Mason and the Minish Door, Part 2

Chapter 2: Big Moms Are Scary

After stuffing the last milk and juice into the refrigerator, Matt closed it shut and brushed his hands off. "Well-p, that's the last of the groceries." He said to Elijah.

"Are you always this forgetful?" Elijah asked.

While they were busy, Mason and Sheila had finally climbed onto the kitchen table, their breath almost completely worn out of them after making it up. "Finally… we made it…" Mason gasped.

The doorbell suddenly rang, and the two adults walked off to answer it. Sheila looked up at her father and yelled, "'EEY! DAAD!" After realizing it was pointless, she just stopped to catch more breath.

"Gee, I wonder who it is this time?" Mason asked.

Matthew answered the door to find Francis, Aurora, and Chris, as well as Rachel Uno, who held a box of hot dogs. "Oh, hi, Rach!"

"Hey, Matthew." Rachel smiled. "We brought the hotdogs for Cheren and Panini's, well, 'contest'. Where'd they go?"

"I think they went out back to look for Mason and Sheila. They've been out there awhile. You could just set those in the freezer if you want, so they don't spoil."

Rachel proceeded to enter the house, followed by the three kids as she slid the boxed dogs in the freezer. "You kids can stay here, I'm gonna go out back and look for 'em."

"Let's see if Mason has anything cool in his room." Chris suggested as the three headed up the stairs.

Mason and Sheila watched Rachel walk off as Mason yelled, "MRS. UNOO! HEELP!"

"'EEY! RACHEEL!" Sheila yelled. The two took a moment to catch their breath when they were far out of earshot. "Well, that went crikey, eh?"

"Let's just stay here. Someone's bound to spot us on this table eventually. Thankfully, my mom just cleaned it. Oh, I just hope those guys don't mess up my room."

"Oi, what are Cheren and Panini doin' out there, anyway?"

Forest area

Cheren and Panini hurriedly dashed through the tremendous jungle with looks of absolute fear as an enormous spider chased them. They took cover behind a tree root, watching as the spider went right past them. Now that it was out of their sights, the two immediately tried to catch their breath, still holding onto each other as they quivered. "Th-That was… a close one…" Cheren stuttered.

"Wh-Where are we, C-Cheren?..." Panini shivered with fear.

"Well, e-either we're in a parallel universe that's a kajillion times bigger than ours, o-or we shrunk."

"H-How big are we, d-d'ya think?"

"I say about… half an inch tall. Give or take a few centimeters. Or, however it's measured."

"B-But I don't want to be h-half an inch tall…"

"D-Don't worry, Panini. We'll be fine. We just gotta stick together, that's all."

"You think Mason and Sheila m-might have came through here?"

"That… would be likely."

"What are we going to DO, Cheren? The door won't open…"

"W-We'll just have to get somebody's attention. How far are we from the house?"

Panini wrapped her arms and legs around a grass blade and tried to climb up. She was able to have an overview of the vast jungle before her, which seemed to go hundreds, maybe thousands of miles to get to the house at their size. "It's… so far away. And we're so small…"

"Don't be afraid, Panini. If we just keep moving, we can make it."

This caught Panini's attention. "I-I'm not afraid! Just because everything's bigger than me!"

"Panini, don't try and hide it. We're BOTH afraid of being this small."

"Well, maybe YOU are, but I'M not." Panini stated, dropping down beside him to glare angrily.

"Panini, it's okay to admit that you're afraid. Everyone is scared of something. My mom is scared of heights, but Fi told her that it's okay to be afraid."

"Well, I am not afraid!"

"Panini, I'm the future holder of the Triforce of Courage. If I can admit to being afraid, so can you."

Panini looked down in sadness and defeat. "Okay. I am afraid."

"There. See?" Cheren smiled. "Isn't that better?"

"Yeah…" she looked up and smiled. "It is!"

They were startled to fear again at the sound of a monstrous hiss. They turned their attention as the massive spider glared at them with five bloodthirsty eyes, venom drooling from its mouth. The two held onto each other and shuddered as they backed up against the tree root. But just as the spider slowly crawled closer, they were thankfully saved when the toe-end of a giant flip-flop squished and twisted the spider on the ground.

The two looked up as the titanic form of Rachel Uno towered over them, looking angrily as she squished the spider. "Man, that thing was ugly." She then began calling out, "CHEREEEN? PANINIII? HELLO?"

"M-My mom is really huge!" Cheren stuttered.

"MASOON? SHEILA?" her colossal voice echoed as she stepped further away. "ANYOONE? I hope you kids didn't wander OFF too faar."

"If she finds the door, she'll be shrunk down, too, and she can find us!" Panini figured.

"But if she's shrunk down, too, then we'll ALL be tiny. We have to get her attention." Cheren explained.

"But how? She's the size of two-and-a-half flippin' treehouses! That's even bigger than my mom when SHE was a giant!"

"Actually, the term is 'giantess'."

"Hellooo?" the woman still called out. The sound of a cat's meow suddenly caught her attention. Rachel turned around and watched as a white cat slowly approached her, skimming around in the grass. "Awe, hello, little guy." Rachel smiled, squatting down beside to pet the cat. The cat returned the favor and rubbed against her arm. "You're such a cutie." She playfully cooed.

