Chapter 7: We've Gotta Get Petra Back

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Mortified by all of the destruction that he saw Petra cause, Radar ran outside the Order Hall when he saw the giant redhead jump over the wall. This was the brown childish intern's cue to sprint towards the scene of Petra's massacre.

"Is... Is everyone okay?" Radar panted, sweat dripping from his forehead. He wiped the beads of sweat away with his sleeve and scanning the hellish burning environment around him, he saw Nell buried in one of Petra's footprints. The blonde girl looked unconscious, her yellow locks were a mess, and her body was contaminated with the crummy soil that was on Petra's blackened foot.

"Nell, no!" The shocked apprentice gasped, jumping inside the giantess's footprint and holding the cold surfer gal in his arms. Upon feeling his warmth, Nell slowly opened her ocean blue eyes, groaning in pain as she felt the urge to hold his hand.

"R-Radar..." Nell stammered as she fell out of Radar's arms and tried to get back up on her own. Being stuck to Petra's foot like used chewing gum and getting repeatedly squished into the cold hard stone ground really took a toll on her stamina and energy.

"A-Are you okay, Nell?" Radar whimpered, running his fingers across Nell's blackened skin. "You look like you just came out of a war..." Nell slowly forced Radar's arm away from her face as she laid down against the ground.

"I'm fine, Radar... Just hurt a bit, little dude..." The injured blonde groaned, unable to stand up independently without her boyfriend's help.

Olivia coughed and sputtered in what was a puddle of Petra's slobber as Axel ran forward through his drenched sweetheart.

"Olivia, what happened here?" The thick brute asked Olivia before laying his hands on her and immediately acting all grossed out from touching her wet body. "Eugh, and why the hell are you so slimy?"

"Petra went berserk and tried to eat me..." The black engineer coughed, struggling to move anywhere herself. "Oh god, it was so dark and I was so scared..."

"She tried to do what?!" Axel exclaimed, shocked that the new giant Petra would even think about trying to eat her friends.

"Can someone tell me what was going on up here?!" Ivor asked the survivors furiously, rubbing his head as if he had a migraine. "I was in the middle of reading Volume 231 of 'Alchemy for Dummies' until these earthquakes started turning the pages every two seconds!"

Jesse was the first one to step in front of the crowd and announce their situation. He was dirty through and through thanks to Petra repeatedly stomping on him with her messy foot while she was taking out her frustration on her friends. "Some of us accidentally drove Petra to her breaking point and she went crazy, stomping on us and destroying our buildings." The brunette in red suspenders explained.

"What?!" The elderly alchemist exclaimed, his ears turning red at the thought of Petra doing such vile acts. "I told that stupid girl I'd only shrink her if she behaved, and she goes around acting like those malevolent giants we saw in the movies?! Well, just for all the destruction she's caused, I'm glad she ran away!" Ivor's bitter rant earned him a slap across the face from Jesse which earned a collective gasp from the crowd of citizens that surrounded them. He grumbled as he rubbed his cheek where the brunette slapped him.

"Ivor, you don't understand!" Jesse cried. "Petra was just scared, alright?! She woke up to see Beacontown up in flames and here you all were treating her like a beast that deserves to be executed!"

The masses couldn't believe that this man wearing red suspenders was really trying to stand up for Petra when the last thing she did was attempt to kill them all in a fit of rage. Stampy pushed his way in front of the horde just so the grown child at heart could intervene with Jesse's statement.

"Jesse, did you not see what Petra did?!" Stampy exclaimed. "She got up while she was having a snooze as she said, and then she started going on a vicious rampage! She stomped on the things we worked so hard on, squished our friends under her feet, and left this town to burn as she ran away from the scene she created!"

Stacy stepped in front of the crowd too, holding Stampy like he was her son. "Yeah!" She huffed. "You saw what she did, right?! She destroyed our houses and Stampy's special love garden that he made for me! That monster even ate Olivia, that's how far gone she is!"

"Leave it to Jesse to bring a giant woman back to Beacontown, only for her to reveal her true colours in the matter of an hour!" Lukas cried in anger, gripping his thigh like he had just come out of a deadly war zone.

