Playground Adventure/Dodgeball Survival

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Playground Adventure

Great Woods Playground was an indoor playground designed to resemble a forest. There were hollowed trees to climb, a cave with rubber stalactites, and a makeshift Western village with a jail, a room of rubber crates and flour sacks, and an artificial horse carriage. The village was built on the second layer of the playground, along with a giant bird’s nest. There were also several slides, as well as a ball pit.

The students of Gallagher Elementary were brought here on a field trip to celebrate the end of the school year. The kids all placed their shoes on shelves lined along the wall, as was a simple rule the playground had, so the structure rumbled with the rapid stomps of shoeless kids. The students ran about the playground in excitement, excited to explore or play with their friends. Whether they were exploring the caves, the inner tunnels, or running around the upper village, there was tons of fun to have on this playground full of students.

Perry viewed up at the playground alongside his friends, Ralph and Max. Ralph was a chubby boy with glasses, blonde hair, a blue button-up shirt, black shorts, and tall white socks. Max had short brown hair, a red shirt, blue jeans, and socks. Perry himself had messy black hair, wore a black T-shirt, blue jeans, black socks, and green glasses over his freckled face. He was one of the shortest kids in their grade, as evident between his two friends.

While Ralph didn’t look like it, he was actually a boy from a rich family, but he wasn’t arrogant, and he was also a fan of airplanes. Max was the joker of the group and often displayed a quirky sense of humor. Perry, however, was a mostly average, but well-rounded boy who enjoyed playing with his friends. He was nice and friendly with most of his classmates, even if he wasn’t too close with all of them.

“Hey, Ralph, let’s go check out that cave!” Perry ushered.

“I dunno, man, I’m worried you’ll get lost~” Ralph teased.

“I will not! There’s no way it’s as big as a real cave!”

“Oh, crud!” Max cursed, speaking in a nasally voice. “I left my phone in the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” He hurried off.

“I’m going ahead.” Perry called, running to the cave. “Wait up for him in case he takes a while!”

“Okay!” Ralph replied.

The inside of the cave was dark and presented an eerie feeling. Perry appeared to be the only one in here at the moment. He looked up around the rubber stalactites. He felt one and threw a punch at it. It felt and swung like a pointed punching bag. “Heh heh! I’m totally gonna get them with this when they come!”

Unbeknownst to him, somebody was sneaking up on Perry. They saw him run into the cave and decided to sneak in from another entrance. Fortunately, nobody else was around. “Heeeey, Perry~?”

Perry turned: a boy stepped around a stalactite. He had black hair, a white T-shirt, and jeans. The dimness of the cave made his smirk look eerie and ominous. “Mack? What’s up?”

Mack revealed a mechanical gun from behind his back. “Surprise!”

A bright ray fired from the gun and struck Perry! In a flash, he seemed to vanish from the spot.

Perry was knocked back from the sudden blast, dizzying his vision. After it faded, the boy tried to get a grasp of his bearings. …The ground around him seemed to get a lot darker. The dim light made it difficult to process everything… the ceiling of the cave seemed to have gotten a lot higher. Furthermore, the hanging stalactites were unbelievably gigantic. One of them was still slightly swaying: the same one Perry had just punched a moment ago.

The next sight made him reel back in terror: Mack was towering over him. He was utterly enormous, planting his socked feet mere inches to Perry’s sides. Based on the scale of them, and though the very fact was sudden and alarming, Perry deduced he was roughly the size of an ant. “M-Mack?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!”

Mack didn’t really hear him, but he could imagine the fear and anguish Perry was feeling right now. He couldn’t even see his tiny classmate among the complex textures of the floor, but he was smiling with the utmost satisfaction. “That was for sticking a bug in my cupcake.”

“WHAT?! Mack, the only reason I did that was ’cause you were being a jerk!”

“I hope you enjoy yourself down there. See ya~” And with that, Mack turned his back and marched out of the cave, leaving his classmate tiny and alone.

“MACK, WAIT! I’M SORRY! PLEASE CHANGE ME BACK! DON’T LEAVE ME HERE!!”

Alas, Perry’s pleas became pointless as Mack had left the cave. Fear coursed through his little heart, feeling insignificant under the hanging rubber, mountain-sized stalactites.

Mack was probably the smartest boy in class, but his brains had earned him a bit of an ego. He liked to act intellectually superior to everyone, but this resulted in some of the stronger kids like Spike or Christina to beat him up. The other day at lunch, Mack was teasing Perry over how he had gotten the last cupcake in the cafeteria. But as Perry later noticed a bug on the floor, he decided to prank Mack and ruin his dessert, prompting the nearby kids to laugh.

Perry had expected some form of revenge on Mack’s part, but he wasn’t expecting anything this horrible. He didn’t expect Mack to have his own shrink ray. He didn’t expect to literally be shrunken, reduced to a mere bug on the playground floor. It would take him forever to cross this miles-wide cave, let alone get back to his friends. He was completely alone and powerless.

“Hey, Perry, we’re back!”

Perry heard rumbling and saw two colossal, shadowed giants stepping through the cave. Their forms became clear as Ralph and Max. Perry nearly wet himself at the terrifying sight of his own titanic friends. The two were blissfully walking and looking left and right, totally oblivious to the situation. “Perry, where are you?” Ralph asked, his voice echoing like a god.

“Are you sure he came in here?” Max asked, his high-pitched nasally voice amplified to the tiny’s ears.

“RALPH! MAX! I’M DOWN HERE! HEEEELP!” Perry screamed desperately for his friends to hear him. Right now, they were his only hope of getting out of this situation. He was completely powerless, so he needed his friends to help him. Unfortunately, his screams failed to reach their ears, and they had no idea he was right under their noses.

“Yeah, he said he was.” Ralph stepped forward a bit, his colossal foot barely missing his little friend. Perry’s heart jumped from the sudden sensation. His own friend nearly squished him and he had no idea.

However, Perry braced himself when Max casually stepped forward, stopping directly over him. His friend’s socked foot was the size of a mountain, but since it was so close, it was Perry’s only chance. The boy raced forward and managed to grab a tiny string hanging from Max’s sock. With any hope, he could make his way upward.

“Hey, maybe he went into that tunnel.” Max noticed the hole in the wall.

“You’re smaller than me, so you check it out. I’ll look over here.” Ralph said.

Perry hung on as Max walked toward the tunnel. His foot lifted and curved upside-down as he crawled inside. There were red stairs leading up along the tunnel, as well as small lights to guide the way, and Max had to lift and shift his legs with each step. Perry was unable to keep up with the constant shifting, so he fell off the sock and tumbled onto one of the red steps. “MAX, WAIT! MAAAX!”

Alas, he could only watch as his friend kept climbing up the tunnel. Perry was left alone on the step. At his size, this step was the size of a great field, big enough to hold their school, a football field, or otherwise, and to think there were plenty more like this within the tunnel. There was no real way out of here, so Perry chose to wait on the step. Eventually, someone else may come through, and he could try to get their attention.

Hearing something, Perry turned toward the gaping entrance of the tunnel, seeing a figure crawling in. A pair of hands clasped Perry’s step, and they looked proportionately small. Afterwards, a head pulled itself up: it belonged to a little girl of three years old, blonde with tiny pigtails and blue eyes. “EXCUSE ME! HEY! LITTLE GIRL!” Perry cried at the child.

The girl’s eyes narrowed down as she tried to climb the step. “…?” She seemed to stop as her eyes focused on the tiny thing on the step.

“YES!” Perry yelled, racing toward her looming face. “Little girl, help! Take me to your mom or dad! Please!”

“…” There was a glint of curiosity in her eyes. She thought it was an ant at first, but it actually seemed like a little person. However, being a young age, she didn’t really understand that people aren’t supposed to be little, so the sight wasn’t all that surprising. In fact, some of her cartoons had tiny people, so it still felt logical.

With a childish instinct, the girl reached and gently gripped Perry in her little fingers. Perry could feel the strength in her grip: to think he was smaller and weaker than a little girl’s fingers. Still, Perry was hopeful: the girl seemed to acknowledge him as a person and would hopefully take him to show her parents. The girl reached up and placed Perry atop her blonde hair. The strands were rather thick and ropelike, so Perry could hold on as she continued her ascent. “H-Hey, where’re we going? A-Are your parents up here? Or something?”

She clearly wasn’t paying attention and was more focused on reaching the top of the tunnel. Perry felt mildly worried and impatient, but at least it was safer up here than on the floor. If he stayed on this girl’s head, eventually someone would notice him.

The tunnel led up to the second level of the playground; specifically, it exited from the well in the makeshift Western village. As soon as she climbed out- “Whoops, sorry!” Perry saw his classmate, Jason whoosh by, nearly tripping on the girl.

“Get back here, Jason!” Another boy named Spike came around the well—he tripped on the child.

“AAAAAAH!” Perry cried, going flying from the impact.

The following events happened too quickly for Perry to process: the little girl fell over from Spike’s trip, and Spike himself flung forward. Perry, who flew off as well, was in perfect trajectory with Spike’s bellybutton. Spike wore a black top with matching shorts, going with his signature black, spiked hair. Since his belly was uncovered, Perry was spared from a crushing fate inside the naval.

The girl began crying, pushing herself up and running away. “Watch where you’re going, kid!” Spike yelled rudely. “Jason, where are you?!”

As he continued his pursuit, Perry had clung onto his naval, being pressed against it as Spike ran. “Dang it, Spike, you could’ve killed me!” Perry yelled, though knowing Spike couldn’t hear him. Spike was always one of the more rude and careless boys in school, and being stuck in his naval at this speed made Perry want to vomit. Jason was no different, and this playground was the perfect place to play their reckless games.

Jason was a tan-skinned boy with black hair, an open green vest with no shirt underneath, and black shorts. Aside from being an excitable explorer, Jason was also a strong boy who loved a good fight, to which Spike was a good match. Perry watched as Jason quickly clambered across some monkey bars, and Perry could feel the force and momentum as Spike jumped, grabbed, and swung the bars as well, his belly quickly shifting left and right and shaking Perry around.

But as soon as Spike landed and was about to turn the corner, Perry gasped as a gargantuan fist seemed to fly out of nowhere. “UUUOOF!” Spike hacked spit from Jason’s surprise attack. His powerful fist bent Spike’s belly in. Perry was far enough in the naval to avoid being smashed by the godly fist, but he plummeted from the naval with a dizzy sensation. Perry crashed on the wooden floor; the wind resistance seemed to shield his tiny frame from an otherwise fatal drop.

“Owww…man, I—AAAAH!” Perry jumped back to reality when an enormous foot crashed beside him. Above him, Jason and Spike had suddenly engaged in a fist fight.

“You’re gonna pay for that one!” Spike yelled with a smirk.

“Make me!” Jason snapped back.

Perry was smack between the two young titans, their bare feet stomping aimlessly in their brawl. “AAAAH! GUYS, STOP IT! STOOOP!” Perry ran about frantically. Watching two mountainous titans in a world-shaking brawl would look amazing from far away, but this was the absolute worst place to be. Perry ducked, panicking and praying for the giants to stop.

Spike swung his foot at Jason’s legs, flinging them upward as the tan-skinned boy fell. His titanic bottom crashed on the floor with a great BOOM! The shockwave blew Perry across the floor for what felt like miles, rolling and fumbling like a piece of dirt. “You’re it, Jason!” Spike yelled, running from the fallen boy, who was up on his feet and chasing after.

Perry growled in frustration: he was glad to be blown out of harm’s way, but to think the force of Jason falling on his rear was strong enough to do that. It was more embarrassing than he’d like to admit. But Perry grew alert once more, feeling the quakes of an approaching pair of footsteps. He turned left and saw Christina coming.

Christina was a tall girl with short blonde hair, a red ribbon on top, a blue T-shirt, and black shorts. She was one of the toughest girls in school with remarkably big hands and feet. Perry froze in fear as Christina unwarily approached him: her feet were like moving twin mountains to the puny boy, and it was terrifying how quickly they moved. Fortunately, he managed to stay between them on her walk… however, Christina seemed to stop directly at him.

“?” The ball of her foot had sunk into a hole in the floorboard. It seemed that a nail was missing. Such an obscurity was enough to draw her attention down, but she would likely resume her walk after a second. …That is, until she spotted something.

Perry gasped: Christina’s orange eyes, looming far above him, seemed to fix on him. In her momentary glance down, had she actually noticed him? “CHRISTINA! HEY!” Perry seized the chance and began jumping. During recess, Christina often liked to beat him up or pick on him. However, it was playful beating rather than violent; she almost viewed Perry as a little brother and wanted to toughen him up. She only truly got violent with the larger kids. Regardless, Perry knew Christina would help him in this situation, because he couldn’t very well toughen up at this puny size.

However, Perry felt a chill as Christina’s enormous foot rose and hovered over him. Eclipsed under its shadow, it was clear what her true intention was. “AAAAAH!” Perry hightailed and ran: the foot plummeted, and he had barely survived between the trench of toes. Her foot rose again, and seeing that she missed, Chris readjusted its position for the next stomp. Perry barely had room to dodge to the side, the force of the crash blowing him a short distance, but Christina was still determined to finish the job. “CHRISTINA, STOP! PLEASE!”

It was one thing when trying to get someone’s attention while dodging their feet, but it was another when someone was actively trying to kill him. While Christina didn’t bully the shorter kids, she loved to step on bugs to assert her strength. Perry jumped into the crevice between floorboards, too narrow for her bulbous feet to fit. “Oh, no you don’t.” Christina smirked, trying to squeeze her toes into the crevice. Perry got down, the tips of her toes struggling to cram their way down. He could make out every grotesque detail as the skin stretched and strained itself in trying to fit.

“Hey, Christina, Laruta wants to see you.” A Spanish girl approached her. She had black hair in a ponytail and a brown dress. “She’s down by the stairs.”

“Man, what does she want this time? Ugh, fine.” Christina walked away in a huff.

“Hmm…” The girl stepped forward a bit, eyes upward. “Would I get in trouble for climbing that?”

Her right foot stepped and stopped close to Perry. Isabelle was known as a ‘wild girl’ in their school, a fan of nature and exploration, but she was otherwise a playful and friendly girl. She had the eyes and instincts of a hunter, and even at school, she liked to go barefoot. Perry was rather fascinated by her style, and he would always smile and laugh at seeing her wild demeanor in action. Isabelle was Perry’s next source of hope, so he ran to her foot. He was able to grab hold of the side and clamber up onto her big toe.

Perry cringed at the smell, however. This whole situation was more humiliating with every second spent. These were his classmates, his own peers, and yet he was reduced to the level of a helpless bug, forced to cling onto their smelly feet and pathetically scream for their help. He felt so unequal with them, so powerless. Sadly, unless he could climb to their heads or something, his best chance of being noticed was being on their feet; and it’s not like yelling would accomplish much since they couldn’t hear him.

However, as humiliating as it was, Perry was still good friends with most of these kids, and they would certainly lend their aid if they were aware. Christina would’ve helped him, and so would Jason and Spike, even if they might get teasing about it. Why, one of those brutes might’ve beaten the crud out of Mack for his sake; that would certainly be an amazing thing to see from this scale, as he could make out every immense detail of Mack’s pain.

“Ah, screw it!” Isabelle decided.

“AAAAAHH!” Perry clung to the toe when Isabelle began to dash like a wild animal. She leapt atop the fence and began climbing up a tree that people weren’t allowed to climb. With her foot rapidly shifting up and setting down on the bark, Perry felt the urge to vomit from the rampant motion.

Isabelle reached a branch, balanced across, and began to swing along the decorative ceiling vines. “Hee hee! NOW it feels like a real forest!” the girl cheered. Perry kept holding on as the wind of her swaying leg threatened to blow him off: at this height, there was no telling when, or if, he would land.

Isabelle dropped down atop one of the walls of the makeshift Western village. “Ew! They should really clean up here!” Isabelle cringed, feeling dust beneath her soles. “Time to get down.” She dropped down after the fact.

Perry was knocked off when she dropped onto the wall, left on the dusty surface. Luckily, the dust softened his fall, though there were now two, dustless fields in the shape of footprints. “Man, this sucks…” Perry cursed, helping himself up and walking to the edge. “Well, no one’s gonna spot me up here…?”

