FSE

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A Small Mishap

By CalexTheNeko

Odddice carefully examined the device he had spent the last few weeks working on. The white fox was careful to keep the tip of it pointed away from him. What he was handling looked something akin to a gun... But one covered in wired and electrodes with a crooked antenna. It looked more like a prop in an 80's science fiction series than any real weapon. Odddice supposed that wasn't far from what the truth than what it actually was.

"Think it should be ready to test pretty soon." Odddice commented to himself as he examined it. "Let's see..." He tugged on a glowing piece glass piece sticking out of the back of the device. "Power source in in place." What made his device truly unique... aside from what it did... was how it was powered. The crystal that stuck out of it did not have any power in and of itself... But it could absorb magical energy from its surroundings. This effectively gave his invention infinite free energy without ever needing actual electricity. Odddice flicked the crystal. It began to glow as it gathered energy. Suddenly the device began to warm up. Then... It got quite hot.

"Ow ow ow!" The fox dropped the device onto the table and stuck his paw into his mouth to cool it off. "Okay... Need to work on a cooling system before I test..." He paused as he looked down at his invention. It had landed on the table with the barrel of the gun now pointing at him. "Oh buggery."

ZAP!

"No no no no nooooo!" Odddice was bathed in a green light. He began to flail at his invention trying to grab it. However as he did the sleeves of his brown jacket began to sag over his hand paws. It made it difficult to grab anything. He tried to pull the sleeves up. As he did his trousers and underwear fell down around his ankles. He thrashed his tail in irritation as his jacket and blue shirt sagged on his body. He was shrinking! And very rapidly too! His jacket was starting to get very heavy on his dwindling shoulders. With no other choice to avoid getting trapped, Oddice squirmed his way out of his shirt and coat, now standing naked atop his discarded clothing. He looked up at the table. It was now taller than him. He grabbed at the table frantically but he couldn't reach the top. He was helpless but to watch as the top of the table and his invention went further and further out of his reach. In a matter of seconds the once human sized fox was the size of a mouse... He was no more than three inches in height.

"That's just lovely..." He muttered. His tail went between his legs as he looked at the now giant lab around him. He had to get back up to his invention and reverse this! But he had no idea how he was going to climb up to that table. He tried to bury the panic he felt building in him and work on a plan. How was he going to climb up that high?

Odddice's thoughts were interrupted by the loud slamming of a door. He realized that someone else had entered his basement. He looked up... From down here on the floor he couldn't make out the top of the stairs. They were too far away. All he could do was hope that someone had just shown up who could make themselves useful.

"Ah yes it's right down here! Trust me! This will be fun!" A cheerful voice rang out from the top of the stairs. Odddice's diminished state made the voice sound more booming than it actually was... But even despite that he could recognize its owner... And all hope of anyone that might actually prove to be helpful immediately died.

The voice belonged to a creature that was something of a hybrid between a coyote and a fox. He stood only three feet tall and had previously looked like a child in comparison to Odddice. Now he was a monster. He was dressed in nothing except a short green cloak that left a diamond shaped patch of fur exposed on his chest. Odddice knew him as Kickaha. He had hired him recently to help with his experiments... But he soon discovered the coyote-fox was more interested in making jokes and wasting time than being any actual help.

"Look I'm just following you because you promised there would be snacks." The second voice was lazier in nature and belonged to a boy named Crehvan. It belonged to another hybrid creature... This one was half fox and half boar. He was dressed more sensibly than his companion... Which was to say he was dressed. He wore a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt over his tan and dark brown covered fur. His long tail dragged behind him as he took little interest in the surrounding area.

"Oh trust me there will plenty of snacks!" Kickaha smiled.

That idiot! Odddice growled to himself. No matter how bad a situation was Kickaha was surely only hear to make it worse. Odddice ran over to the bottom of the stares while waving his arms. "Kickaha! Get out of my laboratory!" At his current size his voice wasn't able to carry up to their ears. Neither coyote-fox or boar-fox took notice of the shrunken fox. This proved especially problematic as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Oddice let out a yelp as one of Kickaha's paws slammed against the ground just barely missing him. He then had to dive out of Crehvan's way to avoid winding up under foot.