Cheren took Panini's arm as the two began dashing the many miles it took to reach the titanic woman. "Come on! We'll climb onto her foot and jump around and see if she feels us."

"But what if she mistakes us for bugs and squishes us?"

"Good point. But what else are we supposed to do?"

"Why don't we go up to her face?"

"Are you kidding? That's WAY too high up to climb."

"I didn't say anythin' about climbing." With that, the Irish-Polish kicked her boots together and switched on the rockets, holding onto Cheren as they took off for the sky.

"Whooa!" Cheren cried, hanging on tight.

"Ha! Good thing my mom let me have her old boots!"

"Good plan, Panini! Now just fly close enough to my mom's face and see if she can see us."

"Well, nice to meet you, little guy, but I'm kind of busy." Rachel said to the cat before standing up at full height. "I don't know where those kids could be…" She looked around a little more.

"She's about to leave, hurry!" Cheren yelled as they were currently flying as high as her shorts.

However, Panini gave a look of worry when she felt her rockets dying out. "Umm… I think I may have forgot to refuel." In only a moment, the rockets died out completely, and the two began to plummet just several feet away from Rachel's shorts. Panini took aim with her G.R.A.P.P.L.U.H. and quickly fired to the lower side of Rachel's left shorts leg, successfully pulling themselves over.

"WHOOA!" they screamed, Panini holding onto Rachel's shorts leg for dear life, while Cheren hung from Panini's legs as Rachel began walking back to the house.

"Hold oon!" Cheren cried, the two swinging back and forth from Rachel's moving leg.

"I'm… slipping!..."

Unknown Location

"Eee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee!" the mysterious goddess laughed at the sight in her crystal ball. "Well, that's convenient! I didn't expect to catch two more!"

"Mm, it's too bad they didn't become spider chow." The nail-polishing woman commented.

"My dear Mistress Viridi, why didn't the Minish Door reveal itself to dear Rachel?" Arlon the Butler asked.

"Duh! Because Rachel's an adult. Since Minish can only be seen by good little children, the door won't reveal itself in the eyes of an adult."

"Mm, I see. But aren't Rachel and her friends supposed to be 'kids at heart'?"

"Um, it doesn't exactly work that way. The door can't tell the difference, but the Minish can. Anyhoo, this SHOULD make for some entertainment."

"Not to mention those kids were going to have a hot dog-eating contest." The other lady said.

"Uugh, good point! It serves those kids right! How DARE they feast on the remains of poor, defenseless animals? GOD, these humans make me so sick! Ever since they first started that Kids Next Door! Ruining trees and mending them into their own little play pins. That's why I wanna be through with them soon. And change the Earth back to its original state!"

Dimalanta Household; kitchen

"Oi know!" Sheila perked up as Mason sat along the edge of the table, his head slumped in boredom on his hands, and his legs dangling over the edge. "We can build… a REALLY huge flag to wave around. That'll get people to notice us!"

"Sheila, how the heck are we gonna get the materials to build something like that at this height?"

"Hmm, good point." She began to think, then perked up again. "Oi know! We'll just get 'ARUKA to find the stuff for us, eh?"

"Sheila, I think you're forgetting the basic point here." However, the sound of massive floor-quaking footsteps caught his attention. "Look! It's Mom!" he yelled and pointed as Yin walked into the kitchen.

The woman sighed in exhaustion as she opened an upper pantry and took out a plate with a bowl over it. "Ahh, doing the laundry can be exhausting work." She sat down and placed the plate on the table, removing the bowl and revealing several pieces of tofu. "But nothing relieves the stresses like some good old homeland tofu." The woman took her fork and happily began sticking it in and eating the pieces of tofu.

"Now's our chance. Fly us up there." Mason ordered.

"Roight!" Sheila took her friend's hands and began spinning her tail, doing her best to fly as close to the woman's face as she could.

"MOOM? MOOOM!" Mason called at the top of his lungs.

"Errgh!" Sheila's arms were shaking. "You're gettin'… kinda heavy.. Mate… UH!" She gave in and let go.

"AAAAHHHHH… OOF!" Mason took the long fall and bounced on the top of a giant tofu piece.

Sheila flew down and landed beside him and said, "Whoops… sorry, Mate… Oi, look at this!" she exclaimed, kneeling down and staring around the giant tofu. "We can get through the rest of our LOIVES with food this big!" Their expressions turned back to horror when the giant food piece quaked, looking back as four gigantic silver points penetrated the delicate substance. They felt their selves rushing upward, widening their eyes as they were slowly approaching an enormous wide-open mouth.

"MOOM! MOM, NOOO!"

"YIIIN!"

The Chinese woman paused in her eating and noticed something in the corner of her eye. She looked down and spotted two tiny specks standing on her tofu piece. "Auugh! Bugs!" her voice boomed, flicking the duo down onto the table.

The two recovered and looked in fright as the woman angrily glared at them and raised her left hand. "Gah, change of plans, Sheila, run!" Mason cried, dashing as fast as they could across the table. They failed to get far as Yin's massive hand came down and smashed them. However, the two were thankfully still alive under the small space that was beneath her palm. But the two were sent flying off the table as Yin brushed them away.

