Not A Toy 128

Jenna stared into the now imposing face of Maisie, who held her aloft with ease, both women briefly transfixed by their sudden shift in stature. The pair had gotten used to looking each other in the eye; to being equals in this bizarre predicament. Now, however, Jenna was much smaller, and it was a stark reminder of how strange a rabbit hole they had tumbled down.

At last, Jenna managed a response to Maisie's question, as the tiny teacher tried to reassert herself. "N-No, I'm not alright! Put me down!"

Maisie, for her part, was taken aback by the miniscule woman's outburst and quickly acquiesced. Setting her down in front of her, the graduate couldn't even parse how tall her would-be job interviewer was now. Her sense of scale had been completely thrown off over the last eighteen hours.

Jenna looked up, and up, and as her eyes locked with the younger of the pair, she stamped her feet angrily, her emotions bubbling over. "Shrunk?! Again?! Urgh! That woman... when I get back to normal, I'm going to..."

Maisie looked on as Jenna ranted and admittedly became distracted as she took in the sight. The teacher's voice was slightly higher pitched now, not comically so, but enough to notice - but more than that, this was the first time she had been much taller than another person and had a moment to actually soak it in. The last time Jenna had been shrunk, it had been in a panic and Maisie had soon followed; the graduate hoped that pattern would not repeat itself. Still, even as the older woman ranted and raved, Maisie admitted she hadn't been following much of what was being said.

As it appeared the teacher's outburst had come to an end, the younger woman just nodded dumbly. "Right, of course!" She added, unconvincingly.

Maisie was shaken back to reality not by Jenna's anger, but the sound of conflict on the other side of the room. As far as the younger woman could tell, it looked like that dark haired girl was shrinking too! Not good!

Wait, that meant...looking at them both; Sophie had shrunk too?! Just what the hell was going on? Maisie realized the situation was nearing a tipping point. Could she really just sit here and wait for a victor to emerge or was there something she should do?! As she pondered, she realized if there was action to be taken; it was going to have to be her who did it. Jenna wasn't exactly in a position to help anymore, given that she looked barely as tall as Maisie's knees...

As Maisie and Jenna grappled with a shift in stature, Nathalie was forced to do the same as she grappled with Sophie for the device. Both women had no idea if she was going to stop shrinking, or would end up much smaller, and so both had to fight as though the answer was unclear. Nathalie had to do something, if she ended up like the other two women in Sophie's study then she'd be stuck at her colleague's mercy, and after seeing those two tiny people - that was a fate that the woman did not desire.

"I'm shrinking...!" Nathalie roared through gritted teeth. "Because you shot me with that stupid thing!" She threw her weight against Sophie, the redhead responding by pivoting her feet, wrenching the device from Nathalie's reach but stepping backwards into the hall as she did so. The two dwindled women now looking more akin to petulant, angry pre-teens as they wrestled through the house.

"Just relax! I can explain!" Sophie squeaked between yelps as she tried to take charge. The scientist relieved she had zapped Nathalie at all, if her colleague had been her regular size then this confrontation would have been over quickly.

Nathalie didn't believe Sophie for a second, and with her dwindling strength, she took the drastic action she knew she needed to. One hand slipped free of their entanglement, which was grasped and pushed down by Sophie, just as Nathalie's other armstruck upwards. The redhead saw the strike coming for her face and instinctively rose her hand to defend herself - and the shrinking woman's attack collided with the device.

It had been heavy in Sophie's grip, and she underestimated Nathalie's strength, as her prized invention was sent flying from her hand! As it did, the entangled pair tumbled clumsily to the floor. Sophie landing on her backside as Nathalie came to her hands and knees, barely aware of her own underwear that had glided down her legs in the chaos.

The wrestling pair screamed as they fell, loudly crashing to the floor as another bang punctuated their graceless tumble.

It was enough to yank Maisie's attention towards them, her nerves and anxiety peaked as they did, her hands struck forward and took hold of Jenna under her arms. The graduate had acted without thinking and easily lifted the tiny teacher into her grip.

"H-Hey! Woah!" The naked woman squealed as seemingly huge hands lifted her off her feet. Her legs squirming in the air. It was reflexive for Maisie, and protective - and the latter was hard for Jenna to appreciate.

In the hall, time froze as the two women watched the shrink ray fly. Nathalie felt her dress collapse across her frame, beyond ill-fitting, as Sophie sat dumbfounded in her equally oversized sleepshirt. Both women silently willing the device to somehow magically fly back to their respective grip, but their hopeful visions were shattered by the device thudding to the ground. The collision causing the device to make a noise that both scientists concluded was less than ideal.

Still, it came to rest without ceremony, not several feet away from them...