Mike Roman adjusted the control console on his gauntlet as Sally Stoner stood by his side. Sally, the 18-year-old model who was chosen to play the part of a character in his video game, was an equal partner on this project, and took in the same percentage as Mike per videogame unit sold. Sally was a brunette with brown eyes, and although she was Caucasian, she had a light brown skin tone. Her costume was equipped with an ultra-short mini-skirt that dramatically showed off her muscular legs. Mike was Hispanic, with black hair and brown eyes, and a physique that shouted to the world that he had been training as a bodybuilder for many years. As they waited for the curtain to rise here in the mall, Mike pondered the events of the past five years...

Computers were the only thing he excelled at, so five years in college had blown by as he got his degree in computer science, all the while training to get his pro card so he could one day place in the Mr. Olympia contest. After graduation he was hired by a software engineering corporation, which provided him with income to pay for his bodybuilding hobby.

Once he landed a job at the computer firm, he had to train at 3:00 a.m. and late at night. He knew there had to be a better way. He started designing the Micromage & Awesome-Girl videogame, with the hope of eventually selling it to Nintendo or Sony, allowing him to retire from work and focus on his bodybuilding. Once he sold the concept to a company, they wanted him to travel across the country and promote it at shopping malls, accompanied by a teenage sidekick who resembled Awesome-Girl, the other main protagonist in the videogame. A model named Sally Stoner was chosen, and she took on the identity of the Awesome-Girl character. Mike decided that since she would no longer be in school or living a normal life, she should be paid just as much as him, making them both multimillionaires overnight. Since Mike was the artist and creator of the project, the company agreed to his terms.

Now, as the curtain rose, Sally had her hands on her hips, decked out in a futuristic outfit. Mike was dressed in a spandex uniform that conformed to the massive muscles of his upper body, with a belt and a wristband that had a communication console that actually worked. Sally had a similar wristband, and the two of them could communicate from across the mall if they had to. There were also lights built into Mike's Micromage costume, to illuminate the dark fictional areas he would explore if he actually had the ability to shrink, like his character.

The announcer stood off to their side and in front of them and introduced them. A crowd of kids went wild, hands clutching pens and paper hoping for autographs.

"Can you really shrink?" a little boy asked.

"No," Mike answered, "that only happens in the video game!"

"What a rip-off!" said the boy.

A high scool boy approached Sally and asked, "Are you doing anything tonight, Awesome-Girl?"

"I'm being tutored," Sally replied. "We're going out of state in a couple of days, and I need to get caught up with my schooling! Sorry!"

Mike and Sally answered their questions for about an hour, and Sally was propositioned two more times by high school boys who wanted to take her out. When it was over, the two of them left the mall and climbed into the Micromobile, and sped off.

"I only got hit on three times," Sally told Mike. "Do you think I'm losing my touch?"

"No," Mike answered as he drove the car, "there'll be others. But I think you should consider going out with one of those boys one of these days. You don't really have much of a social life like other girls your age."

"No," Sally answered, "we're traveling to malls all across the country. I'm not really in a position to have any kind of a real relationship."

They pulled into the parking lot of their hotel, and the two of them jumped out of the convertible and went to their room. Once inside, Mike was on the phone calling room service, and Sally used the remote control to turn on the television.

"Yes, I'd like a pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast, preferably baked," Mike said into the phone, "and an order of brown rice. To drink? How about a quart of nonfat milk."

Mike had been very specific with the company about what kind of hotels he wanted to stay at. They had to provide room service that catered to his bodybuilding lifestyle. In fact, not only did the company agree to this, but Mike and Sally were only booked to appear in malls that had hotels like these in town.

As Mike ordered their food, Sally watched the local news. "-and a scientist who worked at the research facility said they have a neutrino dissimilator that could miniaturize things, and claims he was told to keep it a secret. Whether or not these claims are true remains a mystery, but a spokesman for the facility claims there is no neutrino dissimilation experiments being currently conducted at the facility."

"Mike," Sally said, "we need to go check that place out! It's in this area!"

Mike hung up the phone and said, "Why should we go there?"

"Because! If we could sneak in, we could get some pictures of you near actual miniaturization technology! It would give us authenticity!"

"If you go buy a map of this area, I'll drive us over there. This is your project, Sally. No map, no deal."

Sally raced out the door to the nearest store to buy a city map. When she got back, the food had arrived, and Mike was chowing down. Sally was too excited to eat. "I called information from my cellphone and got the address of that research facility. I found the street on this map... it's about three miles from here."

"Okay," Mike said, "we'll go there after we finish eating."

