."

Both dark Spellcasters stared at him in silence, before the fair purple clad mage broke out into a bright smile aimed towards the elf that had fallen out of the tree, before spinning round to the other mage with an expression made up of defiance, determination, scorn, amusement and smugness rolled into one.

"So long Chaos," the young mage said, "I think I've found myself a travelling companion."

And before he knew it, the elf found himself being dragged away rebelliously from 'Chaos', by the indigo-haired mage, still sitting on the floor.

After a few more meters were covered, the elf finally found his voice.

"Excuse me, I mean no offence when I say this, but I do have two working legs."

The mage stopped, his grip released, flushing slightly with embarrassment. "Sorry, it wasn't fair of me to drag you away like that, or be so presumptuous. I was caught in the moment there…" he trailed off as the elf got to his feet wincing slightly, " hold still, I know a good healing spell."

The mage quickly placed his hands on the elf's shoulders, and chanted an incomprehensible string of words and a mixture of purple and white jumping light surged through the mage's arms. After a momentary lapse in consciousness, the elf found his pain gone and the other smiling warmly at him.

"I'm known as the Dark Magician. Dark is just fine," he said, offering a hand.

The elf reached out one of his and grasped the other's tightly in a warrior's hold, "Celtic Guardian. Just call me Celtic."

~ End Flashback~

"Celty!"

A sudden giggle broke Celtic out of his reminiscence, as they stood in front of Chaos' home.

There, the chibi magician and the elfin warrior, armed with tangerine orange and neon pink dyes, set to work on their righteous mission.

End of Chapter 4…

To Be Continued.