Looking down, Perry saw he was above a fake jail, and a classmate was sitting on the bench. She had black hair in spiked pigtails, a black sweater, blue jeans, and a rather chubby frame. Her freckled cheeks were pudgy and she had a squished, pig-like nose. She was Silica, a dedicated gamer girl, and she was playing a handheld console, hunched over slightly. Perry couldn’t really see it from this angle, but her eyes must’ve been locked in focus.

“Perfect!” Perry beamed. Silica was virtually unmovable during these periods, so she was his next best option. She was completely unconcerned with the world around her, but if she saw Perry like this, surely that would be enough to divert her attention, right? Surely, she would understand Perry’s situation and take the time to bring him downstairs to the teachers. Silica acted like she didn’t care about anything besides her games, but she certainly wouldn’t be careless enough to ignore a classmate in danger.

Perry ran back a good distance, then ran toward the edge with building momentum. He performed a leap of faith, aiming to fall onto Silica’s hair. To a human, the wall had to be roughly seven feet high, but to Perry, it was like skydiving from a mountain. He trusted the wind resistance to break his fall, but so long as he could land on Silica’s head, or at least the back of her sweater, he would have a chance. From her head, he could drop down onto the console, and her focused eyes would surely see him. Or perhaps he should climb down onto her squished nose and hope her sharp eyes crease together to see him.

Unfortunately, Perry’s trajectory fell too short of the mark. He couldn’t grab onto her sweater from this distance, but he could at least start the climb from the bench. “…?!” But Perry grew horrified when he realized where he was heading. Because Silica’s pudgy frame was leaned forward, the back of her pants were hanging open. “NO! No no no no NO NO!” Perry cursed his luck. Of all the places to land, that had to be the worst! It was both extremely inappropriate and extremely gross! He prayed for Silica to get up and move or something, anything to stop him from falling where the sun didn’t shine! Alas, he was seconds away from landing on the white fabric, the sight of Silica’s bulbous, exposed rear disgusting to his-

Poooot!

A blast of air burst from the open pants and blew Perry up and back as he landed on the bench. As he lay there in royal disgust, he questioned whether he was lucky or not. He was saved from an embarrassing position by an equally embarrassing coincidence. As the scent lingered in his nostrils, Perry gave in to his bowel movements and vomited.

“Silica, there you are!” Laruta stepped into the jail. She wore a gray sweatshirt and pants, purple glasses, and had a sandy-blonde ponytail. “Quit playing your game, playgrounds are meant for playing!”

“I am playing, dummy.”

“It’s not playing if your body’s not moving.” Laruta stepped forward.

“Don’t you dare!”

“HOH!” Laruta bravely snatched the game from her hand and raced off.

“GET BACK HERE!” Silica bolted after the exerciser, Laruta laughing at her own trick.

Sadly, even if Perry wanted to try and climb Silica, it was too late now. He could only lay on the bench where she sat, though he still felt the warmth from her presence here. …This fact only made him cringe in disgust again. Either way, perhaps this was for the best. Silica would attack anyone who disrupted her gameplay, and her inattentive mind would mistake Perry for a simple ant and instinctively smack him off. As for Laruta, it would’ve been nice to get her attention. She was one of the more mature, rule-abiding students, and she would definitely help a friend in need. But with her love of exercise, she was always in motion, so getting her attention seemed unlikely.

Still, perhaps if he stayed at this high position on the bench, someone else would sit down and he could climb them. He really had no other options at this point, so Perry simply waited, patiently and helplessly.

Past the entrance of the jail, Perry could see the well that the young girl had climbed out of. His classmates were still running about outside, shoeless and carefree. If it weren’t for this awful ordeal, Perry would actually think this was quite an amazing experience. The world looked very surreal from this perspective, and the sight of his gigantic friends was as incredible as it was terrifying.

If circumstances were different, Perry could actually have a lot of fun. He wondered how his classmates would react to seeing him this way and what they could do. Ralph could put him in one of his remote planes and fly him around. Christina would probably pin him under her finger and make him try to shake free. Isabelle would carry him on a nice walk in the forest and take Perry to explore the massive trees, which would be bigger than buildings. And Silica would probably just play her game and not care.

Perry laughed at himself. Why was he thinking about such things? Where it stood, there was currently no hope of being found and saved. Well, since he had nothing better to do, he might as well think of more positive outcomes. It actually did his heart health to imagine interacting with his friends at this size. It was weird to think they would smile at his situation and have fun, rather than be shocked or afraid for him. In the event he was stuck this way, he could honestly imagine his classmates talking and playing with him as if he were still one of their own. And they would keep Mack away from him at all costs.

Maybe this situation was making Perry realize how much he valued his friends. Being small and helpless was one thing, but it aggravated Perry more that his friends couldn’t find him. If only they were aware, protecting him, helping him, talking with him, he would feel safe, regardless if he was small.

Perry became alert when someone walked into the jail. It was Erin, a rather nerdy girl with brown hair in a ponytail and blue round glasses. She wore a dark-orange T-shirt, khaki pants, and socks, her buckteeth hanging cutely from her mouth. Perry smiled a bit at seeing her: she was a nice, timid girl, but overall friendly, and Perry enjoyed talking to her, even if it was only small talk. Erin was notable for being non-athletic and struggling in gym, so it felt rather funny to view her as a huge, powerful giant.

Erin bore a somewhat downtrodden expression, her eyes directed down as she approached the bench. “ERIN! HEY, ERIN!” Perry began jumping, thinking she was sure to notice him. He didn’t believe Erin was the type to squish bugs on an impulse, so she would at least give him a look-over.

“Erin, why don’t you wanna play anything?” another girl asked as she walked in. Perry knew her as Erin’s best friend, Nora. Nora had light-brown skin and darker-brown hair in pigtails. She had a white top and blue, open jacket with blue jean-shorts and blue socks. She was notably taller than Erin with a slender, but fit physique.

“I’m sorry, Nora.” Erin replied, turning away from the bench to her friend. “My mom yelled at me last night. She just expects too much from me.”

“Aww, I’m sorry.” Nora got beside her friend as both took a seat on the bench. The light impact of their bottoms generated a quake for little Perry, but nothing too dramatic.

“I keep trying to exercise, but it just isn’t working for me. Why does she expect me to be as strong as her?”

“ERIN! NORA! HEEEEEY!” Perry screamed up at the backs of the giants.

“I’m sure she just wants you to be healthy.” Nora consoled, a hand on her shorter friend’s shoulder. “After all, exercise helps the mind just as well as the body. That’s why you’re super smart!”

“I’m not that smart. I bet she wishes you were her daughter.”

“That is so not true!!”

Perry ran up to Erin’s khakis and struggled to climb up them. He felt awkward for eavesdropping and intruding on their personal conversation, but good manners hardly mattered in this situation. He could just imagine their reactions if they noticed him: Erin would probably faint from shock and Nora would scream so loud that the windows would break. The reason he was choosing to climb Erin instead of Nora was that the latter was more energetic, emotional, and impulsive, so he was more likely to be flung off her. Erin, being the softer and careful girl, was a better candidate.

Perry was able to climb up onto Erin’s lap, viewing up the front of the giant geek. He could see the underside of her chin and up her nose, plus that giant dorky tooth hanging out. “It doesn’t matter if you aren’t like your mom, Erin. You’re strong and beautiful on the inside!”

“No I’m not…” Erin said sadly.

“STOP BETRAYING YOURSELF!” Nora impulsively smacked Erin’s back and pushed her forward as she stumbled.

“AAAAH!” Perry was flung off from the sudden force, crashing on the jail floor.

“I know! Let’s go bounce on the trampoline!” Nora pointed. “Follow me, I know where it is!” She jogged off eagerly.

“Okay…” Erin followed at a slower pace.

Perry froze under the shadow of Erin’s sock. “AAAAAH!” Too late to move, the foot crushed him. And as Erin took the next step, the foot lifted up and took Perry with it.

In that brief instant, Perry knew just how an ant felt, feeling the immense, unparalleled weight of a human’s foot. The only difference was he wasn’t splattered. Because Erin had a weak, lightweight frame, with socks comforting and gentle on her sensitive feet, Perry could survive. Unfortunately, he became entangled within the complex weaving of the cozy sock. Erin followed Nora across the playground, completely unaware of the classmate stuck under her foot.

Although Perry suffered no grievous injuries, each step was a forceful, agonizing sensation. Erin had just been expressing her self-doubt over her lack of strength and confidence, yet without even trying or knowing, she was asserting absolute power over her tiny peer. And Perry had so much faith in her a moment ago; he truly thought that the cute, gentle, and kind girl would be his savior, but now he was suffering just as much as with the others.

The two arrived at a large trampoline suspended above a part of the playground. There was already someone jumping on it, an African-American girl named Mika. Mika had black hair, a blue shirt, and black skirt with tall, matching socks. She was as tall as Nora and had a camera attached to her. Mika was an aspiring photographer, so she brought her camera wherever she went.

“Hey, guys!” Mika called cheerily. “Here to join me?”

“We sure are! Come on, Erin!” Nora stepped onto the trampoline, pulling Erin with her.

“Whoooa!” Erin lost her balance on the bouncing foothold, having to hold onto Nora to stay upright.

“Haha! Just bounce your troubles away, Erin! It’s fun!” Nora held both her friend’s hands and directed her in jumping.

“He he he…” Erin laughed sheepishly, trying to spring her legs to keep up.

“AAAH—AAAH—AAAH!” Perry cried as Erin’s feet began flying up and down on the bouncy surface.

Nora began trying to dance with Erin around the trampoline, but the constant motion caused her to tumble over. “Waaaahh!” Stuck on her front, Erin was being flung around by the taller girls’ jumping. “Stop! Let me get uuuuup!”

Her soles now facing up, Perry was given time to breathe, but the repetitive jumping caused him to fly off the giant sock. “AAAAAAAHH!” Upon landing on the surface of the gargantuan trampoline, he was immediately blown to the sky. He fell down, then was sprung up again. The force of the jumping giants blew him level with their heads, but they were so immersed in their fun that they hardly had time to notice him. “GUYS! STOP! STOOOOOOP!”

Nora unknowingly bounced his direction, her back facing Perry. Upon one of his falls, he grabbed the rim of her back pocket, his body flinging about as he tried to hang on. “WOO!” Nora fell back and bounced on her rear before getting back up, the force knocking Perry off.

“Lemme get a picture of you guys!” Mika beamed, readying her camera.

The aimless bouncing had landed Perry against a solid, glass surface: the lens of Mika’s camera. Perry landed on the bottom rim of the lens. “AAH!” The shutter suddenly snapped and reopened. Had Perry been an inch closer, it might have chopped him in half!

“Whoa, look at this shot!” Mika beamed, studying the blurry image of the fast-moving jumpers. “Haha! I gotta show Gabriel this one!”

Perry hung onto the camera’s rim as Mika bounced out of the trampoline. He was being taken on a journey across the playground once again, returning to the western town. Mika entered a room with an artificial, horse-drawn carriage. There was a girl trying to “drive” the carriage: her name was Shimmy, with black hair in pigtails, a pink dress with red polka-dots, and white jacket.

“All aboard the horsy choo-choo!” Shimmy cheered, pretending to stomp a gas pedal with her black-socked foot.

“Shimmy, carriages don’t work like trains.” Gabriel said, sitting back against the carriage’s inner side. Gabriel was a brown-skinned boy with puffy black hair, a black T-shirt with star decorations, and maroon shorts. He had a small, thin frame for his age and a toneless expression that went with his voice. He had a cute, doll-like face with blushed cheeks.

Mika climbed up into the carriage and found Gabriel drawing on his sketchpad. “Gabriel, check this out!” Mika showed him the image in her camera. “Wanna guess who those are?”

“Aaaaahh!” Perry fell off the lens when Mika angled it down. He landed on the lap of Gabriel’s shorts.

“Hmm…their colors look like Nora and Erin.” Gabriel guessed.

“Man, you’re so good!!” Mika expressed. “What’re ya drawin’?”

“Shimmy as a cowgirl.”

“Haha, the carriage looks like a train!”

“I’m drawing it to comply with her cognition.”

During this conversation, Perry climbed his way up Gabriel’s leg, which was angled up. Once atop the dark-skinned knee, Perry turned toward the titans’ heads. “HEY! GABRIEL! MIKA! LOOK HERE!”

“Don’t you wanna look around with me?” Mika asked. “I saw Isabelle climbing the ceiling earlier! Let’s see what everyone’s doing and get ideas!”

“I guess so…” Gabriel stretched to full height, causing Perry to fall to the carriage deck, just before Gabriel’s little toes. He could only watch in dismay as Gabriel and Mika left the carriage, blissfully unaware of his plight as the others.

Sighing in frustration, now his only hope was Shimmy. The carriage deck was the size of a vast field, but he made the arduous journey to reach the carriage-driving titan. Shimmy was a big fan of trains, but was otherwise a cheerful and airheaded girl. Regardless, Perry enjoyed her company, and he could feel the blissful aura radiating from her giant, make-believe fun.

“Look, horsy, there’s a hay factory over there!” Shimmy pointed. “Let’s go and stock up, choo-choo!”

Perry laughed at the silly statement. So long as she was engaged in this game, he would have a chance to get to her.

“Hey, Shimmy, have you seen Perry anywhere?” It was then Perry saw the head of his friend, Ralph leaning around the front.

“Nope! Shimmy doesn’t know a thing~” she sang.

“Dang… if he’s playing hide-and-seek, he’s really got us good.”

“We’ll find him on my train! Come on, sit by me!” Shimmy scooted over.

“Well, I got nothing better to do.” Ralph smiled, climbed up, and sat by her right.

Perry was only now making it to the titans. He couldn’t believe how far he had to run within such a small space. Even as the giants got closer to where they were ominously looming over him, he was only still 100 yards away, even though he might’ve been a few inches away in their perspective.

Ralph’s rotund frame was very imposing at this close proximity, especially when compared to Shimmy’s skinnier frame. Heck, the length of his sitting rear could flatten a whole town. (Of course, if Ralph heard Perry say that out loud, Ralph would no doubt sit on his little friend without mercy.)

“Hey, maybe Perry’s in that town over there!” Shimmy pointed. “Let’s go see!” She “steered” the carriage as directed, swaying like she were steering a wheel.

“Wait! I see people riding flying horses up there!” Ralph pointed up. “We have to activate Horse Plane Mode!”

“Horse Plane away, Ralphy!” Shimmy kicked forward in glee.

Perry giggled at their little game. Keeping the pace, Perry was now right between the two sitting giants, feeling like he was right at the bottom of a vast canyon. Ralph liked to play with Shimmy sometimes, and Perry always suspected he had a crush on the train-loving girl.

“I don’t see Perry on any of the flying horses.” Ralph pretended to observe. “But I do see a big hole over there. Let’s see if we can fly in. But hang on, because I might swirl the plane around!”

“Wheeeeeeeee!” Shimmy and Ralph were swaying quickly, pretending the plane was spinning. The deck was quaking from their motion as Perry tried to stable himself. He prayed none of them would shift too close and flatten him.

Ralph nearly fell to his side, so he plopped his hand on the deck to stable himself, nearly crushing Perry under his bulbous fingers. Perry survived between the fingers, but Shimmy had plopped her hand down, too, her fingers interlocking with Ralph’s. Perry was smack between the tip of Shimmy’s finger and the skin between Ralph’s fingers. He couldn’t fathom how lucky he just was in these silly circumstances.

Ralph glanced down at their touching fingers, then at Shimmy’s face, blushing. Shimmy’s expression remained vibrant and happy with a big grin of enjoyment. Perry, meanwhile, seized this chance to climb Shimmy’s fingertip and got up to her nail. …Looking up, he could see the blush on Ralph’s round face, the tiny boy cracking a chuckle. He felt like he was intruding on a cute date between the two. Were he any bigger, he would just start singing “Sittin’ in a tree” and totally ruin their date.

“Hehe! Okay, we’re entering the tunnel!” Shimmy cheered, raising the hand with Perry on top. “Here we gooooo!” With her other hand, she raised Ralph’s shirt.

“Shimmy!” Perry cried. “Wait wait WAAAIIIT!” Her finger flew forward and poked the inside of Ralph’s bellybutton, wedging the tiny boy within the crater.

