CHAPTER I - What Could Go Wrong?

- I did it… I DID IT!!!

Adam Norman could not feel prouder that fateful Friday morning. After a year of sweat and headaches, the 17 years old high-schooler finally finished is pet project. He was almost in tears, not being able to control his excitement over what it has accomplished.

Adam was considered a genius. Nothing but perfect grades, member of the school science club and winner of several science competitions. Both his parents and teachers predicted a fantastic future for this young man.

As expected he was also a huge nerd. But this did not prevent him from building some friendships. Speaking of friends, they were exactly the people he wanted to call over and show them his “masterpiece”, rushing outside the science club laboratory of Rosevalley High-School.

- Dude, I hope this is really worth it – Mike exclaimed, a certain annoyance in his voice – that Counter Strike match was going really well…

- Yeah, this better be good – Riley said.

- Aren’t you supposed to work on group projects in the library? – said Adam, still trying to contain his excitement – I’m sure you’re not supposed to be playing videogames?

Mike and Riley looked at each other and smirked. Those two always did find an excuse for a LAN party, whether it was in the library or in the cafeteria. Mike Lenard was a big videogame fanatic, while his twin brother Riley was more of a noob when it comes to this subject. This did not however stop Mike to keep bringing Riley along during his parties, hoping to bring it to the “dark side”, as Mike liked to describe.

- Anyway here we are – Adam brought the two friend over the science club lab, where Sam and Jerry were already waiting.

Sam Garret was Adam closer friend, since they known each other since childhood. He was also the tallest of the group, measuring almost 6.4ft. Jerry Harper was the more recent member of the group of friends, having been introduced by Sam. He had a somewhat short-temper, which made him the hothead of the group.

- Ah, there you are – said Jerry – We tough you left us here hanging.

- Are you going to explain what this is all about? – questioned Sam.

The 106B lab classroom was usually used by the science club during Mondays and Wednesdays, but Adam was the only one who stayed there at any opportunity. This was more noticeable these last 3 months, to the point where even his friends started to worry about him.

- So as you all know I have been working on something very special. No, something revolutionary. No, scratch that, something historic!

- Dude get to the point – almost shouted Jerry, who was really eager to go back to his laptop. The others were also showing their impatience.

- All right, all right, I get it. I was going to do a small presentation, but fine, I guess we are going to skip formalities. Without any further due, I present to you… The A.R.L. Mark IV !!!

Adam pulled the cover off one the classroom tables, revealing a complex looking machine.

- What the hell is that? – said Sam.

- Is that a laser canon?!! – exclaimed Jerry – Dude, you are not going to blow something up, are you?

- Well, it is kind of a laser engine, but no it doesn’t “blow something up”. It does better. See that chair there? – Adam pointed to an old rusty chair in the center of the classroom.

Mike, Riley and Sam looked at it, still looking frustrated, while Jerry flinched. – HOLLY SHIT, HE’S GOING TO BLOW IT UP!!!

A green flash illuminated the room, while the chair started to glow a bright green glow. And then, nothing. The chair disappeared out of thin air.

Everybody looked shocked, while Jerry turned back, his arm still covering his face.

- What in the… Dude what happened?!! – exclaimed Mike.

- What you just saw was the A.R.L Mark IV in action – Adam said with a big grin on his face.

- The what? – said dumbstruck Riley. Jerry meanwhile was slowly lowering his arms.

- Atomic Reducer Laser. This machine is able to modify the electric field of the atoms of an object, in order to reduce the energy state of the electrons wave function…

- In human language, Adam! – exclaimed Sam.

- Well, it shrinks stuff…

- WHAIT WHAT?!! – shouted in unison Mike, Riley and Sam, while Jerry was still lowering it arms.

- So you mean that chair…

- Yes, it shrunk – gloated Adam, his grin growing even larger.

Adam took some tweezers and approached the spot where the chair used to be, bended over and seemed to take something from the ground.

The four friends approached and looked at what Adam was holding between the tweezers. It was hard to notice, but it was definitely something.

- Here, this will help – Adam gave a magnifying glass to Jerry, who was no longer scared.

Through the magnifying glass, there it was, a ridiculously tiny chair, the same one that used to be on the center of the lab.

- Dude. No. Fucking. Way. – Everybody’s jaw seemed to have dropped.

- I know right? – Adam was in heaven.

- This is unreal…

- I KNOW RIGHT?

- How small it is? – asked Jerry, who went from shit-your-pants scared to very intrigued.

- About half centimeter, or a 1/5 of an inch.

- No way… - The group could not believe what they were witnessing. But it was real. Very real.

Adam started gloating. - Imagine the possibilities, the applications that this can have. Engineering, transportation, ener…

- Yeah, yeah we get it. What else can it shrink? - Asked Sam.

- Well I haven’t tested in a lot of things. Mainly old furniture, but once I reveal this to the scientific community, we will be able to… - Adam was about to finish his sentence when all of the sudden the lights went out.

- Crap, a power failure. Come on, really, right know?! – Adam hated being interrupted during one of his “demonstrations”. A few seconds later the power came back again.

- Ah, good. As I was saying… - However, a strange sound started being heard from Adam’s machine.

- Huh? What is going… - Adam eyes suddenly widened out, an expression of terror appeared in is face – Oh crap. Don’t tell me it is rebooting…

But it was too late. The familiar green flash illuminated once again the room, but this time it was the five boys who started to glow.

