After a brisk walk around the corner, Mio and Sena stood behind a cliff, looking down at their two allies down on their fingertips. At such a scale, the tips of their nails was high enough to shield Noah and Lanz from the desert winds. Yet they still remained latched to a groove in their skin, as each step their colossal friends took felt like an elevator constantly rising and falling, with no way to tell when the trip will end. The two boys had only been this small for a couple of hours, yet they were completely exhausted. With the rough climb from earlier, as well as their minds still adjusting to the size of everything - including their best companions - their physical and mental fortitude was growing weaker.
“Alright, this should be a good spot.” Sena proclaimed, taking one more quick glance around to make sure they weren’t followed. “Now then…just what happened to you guys?”
“Noah, you tell ‘em.” Lanz commented, all four of them having to communicate through their Iris, as the smaller of the group was simply way too puny to be heard through normal means. Noah nodded, doing his best to recap the events that led up to this point. He explained the weird device they found that caused them to be shrunk, as well as meeting up with Leeda and finding Colony µ.
“So it actually is real…” Mio interrupted, finding the whole thing baffling. If it weren’t for the two of them appearing at this size right before her eyes, she never would have believed it at all. Noah continued the story, explaining just how small they actually are, as well as what the colony had requested of them in the first place. The only thing he omitted from the tale was the total massacre that had occurred under Mio’s foot, not wanting to scar the poor girl.
“Wait wait wait…you said you two are a hundredth of a micrometer? That’s like…super itty-bitty. I think the grains of sand around here are bigger than you two!” Sena blurted out, also completely shocked by the revelation. She tried to picture in her mind just how small that actually is, but the girl had more gall than brains, and didn’t really know how to visualize something that could only be normally viewed through microscopes.
“But that does explain what we saw earlier…” Mio spoke aloud. “To us, you guys actually appear as those little grains. But really, you guys aren’t even close to that size. That explains why it took so long to climb up our fingers.” A faint smile appeared on her face after speaking, personally amused by that little factoid.
“Yeah yeah we get it, we’re puny. Can we just move on from that now?” Lanz shouted, feeling a little flustered by all of this. Among the group, he’s known as the big, strong lunk. For him to be talked down to in such a manner really put a blow to his ego. But for now, he just had to toughen up and deal with it for the time being.
“Anyways, due to an…accident…” Noah picked up where he left off. “We’re stuck like this for now until Leeda can fix the machine.” Once again, he left out the fact that the fault in the accident was also Mio’s, but bringing up that fact wouldn’t change anything. But with that all taken care of, there wasn’t much the two shrunken adventurers could do now. They had already proven just how much of a task it was to climb up a single finger, so trying to do anything on their own would be a task only a fool would attempt.
“So for now, we can just get them that berry they asked for. I don’t think we’ll be able to find any parts for their machine out here though…” Mio spoke up, trying to figure out the best plan of action. Her mind thought about taking a detour to Colony 30, but the people and Nopons living there most likely won’t have any special parts for anyone that tiny. Just then, a smirk appeared on Sena’s face. She crept closer to her best friend, whispering within earshot of her.
“Hey Mimi…we don’t have to do that right away.” Sena playfully teased. “Think about it. It’s just one little berry, that shouldn’t be too hard to get. And since we have the boys like this literally in our hands, why don’t we have some fun with them?” A quick little giggle escaped her lips, just thinking of the prospect. Mio thought about it for a moment, quickly glancing down at her fingertip. There he was, her man completely at her mercy. If she wanted, all she would have to do is shake her finger and he’d fly right off. All that power started to flow inside her mind, her cat ears perking up as a sign of visible excitement. The giddy catgirl glanced back to her friend, an even bigger smile forming on her face.
“You’re right, Sena. How about you and I split up for now so we can have our own fun with them?” Just like that, Mio’s tone shifted completely. One second she was concerned, and now all she wanted to do was have some fun with her special someone that was in no position to decline. Sena cheered, bouncing her shoulders in excitement as well. Now that the two of them had come to a mutual agreement on what to do next, Sena walked off even further west, while Mio stayed behind, her sly smile perfectly content as she glared down at her fingertip holding her microscopic partner.
Once Sena was out of view, Mio found a flat rock nearby, one roughly the size of a queen bed, and sat down on her knees on one end of it. Still holding that playful smirk, she slowly lowered her hand down carrying her little friend as close as possible to the rock. Then in one quick, swift motion, Mio twisted her wrist, turning her finger upside-down. She giggled to herself, watching that teensy red dot fall down to the surface in front of her. What delighted her even more was now knowing just how extreme the fall actually is, given his actual size. But knowing her Noah, something like this won’t be too much to handle.
For Mio, the distance between fingertip and ground was barely a centimeter. For Noah, it was like being pushed out of an airplane without a parachute. He could feel the wind crash against his body as he reached terminal velocity before even making it down a quarter of a centimeter. All his military training up until now could not have prepared him for this. Instinctively, Noah clenched his body, tucking himself into a ball as he flipped himself around mid-air so his feet were facing the ground. Upon impact, he rolled forward, using the momentum to lessen the blow. Thankfully because of his size, the rock was more like a grittier version of the desert they were already in. The color of the sand was more maroon, and the grains were more uneven than usual due to erosion. Once again, Noah was shocked at the unfamiliar landscape around him. But at least he still wasn’t alone. Way high up in the sky was his friend, who loomed what seemed like hundreds of miles above him.