“Hahahaha!” Ralph laughed. “Stop it, Shimmy, I’m ticklish!” Ralph smacked her arm off and pulled his shirt down. “Let’s see how you like it!”

“Nah-uh!” Shimmy got up and ran away.

“Hey, get back here!” Ralph hopped off the carriage and gave chase.

Perry could barely see through the gap in Ralph’s shirt, but he remained stuck within the naval of his chubby friend. The way it bobbed from Ralph’s running made Perry sick, but at least he wasn’t as fast as Spike, especially with how easily Shimmy outran him.

Shimmy ran into the room with large rubber crates and fake sacks of flour. The crates were lined in a circle with one opening and all the flour sacks were within it. Shimmy jumped over the crates to the other side while Ralph chose to run around the circle. “Hahaha!” Unfortunately, Shimmy swiftly escaped him and ran out the room.

“Huff…huff…girl’s too dang fast.” Out of breath, Ralph collapsed on his back against the bed of flour. “Huff…huff…”

Perry could feel the belly puffing up and down. He climbed out of the naval and up through the rim of the buttoned shirt. His friend was now lying down like a blue, rounded plain. Perry chuckled, knowing how easily Ralph tired from exercise, and it was silly to see his panting, gaping mouth from this distance.

Perry had been friends with Ralph since kindergarten. They always played together, and though Ralph enjoyed teasing him from time to time, Perry could always count on him for support and they would share a good laugh. When they first met four years ago, Perry never thought he would be shrunk down and riding in Ralph’s bellybutton. Even though Ralph was totally unaware, Perry felt closer to his buddy. It felt weird to say, but seeing Ralph as a giant and standing on his belly like this really tickled Perry’s heartstrings. Maybe he was imagining Ralph’s reaction to his size and how Ralph would play with him the same as every day.

Perhaps Perry could make the journey across his big-bellied buddy and climb onto his face before he pushed himself up. Perry tried to remember how long Ralph took to get up after getting tired like this, and how long it could take to cross his body.

“What’re you doing here, tubby?”

But before Perry had a chance, a socked foot crashed down and STOMPED Ralph’s belly. The foot was smaller than Christina’s, but it was still forceful enough to press the squishy field down. “WAAAH!” Perry fell over the side from the impact and crashed on a flour sack just beside Ralph’s laying belly.

“Ow! What the heck, Joto?!” Ralph asked.

Joto was a Japanese girl with red hair in pigtails, white T-shirt, blue shorts, and red-toed socks. Her frame was rather scrawny, but she was a strong and rebellious girl with a scowling face and a knack for baseball. “This is our hangout, move it.” Joto’s two friends were behind her.

“Fine, geez!” Ralph pushed himself up and trudged off the sacks.

Perry braced himself as Joto and her friends stepped onto the bed of sacks, which dramatically shifted and shook under their steps. One of her friends was Mazu, a blonde boy with a white button-up shirt with ‘Chef’ written in gold and diagonally, black sparkly shorts, and gold-toed socks. Then there was Koda, a boy with spiky, messy black hair, kabuki makeup under his eyes, and a blue robe with fireworks designs.

The Japanese kids sat knee-style around the flour, leaving Perry in the relative center. “I saw Aria’s gang in the field the other day.” Joto began. “Looks like she’s practicing a new throw.”

“Her fastballs never get past you though.” Koda remarked.

“Nope, I already have a counter in mind~”

“Just hope Karma doesn’t catch you watchin’ them.” Mazu said. “He’ll break your skull open!”

“I’ll kick him right where it hurts, let him try.” Joto boasted.

This group was rather famous for their skill in sports, always forming rivalries with other kids. They had a strong, supportive dynamic and Perry would always see them hanging out and having a blast. They usually didn’t let others intrude on their hangouts, so Perry felt super awkward. Joto would definitely get mad and punch him, but they still liked Perry just the same, so they would certainly help.

Perry contemplated his next move as the kids were amidst in conversation. He hoped one of them would glance down so he could try and jump for their attention, but they completely ignored him. Since Mazu was closest, Perry decided to run for the giant and climb up his knee. “Hehe, by the way, I snuck this up here.” Mazu pulled a plastic box from behind him, opening it to reveal a sandwich.

“Hah, you just couldn’t wait for lunch, could ya?” Koda snickered.

“It’s a new recipe I’m trying out. Guys want a bite?”

Joto and Koda shrugged, leaning forward to bite into the sandwich. By this time, Perry made it to Mazu’s knee, struggling to climb the solid wall of skin. There were tiny crevices that Perry could put his hands to climb. “Hey, this ain’t bad!” Joto beamed.

“I’ll bet!” Mazu grinned. “But tonight, I’ll show you guys something cooler!” Opening his big mouth, he ate a huge chunk of the sandwich.

Just as Perry climbed onto the slanted part of the leg, a glob of white sauce dropped and crushed him. “AAAAGH!” Perry rose from the sauce as it blotted his vision, the boy struggling to fight through it. “Are you kidding me?! Ugh, I hate you, Mazu!” he shouted in frustration. Of course, this wasn’t really true; Mazu was known by his peers as a great trainee cook, and he often shared his food with others at lunch. Perry tried some of his meals and he loved the taste, but this was a huge inconvenience all the same.

“Whoops, ya missed a drop.” Joto pointed.

“Well, we can’t let sauce go to waste.” Mazu smiled as he casually scooped the drop on his finger. “Since it didn’t hit the floor, it’s still good to me!”

Clearing his eyes, Perry froze in terror as he was moving right toward Mazu’s big mouth. “NO, MAZU, STOP, DON’T EAT ME, DON’T EAT ME, NOOOO!” Perry cried louder than ever and shook more frantically than ever. He couldn’t die, not like this! He had been so lucky and come so far! He can’t die like this, not like this!

“Are you eating in here?!”

Just before Mazu’s mouth closed around the sauce, the kids looked up at Laruta, who had climbed onto one of the crates. The short exerciser had her cheeks puffed and eyes narrowed in a scolding fashion. “Whaddo you want, shorty?” Joto asked.

“Ralph said you were doing something in here.”

“Ralph?! Oh, I’m gonna pound that snitch!” Joto fist-palmed.

“You aren’t supposed to bring your food up here! Put it away and wait until lunch.”

Perry was gasping in panic, scrambling to escape his goopy prison. “Okay, okay.” Mazu said, bringing his finger up again.

“AAAAHH!” Perry cried, for it seemed Mazu had resigned to eating him, anyway.

“Hey, don’t eat that!” Laruta ordered.

“Why?! It’s already on my finger.” Mazu argued.

“No! There’s a bug on it!”

“A bug?” Mazu stared at the finger curiously.

“Ew, you were about to eat a bug?!” Joto cringed, crawling over to see herself. Koda joined her.

Perry looked all directions fearfully: all four pairs of eyes were staring at him. Gasping for breath, Perry wondered if his luck had turned for the better. Was he finally noticed? “Here, let me kill it.” Joto reached her hand, ready to pinch her fingers.

“NOOO!” Perry instinctively cried as death threatened him again.

“Hey, don’t hurt it.” Mazu said. “The little guy was probably hungry. Hehe, were you just on my leg, little guy?” He sported a wide, friendly grin.

“MAZU, I’M NOT A BUG! IT’S ME, PERRY, PLEASE!”

“It’s… making a weird sound.” Mazu said.

“Kind of looks like an ant.” Joto determined, given the size. “Do ants make sounds?”

“Not from what I know.” Koda replied. “And I’ve blown up a lot of ant hills.”

“You need therapy.” Laruta told him. “Just leave it here, it’s almost time for lunch, anyway. We can play more afterward.”

“All right. Bye, Buggy!” Mazu casually wiped the sauce on a sack, rising up as he and the others began to leave.

Perry sighed in dismay, thinking he had finally been found, but he was being left behind again. If only his form were more clear, Mazu would have gasped in utter surprise, but he would gladly help his classmate. Laruta, being the responsible girl she was, definitely would’ve told the teachers, and while Koda and Joto would crack their jokes, they sure wouldn’t leave their classmate in need.

“…?” But it was then Perry realized Joto was still here, looking down at the “bug.” He began jumping, thinking this could be his chance!

Joto scooped her long, pinky nail against the sack and scooped up the bug and sauce with it. “Let’s see if Ralph likes bugs~” With a devious smirk, she began to hurry across the playground and down to the lower floor.

“W-Wait, what’re you doing?! JOTO, STOP! I’M NOT A BUG! JOTOOOO!”

The students were all regrouping downstairs, grabbing their shoes or sandals off the shelf in preparation for lunch. “Hey, Mack, have you seen Perry anywhere?” Ralph asked, slipping on his black dress-shoes.

“Huh? No, not really.” Mack replied, feigning innocence. “Wasn’t he with you?”

“He was, but he ditched us in the cave. His shoes are still there, so—AAAH—HEY!” Ralph cringed when Joto suddenly shoved her pinky into his left ear, having snuck up from behind.

“Snitch!” Joto snorted before running away.

“HEY!” Ralph was up and about to chase her, but faltered in his shoes. “Man, I hate her! Agh, what did she put in me?!” He shoved his own finger in his ear, trying to twist the goop out. “Is this sauce?! UCK!”

“Man, what’d you do to her?” Mack asked.

“I was laying on some flour or something, and she was-”

“Ralph! Ralph, help! It’s me, Perry!”

“Eh?” Ralph looked around.

“Hmmm…” Mack formed a light smirk as he looked in Joto’s direction. He was wondering if Ralph would like to shrink Joto and get the same revenge… then again, he would find out what happened to Perry if he was let in on the secret, so perhaps Mack would keep it to himself.

There were actually plenty more people he would like to shrink. Spike and Christina always liked to beat him up or shove him when he wasn’t looking. Mack would just love to see them tiny at his feet, bowing to him for mercy. Then there was Laruta: the snotty, rule-abiding teacher’s pet would always tattle on him while he was trying to pull a prank or do something naughty. He hated the sound of her whiny, loud voice and her peppy personality. He was excited to shrink her down and show her who was really in charge.

Just about all these kids were jealous of his intellect, always trying to make him feel small, beating him up and laughing at him. He felt small enough at home, helpless to his mother’s experiments. The only one he really liked was Erin; she was the only one he could open up to, considering she also had problems with her mother. But one by one, Mack would make them all feel small. Ralph, Max, Mika, and even Joto’s group, he wanted to just shrink them all.

“Ralph! Help me! Ralph, can you hear me?!”

“P…Perry?” Ralph looked around in confusion.

“Huh?” Mack gasped. “Did you say… Perry?”

“I…I feel like I can hear Perry’s voice, but…”

“Ralph, did you ever find Perry?” Max came and asked. “I looked everywhere, I couldn’t find him. I’m starting to think he was abducted by ghosts!”

“No, but I hear his voice coming from somewhere. But I don’t know where…”

“Let me help! HEY, EVERYONE, BE QUIET!!!” Max bellowed at the top of his lungs.

The students ceased their chattering and looked to him with a start. “What’s YOUR problem, Weirdo?!” Christina asked.

“I’ll tell you my problem! Perry is missing!”

“M-Missing?” Erin asked, feeling slightly worried.

“Is he playing Hide-and-Seek?” Nora asked.

“We thought he was, but Ralph is receiving a telepathic transmission from him.” Max explained. “We need to be quiet so he can hear it!”

“Max, this is no time for jokes.” Laruta stated. “Perry, if you can hear my voice, it’s time for lunch! Get out here or you’ll be-”

“Laruta, hush!” Ralph hissed.

“Ralph, can you hear me? I’ve been shrunk! I’m small!”

“Yeah…dude, I can hear you.” Ralph whispered, putting his hand to that ear. “W…Where are you? What do you mean you shrunk?”

“Perry… shrunk?” Isabelle repeated confusedly.

“Shrunk?!” Mika exclaimed, looking around the floor.

“Come on, Mika, that can’t be it.” Gabriel replied logically. However, Isabelle was already checking her feet, as were Christina, Nora, and Erin, as if they believed this weird claim.

“Ralph, I’m in your ear! Tell everyone to look at your ear!”

“O…kay? Um, Perry wants you guys to look at my ear. …I think the left one.”

“Okay, this has to be a prank.” Mack chortled. “I bet Perry’s in the bathroom. I’ll go look, be right back.” The boy ran off in a hurry.

Max studied the indicated ear closely. Erin decided to join with a grossed expression, accompanied by Nora and Isabelle, while others weirdly watched from behind them. (Silica, who had gotten her game back, was focusing on the handheld device and showing no interest.)

“Okay, everyone’s looking at my ear.” Ralph said awkwardly.

“Okay! I’m climbing out!”

Perry trudged his way through the tunnel of sauce and earwax, following the light at the end of it, the light that would lead him to the outside world. “…” Now at the edge of his friend’s ear, Perry found numerous, gigantic eyes gazing at him.

Max’s mouth fell open in awe. Isabelle’s grew wide, too, Erin’s eyes grew in speechlessness, and Nora felt the urge to scream. At first, they thought a weird ant had crawled from the ear… but with a thorough observation, there was no doubt.

Max held his finger by the ear, and Perry gladly jumped on. Max held the finger for everyone to stare at, with Ralph turning as well. Perry felt rather intimidated and a case of stage-fright, having garnered the full attention of his classmates. But boy, did he feel relieved and happy. He felt so warm and delighted under the fully aware stares of his peers.

“…Duuuuude!…” Ralph drawled out with a dimwitted expression. For some reason, seeing his own best friend so tiny made him really excited. There were already a lot of ideas swimming through his head, a lot of fun games and jokes at Perry’s expense, but he kept his ideas to himself for now.

“What… the… frick…” Christina breathed. …She remembered the ant she tried to squish earlier… could that have been…

“He’s… so tiny…” Nora said. Internally, she thought Perry looked so cute and she wanted to snatch him up, but she resisted.

“This is… unbelievable.” Laruta said, trying to find some manner of logic. This went beyond any rule-breaking or any awkward situation she found her classmates in. Perry was literally shrunken! How the heck does she go about helping him?!

“I know…” Erin whispered. After she had been remising over her weakness and poor physique, it was a real reality check to see an actual, tiny, powerless human. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be that small… and she hoped that wouldn’t happen to her.

“Man, imagine all the places he can go if he’s that small!” Jason beamed in excitement. Being a lover of adventure, the sight of Perry shrunken opened a world of possibilities, and he would just have to shrink down himself!

“I know, dude! That’s wild!” Spike agreed with a fist-pump. If it were possible for Perry, Spike would love to see other people shrunken, just so he could tower over them and feel big and powerful.

“…?” Isabelle looked to Silica, who was still focused on her game. “Silica, are you seeing this?!”

“No.”

“Silica, Perry is tiny! He’s shrunk! You have to see this!”

“Yeah yeah, gimme a minute…”

“Joto, get over here! Hurry!” Mazu called.

“What’s everyone looking at?” Joto asked, running to the crowd. “…Um…what is that?”

“It’s Perry! He freakin’ shrunk!” Koda stated.

“What…What?!” Joto could hardly fathom the sudden sight. He was so small that he could never defend himself. However this happened, she was happy it didn’t happen to her. She would hate to be that puny!

“I know!” Mazu cheered. “Man, imagine how much he could eat! My sandwich could last him a year! He wouldn’t go hungry at all!”

“I could stick him on my fireworks!” Koda exclaimed. “That would be so crazy! It would be like a giant rocket!”

“How the heck did he get so tiny?!” Shimmy shouted. Mika had zoomed in her camera to take pictures of the utterly strange sight.

“Yeah, dude, how did this happen?” Ralph asked.

“It was Mack! Mack did it! He has a shrink ray!” Perry shouted.

“I can’t hear you.”

“Hang on, I have better hearing.” Isabelle said, coming closer and leaning her ear by Perry. “Perry, say that again?”

“MACK shrunk me! It was MACK!”

“It was… Mack?”

“M-Mack shrunk you?” Erin asked, surprised by the accusation.

“That shrimp was going to the bathroom!” Christina stated. “I’ll get ’im!” She ran off.

“Chris, wait!” Laruta jogged after.

In the bathroom, Mack was struggling to climb to a window near the ceiling and open it. “MACK!!” The door burst open as Christina charged in.

“YAH!” Mack yelped. “Hey, this is the boys’ room!”

“GET DOWN HERE!” Christina brutally yanked him down, binding his arms and dragging him outside to the others. “Mack, did you shrink Perry?!”

