It had been another long, hard day for Spiderman and Giant girl. Giant girl sat on Spiderman’s shoulder at four inches tall, holding on and trying not to fall off as Spiderman swung from building to building on their nightly patrol. The sun had set a long while ago, and the stars and moon were the only source of light that lay in the sky tonight.

"What a day. Not a lot of crime today. We must be doing are job right," said the not-so-Giant girl while Spiderman swung on.

"It was pretty quiet, now that you mention it,” said Spiderman, sending a shot of his web at a nearby building, catching it and pulling to make sure it had caught properly. He grabbed hold with both his hands and swung on ward, keeping an eye on Giant girl to be sure she didn’t fall off.

“That reminds me, did you happen to hear about that missing kid?”

"No I haven’t. Why?

"He went missing from his town almost a month ago, and someone said they saw him around the city today. I can’t remember his name, but I think it started with a J, or something," said Spiderman, pondering it for a minute.

"Interesting,” said Giant girl. Spiderman swung to another building, this time swinging all the way around it and over a different street. The nice thing about New York City was that there were plenty of buildings for him to swing from. Suddenly, his spider senses detected something nearby.

"Finally, some action," he said.

He looked down to see that there was a commotion going on at a jewelry store. Broken glass was all over the sidewalk and the sounds of fighting could be heard within.

"We’d better go check it out," said Giant Girl. Spiderman nodded and began swinging them down towards the street, landing a few yards from the entrance of the jewelry shop. When he landed, Giant girl jumped off his shoulder and quickly grew to her regular height. Spider man then walked over to the broken window door and stepped aside.

"Ladies first."

"Oh wow, your such a gentleman," she said in a sarcastic voice. Giant girl went in anyway. She entered, fully expecting to be attacked by numerous crooks, but instead saw a more interesting sight.

"Spidey, come see this."

When Spiderman climbed in after her, he was as shocked as Giant Girl was. The robbers were being beat up, and being beat up well by the looks of it. But, yet, there wasn’t anyone doing the beating up. It was almost as if some invisible force was kicking them around. The robbers would be pushed back, or their heads would be knocked to the side, as if receiving a serious punch to the face, delivered by some invisible fist. Finally, after another thirty seconds or so, all the men had been rendered unconscious, and now lay on the ground. Spiderman and Giant Girl just stared.

“Um, ok then," said Spiderman, confusion clear in his voice.

"What just happened?"

But before Giant girl could say anything, something began to grow from the floor. Or, at least, it looked like it was growing out of the floor. It started out small, but quickly grew in size and shape, and before Spiderman and Giant Girl knew it, a boy, no taller then five feet, was standing right in front of them, hands on his hips. His hair was long and un-kept, and his shirt and pants could have done with a wash. He was facing the opposite direction, so all Giant Girl and Spiderman saw was his back.

"That should take care of those guys," said the boy, wiping his hands as if he was wiping dirt off them. He turned around to leave the Shop, and stopped dead in his tracks. Two people, who he could not see that well in the dark, were standing in his way. He quickly jumped back, hands in front of him, ready for another fight.

"H-How long have you two been standing there?" asked the boy, keeping his distance from the new intruders.

"Hey, relax, we’re not gonna hurt you. We’ve only been her for a couple of minutes," replied Giant Girl. She tried to sound sweet and non-threatening, but if it had any effect on the boy, he didn’t show it.

"Who are you?" she asked, slowly. The kid kept still, but he didn’t seem so tense now, and started to answer.

"My names J-" but he quickly stopped, his body going tense again.

"What’s wrong?" asked Spiderman. The boy hesitated. He glanced at a door towards the back of the store. It was an emergency exit, and he was incredibly tempted to bolt out and leave these two and their questions forever. But he was afraid that it’d make him look suspicious, and they had already seen him. If they went to the police with any information on him, he knew he’d be caught by morning. He sighed and answered

“My names Joe,” he said. Giant Girl smiled.

“Nice to meet you, Joe. I’m Ja- Giant Girl,” she said, forgetting she was still in mask and suit. She stuck her hand out to shake his. The boy backed away a little, before deciding against it and taking her hand. His grip was strong, and Gaint Girl winced.

“Wait, did you say Giant Girl?” asked Joe. He now got a good look at the girl, and realized that it was indeed the famous heroine, Giant Girl. His eyes went wide with aw.

“The one and only,” she said, smiling. The man next to her then stuck his hand out, and Joe recognized the colors immediately.

“Wow, Spiderman too,” whispered Joe.

“The one and only,” said Spiderman, mocking Giant Girl and getting a punch in the arm for it.

“Ow! Hey,” he said, rubbing his arm. Joe laughed, and felt a smile creep up on him. Huh, a smile. He couldn’t remember the last time he had one of those.

“So, Joe, mind telling us how you did all that?” asked Spiderman, and Joe looked away.

“Oh, well, uh, I kind of… you know,” said Joe, waving his arms around nervously.

“Know what?” asked Giant Girl, and Joe sighed.

“I… well… I don’t exactly know HOW I do it, but I… shrank down and beat them up,” said Joe.

“You shrank?” asked Spiderman, and Joe nodded.

“Yeah. About four inches I think,” said Joe, still not meeting wither of their gazes. Silence filled the room.

“Um, ok. That’s… cool,” said Giant Girl, and Joe smiled.

“Please, you guys don’t have to pretend it’s a cool power, I know it’s not,” said Joe, kicking a piece of glass with his shuffling feet.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that!” said Giant Girl, seeing that Joe was taking it the wrong way.

“I mean, it’s just it’s not everyday you meet a superhero that can change sizes too,” said Giant Girl, and Joe looked at her, smiling.

“Oh right, you change sizes too,” said Joe, and Giant Girl nodded. Than Spiderman piped up.

“And the fact that you kicked these guys asses BY YOURSELF at four inches tall is really cool,” said Spiderman, and now Joe was grinning ear to ear.

“Yeah, well, that was mostly because of my other superpower,” said Joe.

“You have other powers too?” asked Spiderman, and Joe nodded. Suddenly, there were the sounds of sirens, and Joe looked nervous.

“Um, hey, maybe we can continue this conversation somewhere else,” said Joe, nervously trying to make his way out the door.

“Why, it’s just the police,” said Spiderman. But Joe was ignoring him as he ran past him and out the door into a side alley. Giant Girl and Spiderman quickly followed their new friend.

“Joe wait!” said Giant Girl, and Joe stopped.

“Look, um, it’s kind of ha-,” he started, but suddenly, Spiderman interrupted.

“Wait a second, Joe is the name of that kid that went missing a month ago!” Spiderman looked at Joe again and his eyes went wide under his mask.

“You’re that kid! I thought you looked familiar!” said Spiderman. Joe’s eyes went wide and began walking away.

“Please, you-you can’t hand me over to the police! I have my reasons! Just please, I can’t go back! My-my family is in danger!” said Joe. Giant Girl took a cautious step towards Joe.

“Wait, stop, we won’t get the police involved, I promise! Come with us, we can help,” said Giant Girl. Joe stopped backing up, but showed no sign of going towards them.

