Shrink to Fit

(Cubed Cinder)

Ness sighed as he lagged behind watching both his mother and younger sister ooooooh and aaaaaah over almost every window in the shopping mall.
“Oooooh, look at this outfit, Mommy!” Tracy, his younger sister, shouted.
“Aaaaah, yes! I agree that looks nice. Would you like to try it on?” Mom said.
“Yes, please!” Tracy said.
“Sorry, Ness. But don’t worry, we’ll be going home after this stop.” Mom said.
“It’s okay, Mom.” Ness said, doing his best not to show any looks that might discomfort either his mother or his younger sister. Even then, he was sure Mom could feel his eagerness to get home soon and just had to tough it out for however long it took.

As Ness and his family walked around the last of the clothing stores they planned to visit, Ness suddenly stopped walking when he noticed a hat sitting on one of the counters. What caught his eye wasn’t just the fact it exactly resembled the cap he always wore, especially since it was a model no longer being made, but the description that a piece of paper used to describe the cap.
“Magical Cap! Use it to explore places never once thought possible!” Ness said as he read the paper.
“Okay... not sure how a cap could do that, but...” Ness said, but was then cut off by his mother.
“Oh? I see you’re looking at the hats. That one looks wonderful, doesn’t it?” Mom said.
“Well, yeah... but...” Ness said.
“It’s okay, Ness! I’ll buy it for you! I mean, it’s not like those expensive Super Nintendo cartridges you’re always wishing for...” Mom said as she took the cap off the shelf and gave it to Ness, then running to catch up with Tracy. Ness just stood in place for a few seconds, and then finally shrugged his shoulders and caught up with the rest of his family, keeping the cap in his hands.

It took a couple hours, but the ladies had finally had enough and it was time (after draining a lot of money from Dad’s bank account) to head on home. Finally, the family was back from the massive mall in Fourside and had returned to their cozy home in Onett. Ness immediately greeted his dog, King, who ran up to him as he closed the front door.
“Heya, King. It’s good to see you too.” Ness said.
“(Yes... now bring on the dog chow! I need my nourishment too you know!)” King said. Ness was able to understand these words being able to speak with animals telepathically.
“King’s probably hungry because we’ve been gone for so long.” Ness said.
“Yes, I agree. Don’t worry, Ness. I’ll feed him like we always do. First I gotta make dinner!” Mom said.
“I’m gonna go try on these new clothes in my room!” Tracy shouted as she ran up the stairs to her bedroom.
“Oh my! Slow down, Tracy!” Mom shouted.
“Well, might as well see how ‘magical’ this cap really is.” Ness said as he went up the steps and into his own bedroom. King, meanwhile, jumped onto the couch and relaxed while waiting for his food.

After entering his bedroom and sitting down on the bed to take a breather, Ness glared down at his newly acquired cap. He took his current one (the one he always wore) off and rested it on the pillow. He looked the new one over, still astonished it looked exactly like his old one... including the blue bill.
“Well, time to put it on.” Ness said. He did just that, putting the cap firmly on his head. He was initially surprised at how perfectly the cap fit his head.
But then it happened.
“Huh? What the?” Ness said. He suddenly watched as sparkling stars suddenly rained down in front of him. There was also a twinkling sound that he felt eminating over his head. The stars got brighter and the twinkling got progressively louder.
“What’s happening?” Ness asked. And then his vision was a bright white. He had to shield his eyes.