They took a fast and painful land and bounced along the floor, their heads throbbing again. The two felt a shadow loom over them and gasped as Yin towered over their tiny forms, still keeping her furious look. "I do not like taking out my after-work tofu only to find a couple bugs trying to eat it before I do!" The Chinese then raised her bare foot and was about to bring it down.

"RUUUNN!" Mason screamed at the top of his lungs, grabbing Sheila and dashing away just before Yin's foot came down and crushed them. "Quick! Under the fridge!" he yelled and pointed at the underside of the fridge not too far away. The two moved their legs faster than ever, desperate to make it to the safe haven and avoid death. They looked up and gasped as Yin's foot was coming down again. They focused carefully on her toes, and with swift timing, they perfectly squeezed in-between them. When Yin raised her foot, the two continued to dash, and they successfully made it to the underside of the fridge.

"Oh, darn it!" Yin yelled.

The two looked back to see Yin's feet moving away, the floor still shaking at her steps. Knowing they were safe, they took the time to catch their breath. "Didja SEE that, Mate?!"

"Oh, you mean my kajillion foot mom almost stomp on us, no I hadn't noticed!"

"I know!! It was the most ripper thing ever!!" she fist-pumped.

They felt the floor shake again and watched as Yin's feet were coming back. "Quick, hide!" Mason whispered, pulling Sheila and running behind the nearest fridge leg. They pressed against the leg and hid as Yin knelt down, her tremendous eyes skimming around the underside of the fridge as she held a spray can.

"Auugh. Little buggers." Yin grumbled. "Boy, I really need to vacuum under here."

That's when Rachel finally came back in through the front door. "Hey, Yin, whatcha doin'?"

Yin looked up and faced her. "Oh, hi, Rach. I'm trying to kill some bugs."

"Ahh. I just stepped on a spider outside, actually. Boy, was it ugly. Didn't see the kids out there, though." The blonde woman then proceeded to turn and shut the door behind her.

As a result of her legs spinning to perform this task, Panini finally lost her grip on Rachel's shorts, and she and Cheren plummeted below. "WHOOOAAA- UUH!" They crashed onto Rachel's foot.

The blonde woman felt a tickly feeling on her foot and looked down to see two tiny bugs. "Euh!" she kicked them off with her other foot.

"WAAAHH!" the duo screamed, flying right off.

"I see what you mean." Rachel said to Yin. "Bugs are annoying. Anyway, I'm gonna see how the kids upstairs are doing."

Cheren and Panini dizzily awakened from the fall to watch Cheren's mom head up the stairs. "Well, that first plan of mine would've gone downhill." Cheren figured.

"But at least we're back at the house. Let's try to get somebody's attention." Panini suggested.

As Yin decided to leave the "bugs" alone and walk away, Mason and Sheila were having a little exploration under the fridge. "Oi, this place is a beaut!" Sheila stated with amazement. "Just imagine all the treasures that can be hidden under all this dust!"

Mason stared creepily at all the gigantic dust bunnies lying around. "Just as long as it ain't like Comfy Couch…" he said to himself. "GAHH!" he stopped and gasped at something ahead.

"Aw, STREWTH!" Sheila cheered and approached as a horse-sized ant was dining on a food crumb. "Look at the SIZE of it! 'e's big enough to ride!"

This gave Mason an idea. "Actually… he is big enough to ride!" A smile of achievement appeared upon his face. "Maybe we can use it to get around faster! Ants are really fast, you know."

"Good idea, Mate! We can ride it to the top of this fridge! When somebody comes to get a drink or somethin', we can jump down on their 'eads and try to get 'is attention! Plus, think of all the wonders that await up there!"

"Um, sure, Sheila. Let's do it!"

The two hopped onto the ant as Sheila yanked its antennas. The ant strangely gave a horse neigh as it began to dash to the back of the fridge. Sheila held the antennas and focused ahead while Mason kept his hands around Sheila's waist. They held on tighter as the ant began to crawl up the backside of the fridge. It took a while, but the two had eventually reached the very top.

"Go rest now, Mate." Sheila told her steed, patting the ant's face after stepping off. The ant gave another whinny before it walked away.

"That actually helped a lot." Mason said as they began viewing around the top of the fridge, walking past the giant Pringle cans.

"Oh, strewth! Look 'ow big these Pringle cans are, Mate!"

"Sheila, can we just focus, here? I really wanna get to the front of the fridge and see if we can-" He just stopped himself when he watched the raccoon girl already begin climbing up the nearest can.

"I'm climbin' to the top of this thing!" Sheila declared with her usual tone of excitement. "Imagine the wonders! The view! The chips! Oi've gotta see!"

"Sheila! Please come down!"

"'ey, Yin!" Marine greeted, the raccoon woman suddenly entering the kitchen. "Did the boomers ever come back, yet?"

"Not really. Rachel just went out back, said she didn't see them."

"Well, that's crikey. Anyhoo, got anything to eat? Oi'm starving like a dog."

"I still have some tofu left. You want it?"

"Nahh. I'm more in the mood for… ahoy, chips!" The raccoon woman spotted the Pringle cans and decided to take one off the fridge.

Mason's eyes widened as a massive orange-brown hand suddenly took hold of the giant can and took it away. "SHEILAA!"