For all of them the nightmare has only started.

CHAPTER II – THE RED SANDAL

- Ow, my head… - Riley was waking up from what seemed to be a strange dream. However the hard floor he was lying on definitely wasn’t his bed. Then it all came back. Adam. The lab. The shrinking machine.

Looking around he saw the rest of the group, all waking up and looking in shock at their surroundings. They were in the middle of a flat surface, and around there were some kind of colossal buildings. But wait, those weren’t building. They looked like furniture…

- What happened? – said Riley. - Where are we?

- Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap… - Adam was freaking out.

- What the fuck man… - Sam sounded really concerned. He was staring to put the pieces together.

 - Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap…

- Adam what is going on? – Mike also started to become worried.

- WHAT DO YOU THING, NUMNUTS?!!!! WE SHRANK!!!! – Sam already figured it out, and was also starting to freak out. – ADAM, WHAT DID YOU DO?!!!

Adam was desperately looking for an explanation. - The power outage must have rebooted the machine and…

-  YOU´RE FUCKING KIDDING ME RIGHT?!!! – Jerry shouted out. The rest of the group realized the horror of the situation. – ADAM, PLEASE TELL ME YOU´RE FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!!

- Holy fuck man… - Riley was starting to feel dizzy. All around the depth of field was incredibly shallow, the walls and the furniture in the distance looked fuzzy. This whole new perspective was really hard to process, the brain simply refusing to accept the reality of the situation.

- Ok, ok, everybody calm down, we need to… - Adam was suddenly interrupted.

- Calm down? CALM DOWN? WE SHRANK!!! WE ARE THE SIZE OF ANTS!!! THIS IS YOUR FAULT ADAM!!! YOU NEED TO FIX THIS!!! – Jerry hot-headed nature was not helping in this situation. - FIX THIS, GODDAMMIT!!!! – He was grabbing Adam by the collar, shaking him off.

- JERRY, CALM THE FUCK DOWN!!! – Sam came to the rescue, separating Jerry. He looked back at Adam, who had a very distant look in his eyes.  – Adam, hey Adam look at me – Sam snapped his fingers in front of his face. – How do we go back to normal?

- Back… normal… yeah, yeah, back to normal... The control panel, we need to access the control panel… It’s the only way. – Adam still looked pretty shaken.

- The control panel? But it’s up there! – Mike pointed towards the rectangular panel, in front of colossal machine – It’s way too high. We will never reached it, never in a thousand years!

Mike was right. The control panel was almost two thousand feet high at this scale. And the machine was on top of an unclimbable table.

- Prof. Yen, we need Prof. Yen… - Adam was starting to speak to himself, a habit that his friends always found hilarious, except this time was not for hilarities.

- What are you babbling about? – Sam inquired – Prof. Yen? The physics teacher? What’s her deal?

- She’s my supervisor on this project… Well supervisor is too strong of a word, she’s more of a consultant, she’s doesn’t know the whole purpose of the machine. I wanted it to be a surprise. But if there is someone who can help us, it’s her.

- Huh, guys did you forgot that we are THE SIZE OF FUKING ANTS?!!! HOW HE SHE’S GOING TO HELP US?!!! – Jerry was freaking out again.

- Jerry, I swear to God if you don’t shut up, I will smash your face – Sam said to Jerry very calmly. Being the tallest of the group, Sam wasn’t the kind of guy you wanted to piss of, especially if you’re the smallest of the group. So Jerry immediately shut up.

Sam seemed to be in control of the situation. In reality he was freaking out has much as Jerry, but he knew someone needed to keep the group in check (and especially Jerry). Riley in the meantime was still looking around, his brain still having a hard time processing this whole situation. Mike approached his brother and tried to bring him back to reality.

- Ok, Prof. Yen. Good, so how do we get to her… - Sam eyes then widened – Wait, our phones, let’s use our phones!

Everybody (except Riley who was still in shock) pulled out their phones faster than ever in their lives. However the joy and hope in the face of the five friends immediately disappeared.

- Shit, it’s fucked – Mike said while still holding Riley with his other arm.

- Mine too – Sam looked disappointed at his phone. A blank screen was the only sign of life it was emitting.

- Well, apparently the shrinking process screws up the electronics.

- Of fucking course, that would be too easy – sneered Jerry.

- As I’ve said, I’ve only tested the machine with simple objects, furniture. I didn’t know what effect if would have with electronic equipment. To be honest I didn’t even know what it would do to organic matter.

- Thank God it doesn’t screw it up too, we seem to be fine – Sam looked at everybody, only Riley seemed strange, though surely that was more the shock than everything else.

- Well, in that case how do we… - but Mike couldn’t finish his sentence.

Out of nowhere, a huge noise was felt, coming from the lab door. Then repeated explosions were heard. Wait those weren’t explosions, they were footsteps…

- FUCK MAN, WHAT’S THAT? – Jerry went back into freak-out mode.

From the open door, a gigantic girl stepped in the lab, while chatting through her cellphone.

- ASHLEY, THAT’S ALSHLEY!!! – Jerry shouted.

Ashley Thomson was Jerry’s girlfriend. The two were chatting right before Adam interrupted them in order to show Jerry his “masterpiece”.