When he finally felt the very bright light dying down, Ness opened his eyes. He was seeing a totally different scenery.
“What? Where?” Ness asked himself. He looked around and felt he wasn’t in his room anymore. In fact, he didn’t recognize the city he seemed to be teleported too. The buildings all were different shades of brown but no windows to speak of. Even weirder, the sky was gray. Cloudy skies, perhaps? Maybe he was in a forest instead. Many thoughts ran through his head on where he wound up, but one thing was constant...
“Something tells me I’m not in Onett anymore.” Ness said as he slowly walked around trying to figure out where he was. But as he would soon find out, he was still in Onett. In fact, he was still in a very familiar place, and it took a very familiar voice to confirm that.
“Hey, big brother!” the suddenly very, very loud voice of Tracy said. Ness was obviously taken by surprise over the decibel level of his sister’s voice.
“WHOA!” Ness said. And before he could say anything more, he was suddenly at a loss of words. Because here came his sister... and she was almost as big as the fabled Mt. Itoi.
“T...T...Tracy!?” Ness said to himself. That’s when it fully hit him.
“This... this is my room! This cap shrunk me to ant size! Smaller than ant size!!” Ness shouted out of disbelief. Ness quickly tried to remove the cap and reverse the shrinking effect, but there was one massive problem.
“The cap! It’s stuck!” Ness said.
“Huh? Where did he go?” Tracy said as she walked around the room. Each step the young girl took sounded like the loudest clap of thunder possible to the microscopic Ness.
“Darn it! Why can’t I get this thing off!?” Ness shouted. And then, from one massive problem to another, Ness looked up and saw the black bottom of Tracy’s shiny red shoe. It seemed to stretch on for miles as it lowered itself down towards him.
“*gulp*” Ness said nervously. He began to wonder just how quick and painful this kind of death would be...

Ness ducked as low as he could get, even if he also felt it wouldn’t do him any good when he would be crushed to paste. But when he heard the thundering boom above his head, he opened his eyes and looked up. It was pitch black, but he felt no pain whatsoever. Eventually, the blackness was almost immediately removed, almost blinding him with the sudden change of light. It was Tracy stepping away from where Ness was standing and walking to another spot in the room. Ness stood still for a moment, trying to digest what just happened.
“What the...?” Ness said. That’s when he looked around his surroundings one more time and started to piece together where he was and how he was able to survive.
“Wait, now I understand! I must be inside one of the cracks of this old wooden floor...” Ness said. He chuckled a bit. Those many crevices and cracks that his mother vowed to one day get rid of with some new wooden flooring ended up saving his life. But it dawned on him on how small he shrunk if he was able to fit even in there.
“But for me to fit in there... that’s how small I’ve become... Jeff would probably find that astonishing.” Ness said as he started to climb his way out from the crack. He looked out in the distance and saw the seemingly giga-sized Tracy, who for some reason was now looking under his bed.
“Hmmm... nope. He’s not under there.” Tracy said. Even from a distance, her voice still was eardrum busting for the shrunken boy. Tracy then looked up at one of the windows.
“Maybe he snuck out of the house again? I guess I’ll have to tell Mom. But first... I gotta try that new watermelon dress first!” Tracy said. As the young girl made her way out of Ness’s room, the microscopic boy could only watch as the giantess left his room.
“I’ve gotta get her attention somehow. But first I gotta get to her room...” Ness said to himself. After finishing his climb up from the crack in the floor, he looked out in the distance and gulped. It was a looooooooong way out of his room. He also took note of all the other cracks in the floor that looked like pitfalls from his perspective.
“Time to summon my inner Super Mario...” Ness said to himself as he gave his legs a couple of stretches. Then he started running, jumping over whatever hurdles came his way.
But thanks to his incredibly small size (probably not even a millimeter tall by his best guess), it took several minutes for Ness to finally make it out of his room despite running at a good speed. While running, he could hear the brief conversation taking place downstairs between his mother and sister.
“Mommy! I think Ness snuck out of the house again!” Tracy said.
“Oh, you know how your older brother is. Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll be home soon, especially since I’m making steak again!” Mom said.
“Well, okay. I’m gonna try my new watermelon dress now!” Tracy said.
“Okay! I can’t wait to see it!” Mom said. Ness stopped his running as he saw Tracy coming up the steps again. He was cautious to make sure she didn’t step into his room again, but instead she made the left turn into her own room, closing the door behind her. Ness took a deep breath.