“What?! I don’t know what you’re—OW!” Christina shoved him against the wall.

“Hey, answer!” Joto ordered, whacking Mack in the stomach with her baseball bat.

“I don’t know, I swear!”

“Tell the truth!” Spike grabbed Mack’s ear and twisted it.

“Yeah! Did you shrink our mate?!” Jason asked.

“Okay, okay, I did it! Just let me go, I’ll fix him!”

“You got five seconds!” Chris dropped him to the floor.

“Okay, just give me…” Mack scrambled up and pulled out the shrink ray. Setting the ray to reverse, he aimed at Max’s finger. The beam fired, and Perry blew up back to normal, crushing his friend underneath.

“Ow!” Max yelled.

“Perry, you’re back!” Isabelle cheered, helping him to stand.

“Wow, that was so crazy!” Nora exclaimed. “Are you okay?!”

“That was seriously nuts!” Spike yelled.

“It looked really cool though!” Jason exclaimed.

“Alright, both of you need to start explaining.” Laruta stated. “How did this all happen?!”

Perry recounted everything from when he entered the cave. He explained how he tried to get everyone’s attention and all the ordeals he endured. (When he got to Silica’s part, he simply explained that he missed the jump, no other details.)

“Whoa…” Christina tried to comprehend the exciting story. “That… is… crazy…”

“Mack, I can’t believe you put him through all that over something so childish!” Laruta stated.

“Let’s see how HE likes it!” Joto swiped the ray gun and flipped the switch back.

“No no NOOO!!” Mack cried in agony, but the beam fired. When Mack came to, he found himself amidst a complex field, and several mountains of giant feet surrounded him. The puny boy wet his pants and cowered, seeing everyone’s eyes glaring at him despicably. Unlike Perry, they were all fully aware of his presence, but they weren’t nearly as worried or caring.

Isabelle stepped closer, squatting her legs at a wide angle as she looked over Mack with the observant eyes of a hunter. “Well, Mack, now you feel like one with the forest!”

“Hehehe!” Shimmy giggled. “He’s so teeny!”

“Let’s see how you like it, shrimp!” Christina lifted her big toe over him.

“AAAH!” Mack cried and ran, feeling the earth shake as the mountainous foot crashed behind him.

“Hehe, my turn!” Spike brought his foot over and tried to step on him. Mack dodged, running faster than ever, but with dozens more feet surrounding him, he saw no good way to escape.

A titanic black wall crashed down as Mack fell on his rear. He gazed up at Ralph’s imposing, rotund form, a wry smirk on his face. “Look, Macky, I don’t mind a good prank at Perry’s expense, but that was going too far. Hope ya like eating dirt~” Ralph raised his massive dress-shoe, and Mack screamed as it came down.


Luckily, Mack survived between the raised heel and the sloped sole of Ralph’s shoe, but the frightened little boy couldn’t bring himself to move. He felt tremors and turned left, watching as Max crouched down to see him. “There he is! I’ll get him with my Super Breath power! Huuuu-”


Max inhaled and began to blow on Mack. The force of his breath was as powerful as a hurricane, for Mack went flying against control. At this force, Mack feared he would be lost in the wind forever, but he fortunately crashed against a grayish surface.


“Sniff, sniff…” The surface he was on felt a bit damp and smelled awful. It was composed of millions of thick ropes, all knitted together to form an enormous sock. Looking up, he saw the underside of a handheld game, along with Silica’s rotund, black sweater. “Ewwww!” The smell of Silica’s sock practically ruined his nostrils. He wondered how often she washed them.


“Silica, Mack is on your sock!” Isabelle pointed.


“So, get him off.” The gamer replied uncaringly.


“Can’t you put that down for a second?!”


Mack scrambled toward the edge of the toes and leapt off the sock. “AH!” He screamed when an enormous train suddenly crashed on the floor.


“Hee hee!” Shimmy loomed above him, her gargantuan grin bright and insane. “Here comes the Giganto Train! Choo-choo!”

“WAAAAH!” Mack cried as the train nearly ran directly over him, surviving between its wheels. Shimmy rapidly rolled the toy train back-and-forth, its miniature wheels rattling the ground in an uncomfortable manner. Shimmy moved away when Jason approached.


“Oi, this is kind of fun!” Jason laughed, getting into a squat position. “Here I GO!” And he leapt five feet into the air!

Mack was astonished that such a titan could leap such a distance, but cried as the two tanned feet came falling like meteors. They crashed away from him, but the force sprung Mack into the air and landed him on one of Jason’s toes. “Oi, he’s on me!”

“I’ll get him, Jason!” Isabelle raised her foot, much smaller than Jason’s, and stepped on his toes, but Mack jumped down and between the toes.

“Ow! You did that on purpose!”

“Hehe, I couldn’t help it!” Isabelle giggled.

“Oh, yeah?!” Jason stomped on Isabelle’s foot. She laughed and stepped on his, and he stepped on hers, and as they kept going back and forth, Mack had to keep dodging between the toes each time.

Perry laughed at their squabble. He always thought Jason and Isabelle had a thing for each other, and these silly moments were common. But as he glanced down, he saw that Mack was getting away from them. “Look, there he is!”

“Not on my watch!” Koda declared, lighting a small bombshell and flicking it to the floor.

“AAAAH!” Mack bolted the opposite direction. The bomb’s radius was small, but it sounded like a deadly explosion as small pieces of paper flew past him. Koda flicked more firecrackers down, fairly close, but just far enough away to scare Mack without hurting him.

“This is how you squish a bug!” Joto raised her silver baseball bat and began bashing the ground around Mack. Each quick impact rattled the world, stunning him motionless.
“Um, maybe that’s enough.” Erin said sheepishly. “We don’t wanna scare him too much…”

Joto stopped when Gabriel approached him next. Mack opened his eyes to his smaller, dark-skinned feet, his legs getting into a squat as he lay a hand beside Mack. “Would you like me to help you up?” he asked simply, still showing little emotion on his doll-like face.

“Y-yes! Thank you!” Mack gladly climbed onto the welcoming hand. Gabriel raised up and discarded Mack onto his sketchpad. “W-wait, what’re you doing?!”


Darkness brewed in Gabriel’s round eyes as he narrowed his pencil down at Mack. “Your humility is very inspiring.”

“AAAAH!” Mack ran around the giant paper as the pointed pencil followed him. Gabriel traced Mack’s direction and slowly drew an aimless, abstract image. “Hehe, now that’s getting creative!” Mika laughed.


“Wait, it’s my turn!” Mazu beamed. The blonde chef reached over and seized Mack in a pair of chopsticks. As Mack recollected his senses and wondered what was happening, he found himself being dropped into a bowl of rice.


Every grain of rice was nearly as big as he was, yet the mountain was difficult to move in. He stared up in utmost horror as Mazu’s grinning face loomed over him. As his big mouth uttered the words, “Time to eat~” the chopsticks closed in on Mack.


“NOOOO!” Mack scrambled to run across the rice as the enormous sticks punctured the surface. He watched as a large mound of rice rose from the mountain and into Mazu’s gaping mouth. He closed his mouth around the rice and chewed with delight. But Mazu targeted Mack again, the boy screaming and climbing hastily before the next mound could be collected.

The other students merely watched as Mazu enjoyed his food, laughing at Mack’s silly attempts to escape. It was like they had no remorse for him after what he put Perry through. Perry still remembered the horror he felt when Mazu’s mouth threatened him, so he wanted nothing more than for Mack to experience that fear.


But Erin felt like she couldn’t take it anymore. Hearing everyone laugh at Mack’s utter humility and helplessness was triggering. Mika was giggling and taking pictures of his humility. Gabriel was drawing a picture of Mack pleading before several giant feet.


Eventually, Mazu seized the mound of rice that Mack was on. With an even bigger smile, Mazu brought the rice over to satisfy his appetite. “NOOOOOOOO!”



“STOP IT!”



Mazu ceased and frowned, glancing to Erin. The scrawny nerd gently grabbed the mound of rice in her fingers, letting the rice dissolve as Mack settled on the tip of her finger. His face still pale from the experience, he looked up into Erin’s bespectacled eyes, tears flooding behind the glasses. “I…I know what he did, but… does he really deserve to be treated like this?”



Mack was able to catch his breath, feeling safe on Erin’s finger. She was one of the few people that liked and understood him, a warm friend that he could trust. Nora was also his friend by extension, though she would usually be strict with him when need be.



“Aww, you have such a kind heart, Erin!” Nora cooed. “You’re so forgiving and perfect!”



“I wasn’t really gonna eat him.” Mazu said. “I just wanted to scare him.”


“Yeah, me too.” Koda replied.

“Why do you like him, anyway?” Christina asked. “He’s a jerk. He thinks he’s better than all of us.”



“You don’t understand what his home life is like!”


“His home life?” Laruta asked. “What do you mean by that?”



“I…I shouldn’t say.”



With a raised brow, Laruta looked at Mack. Though she couldn’t see, she could feel his expression was pitiful and apologetic. There were clearly reasons behind his arrogance. “…Well, I would like to hear him out.” Laruta said. “But that doesn’t change what he did to Perry. Erin, could you place him back on the floor?”


“I guess we didn’t spare any expenses.” Laruta figured. “But Erin, I’m afraid there’s still more to discuss. Could you place him back down on the floor?”

“W-Why?”


“Just put him down. Don’t worry, we’re not gonna do anything.”

With a gulp, Erin looked down at little Mack. He clearly didn’t want to leave the comfort of his friend’s finger. Just seeing her big blue eyes, magnified by her glasses, crying for him, made him feel so much better. “Oh…I’m sorry, Mack.”



With hesitation, Erin lowered Mack back to the floor. Afterwards, nearly all the students amassed in a circle around the boy, their feet interconnecting to form an inescapable barrier. Mack merely froze on the spot and cowered. He was literally just thinking of shrinking most of these bullies, but now the shoe was on the other foot. He was utterly terrified and couldn’t fathom his helplessness.


By the time the impacts stopped, nearly all the students amassed in a circle around the boy, their feet interconnecting to form an inescapable barrier. Mack merely froze on the spot and cowered. He was literally just thinking of shrinking most of these bullies, but now the shoe was on the other foot. He was utterly terrified and couldn’t fathom his helplessness.


Shimmy stood next to Ralph and held his hand, the boy forming a blush, and Jason and Isabelle were still lightly trying to stub each other. It was like the whole class was united against him, a group activity they all shared delight in. Just seeing them act all silly and enjoy his misery made him feel sick.


It was then that Laruta finally spoke. “Listen, Mack: as a class, we’re taught to support and help each other. We may not all get along, but there’s no reason to put each other in danger. If you were mad at Perry, you should’ve talked to him about it. If something else is bothering you, then you should talk to us. We promise we’ll try to understand. But now that you understand how Perry felt, you need to talk to him. Maybe he’ll be willing to listen.”

Mack gulped, turning to Perry. His giant eyes were narrowed, but his smile was wry. With humiliation, he walked up to Perry’s socks. He felt as powerless as Perry did when he was shrunk before Mack’s socks. The boy in question bent down and offered a finger. Mack meekly climbed on. He was raised to Perry’s eye level, shirking as the other students narrowed their gazes on him. It was bad enough having to apologize to someone, but worse when everyone else made a show of it, and worse than that when he was as small and pathetic as a bug whom they could give little thought for.


“Perry, I’m sorry!” He wasn’t sure if his words could reach, especially when he couldn’t bring them to a full shout. “That was really immature of me and I’ll never do it again! Just please change me back! I learned my lesson!”

Isabelle helped transfer the message. “Well, before we do,” Perry said, “I want you to know something. When I was shrunk, it felt so humiliating trying to shout up at everyone, and it was so frustrating. But I never once doubted these guys. That’s why I knew they would help me, because they’re my friends. You’re our friend, too, Mack. You’re part of this class just like we are.”

“And by the way, we weren’t trying to step on you.” Isabelle smiled. “We were moving just slow enough so you could dodge.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t squish ya for real.” Christina smirked. “Then I couldn’t beat you up, anymore. But I want you to remember that I could’ve. You better remember this day and thank me for holding back.”

“I won’t stay mad at you, Mack.” Erin smiled. “You can still hang out with us.”

“You’re very lucky to have a friend like Erin.” Nora said with the frown of a scolding mother, her eyes in a glare. “You better treat her like a princess from now on!”

“O-Okay, I will.” Mack stuttered.


“Hehe, he’s so cute!” Shimmy grinned. “Can we keep him tiny?”


“Yeah, just make him the class pet.” Ralph suggested. “Who knows, he might like living in a cage.”

“The choice belongs to Perry.” Laruta said. “So, what do you say? Do you forgive him?”


Perry stared down at him. The boy who shrunk him, the boy who could’ve got him killed and let no one know. It was sickly satisfying to see Mack small, powerless, and pleading. “I can’t forgive him. But I would like to know what his deal is. Mack, if we change you back, would you tell us what your home life is like?”


“Hey, that’s not fair!” Erin argued. “You shouldn’t force him to do that!”



“Okay, I will!” Mack answered; Isabelle spoke for him.



“But, Mack-”



“It’s okay, Erin, really. Just, please change me back.”



“We will.” Laruta said.



“Perry, put him down. Joto, give me that.”


As Joto handed her the shrink ray, Perry placed Mack on the floor, reminding him of his helplessness one last time before the united feet. But as he gazed up at the shining ray gun, Mack would find the tips of his toes reaching theirs: he stood equal level with his class once more.

“Alright, so what’s the deal?” Christina asked assertively. “And where did this thing even come from?”



“Well, my mom made it.” Mack answered. “She doesn’t really know I borrowed it.”


“His mom is a scientist.” Nora recalled. “But an actual shrink ray?”

“She makes all kinds of crazy stuff. And she uses me to test them!”



“She what?!”



“It’s true. That wasn’t the only time I was shrunken. Every other day, she tests gizmos on me. I mean, first she tries them on objects until she gets the formula right. Then she tests animals, but after that, she has to measure their effects on humans. That shrink ray’s been in development for a while. She shrunk me to a bunch of different sizes, tested my adaptability to cold, heat, and other things, tested what foods I could eat, my athletic ability…”



“I…I can’t believe that.” Mika said. “That sounds horrible.”



“It is. And she never listens when I try to argue or tell her ‘No.’”



“But, why…” Perry felt angry just imagining that kind of life. “Why would any parent treat their child that way?!”



“She says I should be proud for helping to advance science. The only good thing about it is getting to be smarter than everyone else.”



“Why haven’t you told anyone else? Heck, why wouldn’t you tell the police?!”



“Because then everyone at school would’ve found out, and you all would make fun of me!”



“What?!” Laruta shouted. “Why would we make fun of THAT?!”



“Because none of you like me!”



“Only because you…” Perry was about to argue, but stopped himself. So, the reason Mack acted like a jerk was because, at home, he was treated like a guinea pig. By the time he would’ve wanted to open up, most of these kids probably already disliked him. Mack wouldn’t want them to see him as a helpless subject on his mother’s table.



The students bore solemn expressions. They were all putting it together in their heads, sharing Perry’s thoughts. (Silica still wasn’t paying attention.)



“Perry, I…I’m sorry I shrank you.” Mack sighed. “But when you pulled that prank, and got everyone to laugh at me… it really ticked me off. None of you would understand. So, I had to make you understand.”



Perry sighed. “You should’ve just talked about it. I would’ve understood.”



“I know…”



Perry approached him. He opened his arms and gave Mack a hug. The sight of the gesture drew “awes” out of some of the kids. “If you promise to never do that again, then I’ll help you.”



“Perry…”



“Yeah, that isn’t cool at all, what your mom’s doing.” Christina said, cracking her knuckles. “I don’t like your guts, but I wanna help you.”



“Yeah, me too.” Isabelle put a hand to Mack’s shoulder.



“We got your back.” Ralph smiled.



“B-but… what’re you guys gonna do?” Mack asked.



“I think we should confront your mother as a group.” Laruta suggested. “It would be best if we gather the support of our teachers and parents, too. But Mack, keep in mind that you’ll get in trouble for what you did.”



“Fine. I don’t care, anymore. But would you guys really do that for me?”



“I will.” Perry nodded. “What about you guys? You think your parents would be willing to help?”