"Strange... I don't see Odddice anywhere..." Kickaha muttered as he walked across the room. "No matter! I'm sure he won't mind me poking around! He did hire me to be his assistant last week after all!!"

"That seems an ill advised decision..." Crehvan muttered.

"I know isn't it great!?" Kickaha's smile widened as he strode over to the desk Odddice had been working on.

"Kickaha you useless clown!" Odddice shouted from up on the floor. He broke into a run chasing after the two intruders into his lab... But they were making it across the room far faster with a casual stride than he could running.

Crehvan paused as they approached the table. He noticed the discarded clothing laying on the floor next to it. He slowly poked at Oddice's lost jacket with a paw, unsure of what to make of it. "Um... Why are there clothes on the floor?" He narrowed his eyes and looked at Kickaha. "Is there someone running around naked in here right now?"

"Perhaps!" Despite what physics may dictate... Kickaha's smile somehow widened even more as he noticed the pile of clothes. "Either my good friend Odddice-"

"We are not friends!" Oddice shouted unheard.

"-Has suddenly taken to heart the philosophy of a certain bright orange feline... Or it would seem he finally got it up and working." Kickaha spied the gun-like device on the table and picked it up. It was warm to the touch and he realized it must have recently gone off.

"Don't you dare touch that!" Odddice finally caught up with the two bigger anthros in the room. Still his voice failed to reach up to their ears.

"What exactly is that?" Crehvan asked while eyeing the device Kickaha held.

"Something that's bound to be a lot of fun!" Kickaha responded. "Just gotta find the on switch..." He began to feel around on the device trying to find a way to turn it on.

"Kickaha, I swear, don't touch my invention!" Odddice shouted. Still no one could hear him. He had to find some way to get their attention and get them to reverse his shrinking! Seeing no other choice... He leaped for Crehvan's tail. Grabbing handfuls of hair he began to climb as fast as he could hoping to get high enough to be heard.

"Huh... I think something just bit me!" Crehvan spoke up startled. He swished his tail forcing Odddice to hang on for dear life to avoid being flung across the room.

"Oh probably just Odddice..." Kickaha shrugged dismissively as he continued to play with the device. His paws passed over the crystal sticking out of the back of it when it began to glow. "There we go!"

"Wait--you know I'm running around like this!?" Odddice squeaked still inaudible to the two bigger anthros.

"Who's Odddice?" Crehvan asked a note of concern in his voice. He didn't get a chance to respond before he was bathed in a green light.

"Well at least one person will notice me now..." Odddice muttered as he realized what was about to happen to Crehvan. He then felt the warmth of the light as it passed over him too. "Oh shoot!" He had been dangling off Crehvan's tail. He had hoped the fox-boar would have blocked most of the beam from hitting him! He had no such luck! And so Crehvan began to shrink... And Odddice began to shrink even smaller.

"Whoa!?" Crehvan let out a yelp as suddenly his jeans and boxers fell down around his ankles and his shirt sleeves fell over his paws. "What's happening!?"

For once Kickaha didn't have a quip to respond with. He had been caught off guard himself. As he fired the shrinking device it had heated up in his hands. With a yelp he dropped the device and clutched his paws to his side nursing them. A few seconds longer and it might have been a serious burn! To think Odddice would be so irresponsible with his inventions! Kickaha shook his head! The nerve! Someone could have been hurt!

The device itself crashed to the stone floor of the basement with a loud crash. The crystal sticking out of the back of the device shattered! Sparks flew off the device and it fired one last blast of green light! This time striking Kickaha.

"Ah..." Kickaha seemed less surprised by this than when he had gotten burned. "In hindsight I should have expected some form of turnabout like this." With that Kickaha began to shrink same as the other two.

Crehvan disappeared into his shirt. He was buried beneath fabric. He flailed about in a panic trying to figure out what was going on. Eventually he managed to crawl out from underneath his shirt and was able to see the basement lab now as a huge menacing area. Standing across from him was Kickaha. The coyote-fox had lost his cloak having shrunk out of it. Instead he currently stood atop the green fabric looking at Crehvan with his tail wagging.