“I know I’m going into dangerous territory, but Tracy may be my only hope.” Ness said to himself. He went back into a sprint despite heavy breathing from all that running before. He easily made it underneath the door to Tracy’s room (which felt like 50-100 feet up from where he was standing). Once inside, he saw Tracy twirling around, already wearing one of her new dresses that he recognized from the shopping mall.
“Hehe! I look so watermelony!” Tracy said. As Ness wondered how he was going to get his sister’s attention, he suddenly had to take cover inside another one of the cracks as Tracy started walking towards where he was standing.
“Yikes!” Ness shouted as he took cover. But Tracy stopped walking after only a couple steps.
“Oops... better tie my shoelaces!” Tracy said. Indeed, the young girl reached down and started to tie up her shoelaces. Ness looked up from the crevice in the floor and noticed Tracy doing just that. On top of that, one of those loose shoelaces was a couple handful of yards away from where he was standing.
“Chance!” Ness quickly shouted as he sprinted towards the shoelace. He was successfully able to make it on, and he quickly climbed up it... making it to the top of Tracy’s left shoe right as she was reaching down to touch the shoelaces there. Ness had to run forward to avoid being trapped underneath the gigantic shoelaces, which Tracy tied up with incredible speed. Once she was done, Ness ran back towards the shoelaces and gripped as much of them as his microscopic body would allow.
“There, that’s better! Now to show Mom this new dress!” Tracy said. She opened up her door and made her way downstairs to the bottom floor of the house. Ness could only hold on for the very bumpy ride.
“Well... at least I’ll get downstairs this way.” Ness said.

As soon as Tracy was finished descending the stairs, she walked right up to her mother in the kitchen, who right away turned around when she heard the sound of her shoes clomping on the wooden floor. Tracy’s sudden stop in her walking caused Ness to fly off her shoe. This time he landed on something that felt soft, and it didn’t take him long to figure out where he landed.
“These are Mom’s fuzzy red slippers...” Ness said.
“Well, Mommy? What do you think?” Tracy said.
“Awww... you look beautiful, Tracy!” Mom said.
“Hehe, I know! Can you help me decide what to try on next?” Tracy said.
“Okay, sure! Now that dinner’s cooking...” Mom said. Ness heard all this and naturally didn’t want to head back upstairs after all the trouble he went through to go downstairs. So he slipped down after fighting his way through the thick fuzz of his ultra huge Mom’s slippers and was now back on the wooden floor, watching the huge ladies make their way back up the stairs.
That’s when Ness fully realized the sheer direness of his situation, especially when trying to get the attention of a normal-sized person.
“(sigh) It’s no good. I’m just way too small. Even a dust bunny probably couldn’t hear me.” Ness said. He then looked all the way out to the front door of his home.
“But I can’t give up... not now! Huh... wait...” Ness said. Suddenly he had a vision.
“Paula! Paula!! Yes, maybe she can help me! But how do I get to Twoson especially at this size?” Ness said. Again, he had a vision that gave him an idea.
“Oh yeah! Teleport Alpha... it lets me run very fast to one city.” Ness said. It was a brilliant, and maybe also reckless, plan, and one that he hoped would work. First and foremost was to get out of the house, and he spent the next several minutes jumping over more ‘pitfalls’ in the wooden floor. He got pretty wet when King sneezed from atop the couch as Ness ran by, but he didn’t let that stop him.
Finally, after crawling underneath the front door just like he did with the door to Tracy’s room, Ness was outside. Already he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Oh my... these blades of grass... they must be 10 to 15 stories high!” Ness said. He had to duck down when a gigantic butterfly decided to fly close to the ground. But then he stood up and took a deep breath.
“Well, it won’t be easy... but my road to Twoson begins nevertheless. PSI Teleport! Alpha!” Ness shouted. He charged headlong towards the green forest that were the many blades of grass beyond his house... only to already crash into one of them and have his body be covered in ashes. Ness quickly shook them off.
“(sigh) So much for the direct teleport plan. I’ll just have to use the super speed part of the spell to weave my way around this forest and still get to Twoson in a short time.” Ness said. So Ness started running again, this time around 60-70 miles per hour, and made as many jumps and dives as he could to keep from running into more blades of grass. It was an exhausting and tedious process, but eventually he made it onto the dirt path where he had less supersized objects to dodge.

His trip, however, would hit a snag upon arriving in the city of Onett.