“P-please, I just,” Joe started, but he held fast. Part of him wanted to go with Giant Girl and Spiderman. They were the superhero’s he read about, and they always looked out for other people. But Joe had spent weeks avoiding people, and at this point, that’s what he was more comfortable with. The sirens were getting louder and closer, and finally, Joe gave in.

“Fine, I’ll go with you guys,” said Joe. Giant Girl smiled and grabbed Joe by his shoulder. He looked up at her, and he smiled as best he could.

“Glad to have you aboard,” she said, and began growing.

They came as fast as they could when the silent alarm had gone off. The front window had been shattered open, and the officers were ready for anything. They burst in through the door, flipping on the lights and pointing their guns out.

“Police! Freeze nobody-,” started one officer, then stopped. Five unconscious men lay on the ground, unmoving.

“What in the world,” he said, taking off his hat and scratching his head. Suddenly, the room was shaken by what felt like small earthquakes, and he looked outside to see Giant Girl walking away from the building. The officers shouted thanks up to her, but she was gone before they could stop her. The officers shrugged and began piling the men into their cruisers.

“Alright Joe, start talking,” said Giant Girl. Spiderman and Joe were resting on the now fifty foot Giant Girl’s right shoulder as she walked through the city, carefully stepping around multiple cars, meters, poles, and more. Being the middle of the night, the city was deserted for the most part, other than a few pedestrians here and there. The city had grown used to their giant heroine, and Giant’ Girls giant strolls had become common occurrence. Joe didn’t seem to hear her, as he was staring down in awe from his new vantage point.

“We’re so high up,” he said, and quickly looked forward again.

“Wow, we’re really high up,” said Joe, and he suddenly became nervous again.

“Hey, relax, we won’t let you fall,” said Spiderman, putting his arm on Joe’s shoulder. Joe’s tense shoulders sagged a little, feeling safer and safer by the minute. It had been weeks since he had been able to talk to anyone, let alone superhero’s, and Joe could feel a little of his old self coming back again.

“Like I said, start talking,” said Giant Girl, jokingly. Joe looked up at the stairs, staying silent.

“I, I don’t even know where to start,” he finally said.

“Well, how about when you got your powers. You do know WHEN you got them, right?” asked Spiderman, and Joe nodded.

“It was a month ago, and… I guess it was that morning…”

“I thought these human growth hormones were supposed to make me taller," said Joe, standing up against a wall in his room. He shared it with his two younger brothers, who were quickly catching up to him in height. One was ten years old and the other was only six. They were both still asleep as Joe was using a pencil to measure his height on the wall.

Joe had been born with a deficiency in growth hormones, thus causing him to be shorter then most, if not all, of his peers. While he was in no way a genuine “Little Person”, he was indeed short enough to be looked at as younger than he really was. Luckily for him, he and his family had found treatment in the form of HGH, or Human Growth Hormones, which allowed Joe to grow just a little bit taller, though not really by much. So, because of this, he had become incredibly more vigilant over his growth, and periodically checked his height to see how much he had grown.

Even though he was being over generous (using his hair as height), he hadn’t seemed to gain any height since last month. In fact, had he gotten… shorter? Joe rubbed his eyes and put the pencil down on a nearby desk. He was still tired from just having woken up, and maybe he would seem taller after a nice hot shower. But after his shower, he forgot to check, and quickly threw on some clothes and headed downstairs for some breakfast. If he had, maybe he would have seen that he was, indeed, getting shorter.

“Joe, did you get a haircut or something yesterday?” his dad asked. Joe looked up from his bowl of cereal at his dad, and gave him a queer look.

“Uh, no, why do you ask?” said Joe through a mouthful of cheerios. Dave, Joe’s dad, looked at his oldest son for a few more minutes, then shrugged.

“I don’t know, you just look different somehow today,” he said, than went back to making his coffee. Joe was about to say something, when his little sister came over and gave him a big hug.

“Morning Joe,” she said. Joe smiled and hugged his eight-year-old sister tightly.

“Gooooood morning Giana. And how did you sleep?” he asked.

“Ok. Have you seen Ken or Ryan?” she asked, and Joe pointed upstairs.

“They’re still asleep. Why don’t you go jump on their beds until they wake up?” he suggested, and Giana giggled, jumping from his lap and heading towards the stairs that lead to the second floor.

“Good idea. It’s the only way they will,” she said, and ran up the stairs. Joe laughed as he heard the shouts and moans from his younger brothers as Giana woke them up, not at all being subtle about it. Suddenly, Joe’s dog Galileo ran up to him and jumped up into his lap and began licking his face. Well, at least the front of his lap, since a one hundred pound dog had a tough time jumping into Joe’s lap.

“Good morning to you too, boy,” said Joe, patting his boxer on the head and pushing him back onto the floor. Galileo wagged his nubby tail happily, before running away to find a toy to play with. Joe quickly finished his cereal, grabbed his backpack, and was about to head out the door, when he stopped.

“Am I forgetting something?” he asked himself. His backpack felt a lot lighter then usual. After further investigation, Joe saw that he had everything in it.

“Huh,” thought Joe. Before he could question it anymore, though, he heard a beeping from outside, and dashed out the door so as not to miss his bus.

“Whoops!” said Devon, and smashed Joe into his locker, “Accidently”, for the umpteenth time that day.

“Sorry, didn’t see you there, shrimp,” he said, laughing as he walked away. Joe sighed angrily and just ignored the bully. He rubbed his shoulder and glared at Devon as he walked away, followed closely by his legion of moronic goons.

“Ass hole,” he said, under his breath. When was that idiot gonna grow up? They were in their sophomore year of high school, and that moron was still picking on Joe like he had been since seventh grade. Joe started picking up some of the pencils he dropped, when he saw a hand holding one for him. He looked up to see that the hand belonged to Emily, a girl he had had a crush on since freshman year. Joe quickly took the pencil.

“Uh, thanks,” he said, and turned around even quicker, trying not to let Emily see him blushing.

“You know, you shouldn’t let him tease you like that,” said Emily, and Joe looked back at her. She held some books in her arms, which were crossed over her chest, her long blonde hair falling past her shoulders along her back. She stood slightly taller than Joe, as did most people, but Joe tried not to think about that.

“Hmm? Oh that? It’s no big deal. If he want’s to be an idiot, let him,” said Joe, and he pinched his arm jokingly.

“I have a thick skin,” he smiled, and Emily laughed. Wow, this was quite a sight for Joe. Here, Joe’s biggest crush was talking to him like they were friends, and Joe was actually talking back. The pinch had actually been to see if he was dreaming, but he didn’t want her to know that.

Joe had maybe only conversed with her once before in his entire time in high school, and it had been because she was asking him which way a certain class was. She was never mean or cruel to him, just passive and more of a, we-have-nothing-in-common kind of way. Yet, here she was, seemingly concerned for Joe after having seen Devon be mean to him.

“Still, though, he’s not going to stop unless you stand up for yourself,” she continued, and Joe gave her a questioning look.

“Right, thanks for the tip. I’ll keep that in mind when his goons hold me down while he punches me continuously in the face,” said Joe, maybe a little to harshly. Emily raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit over the top?” she said, and Joe shrugged, both as an answer to Emily as well as to put his now full backpack onto his shoulder.

