"Contestant #2!"

The reverb of his own voice from the sound system made the seat's legs tremble.

Mark had made his decision. No matter what Gail's monolithic ass or the voice distortion hid, he had a sense that the second one was the most grounded. Someone he could trust.

With fingers drumming on the side, the host slid the mic back to her face. "You heard the Hero, he's going with Number Two! Let's pull back the curtain and reveal your match!" She slowly peeled her backside from the seat. His tiny frame lifted partly with it, squished against the right cheek, and glued with sweat. He soon slipped off the tights, breathing with relief as her hefty posterior ascended. The geddup noise squeaked when her hips pushed the chair back. His senses of smell, sight, and touch gently drifted back. The ceiling lights burned. He still felt breathless. The monolith in purple pulled back the screen, which was mostly a courtesy at this point. Before his eyes, on the stage's other side, Gail unveiled the three contestants:

On the nearest stool, holding a "1" on paper, was Kat. He suspected it was her, from her mentions of costumes and pop; but this confirmed it. Her pink wig flew around her shoulders as she shrugged back. She didn't seem too fazed about that rejection - in fact, she was paying more attention to the attendees than her "prop", fluttering between seated poses.

At the second spot was a girl holding a "3". Her hair was green, with four ponytails, and she wore a simple shirt. Despite her short height, she still greatly outsized Mark. Her facial features bore barely-chained smugness and weariness, both betraying her less-than-generous proportions. The smiling imp silently mouthed out: "Rigged. It's fucking rigged." This whole panel looked less and less legal by the second.

And in the furthest seat, holding a "2", awaited a surprise for Mark. Thea sat there. Her lips were in a perfect "o" shape, while her backside shifted awkwardly, cornered. "But I was... Uh..." She folded her gauntlets inwards to her cleavage window, goosebumps lifting across her brown skin. "I was just holding this spot, so that... uh..."

Mark, catching the last of his breath, rubbed his eyes. Yes, that was the /co/splayer, shuddering. Was she trying to grab Kat's device? Trying to make sure nobody worse got their hands on him? Or... something else.

"And theeeere we have it! We've brought together another perfect match! Looks like they know each other already, that" Gail spread her hand out towards the winner, cutting her off. She reached her other hand in the red box of Pocky, sliding one out and into her awaiting lips. With that done, she lifted Mark with her fingertips, the fleshy surfaces squeezing his sides - and placed him on the chocolate stick. He sat on it, balancing over the multiple-foot drop to the floor. The sweet biscuit surface supported him; but the only path anywhere was towards Thea's cavernous mouth. Her jaw was frozen in place, overwhelming brown pupils crossed onto him.

With all eyes on him, both onstage and off, Mark realized he should play along to get off quickly. Any longer was torture. And not only for him; it'd mean more time that Thea was in close contact with the tiny people she was so scared of. With other contestants, this game would lead to a kiss; but he could just nibble away at the opposite side of his platform.

Suddenly, the ground lunged up and down beneath him. His gloved hands grasped the end, stuck slightly in the melted coating. On the other end, Thea slowly sucked in, trying to keep it parallel to the ground. Her nose twitched, as if trying to escape her face. She got the message and played along, carefully swallowing the chocolate rod. Mark chewed away, trying to get his own helping.

Despite everything, it DID taste nice.

While the two were playing, the third contestant walked offstage. Mark let out a happy sigh. Kat started to get up, a concerned expression on her face. "Are you really okay with this, Thea?"

Thea's eyes, before you, flashed in her direction. Unable to speak, nod, or shake her head - lest the shrunken genius drop down to her feet once more - she gave a limp, shaky thumbs-up. But soon, her pupils shrunk, and she nearly leaped back. It jostled Mark, forcing him to stay on. He soon saw, too.

Gail was reaching into Kat's purse. "So, this is where you'd keep a tiny person, you say?"

"Hey! Thief!" The Great Fairy cosplayer grabbed her, clutching on the purple sweater's sleeve. The host smacked it aside with a brutal swipe from her other hand. And with the same venomous, knowing expression, Gail tugged out two people. Both the suited man from the convention's start, and the shrunken woman from the last panel.

The crowd stared up, chattering. Some started to climb onstage. But soon, the host held her hand up, stopping them. "Don't worry. I'm with security." She peered in closer to the girl, a hand on her hip. "This morning, ReDeath's presenter disappeared mysteriously, along with another woman. And we started seeing posts on social media of a tiny Link cosplayer... the latter of which didn't have an official pass."