- I don’t know where he is, he said that he went in the 106B lab but he is not here… - Ashley was talking to a friend over the cellphone, clearly wondering where his boyfriend went. The petite brunette was wearing a denim jacket, jeans and red sandals. She was quite attractive and Jerry always praised her when he had the opportunity, to the annoyance of his other friends.

- ASHLEY!!! ASHLEY!!! OVER THERE BABE!!!! – Jerry was jumping up and down, waving frantically his arms.

- I don’t think she’s going to hear you – Adam tried to reason with Jerry, but he was clearly not listening.

The steps became louder and louder, as the unaware teenager was approaching the group’s position. The ground trembled at each step, to the point where the boys were losing balance. Thankfully though she stopped right before them.

- ASHLEY!!! ASHLEY!!! I’M HERE!!!! I’M HERE!!!! LOOK!!! – Jerry sprinted towards the girl’s sandals, still waving his arms. The euphoria was clouding his judgment, clearly not realizing the danger of the situation.

- What the hell is he doing?! JERRY!!! JERRY, STOP YOU IDIOT!!! – Sam shouted, but to no avail. Mike was still holding Riley, who was terrified from what he was seeing. Adam tried to stop him, but Sam quickly hold his arm.

- Dude, what are you doing, we need to stop him – Adam looked at Sam with a furious look.

- No way, it’s too dangerous. - As much as Sam liked Jerry as friend, he was not going to commit suicide for him, nor let his friend for the matter. – Look.

Adam looked back and to his horror saw Jerry right near Ashley’s sandals, her red-painted toes wiggling with impatience. He was still waving his arms and shouting loudly like a maniac. Adam knew at that moment what was about to happen. And that realization send a terrifying shiver trough his spine.

- Well, I guess I’ll just look for him back to the library… - and with that she turned back. Her sandal raised above Jerry and came crushing down. A new set of loud booms and tremors were felt, as she went back to the door and closet it.

When the four boys rebalanced themselves, they looked in horror were Jerry used to be. But instead of a jumping, shouting maniac, there was only a red splat…

CHAPTER III – VENTILATION

- Fuck… Oh f-fuck… - Adam’s voice was trembling. His knees started to feel weak and couldn’t handle the weight of the traumatized teenager anymore.

Sam looked away in disgust. Mike and Riley just stood there, still gripped to each other, no sound emanating from their open mouths.

It was just so sudden. One moment Jerry was there, the next he wasn’t. Wiped out, crushed like a simple bug by her unaware girlfriend. Until that point Adam was trying to remain as rational as possible. But not anymore. That was his breaking point.

- W-what… did I do? Oh g-god, what d-did… I do? – Adam was on his knees, his hands on his head, starting to shake uncontrollably. His friend was gone. And it was all because of him.

- My god, Jerry… - Riley uttered the first words in ages. Apparently (and ironically) Jerry’s death seemed to have awoken him from his catatonic state, to the surprise of his brother.

- It’s m-m-my fault… m-my f-fault... – Adam was losing it. Sam decided to lift him up.

– Adam, it’s not your fault, please calm down – as shocked as he was, Sam knew that they still needed Adam to get out of this situation, preferably in a sane state.

- N-no, it’s m-my fault, my fault, MY FAULT!!! WHAT DID I D… - Sam slapped Adam him the face with all of his force. – Adam, focus! Jerry threw himself into his death! There’s nothing you, or me, or anyone else could have done! Do you get it?! Nothing! No come back to me!

Sam’s mighty slap seemed to have worked. Adam calmed down.

- We will mourn him, ok? When we get out of this situation. Later. Now focus Adam. Professor Yen. You said we needed Professor Yen, remember? – At this point, Sam was on full survival mode, almost like he forgot the death of his friend just moments ago.

- Pr-professor Yen… Yes… Yes we n-need to get to her…

- Good, where is she know?

- H-here office… She m-must be in here office at t-this hour… - Adam was holding his right cheek, the pain seemed to have numbed his feeling of utter shock.

- How do we get here? – asked Riley. He was now the one holding Mike, still in shock.

- Office 111… It’s a few steps through the corridor. Well, more like a thousand for us.

- Good, so what are we waiting for, let’s go. Come on Mike – Riley looked at Mike, who was also recovering from the shock. – Y-yes, let’s go.

- No way, we are not going through the corridor! – retorted Sam - Did you not just see what happened to Jerry? No way in hell am I going to that death trap.

- Sam his right, the corridor his to dangerous, at this size we could get crushed by anyone. If we are not mistaken from bugs…

- Then how do we get to her office? – Mike asked.

- The vents… we could go through the vents – Adam started to talk to himself again.

- The vents?

- Yes, the vents. We can reach Professor Yen’s office through the air conditioning instead of going by the corridor. – Adam pointed towards a vent near the ground. – It’s safer, we are sure to not encounter anyone through that. There’s also no risk in getting lost since we just need to go straight until we can reach the office at the end of the corridor.

- Good, good, not a bad idea Adam – Sam was trying to comfort Adam. The mark of his hand on Adam’s cheek was still visible, to the point where he was almost feeling guilty.

- O-ok then, let’s go – Riley and Mike took the lead, both brothers eager to get out of this situation.

…

The walk towards the ventilation took almost half an hour at their size. In a way, that was a good thing, since it allowed to group to digest Jerry’s death.

- Fuck, I can’t believe Jerry is gone, Adam… - Adam looked at Sam while walking. For the first time, Sam seemed to shown some grief towards his friend’s passing.