"Yeah!" Nell shouted, being carried by Radar for the blonde surfer gal was still too weak to walk on her own. "I've dealt with my fair share of bad dudes and dudettes before, but Jesse's inched his way up my list of those people for letting a giant redhead kill us all!"

"Nell, how was I supposed to know that Petra would even do such a thing?!" Jesse replied, becoming visibly annoyed that these people were actually shaming his giant girlfriend as much as they were. "Besides, it was your fault that she ran away from here!"

"G-Guys? I'm fine..." Olivia moaned in a raspy tone as Axel let go of his black girlfriend leaving her to collapse to her knees. He couldn't stand having to carry Olivia when her whole body was drenched in Petra's saliva, hence why he tried to rub it off his sleeves.

"Olivia!" Stampy gasped, holding the drenched woman up for her to make eye contact with the worried child-like adult. "Oh, I'm so glad you're still alive! Stacy told me that Petra ate you! What was it like in there?"

"Well..." Olivia coughed as Stampy held her, completely traumatised by what she had just been through. "It was just as scary as I imagined being eaten by a giant would be. Her dark mouth was dripping with saliva, her tongue was slippery, I would've ended up being a snack for her if I didn't try to delay the inevitable by climbing back up her sticky throat..."

Everyone circling Jesse and his friends panted and coughed at the top of their lungs, lucky that they had even managed to survive Petra's vicious attack on Beacontown.

"Jesse? What are we gonna do now?" Radar perked up, carefully dropping Nell on the stone ground as the blonde surfer gal tried to pull herself back up. "I counted at least twelve casualties during Petra's display of carnage, the good news is that we didn't lose anyone else, but Beacontown is in such a bad spot right now that it's going to take us months to repair."

The brunette started to sweat and gulp, trembling in his skin for he knew that not everyone was going to be happy with his next plan of action.

"Well? What's the plan, Jesse?" The cocoa-skinned boy asked his master while adjusting his glasses.

"Guys... We've gotta get Petra back." Jesse proclaimed. The whole town was filled with silence as everyone stared at Jesse like he was just about as crazy as Petra was.

"Jesse, that's a terrible idea!" Lukas exclaimed. "Do you really think that any of us would want to join you in your quest to find your destructive girlfriend again?! I mean, look around you! She's made this place a mess and we've been kicked, squished, sat on!"

Jesse was finding it harder to stand up for his giant sweetheart as he looked around to see just how bad Petra's carnage-filled rampage was. In addition to watching their houses burn to the ground right in front of them, everyone was also standing in a wide area of Petra's footprints which were all shattered in random positions. "Eugh, even her footprints stink..." One citizen said in disgust as they held their nose.

"You guys just don't understand how Petra feels!" Jesse yelled after letting out a deep breath. "She was only trying to defend herself because you guys were treating her like a monster!"

"Which she is by the way!" Another civilian hollered from beyond the big circle of people. This antagonising of Petra was really starting to piss Jesse off now. He needed to come up with something that would easily change everyone's minds and get them on his side.

"But still, you all saw what happened when she stopped daydreaming and came to her senses for a bit, right?" Jesse asked, hoping to win over the crowd. "She was clearly scared! Frightened and unsure of her actions! And then you guys had to step in and provoke her like the true beasts that you are! This madness wasn't her fault, it was yours!"

Everyone gasped and scowled at their leader when he directly accused them of being the only part of the problem. Why was this suspender-wearing fairy continuing to defend his kaiju-sized girlfriend anyway? Why didn't he figure out that defending a monster would automatically be a death sentence in their eyes? Shocked himself by what Jesse just said, Radar tapped his shoulder, sweating in fear. He was also afraid that blaming everyone wasn't going to win anyone over to his master's side.

"J-Jesse, that's not how you get people to join you..." Radar stammered, fidgeting with his fingers.

"What am I supposed to do, Radar?" Jesse asked, continuing to stare at the circle of people that was starting to close on them. "It seems that no matter what I say, everyone immediately turns against me."

"Just don't blame them for what Petra did." The cinnamon-skinned intern suggested. "You can use those big words all you want, but just try to avoid saying that they're the only problem here, if they even are one."