“I’d rather not find out. And Besides, he’ll eventually stop… I hope,” said Joe, closing his locker and locking it up tight. Emily smiled, and was about to say something else, when the bell rang, and Emily stopped.

“Well, anyways, I’ll see you at gym class later. By the way, nice hair cut,” she said, and walked away towards her next class..

“Yeah thanks,” said Joe, still too caught up in this weird encounter to remember that he hadn’t had a haircut in a while.

“Alright, time for weights!” said Ms. Lu, Joe’s gym teacher. Everyone, including Joe, groaned at the thought. Joe shifted awkwardly in his gym clothes. They felt a bit looser than usual, like they had been stretched out. Even his shoes felt a little awkward, and he kept checking them to see if they were indeed his.

Twice more that day someone had made a comment on how he looked different, whether it was his hair, or if he’d lost weight, or whatever, and Joe was now beginning to FEEL different as well. But that thought was soon put out of his mind as he braced himself for the embarrassment of dealing with the weights.

Devon and his goons laughed from across the room as Joe made his way over to one of the machines, a pull down bar with adjustable weights. This one had a pin in it, and the lower it was, the more weight Joe would have to lift. He sighed as he set it to a measly thirty pounds, but stopped when he saw Emily nearby. She saw him staring and waved at him, smiling. Joe waved back and, without realizing it, slipped the pin into the ninety slot, thinking it was the thirty.

“Oh, this out to be good,” said Devon to his friends, as they saw Joe about to make a fool of himself. Joe made his way to the bar he was meant to pull down, and put a hand on each side. Emily had seen Joe put it in the wrong slot, and not wanting to embarrass poor Joe, said nothing, and bit her lip as Joe started pulling on the bar. But to Joe’s, Emily’s, and Devon’s surprise, Joe pulled the bar down with much ease. After a few reps, Joe walked over to the weights.

“Must have been on twenty,” he thought, and as he was about to move the pin to the appropriate weight, Devon stepped forward, catching Joe by surprise.

“How’d you do that?” he asked, and Joe gave Devon a weird look.

“Do… what exactly?” asked Joe, and Devon glared at him.

“You know what. How did you rig the machine to make it weigh less then it says,” he said, pointing at the pin. At this point, Emily was watching the confrontation with increased interest. Had Joe actually came in and messed with the weights ahead of time?

“Devon, what are you talking about?” asked Joe, and he looked down to see that he had accidently sent the pin on 90. That was three times what he usually lifted, and Joe had thought he had set it lower, not higher.

“Well? How’d you do it?” asked Devon, glaring at Joe. Joe put his hands up in the air.

“I haven’t the slightest clue what you’re talking about,” said Joe. Devon shoved him out of the way and made his way over to the bar. He pulled down on it, and was surprised to feel it was at ninety pounds, just like it said. He sat down, dumbfounded. He looked at Joe, then back at the machine.

“Alright, Mr. Universe, try this on for size,” he said, and set the weight to 120 pounds. He then pulled it down, if barely, just to make sure it was really that much.

“Now you go,” said Devon. Normally, Joe wouldn’t have done what Devon says, but something felt different about today. Maybe it was Emily talking to him, or the fact he accidently just lifted ninety pounds. Joe made his way over to the bar and pulled down. Almost as easily as he had pulled down the ninety pounder, he pulled down the one hundred and twenty pounder with the same movements as before. And just for good measure, he did a couple reps just to prove a point. He let the bar go, and it landed with a thud. Joe smiled at Devon, who stood with his goons staring at Joe with their jaws down.

“What? Not enough for you?” asked Joe, and he glanced over to see Emily smiling at him.

“Seriously though, how’d you do it?” asked Emily, as their class made their way outside. Emily was walking next to Joe as they made their way out to the field to run some laps. Joe had left Devon and his friends in awe, and Devon was now staying far away from Joe. This was turning into an awesome day as far as Joe could tell. Not only was Emily talking to HIM, but now Devon was leaving him alone for once.

“Like I said, I didn’t mess with it at all,” said Joe, and Emily rolled her eyes.

“No offense, Joe, but it’s pretty unlikely you lifted you’re entire body weight,” she said, and Joe laughed.

“Well, what can I say, I surprise even myself sometimes.” Emily laughed, and then something occurred to Joe.

“Er, Emily, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how tall are you?” he asked. Emily gave him a questioning look.

“5’4. Why do you ask?” she said, and Joe just shook his head.

“Oh, no reason, just a question,” he said, trying to ignore the fact that she seemed taller now than she had been when they met by his locker. Emily shrugged and continued walking on. Once everyone met at the field, Ms. Lu split the class in half, boys and girls. She wanted them to run four laps around the track.

Again, everyone groaned. Only this time, Joe didn’t groan. For once, he felt excited about running. Maybe he would suddenly be good at this too. The guys had to go first, and Ms. Lu had them stand at the starting line. Joe placed himself in front, and Devon and his goons weren’t far behind him. Joe looked back, than looked forward, grinning. He shifted uncomfortably in his shoes, which now felt even bigger then before, but he was too distracted by this new athletic leap of his. He glanced quickly at Emily, who smiled back at him. Joe’s heart leapt in his chest, and felt the blood pumping through him.

“Go!” shouted Ms. Lu, and Joe took off running at a basic jog. He didn’t want to exert his energy too much too quickly. Suddenly, everyone started passing him, and he was jostled and shoved out of the way. Before he knew it, Joe was at the back of the pack. Before today, he could at least stay in the back, or at least stay in the middle. He started running faster, but found himself still being passed. Finally, even at a full on run, his classmates had pulled far ahead, leaving him high and dry way behind.

“What is going on here?” he thought to himself. He was huffing and puffing only halfway through the first lap, and when he looked up at the guys, they were a quarter of a lap in front of him. This was ridiculous! Joe could see Devon now, leading the pack, and glancing at him with a victorious smile on his face. Joe felt humiliated! It got even worse, though, when he started to approach the starting line.

He was forced to pass the girls, who were watching the boys from the stands. He caught a few of their stares, and he heard a few snickers. He soon felt his face grow hotter, and he knew it wasn’t from all the running. Joe looked to see that the other guys were now a lap and a half through, and Joe was just passing the first lap! Humiliation washed over Joe like a tsunami, and to make matters worse, he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going.

Soon, he found himself sprawled out on the ground, knees badly scraped and his ego shattered, or whatever remained of it at least. The girls burst into laughter, and Ms. Lu quickly told them to shut up. Joe’s face was bright red now, and he soon felt a hand grab his shoulder. He looked up to see the last person he wanted to: Emily.

“Are you ok, Joe?” she asked. That did it. That sent him beyond the point of humiliation into a whole new realm. Emily looked down on him with pity, where as before, when they were talking, she had looked at him impressed. Joe pushed her hand away, and tried to get up.

“I’m fine,” he said. His pride had been shot, and all he wanted to do was shrink away to nothing. Suddenly, he felt like he was falling again, and his head began to spin.

“What the,” he said, and he looked down to see the ground growing closer to him. Suddenly, it was all dark, and the only thing he felt was cloth. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he found himself looking at a large expanse of clothing that seemed a football field long and wide.