When they were done, they got into the Micromobile and headed off to the research facility Sally wanted to go to. She directed Mike by referring to the map she had bought, and within fifteen minutes, they had found the place. They drove past it, then parked around the corner and down the block a bit, and pondered their next move.

Mike and Sally decided to cut through the chain-link fence with wire-cutters and get into the back of the place, and hide behind a dumpster. Despite the nature of the research being conducted here, it didn't appear to be too heavily guarded.

"You stay here," Mike said, "I'm going to go take a look." Mike disappeared. Sally waited a few minutes, then followed after him. There were two guards smoking cigarettes, but the door they were guarding was open. Sally found a lugnut and threw it to the other side of the yard, and the guards went after the sound to find out what it was. Sally proceeded inside without being spotted, and went to a computer terminal. Within one minute, she had found the homepage that had a link to the page with a map of the complex. Finding her destination, she snuck off in that direction.

Mike, meanwhile, had found the neutrino dissimilation chamber. After studying the control panel for several minutes, he figured out how to work it. Sally showed up with her camera, and asked Mike to climb inside for a photo. Once Mike was inside, Sally pushed the button that sealed the chamber door, and Mike was trapped inside. He beat on the titanium door hatch, but to no avail.

Mike activated the communication device on his wristband to talk to Sally. "Why did you shut the door hatch, Sally?" he asked.

"Because I want to get a picture of you shrunk and I knew you wouldn't go for it. Sorry, Mike!"

Sally studied the control console and figured out how to work it quicker than Mike did. Within seconds, she activated the neutrino dissimilator cannon that was aimed downward at the heart of the chamber where Mike was now trapped. In an instant, Mike was shrunk down to about one inch tall. Sally jumped up and down in excitement and pushed the button that opened the door hatch. She scooped Mike up in her hand and said, "We did it, Mike! Now you're really Micromage! Lemme get a picture of you now!"

In the control room however, a guard wasn't as thrilled as Sally was. He picked up a phone and said: "Let me speak with the director. We have a power drain in the neutrino dissimilation chamber. We have intruders, I have them on camera now."

Five armed guards rushed into the room Sally was in. She was surrounded, and brought to the room of the director of the facility. Carrying Mike in her hand, she sat down as she was asked to by the director.

"What you have done is inexcusable!" the director said. "The two of you broke in here and utilized our neutrino dissimilation technology without permission."

"Sorry!" Sally answered.

"There's no need to be sorry," the director said, "it's too late for that. Perhaps the three of us can work together for our mutual benefit."

"How?" Sally asked.

"I recognize you and your miniaturized partner as Micromage and Awesome-Girl. You are celebrities. If we allow you to use our miniaturization technology, all we ask in return is that you advertise our company. We are going public in a few weeks, and we need all the publicity we can get."

"I'm willing to do it," Mike said.

"Me too!" said Sally.

"I will have you re-enlarged immediately," said the director. Mike was carried to the chamber where he had been minaiturized, and the guards reversed the process.

When Mike emerged from the chamber at normal size, the director handed him a belt with sophisticated eletronics equipment built into it. Mike put the belt on and fastened it.

"That has both a neutrino dissimilator and a neutrino transfer device," the director said. "It will allow you to shrink and return to normal size. You control it with this," the director handed Mike a device built into a strap.

The director continued: "You attach that control gauntlet to your wrist, and it will control the device built into the belt. You don't need to enter the neutrino dissimilation chamber to shrink. That was just a prototype we built before we developed this more sophisticated design. On your belt is a neutrino dissimilation device that will shrink you down to any target size you punch into the sizing scope built into your wristband."

As Mike put the wristband on, the director continued: "You will be stuck at miniature size for one hour, until the neutrino transfer device re-charges. Once at full size, it will again take another hour before you can shrink again. Understand?"

"Affirmative!" said Mike.

The director continued: "If you are ever in somebody's mouth or stomach, you will not be able to re-enlarge. This is for the protection of anyone who swallows you. I want our company to benefit from the publicity of your new shrinking ability, but I don't want anyone getting injured with our technology. I know that places you in potential danger, but I have no choice."

"I understand," said Mike.

"My men will show you to the front door," said the director.

Sally and Mike were escorted to the front door of the facility. They exited, and walked over to the Micromobile and got in, and drove back to the hotel.

Once in their hotel room, Mike said, "Don't ever try to talk me into doing anything that crazy again! I can't believe you sealed me inside that chamber!"

"I was just doing what's best for both of us, Mike... it's not like you were hurt or anything."

"That doesn't matter! You completely did whatever you wanted to and used that neutrino dissimilator on me! You had no way of even knowing if I'd survive or not!"

"Okay, I'm sorry! I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of it!"