Sheila kept a tight grip on the can as her mother pulled the lid off. She tried to pull a chip out, but her hand couldn't squeeze into the can. She peeked an eye in and saw the can more than half empty, and the remaining chips near the bottom. "Ahhh! They always put 'em where ya can't reach 'em." Marine just decided to turn the can upside-down, letting a chip drop out.

As a result, Sheila lost her grip and plummeted down the turned-over can, taking land on the chip in Marine's hand. Sheila looked up with terror as her mom's gigantic mouth was hanging wide open, looming closer. "MUM! NOOOOO!" Sheila hightailed away from the incoming mouth, avoiding just inches away as her tremendous teeth penetrated the chip. The barbeque-flavored ground below Sheila crumbled and cracked right below her. Sheila ended up tripping and falling onto the rest of the substance in Marine's hand.

After Marine was finished chewing, Sheila gasped as she was about to consume the rest of her foothold, the chip merely inches away from Marine's mouth.

"You think you'll be okay, Dillon?" Leanne asked as she walked Dillon down the stairs, the boy rubbing his sore ear.

"Yeah, but it still kinda hurts. I don't know what happened. It actually sounded like somebody… BARFED in it a few minutes ago, next thing I know, my eardrum feels like it got pounded."

"Mrs. Dimalanta, do you have an icepack Dillon can use?" Leanne asked.

Marine paused just before eating the chip and turned at them. "Oi, what 'appened?" Sheila quickly took this time to run and climb onto Marine's fingernail.

"My ear feels sore…" Dillon said, rubbing it still.

"Well, 'ere! Let me 'elp." Marine dropped the half-eaten chip back into the can and set the lid over the hole. As she set the lid on, Sheila quickly leapt from her finger onto the lid, and Marine placed the can back on the refrigerator.

The can was set nearly over the gap that existed between the fridge and the freezer door, and Sheila proceeded to drop down onto the door. "Sheilaaa!" She turned and spotted Mason on the other side of the gap. "Are you okaaay?"

"Oi'm fine, Man!" Sheila called and waved. "I almost got eaten by my mum! That woulda been a ripper adventure, Mate!"

"I'm coming over!" With that, Mason slid down the slope and ran across the soft press that connected the freezer to the door.

To his misfortune however, Marine decided to open the freezer door. Mason stood and wobbled on the edge of the press, falling backwards and holding on tight. "Hold on!" Sheila yelled, sliding down and standing on the edge of the press as she bent over to grab Mason's hands, the cold air from the freezer quickly reaching the tiny duo's skin.

Unaware that the tiny duo was holding on for dear life, Marine grabbed pieces of ice out of the freezer and dropped them into a blue rubber bag. Sheila was struggling to hang on to Mason and the wereraccoon ended up slipping, and was now gripping onto the ledge with her left hand and Mason with her right. "MOM? MOOOM!"

"MRS. FRANTIC!"

"Ah-ha!" Marine smiled, screwing the lid onto the bag. "This oughta make ya feel better." She knelt down and pressed the cold bag to Dillon's ear.

As a result of letting go of the door, the kids looked in horror as the freezer was about to close them in. "AAAAAAHHHHHH!" The tiny screams were unheard as the kids dropped, and the freezer door sealed them into the dark coldness.

Mason and Sheila were surrounded by darkness. The freezing air of the freezer began effecting their form greatly in mere seconds. Mason stood on a snow-covered floor, though it was really the mist of the freezer on the bottom. Mason rapidly rubbed his hands together for warmth, holding them by his mouth and breathing some breath in before stuffing his arms into his jacket. "Brr-r-r-r… i-it's so cold… G-Good thing I decided to w-wear my black jacket today, huh, Sheila…" No response. "Sheila?"

He glanced to his right at the sound of teeth clattering. Sheila Frantic stood and rapidly shook in one place, icicles drooping from her nose, and her skin slowly becoming frozen as she desperately rubbed her arms for warmth. While Mason was dressed up in the sweaty, thick black clothing, Sheila was dressed in her thin summer clothing, with a thin green t-shirt, short black shorts, and flip-flops. Her toes also looked like they were becoming frozen, just as icicles hung from other parts of her body, like her tail, and ears. "I-I-I c-can't feel my t-t-toes."

"Sheila…" Mason looked with pure worry. "You're freezing."

"Nnnaahh…" Sheila tried to work up a grin, but struggled to because of the cold. "Everything's all… tiptop, eh? N-N-No need to… worry yourself… hehe."

"Sheila, you're going to freeze to death. We've gotta find you some warmth."

Sheila's teeth clattered a little more. "Th-Th-There ain't gonna be much warmth in here… eh?…"

"Sheila… w-we need to huddle. Come here." Mason pulled his arms out of his sleeves and walked over. Sheila weakly pulled her hands away from her arms as the two slowly embraced each other. Sheila reached below the back of Mason's jacket and stuck her hands up, causing the boy to wince as her near-frozen hands made contact with his skin. The two held each other close and calmly rubbed their hands against the others' back.

"W-W-Will everything be all crooky… Mate?"