"Well!" Kickaha grinned ear to ear. "This is certainly a little predicament huh?"

"Puns? Now?" Crehvan groaned. "What the heck is wrong with you! You should have at least given me some kind of warning before doing that!"

"But this way was more fun!" Kickaha continued to wag his tail as he jumped down from his cloak to stand next to Crehvan. As they had both been shrunk their height compared to each other had stayed mostly the same. This meant Kickaha was roughly as tall as Crehvan's chest.

"You're a jerk." Crehvan narrowed his eyes and stared at the coyote-fox. "And I never got those snacks!"

"Oh they're coming!" Kickaha insisted. "And think of how filling they'll be now!" Crehvan opened his mouth to object further but stopped. Giant snacks did have a certain appeal to them.

"Well you still should have warned me." He huffed and crossed his arms.

Odddice meanwhile was not having a good day. He had been reduced to a mere three inches tall the first time he had been hit by the ray gun. Now? Being stuck in Crehvan's tail had seen him shrink even smaller! He stayed the same size proportionally compared to the fox-boar as he had been a few minutes ago... That meant the fox-boar was somewhere in the three inch range. That would leave Odddice around a very measly tenth of an inch tall. He was smaller than most insects.

Today was not a good day.

Trying not to panic, Odddice did everything he could to avoid being dislodged from Crehvan's fur. The last thing he wanted to do was end his days being crushed under the foot of a mouse sized fox-boar. Slowly he climbed, making his way up Crehvan's body. The one good thing was that there was now no clothing left to get in the way of his climb. Odddice was able to grab strand of fur after fur as he slowly made his way up Crehvan's tail, then his back, and finally up onto his shoulder.

"I keep feeling this... weird thing like a chill climbing up my spine..." Crehvan muttered.

"That's me!" Odddice shouted in a panicked voice. At this height his voice carried enough for Crehvan to hear. It was high pitched and squeaky but he could hear it.

"BWOOOOAH!?" Crehvan let out a shout of surprise as he noticed the tiny white fox now sitting on his shoulder. By sheer instinct he nearly slapped a paw to his shoulder as he would to smack a bug. He barely managed to stop himself.

"Oh hi Odddice!" Kickaha grinned down at the little fox. "You seem different since I saw you last! Have you lost weight?"

"You pigheaded buffoon!" Odddice's panic subsided for a small bit as his anger at Kickaha took over. "Look what you did to me! Why are you even skulking around here anyway?"

"I take it you two know each other..." Crehvan muttered. He felt like a third wheel in the conversation right now.

"He's the one I told you about!" Kickaha smiled. "The one who hired me! Honestly, he had a lot of really big ideas." Kickaha snatched Odddice from away from Crehvan in one swift motion. The coyote then pinched the tip of the fox's tail between two fingers and carefully dangled him directly before his snout. "Sometimes too big for his head!"

"Were I not the size of an insect I would slug you." Odddice crossed his arms and glared at Kickaha while being dangled upside down.

"Oh you're so easily riled up!" Kickaha muttered. "Honestly! This is all temporary so try to have some fun with it!" Kickaha tossed Odddice playfully in the air... But then walked away without waiting to see where he would land.

"It's temporary?" Crehvan asked with a sigh of relief as he caught Odddice within his own hands.

"No it's not!" Odddice shouted. The world was spinning as he tried to speak. "At least not unless you can use my invention to reverse this!" He then paused. From up on Crehvan's shoulder he could see the remains of his invention. The broken device towered above all three of them. The shattered crystal was clearly visible. "And you broke it!"

"You worry too much." Kickaha shrugged. "Look, if all else fails I'll just magic us up something." With that the coyote-fox snapped his fingers. He then paused as nothing happened. He snapped then again. Once more nothing happened. "What's going on here? I should be holding a tiny fruity drink with a sippy straw right now."

"That crystal absorbs magic." Odddice explained. "I have multiples of them stashed around the place. No magic is going to work while you're in here... And good luck climbing the steps and opening the basement door looking like that."