Ness finally arrived in the town of Onett, which looked bigger than even the biggest city from his perspective. He would never look at the rundown hamburger place he always visited the same as he ran by it, although he had to take care in dodging the absolutely massive pedestrians that roamed around town. All it took was one false step and it was GAME OVER for him.
Speaking of GAME OVER, Ness looked out in the distance as he was running and saw he was coming up on the arcade.
"Okay, there's the arcade. Just beyond that is the path to Twoson." Ness said.

However, he suddenly had to come to a screeching halt in front of the restaurant that was next to the arcade, and it wasn't because of anything massive standing in his way. Instead, it was an army of Black Antoids. They were all normally quite small, and yet very formidable opponents thanks to their great power. But today, they looked twice the size of Ness... and with very angry looks on their faces.
"There you are, child of the Eight Melodies! We've been expecting you no matter what size or shape you come in!" the Antoids said all together.
"You... You have?" Ness said nervously.
"Yes, and now you will pay for destroying our master!" the Antoids said. Ness knew they were talking about the time he defeated Titanic Ant during his quest a while back to defeat Giygas. He would've thought they would be calm and forget the whole thing after the influence of Giygas' evil was evaporated... but clearly that was not the case. And with no weapons like an aluminum baseball bat on hand to combat against the evil ants, Ness knew he was in trouble.
"Now can't we just talk about this? You know... from one tiny life form to another?" Ness said as he started to back away from the nasty looking Antoids.
“CHARGE!!!” they all shouted as they began to storm towards Ness.

Before Ness could start running away, suddenly he felt saved because a humongous white wall slammed down on the Antoids, crushing all of them flat. Before Ness could gradually work his eyes upward and see what it was that nearly crushed him but saved him from the Antoids, he had to cover his ears from the powerfully loud voice.
“Ugh... how can you boys still be breathing after chowing down on those monster burgers? They must be a million calories!” the female voice said. Ness immediately recognized the voice belonging to the popular female singer from Twoson, Venus. She often traveled with the Runaway Five... and speaking of the Runaway Five, Ness looked over to his left and could see two of the members proceeding to walk out of the restaurant. Specifically, they were Lucky and Gorgeous, wearing their red and green attires respectively. Ness, with no time to think, quickly latched himself onto Venus’s white high-heeled shoe.
“Mama mia, Venus! You should try one of those burgers! They’re so delicio!” Lucky said.
“He’s right, you know. They make my mustache want to sparkle with glee.” Gorgeous said.
“Whatever, gents. Can’t we just get back to Twoson already? We’re going to be late for rehearsals!” Venus said.
“Right you are, m’lady! Race you, Gorgeous?” Lucky said.
“You’re on!” Gorgeous said as the two took off running, curiously as if they were athletic plumbers racing to save a damsel from distress.
“Hey, wait! Ugh... men.” Venus said. Not wanting to get her shoes or dress dirty (she told them to bring the bus on their short road trip to Onett, but would they listen? Noooooooooo!), Venus walked at a much slower pace. Of course, that was just fine for the microscopic Ness, who could only hold on for dear life as he got the ride of a lifetime on Venus’s right foot.

Eventually, Ness’s bravery and courage (or foolishness if Poo were around to judge him) would pay off, as by the time Venus finally stopped her walking, she was standing outside the Chaos Theater where Lucky and Gorgeous were already waiting for her.
“Ah, there you are, Venus! We were afraid some monster in a spiky turtle shell had captured you.” Lucky said.
“What!? Have you been playing those crazy video games again, brother?” Gorgeous said.
“I can’t help it, they’re so addictive and...” Lucky said.
“Can we just get inside, PLEASE!?!?!?!?!?!?!?” Venus shouted from the top of her lungs. The two singers immediately ran inside the entrance to the theater, with Venus storming her way inside behind them. Ness jumped off right before Venus could start walking again, almost getting crushed by one of the heels in the process. Ness took several deep breaths, thankful to still be alive after all that.
“Man... imagine if she saw Mr. Spoon at this size.” Ness said to himself. But he quickly shook that thought off after remembering where he now was thanks to the inconspicuous lift by Venus.
“Alright, I’m in Twoson. Now to get to Polestar PreSchool...” Ness said. He looked down the long stretch of road that seemed to stretch for miles from his perspective.
“Oh Paula... I hope you can help me.” Ness said as he began to run at high speed using PSI Teleport Alpha, again making sure not to run at the speed that would allow him to warp.