"I'm going to the store," Mike said, as he walked out the door. When he came back, he started dropping bottles of beer into an ice chest.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sally asked. "You're a hero, and kids look up to you! You can't drink beer! I'm pouring this out!"

Sally took the beer to the sink, and opened each bottle with a bottle opener on her keychain, and dumped the beer from each bottle down the sink.

"Now I'm going to the store, to get us some soda!" Sally said, and disappeared out the door. While she was gone, Mike decided to test out his miniaturization technology. He activated the control gauntlet built into his wristband, and shrank down to an inch tall. When Sally got back, Mike was nowhere to be seen.

"Mike?" Sally asked. "Micromage, if you shrunk yourself, you know you have one whole hour before you can re-enlarge again! If you don't come out in five seconds, I'll swallow you when I find you!"

Mike remained hidden. "One, two, three, four, five!" She found him and picked him up, and said, "This is something you'd better get used to! It's tummy time!"

Then she stuck him in her mouth, and swallowed him!

"It looks like I need to score a bottle of syrup of ipecac!" Sally said. She walked out the door to the corner store, and went in.

"Do you have syrup of ipecac?" Sally asked.

"What's that?" the Asian storekeeper asked.

"Forget it," Sally answered, and walked out. She activated her wristband communication device. "Micromage? This is Awesome-Girl, do you copy? If you're receiving this transmission, please respond!"

There was a crackle of static, then Mike's voice could be heard: "Sally! What the hell is wrong with you? You know I can't re-enlarge as long as I'm in your gut! Now get me out!"

"I'm trying!" Sally answered, "But I need to find syrup of ipecac first, to make me puke! But don't worry, you'll only be in there for about fifteen or twenty minutes!"

"There might not even be fifteen minutes of air in here!" Mike replied.

Sally smiled and said, "Well, you should've thought about that before you tried to hide from me!"

Sally walked about five blocks to a drugstore, and found what she was looking for. She pulled every bottle of ipecac syrup they had off the shelf, and cradled it in her arms and went up to the counter. She paid, and took her purchase outside. She opened up a bottle and drank a mouthful, and waited.

"Micromage!" Sally said into her wristband communicator, "I drank some syrup of ipecac! It says it should take about fifteen or twenty minutes to take effect!"

Several minutes later, Sally threw up onto the pavement in front of the drugstore. Some people exiting the store watched her as she puked.

"What's the matter, you've never seen anyone puke before?" Sally told them. She found Micromage in the puddle of vomit, and picked him up. He was conscious.

"Cool! You're all right!" Sally kissed the tiny man, and they both waited for the time limit to pass so Mike could re-enlarge. Less than an hour later, the two of them were walking back into their hotel room, and Mike was normal-sized. Sally entered first, and Mike slammed the door behind him as he entered the room.

"I can't even begin to tell you how wrong that was!" Mike said. "After all I've done for you... I even demanded that they pay you just as much as I get, and this is how you repay me!"

"Well, don't worry," Sally said, "I've got plenty of ipecac syrup for when that happens again. Next time, you won't have to wait so long for me to puke you up!"

"Next time?" Mike said, "What the hell makes you so sure there's even going to be a next time?"

"I know there is!" Sally replied, "So I bought plenty of ipecac syrup for when that happens!"

Mike got up and took the boxes of ipecac syrup and took them to the kitchen sink. He unscrewed the cap on one of the bottles, and tilted it toward the sink...

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Sally asked. "I'm dead serious about swallowing you. It's fun! And I will do it again, if you do anything to piss me off! So if you dump that stuff out, it'll be your funeral if I can't find any more before the air runs out in my belly!"

Mike thought about what she said, and screwed the cap back on the bottle without pouring any out.

"Let's get something straight," Sally told Mike, "when you're shrunk, I'm Awesome-Girl, and you're my property! There's nothing you can do about it for a whole hour until you can return to normal size, so you need to be under my care! As such, you will be subject to my commands. As long as you're normal size, I'll be like a little sister to you, but as soon as you're shrunk, you become my personal slave-toy until you return to normal size! Is that understood?"

"Sally, don't you think that's a little barbaric? Why should our friendship be any different when I'm shrunk? I'm still the same person!"

"That's how it is in the video-game you designed! Whenever Micromage is shrunk, he's Awesome-Girl's toy! You programmed it that way, so you must've had a subconscious fascination with that concept!"

"That's true Sally, but this is real life. We're not in a video-game. Please reconsider!"

Sally crossed her arms and sat on the bed with her head against the backboard. "I'm not changing my mind. When you're shrunk, you're my personal pawn, just like in the video-game!"

"I give up!" Mike said, as he sat down on his bed and lied down to rest.