One by one, the classmates offered their consent and approval. Mack’s heart was steadily lifting and warming. To think that this class who despised him and tortured him would be so supportive. For once, he felt that he was part of them. He hated their demeanors and their voices, but for once, he loved them.



“But now that I think about it,” Laruta began once more, “now that Mack has apologized, you all owe him some apologies, too. You guys contributed to Perry’s suffering.”



“Aw, come on!” Ralph whined.



“You’re right…” Christina began awkwardly. “I’m sorry for what I did. I just… thought you were an ordinary bug, so I…I wasn’t thinking…”



“Ugh…I guess I’m sorry, too.” Spike said. “For tripping on that girl and… stuff.”



“Yeh… me, too.” Jason followed. “We almost hurt ya, didn’t we?”



“I’m sorry I didn’t notice you, Perry.” Isabelle said. “I should’ve looked down. I would’ve seen you.”



“Ahem!” Laruta huffed.



“And I’m sorry for climbing where I wasn’t supposed to.” The Spanish girl finished.



“I’m really sorry I stepped on you.” Erin whimpered. “I…I feel so awful…sniffle.”



“Hey, don’t cry.” Perry consoled, feeling genuine guilt from the girl. “Thank you for wearing socks. They really saved me.”



“Sniff…” Erin sported a smile from this silly compliment.



“Erin just has the coziest little socks around~!” Nora cheered, huggling her best friend. “If I could shrink down, I would just curl up and take a nap in those socks!”



“What a weirdo.” Shimmy said. “Perry, I’m sorry for stickin’ you in Ralph’s smelly belly. I can smell it on my finger, so I know it must be uck!”



“’kay, you’re rubbing it in.” Ralph said.



“Perry, how do you like this picture?” Gabriel showed him a drawing of Perry standing on his mountain-sized knee, with Gabriel’s face in the distance.



“You’re an amazing artist!” Perry smiled.



“Thanks. This story gave me a lot of inspiration. Do you think you could tell it to me tomorrow? I could make a good picture book out of it.”



“Haha, that sounds fun!”



“I’m sorry I almost ate you, Perry.” Mazu said. “If you want, you can have all my lunch for a week.”



“I’m sorry I stuck you in Ralph’s ear.” Joto followed.



“Actually, Joto, I’m glad you did that.” Perry said. “Thanks to you, I was able to get Ralph’s attention. Hehe, you really helped, Joto! I owe you one!”



“Heh…in that case, I regret nothing.” Joto smirked. “Keep your ears open, Ralphy~”



“Screw off.” Ralph said.



“But listen,” Perry began, “before we tell the teachers, why don’t we enjoy the rest of this trip first? Heh, we’re super late for lunch right now, and I’m hungry!”



“I suppose that’s acceptable.” Laruta nodded.



“Darn right!” Christina locked him in a headlock. “Heh, my training seriously paid off on that one, Puny!”



“Haha! I bet you would’ve had an easier time!”



“I’m too tough to be shrunk! Oh, and Mack?”



“OW!” Mack yelped when Christina stomped his foot.



“Sorry, I couldn’t hold it in!”



“Yeah, well it’s your turn!” Mack tried to stomp her, but Christina had already bolted.



“Gotta catch me first, shorty!”



“Let’s get her, Mack!” Perry cheered.



“Yeah!” The boys ran after her, with the horde of students stampeding behind them. …Isabelle had to backtrack, grab Silica’s collar, and pull her.



Their spirits brightened, the students gathered outside at the picnic tables. That lunch time felt very rewarding as Perry’s classmates offered some of their meals, asked for his wellbeing, and showered him with praise and compliments. He felt so happy to be equal level with them again, felt so happy to be the center of attention. When they returned to the playground, they played all kinds of fun games to relieve the extreme tension. They were still pretty peeved at Mack, so he wound up being a punching bag or a target for their games. But although he felt humiliated, even Mack felt closer to his classmates. Although they laughed at him, Mack could feel good feelings behind their laughter instead of spite.



But soon after the field trip, the students would fulfill their promise and let all the teachers and parents in on Mack’s abusive mother, showing them the shrink ray as proof. Though Mack would get in trouble for what he did to Perry, it was worth it to see his mom punished. Both Mack and Perry came to treasure their classmates forever, playing games with them all. From fighting Christina, Jason, and Spike, eating Mazu’s food, doing fireworks with Koda, baseball with Joto, exploring the forest with Isabelle, playing videogames with Silica, controlling remote planes with Ralph and Max, or playing pretend trains with Shimmy. Their friends were all such fun, reliable people, and they were happy to be a part of them.

Dodgeball Survival

The gym of KND Moonbase was a warzone today: a game of dodgeball was taking place. Between competitive players, it was already a dangerous and brutal sport, but the common game of dodgeball was nothing compared to how the Kids Next Door played. When one combines dodgeball with superhuman strength, not to mention super powers, the gym was best kept sealed.

The two teams each consisted of five boys: on one side was Chris Uno, Romeo Conbolt, Mason Dimalanta, George King, and Jinta Hanakari. Across from them were Cheren Uno, Anthony McKenzie, Eric Horvitz, Nagisa Shiota, and Dillon York.

All the boys chose to wear their normal attire rather than proper gym clothes. Also, rather than the traditional rules, nobody would be taken “out” when hit with a dodgeball: the goal was simply to land as many hits as possible on the opposite team until the timer ran out, with a score machine programmed to keep track. With rubber balls flying to and fro across the room, over and over, the boys were determined to land as many blows as possible.

Because the boys varied in age, there were distinct differences in height, but all that really mattered was skill. Anthony and Cheren’s shortness helped to duck the balls; they were the only 10-year-olds while the rest were in their teens, though the former had trouble maneuvering on his large feet. Still, they all faired better than Eric did, the scrawny and non-athletic nerd cowering before each ball that threatened his physical health. Eric had always had terrible luck in gym, and be it dodgeball, baseball, or whatever, he was an unfortunate ball magnet.

A bell rang when the timer reached zero. The boys ceased their onslaught, the balls scattered around the floor. “Huff, huff…HOO.” Chris pulled his headband and wiped some sweat off his forehead. “Man, I need a shower after that.”

“Aren’t you hot in that jacket, man?” Mason asked.

“Hey, firebenders like heat. Not sure I move well in these boots though.”

“That was pretty cool, Nagisa!” Cheren praised. “You didn’t get hit once, you were dodgin’ ’em like crazy!”

“Heheh, thanks!” replied the skinny boy with sky-blue hair.

“Yeah, you were heck of a lot better than Eric.” Anthony retorted. “I can’t believe we got stuck with this wimp.”

“I only joined this contest because Melody was gonna play!” Eric argued, having to fix his own glasses after a strike from a ball bent them. His nose was bleeding as well, so he wiped it with a handkerchief. “I didn’t know it was boys against girls, though. But I guess I would’ve just served as a shield, anyway…”

“Well, you can still be our shield.” Dillon remarked.

“Speaking of, it’s almost time for the girls’ turn.” Romeo replied. “We should clean this place up.”

“Nah, let’s just leave these balls out.” Jinta snickered. “That way, they’ll lose training time~”

“Come on, that’s not fair to them.”

“Aww, what a ladies’ man.” George teased. “’Guess you ain’t the only one, eh, Cheren?”

“Heh heh. But he’s right though, the girls are gonna be pissed if we don’t get things ready.” Cheren replied. “And I know some of us won’t appreciate their scolding.”

“Ah, knowing Sheila, she wouldn’t care.” Mason figured. “Heh, she’d probably leave them out, too.”

“I guess you’re right.” Jinta shrugged. “We can’t prove boys are better than girls if we can’t even pick up.”

“Dude, you’re like the only one who’s still obsessed over that.” Dillon replied in disbelief.

“Hey, it might not be a big deal, but rivalry between boys and girls is what motivates all kids in their early ages. It’s a tradition that paves the way to equality.” Jinta angled his arm before his chest, fist balled. “And we need to make the girls realize we’re equal to them!”

“You practically just admitted the girls are better than us.” George said.

“Hah hah!” Cheren laughed. “Either way, it’s not about who’s better than who. We’re only doing this to have fun and build our trust with one-another, and not to mention this makes good training.”

“Yeah, but I sure ain’t gonna let a bunch of rubber balls flatten me!” Anthony declared, stomping the floor.

Eric stood in the back as he straightened his attire; for most of the game, he had mainly been shirking in the corner. “…?” Hearing a curious ringing sound, Eric turned right. …There appeared to be a small, glowing object floating around. Was it a firefly? How would a firefly get in here? Curious, Eric reached to touch the gold light. “…!” In a second, he seemed to disappear.

“Hm?” Nagisa thought he heard a sound and turned. “Hey… where’d Eric go?”

The others curiously looked his direction. Indeed, their scrawny friend appeared to have left. “Heh, he was sure quick to leave, but not quick on the field.” Anthony remarked. The small light was floating around the gymnasium, sneaking up on Romeo. “We shoulda got Mike or someone.”

“Huh?” Mason heard a sound and turned. “Now Romeo’s gone.”

Everyone looked. “That’s weird.” Jinta said. “Where are they-” The red-haired Japanese boy vanished as well.

“JINTA!” Nagisa yelped, the others gasping.

“Okay, something’s wrong.” George said in worry. “Where’s everyone-” and the albino boy vanished.

The boys could make little reaction as the small light flew around and touched them all. Chris, Cheren, Anthony, Nagisa, Dillon, and Mason disappeared.

“Agh…what in the heck…?!” When Chris looked up after the sudden sensation, he jumped back in horror. He was suddenly standing in the shadow of a gargantuan, spherical structure. The structure possessed the same redness and texture as one of their many dodgeballs.

All the boys awoke to this same sensation. They were still in the gym… but the gym floor had magnified to the size of an extremely large, flat plain. The scattered dodgeballs served to decorate the plain. Based on their size compared to the balls, they had to be the size of very small ants.

“HEEEEEY!” Chris called out. “Can anybody hear me?!”

“Chris, I’m over here!” Mason’s voice echoed in the distance.

“What the heck happened?!” George yelled.

“I don’t know!” Jinta called. “We shrunk somehow!”

“We’re so freakin’ puny!” Anthony yelled. “Is this what happened to Eric?”

“Hey, guys!” Eric panted as he struggled to run across the gym. “I saw a weird light flying around!”

“A weird light?” Nagisa asked. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, I just saw a small light! I reached to touch it, and all of a sudden, I shrunk! Huff, huff…I am never joining another sport again, I didn’t sign up for this…”

“Wait, I think I see it!” Cheren pointed up, seeing a strange light floating high in the air above. “Is that the thing that shrunk us?!”

“It’s way too high!” Chris yelled. “I’ll never be able to fly up to it!”

“Maybe we won’t stay like this.” Dillon’s voice yelled in a more level fashion. “Maybe it’ll wear off.”

“When’ll it wear off?!” Jinta yelled. “We can’t compete in the tournament like this! The girls will cream us like-”

Creeeeeaaaaaaaak…

When this echoing sound filled the air of the vacant gymnasium, the boys saw the entrance opening. In walked Maddy Murphy, her brown hair wrapped in a ponytail. Her arms were sturdy and pumped for action, her hands clad in fingerless red gloves. Her sneakers quaked the miles-wide floor as she marched forward.

Maddy put her fists to her trim hip, looking around quizzically. “Did the boys already leave?” she asked aloud, her voice booming in their ears.

“Holy frick…” Chris gawked at her colossal figure. Maddy was a close, trusted friend of his, as well as his favorite sparring partner. When they fought in the gym, they didn’t hold back, they were always determined to grow stronger and help each other. Chris knew better than anyone how strong and unbreakable she was in a fight… so seeing her at such a titanic, godly size sent shivers down his tiny spine.

“Hey, Maddy.” Another girl walked in next, Karin Kurosaki. Her black hair tied in a small ponytail, she wore traditional white and black gym clothes and shoes. “Oh, come on. The boys didn’t even bother to pick up?”

“K-K-Karin-chan…” Jinta nearly wet himself at the sight of her. Karin was his leader and rival. She was always strict with Jinta, she always tried to get the better of him at games, but she still highly valued him as a teammate. Jinta felt embarrassed, being so insignificant in this current state, but he knew that Karin would gladly help him if she were aware of this situation. “HEEEEEY! KARIIIIIIIIN! DOWN HEEEEEERE!” He bolted toward her with full speed, and yet there were still miles to cover before the titan’s shoes.

“MADDYYYYY! MADDYYYYY!” Chris tried calling to his friend all the same.

“Orright! Time to wreck some faces!” Sheila Frantic was next to run in the gym. The tan-skinned Faunus raccoon wore her usual green top, black shorts, and flimsy green sandals. “Blimey, the boys are already gone? I didn’t get to give Mason his victory soda.”

“Holy frick, Sheila…” Mason was in as much awe as the others. Ever since they were kids, Mason always hung out with her. He loved to spend time with Sheila. Everything from her loud, excited demeanor, her expressive Australian accent, her simple, loose way of dressing, he loved everything about her. Furthermore, knowing how powerful Sheila was in a fight, knowing how fast she could run… could he even comprehend her strength when viewed from this gargantuan of a scale?

And soon, the rest of the girls entered: Melody Jackson, dressed in her white top and blue sarong with fish designs. Her lush black hair was tied in a ponytail, and white sandals carried her feet.

MaKayla King, wearing her signature blue cap that covered her pinkish-blonde hair. Her blue T-shirt sported the letters “MK,” and she wore blue skinny jeans and slip-on shoes.

Morgiana, her short magenta hair matching her fierce eyes. The Fanalis wore her usual white dress, her arms and legs pumped and powerful.

Wendy Marvell, looking vibrant and ready to play. Her ocean-blue hair flowed cleanly and her yellow- and blue-striped dress highlighted her liveliness. She wore white-feathered ankle bracelets above her blue slippers, making her light on her feet.

Fybi Fulbright, her frizzy orange hair wrapped into a big, puffy bun. She wore a green toga, brown khaki skirt, and Greek sandals, fluttering in the air with her butterfly-shaped wings.

Panini Drilovsky, her frizzy black hair tied in two, rabbit-like ponytails. The Irish girl wore an orange sweater and green camouflage skirt, her strong legs going into green sneakers. The green eyes on her freckled face were fiery.

Carol Masterson, the wealthiest girl wearing her green business suit and skirt. With her high socks and black dress shoes, she hardly looked the part for the gym. Her light-blonde hair was tied in two puffy buns, and her blue eyes were lively on her freckled face.

“Isn’t it weird that we didn’t see any of them pass by?” Morgiana asked, casually walking forward and planting her bare foot on one of the balls.

“Morgie…” Nagisa was entranced by the sight of his magenta-haired girlfriend. Her legs, thick and strong, had the power to literally shatter boulders. From the day they met, Morgiana had used her immense strength to serve and protect him, devoted her life to him, as though it were fate. The redness on her soles was proof of her hardship. If only she knew of his helpless situation, she would passionately protect him, but now, Nagisa feared being on the receiving end of her mountainous feet. Heck, if she were to fully put her foot down and flatten the rubber ball beneath it, he couldn’t imagine the force of the explosion of air that would release.

“They probably just snuck out all stealthy like and wanted us to waste time collectin’ these.” Panini deduced, folding her arms. Her Irish accent hinted clear annoyance. “Ugh, next time I see Cheren, I’m kickin’ him so hard that he flies around the moon!” She thrusted her sneakered foot forward to emphasize her point.

“Gulp.” Cheren could already feel the sensation of her foot impacting his rear. At this puny size, he humbly prayed for his dear friend and rival to show him mercy.

“We might as well just collect them ourselves.” Melody said, wearing her white top and blue sarong with fish designs. She left her sandals by the entrance. “Actually, maybe MaKayla can Rewind them all back into place.”

“I don’t wanna waste energy cleaning up George’s lazy mess.” MaKayla replied, leaving her own slip-on shoes beside Melody’s. “Heck, he probably thought I would do just that, that’s why they didn’t pick up.”

“Come on, that isn’t true, Kayla!” George yelled. It was true that he believed his younger sister to be very talented, and her slender physique made her more athletic to boot, but still, the siblings were very supportive and loyal to one-another.

“Just make sure most of you control yourselves.” Carol replied, leaving her dress shoes at the door and going in only socks, keeping her green tuxedo and skirt on. “Not all of us here can throw with the force of cannonballs.”

