Al hit the wall hard as the mixture exploded. After the dust cleared he shakingly rose from the floor. He wasn't injured, but he was shaken up. He walked over towards the table. The liquid was now a reddish-blue hue. He stared at his distorted reflection in the stirring concoction. Al looked around and drank some of the liquid. He then reeled back. He had gained a splitting headache and his entire body ached, but it was gone as fast as it had come. Al shook slightly and blinked to regain his thoughts. He looked down at the liquid, then left. As he left though, he couldn't stop thinking about how his surroundings suddenly felt...
Smaller...
"Man, I bet that stuff could've been awesome!" said Pop. Al had told him about the chemical and how it just caused short term discomfort. "I mean, it could be useful for, like, spy stuff, but I doubt that you'd use it much..."
"The only thing I find strange is that after the aches, everything seemed...well, um, smaller," said Al. Pop looked up at him. He looked a little concerned.
"Maybe you grew a little, that's probably why..." Pop said, a little quieter. Al shook his head.
"No, if I had grown I'd probably have to duck to go through the door!" He chuckled slightly, but he hushed when he saw Pop's expression. Pop was clearly concerned now.
"I dunno Al, it could start its effects soon," said Pop. He ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "Y-you should probably stay outside until the effects start." Al saw that Pop was worried, so he agreed.
About fifteen minutes later, Al noticed that the aches were beginning to return. He clutched his head and groaned loud enough to grab Pop's attention.
"Are you okay? You don't look so w-" He stopped right in the middle of his sentence. Al looked down at him.
"What's wrong? " He asked. Pop began to back away as he shrunk smaller. "P-Pop? A-are you s-s-shrinking!?" Al noticed that his voice was beginning to sound louder too. Pop shook his head nervously.
"I-I'm not shrinking Al. I think y-you're g-g-g-growing!" Pop stuttered. He began to shake in fear. Al notice that everything else was becoming smaller too. He leaned up against a building.
"No..No nononononononono...I-I, this...this c-can't be happening! I-I'm just dreaming, this is not happening!" Al looked down and squeaked. Pop was even smaller now, and he was trying to figure out what to do.
"Okay, um, uh...st-stay calm! It's only getting worse if you panic!" Pop's voice was faint now, and Al could just barely hear the words. Al then began to grow again.
"P-Pop! H-h-help m-me!" Al fell on his knees. He was shivering so hard he couldn't stand. Finally, the shaking stopped and the aches faded away. Al was still breathing heavily. He looked down at Pop, who was now small enough to fit in his hand. Al grabbed him and brought him up to look at him. Al was starting to get misty-eyed now.
"A-are you okay?" asked Pop. Al wiped his eyes and slightly nodded. The buildings were small enough to be doll houses, and the ground was cracked from his weight when he fell. He looked back at Pop.
"Pop? Wha-What happened to me?" Al's vision blurred more as he managed to croak out the words. Pop looked down at the ground.
"All I know is that, well...you're huge now," said Pop as he shrugged. Al got up on his feet, but nearly fell over again. He pressed his hand against a building to regain his balance, but he nearly pushed it over. Someone happened to pass by, but they immediately ran off when they saw him.
"Wait! I don't-" Al paused as he watched the person run away screaming "Monster! Help! Monster!" Al then sat down against the nearest building and buried his face in his hands after he put Pop down. He began to weep as Pop walked up to him with an umbrella that he had pulled out of his hair.
"It's okay, we'll fix this! I-I'll go get Willy! He'll know what to do!" said Pop. Al shot up straight.
"Wait! He'll just think I'm a monster too! Please don't Pop! Pleeeeeease!" Al was on his stomach begging. Pop was confused.
"But if I don't get Willy, we'll never be able to make you smaller!" said Pop. Al thought for a minute, then sighed in defeat.
"Okay, I-I guess it won't hurt to try..." said Al. Pop grinned and ran off to get Willy.
Willy, of course, had Andy and Rocky nearby, so when they saw Pop run through the door, they insisted that they follow. When they saw Al they were at first scared, but Pop explained what happened.
"What in the world...he's huge!" Willy looked back at Pop slightly snickering. "When you said Al had a 'little problem', I was not expecting this!" He looked back at Al.
"Jeez, he's gotten himself into quite a well, big mess!" said Andy. Rocky muffled his laughter with his hand, but they could still hear it. Willy rolled his eyes and motioned towards them, grinning.
"Do you know how to make me small again?" asked Al. His voice nearly caused Willy to fall over because Al was speaking a little louder than usual.
"I'm sorry, but I honestly have no idea how to shrink you, nonetheless how you got into this mess," said Willy. Al groaned and got up from the ground. His shadow was the size of a skyscraper now. They were silent for a while when the faint noise of a crowd was heard in the distance. Al backed away, then ran away as the crowd came around the bend. The people were led by a man with a thin moustache and blonde hair.