"It's okay, Sheila. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

A soft spot was touched in Sheila's heart. The Faunus raccoon gently buried her face in Mason's chest for more warmth. The two remained that way for a while and held each other. Slowly but surely, the coldness that was overtaking them faded away. They felt the strong love and care for the other slowly warming them up. Both of them desperate to protect the other. Sheila pulled her face out of Mason's chest a little for some air. A smile slowly grew upon her face, feeling the warmth coming back to her as she realized something. "Hey…" She looked up to face Mason, "I've got an idea, Mate." The raccoon child pulled her arms out from Mason's back an balled her left hand into a fist, using her power to make it alight. "We can probably keep warm usin' this."

Mason smiled at seeing the light on her hand, calmly placing both hands over it. "It…It's so warm…"

"Hehe…" she could only grin in joy.

"Heh… I think I'm warm enough now."

"Oi am, too…" she assured him as he took his hands off of hers. "Anyhoo… let's get to explorin' this ripper place!"

Mason sighed. "Sheila, you almost froze to death. Shouldn't we get out of here?"

"Ahh, okay. I think Oi've got me a plan, eh?" She looked around and noticed the huge box of chocolate ice cream. "What if we get up on that ice cream pack or something? Someone 'AS to wanna eat ice cream eventually! On a hot day like this!"

"But that could take forever! Hm, but I guess it's better than nothing. We'll never get the door open ourselves like this. Alright, let's do it. But how can we get up there? Does your tail work?"

Sheila looked back and tried to spin her tail, but it remained frozen in place. "No good. Frozen like a popsicle."

Mason then looked around for a possible solution. "Look! The hot dogs they were gonna use for the contest!" He noticed the pack of lined-up hot dogs sat next to the ice cream. "We'll climb up there to reach the ice cream!" They hurried over to the hot dogs and grabbed on as tight as they could, pulling all their strength in order to climb the thick ice, trying not to let the cold overtake them. They made it to the top and hurried over and jumped to the ice cream. "Hoo, made it!" Mason gasped, trying to rub his hands some more.

"Oi, lessee if anyone comes."

"Ergh, you alright there, Lee?" they could hear Haruka's voice from the outside.

"Yeah, I'm on." Mason and Sheila were met with the outside light from the opening door, seeing Lee Andrew's gigantic form. "Ah, hear it is!" The boy reached both of his hands in and gripped the ice cream.

The boy pulled the ice cream out and closed the freezer door afterward, sitting around Haruka's shoulders. "Alright, Lee! Now whoever wins gets first serve!"

"Hehe. Alright, then." However, Lee took notice of two tiny bugs on the ice cream lid. "Hm." He simply flicked them away with his finger.

"AAHHH- UAH!" Mason and Sheila shot over like bullets and crashed into a soft, green substance, plummeting down to a brown, soft-soil surface after being flicked by Lee.

"Crikey! Are we back outside?" Sheila asked.

Mason looked up at the colossal plant above them, then took notice of the surrounding walls. "No. We're in the kitchen's pot plant. At least now we can catch a break and warm up."

"Uah, I'm just about warm. Me toes are still feelin' a li'l frosty." She looked down at her frozen toes.

"Oh… I'll help with that." With that, Mason got down and released some warm breath onto Sheila's feet, quickly rubbing his hands on them to give them warmth.

Sheila lightly giggled at his actions, and after a few minutes, he stopped and stood up. "That should do it, Mate!" Sheila then slipped off her sandals and placed her bare feet on the soft soil of the pot. "Ah, me good ol' toes!" the girl smiled and wiggled her toes between the dirt. "Ah missed ya, pals!"

"Hehehehe!" Mason only grinned and chuckled.

"Man, where the hell are those kids?" Elijah asked as he and Marine entered the kitchen.

"Ah, relax, Eli, you know our daughter. If they get lost, she'll find their way back faster 'n' a cripple in a corn-maze, ah?"

"Yeah, yeah." Elijah sat at the table and rested his head on his hand. "I just wish she wasn't so 'gung-ho' for adventure sometimes, you know?"

"Well, wot's wrong with that? Ain't a child allowed to roam free in the world, Mate?"

"Well, I still wish she wouldn't take so long. Just how long can she go on for?" Elijah sighed and pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, using a lighter to ignite it as he began to inhale the smoke and blow it out.

"For Christ's sake, we're in someone else's house, show a little decency."

Elijah begrudgingly pulled the roll-up out of his mouth. "Pfft." With that, he decided to flick it away to his side.

The cigarette came in contact with the kitchen plant and dropped down into the soil. After Sheila slipped her sandals on, they turned to notice it, their eyes widening in horror as the plant instantly caught fire. "AAAAHHHH!" They both screamed louder than ever.

"Ahhh!" Marine clapped her hands on her head in panic. "What did you do?!"

"It-It was an accident!" Elijah exclaimed, running to the burning plant.

"Well, put it out!!"

Elijah frantically wondered what to do. He quickly looked back and forth between the fire and the sink, sweating panickingly.

Upstairs, Matthew, Yin, and the rest of them suddenly heard the blaring of fire alarms. They immediately dashed down the stairs and into the kitchen. "What's going on??" Yin exclaimed. The adults and children looked towards the wetted, soot-covered plant as slight smoke rose from it, each of them raising brows. They then directed their attention to Elijah, who was currently pulling up his pants zipper.