“Hey, we gotta keep it balanced.” Melody shrugged. “Eric’s competing, too, and I reckon you’re twice his strength. Hm-hm, I’m proud of the little guy.”

“Oh, Melody…” Eric flushed at her praise. After all the emotional trauma Melody had endured throughout the years, Eric knew he was a friend she could lean on. There was no secret he had a crush on Melody and thought her strong and beautiful, and he found her admirable for powering through so much trauma. Even from this enormous scale and distance, he could tell she was pumped for a game, ready to sweat off her stress with good, friendly exercise.

“I guess so.” Carol replied. “But Sheila, you’re not gonna play very well in those sandals.”

“’ey, I have full faith in me sandals!” Sheila argued.

“I canst empathize with thee.” Fybi replied in her soft, Shakespearean tone. “In my sandals, I am like the wind.” Using her wings to float, she angled her legs up to show her Greek-style sandals. “Hm hm, I just hope Anthony wilt not giveth the performance of yonder rock.”

“FYBI, don’t make fun of me like that!” Anthony shouted. He wasn’t too livid at his friend, of course. The sound of her voice and the soft way she giggled were pleasant to his ears. She was a sweet, gentle, and kind girl who always stuck by his side and warmed his world.

“’ey, I got an idea!” Sheila declared. “Wendy, let’s see who can collect more balls the fastest!”

“Heheh, I don’t mind a little warm-up sport!” The blue-haired mage sported a smile. “But just to be fair, we can’t use our bending.”

“Fine by me! And we begin in three, two, one, GO!” Sheila was quick to take off, Wendy hastily doing so as well.

“AAHH!” Mason’s tiny eyes could only barely comprehend the movement of Sheila’s feet, even as they were charging directly toward him, like actual mountains that moved with the speed of a fan. “NO, SHEILA, DON’T STEP ON ME, SHEILA!!!”

As Sheila swiftly and quickly ducked to grab balls off the floor, her titanic sandals missed her tiny friend. The experience had left Mason pale and frozen. He couldn’t fathom how lucky he was just now, factoring Sheila’s imprecise running and her current ignorance.

Wendy and Sheila grabbed and chucked the balls into the baskets on either end of the room, five in each one, five for each team. It took no real time at all, but their speed was still godly to the tiny boys. Romeo was entranced by Wendy’s speed; her legs were trim and sturdy from years of running, and in her blue, winged slip-on shoes, she moved cleanly across the gym floor. “WENDY! WENDY, WATCH OUT, WENDY!” He managed to call out to her despite his awestruck feeling, but his voice utterly failed to reach the swift wind mage.

Fortunately, the boys managed to maneuver around and evade the world-shaking footfalls as the two had cleared the floor of scattered balls. “It was THAT easy!” Panini exclaimed in exasperation. “Honestly, how are boys still this lazy?!”

“What’s done is done.” Maddy shrugged, walking to the center of the room. “It’s time to pick teams. Come on, Sheila.”

“Orright!” The raccoon girl joined her in the center.

Chris was now standing directly under his sparring partner, staring up at Maddy like a powerful, invincible fortress. Calling up to her was pointless from this distance, so logically, he should run to her sneaker and start to make the climb on. Yet, he feared that was also an unwise decision, knowing one tiny misstep could end his life. Even if he could start climbing, Chris would be banished the moment Maddy started walking again. Still, given her Observation Haki, she should be the one most likely to sense them, and yet she was clearly as unaware as the others.

“MAN, this is bad!” Jinta panicked. “If they start playing, we’re done for!”

“There’s no other way!” Romeo yelled, already running for his life. “We gotta run to the sides of the room, anywhere in the inner floor is dangerous!”

“We need to run to their shoes by the entrance!” Dillon yelled, making his way that direction. “They gotta notice us when they put them back on!”

“Good idea!” George ran forth as well. “We still gotta worry about the balls hitting us though!”

“Alright, I’ll pick first.” Maddy said. “I choose… Karin.”

“Smooth.” The Japanese athlete happily took Maddy’s side.

“I pick Fybi!” Sheila pointed.

“We hybrids must stick together~” Fybi inferred as she fluttered to the Faunus’s side.

“I pick Panini.” Maddy chose.

“Oi want Morgie!” Sheila decided.

“Melody, you’re up.” Maddy voted.

“Carol, over here!” Sheila ordered.

“Yay, I wasn’t picked last!” Carol cheered. “Serves to be a girlfriend of Masey, huh?”

“Man, this is embarrassing.” Mason blushed.

“Now I want Wendy.” Maddy said. “It’s not fair that Sheila’s team gets both airbenders.”

“Which means I get MaKayla.” Sheila finalized.

“Fair enough.” MaKayla agreed.

Maddy’s team took the left side of the room and Sheila’s the right. As they recollected the balls from the baskets, a feeling of pure dread filled the hearts of the boys. It was bad enough that they were suddenly shrunken to a powerless size, but this was the worst place to be at the worst time. The superstar girls from their sectors, their own close friends whom they trusted with their lives, the girls who possessed sheer superhuman ability and athleticism, were about to compete in a no holds barred game, completely unaware of the hopeless situation of their own male rivals and partners.

Each of the boys knew fully well the skill and potential of these girls, and the little chance of survival they presented. The least threatening was probably Carol, who was not normally athletic and possessed the average strength of a normal 14-year-old girl, and yet she was dangerous in this situation all the same.

Both teams firmly took their stances with balls in hand. “We begin on one… two… THROW!!!”

With Maddy’s declaration, the game began. The dodgeballs were the size of spherical fortresses, and yet they flew and bounced around the gym with impossible dexterity. Of course, their size and movement was nothing compared to the girls that threw them. They were just as terrifying and monstrous as the boys feared. They were all extremely focused and set on both landing hits and avoiding hits of their own. Their competitive instincts had taken control. They had no reason to look down or concern their selves with “ants” that may be lost on the floor, they could only face forward, focus on defeating their fellow operatives whom stood equal ground with them.

Between the bouncing balls and the girls, there was no way to predict any of their movements. The boys could only try to steer away from any incoming footfalls or balls, or else they would end as red spots under their soles. There was no point in yelling for help because their voices could never carry over the thundering rumbles that shook the world.

Jinta wasn’t sure whether to keep his eyes up at the titans or simply focus on their feet, and was otherwise just running around with no aim or goal. If Karin could see him like that, he would probably look like a silly idiot, but that would be better than her continuing to remain in ignorance. Sadly, the baseball star was not big or fast enough: before he even realized it, Jinta was eclipsed under the shadow of an enormous foot. “AAAAAAAHHH!”

Melody stepped on him. There was no warning, no time to prepare himself. Her trajectory was aimless as she remained engaged to the game. Each step she took along the gym felt no different from any other, so Melody had no reason to suspect a fellow human was beneath her foot. It was merely another, brief step, before she continued onward. And yet, it appeared Jinta had vanished from the spot where she stepped.

George used his timebending to increase his speed slightly and he was able to make it to the discarded footwear. “Huff…thank goodness…” Exhausted after the long journey, George rested beside the side of his sister’s shoe. “If I stay under them, then the balls shouldn’t bounce down all the way. CHRIS, HURRY!”

“I’M COMING!” Chris stayed along the middle line as he ran for the entrance. It was the least likely to be stepped on, but the thundering bounces of the balls were still a concern.

Sheila was dodging over near the entrance, ducking her head left and right to avoid two balls. However, in her quick motion, her right foot was planted on her left sandal, and as she turned, the sandal twisted awkwardly. “WAAAAH!” Losing balance and spinning uncontrollably, she fell backward.

“AAAAAHH!” Chris cried as the titanic raccoon girl collapsed on top of him, buried under her messy river of black hair. The individual strands of Sheila’s hair were as thick as tightly-woven rope.

“You okay, Sheila?” Maddy asked her rival.

“Grrrr!” Sheila growled and sat herself up, aggressively pulling off her sandals. “What good you did me!” And she threw them over to the entrance with the others.

“AAAAHH!” George cried as Sheila’s sandals collided with MaKayla’s shoes, violently forcing them asunder like cruise ships crashing. It was sudden and startling, but George found himself just having barely survived under Sheila’s sandal, propped up at an angle against Kayla’s shoe. “Grrrr! I hope Chris won’t be mad if I punch her later!” George yelled, furious at Sheila’s carelessness, and how she was utterly clueless about endangering him like that.

Chris, meanwhile, had grabbed hold of one of Sheila’s hair strands, hanging on for dear life as her hair flapped and whooshed about from her motions. “Wait! I can climb to her ear like this! This is probably my best chance…” Mustering his strength, Chris began to climb the hair as best as he could. Because of her hybrid traits, Sheila had no human ears, but raccoon ears at the top of her head. This was rather convenient to Chris as it felt easier to climb to the top instead of swinging his way to the sides, and also Sheila’s ears were more sensitive and had a better chance at hearing him.

Currently, Nagisa was close to Morgiana. He could see the passionate flares in his girlfriend’s magenta eyes, her conviction to stay in the battle. He couldn’t count how many times they fought side-by-side, that same conviction on her features. With a faithful expression, Nagisa raced toward his colossal partner. “Come on, Morgie! You were always there to help me! I promised to protect you as much as you do for me! I can’t protect you when I’m like this! So, I need you to help me!”

His initial plan was to use his Moon Walk technique to leap onto her foot and hope that she feels him. However, one of the balls was rolling his direction after hitting the floor. Seeing this, Nagisa froze in horror. His eyes sharp on the ball, he could see the air hole, the only safe haven that wouldn’t flatten him. Narrowing his eyes, Nagisa ducked forward, catching himself in the hole, and he grabbed onto the edge as it rolled back up.

Morgiana snatched the ball off the floor. Nagisa was now closer up to her head, but her gaze was still focused on the battle. “MORGIANA! MORG, HELP! IT’S ME, NAGISA! MORG, NO-!”

She threw the ball with a mighty swing, but it was intercepted and caught in Karin’s hands. The force had taken Nagisa out of the air plug, landing outside of it as he clasped the texture of the rubber mass. “Hey, Kickboxer.” Karin called to Morg with a smirk. “Let’s see whose legs are stronger!”

“NO!” Nagisa cried as Karin tossed the ball in the air. “NO NO NO NO NO NO NO-” Alas, the athlete’s sneaker made contact. Nagisa was pressed against the ball as his end of it was flying first toward Morgiana. “NOOOOOO!” The momentum glued him tightly. There was no surviving this: Morgiana’s foot, which could break boulders and concrete, was swinging to kick the ball, with Nagisa to serve as the point of impact. That amount of force would erase his remains from the face of the universe.

It was only luck that saved him. The point where he was pressed was not directly touched, for it was just between Morgiana’s toes. Still, even within that narrow window of survival, he could feel her power. He had the most split second to realize that sensation, yet it felt that his mind had all the time in the world to process the incomparable power. However, Nagisa remained glued to the ball, now rocketing back across the gym like a comet. Karin dodged, and Wendy was there to take the impact.

The ball struck her square in the face. The force was so compact that she spun and keeled over on her front. Romeo had been behind her at this time, and his world was slowing as his fellow mage was collapsing toward him. The floor shook violently, but Romeo was safe, merely a very short distance from her face. Wendy’s enormous face was crashed on its side, and Romeo was appalled as a river of blood flowed out of her normally-tiny nose. From this proximity, he could plainly see how brutally it was squished. Besides that, Romeo couldn’t help but think how cute her face looked at such a scale.

“Man, I’m sorry, Wendy.” Karin said, blaming herself for the incident. “Are you okay?”

As Wendy planted her left hand down to push herself up, her thumb smashed Romeo underneath. “AAH!” he yelped. Because it was only a gentle weight, he survived, but Romeo found himself glued to the thumb due to its heat. The sky mage pushed herself to her feet, determination in her brown eyes.

“I’m not gonna let a bloody nose stop me!” Wendy yelled, brushing her left hand across her face to wipe the blood.

Romeo was disgusted as he could see the red river being cast aside by Wendy’s upper fingers. Still, knowing her hand was a dangerous place, Romeo conjured a rope made of Purple Fire and latched it onto Wendy’s scrawny chin. He hauled himself off the thumb, dangling from the chin. He pulled himself up, imbuing Sticky Fire to his hands in order to climb his friend’s flawless face.

Meanwhile, after the ball had impacted her face, Nagisa had flung off it as well. Flying miles across the air, he was falling toward Maddy, and he crashed against the upper part of the fighter’s arm. Clutching it was difficult, for he was on the very pump of the muscle itself. Naturally, Maddy didn’t feel his presence, and she kept dodging and throwing balls as usual, her arm rapidly and dramatically stretching and flexing within seconds. Maddy’s arms were just as mighty as Morgiana’s legs; beneath this very mound of flesh, there was incredible energy coursing back and forth. To be able to hold onto Maddy’s muscle would be a miracle.

Carol’s motion was nowhere as intense or dramatic as the others. Her throwing was simple and average and she moved fairly well in her long stockings. “Ha ha ha! This is pretty fun! I should play games with you guys more often! I feel like I’m actually super-duper strong!”

She had dodged her way over to Dillon, who was ready to Veil using shadowbending in case she made the wrong steps. Still, seeing Carol in this light was rather bizarre to him. He remembered when Carol was still a trainee operative, adorned in a luxurious gown and merely relying on money, while otherwise suffering from a lack of confidence. The professional attire she wore now was a reflection on how she had grown. Even though she wasn’t a powerhouse, she was now confident in her given abilities, even confident enough to engage in this deadly game between operatives of superior strength. Of course, in this dangerous situation, Carol certainly looked “super strong” to Dillon’s eyes.

Dillon prepared himself as Carol’s feet stepped over and around him, but had just missed the boy. “?!” With her sock extremely close, Dillon could see all the minuscule strings of fabric jutting out of it. “Screw it! Here it goes!” Dillon used Shadow Glide to fly up and grab onto one of the strings like a rope, just before Carol’s foot changed position. Because of the rich girl’s more cautious movement, he would have an easier time hanging onto her than the others. He wondered if he should try to climb up to the rim and try to scratch her leg for attention… then again, he already felt awkward looking skyward at her underpants.

Fybi was rather graceful on the gym floor. Though she didn’t fly with her wings to cheat, the 10-year-old Nimbi generated a gentle current of air around her feet. When she danced her way over to Anthony, the gentle current caught and swept him up like a whirlwind. “Waaaahh!” Unable to regain himself, he stayed near Fybi as the current carried him. He was swirling around and around his angelic friend like a camera rotating around an amazing figure. “FYBI! HEEELP! FYBI!”

As Cheren hastened to observe the titans, trying to predict their patterns in his panicky state, he saw Morgiana’s earth-shattering feet thundering his direction. He wasn’t sure whether to run left or right, but had no real time to act as her red sole flew over him. Her foot came down a half-second before a gust blew him out of its way. He was extremely lucky that Fybi had danced nearby, too, her gentle current of air saving him from a horrible end.

Cheren cursed himself over how helpless he felt in this situation. He hadn’t been shrunk with his sword or any of his weapons, so with no remarkable strength or powers to call his own, he was utterly insignificant. The Supreme Leader should be proud of the resolve his operatives were showing, be proud of their terrific strength, and he was, but this awful situation further reminded him of how his own power had dwindled. Cheren often questioned if he was still worthy to be their leader, and he wondered if they still wanted him. Regardless, after how much they lost and how hard they worked, Cheren would truly hate to die like this, killed unknowingly by his own trusted friends.

When Fybi danced by again, the wind lifted and blew him aloft. “Waaaaaahhh!” He found himself flying toward a much smaller pair of feet, which he recognized as MaKayla’s. He crashed and tumbled along her big toe, clinging onto the skin as she begun moving again. Her nails were painted blue, but he could see very minuscule rifts and faults among the texture. Though her legs were very skinny and small, this made her incredibly nimble, flipping and cartwheeling to dodge the many incoming balls. “KAYLA, STOOOOP!” It felt like a wild amusement park ride, the kind that would rapidly flail people from ground to sky, around and around for several minutes, totally churning their stomachs.