"Excuse me, but have you seen an um, giant monster nearby?" asked the man. They exchanged glances and Andy spoke.
"Why yes, he went, um... thataway!" Andy pointed in the opposite direction. The man thanked them and led the crowd away. Once they were out of earshot the group began to nervously chatter.
"What do you think he meant by a giant monster? He couldn't have been talking about Al!" said Pop. Willy looked around.
"They could be talking about him. If you saw a giant test tube walking around, wouldn't you be afraid?" Pop rubbed the back of his head when he realized something.
"Hey, where's Al?" asked Pop. They looked at each other and shrugged. They then began to panic. "He just can't go out by himself! The crowd will find him!" They began to search the area when Rocky heard a quieter set of voices. The others came running around the corner.
"What's going on? We heard Al was in trouble, so we came as fast as we could!" said Tina. A loose strand of her red hair hung in front of her face. Pop noticed them and explained the incident. He also mentioned that Al ran away when he saw the crowd and that he was now nowhere to be seen.
"So, Al's a giant, and he's running around a city with a mob chasing him. Seems legit," said Bonzo. After some questions about the situation, they went out to look for Al, knowing that he had run off.
Tito and Bonzo rushed down the street. They were searching for Al. Bonzo stopped at a crossroad.
"Tito, you go to the left, and I'll go to the right. Tell me when you find him." Before Tito could reply, Bonzo was gone. Tito bit his lower lip and proceeded down the left street. He was scared that Al wouldn't recognize him, and that he would try to stomp him or something. Tito wrung his hands together and sheepishly called out.
"A-Al? W-where are you? I-I-it's me, Tito!" There was no reply. Tito stopped for a minute when be heard the sound of metal clanging. It came from the nearby alley in front if him. Tito quietly stepped towards the alley.
"Who's t-there?" asked Tito. He walked up to the alley and stopped just in front of the space between the buildings. He peered inside and immediately stumbled backwards. A large hand reached out from the alley and grabbed him. "Hey! Put me down!" He yelled, but the hand lifted him off of the ground and into the alley. Tito bit the hand and was dropped onto the ground. He pressed himself against the wall. Al sat across from him, rubbing the area where he bit. "Oh, I'm s-s-sorry! I didn't know it was you..." said Tito
"It's fine, I shouldn't have scared you like that," said Al. Tito walked up to him.
"Oh my gosh, I...I, uh, how-never mind. Why are you in here?" Tito stammered. Al peeked out of the alley and turned back to Tito.
"Those people, they're looking for me! I-I ran away from them into here, a-and when they passed I overheard them say that they wanted t-t-to make sure I wouldn't bother anyone again! They want to lock me up and throw away the key!" said Al. The alley was silent for a while when they heard a familiar sound of footsteps. Al got up and began to run away again.
"Hey! Wait for me! I'm coming with you!" Tito ran quickly to catch up with Al just as the crowd began to walk past the alley. Al dove into a secluded part of the alley and hid in the shadowy part, where hopefully no one would see him. The crowd as they proceeded down the alleyway stopped in front of the area where Al was hiding.
"Are you sure the beast went down here?" questioned a lady. The leader laughed as If she told a joke.
"Of course he went down here! I can hear his footsteps miles away! How could you not know?" replied the leader. He pointed away from Al and led the group away. After they had disappeared Al clutched his brim.
"What's wrong?" asked Tito. Al mumbled a reply, but Tito couldn't hear him. Suddenly Al began to grow again.
"Oh no, not again!" Al tried to move, but the alley was becoming more and more cramped. Tito stumbled backwards as he avoided Al's hand, which nearly hit him.
"Al! Are you growing again? What's happening to you?" Tito was backing away slowly. Al groaned as the alley became too small for him.
"G-get out of here! Go get help!" Al winced as several bricks hit him on the head. Tito shakingly nodded and bolted off to get the others. Al tried to push himself out of the cramped alleyway, but he could barely move. The noise of the crowd began to grow louder. They were coming for him. "Oh no...please no, not now!" Al sheepishly mumbled as he tried harder to change his position. He stopped growing, but he was still too big to move. Suddenly, he was able to nudge a building far away enough to move a little. The crowd was closer now. He crawled away from the crowd as fast as he could. He soon reached the end of the alley, but his midsection was caught between two of the buildings. He tried to push himself out, his feet scraping the ground frantically. He was stuck. The crowd was even louder now. Al tried harder to free himself, but he wasn't going anywhere.
"There he is! Get him!" said one of the men from the crowd. Al yelped and clawed at the ground. Then the others came running.