“What- where am I? Hello?” he began shouting, fear gripping Joe’s heart. His head had stopped spinning, but his stomach still felt like it was lodged in his throat, and Joe did his best not to vomit right then and there.

“Joe? Joe where are you? Is this some kind of trick? Hello?” That voice, it was deafening, and Joe covered his ears. The new sounds were louder than anything Joe had heard before, and he could feel small tremors all around him.

“What is going on here!?” shouted Joe, more scared then ever now. Suddenly, his whole world began to move, and the clothing around him began to move, like it was made water. Suddenly, something large and flesh like with a pink head poked its way through, and Joe screamed.

“Holy shit! Holy shit!” he shouted, and tried to back away from it. His foot caught on the uneven ground, and he found himself crab walking away from this nightmarish creature. Three others just like it then joined it, then a fifth, which was slightly shorter then the others. They were gaining on Joe, and he tried in vain to back away from them. The cloth ground was not good for running, and his shoes… that’s when Joe looked down to see he wasn’t wearing any shoes. In fact, he wasn’t wearing any clothing at all!

“How did I get naked?” he asked himself. Suddenly, the creatures stopped moving, and Joe felt himself being lifted into the air. All of this was starting to make sense a little too late as Joe found himself tumbling across the clothing as it moved around violently. Suddenly, he was hit with a bright light, and finally managed to grab onto the cloth. He looked around, and to his dismay, he now found himself in giant world that, not too long ago, had been normal sized. The now soft, repetitive tremors were heard again, and Joe soon began to come to a realization as to what just happened.

“I-I shrank!?” he said, out loud, and the movement stopped.

“Joe, is that you?” came the voice, and Joe winced at how loud it was. It was then that he realized that it was Emily’s voice. She must not have realized what happened, and must have scooped up his clothes. That explained the creatures he saw before. Those were her fingers! Joe shuddered at the realization at just how small he really was. Suddenly, he smacked himself across the face with his free hand.

“Keep it together, Joe. Just get her attention, and she’ll help you out,” he said to himself. She would help him, right? Joe slaped himself again and realized at this point he really didn’t have much of a choice. It was either trust the goddess that now unknowingly carried him, or probably die a horrible death from falling to the ground.

Joe looked down to see that Emily had picked up the clothing so that her arm was right below him. Carefully, and ever so slowly, he dropped onto her arm, and immediately regretted the decision. Her arm was not hard like the ground, but soft like a bed, and he tripped over himself.

Emily looked around, but Joe had vanished. She wasn’t sure how, but he just simply vanished. She knew he had been lying on the ground right in front of her just moments before, yet here she was, alone. Well, he hadn’t completely vanished, for his clothes were lying on the ground. This was really weird, and she was having a hard time figuring out what had happened.

“Joe? Joe where are you? Is this some kind of trick? Hello?” she called out. Maybe this was like his little weight trick earlier, only a lot more elaborate. She shrugged and gathered up the clothing on the ground and began bringing it back to where Ms. Lu was standing. They had all been too far away to have seen anything that had occurred, and Emily was going to show Ms. Lu the clothing, when she felt a slight tickle on her arm. She reached around to swat it, but stopped suddenly when she saw what it was. Grasping desperately onto her arm as best he could was a tiny man. And not just any tiny man, but Joe! Emily dropped the clothes and screamed, instinctively brushing Joe off her arm.

Joe winced again as Emily let loose a screech that sent a shiver down his spine, and was soon hit in the face by her hand as she knocked him off her arm and onto the ground. Luckily, she had dropped his clothing first, and he landed on his sock, now big enough for him to live in. But the blow to the face had not been kind, and he felt a slight trickle of blood running down his face. He reached up to his nose and winced at the pain.

“Ow! Emily, it’s me Joe!” he shouted up at her. She towered over him like some sort of goddess, and Joe once again couldn’t believe what had, and currently was, happeneding. Emily just stared down at him in shock. She looked up to see Ms. Lu and a few other girls making their way over to her. She looked back down at Joe.

“But- how- you- you were just- and I,” Emily was stammering as she stared down at the tiny man. Now it made sense, how he had vanished out of thin air. But now she had even more, probably a lot harder to explain, questions.

“Look, I don’t know what happened, but please, you have to help me, Emily! Please!” he shouted again, fear rising in his voice. Emily looked back up at Ms. Lu, who was getting closer.

“Emily, you ok?” she was calling. Emily looked back down at Joe, who was helpless and tiny, and realized she was his only hope. Quickly, she picked him up, along with the clothing, and covered him up.

“Keep quiet,” she whispered, and Joe let out a muffled thank you. The clothing was soft, but Joe was finding it hard to breath in such a confined space. Emily looked back at Ms. Lu, and started trying to think up an excuse for her sudden ear-splitting scream.

“Are you ok Emily?” she asked once again, as she came to a halt, followed by some other girls.

“Yeah sorry I just… saw a spider crawling up my arm. It scared me, but I got it,” she said as Ms. Lu came up to her, question in her eyes.

“Oh, ok. I thought you got hurt or something,” she said, and Emily shook her head.

“Nope, not hurt, just freaked out,” she said, trying to keep a straight face. In truth, she was not totally lying, as Joe’s sudden disappearance and then even more sudden reappearance had been very freaky. Ms. Lu looked down at the bundle of clothes in her arms.

“So, any idea where Joe ran off to? And why he left his clothes?” she asked. Emily shook her head.

“Nope! I think maybe, he, uh, maybe its some sort of… magic trick or something,” she said, and Ms. Lu raised an eyebrow.

“Magic trick? Ah… right, ok than. Well, you’re up in a minute, so give me the clothes and-“

“NO!” said Emily, a little too forcefully, and Ms. Lu looked at her with surprise. Emily corrected herself.

“I mean, no. I… have to go to the bathroom anyways, so I’ll just… uh… run these to the lost and found for when Joe needs them later,” said Emily, and before Ms. Lu could say anything else, she took off running.

Joe remained in total darkness for what seemed like hours. The clothing had kept him from bouncing around a lot, but at the same time, he still felt Emily’s movements, and he was starting to get sick. The bleeding from his nose had stopped, but Joe didn’t care touch it, for fearing it would be just as painful. Finally, he felt himself slow down, and once again, he felt a familiar feeling of falling. Just as he was getting to know which way was up and down again, the darkness fell away, and soon he was blinded by a bright light once more. Joe shielded his eyes, and soon heard an all too familiar voice above him.

“Joe, you still there?,” said Emily. When Joe’s eyes adjusted to the light, he looked up to see Emily looming over him. Joe cringed back a bit in fear, but then he got a good look at her face to see that she was just as scared as he was. Joe began to feel a little less scared, until Emily reached a hand towards him. He cringed again, and this time, Emily noticed.

“Hey, don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt you, Joe, I just want to be sure you’re ok,” she said. Joe saw no malice in Emily’s eyes and after a bit of consideration, nodded his head.

