October 11, 2013. Part one of another Halloween bunny, not involving bunny costumes! Obasan is aunt in Japanese.
The four of them were helping the hostages climb out of the odd room when a weird flash of light went off. Since it was a Cobra laboratory, they all figured it probably wasn't a good thing, but kept helping the others climb out. It started to become difficult, though, they had to stretch further to reach the hostages. They escorted the hostages through the maze of the base, Snake Eyes and Kamakura leading the way, while Billy and Storm Shadow guarded the rear.
The hostages shrank on the way, their clothes getting too big for them and causing them to trip up. The group had to stop several times to roll up sleeves and pant legs, some removing shoes. The ninja weapons grew heavy and unwieldy, but they refused to stop carrying them, and kept pushing the others to keep going, protecting them when they came across a group of Vipers. They finally made it out of the building, meeting up with the outside group, who were stunned and surprised to say the least.
Most of the hostages sat down on the pavement, crying when they saw the scary people with the big, scary guns. Stalker sighed, wondering what he had done to piss off whoever was upstairs this time. He motioned Dusty and Footloose over to help him calm them down and get them all loaded into the transport.
Once they were on their way, he turned to a now six-year-old Tommy and Snake Eyes. "What the hell happened in there?"
"We were helping them out of the room they were in and there was some kind of light and we started shrinking and I don't want to be six again!" Tommy whined.
*This blows. Stupid Cobra.*
"Hey, now we can have a childhood without Cobra, right, Sean?" Billy said, excited.
Kamakura frowned. "Don't call me that."
"Kam-Kam!"
"That's not my name!" Kamakura yelled, throwing his boot at Billy.
"Settle down!" Stalker ordered. "Jesus, would you two control your apprentices?"
Both Billy and Kamakura snorted. "They're the same age as we are; we don't have to do what they tell us!" Billy said.
Stalker sighed. "Look, you all behave and you can have a treat when we get back to the base."
"Liar! You're gonna make us go see Lifeline and Doc and they are going to poke us with needles!" Kamakura whined. The other children heard him and started whining and crying. Tommy stuffed his fingers in his ears, scowling at Kamakura.
"I'm hungry!" Billy complained.
"I'm thirsty!" Kamakura whined.
"Are we there yet?" *Are we there yet?* both Tommy and Snake Eyes asked at the same time.
Dusty swore they were just doing it to annoy him. The other children were quiet, mostly asleep, worn out from the day's adventure. "NO, for the last time, there is no more water, no food, and it will be another-" Dusty paused to look at his watch. "Another 20 minutes until we get there. Why don't you take a nap?"
"Naps are for baaabies," three of them chorused, while the fourth signed it. Dusty sighed. No wonder Stalker had given up and put him in charge. How the hell did ninja parents do this?
Twenty minutes later of whining and complaining from the kids, internal swearing, and near hair-tearing out on Dusty's end saw them finally at base. Hawk, Scarlett, Doc, and Lifeline were waiting for them, as well as some of the medical staff. Scarlett gasped when she saw Snake Eyes hop out of the transport, followed by Kamakura and Tommy. There was some snickering from some of the other Joes in the area and Tommy narrowed his eyes, throwing a few shuriken in their direction. He smiled in satisfaction when he heard the resulting, "Holy shit!" and "Son of a bitch!"
Snake Eyes snorted. *Will bite ankles and stab knees if I hear laughing.*
Hawk sighed. "Just don't. I don't need either of you getting hurt accidentally."
Snake Eyes snorted again. *Can still wipe the floor with them. We took out a squad of Vipers like this.*
"Brother is right. We haven't forgotten our skills just because we're like this. It's not like height or size has ever mattered before," Tommy warned.
"Let's go down to the infirmary and have a look at everyone and we will see what we can do about this," Doc said, already having delegated other staff to taking down the other children.
"But Stalker promised us a treat if we behaved!" Billy pouted.
"Lifeline has candy in his desk. I'll let you raid it when we are done," Doc bribed.
"Yay!"
"Candy!"
"Well, Billy and Kamakura seem to be enjoying their current state," Scarlett noted, watching them follow Doc. Beside her, Snake Eyes was brooding, arms crossed and staring off at nothing in particular. She couldn't help but smile. "You know, you are just too adorable, mini ninja," she said, patting him on the head.
He huffed. *Not cute! Not mini ninja!*
"Yes, I know, you're still a deadly ninja master," she said patronizingly. He glared at her for a moment, before stalking off angrily after the others.
"There you go Jinx, Tommy and Billy are all yours," Dusty said, relieved to finally be able to escape the two tiny ninja terrors.
"What? Why me?"
"Hopefully they will do what you tell them to, since you're their elder now."
"Jinx-obasan! Jinx-obasan!" Tommy chanted.
Jinx glared at him. "Behave, or I'll ship you straight to Obake-obaasan." Tommy shut up.
"I'd ask, but I really just want to get as far away as possible from them right now. Bye!" Dusty said, waving as he sped out the door.
"Who's looking after Snake Eyes and Kamakura?"
"Scarlett, who else has the patience to deal with Snake Eyes when he's in a foul mood?" Tommy answered.
"Halloween is coming up in a few days. Can we go trick or treating?" asked Billy
"You don't need all of that candy. Don't you know what all of that sugar does to you?" Tommy lectured.
"Shut up! Scarlett already said Kamakura and Snake Eyes could, so why can't I?"
Jinx sighed. "I'll think about it."
"So far all the tests have come back negative," Doc reported.
"So, we still don't have a clue what exactly happened?" Duke said as he perused the mission report.
Hawk shook his head. "Breaker and Mainframe are going over the files, but they need someone down with them that can understand all the medical jargon."
Doc polished his glasses on his shirt before putting them back on. "I'll send Lifeline down."
"Have you gotten a chance to talk to all the children, Psyche Out?" Hawk asked.
"Yes, including our elusive ninjas. They are even harder to find now that they are smaller." Beachhead snorted. "Those that were older seem to be retaining mostly adult personalities, although it's difficult to say for sure without having a baseline to compare to. The only ones I have been able to compare have been the ninjas and what I've observed seems to support that theory. Both Snake Eyes and Tommy are still mostly acting like adults. Both Billy and Kamakura seem to have reverted to six-year-old behavior for the most part."
"Six-year-old ninjas. You know the paperwork has tripled in the last few days? I've also never written 'meanie stupid head' on a report before yesterday either," complained Flint.
"Let's hope the data reveals something soon. Doc, make sure we have plenty of aspirin on hand, I have a feeling all of us will need it," Hawk said, sighing.