"H-Help me! I-I'm stuck! They found me and, and- please help me!" Al cried.
"Hold on! We'll see if we can make the space bigger! J-just hold on!" yelled Tina as she pulled at the edge of one the building on the right. She was joined by Bonzo and Hector, but they still couldn't make the building budge. The other two, Tito and Pop, did the same, but they didn't have much luck, even with Al helping the both of them. They tried to pull him out, but he was too big to be able to move. The crowd was gaining on him. As a last resort, they all yanked on Al as he tried to push himself out using his feet. Al stumbled out as the others scurried away. He quickly shot up on his feet and ran away as fast as he could. The crowd angrily rushed out of the alley with a mixture of "Where'd he go?" and "I can't believe we lost him!" The leader looked towards the group.
"Have you seen the monster? We just about had him, but he just disappeared!" asked the leader with a tone of impatience in his voice. Hector walked up to the man.
"We have seen this monster, he ran over hither!" said Hector as he directed them down a random street. The crowd ran off yelling. Al came back after they were sure they were gone. He slumped against a building and tried not to break down onto his knees sobbing.
"See? Everyone thinks I'm a monster now, and just to make things worse, I might be stuck like this forever!" Al tried to stand up, but he fell to his knees and sobbed. The others tried not to drown in the rising water. Hector clung to his shield, using it as a boat. "I'm a monster! I'm never gonna be small again! I'm a monster!" Al slammed his fist against the ground, causing the ground to shake and the various deep puddles to gain waves. Al sobbed harder.
"No, it's ok! You're not a monster! You're just really, um...big!" said Pop. Al grits his teeth together.
"Yeah, like the monster I am. Just leave me alone! If they find out you're trying to help me, they'll lock you up too!" Al fell onto the ground crying. "Just leave me alone." The others decided that it would be best to leave, but Pop stubbornly stood still.
"Al, c'mon. You know you're not a monster..." said Pop. Al bashed the ground with his fist, causing the ground to shake. He scowled at Pop.
"Don't you get it? LEAVE ME ALONE!" Al yelled. Pop ran away stumbling. Al sat with his face in his knees as he once again began to grow. He didn't care anymore. He grumbled to himself as he slowly began to fall asleep.
Al woke up and wiped off some drool that was coming from his mouth. He tried to stand up, but his head hit something. He looked up to see a ceiling. He was trapped in a small room with one wall replaced with a large window. He crawled towards it and tapped it. He began to hit it harder, but it didn't break. Soon he began slamming his body against it, but the window was stronger. Al huffed and went over to a corner of the room and sat down. A light knock was heard beyond the window. He looked over to see the leader knocking on the window to gain Al's attention. Al crept over to him.
"Where am I?" asked Al. He realized that he sounded scared. The leader smirked.
"Oh, somewhere. Nowhere important really," said the leader. Al lay on his stomach to hear the leader better. "Now, I'm going to ask you a couple of questions. First, why are you a test tube, and second, you are past our city human heights limit! What's your excuse?" The leader tried to get closer to Al's face but ended up hitting his head on the window.
"Well, I am a-" Al tried to respond, but the leader help up his hand.
"That's enough. So, final question...how would you like to die?"
"Well I would- Wait a minute WHAT?" Al shot up, whacking his head on the ceiling. He got back down wincing.
"Oh, don't worry! It will be so quick, you won't feel a thing, or do you want to feel it?" said the leader in a calm, quiet voice. Al's heart began to race.
"I don't wanna die! Let me out of here! Help!" Al began to punch the window as hard as he could. The leader just laughed. "What's so funny? Do you think this is funny?" snapped Al. The leader just shrugged.
"The only thing I find funny is that you have such a high IQ, but you can't even tell when plastic is too hard to break!" The leader smirked mischievously. Al continued to hit the window, but after a few punches, he gave up. He sat with his back against the window. The leader tried to speak through to Al but was not heard. The leader stepped back and walked the opposite direction. Al glanced behind himself to see if the leader was gone, and he got up.
"Where are you going?" said Al. He raised the volume in his voice to make sure he was heard. The leader looked back at him and smiled.
"To plan your execution, my friend. Or shall I say..."
"...you monster."
Al tried to make himself grow again. Here, he thought, here if he grew he would become so big that he would bust out of the room and escape. He focused on growing.
"Come on, grow!" said Al to himself. He pounded on the ground and kicked his legs, hoping to get so mad, he'll grow. The leader came up to the window, watching his unsuccessful attempts to grow. "I grew before in the least convenient of places, but when I need to grow, I can't!" Al's fists pounded the floor harder, causing the floor around him to shake. Even though he was plenty mad, and actually wanted to grow, the only thing he got were the hiccups.