“O-ok go ahead,” he said. Gingerly, Emily wrapped her fingers around Joe and slowly lifted him into the air. Joe’s vision went blurry for a second as his eyes tried to focus on Emily’s now billboard sized face. The sudden change in height only made his head spin once gain, and it wouldn’t stop until she had stopped moving. She opened her hand, and Joe was readjusted to a sitting position in the middle of her palm. Joe pulled his legs in, remembering he was completely naked. Emily giggled at his attempt to cover up, causing Joe to flinch once again. Her eyes were each bigger than he was, and her mouth, which opened slightly when she laughed, was like a massive cavern that could swallow him up without another thought. As she looked him up and down, she noticed his face was covered in blood, and realized why.

“Oh my, Joe I’m so sorry! Did I- did I do that,” she said, and Joe covered his ears. Being so close to her face, he sounded like he was sitting next to a speaker at a rock concert.

“Please, whisper,” he said meekly, and Emily dialed back a bit.

“Sorry,” she said in her lowest voice, and Joe uncovered his ears.

“Is your nose broken?” she asked again.

“Yeah a li-,” Joe startd to say as he touched his face, but was surprised to see it didn’t hurt anymore. He tapped it a few times, and he did not wince.

“Actually no, it’s all better now,” he said.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” she asked. Joe looked himself up and down, inspecting and moving various body parts, while also trying to cover up his privates in order to regain some of his dignity.

“No, I-I seem to be ok,” he said, and Emily sighed. Joe felt her warm breath wash over her, and was relived to smell mint, meaning she had probably been chewing gum earlier. After a minute, Emily spoke up again.

“Did it… did it hurt?” she asked.

“Did what hurt, the fall? I mean, the clothes broke it for the most part, but-,” he started, but Emily interrupted.

“No, I mean, when you shrank. Did it hurt?” Joe Oh’d in understanding.

“Um no not really. It only hurt when I fell. I mean, my head was spinning for a little while there, but no, it didn’t really hurt,” he half heartedly laughed. Emily laughed too, and Joe looked up at her, his eyes sad.

“Um, thanks for coming to help me up. If you hadn’t… well, who knows what would have become of me,” he said, and Emily smiled.

“Oh, think nothing of it. I was just making sure you were ok,” she said. This was weird for her as well, having a conversation with a miniature man, who sat in the palm of her hand. Joe was no bigger than her middle finger, and she did the best she could to keep her voice low enough not to scare him. So far, he seemed to be taking this well. Joe laughed and looked around.

“This is… this is surreal,” he said, than glared ahead, not exactly staring at anyone, just ahead.

“What’s wrong?” asked Emily.

“I bet this is somehow Devon’s fault,” said Joe, and Emily laughed.

“Devon? How could this possibly be his fault?” said Emily, a bit amused by Joe’s little angry face. She had to admit, he did look cute at such a small height, like a little living doll that had come to life.

“He probably had to do with the weight thing too. Maybe, he was trying to get my confidence up, and then wham! Ruin it by doing THIS to me… somehow,” said Joe, his anger rising. Emily laughed again, and that only helped to increase his anger. He could feel the heat in his face rising.

“I doubt Devon had ANYTHING to do with this, Joe,” she said, and Joe looked at Emily, no longer smiling.

“Well, I don’t care if it IS his fault, that mother fucker has been on my case ever since we were kids, and I’m sick of it! And now, look at me! This is just more fuel for his ever relenting insults! I’m so sick of it all!” he said. All he could think about now was how mad he was at Devon, almost forgetting how he had just shrank down to the size of a doll and was now in the hand of the girl he had a major crush on.

“Calm down Joe, no need to get all worked up,” said Emily, but Joe didn’t seem to hear her. He stood up and began pacing around, forgetting his nudity in his anger, and Emily felt a shiver run down her spine as Joe continued his pacing. It was weird to have him walking up and down her palm like that. It tickled a bit, like a small bug, yet it was only two feet, which was not very bug like.

“Argh, I can’t help it! He just makes me so… so… so ANGRY!” Joe said, and with his burst of the last word, he felt an odd feeling in his stomach, one that was the exact OPPOSITE of the one he got before, the one that caused him to shrink. Suddenly, he felt himself growing, and Emily yelped in surprise as she dropped Joe onto the bench she was sitting on. Joe continued to grow and grow until he was at his normal height of 5’. He looked around, then quickly covered up once again. Emily was standing in shock at Joe’s sudden transformation. He hopped down from the bench and grabbed a hold of his clothes, and began putting them on again.

“Well that was helpful, if not a bit confusing,” said Joe. His first priority at the moment was getting back into his clothes, and Emily saw this. She quickly turned away so as to let Joe have a little bit of privacy. After a few seconds, Emily looked back to see Joe had all his clothes back on, and was now looking at his hands and body, analyzing and calculating in his head. Finally, he snapped his fingers.

“Wait, I think I see a pattern here,” said Joe.

“What pattern?” said Emily, giving Joe a curious look.

“When I shrank, it was because I felt humiliated and embarrassed for falling behind and then tripping. Just now, when I grew back, it was because I was super angry at Devon,” said Joe, and Emily began catching on.

“Oh, I see! So you think your emotions control the size changing thing?” she asked. Joe nodded, then looked at Emily. He was so happy to be back to normal that he didn’t even mind that Emily had seen him a such a vulnerable, and somewhat indecent, time. Suddenly, his smile faded, and he grew more serious.

“I have to go. I need to figure this out,” he said, and made his way towards the exit. He stopped thought and walked back up to Emily, giving her a somewhat awkward hug.

“I owe you my life for saving me back there. Thank you,” he said, and he felt Emily return to hug.

“You’re welcome,” she said, and they pulled away. As he resumed his walk towards the exit, he looked around, and then turned to Emily.

“By the way, where are we?” and Emily blushed.

“The girl’s locker room,” she said.

It had not been easy, but Joe finally managed to get himself home. He had quickly changed back into his normal clothes and had managed to sneak out of school through one of the school bathrooms windows. Before he left Emily, though, she had given him her number and address.

“If you get this all figured out, come see me tonight,” she asked, and Joe nodded.

“I’ll try,” he said. After that, he had managed to make the twenty-minute walk home in less than ten minutes. Once he got home, he ran up to his room and slammed the door, falling onto his bed, physically and emotionally exhausted. The house was empty, as his mom and dad where both at work, and it was the middle of the day, so his brothers and sister were all at school still, just like he was supposed to be.

“This is all just too weird,” he thought to himself. So many unanswered questions were racing through his mind. At first, they were about how he had shrunk. Then, his thoughts went to earlier, when in the weight room. How did the fact that he had managed to lift his own body weight as easily as he would a soccer ball fit into all this? Why had his clothes not shrunk along with him? Why was Emily talking to him all of a sudden?

Joe shook his head and told himself to calm down for a second. None of these questions were going to get answers if he didn’t calm down first. He took a deep breath, then blew it out, repeating the process for a little bit. Just when he felt himself beginning to relax, he heard a knock at the front door. Curious, he hopped up from his bed and glanced out his window, which gave him a good view of the front yard. A black van was sitting in his driveway, and men and woman with black suit were climbing out, some even in army uniforms. The van itself had nothing on it, not even a license plate, and Joe felt his heart start racing once again.