It was then MaKayla seemed to face the back wall. Her feet kicked up and down on her way to the wall, and to Cheren’s utter amazement, she jumped: her feet curved up to plant themselves against the wall, and Cheren could feel the force in Kayla’s legs as they bent and kicked off the wall. Her whole body spun in midair, and it seemed her goal was to freeze an incoming ball in time, using her timebending. She propped her hands against the suspended, floating ball and pushed up, planting her feet atop it.

“Hey guys, watch how high I can bounce it!” Kayla began to stomp on the ball, the repetitive force causing Cheren to tumble off and onto the ball. He grew fearful as the small, but gigantic foot rapidly began pounding beside him, but bizarrely, the rubber foothold would not bend or quake under her force.

“KAYLA, WAIT! PLEASE, I’M RIGHT HERE, MAKAYLA!”

When the Stop wore off, the kinetic energy Kayla stored into it all kicked in at once. Beneath Cheren, the rubber suddenly stretched and compressed like a crater, and it blasted down so fast that it abandoned him. MaKayla had already jumped backward and off, and Cheren watched as her titanic, slender physique fell past him. He only had a millisecond to watch before the ball came back. “AAAAAH!” When the ball hit the floor, it bounced up and caught him. The bounce was so compact that the ball was flying straight toward the ceiling. Cheren cried, fearing he would be flattened against the ceiling itself, but the ball thankfully rotated enough so that he wasn’t the impact point. When the ball collided, it bounced down and left him again, and Kayla would perform a leap and pound it with both fists, striking Maddy.

The ceiling was practically 5,000 feet high at Cheren’s current size, and he would have to fall that distance to return to the floor. With wind resistance to shield him, he likely wouldn’t splatter, and yet, any awful outcome could still occur in this scenario.

Chris had finally made it atop Sheila’s head, still climbing his way across the strands. If he were to let go, he may fall and be lost within Sheila’s messy, unkempt forest of hair, forever lost within its blackness, unable to wriggle or find his way out. He climbed his way all the way to the right ear. The triangular, furry ear loomed over like some kind of unusual cavern, a gaping hole leading into the depths of Sheila’s own head. “HEEEEY! SHEILAAAAA! SHEILAAAAA!”

His voice carried and echoed down the chasm of Sheila’s ear. The colossal mass suddenly twitched. Chris gasped with hope, believing Sheila heard him. He hoped she was able to make out his voice.

“Hm?” Making a clueless expression, Sheila cocked a brow. There was an odd, faint sound in her ear. “OOF!” That’s when a dodgeball impacted her stomach and pushed her backward.

“WAAAAH!” Chris was blown forward from her sudden jolt backward. He fell just over the veil of hair and right before her very eye. Sadly, in that brief instant, her looming sky-blue iris failed to detect his tiny, menial presence. Chris fell, fear overcoming him, but he landed on something below Sheila’s head. “Huh?!” To his embarrassment, he was on Sheila’s right breast. The curved, smooth surface caused him to lose balance and tumble down it, until he was able to grab a small piece of the rim of Sheila’s shirt, which was kept suspended by the breast itself. “Man, this is the worst day ever…” Chris moaned in agony.

When the ball had bounced off Sheila, it rolled back toward the other side, so she was determined to catch it. Mason, who was across the dividing line, ran out of the ball’s trajectory. He didn’t expect Sheila to come since it had already crossed over. “AAAAH!” But Sheila ignored this rule and crossed anyway, her plump, mountainous foot crashing beside and propelling the boy upward from the force. Mason landed atop the foot and could only hold on. The pungent odor was torture on his nose; his poisonbending amplified his sensitivity to smells, so he feared this scent would be with him for a while.

“Hey!” Maddy yelled, gesturing Sheila backward. “Still gotta stay on your side, Sheila.”

“Yeh, well I’m done holding back with ya!” Sheila declared. “It’s time I go all out!” And with that, she kicked on her lightbending: her feet became like solid gold, shining like miniature suns.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHH!” To Mason, it was like being directly on a sun itself, except instead of burning into nothing, he was being totally blinded. He shut his eyes, but the light still pierced his lids. As Sheila’s feet moved with lightspeed, Mason wound up falling off, a fall he was thankful for as he could regain his vision.

“You asked for it!” And so, Maddy adorned her arms with Haki as well.

Nagisa was agape as the vast mass of peach flesh became black, smooth, solid, and shiny as iron. He desperately squirmed and flailed his arms to find a hold on Maddy’s muscle.

Romeo was able to make it up to Wendy’s nose, throwing another Sticky Fire to latch onto a nosehair. He flailed about like a booger when Wendy began moving faster using her airbending, channeling more chi to maintain the rope. Wendy felt the tiniest itch in her nose, but she decided to eradicate it with the greatest inhale. “AAAAAHH!” Romeo was sucked up her nose like a vacuum; the suction of airbenders was far greater than any other person, so there was no chance of escape. He was gone up Wendy’s nose like a black hole.

Eric had gone to cowering in the very back corner of the room. Now that the girls were freely using their powers, the game was more deadly than ever before. “No way we can get their attention like this. I should be fine if I stay here. The balls can’t bounce against the very corner, and they’d have no reason to step over here.” This was Eric’s logic. “I just hope everyone else is okay. Man, this is horrible…”

Maddy clutched a ball in her right hand and imbued it with Haki, turning the red rubber black. “Hey, Captain Sheila, here comes my cannonball!” She pulled back and threw the ball, but Sheila dodged. As it flew directly against the corner of the walls and floor, the force and power added to the ball caused it to indent and lodge into the corner. “Ouch! That’s probably coming outta my wallet.” Maddy remarked.

It was the very same corner Eric had backed into. When the rubber cannonball came at him, he had thought he’d seen death. The ball had smashed his hiding place further in and would have decimated him… had he not been in the direct path of the ball’s air hole. With pure luck, he survived in the gap. He watched as the mass of black morphed back into red rubber. The boy had gone pale, wetting his pants. “Why are dodgeballs magnetically attracted to me? No matter how small I am, they always find me…”

“I’ll get it!” MaKayla traipsed up and grabbed the ball. She struggled a bit to pull it from where it was wedged, but she succeeded. However, Eric had been pulled up into the air hole via the suction of the detachment.

“NO! NO! WAIT, I’M HERE! PLEASE!” Eric cried helplessly.

“Heads up, Bunny Girl!” MaKayla ran toward the center and chucked the ball at Panini. The blow to the rabbit-haired girl’s head was successful, but the ball thrusted out force from the impact, blowing Eric away.

“You wanna start somethin’, Kayla?!” Panini grabbed a ball and focused on the timebender. Kayla stepped sideways quickly, smirking ecstatically as she readied to dodge Panini’s comeback. With careful aim to Kayla’s skinny legs, Panini chucked the ball and struck the right one.

“Aaaahh!” Kayla wobbled on the other foot, but then Karin chucked a ball at that leg and took Kayla down, the girl landing on her rear. “Darn it!”

Little did any of them know that Cheren had been behind MaKayla at that position, and was utterly flattened beneath her small seat. Thankfully, his tiny size allowed him to survive between the knitting of her blue skinny jeans. “You know, I’m starting to think Jinta is right.” Cheren said to himself. “Girls really do dominate the KND.”

Kayla kicked herself back up, pulling Cheren up with her. As Panini grabbed another ball, Kayla backed toward the wall to better dodge her next attack. “I call this the Booty Buster Ricochet!” Panini declared, applying firebending to blast the ball toward the wall. It struck at an angle where it bounced off and threatened to hit MaKayla’s rear.

“NOOOO!” Cheren cried out.

“Yeah, well back at ya!” MaKayla thrusted backward, applying timebending to quickly Rewind the ball. Unfortunately, Cheren had been thrusted onto the ball regardless, and it Rewound to bash Panini.

“WHOOOAA!” Cheren fell directly to Panini’s left sneaker, landing within the neatly-tied laces of the sturdy green footwear. The boy could do little but hang on, but her feet moved with the speed of a rabbit. It was like riding an extreme amusement park ride, and Cheren threw up all the same. “Bluuueeeehh… Yeah, eat that, Panini. I’m not sorry…urk.” Cheren retorted, his face as green as the sneaker on which he was trapped.

“Time to show ya what this bunny is made of!” Panini declared as emerald flames burned from her wrists and soles, taking the shape of bunny claws and paws respectively.

Cheren was barely safe on Panini’s laces. Being directly above her fire made the air extremely dry; the vomit he had just spewed was sizzling and evaporating. Holding onto her lace became far more difficult: Panini began to jump and kick her feet around the air, thrusting out bursts of fire to launch around the air, using her flaming fists to punch balls with rocket force. Cheren dedicated his full strength to holding his friend’s lace, but with her body constantly flipping around, topped with her flames, it was like being suffocated and in vertigo all at once.

When Eric had gone flying, the scrawny nerd had collided with the nape of Karin’s neck. He could vividly make out the shape of the bone inside, sliding down the smooth, sturdy skin and landing on the rim of her shirt. “That’s it, I am never playing with these guys again! I never shoulda come, I’m not a freaking super strong monster like they are! I only wanted to support Melody. Please, don’t let me die like this. I only wanted to be with Melody!”

“Hey, Karin, shield me for a sec.” Melody requested, standing with her back against the Asian. “I need time to charge this attack.” She was using her waterbending to spin water around a ball in multiple directions.

“Oh, thank heavens!” Eric was filled with hope: with this distance, the tiny nerd made the leap of faith to his big, beautiful friend, putting full confidence in her as he always had. “Melodyyyy—NOOOOO!” But while Karin and Melody were only an inch apart, it was still too wide of a distance to cross for Eric’s size. He was falling down the great trench that was between their backs, and his landing point was the tied top of Melody’s sarong. “Oof, whoa, aaah!” Tumbling and rolling down the sloped rim, he was sliding into the inner part of the sarong, soon to be shadowed between it and Melody’s lower back. “NO NO NOOO!” Realizing where he was heading, Eric clasped the fabric, determined not to fall any deeper. “Oh gosh, if Melody finds me here, she’ll think I’m a creep! Man, why is this happening to me?!”

When Melody had finished her technique, she spun out from behind Karin and shot the water-covered ball at Morg. When her foot impacted it, the water exploded all over the Fanalis, while the ball itself went flying. Unfortunately, this explosion became a tidal wave for little Mason. He was barely recovering from Sheila’s blinding light when the water suddenly washed along the floor. Though the water was practically flat in reality, to Mason, it was as vast and thick as an ocean.

As Fybi strengthened the wind around her to steer off incoming balls, it became a hurricane to little Anthony. She had no idea that her own best friend was stirring around and around her, with Anthony having brief seconds to analyze every detail of her attire. “FYBI! HEEEELP!” The best he could do was shout and hope that the air served in his favor to carry his voice. And yet, the air seemed to favor him after all: a current blew him directly toward his friend’s left eye.

Fybi’s eyes were small and beady, yet were as green and beautiful as emeralds. Looking into those soul-soothing eyes would fill Anthony with hope… and he slammed directly into it. He was tinier than her little eye, and it felt like a thick, yet sensitive bubble upon impact. However, Fybi reacted to the impact: her eye reactively blinked. “AAH!” The wall of her eyelid fell down and smashed him against the bottom edge. Of all the things to overpower him today, the last thing he expected was his own friend’s tiny eyelid.

Anthony grabbed hold of an eyelash under the lid. He gazed up at Fybi’s eye, but he could feel her sharp stare focused only on the game. “FYBIIII! I’M RIGHT HERE!” Sadly, he was still far from her ear. How could he be directly at her eye, yet be so small that he was still indiscernible from any blurry shape that passed her iris?

One would look at this gymnasium and witness nothing short of extreme, superhuman dodgeball. Between Sheila’s lightspeed dodging, Melody’s giant Water Arms, and Maddy’s unbreachable iron skin, even an ordinary human (sans Carol) wouldn’t last 10 seconds in here. And any tiny ants who would happen to be in this thundering chamber would need to be superhuman their selves if they were to have even an insect’s chance of survival.

DIIIIIIIING!

A miracle occurred: the timer went off. The girls stopped where they were, stretched their limbs, and caught their breath. “HOOOO WEE!” Maddy cheered, stretching her arms skyward. “I’m glad I ain’t a poisonbender, ’cause boy do I reek!”

“Yeah, I’m freakin’ on fire after that.” Melody replied, bending to recover her muscles.

“Very funny.” Karin remarked at her joke. “Come to think of it, I have to ask, do waterbenders perspire more than other people?”

“Duh.” she answered obviously. “We also cry a lot more, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“Okay, sorry if I offended…”

“Man, I feel great.” Carol beamed confidently. “I may have pulled less weight, but I really think I lost some. If only Maseyfairy could see me now!”

“Speaking of, ya reckon we should clean up?” Panini asked. “Or should we find the boys and make them do it?”

“I vote for the latter.” MaKayla replied. “I, for one, am deserving of a nice drink.”

“Hee hee, then let’s drink our arses off!” Sheila fist-pumped, running to reclaim her sandals.

After she slipped them back on, MaKayla went to put on her own tiny slippers. “Don’t just throw your shoes onto ours next time, Sheila.” She scolded the raccoon as she proceeded to insert her right foot into its slipper. “?!” Just as the toes were about to pass the rim, her middle toe seemed to completely freeze in place, causing it to be bent up as she tried to force her foot down. “What the heck…?!”

Her brother, George had climbed onto the toe end of the slipper. When his sister’s foot had come down, he mustered every ounce of timebending to Stop the middle toe in time. “Hurrr…hurrrr…!” His sister’s toes were very small compared to most other girls, so they were the best to work with in this situation. It was lucky that she had taken her shoes off, for when she put them back on, he would have the chance to Stop her foot and make himself noticeable. Even if he only had enough power to affect one toe, he hoped she would take the hint.

“What’s wrong, Kayla?” Melody asked, bending the water splashed on the floor back into her bottles.

“My toe… my toe is being held in some sort of Time Chi grip. What the heck is…”

“Ugh!” George could no longer maintain the hold, so he let go. Kayla stumbled backward and fell in trying to pull her foot back. Curiosity becoming her, the younger timebender crawled to her slipper for a thorough examination. The other girls were curious by this phenomena.

George was frantically jumping and waving his arms as the insightful blue eyes of his sister loomed closer. Knowing how wise and cautious his sister was, he prayed she would acknowledge his strange, minuscule form. Closer the eyes loomed, the pupils sharp on the tiny, jumping figure.

“…” Kayla then moved a finger down underneath the figure. As she predicted, it seemed to jump on. She held the thing up, able to more clearly make out its extremely small shape within the texture of her tiny fingertip. “…George?!”

The others heard this, sharing questioning glances. MaKayla stood up, being extremely careful and keeping her finger balanced. “Look… it’s my brother…”

The eyes of Melody, Maddy, and Sheila surrounded the tiny boy. He could almost feel the auras of the super-strong titans sending chills down his spine, yet he was now far more hopeful. “He’s… so small…” Maddy whispered.

“How in BLAZES did that happen?!” Sheila outbursted, her sudden question ripping George’s sensitive eardrums.

“Sheila!” Melody cupped her mouth shut, whispering as well. “You have to be quiet, don’t you know how tiny ears work?!”

“Orright, sorry…”

“But we can’t hear him very well either.” Karin replied.

“I know!” Wendy withdrew her magic wand. “I’ll use a spell to amplify his voice. Don’t worry, it shouldn’t hurt. We use this on bugs sometimes…” With that, Wendy carefully aimed the very tip of her wand at Kayla’s finger. George mildly cowered before the wand, which almost seemed like an enormous cannon that could obliterate any tiny matter. “Sonorus.”

A magic light shone from the wand and enveloped George. Fortunately, his body was in one piece. “Uh…can you hear me now?!”

“Yeah…we can barely hear you.” Maddy answered.

“Phew.” Wendy sighed. “Also, I’m sorry for my bug comment. I didn’t mean to imply-”

“Yeah yeah, apologize later.” Carol quickly hushed her up. “But… where are the others?”

“It was just after training!” George shouted. “We were all suddenly shrunk! We aren’t sure what it was!”

With this, the team’s fears have been confirmed. A cloud of despair, regret, and dread covered the once proud, strong, competitive girls. George could see it clearly in their gigantic eyes, the sheer gloom filling them. “They were right under our noses the entire time…” Panini whispered.