"Darn-hic!-it!" grumbled Al. "That s-hic!-just what I-hic!- needed!" He began to pout when something began to happen. Every hiccup caused a minor growth spurt! Al grinned. "Yes! For-hic!-once I m-hic!-actually-hic!-glad I have hiccups-hic!" His head hit the ceiling, even though he was sitting. The leader backed away from the glass as Al slowly grew bigger and bigger. Al's feet reached the opposite wall, and his head bumped the ceiling harder and harder. Al had a look of triumph on his face as he watched the leader's jaw drop.
"What in the world? How are you actually- oh well, I guess you chose your own death. Being crushed! Clever idea." Al lost all of his pride began to panic.
"C-C-Crushed? How?" He stooped his head down to avoid the ceiling now. He pulled his legs closer to him, but his hiccups made him only grow more. Al gulped. "Oh-hic!-no no-hic!-no no!" Al squirmed as his feet hit the wall, even though his legs were up. His head banged against the ceiling of the tiny room. He couldn't move his arms anymore because they were pushed against the walls of the room. The room's structure groaned from the stress it was being put under. Suddenly, bits of one of the walls that held his arms captive fell off and one of his arms was freed. Al squirmed to get into a better position and squeezed through the hole. He then got back onto his feet and ran as the leader called a crowd of people together to chase him.
Pop peered around the corner again. He waited for Al to come back, thinking that he had just walked away to clear his thoughts. When Pop saw that Al was still nowhere to be seen, he sighed and sat back down against the wall. Tina looked over at him.
"I'm sure he'll come back, he just was frustrated with what was going on," said Tina. She ran her fingers through his hair. Pop gazed back up at her.
"Yeah, I just wanna apologize for..." Pop hushed when he heard loud footsteps that made the ground shake. He looked around the corner to see Al. He was even bigger than he was. He breathed heavily and propped himself against a building. "Al!" Pop ran up to him and tackled (or at least tried to) his leg. Al looked down at him and grabbed Pop with two hands.
"Oh my gosh Pop! I-I'm so sorry for-"
"Nuh-uh! I'm sorry! I made you snap!"
"Oh puh-leeze! I should've calmed down! I-"
"Yo! This is touching and all..." Bonzo yelled. "...but you should run now."
"Why?" asked Pop. Bonzo pointed behind them.
"That."
Behind them the angry mob stood. The leader pointed at Al.
"There he is! There's the monster! C'mon! Let's get him!" yelled the leader. Al squeaked and scurried away from the mob as they chased him. He ran past a corner only to be met with a dead end. He tried to squeeze through the alleys, but he was too big. He turned around to see that the mob was closing in on him. He pressed himself against the building behind him.
Pop frantically looked around, then he had an idea.
"Stop!" yelled Pop. The mob stopped and looked up at him. "He doesn't want to hurt any of you!"
"Then why is he stomping around our city? Huh? Answer me!" The leader scolded. Pop looked down at him.
"He's just scared! He's not trying to hurt you, he's just frightened! And the fact that you want him dead is not helping!" The crowd whispered slightly to each other.
"But our leader, Sir Richman, said he had fangs bigger and sharper than the seas sharpest rocks!" said a child from the crowd.
"I heard his eyes were a shining blood red!" shouted a man.
"I heard that he ate anything that moves!" yelled a woman.
"None of that is true!" Tito called out as him and everyone else ran towards them.
"That's our friend, Al. He just had an um, little mishap..." said Bonzo. The crowd looked at the leader, known as Sir Richman. He looked around.
"Well, I, um, I...He, um..." He stammered. The crowd glared at him. "Goodbye!" Sir Richman scampered away, but Al lifted him off of the ground. "Hey, put me down! I am a well-respected man, and I have the rights to...to..." He looked at Al, who was skeptical.
"You have the rights to what?" asked Al as he slowly grinned. Sir Richman's eyes darted this way and that before he responded.
"I-I have the rights to lock you up! Y-yeah! I can do that!" He crossed his arms in pride. Al just laughed.
"Ha! Did you forget what happened last time you tried that? I'm too big, silly!" Al chuckled. Sir Richman tried to respond, but he couldn't. Al put him down. "Now, you go run along, or else I might step on you!" said Al. Sir Richman was off like a shot, and the crowd followed him. Al smirked, but he looked down at Andy as he tapped on Al's leg.
"Um, excuse me, but how are you going to get smaller?" Al shrugged.
"I dunno, I don't really care anymore..." Suddenly, he let out a loud "HIC!" and he began to shrink. He giggled between hiccups and looked down at his friends. "I guess-hic!-I'll shrink-hic!-like this!" He shrunk down back to his normal size, and the hiccups stopped. He ran up to the group and hugged them. They walked home after that. But this was the start of a strange week...
THE END