"Hmmm I suppose that is a problem..." Kickaha conceded. "Especially if we aren't able to fix it before lunch. I do so dislike it when my food is given the opportunity to mock me."

"I have no idea what you're talking about..." Crehvan muttered.

"No one does..." Odddice sighed.

"Very well! I suppose we have no choice! We'll simply have to fix it!" Kickaha beamed.

"How!?" Odddice shouted. "The Magic Absorption Crystal is shattered! I can't just pick it up and slot in a new one! I wouldn't even be able to lift the thing!"

"Maybe if we worked together we could find a way to carry one back?" Crehvan asked.

"Possibly, but it's not as if either of you would know how to install it." Odddice was feeling more and more pessimistic about his situation by the moment. What was he even going to eat now? What did bugs eat? Very tiny crumbs, he supposed.

"Could you tell me how to do it?" Crehvan asked. "Maybe if Kickaha and I work together we could carry one here?"

"Oh a wonderful idea!" Kickaha spoke up. "See you could learn a thing or two from this kid's optimism!"

"I'm not a kid..." Crehvan muttered.

"I feel like this is going to end in disaster..." Odddice sighed.

"Nonsense!" Kickaha began to wag his tail again. "You have my complete and undivided attention to do whatever is necessary! For the next two minutes and thirty two seconds at least! Or until something fun catches my eye. Whichever comes first."

"Your professionalism always impresses me..." Odddice replied dryly.

"Come on it won't be that bad!" Crehvan spoke. He beamed down at the tiny fox cupped in his paws. "Just show us the way and we'll have this fixed before you even know it!" He then lifted Odddice up to his head and gently dropped the fox down between his ears. "Just tell us where to go."

"Neither one of you is treating this situation with the proper gravity." Odddice swallowed hard. How could his fate be in the paws of these two? "Fine whatever... I keep them in a cabinet across the basement." Odddice walked down onto Crehvan's muzzle so he could be seen. He swallowed nervously seeing Crehvan's massive tusks but tried to remain composed as he pointed in the direction of the cabinets.

They were of course on the opposite side of the basement. Getting across the basement itself wouldn't be problem. It was certainly a longer walk in their current states... But it was all across flat ground on a stone floor. The real problem was the fact that cabinets sat above a counter that looked like a massive cliff to them.

"Any ideas?" Crehvan asked as they started to walk towards the counter in the distance.

"Hmmmm." Kickaha tilted his head to the side. "Well... A shame none of us have wings... Or magic." He shot a look at the tiny Odddice. "But perhaps we could try flapping our arms to see if we could fly that way!"

"Do you ever have anything useful to contribute?" Odddice asked. As he did Crehvan held his arms out to the side and began to flap them wildly. Odddice had to grab onto one of Crehvan's tusks to avoid being thrown off his muzzle. "Seriously!?"

"Don't know unless you try." Crehvan shrugged as he realized he was not going to take off the ground and fly. "I mean it was an absurd idea... But right now, I'm naked, three inches tall, and have an even smaller fox on my muzzle while I look for magic crystals. The standards for what qualify as strange or absurd had been raised significantly since I first stepped into this basement."

"I think I'm starting to like you!" Kickaha smiled.

"You still owe me snacks," Crehvan growled. "And this hike is hungry work!" The three slowed down as they reached the counter. The countertop was probably only about four feet off the ground. From their point of view it might as well have been a hundred feet.

"So now what?" Odddice asked.

"I guess we climb!" Kickaha said. "If ants can do it so can we!"

"That seems like a really difficult climb..." Crehvan muttered. "Anyway we could try to make it easier..."

"I don't keep my lab stocked with little tiny climbing gear." Oddice crossed his arms.

"If you're building shrink rays maybe you should." Crehvan responded.

"Well I um!" Odddice paused. It... Actually wasn't a bad idea. "I'll get on it after we get out of this. If we get out of it."

"Well on the bright side since we're so small if we fall down it won't hurt!" Kickaha offered.