Even though it was a shorter distance from the Chaos Theater to the school compared to the distance from his home to the town of Onett itself, it still took several minutes of running and dodging gigantic objects, both living and non-living, to finally reach his destination. As soon as he started navigating his way through the forest of very tall grass blades, a bell suddenly rang in the air.
“Oh spit!” Ness shouted, immediately recognizing the bell to mean the end of classes for the day. As a result, he could hear AND feel a distant rumbling that were quickly getting louder and shakier by the second. Ness darted to the side right at the last moment as a swarm of giant kids came running out by where he had been standing. When the last of the huge kids went running by, Ness took several deep breaths.
“Whew... I would’ve been splattered by those kids had I not heard that bell. But at least it should just be Paula and her family inside the building now.” Ness said. Indeed, had he arrived at the school earlier, he likely would’ve had to deal with a whole bunch of giant kids who would no doubt treat him like a little toy... provided they could even see him in the first place given how small he was. After putting aside those scary thoughts, Ness pressed on, eventually climbing up the steps and just plain walking inside the school (with the front door still open from the kids charging out).

When he got inside, he immediately had to dodge more massive high heels as Paula’s mother went over to close the front door.
“Goodness me, those kids are so full of energy when the day is over.” Mrs. Polestar said.
“Well, you know how young children can be. Well... younger than me, that is.” Paula said, her voice echoing from another room.
“Are you in the kitchen, Paula sweetie?” Mrs. Polestar said.
“Yes, Mommy! I’m just making a sandwich!” Paula said.
“Okay, that’s fine. I’ll be there shortly after I clean up.” Mrs. Polestar said. Ness ducked down and was lucky enough to be underneath the arch of Mrs. Polestar’s shoe. But he didn’t catch his breath for long. He wanted to end this as soon as possible, and the only way he could do that was to get to Paula as fast as he can.
“I gotta get to Paula as fast as I can!” Ness said. Having been in the preschool before, including the time he escorted her home after just saving the world, Ness knew where the kitchen would be.
When he arrived in said kitchen, the sight was both simple and unbelievable at the same time. The only person in the kitchen was Paula, walking back and forth between some cabinets and a table. Beyond the table was where Ness theoretically had his jaw dropped, as he couldn’t believe how glorious the giant Paula looked from down on the floor.
“Oh my... she’s so beautiful for being so big.” Ness said. But soon he shook his head and checked himself back to reality. That’s when he jumped onto one of the many normally microscopic splinters of the table legs and started climbing his way up.

It took a few minutes, but Ness was able to make it on top of the table, just as Paula was sitting down at the table with a couple of sandwiches resting on top of a plate. Ness first tried calling out for his friend.
“Paula! Paula!!” Ness shouted. No response. He got closer and closer... standing a handful of yards away from the plate.
“PAULA!!” Ness shouted. No matter how loud he shouted, there was still no response. If he was going to get any closer to the giantess, it would have to be on one of the sandwiches. Ness gulped nervously and got moving, jumping onto the plate and staying behind the sandwich still on the plate. He jumped on top of it and waded his way through the thick bread, but it was just as much of a jungle as the blades of grass outside the school were. But finally he made it. However, before he could start shouting Paula’s name again, the giantess suddenly reached down towards the very sandwich he was standing on.
“Hmmm... I better make sure the ham is still fresh.” Paula said. As Ness watched Paula’s incredibly huge fingers hover him and then nearly crush him as they pressed down on the slices of bread, Ness became frantic.
“NO! Paula! NO, don’t eat meeeee!!!” Ness shouted. He could only look in horror as he came closer and closer to Paula’s shining teeth and open mouth. Even frantically calling her name wasn’t helping, as he was just too small to do much of anything.