Sally pulled out her cell phone and said, "It's almost time for Gwen to get here to tutor me. I'm texting my friend Moxie and telling her what happened!"

"You text her a lot," said Mike. "Who is she?"

"Me and her grew up together, until her parents won the lottery and they moved to Japan."

Sally's tutor showed up while Mike rested, and knocked on the door.

"Hi, Gwen!" said Sally as she opened the door to let her in. Once the books were out, Gwen started teaching math to Sally.

"I'm surprised at how proficient you are at calculus!" said Gwen. "You're only fifteen, and you're already at college level!"

"Oh, that reminds me," said Sally. "If I give you some cash, can you pick up some electronics books for me?"

"Sure!" Gwen replied.

The next day, Mike and Sally were dressed up in their costumes as they pulled up in a parking space at another mall. Sally waited in the car as Mike got out and headed in the direction of the mall. He turned around when he realized Sally wasn't coming in with him.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked.

"I'm waiting for you to open my door for me," Sally replied. Mike walked over and opened her door for her. They walked together toward the mall.

"Are you going to shrink for the audience?" Sally asked. "This is the first time you actually have shrinking powers!"

"I haven't made my mind up yet," Mike answered, "I still think it might be a good idea to keep my shrinking ability a secret. What do you think?"

"I don't think it matters. You could always tell them it was special effects or something."

As they walked through the doors to the mall, an older man in a business suit approached them. "Hi, you must be Micromage and the lovely Awesome-Girl... I'm Randall Threntwurst, the manager of this mall. This is the first time we've had an appearance like this, and there's a huge crowd waiting! I was getting worried you wouldn't show up!"

"Sally just takes a while to get ready," Mike said. Sally frowned at Mike.

"Is there a reason you're meeting us here at the door, Mr. Threntwurst?" Mike asked.

"Yes, there is," Randall answered, "we've had a threatening phone-call this morning. I'm assuming it's just a harmless hoax. I didn't want to evacuate on this big day!"

"If you're concerned about our safety," Mike said, "maybe we should leave and come back in a couple of months. We'll be back in this state at the end of summer,"

"I won't hear of it!" Randall said, "My mall needs this kind of publicity! If you left, it would look like we can't deliver on our promises! Do you know how big Micromage & Awesome-Girl are around here? There are throngs of kids lined up to get your autographs! We haven't had business like this since Lady Gaga made an appearance here!"

"Mike," Sally said, "don't be a chicken. It was probably a hoax or a prank call!"

"Yeah, you're probably right!" Mike said as they walked toward the staging area.

Meanwhile, outside, three vans pulled up and a group of ski-masked men holding machine guns jumped out of the side doors and hustled toward the doors of the mall. An older man saw them, and said: "Hey! Is this part of some kind of a show you're putting on?"

One of the gunmen shoved the butt of his weapon into the guy's head, and he fell over.

"Move, move, move!" the leader of the men shouted to the others.

Inside the mall, Mike and Sally were in position and waiting for the curtain to rise when the bandits ran in with their machine guns. Nobody was shot, but there was a lot of noise and shouting, and some women screamed in terror.

Mike jumped down from his platform and tried to disarm one of the suspects, but was knocked across the side of the head with the butt of a rifle and hit the floor. Mike was out cold!

Sally nursed the wound on his head by applying pressure to it, and listened to the demands of the gunmen.

"Okay! We made a phone call earlier to the director of this place, and we made a few demands!"

Sally looked at the director she had talked to a few minutes earlier, and frowned at him, knowing it was all somehow his fault.

"There's a vault," the gunman continued, "that is one hundred feet below this mall! Inside are valuable artifacts! I want these artifacts delivered within two hours, or I'll handcuff all of you, and rig this bomb to go off after we leave!"

Mike woke up. "Sally?" he asked.

"Shhh!" Sally replied, putting her fingers to his lips. "Be quiet!"

Two of the gunmen went around with chains and handcuffs, and cuffed the people one by one to the furniture of this part of the mall. He handcuffed Sally and Mike to each other, then attached a chain that connected them to a metal clothes rack.

"You can shrink and go find the vault!" Sally whispered to Mike. He adjusted his gauntlet, and activated the shrinking mechanism. He shrank down to an inch tall, and the handcuff he had been attached to was still normal sized. He had slipped right through it!

Sally picked him up in the palm of her hand, and said, "Good luck!" and released him.

Mike ran to an air vent, and used a knife to cut open a section he could climb through. Once inside the vent, he turned on the lighting system that was part of his costume that had at first been designed as a prop.

Just then, one of the gunmen approached Sally and asked: "What happened to the guy who was handcuffed to you?"

He raised his machine gun and took aim at Sally as she tried to think of an answer...

To Be Continued!