- I know man… I just… Why did I had to do that damn demonstration? Why?

- Don’t let this eat you from the inside, Adam. What happened, happened. We need to stay strong. We need to survive. For Jerry.

- Yeah, for Jerry.

- Hey guys, here we are – Mike and Riley already reached the vent. – Know, how do we climb it?

Thankfully for them, the vents in Rosevalley High-School were pretty close to the ground, by only a few inches. However at their size, that was still a pretty big climb.

- We’ll use the rugosities of the wall. – Adam approached and looked up. The walls were pretty old and at this size, the paint was already decaying.

- So basically, it’s like a big climbing wall – Sam joined in – Like that one in the mall. Except without safety rope.

- Man, I suck at that – Mike exclaimed frustrated. He may be a huge videogame enthusiast, but when it came to physical activities, that enthusiasm quickly wears off.

It was tense and difficult, but after another half-hour, the four remaining teens managed reached the vent. A cold breeze was felt inside it.

- Great, the last thing I need is a cold – Riley said. It was early summer at Rosevalley, and the boys were wearing light clothes. However inside the vents it felt like late autumn.

…

After two long hours of endless walking under a considerable cold, the group was almost exhausted. Prof. Yen’s office was visible through the vent, the light almost blinding them (not surprising since they stayed so long in the dark).

- We… made… it… - Mike was visibly gasping for air.

- Damn, I’m tired… And hungry. - Mike and Riley seemed to be the more affected, but Sam was also starting to show signs of weakness. He looked at Adam. He was once again in it’s own world, probably thinking about some equations or something…

- Hey Adam, I never asked you this, but once we’re inside Prof. Yen’s office, how do we get her attention?

- Huh? Oh, well I haven’t thought about that yet. I’m still thinking how I could fix that reboot error, so it doesn’t happen again. Maybe if I…

- Dude, forget about that damn machine! We need to solve our situation first! – Sam was staring to lose his temper. He remained calm until know, but the fatigue and hunger were getting to him.

- But what if another power outage happens? What if someone is looking for us in the lab and also accidentally gets shrunk? I need to put better fail-safes so it doesn’t…

- I said forget that STUPID MACHINE!!

- IT’S NOT STUPID!! IT’S A YEAR OF HARD-WORK!!! IT’S REVOLUTIONARY!!! DAMN IT, THIS WAS SUPOSSED TO BE THE HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!! INSTEAD IT ALL WENT TO SHIT!!!

- Huh, guys… – Mike tried to draw the attention of the pair.

- WELL, BOO FUCKING HOO!!! JERRY ALSO WENT TO SHIT!!! WE WENT TO SHIT!!!

- Guys!

- OH, SO KNOW YOU’RE SAD ABOUT JERRY!!!! IT DIDN’T SEEMED YOU GAVE A SHIT BACK WHEN HE WAS CRUSHED LIKE A FUCKING INSECT!!!!

- GUYS!!!!

- WHAT?!!!! – Adam and Jerry exclaimed in unison while looking at Riley.

- Is it me or did the breeze became stronger?

It wasn’t just Riley. The small cold breeze quickly became a strong wind. And then it turned into a hurricane. The air conditioning seemed to have gone into full intensity, dragging them away from the vent, away from salvation.

- SHIT!!! QUICLY GRAB SOMETHING!!!! – Sam shouted, while grabbing one of the vent’s grid.

Mike did the same thing, while Riley grabbed his back. Adam however, was starting to be blown away. That is until Sam grabbed his hand.

- I GOT YOU ADAM!!! – Sam went back into survival mode, apparently having forgotten their heated argument seconds ago.

- IT’S TOO STRONG!!! I’M LOOSING TI!!! – As mentioned before, Mike wasn’t very good in the physical department, and the fact that he had to hold his own weight plus his brother’s wasn’t helping.

- HOLD ON!!!

- I… CANT…. – But it was too late. The brothers were blown away into the depths of the ventilation system, into parts unknown.

- FUUUUCK!!! – Sam exclaimed in anger, while dragging himself and Adam out of the vent and into Prof. Yen office. What he did forget however, was there was almost two inches of hight between the vent and the ground. Both friends fell into the carpet, and into unconsciousness.

CHAPTER IV – RICE, GRAVY AND TEENAGERS

It was early summer at Rosevalley High-School. After a pretty hot morning, the school cafeteria was starting to become agitated for lunchtime and the heat definitely wasn’t helping.

- Huff… This is staring to get hot… - One of the cafeteria employees was starting to sweat. – Time to crank up the AC.

What the employee wasn’t aware of is that the school cafeteria was right below Prof. Samantha Yen’s office. He also wasn’t aware that at that very moment, four shrunken 17 years old teenagers were inside the ventilation system. And if he would have looked at one of the ceiling vents just above the food counter, he would have noticed two minuscule specks falling down. But he didn’t.

…

A muffled sound was starting to wake up Mike. The last thing he remembered was losing the grip on the vent, and him and Riley being sucked by the strong wind into the darkness, then light, then falling and then… nothing.

- W-what… where I… am? – Mike opened his eyes and tried to understand where he was. Did he fell on the floor? No, it couldn’t be, he would never survive such a fall. No, this didn’t look like a floor at all. In fact it looked like he winded up in another planet. All around him there were countless white boulders and huge brow/reddish hills. The air was hot and very humid. The ground was incredibly soft and mushy, which was probably the reason why he survived the fall. Brown waters were flowing below the hills. He slowly stand up. A strange, yet familiar smell filled his nose. He looked at the sky and saw rectangular suns. And in the distance some sort of huge transparent barrier.