“Who are they?” he thought to himself out loud. Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and a cold shiver ran down his spine. Whoever they were wanted in, and they wouldn’t take no for an answer. There was another bang, and this time, he heard the front door fly open. Many footsteps could be heard downstairs, and Joe knew they would be up stairs any minute. He opened the window to make a run for it, but stopped. That was no good, they would see him that way. He looked back towards the closet, but knew that they would probably look there first. Then he thought.

“The shrinking. Could I… could I MAKE it happen?” he asked himself. He stepped away from the open window, and began to concentrate. He first tried to think of something embarrassing, but that proved futile.

“No no, that’s not it. Come on, Joe think! THINK!” he told himself. Then, he tried to remember what he had felt when he had first shrank, not what he had been thinking about. That feeling of dread, of pure embarrassment, he felt it wash over him again, and suddenly, he felt himself shrinking, the familiar feeling of falling while standing. And just in time, because once he was at about four inches tall, the door to his room flew open, and with his concentration broken, he stopped shrinking. He dove behind his bed post as four men and woman entered the room, guns in their hands.

Joe breathed a sigh of relief thinking he was safe. That is, until they started getting down on their hands and knees.

“Search under everything and anything!” shouted one of the women, and Joe once again felt fear grip his beating heart.

“Oh no,” he whispered. They knew! They new about his shrinking, how did they know about his shrinking?! He made his way deeper and deeper under his bed, until he was sure he wouldn’t be spotted.

He silently cursed himself for cleaning out from under his bed the other day, because now there was nothing to hide behind. He just had to hope and pray nobody looked under there for him.

 Suddenly, a pair of massive black boots made their way right next to his spot under the bed. He felt his heart stop, and soon, a hand was moving the blanket to get a better look, sending his heart into his throat. Just then, there was a gruff male voice.

“Wait, the window’s open. He must have escaped through the window. Quick, everyone outside!” said the voice. The hand hesitated for a moment, than withdrew, and the shoes walked away. Joe let out a sigh of relief. He brushed some dirt off his shirt and walked out from under the bed once he was SURE it was safe. That’s when he noticed something. The clothes he was wearing, they didn’t stay big, they shrank with him.

“That’s interesting,” he said, his analytical mind at work once again. Then, he tried concentrating on the anger he felt earlier, only this time, not on the anger itself, but the feeling he got while he was angry. Suddenly, he felt that feeling once again, and soon, he was back to his normal height. He should have been happy, but all he felt now was dread. They had been LOOKING for him. They weren’t just some petty thugs, they were there for him, and that fact was only guaranteed when he went down to the living to see that the extremely expensive TV was still there.

“This is… this is bad,” said Joe, realizing what was going on. Those men and woman wanted him, and Joe knew that next time they came, they would tare the house apart, or even, which made him shudder, anyone in it. Joe sat at his desk for the next hour or so, really thinking about this. He loved his family, but he didn’t want to see them in harms way because of him. He stared down at a pen and paper on is desk and thought about it. With a shaky hand, he began to write.

Emily sat in her room, brushing her hair and preparing for bed. She was doing the best she could to put todays events out of her head, but no matter how hard she’d tried, she still couldn’t stop thinking about Joe, how he was small as a mouse one second, then back to normal the next. She had been so focused on this that she didn’t even hear the tapping on her door until it started to become a loud knock. She looked towards her window, but didn’t see anything. Curious, she walked over to it and opened it up, peering out the window into the dark night.

“Down here,” came a small voice, and Emily Lowered her gaze to see a six inch Joe standing on her window sill. Her eyes went wide and she looked around.

“Joe! You came!” she whispered, and Joe shuffled his feet. He was wearing the clothes from earlier, and in this spring night, he wished he had a jacket that could shrink along with him.

“Hey Emily,” he said, looking up at her. She smiled down at him and leaned on the windowsill.

“So, did you come to tell me how you did it?” she asked, smiling. Buit she stopped when she saw how serious Joe looked.

“I… I came to say goodbye,” he said, and Emily gave him a funny look.

“Good bye? Why, where are you going?” she asked.

“Away,” said Joe simply, but that wasn’t enough for Emily.

“Why?” she asked, and Joe looked up at her.

“I can’t explain it, and to be perfectly honest, I’m not entirely sure why, but I know if I DO stay, then everyone I care about will be in grave danger. Considering how you helped save my life earlier today, I thought I’d come and say good bye,” he said. Emily was taken aback. She had so many questions. Why was he small again? Why was his family in danger? Was he in trouble? But Joe stopped her before she could ask any of them.

“I don’t have time now, Emily. Maybe we’ll see each other again someday. But until I know my family is out of harms way, I have to make myself scarce. Which shouldn’t be too hard,” laughed Joe. Emily laughed a little too, but said nothing. Finally, she grabbed hold of Joe, and before he could protest, she brought him in for a hug. Or, at least, something resembling a hug. She brought Joe up to her cheek and pressed him against it, like she had done so with her dolls as a child, only this one seemed to be hugging back.

“Be careful,” she said, and Joe felt his face growing red from blushing. This certainly would be a day to remember. She set him back on the window sill, and before he left, he looked back at her.

“Theres one other thing I wanted to ask of you, and I hope it’s not too much trouble,” he said.

“What is it?” asked Emily, and Joe hesitated.

“I was hoping… I was hoping you could keep an eye on my family for me. This is going to be hard on them, and I know you and I barely even know each other, but it would mean so much to me if you could at least just-,” Joe was stopped by Emily.

“I’d be happy to,” she said, and Joe smiled up at her.

“I can’t thank you enough, Emily. For this and for saving my skin back there,” he said, and he waved goodbye as he climbed onto the spout of the drainpipe near her window. She waved goodbye back as he slid down the drainpipe that had brought him up there in the first place. He grabbed a back pack, which he had filled with his essentials, and looked back at Emily’s house one more time, before heading towards a nearby car.

"Wow, that’s... I don’t know how to describe what I’m thinking," said Giant girl.

“After I left,” Joe continued, “I roamed around for a while, trying to get a handle on these powers. Once I realized I could actually use my abilities to help people, I decided to seek out superhero’s, like yourselves. Only, by the time I got here, I was so paranoid and scared, that I thought you guys would… I don’t even know anymore,” said Joe, rubbing his eyes with his hands. During the walk, he had requested Giant Girl take a quick detour, and now they found themselves in front of an abandoned warehouse. Giant Girl set Joe on the ground and made his way inside.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, and disappeared into the dark building. Five minutes later, Spiderman was getting nervous, as was Giant Girl.

“He’s been in there a real long time,” said Spiderman, and Giant Girl agreed.

“Should we go in and check on him?” asked Giant Girl, shrinking down to her regular size after not seeing or hearing from Joe. Before Spiderman could say anything, Joe stepped out, closing the door to the warehouse behind him. As he walked towards them, Giant Girl and Spiderman noticed his eyes were now red and puffy, and clean streaks were running down his face through the dirt that coated him. It seemed he hadn’t had a shower, or any kind of cleaning, in a very long time.

“You ok?” asked Giant Girl, and Joe nodded.