"Problem solved!" the man grinned. Marine just gave him a look of disbelief and sighed as she face-palmed.

Inside the pot, Mason and Sheila bared looks of aggravation as they stood with their legs buried in a puddle of yellow, and also dripping with the substance. "My dad… is really gross." Sheila stated.

"I would normally throw up, but I think I released it all after you ate Dillon's earwax."

The kids and the adults left afterward while Yin proceeded to take and pull the burned plant out of the pot. As the roots rose from the soil, Mason and Sheila quickly grabbed on and allowed it to lift them up as well. Yin held her other hand below the plant to catch the dripping dirt as she carried it to the trash can. Mason and Sheila dropped onto her open hand and hurriedly ran to grab onto her fingers. Yin dropped the plant into the garbage and brushed her hands off afterwards. "Huh?" The woman suddenly took notice of two teeny creatures clutching to her fingers.

Mason and Sheila looked up as Yin's humongous grey eyes drew closer and closer. Mason and Sheila held looks of worry and anxiety, hoping the woman wouldn't mistake them for bugs and see them. Yin squinted her eyes and finally got a good look at the two. After finally realizing who they were, the woman was overcome with shock as her eyes widened. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" her mouth shot open wide and screamed at the top of her lungs. Tiny drops of saliva spewed out at the two, and they could plainly see the uvula shaking in her mouth. "Ooohhhh." After a few seconds, she fell over and fainted, her massive body tremendously quaking the ground.

Yin's body lay unconscious on the kitchen floor as Mason and Sheila hurried over beside her ear. "HEY! HEY, MOM! WAKE UUUP!"

"Hehe. Guess she can't handle finding her 'li'l baby' standin' on her finger, eh?" Sheila sheepishly asked.

"Come on! Let's climb onto her face." The two hurried over to the mother's hair and started to climb the thick strands.

Meanwhile, Haruka entered the kitchen at the sound of something falling, finding her mother unconscious on the floor. "DAAD. MOM FELL ASLEEP IN THE KITCHEN." Matthew then entered and looked questionably at his knocked-out wife. He approached and held the woman up by her shoulders.

"Honey? Hey, Honey, wake up." He lightly smacked her face.

Mason and Sheila desperately climbed faster up Yin's hair and ran onto her face, then started jumping and waving their arms. "Dad, DAD!" Mason cried out.

"'EEEEEY!" Sheila yelled.

"Come on, let's get her some water." Matt suggested, lifting his wife and holding her head over the sink. He switched the water on and began splashing it across her face.

Humongous waves suddenly began surfing over the tiny duo, instantly washing them off the face. "WAAAAH!" They dropped down onto the sink floor, but had a hard time trying to stand as the water was still dripping down, really thick and deep at their tiny heights.

"Ohhhh…" Yin began to blink awake, so Matt pulled her away from the sink.

"What happened, Honey?"

"Mason… Sheila…" she spoke in a dizzy tone. "Little children on my finger… soooo tinyyyy…"

"Daddy, why is Mommy acting crazy?" Haruka asked.

"She's probably stressed from all the work she's been doing. She's hallucinating. All she needs is a little nap and she'll be all better." Matthew proceeded to turn the water off before carrying his wife upstairs.

Mason and Sheila sighed in relief as they finally had a chance to stand up in the sink.

"Okay, fine, Marine, I'll wash my hands." Elijah grumpily stated as he entered the kitchen and turned on the sink.

"If you're going to urinate on somebody's plant, at LEAST have the decency ta clean up!" Marine told him.

As Elijah began washing his hands under the rushing water, Mason and Sheila began getting thrown around by the massive droplets and waves. "WHOOOAAAA!" It didn't take long before the two were sent sliding down the drain.

Elijah turned the water off afterward and dried his hands before walking away with Marine. Aurora, Chris, and Francis just stood by the doorway as they watched all this happen. "Boy, talk about a bunch of excitement in one little house." Aurora said. "And Cheren and Panini are missing it all."

"Mason and Sheila, too." Chris reminded.

Unbeknownst to them, Cheren and Panini stood right under the three's noses, yelling up to them. "FRANCIS! AURORA! CHRIIIS! DOWN HEEEERE!"

"What the heck is taking them so long?" Chris asked, the tiny screams going unheard.

"At this rate, the hotdog-eating contest is never gonna happen." Aurora stated in doubt.

"Ah well." Francis shrugged. "He'd probably get beat anyway."

"Who? Cheren?" Aurora raised a brow.

"Well, yeah. I mean Panini DOES have quite the gut. We Fulbrights have been known for our strong stomachs." He smirked.

"Hey, we're the demigod kids, it'd make more sense if WE had the strong stomachs!"

"And what makes you so special?"

"Oh, I could eat that many dogs with one hand tied behind me."

"What if I ate more?"

"Skinny little lass like you, I'd doubt it."

"Nice compliment." She smirked. "But it won't stop me from kicking your butt."

"Oooh, sounds like we got a challenge." Chris smirked.

"Whaddya say, you wanna?" Aurora asked cockily.

"Let's GO, Uno!"

"Bring it on, Fulbright!"