Then the truth hit him with like a punch in the stomach. Those weren’t boulders, they were rice. And the hills weren’t hills, but pieces of pork roast. And the waters weren’t rivers or lakes, but gravy. This wasn’t some strange alien world. It was the food counter of the school cafeteria. And he was just in the middle of a huge pile of pork roast rice and gravy, the meal of the day.

- No… No, no … No, no, no, nonononononono! – Mike started to panic. He turned his head back and forth. – Riley? Riley!!! Where are you?!!! RILEEEY!!!.

- miiiike… heeeree… - Riley’s voice was barely audible due the agitation in the cafeteria. But Mike saw him, he was below the same piece of pork roast, near some grain of rice.

- I’m coming Riley!! I’m coming! – Mike started to quickly descend the meaty hill, almost tripping over due to the softness of the ground. Riley did the opposite and started to climb up.

- Oh God, you’re alright – Mike hugged his brother like he never did before.

- Hey, you still own me a round of Counter Strike remember? – Riley said jokingly.

They were so happy, they almost forgot the situation they were in. However at that moment a gigantic soup spoon came crashing into the ground, creating a huge tsunami of gravy and rice.

- SHIIT!!! RILEY, WATCH OUT!!! – Mike and Riley climbed the pork hill as fast as they leg could, apparently having forgotten that only minutes ago they were exhausted and starving. They barely avoided the huge wave of gravy crashing right below them.

- Mike, we need to get out of here! – Riley looked around, trying to find a way to escape.

- Where do we go, where do we go! Riley, we need to… - At this moment, the soup spoon came crashing down again, this time much more nearly.

- Fuck, that was close Mike! Wait… - Riley could feel an earthquake happening and then a sudden feeling of acceleration hit both brothers in the gut.

- GRAB THE FLOOR RILEY!!! – The soup spoon started turning. Mike and Riley griped the meaty piece of pork roast while their entire world went upside down. Another, more violent splash happened and they ended both submerged by a mountain of rice and gravy.

The brothers were in almost darkness, a few beams of lights illuminated them between layers of pork and rice. The gravy was also submerging their small cavern.

- Quick Mike, we must climb! We must get out of here! – Riley was dragging his brother while trying to find an exit from the hot, humid, underground maze. – Look, I see an exit! I see light!

The brothers tried to push a grain of rice which was blocking the small exit. They managed to wedge it a little, but enough for them to pass through.

What they saw was nothing more than breathe taking. They were in a tray, being carried by someone. They could feel each step as their world repeatedly trembled below their feet. Then a huge slam happened as the tray landed on the table, which made the brothers jump and roll hover.

- Riley, Riley are you ok?

- Y-yes, yes I’m here. Holy fuck Mike, look! – Mike looked were Riley was pointing. Right above them was the owner of the tray. A giant girl, blonde with a green shirt - Wait I know her!!

- Really?! – Mike looked at Riley.

- Yeah that’s Julie! Julie Kidman! I’ve meet her on that fundraising club!

- Good, maybe she can help us then. HEY! HEY! WE’RE HERE! – Mike started waving his arms.

- OVER HERE!!!! HELP!!! HELP!!! – Riley followed.

Julie however, seemed more busy chatting to her friends than looking at here food. She quickly took a spork and started to dig in.

- HEY!!! OVER THERE!!!

- Huh Mike… - Riley started to become concerned.

- What? Hey, why did you stop?! – Mike was still waving his arms.

- Remember what happened to Jerry?

- Jerry? What do you mean… - But then he froze. He understood. They were 1/5 inch tall. The size of ants. And in the middle of a plate of rice and gravy. In the middle of a loud cafeteria. She was never going to see them or hear them.

- Oh no. Oh God no! OH GOOOOD!!!! – The fork came crashing dangerously near them. The brothers lost balance (again). They saw a huge chunk of pork roast and some rice being lifted. They saw the giantess open her mouth and shoving the contents inside. For a moment the sound of chewing were the only thing the two boys were hearing, like all other sounds seemed to have become muffled in comparison. And then a gulp.

- Shitshitshit! Riley we need to get away! I don’t want to die! Not like this!! NOT LIKE THIS!!! – For a moment Mike started to resemble the late Jerry.

The brothers were in full panic mode, trying to run, somewhere, anywhere, as long as it wasn’t Julie’s spork. Importunely, this mean they weren’t watching their steps.

- Ah, shit! – Mike fell into a small fissure of pork meat, his lower body being stuck.

- Mike!!! Hold on! – Riley tried to push his brother with all of his strength, but to no avail. – COME OOOOON! HUUUUUUGH!!!

Then the worst happened. The spork came crashing down right below them. The same feeling of acceleration hit them.

- NO!!!! GOD NOOOOO!!!! – Riley was crying. He stopped trying to push his brother and just hugged him, while looking at where they were headed.

They saw a green shirt, followed by a pair of breasts, a neck, and then the face. Julie was still looking at their friends with her blue eyes, laughing at some joke. Some freckles were noticeable on her cheeks. She was quite beautiful. Riley never admitted but he had a crush on her since he went on that fundraising club. And now she was about to eat two poor, desperate brothers.