“Yeah, sorry, I’m fine. I was just making sure I grabbed everything,” he said, and Spiderman noticed Joe shoving a piece of paper into his back pocket. From the quick glance he got at it, it looked like it was a picture of some kind, and Spiderman had a pretty good idea of what it was of.

“Um, I really don’t like asking, but is there a chance I could, maybe, use one of your showers?” asked Joe, rubbing his arm awkwardly. Giant Girl sighed and stepped forward.

“Joe, you can use more than that. I have an extra bedroom you can use, and I can see about getting you some new clothes too,” she said, and Joe blushed.

“Oh, um, it’s ok, you don’t have to trouble yourself too much. I don’t want to impose,” he said, but Giant Girl shook her head.

“Don’t worry about that, you’re not imposing! And after seeing where you’ve been living for these past few weeks, there is no way I’m letting you stay anywhere else,” she said. As she spoke, she began to grow until she was fifty feet tall again, and without warning, grabbed Joe and plopped him down on her shoulder.

“Hey! Don’t just- you can’t- ah! Ask next time!” stammered Joe angrily, and Giant Girl was taken aback. Joe quickly back paddled and changed his attitude.

“Sorry, I have a thing about being picked up without being asked. Just- just ask next time, please?” he said, trying to sound much nicer. Giant Girl smiled and nodded.

“Will do, Joe,” she said, and looked down at Spiderman.

“You coming too, Spidey?” she asked, but he shook his head.

“I have to head home. Aunt May was expecting me hours ago,” he said, and shot a web at a nearby building.

“See you around GG! You too, Joe!” he shouted as he leapt into the air towards a building, and was soon gone from sight.

“Looks like it’s just you an me, Joe. Guess it’s about time we get you to my house for a proper good nights sleep,” she said, and Joe nodded, feeling more and more tired as Giant Girl spoke.

“Wait, you live HERE?” asked Joe, his jaw dropping as he and Giant Girl made there way through the woods behind her house. She looked at Joe, who looked back at her, shocked.

“Wait, of course you live here, duh! You’re a Van Dyne, I totally forgot!” said Joe, smacking his forhead with the palm f his hand. It was such common knowledge that Janet Van Dyne was Giant Girl that he often just forgot it, as did most people.

“That’s right,” she said smiling. Joe couldn’t believe it. Van Dyne was one of the most successful Research and Development industries besides Stark Industries, with Tony Stark being Iron Man and all. The Van Dyne family was incredibly rich, and Joe had just met the daughter of Vernon Van Dyne, one of the richest men in the world. Joe felt a lump form in his throat just thinking about how he must appear to be right now. Janet saw the look on Joe’s face, and she grew concerned.

“Everything ok Joe?” she asked, and Joe snapped back into reality and smiled.

“Wha- Oh yeah, totally! I just didn’t realize your house would be so big,” said Joe, rubbing his neck, and Janet giggled.

“Yeah, neither did Peter,” she said, and before Joe could ask who that was, Janet had grabbed Joe’s arm and was dragging him towards her mansion. They entered through the backyard, and Janet had stayed low and quiet so nobody would notice their approach. Once she reached the back door, she punched in a key code to the back door, which opened with a slight creak. It was dark inside, and Janet looked at Joe.

“Wait right here, I’m going in to make sure the coast is clear,” she whispered, and Joe nodded, still wrapping his mind around who was now inviting him to stay at her house. Janet tip toed into the dark house, keeping as quiet as she could. As she looked around the room, which was the living room, she was about to head back and grab Joe, when the lights suddenly turned on, and Janet’s father sat in his chair, staring angrily at his daughter.

“You’re late,” he said, harshly, and Janet nearly jumped out of her skin. She sighed in relief at seeing it was just her father, though it was only slightly, as she realized she might be in a bit of trouble now.

“Hey Daddy,” she said, trying to put on as innocent of a face as possible. Vernon was having none of it, and continued to angrily stare at his daughter.

“I see you’ve been busy,” he said, gesturing to her apparel, and she looked down to see that he was referring to her Giant Girl suit.

“Oh right. Yeah, Spiderman and I were just doing our nightly patrol. Actually, it’s kind of a funny story, you see as we-,” she started, but Vernon stopped her with a wave of his hand.

“I don’t want to hear any excuses, young lady. Just go to bed and we’ll deal with it in the morning,” he said, getting up to leave.

“Wait! There’s something else I have-“

“Janet, I’m tired, we can talk about this in the morning, please,” he said, rubbing his eyes. He looked over at Janet, but she wouldn’t move an inch. Finally he sighed and gave in.

“Fine, what’s so important that it can’t wait until morning?” he asked, and Janet looked toward the back door.

“Well, you see, on the patrol, we kind of… met someone,” she said, and Vernon raised an eyebrow.

“Met someone?” he asked, and Janet nodded.

“Did you happen to hear about that boy that was seen in the city recently? The boy that went missing nearly a month ago?” she asked.

“Vaguely,” said Vernon. He was beginning to see where this was going.

“Janet, hun,” he started, but Janet cut him off. She ran from the room, and Vernon heard the door open, followed by muffled whispers, and soon his daughter came in dragging the boy he had seen in the papers. Only he was much dirtier then his pictured showed.

“Dad, meet Joe. He’s the missing kid from the news,” she said, and the boy nervously waved.

“Uh, hello sir,” he said. Vernon was at a loss for words, and Janet seized the opportunity.

“You see, he ran away from home because he somehow acquired the power to shrink, but it was random and dangerous and he almost got killed and also when he went home, he was attacked by some thugs who came their looking for him, but he was hiding and they didn’t see him, so he got away, but realized his family was in danger as long as he…” Janet trailed on and on, until Vernon spoke up.

“Janet, slow down, I’m getting confused here!” he said, rubbing his head, and Janet stopped talking. Vernon looked the boy up and down for a second. He was filthy and his clothes could do with a good washing. He had an equally dirty backpack on his shoulders, and he looked like he was about to fall asleep right then and there. He sighed and looked at Janet.

“We’ll talk about this more in the morning. Show him to the guest bedroom and then go get some sleep,” he said, and Janet smiled. She ran up to her dad and gave him a huge hug.

“Thanks Daddy,” she said, and kissed him on the cheek. And with that, she ran from the room, dragging the half conscious boy along with her. Vernon sighed, and turned the light off as he made his way to his room.

Janet woke up early the next morning and made her way to the guest bedroom. She peered inside, and saw Joe sprawled out on the bed like she had left him the night before. She smiled and walked down the hall towards her brother’s rooms. Both of her siblings were older than her and were away at their colleges, and she quickly ransacked their room to see if they had any clothes that might fit Joe. One of them, the younger of the two, Dan, wasn’t a super tall guy, and she was able to find a few of his old outfits Joe could borrow.

She bundled the clothes up and ran back down the hallway to the guestroom. She peered inside to see Joe still sound asleep. She tiptoed in and put the clothing on a chair near the window. As she was leaving, she heard Joe shift, and turned to see him move in his sleep, until he was on his back, and one arm was now hanging over the edge. It fell open, and onto the floor, a small piece of paper, the one from the night before, drifted to the ground. Janet once again quietly made her way over towards it and picked it up.