But suddenly Ness got a last minute idea.
“W... wait! P...PK... PK THUNDER!!!” Ness shouted. He quickly found it in his mind to access his PSI respiratory and cast the thunder spell, shooting a lightning bolt that he could psychically control. Ness concentrated with all his might to direct the bolt despite having a face full of Paula’s gaping mouth. Finally, the tiny bolt struck Paula on the tip of her nose. The bolt may have been tiny, but Paula definitely felt it.
“OW!!!” Paula shouted as she suddenly dropped the sandwich. It landed back on the plate and bounced a bit before landing snugly, causing Ness to bounce up as well. He grabbed the edge of the plate to keep from falling off it and the table, as a fall from the height he was at would’ve meant certain death. Ness fought his way back onto the plate, looking up as Paula was recovering from getting shocked slightly in the nose.
“What was that? Did a bee sting me?” Paula asked. Ness quickly realized the thunderbolt he casted and hit Paula’s nose with got her attention, but now he had to hope his next move would make her fully realize he was there.
“Okay, okay... think! What move to use next without hurting Paula... ah ha! PK Flash!!” Ness said, then shouting out the command. Ness’s body briefly glowed green, and then returned to normal as a bright ball of green light hovered over his head now. He did his best to keep the ball over him, waiting to hear hopefully Paula shouting out his name.
As Paula stopped rubbing her nose to check for any damage, she then looked down at the plate. In front of the sandwich she was eating was a very small green light.
“Huh? A light? A green light, no less... wait!” Paula said. She carefully leaned in on the table, hovering one of her eyes only a few inches up from the plate. She focused in on the light itself and looked past it. That’s when she gasped lightly.
“Ness!? Is that you!?” Paula said. Ness immediately stopped his concentration on PK Flash upon hearing those words, but he fell backwards in shock over seeing the insanely huge blue eyes of Paula.
“Paula! Am I glad to see you...” Ness said.

Before the conversation could continue, Paula suddenly had to look up when she heard her mother come into the kitchen.
“Paula, dear! Are you alright? I heard you go OW and dropped everything.” Mrs. Polestar said. Paula was quick to come up with a story on what the OW was for, knowing she would never believe what she was looking at and where her brief spat with pain originated from.
“I’m okay, Mommy. I accidentally bit my tongue while eating my sandwiches.” Paula said.
“Ah, okay. I guess I do worry too much about you and the littlest things. But what was that I heard about your friend, Ness?” Mrs. Polestar said.
“Oh... just my imagination! I guess I can’t wait to see him again.” Paula said.
“I don’t blame you... he’s such a charming and wonderful boy. Well, if you need me, I’ll be at the Chaos Theater.” Mrs. Polestar said.
“The Chaos Theater? Why there?” Paula asked.
“I’m buying tickets for the next Runaway Five show. I’ve always wanted to see them again. I’ll be back shortly, Paula!” Mrs. Polestar said.
“Okay, Mommy!” Paula said, watching as her mother left the room and eventually the school and her home.