- RILEY!!!! – Mike was sobbing like never before in his life.

The unaware girl opened her mouth. They could see strings of saliva between the tongue and the roof of her mouth. Pieces of rice and pork were still lodged between her teeth. Then the spork started to approach. They could feel the hot, humid breath, the smell of masticated food.

Mike and Riley stopped tried to get the girl’s attention. They knew it was too late. It was over. Julie Kidman was about to enjoy a nice mouthful of rice and gravy. With two extra ingredients.

As darkness involved them, the mouth closed. While the spork was being sucked out of the mouth, the boys landed on mixture of gravy and saliva. The tongue started to carry out its function, shoving the mouthful into the molars.

* Crunch, Crunch, Crunch, Crunch *

Mike and Riley still tried to hold on the tongue, but it was no use. Riley was the first to disappear into a mountain of masticated food.

* Crunch, CRUUUUNCH, Crunch, Crunch *

- RIIILEEEEEYYYY!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! - Desperation and grief made Mike lose his grip too. He joined Riley into the apocalypse of chewed food.

* Crunch, Crunch, Crunch, CRUUUUNCH *

It was quick death. Both bodies exploded into the weight of crushing molars, their remains mixed into the paste of food.

* GULP *

And so was the fate of the two brothers. Eaten alive by an unaware girl. Adam and Sam will never know what happened to them, maybe for the best.

CHAPTER V – CLIMBING STOCKINGS

The conference room was completely full. Adam Norman was standing next to his masterpiece, while Prof. Samantha Yen started speaking.

- Ladies and gentlemen, member of the scientific community, dear colleagues… Today we are making history. It is an honor to present to all of you the greatest scientific achievement since nuclear fission. And to present it, I will now give my word to the brilliant teenager genius behind it… Adam Norman!

The crowd applauded. This was his moment. Adam gave his presentation, showed the world what the A.D.L. was capable of doing. Boasted about the revolutions and implications in all the scientific fields that this invention would bring. Everybody stranded up and cheered.

- Adam! Adam! Adam!

Adam was in heaven. Tears of joy were falling on his face.

- Adam! Hey Adam! Hey!

Wait, this voice seemed familiar….

- ADAM, WAKE THE FUCK UP!!

Adam suddenly woke up, his eyes widened. Sam was about to give him another mighty slap, but thankfully that did not end up being necessary, as Adam was already standing up.

- W-wait, what?!

- Hey man, are you alright?

Then it all came back. The nightmare. The horror. Jerry. Mike. Riley.

- Y-yeah, yeah, sure…

The two friends were on the carpet right below the vent from where they fell. Thankfully the softness of the carpet amortized the impact, avoiding any injuries (apart from sore muscles and a huge headache).

- Shit! Mike! Riley! We…

- We’ll get them Adam. Once we’re out of this shithole, we’ll help them. Even if we have to shut down the whole school. – Sam was once again trying to be realistic. As much as he wanted to rescue his friends, no one will ever know what happened to them if they’re not rescued themselves.

- Right, right… Wait, Professor Yen, look!

Adam pointed towards the asian Professor, sitting on her desk and reviewing some papers. Samantha Yen was a relatively young professor, in fact the youngest at Rosevalley High-school, nearing 33 years hold. She was still very good looking for her age, with her tied down sort black hair, and her violet shirt and skirt. The glasses and stocking were icing for the cake.

- Ok, so the question now is, how do we get her attention? We need to be very careful, any misstep could cost us our life – Adam started pondering.

- We’ll think of it as we get there, we still have a long walk to get there, remember? And this carpet won’t help – Sam was right, the fibers on the carpet looked more like grass that hasn’t been cut for decades.

The walk towards Prof. Yen desk didn’t take long thankfully, since the vent they came from was already near it. The office itself was full of bookshelves, awards, molecules model, posters, and her personal water drinking machine. Since she had one of her kidneys removed, Prof. Yen was constantly drinking and a water machine was one of her demands for her office.

…

After a few minutes, the boys were near the professor’s chair. She wasn’t wearing here black high heels, as they were right next to her feet.

- Damn Adam, you never told me Prof. Yen was such a hottie. I mean those legs… - Adam looked back at him – What, just saying… I mean considering what we went through, might as well enjoy the view a little.

Adam couldn’t argue against that… - Ok, so have you thought about what to do, Sam?

- Well, since she’s isn’t wearing her shoes, all we have to do is poke her skin. Although she’s wearing stockings, so that may be hard…. Maybe if we had something long and sharp….

- Well, I don’t want to be THAT guy, but your brilliant idea has one major flaw…

- Oh yeah, which one Mr. Genius?

- Had you ever felt something touch your skin? Like a bug or a fly?

- Huh, yeah?

- And what was the first thing you did when that happened?

- Well I slap... Oooooh… Yeah, bad idea…

- I thought so. Look, the only way she will notice us it’s if she sees us. She seems to be looking at some papers right know, probably some exams. So we need to be on her field of view.

- But what if she mistakes us for bug?

- We will need to drag something, something unusual which will made her think twice. Like a staple or something. – Adam then looked above – The only question is how do we climb on the desk?

- How about climbing her legs?

- Sam, I swear to God, this is not the time for dirty jokes.

- I’m not joking, you idiot! We climb her stocking, then her shirt and land on the desk. At our size, we can grab the fibers of the materials and climb. As long as we don’t touch her skin, we can do it!