The crumpled piece of paper was a picture of him and what she assumed to be his family. His Mother and Father were to his right and left, and standing in front of him were two boys and a girl, who she assumed were his younger siblings. She felt a feeling of sadness wash over her as she realized how much Joe loved his family, and how much it must be hurting him to be so far, yet so close, to them. Janet set the paper down on the bedside table and tiptoed back out the door and left Joe to his peaceful slumber.

Joe stood in the shower and watched as all the dirt and grime from weeks of not bathing drained away. The hot water on his skin felt so good, and he almost forgot all about his troubles. When he had awoken, some clothes, a towel and some simple shower supplies had been laid out for him by, he assumed, Janet. Joe wanted to thank her, but decided on taking a shower first, and was happy that he did. Not only was the shower cleansing of the body, it was cleansing of the mind as well.

“I so needed this,” he told himself. Soon, though, he was clean and felt much better, and shut the shower off. He looked into the mirror, and realized that his hair had gotten pretty long these past few weeks, long enough to justify a haircut.

“I could use a shave too,” he said, feeling the course hair on his face. He looked down at the counter and noticed that along with the showering supplies, there was a razor and shaving cream bottle right there for him at the ready.

“She really thought of everything,” he smiled, and began shaving his face. Once done, he put on the clothes that had been left for him, finding them a tiny bit baggy, but nonetheless better then the clothes he had been wearing before. He looked back at the bed and remembering what his parents had taught him since he was little, and made the bed so that it looked like he was never even there.

“Leave things the way you left them, or if possible, better,” his dad had always said, and Joe suddenly felt a pain in his heart, a longing to hear his dad’s voice again. He quickly shook that from his head and once gain continued his way out the door.

“So if I’m hearing you correctly, you’re saying he can shrink? All on his own?” asked Vernon, sipping his morning coffee and looking over at his daughter, who nodded at him, eating a bagel and talking at the same time.

“It was crazy. And that’s not it. He has super strength too. Not just the kind of strength I have when I shrink or grow, it’s more than that. Even when he’s normal sized he seems to be stronger than, too,” she said, and Vernon nodded.

“Have you told Hank yet?” he asked, and she shook her head.

“I was thinking once he woke up, I’d bring him down to see the lab to talk to Hank,” she said, and Vernon nodded as he took another sip.

“Well, I think it was very nice of you to invite him over,” said Janet’s mom, Helen.

“I just wish you’d have given us a little more warning.”

“It was kind of last minute, mom,” said Janet, taking another bite of her bagel. Suddenly, there was a noise from across the room, and everyone turned to see Joe walking in. He was clean, shaven, and wearing some much nicer clothing, and he even seemed to be smiling a little too. Janet was also surprised to see that his hair wasn’t dark brown like it had appeared to be last night, but a rather light, almost dirty blonde color. She knew he was dirty, but she didn’t realize he had been that dirty.

“Thanks for the clothes Janet. And the soaps too,” said Joe, and Janet gave him a curious look.

“Um, I don’t remember grabbing you any soap, although I definitely should have now that I think of it,” said Janet, and before Joe could as who did, he heard a voice behind him.

“That would have been me, young sir,” said an old British voice. Joe turned to see a rather old looking man in a white tux carrying some folded laundry in his arms.

“Oh, um thank you,” said Joe. Wow, Janet had a butler? Of course she had a butler, she was a Van Dyne, thought Joe, as the butler handed Joe the folded laundry.

“I also took the liberty of washing your clothes for you while you were showering,” he said, and Joe thanked him again.

“Thanks Reeves,” said Janet as the butler left. Joe was impressed, as well as a bit creeped out, as he realized his clothes had been in the bathroom with him. He turned back to Janet and her parents.

“Thank you all for allowing me to stay the night, and I hope I’m not imposing,” he asked.

“Oh, don’t be silly, of course you aren’t!” said the older woman sitting next to Mr. Van Dyne, who Joe assumed was Janet’s mother. She stood up from her seat and grabbed the clothes from Joe and ushered him over to the table.

“You must be hungry, how does breakfast sound?” she asked.

“Oh, no it’s ok, I-,” Joe started, but was rudely interrupted by his stomach as it made a noise not unlike that of a dying whale. His face grew beat red, and he saw Janet stifle a laugh.

“Um, maybe a little cereal couldn’t hurt?” asked Joe.

Joe couldn’t remember the last time he had a proper breakfast, and did the best to not show that. But to have a bowl of cereal again after a month of garbage food and doggy bags people threw out at restaurants, he couldn’t help but eat more than one bowl of cereal; Three to be exact. As Joe ate, Janet had done the best she could to describe to her parents the situation Joe now found himself in, and why they couldn’t go to the police about Joe’s sudden appearance. Joe piped in every now and then to correct Janet when she was off with her statements, but for the most part busied himself eating. By the time Joe had finished his last bowl, Janet was finishing up the story.

“So that’s when Spiderman and I found him fending off, like, six bad guys by himself who were breaking into a jewelry shop, and he was only four inches tall,” said Janet. Helen looked impressed, but if Vernon was, he didn’t show it other then raising his eyebrows slightly.

“And after hearing his story, I felt that, well since Dan and Gabe are away, that maybe he could stay here for a while,” said Janet, catching both Joe and Vernon by surprise.

“Wait, what?” asked Joe, nearly choking on his last spoonful of cereal. Vernon too spoke up as well.

“Now, hold on their Janet, we have to talk about this,” he said.

“Yeah, like maybe to me,” said Joe, and Janet looked back and forth at her father and new friend.

“Whoa, ok sorry, didn’t mean to act so rash their,” she said sarcastically. Joe was the first to speak.

“Look, I appreciate the gesture, Janet, I really do. But I don’t feel comfortable just barging in on yours and your family’s life like this, all out of the blue,” said Joe, and Vernon nodded.

“He’s right, Janet. We’re under a lot of scrutiny with the government already with some of our research projects. If they find out we have a runaway living in our house, what do you think that’s going to do to the company? To our family?” he said, and Joe nodded.

“It wouldn’t be fair of me to do that to you and your family, Janet. Again, thanks for the gesture but I don’t want to be a burden on your family,” said Joe. Vernon smiled at Joe.

“Thank you, Joe. Glad to see someone’s thinking rationally,” said Vernon. Suddenly, Janet’s mother stood up in a great huff.

“Excuse me, but do I get a say in any of this?” she said, and Vernon looked at his wife in surprise.

“Darling, what do you-,” he started, but Mrs. Van Dyne looked at her husband sternly.

“Do you really expect me to stand here and let you kick this poor boy out onto the streets? Especially after hearing a story like that?” she asked, and Vernon was having a hard time finding the right words to say. She shook her head.

“I’ve made my decision. Joe, you may stay here as long as you like,” she said.

“Um thanks but-“

“AS LONG AS YOU LIKE!” said Mrs. Van Dyne, a little more forcefully this time, and Joe bit his lip. Mrs. Van Dyne looked at her husband, who said nothing, than back at Joe, who did the same.

“Well then, the matter is settled. Now Janet, I believe you were going to bring Joe to see Dr. Pym?”