Jesse sighed before holding his arms up and convincing everyone to be quiet. "Guys... I'm sorry..." The emerald-eyed brunette said, causing some people to perk their ears up and actually listen in on what he had to say. "I know that you and Petra haven't gotten along well at all, what with her acting like a total maniac and tearing Beacontown to shreds... but we need to forget about that for now because this misunderstood giantess realised her mistakes shortly after and ran off into the forest. And what could happen to her out there? She could be on a serious bounty for wrecking this place, and hunters from all over the world could be out to kill her for something that she regrets doing now."

Suddenly realising what could potentially happen to the poor unfairly judged giant redhead, some people in the crowd that surrounded Jesse and his pals started to step out in front of them.

"J-Jesse... I'm sorry if we actually ended up putting Petra's life in danger here..." Bob apologised, panting and holding his knees as he looked down at his feet. Bob was well known for making slime diving popular in Beacontown through the use of the platforms he built in his side of the city. He may not have invented the sport, but he made well-known to the public consensus thanks to his interest in the activity. Bob, with his blond hair and eyebrows along with his blue eyes that didn't look too far off from Nell's lighter ones, wore a blue-and-white-striped shirt, a brown vest with two buttons, a belt, brown trousers, and a matching pair of black shoes.

"It's alright, Bob. We still have plenty of time to find her." Jesse assured Bob, giving him a pat on the back. "Do we, Ivor?"

"Well, Jesse, I did the math again and judging from my calculations, if they are correct, then the growth potion that Petra drank will also come to share the same permanent effects that the shrink potion will have on its consumer if nothing is done to counteract it." Ivor explained, twiddling with his fingers as he made his point.

"In English, Severus Snape!" Axel exclaimed in frustration. Ivor's habit of using big words to explain what his potions would do really made the big brute impatient.

"Basically, if we don't give Petra the antidote within 72 hours, 30 of which have already passed, she'll be a giantess forever." Ivor finished.

Everyone in Beacontown gasped when they realised that Petra could be stuck at that size forever. Even if they were to build a house that was big enough for her to fit inside, the whole town would still have a lot of trouble taking care of her since she got hungry very quickly now, and even Petra would get sick of living the rest of her life as a giantess, never to return to her normal size ever again. "Do we even have enough time to make the antidote, Ivor?" Jesse asked the bearded alchemist.

"Thankfully, when my house was destroyed under her behind, I hid the growth antidote in my basement." Ivor huffed in relief, looking back at what remains of his building and many potions that he would've put to great use sooner or later. Sure enough, there was a ladder that went down to what seemed like nothing but pitch darkness. "It goes down very deep so I don't have to worry about any of my really important potions getting destroyed by say, a giant girl's bottom perhaps."

"But Ivor, didn't you say that your shrink formula was in your house?" Jesse asked, confused at what he was hearing.

"No, I was just overreacting." Ivor laughed, running over to the exposed ladder and beginning his trek down into his gloomy basement.

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The damp walls of the descent into Ivor's basement created a stagnant smell in the air, which he was used to as he had been down here many times before, but this also meant that the ladder Ivor was climbing down was very wet and slippery from how humid the walls were. The elderly alchemist really needed to watch his footing, otherwise he'd end up falling down into the black abyss and die alone, never to be heard from his peers again.

Eventually, Ivor finally made his way down to the basement without harming himself. The old man looked up to see that his only way out was indicated by a tiny speck of light as the sun shined down on the long hole he had just climbed down.

Ignoring the crowd that surrounded Ivor's hole, all of whom were cheering him on to get the antidote from his basement, he continued forward, setting foot on the equally wet floor as water droplets hit him from the ceiling. They weren't lethal thankfully, as the most they ever did was just slightly annoy the grumpy old man.

"Now then... if I was a growth antidote, where would I be?" Ivor asked himself, even if he did know that this was his own basement that he was exploring. The elderly alchemist walked straight ahead through his linear passageway, holding onto the wet walls that were oozing with water.

After a few seconds of trekking through the dark damp passage, Ivor's drooping black eyes suddenly widened again when he saw the growth antidote he set out to obtain sitting on his delicate stone pedestal. The liquid that resided within the glass bottle was a strange icky mixture of a light and dark green, and the label depicted that of a giant girl's shadow that was very similar to Petra in terms of looks, but crossed out with a red X.