Adam looked impressed at Sam. Usually he is the one coming up with clever ideas.

As they got near Prof. Yen feet, Adam and Sam realized another unfortunate consequence of their size. Namely the fact that any smell was amplified tenfold.

- Dammit, I’m starting to regret my idea – Sam was putting his hand in front of his nose.

- Oh come on, stop being a cry baby and climb!

Climbing Prof. Yen’s stockings proved way easier than climbing that old wall back at the lab, because the fibers were easier to grab on. They could feel a muffled heartbeat, being so near her skin. Thankfully, Prof. Yen wasn’t the kind of person to dangle her legs, otherwise this would have ended up being a herculean task.

…

After another minutes, Adam and Sam reached the chair. When they turned around, they could see the mighty shirt opening, and inside it, gigantic black panties. In any other situation, this could have been heaven for a couple of 17 years old teenagers. However right know they didn’t have the time nor the mindset to enjoy the view, as their life was on the balance. Although this didn’t stop them to take a quick look, especially Sam.

- Come on Sam, we still have much to climb! – Said Adam has we was starting to climb the shirt. However, at that moment something unexpected happened.

…

- Dammit, where did I put that ink eraser? – Samantha rose slightly from her chair, stretching her arm in order to reach the white corrector, then proceeded to sit again.

…

- AAAAAH! – Adam screamed, while holding the fabric of the skirt as tight has possible, as all hell rose for him. He looked at Sam, who fell on his ass with the surprise. When the colossal ass came down crashing again, it was like an asteroid has just hit Earth.

- Oh shi… - Sam didn’t have the time to finish his sentence, has a gust of wind propelled him out of the chair and to his imminent death.

- SAAAM! NOOOO! – Adam climbed out of the shirt and rushed towards the edge of the chair. He looked in horror at the ground, hoping that somehow the carpet amortized his skydiving fall. But to his disconcert it didn’t find anything. He squinted his eyes, looking as careful as possible, but nothing.

No, wait… He saw something. On the sole of the left shoe. A body. – SAAAM! SAAAM, DO YOU HEAR ME?!! ARE YOU OK?!!! – Adam shouted as loud as possible. He saw some slight movement. Thank God he wasn’t dead, maybe badly injured, but not dead.

- HOLD ON SAM!!! I’LL GET PROF. YEN’S ATTENTION! HOLD ON THERE!!! – Adam knew he had to act fast. Sam appeared to be in no condition to move. If Prof. Yen decided to wear her heels, it was game over for Sam. He summoned every bit of strength that he had left and started climbing again, as fast as he ever has.

As he was climbing her clothes, he could feel the heartbeat with more intensity, as well as her breathing. It became more intense once he reached her chest. Prof. Yen was leaning near the desk as she was reviewing her papers, so Adam plan was to jump from her cleavage towards the desk.

- Ok, let’s do this… 1… 2…

- Oufff, I’m so thirsty. I need more water – Adam heard the words he never wanted to hear.

But it was too late…

CHAPTER VI – PROFESSOR, YOU KILLED US

Sam slowly regained consciousness as he was trying to figure out what happened. Was he dead? No, he couldn’t be, he was feeling pain. An immense pain. He tried to stand up but noticed something wasn’t right. His right arm wasn’t responding.

- Ah… Auhh…. – He turned his head while lying down and saw his dislocated arm. He tried to breath, but the pain around his chest made it hard. Probably some broken ribs. Trying to ignore the pain, Sam raised his head and looked in disgust at his left leg. He could see a bulge under his skin. His tibia was also broken.

- Ahhh… Fuck… - The pain was insufferable. Looking around, he figured out he was on an inclined beige floor. The fabric was slightly soft and hot.  It looked like he was inside some sort of dark room. He could see a huge diagonal opening, and beyond that opening he could see a pair of legs and a chair.

- Wait… - He recognized the odor he smelt minutes before. – Auhh… No… N-No way… It can’t… Auh… It can’t be… - Sam realized the danger of his situation. Not only was he seriously injured from his huge fall, to the point of not being able to move, but he fell right into Prof. Yen’s high heel.

Sam heard some muffled screams, which were barely audible. He looked towards upwards and saw a small speck near the edge of the chair, between the teacher’s tights.

- Auh… A-Adam… Help… Auh… H-help me… - Sam didn’t have the strength to scream but he hope that, somehow, Adam would’ve heard him. Then the speck disappeared. – N-No… Adam… I… Auh… I’m right… h-here.

For several minutes, Sam tried to move, tried to drag himself towards the sharp inclination, but to no use. Truth be told, even if he was in perfect physical condition, he would never be able to climb such a steep slope.

Then, out of the sudden, a huge shadow appeared.

- Aaah… Auh… Aaaah! - Sam looked up and screamed in horror, as much has his lungs allowed him. As darkness increased, a colossal foot approached. His survival instinct kicked him, while a new dose of adrenaline flowed through his body, making him forgetting the pain and the broken bones. He started limping towards the tip of the shoe, hoping that somehow he would survive the might of Prof. Yen’s foot.

However, he suddenly felt like he was run over by a truck. Tripping violently on the ground, he felt an indescribable amount of pressure on his back. Sam hopped that he would die right there, a quick death, just like Jerry’s. But he wasn’t so lucky. Being right between the ball of her foot and her toes, the pressure wasn’t enough to kill him… quickly. The heat and humidity were also unbearable, adding to his fatigue and hunger. He felt drifting out of consciousness…

*BANG*

- AAA-AAUHHH… Aaah… - Sam felt a violent shock that brought him back to reality.