"Sweet! Let's do it!" Chris cheered. The two immediately grabbed the hot dogs out of the freezer as Aurora and Chris held flames under to thaw them out. After unfreezing the loads of dogs, they set them on the table as Aurora and Francis sat on opposite ends, holding their mouths open and ready to eat. "On 3:" Chris started, standing between them. "1…" Aurora readied to bite her hotdog, "2…" Francis touched his teeth to his hotdog. "THREE!" Both rivals immediately began gobbling down the hotdogs as quick as they could. Aurora sprayed some of hers with ketchup and mustard and ate them while Francis grabbed two of them at a time and stuffed them down.

Cheren and Panini only watched from the carpeted floor by the doorway as their respective siblings stuffed their faces. "Aww. Francis is fighting for me." Panini smiled.

"Ahh. Now we'll never get to do our contest." Cheren whined.

"Yeah, yeah, but let's get back to the real matter. We can't just keep standin' here and wait for someone to squish us."

"Well, it's the only plan I've got. If we just try and go after them, they'll leave long before we can reach them at this height. Our best option is to just stay here and hope someone will hear our yelling."

"Augh. My lungs are getting tired."

Back with the contest, Aurora and Francis were nearly down to the last dogs. "Okay, guys, is it gonna be a close game, or will someone go for the photo finish?" Chris announced.

Francis tried to stuff another dog, but- "Oooooog." He gripped his stomach.

Aurora paused just before eating and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I think I may have had one too many, oohhh." He sickly slumped out of his chair and held his stomach.

Aurora walked over and helped him up and said, "Maybe you need a bathroom break." The blue-eyed child then proceeded to lead him up the stairs.

"Hm." Chris watched the two head up first before going to follow them. On his way, however, the blonde-haired son stepped and tripped on Aurora's dropped ketchup pack. "WHOOA- Uuh!" He flipped upward and landed with a thud on his back.

Cheren and Panini exchanged a quick glance and dashed in his direction as fast as they could, seeing his head touching the ground. "Man, I really gotta watch where I step." Chris stated, turning his head left. "Huh?" The Uno son took notice of a couple of tiny figures jumping around by his left. Chris got up and sat on all fours as he moved his head closer and squinted tightly at the two. His eyes widened with shock. "What the crudapples???"

Yin and Matt's Room

"Honey? Honey, are you okay?" Matt asked. He, Haruka, Lee, Rachel, Dillon, Leanne, and Aurora stood around the Chinese woman as she lie groaning on the bed. Her eyes slowly began to open and regain vision, seeing the faces of her husband and friends looming over her. "There you are!" Matt smiled as his wife sat up, holding her throbbing head.

"What happened?" Rachel asked.

"I…I saw Mason… and Sheila! They were on my finger. And…" Yin squinted her eyes and held her right thumb and index finger inches away from each other, "soooo tinyyyy."

"I think you might still be hallucinating." Matt said.

"You've been working really hard lately." Rachel told her.

"But… it looked so real…"

"That would explain why we can't find them." Dillon said. "They got so small, we could barely see them."

"But that's crazy." Aurora replied. "You don't go playing in the backyard and suddenly turn really tiny."

"Umm… Mom?" Chris nervously entered the room, holding up his right pinky finger. "There's… something you need to see."

Yin got up from bed as she and Rachel approached the boy, who held his pinky up higher. The two bent over and squinted their eyes very closely. At the tip of Chris's pinky, a teeny-tiny Cheren and Panini rapidly waved their arms with desperate expressions, and Panini was pouncing around like a rabbit. "Ohhhh…" Riddled with shock, Yin dizzily fell to the floor with a thud once again. The rest of the kids gathered around to see the tiny duo up close.

Rachel only looked down at her shrunken son with a shameful look and folded her arms, a look that said 'What did you do, now?' Cheren and Panini exchanged glances and pointed at each other. Rachel just placed her hand over her eyes and shook her head in disbelief.

The sewers

"AAAHHHH!" Mason and Sheila shot down a giant waterfall (that looked small to a regular-sized person) coming from a pipe and dropped into the enormous, mile-wide sewer river below.

Mason gasped for breath and resurfaced, holding onto a floating piece of giant food as he flowed down the river. "SHEILA?" he called out, looking for his hybrid friend through the massive sewer waves, the sounds of the waterfalls drowning out almost all sound. He sucked in some breath and put his head underwater. His eyes widened when he saw his raccoon friend slowly sinking to the bottom, her eyes closed as bubbles flowed out of her mouth. He came back above surface with a look of pure worry, trying to catch his breath. Mustering up the courage, he sucked in more breath and dove beneath the waves.

Mason's eyes were fixed on the raccoon sheila, a determined look on his visage as he swam his way down below. He remembered all of the swimming lessons he learned from Sheila and tried to put them to the test. He kicked his legs and brushed his arms behind him over and over, letting tiny bubbles escape from his nose, getting closer and closer to his drowning friend. When he had finally reached her, Mason took her arms and put them around his shoulders, now fighting to carry them both back to the surface, having to use only his legs. It took some work, but Mason reached the surface and gasped widely for breath. He was able to make it to the side of the river and grabbed onto a rugged edge along the wall. He kept hold on Sheila with his right hand and held the rocky side with the left hand, climbing the ladder with the last of his strength.