Thea's nibbles became quicker. Mark eyed her incoming mouth cautiously. Kat sat still, scratching the back of her ear. "So? Are you gonna ban him?"

The shrunken teen rolled his eyes. Way to throw him under the bus there.

The tiny man flailed his arms within the host's hold. "It's her! She shrunk us, Gail!"

Beside him, the woman grabbed onto Gail's hand. "Careful! She still has a shrinking portal!"

Gail nodded. "As we thought. There were signs of someone sneaking in a size portal. This room has with portal-blocking signals. Since the two people in that picture seemed very much in love," she snickered to herself, "I arranged this dating panel with the staff to lure the suspects in. They even gave me this strange costume to bring the guard down." Rubbing the sleeve, she deposited Kat's two victims next to her black boots. "Honestly, purple isn't my color."

Glaring at the tiny boy, the girl in the pink wig got up. "You shouldn't have come in my room!"

"It was your idea!" Mark tossed back. "You stole that device from me!"

Thea finally bit down on the chocolate stick, overcome with tension. She gulped, and caught Mark in her gauntlet, breaking his fall. "J-just tell them how it happened. Don't dig yourself deeper, either of you..."

"Butt out!" Kat shouted. "I don't need your self-righteousness now!"

Mark screamed back: "You're the one who said you'd only shrink people who deserved it!"

Gail started typing something on her phone. "Sneaking weapons in is a serious violation. Kidnapping, even more. This could be bigger than the Yaoi Paddle incident of '07. We'll get the authorities in to question you all soon."

"I just..." Her right hand around the tiny portal device, Kat clenched a fist. "...I just wanted to have a fun convention! I can't even - I'm done! I'm just done!" She fired a portal underneath the purple woman's feet.

The host stepped back, staring at the floor. "But... That jammer! It should block portal signals! Unless... Someone modded the device? But that's - impossible!?" For the first time that day, Gail looked truly shocked.

Mark slapped his face. Sparks were flying from the miniaturized machine. It looked like it was holding up against the portal-jamming signal, if only barely. Why did he have to be such a genius?

Kat shot again, opening the other side of the portal above her handbag.

With a scream, Gail fell in, tumbling into the leathery opening.

The crowd, who'd been staring dumbly the whole time, started screaming. Some climbed onstage to retrieve the other shrinkees; but Kat fired again, her bare arm lifting with the recoil. They diminished, joining their companions in the bag.

Thea jumped forward. "Stop! They haven't done anything!"

"Shut up - they were going to hurt you!" Kat screamed back.

Others raced for the door. The Great Fairy fired once more, making a portal that replaced the door out. They, too, fell into her bag. "Trying to tattle on me? I'm fixing this convention for you!"

Then, from the sparking device, she made one massive portal out of the floor. Before Mark and Thea's eyes, the whole crowd of attendees - colourful cosplayers, boys, girls, even the third contestant - sunk in. They flailed and grabbed each other as the aperture shut.

Thea panted. She stamped in place. "You can't... You can't... No..." Her neck turned, as they plopped one after another into the purse.

Mark bounced up and down in her hand. He never imagined it'd end up like this! A whole crowd downsized, because of his device. "Do something!" He shouted up to her.

"Wh-what do you want?" She looked back to her friend, then to this tiny guy. He could hear her pulse racing behind the midriff-revealing outfit. With a long, harsh gasp, Thea lunged for the bag, snatching it back from near Kat's seat.

The Great Fairy cosplayer's arm went limp. "You, too? You're on my side here, Thea! We're friends!"

"I can't - I'm trying stop you from getting arrested..." Thea's voice was loud to begin, but started to shrink by the end. Her fingers shook. "Oh gosh, tiny people in my hands..."

Her friend reached the portal device up, and took a long gulp. "He's gotten to you. Put Link down. Put the bag down. This isn't you. I can help." She forced a smile.

Thea's heel brushed around the floor. "I-I don't... I don't need your help! And neither do they!" She turned, dashing out, with Mark in one gauntlet, and the bag in another.

Kat lifted the sparking device up, taking aim...

And kept it there.

"Thea... Thea, you didn't... But I was trying to... make it fun..."

She kept sputtering as her friend exited, with the shrunken attendees in-hand.

She couldn't do it.