Stopping in his tracks to hesitate, the old man gave his beard a scratch as the ceiling continued to drip above him, the plentiful supply of water droplets landing on the wet floor with plops and tiny splashes. If he remembered anything about how he had designed this basement after the temples in those adventure movies that Jesse would put on for his friends, then taking the antidote from the podium would end up triggering a booby trap which would cause the exit to close on Ivor, leaving him unable to escape unless he got desperate to dig his way out, or at the very worst, die by having the ceiling fall on him. If Ivor wanted to get out of this place alive with what he came down here for, he needed to swap the antidote for something just as heavy as it in the blink of an eye.

Searching the pockets of his olive green coat and pants, Ivor wondered if he could replace the antidote with a regular everyday potion, like a potion of healing or speed. Feeling a round object shuffle around in the pocket of his trousers, he pulled it out to examine the item and see that he had a potion of poison stashed in his pants. How ironic that he was going to replace the thing that would save Petra's life with a potion that would endanger the life of whoever was unfortunate enough to down the deadly beverage without knowing exactly what it was.

"Ahh... This'll be perfect!" The eccentric old man exclaimed, sneaking up to the podium in front of him and twitching the fingers of his left hand, ready to make the switch.

"Now you see it..." Ivor whispered to himself, slowly placing the potion of poison delicately on the pedestal, and then...

"Now you don't!" Upon putting his replacement on the podium, Ivor quickly snatched the antidote from its rightful spot and began to run back to the ladder as fast as he could, fearful of the possibility that the alchemist would've set off his own booby trap regardless of how heavy his substitute potion was. Thankfully, he didn't hear the dreaded sounds of the pedestal disappearing into the ground so he assumed that he would be fine. After all, as much as Ivor was fascinated by how they handled these kind of locations in the movies, he certainly wouldn't go as far to make it so that a giant boulder would roll after whoever was dumb enough to steal his once-in-a-lifetime formula and squash them. That would just be overkill in his opinion.

And so, after stuffing the antidote that would bring Petra back to her normal size in the pocket of his olive-coloured pants, Ivor started to make his ascent back up the ladder. "As much as I had my fun building this basement, I certainly can't wait to get out of it more than anything..." He whined with disgust as his hands and feet constantly collided with the damp squishy ladder.

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Ivor peered his head out of the hole to be greeted by a circle of people who all clapped and cheered for the elderly alchemist, even if they didn't know if he had obtained the antidote yet. He crawled out of the hole and stood up to his legs, taking the antidote from his pocket to the crowd to see.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the antidote that will save Petra's life!" He exclaimed with joy. Naturally, showing this elixir off to the crowd earned a collective gasp and more cheering from Ivor's admirers.

"Good job, Ivor!" Jesse said, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "Are you sure this'll work?"

"Why, there's no doubt in my mind, Jesse!" Ivor replied with a smile. "All we have to do is find Petra, give this to her, have her drink it, and everything will be back to normal!"

Jesse beamed back at Ivor as he watched the old man cradle the antidote in his hands. "Well, let's all get a move on then! We have no time to waste!" He announced as he prepared to give out his orders to everyone around them. "Stampy and Stacy, you go south."

"As you command, Jesse! We'll make sure that we find Petra for you!" Stampy said, his spirits as high as a child like they always have been.

Jesse continued to organise his groups according to plan. "Axel and Olivia, you head east. Radar and Nell will go north. And me and Ivor will go west. Everyone else will act as backup eyes for each of our four groups."

Upon hearing Jesse's intentions, everyone stomped their feet and lined up into the four groups that their leader had mentioned. Stampy and Stacy were to head south, Axel and Olivia east, Radar and Nell north, and Jesse and Ivor west. And to increase their chances of finding Petra in the middle of nowhere, an equal amount of civilians were added to each group so they can act as extra eyes.

"Alright everyone, let's go and get Petra back!" Jesse exclaimed, pointing at the big red gate in front of them as it opened before their very eyes. With a big loud collective cheer, everyone ran as fast as they could towards the exit, determined to find the lost giantess.