“Oh, God…” Karin gasped hoarsely. “We’ve been… stepping all over them… Jinta-kun…”

“N…Nagisa…” Morgiana utterly hated herself for not suspecting this. She could only imagine her boyfriend crying up at her for help… and she wouldn’t want to live if she were even slightly responsible for his death.

“…” Maddy narrowed her eyes, trying to stay composed in this situation. “We need to stay calm. First off… everyone, check the bottoms of your feet. Make sure there’s… y’know… if they’re there…”

Their hearts flowing with dread, the girls each picked up one of their legs and thoroughly examined the soles. They looked them several times over for the tiniest trace of red amongst the complex texture of the shoes’ bottoms, which were firm and sure to splatter any unfortunate subject. Of course, the soles of the barefoot girls were reddened from the workout, making it just slightly trickier to search for the irregularity. They carefully put the first foot down to check the next one.

“Hm?” Melody was the first one to perk up. In the very middle of the sole of her plump left foot… there was a peculiar shape lodged into a crevice. “I… see something.”

“W-What is it?!” Wendy asked. The mage had already been leaking tears from her fear.

Melody very lightly scratched her fingernail up the sole… and scraped the thing off without hurting it. She slowly put her foot down and stared very closely. “It’s… Jinta.”

“Jinta-kun?” Karin gasped. “Oh, man… is he…”

Melody put her finger onto Kayla’s hand, so George could come up and pull him off. Putting his hands to Jinta’s chest and an ear by his throat, he could feel faint breath. “He’s alive…”

“That’s two then…” Carol said.

“I can’t even sense your auras very well with my Haki.” Maddy inferred. “It’s so faint…?” And it was then she felt… the very smallest, harmless itch on her left arm. It would only take a tap of the finger to remove it… but in this situation, Maddy was wiser than that. She looked onto her muscle.

After Maddy’s iron black flesh morphed back into peach, Nagisa had sunk his teeth into the muscle. He was a firm, strong biter, but Maddy’s skin could not be punctured by such puny teeth. Still, the feeling it sent through her nerves was enough to garner the fighter’s attention. That was a feat in and of itself for someone as small as Nagisa. “Hm…girls, look on my muscle.” She raised her arm and flexed it, causing the muscle to pump.

“Prithee, is this truly the time to display thine symbol of power?” Fybi asked; the Nimbi had been floating in the air after learning the floor was dangerous.

“No, just look.”

Fybi did so and moved her eyes closer. Nagisa’s micro form had steadily become clear to her emerald eyes. “…! ’Tis fair Nagisa!”

“Nagisa?!” Morg gasped. “L-Let me see him!” She reached her finger over and put it to Maddy’s muscle. The tiny boyfriend gladly ran to jump onto the nail. She then carefully brought him to her tearing eyes. “Nagisa… thank goodness… Wendy, use the spell, please!”

The powerful emotions in Morg’s magenta eyes, the source of that waterfall of tears, were a beautiful sight to Nagisa. The stress and trauma he just endured was worth it, and he knew for certain he was safe before his girlfriend’s gaze. However, when Wendy cast the Sonorus spell, he had a more pressing issue to report. “I know where Anthony is!”

“Thou dost?!” Fybi gasped. “Prithee… tell us what thou knowest!”

“Your eye! He’s on your eye, Fybi!”

“?!” Indeed, Fybi had felt the most mild weight on her left eyelid. “…” She held her little finger underneath the eye. “Okay, he’s on your finger!” Nagisa confirmed.

Fybi held her finger away… and could make out the tiny form of her big-footed sector leader. “Anthony…” She smiled warmly. “Hm hm… thou hast chosen me to be thine savior… Prithee, didst I prove thy trust to me?”

“You sure did, Fybi…you sure did.” Anthony returned the warm smile.

Carol gasped. “Hey, guys… I feel a light itch on my right leg.”

“You do?” Karin asked.

“Yeah… it’s right at the top of the sock, under my skirt…”

“Eh, excuse me?” The girls were unsure of the implications of this.

“Could it be… has Maseyfairy chosen me to be his savior?” Carol began to smile, her eyes filled with hope and love. “Did he bravely scale my stocking solely to reach my skin?”

“’ey, if that were the case, he woulda come to me.” Sheila inferred. “I was in bare feet, he wouldn’t have to do any climbin’.”

“Sheila, no offense, but your movement was extremely erratic and wild. And even if Mason was able to grab on, your skin would be too rough and hard to feel him. But not only was my movement slow, and my skin more sensitive, but I honestly smell better, too. ’Cause believe me, you have quite the odor about you.”

“Okay, why are we having this argument?” MaKayla asked impatiently. “Like, seriously… why?! If you think you feel something, then just check!”

Carol lifted her skirt as Fybi floated down to study the rim of the stocking. Indeed, there was a very small figure biting Carol’s leg for attention. Fybi allowed the tiny thing onto her finger, then she raised it to Carol’s adoring blue eyes. “Masey, is that you?”

But upon further examination… it was Dillon. He was blushing awkwardly for having done what he just did… but he paled in fear, seeing Carol’s gargantuan, sparkling eyes having suddenly gone pale in shock. “Oh…it’s Dillon.” Following that, she began to question everything else. “…So, you were under my skirt, huh? Why is that?”

“HEY, I WASN’T BEING A CREEP!” Dillon shouted in defense. “You were just nearby, and it was the only way!”

“Okay, let’s save the discussion for later.” Maddy said. “This is good… I’m not sure how, but it seems some of the boys have wound up in rather peculiar areas. If any of you feel any weird itch, don’t rub it or anything. Tell us where it is and we’ll check.”

“Um…I may have one.” Wendy spoke. “It… My right tear duct… it’s kinda itchy, but that couldn’t be anything, right?”

Fybi flew to her to confirm this. A tear was in the midst of escaping the duct… but she could make out something shaking in it. “Melody, canst thou very carefully bend Wendy’s tear onto thine hand?”

Melody nodded. She slowly made the developing tear float to her hand, Fybi watching it. It landed… and spread out on Melody’s palm. “It’s Romeo!” George yelled.

“Romeo-kun?” Wendy whispered. “He was… inside my tear duct?”

“Okay, that is way too obscure.” Karin said, growing ever more curious about how they ended up in these positions.

“Uh, mates? I’m feelin’ an itch now.” Sheila said.

“Where?” Maddy asked.

“…On me melon.” She pointed at the one in question.

Perking in surprise, Maddy loomed her eyes close to Sheila’s chest. Along the rim of the shirt… somebody was trying to bite Sheila’s skin for attention. “C…Chris?!”

“Huh? Chris?!” Melody gasped in disgust.

“What the fuck, Chris?!” Maddy shouted. “Wendy, use your spell, I need to hear this.” Wendy did so, her face flushed red.

“HEY, I didn’t come here on purpose!” Chris bellowed in anger. “I just ended up here! I had to hang on with the way she was fucking moving, and once you all started checking for itches, this was the only way!”

“I just thought it would be Mason.” Carol replied. “But even he’s too sweet to do something like that.”

“Shut up and just get me down!”

Glaring at her partner, Maddy held her finger by Sheila’s chest so he could climb on. “Alright, just calm down. We can talk afterward.” Maddy said, knowing her friend’s usual temperament.

“Wait… that water I splashed earlier.” Melody remembered. “I wonder if any of them were stuck in it.” She picked up her bottles and thoroughly examined the insides. She opened the lids to peer into the tops. She gasped: “There is someone!” She bent that water out and set it beside Romeo. “It’s… Mason.”

Romeo pressed and pumped Mason’s chest to force water out. “Cough…cough!”

“He’s alive!” Romeo confirmed.

“Oh, my Maseyfairy!” Carol cried. “Nearly drowned in Melody’s careless technique!”

“Hey, we were all acting pretty careless, okay?!”

“Except for me.” Carol said proudly. “Because I don’t have crazy powers.”

“Again, pointless argument.” Kayla stated. “There’s still hope. Now, there’s a chance the other boys are clinging to our clothes. Fybi, since you can fly, can you try to examine our clothes?”

“I shall.” The Nimbi began to calmly float and study every part of their bodies. Wondering if the boys were lost in the forests of hair, scaling the mountains of fabric, from the shirts, to the skirts and shorts, down to their firm footwear. It would take a good while to examine everybody… but when she was at Panini… she detected a very tiny figure among her shoelaces.

Cheren had become severely ill and dehydrated. Even after the girls had become aware of the situation, he was left drained and helpless on Panini’s sneaker. He could only pray that he would be found. He had to rely on his friends to find him, to help him. He hated to look so pathetic and powerless… but all the same, he knew he could depend on his faithful operatives.

He felt the same as Anthony when Fybi’s glimmering emerald eyes thoroughly studied the sneakers. Her eyes fell upon his speck-like form, and realization became her. “’Tis Cheren!”

“Ch-Cheren?” Panini gasped. The Irish girl’s freckled face flushed, her eyes curving in anger. “Y-Ya better not be lookin’ up my skirt, or I’ll stomp ya. You think I won’t?”

Fybi held a finger beside him. “…He is not responding. Mayhaps he is… immobile?”

“Oh, no…” Panini considered that he might have been on her sneaker while she was on fire. If so, perhaps the immense heat suffocated him. “B-Bring him up here. M-Melody, get him water.”

Fybi very carefully scooped Cheren onto her tiny fingernail. She floated up, laying her finger onto Panini’s palm as Cheren rolled off. Melody bent a tiny trickle of water onto the palm. Cheren slurped it into his throat, pumping himself with hydration as his vision became clear.

The palm of Panini’s hand felt like a valley, the fingers towering like distant, vertical mountains. And looming over him was the same cute, freckled face belonging to his closest friend, her green eyes awash in concern. Any other day, he would feel totally ashamed and pathetic. Panini always challenged him, tried to race him and beat him at every other game, and she would always laugh and gloat loudly with every victory. But now, he felt incredibly relieved and happy that she was holding him.

“…” Panini sported a smile, and her eyes curved wittingly. “Well, then… Ay hope you’ve finally accepted that I’m too fast for ya. You decided to hitch a ride on me, didn’t ya? I’m flattered, but me sneaker’s not really a taxi ride. But if ya just wanted a look at my panties, then we’ll just find the nearest chair and I’ll sit ya right down~”

“Heh heh heh…” Cheren blushed. She had brushed aside her worries to present the proud, cocky face he had come to know. He was embarrassed, being so tiny in the palm of her hand, her smile full of power and arrogance, and yet his heart was warm. He would trust Panini with his life, his loyal vice-leader and reliable friend. Even Panini could sense the smile on Cheren’s face, could feel the trust that her superior officer had in her. Panini was devoted to him as his assistant; she saw not an insignificant speck, but the leader whom she served.

“Then… the only one missing is Eric.” Melody said. Knowing how weak and non-athletic her nerdy friend was, easily breakable to any of their strength, there was practically zero chance of his survival in this situation. In a dodgeball court alone, Eric was always helpless and hit with balls left and right, and with the way the girls played, he probably just fainted from anxiety, left to be helplessly squished into nothing. She greatly prayed for the safety of her closest friend, the sweet and caring boy whom she could lean on and cry on. “Huh? I… feel an itch.”

“Where?” Kayla asked, sparking with hope.

“…Kind of under the back of my sarong… above the underpants… on the left…”

The sentence spurred weird reactions as Fybi checked Melody’s back side. She pulled the sarong down… and detected the tiny figure trying to claw and bite Melody from atop the rim of her underpants. “…’Tis Eric.”

“Eric?!” Melody gasped. “What… is he trying to do?”

“I presume trying to get thine attention. The method by which he arrived thither is debatable.”

Melody blushed as Fybi scratched Eric off her upper rear. Within the next moment, all 10 boys were gathered on MaKayla’s hand. “Okay, let’s set them all down.” Wendy said. “I’m going to use a spell to enlarge them. Hopefully, it works.”

MaKayla lay her hand on the floor. The boys lifted Jinta’s unconscious body and carried him off as they climbed down. They were once again on the floor, gazing up at the girls’ godly physiques, where they were even lower than the curve of their soles. Wendy aimed her wand and focused her magic: “Engorgio.”

The boys all exploded in size, expanding thousands of feet in an instant. The girls were blown back from the force, but a wave of relief washed over their hearts. With that, Wendy proceeded to resuscitate Jinta with her airbending, allowing the muscular baseballer to awaken. “Oh, man…what the…what the frick happened?”

Karin pulled her rival to his feet. And in the next second, she squeezed him in a hug. The other girls grabbed their partners in hugs to squeeze the tension from their bodies. MaKayla’s stick-like arms enveloped her brother’s bulkier body, and his larger hands practically covered her whole back in a hug. Nagisa and Morgiana were sucked into a kiss, filling each other with love. Fybi grabbed Anthony’s arms and lifted him off his feet, twirling in the air.

Sheila delivered Mason her promised soda, and the boy excitedly guzzled the whole thing down. Now filled with adrenaline, Mason and Sheila grabbed each other’s arms and wildly bounced around to burn off the calories. Carol was upset by this sight, but Dillon put a hand to her shoulder, smiling coolly. “I thought it was cool, the way you were playing. You were pretty good. You’ve become a pretty reliable friend, Carol.”

The wealthy girl smiled and decided to hug Dillon, and he hugged back.

Once all the tension was squeezed out, the boys explained everything that had happened, from the weird light they saw, the ordeals they each endured, and how they each wound up in their awkward positions. “I didn’t see a weird light thingy anywhere.” Wendy said. “Do you think we should look for it?”

“Yeah, I think we should, in case it shrinks more people in Moonbase.” Cheren affirmed. “In any case… that was a really horrifying experience. I almost thought we were gonna die. But you girls really came through for us.”

“Heh, hardly.” Kayla smiled.

“I’ll say.” Jinta stated angrily. Without warning, he raised his foot and STOMPED on Melody’s.

“OOOW!”

“THAT’S for stepping on me!”

“Geez, I’m sorry! God…” She used her bending to heal the pain.

“Hey, don’t step on my friend’s foot!” Eric shouted.

“Shut it, nerd, it sounded like you got lucky.”

“I-I-I wasn’t there on purpose!”

“I don’t blame you, Jinta.” Chris commented. “Melody always did have bad odor.”

“Yeah, well that’s why I started wearing sandals, dumbass!” Melody argued. “If I still had my sneakers, he wouldn’t have survived!”

“I think we can agree that everyone was extremely lucky.” Maddy inferred. “Even Chris and… where he was.”

“Hey, I felt as shameful about it as everyone else!” Chris yelled. “I just wanna forget about it!”

“Ah, Oi don’t even see what the big deal is!” Sheila grinned, completely brushing off the topic. “Seriously, it’s just me chest. Why do girls make such a big deal over them?”

“Man, you’re completely clueless.” George remarked in frustration.

“Well, at least we’re all pumped back to full size!” Sheila balled her fists. “Now I’m SUPER hyped for the competition!”

“. . . . . .” It was clear on the boys’ features and their nervous motions that they had completely lost interest in the premise.

“You know what, forget it.” Maddy stated. “The competition is cancelled. I decree the boys’ team the winner due to unfair circumstances against them. All in favor?”

“AYE.” The others were ready to agree.

“Heh heh.” Romeo chuckled. “We appreciate it, but that isn’t really fair…”

“Romeo, what just happened to you all wasn’t fair.” Wendy argued. “We almost killed you and we had no idea.”

“We really went crazy in that training.” Karin acknowledged. “The fact you were all able to survive that, in spite of what we are… you are seriously stronger than we are.”

“I guess girls aren’t the superior gender after all.” Jinta snickered.

“No, boy, I’d say we are not.”

“Well, in spite of all that, I’d say that was an amazing workout.” Cheren beamed with positively, raising a hand. “Thanks, girls! Let’s promise to work even harder from now on, both to train and protect each other!”

Panini snorted. “Ay, you are way too forgiving, Cherry.” Her girthy hand smacked his tiny hand in a high-five. Chris fist-pumped Maddy, Mason and Sheila clacked soda bottles, Melody planted a kiss on Eric’s cheek, Karin and Jinta shook and squeezed the other’s hand, George and Kayla bumped elbows, Anthony and Fybi nuzzled noses, and overall, all the boys felt a stronger trust with their teammates.

“Now, let’s search around Moonbase and look for any signs of that light thingy.” Cheren said. “We can’t celebrate until we know it’s gone. And believe me, I am hella hungry for some cherry pie after that~”