“So Noah…why don’t we play a little game?” Mio cooed, winking down at the little red speck before her. “We’ll play some cat and mouse. You run around, and I’ll chase you down. And just to make things fair, I won’t even use my hands.” The whole time the catgirl was smiling to herself, amused with every single aspect about this whole situation. But for Noah, he was petrified. He could not believe what he was hearing. How could one of his best friends find this whole thing amusing? Just a single breath is more than enough to whisk him away at this state. “I’ll even let you get a ten second head start. Better start running, my little Nano-ah.” Mio teased, giving him a more fitting nickname.
“Mio?! What’s gotten into you?!” Noah yelled furiously up to the sky, his monolithic friend taking up his entire field of view. But all Mio did was slightly tilt her head and smile, her cat ears twitching as if they were waving down at him. Seeing as this game was serious now, Noah gritted his teeth and sprinted in the opposite direction as fast as his little legs could carry him. The minuscule boy felt like he had never ran so fast in his entire life, constantly running around boulder-sized grains and hopping over minute cracks in the floor. If it weren’t for the dangerous threat peering down at him, he would have felt proud of his physique.
Mio watched with blissful anticipation as that little red dot scurried around in front of her. What shocked her the most was seeing Noah actually moving around, despite his current size situation. But just like that, those ten seconds are up. “Better watch out, Noah. If you’re not fast enough, this will suck for you.” Mio teased as she slowly bent her back forward, her breasts shaking as she descends down. In less than a second, Mio had caught up to the little sprinter, her titanic face glaring down at the red dot before her. The force of her blinks were strong enough at Noah’s size that he could feel the breeze flowing through every time that happened. But Mio had a much bigger plan. Internally giggling, she leaned just a smidgen bit forward, and then…
SNIFF SNIFF
There was nothing Noah could do from the hurricane gale force that was Mio simply inhaling. He felt his whole body rise up into the air much faster than he was going when falling earlier. Little microscopic grains of dust joined him along for the ride, showing Noah just what he truly was now to the rest of the world. In less than a millisecond, the barren wasteland was replaced now by a dark, foggy cave. Noah grunted as he felt his body smack against something hard, but he couldn’t move as the surface was rather sticky too. He tried to get a better view of the surroundings, but there was only one source of light at the entrance to the tunnel. Using his Iris, he was able to enhance his vision a bit to get a better view, but he couldn’t believe what he was seeing this time either. In front of him was a gigantic black pillar that was swaying back and forth. Turning his head, he could see that it was similar to the structure his body was stuck to as well. But there was a slimy liquid holding him in place, restricting his movement - a huge glob of mucus that secreted from the walls of the chamber he was trapped in.
“Mio! This isn’t funny anymore!” Noah roared out. He could hear his voice echo from the nasal chamber he was strapped into. All the little soldier could do now was squirm around to try and break off any of the bits of snot confining him.
Mio sat back up, satisfied with her performance. Looking back down at the surface of the rock before her, she noticed that red dot was now gone. “Heh, I thought you would have put up more of a fight than that.” Mio stated, feeling superior after such a one-sided fight. Through her Iris, she could hear the displeased noises her petite pal was making, which pleased her even more, much to his chagrin. “Oh, is the mighty Ouroboros losing to a little nose hair? We’ve defeated Moebius, surely that won’t be a problem for you?” Her voice was condescending now, really feeling this huge shift in power as her partner was literally inside of her now.
Noah continued to struggle. Seeing as he wasn’t going to be getting any help from the outside world anytime soon, it was up to him to save his own day, less he make a cute, petite nose his resting chamber. With the two hairs so close to one another, they blocked the constant airflow of Mio’s subconscious inhales and exhales. From the mite-y warrior’s perspective, these humongous nose hairs were now a new enemy, and he knew the best way to take care of his enemies. Noah tightened his hands into fists, focusing all his effort into his right arm, grunting and straining himself trying to free his arm. After much painstaking effort, he was rewarded as his arm was now free from the sticky surface, allowing Noah to call forth his blade. With an actual weapon in hand, Noah carefully sliced through the wall of snot, freeing himself from captivity.
But now he needed a way out. Trying to walk out of the nose at his size would be nigh impossible, given the currents flowing through the chamber. But he did have one option available now. Noah unsheathed his secret weapon from his blade, calling forth Lucky Seven - a weapon that can slice through any surface. He had destroyed many Flame Clocks before with this thing, so a strand of hair should be no problem. He took a quick breath in and steadied his focus before going in quick, slicing the base of the pillar he was formerly attached to. The tower fell, landing in front of Noah with a heavy thud, causing the small fighter to land on his butt.
The drastic change happening inside Mio’s nose caused her to feel a strange tingling sensation. She wiggled her nose, leaning her head back, tensing up her shoulders for what was about to happen. Mio gasped, then gasped again, until finally…
ACHOO!
Mio jerked her head forward as she let out a sneeze, glancing down at the ground. For Noah, he once again yelled out in agony as his body went sailing through the air again. Like last time, he wasn’t alone as little specks of mucus joined him for the ride, sticking to his body once more as he plummeted down to the ground. But since it was Mio, there was one roadblock in the way between him and the floor. Once again the tiny hero braced himself, but was shocked to learn his landing was softer than before. Standing up on his feet, he looked around and notice the area was as pale as Mio’s fingertip.
Mio stood up to wipe her nose with her arm, shaking her head after that ungraceful display. “Noah, you okay?” she asked, looking around to try and find him. But a quick glance down dispelled her worries. Right on her right breast was a little red dot. And in that little red dot was an even littler Noah stuck in one of the canyon-like ridges of her skin. All Mio could do was giggle at his little plight. “Well, looks like you got out of that cave in one piece. Come on, let’s go rest up a bit.” She whispered happily down at her little speck, slowly strolling back to the campsite. The ground slightly shook beneath Noah, causing him to hold on tight the whole trip back to base. With her man in tow, she wondered if Sena and Lanz were having just as much fun as she did.