He desperately panted for air after reaching the top, setting the raccoon girl on the ground on her back. "Sheila!" he yelled, shaking his friend in hopes that she'd wake up. Sheila's eyes remained closed, and showed no signs of life. Seeing no other alternative, Mason pressed his lips to Sheila's mouth and shot breath down her lungs.

Sheila's eyes shot open and awake, gasping quickly for air as Mason got off. After a while, Sheila stopped her heavy breathing and stared at Mason, who bore a relieved look. The raccoon held her dizzy head down and placed her left hand over her forehead. "Oh, Sheila…" Mason sighed in relief and tried to keep her up as they both sat on the ground. "Are you okay?"

"Th-That was…" Sheila immediately shot to her feet. "RIPPER!!!"

"Ah!" Mason fell back at her shout.

"I almost drowned!! That was the best experience in me entire life!!" Mason annoyedly stood up and brushed himself off. He kept his look of annoyance as Sheila walked around and yapped. "When we were in that tunnel, and goin' around and around! And then we dropped down the waterfall! That TOTALLY needs to be an amusement park ride!" Mason shut his eyes tight and gritted his teeth. "Wait until we get home! Imagine what goin' down a TOILET would be like!"

"NNNGH!" Mason shook in anger. "Will you JUST! SHUT! UP?!" Sheila stood in place and turned to look at him. "This whole experience has been a living NIGHTMARE! All I wanted was to have a fun little day playing in the yard, nothing too big, but then YOU had to be all GUNG-HO for adventure, and check out the mysterious door with a swirling vortex! UUGH! We NEVER would've gotten in this mess if it wasn't for you. We should've just STAYED home, and watched Cheren and Panini have a little contest. That woulda been a MILLION times better, than being shrunk down to the size of a couple ants, and going on this wild ride, almost getting stepped on by my sister, getting SQUISHED by my mom, and eaten by your mom, and going inside Dillon's freaking ear, and almost FREEZING to death, THEN getting pissed on, with the most AGGRAVATING, ADVENTURE-loving raccoon MUTANT, IN THE WORLD!!!!" After Mason had unleashed his rage, the boy began panting heavily.

Sheila only stood there, all happiness completely gone from her face. Mason started to show a look of guilt when the tears started to well in her eyes, her lips quivering. "Sniff…" She sniffled.

"Sheila…" Mason slowly reached a hand out. Sheila only looked away and walked over toward the sidewalk's edge, having a seat and letting her legs hang above the river. Sheila quietly cried and wiped her eyes. Mason's never felt so horrible about something. For as long as he's known her, Sheila's never been one to cry. And for the first time seeing it, he didn't like it one bit. He calmly approached the raccoon girl and sat down beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Sheila… I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of that, honest. I just… I'm just really stressed, you know? I'm just so worried at, being this height and, I just wanna get out of this mess so bad."

Sheila sniffled a little more and looked up at him. "You wanna know why I'm always so excited for adventure?"

"W…Why?"

She sniffed and wiped a tear from her eyes. "Because life is just… so precious, Mate. And with a friendship like ours… ya wanna make the best of it. It's like ya said, Mason… time just moves so fast… and ya wonder if anything will matter." She sniffled. "The reason I act like I do is because… our friendship is the best I've ever had… and I want to spend every moment we have together, having fun… without worry of anything…" Another sniffle. "Ya can't just waste time thinkin' about what bad things could happen… Sniff… Ya gotta make the best of life… in that moment. You know?" Two more sniffles.

Mason looked down in shame. "I-I know that, Sheila… and that's why I wanna get out of this so badly." He looked up at her. "I really value our friendship… I wouldn't trade it for anything. The reason I'm so serious about this… is 'cause I don't want anything bad to happen. I wanna get out of this so we can keep playing together as long as we want. Without worry of… being stepped on or something."

Sheila sniffed a little more and wiped some tears off. "Y-Yah…"

"But… I really am sorry for what just happened. I'd never do anything to make you upset like this. You're the best friend I could ever ask for, Sheila. You're always there with me, always putting a smile on my face. And I…I'd go on a million adventures to see you happy."

Sheila slowly began to form the smile on her face again. "You're the best friend… Oi could ever ask for, too, Mate."

"Hehe…" Mason stood back to his feet and helped Sheila up.

"Well… it looks like we're in quite the pickle down here, eh?"

"E-yep… But that makes all the more adventure for us!"

"Hehe." She grinned. "It'll take us months to find our way back home down here."

"Eh. I have that long to spend with the greatest friend in the world. And besides… look how BIG it is down here!" His heart filled with joy and excitement, Mason called out and echoed to the distance. "HELLOOOOO!"

Sheila ran beside him and screamed, "HELLOOOOOOOOO!"

"WHOOOOO IIIIIIS THEEEERRRRE?" a deep, booming voice erupted throughout the sewers.

The two friends winced with fear. "Umm… Sheila? Somethin' tells me we aren't down here alone…"

"That sounds crikey with me, too, eh?"

"Heh…" Mason put on an adventurous smirk. "Let's go."

"Hehe…" Sheila smirked as well. "Yeah, le's move it!" With that, the duo of friends began their long, leg-tiring walk across the vast, mile-long sewers. From the depths of the river, a pair of toxic-green eyes watched the couple venture away, bubbles emerging from its gigantic form as it flowed away.