*BANG*

- Aaaah... aaah… - He felt more bones breaking, blood vessels explode

*BANG*

At the third step, Sam’s body went into shock. His life slowly fade away….

…

Prof. Yen walked towards the water drinking machine. She had lunch earlier at the cafeteria so she could finish revising the Physics’ exams before her next class. But the summer heat and her missing kidney made her body screaming for more water.

- Thank God I asked for that damned machine in my office… - She started filling her plastic cup with cold fresh water.

…

Prof. Yen sudden movement made Adam stumble into her cleavage. Thankfully he grabbed at some fabric, preventing him to fell into the depths of her breasts, where a crushing death awaited him. Although as far as deaths come, this one wouldn’t be that bad… Each steps made Adam’s body jolt violently, as he was trying to climb out of where any other student of normal size would have loved to dig in.

As he reached the edge of her cleavage, Prof. Yen started leaning again, in order to fill her cup.

- Oh crap, oh crap! – Adam didn’t expect this move, as he lost grip on the fabric he was holding – Crap, crap, CRAAAAAP!!!!!

Adam thought that was it. He was not going to save anybody. Jerry crushed under his girlfriend’s sandal. Mike and Riley lost forever. Sam probably crushed inside Prof. Yen’s shoe. And Adam falling to his death…

But his nightmare was not over yet.

*Splash*

Adam felt a cold liquid submerge him. Water. Having lost any sense of direction, he started to panic. He was going to drown. As soon as he felt the waters calming down, he swam towards the light.

- *Gasp!* Aaaah! – Adam was freezing. Then he remembered Prof. Yen’s words, right when he about to jump from her cleavage towards the desk. Thirsty. Water. – Oh no… No, no, nonononono! – He looked around and saw a circular plastic white wall. And upwards there she was. Her supervisor looking right at him. Or better, looking at her cup.

- PROFESSOR YEN!!!! NOOOO!!!! IT’S MEEE!!!! ADAAAAAAAM!!!!!! – She must have saw him. Even at his size, she couldn’t possible miss a speck on her cup.

…

But unfortunately for Adam, Prof. Yen was as absent minded as he was. And she was also incredibly thirsty. So thirsty in fact, she didn’t even bring the cup back to her desk while taking small sips, but instead started gulping down the whole cup in a few seconds, right there.

- Ahhhh, that’s better – She moaned, while drying her mouth with her sleeve.

…

Adam felt the sudden acceleration has he saw Prof. Yen’s asian face approaching rapidly.

- NOOO!!!! MISS YEN!!!! NOOO!!! I’M HEEEEERE!!! PLEEEAAASE!!!!

Her dark violet colored lips quickly parted, revealing Adam’s final destination. He tried one last desperate attempt, swimming towards the other end of the cup, hoping that maybe, maybe he could grab on the plastic wall of the cup. But before he could reach it, a huge current started dragging towards the deadly mouth.

- SHIIIIIT!!!!!

*Gulp*

As he approached her teeth, Adam tried to grab something, anything. He managed to grab one of her incisors. – Yes! YESSS!

*Gulp*

The current was too strong. Adam felt his grip getting loose – COME OON! HOOOLD OON!!!!

*Gulp*

But to his horror, his grip finally slipped. Going with the current, he saw the set of teeth getting away from him as darkness started involving him. Behind him the mighty throat was ready to receive him.

- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*GUULP*

…

Adam felt once again submerged in water. He was being trashed all around. Darkness and disorientation were the only things he could see and feel. As he was about to drown once again, he suddenly felt some air, as he was falling in some sort of waterfall.

He dived one again, but this time there was no light to guide him towards the air. In fact, he felt a horrible burning sensation in his eyes. Waving his arms around, he touched something squishy. He dragged himself until he was able the breath again. But the air was humid and scarce. And he burned his lungs too.

- Noooo…. God no…. – Adam realized in horror where he was: Prof. Yen’s stomach, holding on what was probably some piece of lettuce. Or meat. Whatever. It didn’t mattered. He knew it was game over for him. For real this time.

- Noooo…. *Sniff* Not like this….*Sniff* - Adam couldn’t handle it anymore. He broke down in tears, sobbing uncontrollably. As his eyes were still burning, he knew the acid already blinded him. Not that it mattered since the stomach was already pitch black. He felt his lungs were on fire. The few amounts of air that he could breathe smelt of vomit. And his skin was also starting to burn.

Adam was considered a genius. Nothing but perfect grades, member of the school science club and winner of several science competitions. Both his parents and teachers predicted a fantastic future for this young man.

But that was a few hours ago. Now his future was to be digested by her unaware project supervisor. Killed by his own invention, the results of a year of hard work and dedication. And his friends. Jerry, Mike, Riley, Sam, all gone. All because of him.

- I’m sorry… *Sniff* I’m so sorry… - Adam felt his grip loose once again as he sank into the acid bath, among several pieces of food.

…

After finishing revising her exams, Prof. Yen started wondering about her pupil, Adam Norman. He said that he achieved fantastic results on his project and was ready to reveal her more information about his laser machine.

- That kid better blow me away with something amazing…

If only she knew…

- THE END –