Paula quickly focused her attention back down on the near microscopic Ness, who was just barely visible thanks to the bright white color of the plate she had been eating her sandwiches on. Once again, Paula put her eyes just inches away from the plate.
“Ness... what happened to you? And... that was you who got me on the nose, wasn’t it?” Paula asked.
“Well, first off, yes. I’m sorry... but I had to use PK Thunder to get your attention and keep you from eating me. I directed the bolt to hit you right on the nose, both literally and figuratively.” Ness said.
“Eat you? Wait... you were on the sandwich!? What were you thinking, Ness!?” Paula shouted. Ness covered his ears.
“Not so loud, Paula!!!” Ness shouted.
“Oh... sorry. But that was very dangerous.” Paula said.
“I know, but I tried calling for you from the table, but you didn’t hear me. But how could you? I’m just so incredibly small.” Ness said.
“Yes, I can tell. How did you shrink that small?” Paula asked.
“It’s this stupid cap. I bought it at Fourside, got home and put it on, and the next thing I know, I’m smaller than even a Black Antoid!” Ness said.
“Ooooh... I just hated those things. It makes me wish I could crush them again!” Paula said.
“Um... Paula?” Ness said.
“Oh, sorry, got carried away there. So why don’t you take the cap off?” Paula asked.
“Believe me, I would if I could. But it’s stuck on my head for some reason. It’s like it’s diamondized to my head... or something like that!” Ness said.
“Oh my! That is terrible!” Paula said.
“So I came all the way from Onett to here. Don’t worry, I was careful. Nothing really bad happened along the way.” Ness said.
“I see. You’re pretty lucky to make it all the way out here at that size.” Paula said.
“So what can we do? I don’t suppose you have a PK Hat Removal spell or something...” Ness said.
“Well, there is one thing we can try without risking you getting crushed. Let’s go up to my bedroom.” Paula said. She slowly lowered one of her hands down towards Ness, surrounding him with a couple of her fingers.
“Careful, Paula...” Ness said.
“Don’t worry, Ness. You’re in good... well, hands.” Paula said. She plucked Ness from the plate with maximum gentleness, eventually dropping him onto the palm of her left hand. Paula slowly made her way from the kitchen table and up the stairs to her bedroom. Ness was captivated with seeing Paula’s hand, and her entire body for that matter, seemingly stretch on farther than any baseball field he ever dreamed of playing on.

Once they both made it to the bedroom, Paula gently set Ness down on her bed.
“Okay, Ness. I’m going to pray for your return to normal size. I hope you’ll help me as I attempt this.” Paula said.
“Always.” Ness said. After the two young heroes nodded to each other, Paula took a couple small steps backwards and placed her hands together, bowed her head, and closed her eyes.
“Please... if the spirits of the guardians of Your Sanctuary can hear my voice... please help us. Please give us the strength just as you gave us in our fight to defeat Giygas... Speed this prayer to all our friends and family...” Paula said, among other lines of prayer. As Ness kept a firm grip on the stubborn cap, he did as Paula instructed and pleaded with whoever or whatever would answer his prayers, hoping it would work for him just as it worked for the entire world during their battle with Giygas.

Once again, it was a success.

Ness fell backwards as he felt the cap go flying off his head, and later out of his hands, and the powerful force knocked him down. Ness then zoomed up in height, immediately returning to his normal size. He jumped off Paula’s bed and ran into her happy arms.
“Yay! It worked!” Paula shouted.
“Whew... thank goodness it did! But did we really have to have the entire world praying for us?” Ness asked.
“It worked for Giygas, didn’t it?” Paula asked. Ness then looked down by Paula’s shoes and saw the hat that previously shrunken him laying down on the floor. It had also enlarged back to its normal size, no doubt because it no longer had a human head to claim. Ness and Paula would make sure it wouldn’t claim and shrink another victim again, especially as the hat started to bounce around like a possessed lamp. Ness and Paula looked at each other and shouted...
“PK Fire Alpha!” they both shouted as they shot small fireballs down onto the hat, scorching it and leaving it to disintegrate into ashes.
“Hmmm... I wonder how that hat came alive. You don’t suppose it was from Giygas’ influence?” Paula said.
“It couldn’t be, Giygas is gone. I have a hunch my enemy, Pokey, had something to do with this.” Ness said.
“Yes, that Pokey is very troublesome. We’ll have to stay alert in case he decides to strike again.” Paula said.
“I’ll be ready, and I know you will be too.” Ness said with a smile.
“Teehee... of course! Still, it’s too bad. I kinda like you being small.” Paula said.
“What!?” Ness said.
“Well, maybe not THAT small. Maybe around three to six inches tall and I’d giggle.” Paula said. Ness just rolled his eyes.
“Well, anyway, I wish I could stay, but I know my family must be worried about me.” Ness said.
“Yes, I understand. Go... we’ll catch up later.” Paula said.
“Bye for now, Paula.” Ness said. After giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, Ness headed downstairs.

Paula quickly followed down the stairs as well, but by the time she made it out of Polestar Preschool, she saw Ness disappear in a flash of light, no doubt using PSI Teleport Alpha (the full effect this time) to quickly return to his home outside Onett.

END