"I'd really rather not think about falling..." Crehvan's ears sagged.

"Maybe we could take turns throwing Odddice up there and hope we knock something down we can use!" Kickaha smiled as he reached for the small fox.

"Don't you dare!" Odddice fell back onto his backside and backed away until his back was pushing against Crehvan's face.

"Don't think he weighs enough to knock down anything useful." Crehvan responded with a sigh.

"Yeah!" Odddice shouted. "Wait -- that's the only reason you're objecting!? I'm not a toy for you two!"

Kickaha ignored Odddice's complaint and moved to his next idea. "I suppose if we had a bit of thread we could at least tie ourselves to each other... Make sure if one of us falls the other can catch them." Kickaha mused.

"I'd feel better about that than nothing." Crehvan responded. "Hey... Odddice was it? Got any thread laying around where we might be able to reach from here?"

"Of course not!" Odddice responded. "I don't store things on the floor!"

"Hmmmm." Crehvan thought to himself. He then took off running back to where his discarded clothing was. There he stopped and climbed up onto his shirt.

"What are you doing?" Odddice asked.

"Just watch!" Crehvan smiled. He found a loose thread on his shirt and began to pull it loose. He didn't like tugging on loose threads like this... But it's not like he would ever need the shirt again if he didn't get this fixed! He pulled on the thread until it came loose completely. Now he has a nice long rope they could use. He dragged it back to the cabinet.

"Clever thinking!" Kickaha responded. He grabbed one end of the thread and tied it around his waist while Crehvan tied the other around his. Then they began to climb the counters.

It proved to be less difficult than they expected. Both Crehvan and Kickaha had a full set of claws. They weren't sharp like a cat's and built for climbing... But they helped them keep a grip. As for the counter... From a normal sized person's point of view the side of it might have appeared smooth. To Kickaha and Crehvan they could see small dents and scratches in the side of the counter. These made for useful handholds to shove their claws into as they made their way up.

It took them almost a half hour, but they reached the top. Tools, screws, nails and paperclips laid atop the counter. Meanwhile a massive cabinet door stood before them.

"Well one problem solved..." Crehvan untied the thread from around his waist as he made it over the top of the counter. Kickaha did the same. "But how do we open that?"

"Maybe it's not that heavy!" Kickaha tried to pull on the edge of the counter. At a mere two inches tall he wasn't strong enough to make it so much as bulge.

"It's hopeless..." Odddice sighed. "We're going to be stuck like this forever... And my only company is going to be you two!"

"HEY!" Crehvan shouted.

"Hey I'm sure there will still be plenty of bugs around! Maybe even a rat or two! It is a basement!" Kickaha grinned down at Odddice.

"ARRRRRRRRRRGH!" Odddice gave a shout.

"Don't worry!" Kickaha snagged Odddice off of Crehvan and held him firmly in his hand. "If they threaten us... We can just throw you at them while Crehvan and I escape!"

"You wouldn't! Odddice looked horrified.

"You're right..." Kickaha grinned. "It'd be a waste of resources! Instead we could tie some string around you and use you as a training toy! Come on bugs! Get the foxie! We'll train them to work for us that way!"

"You know..." Crehvan mused. "It could work."

"I am not hearing this!" Odddice cried. "Not listening la la laaaa!"

"Awwww but you dangle so well!" Kickaha moved to hold Odddice by one leg upside down. "We'd have the creepy crawlies dancing in our paws! You could dance with them!"

"No not happening! Uh uh!" Odddice pleaded.

"Relax." Crehvan snatched Oddice back. It was faster than needed leaving the small fox disoriented again. "That's only if we're stuck this way. We haven't given up on getting big again yet." Crehvan looked around the counter at the discarded tools. He grabbed a paperclip and began to slowly unfold it.

"Oh, are you making some kind of sword?" Kickaha asked. "Or maybe a spear! Ohhh or a stick! I hope it's a stick."

"I guess it's kind of a stick..." Crehvan muttered as he finished unfolding the paperclip into a straight metal pole. It was now longer than he was. "But I mean it to be a lever."

"I get it." Odddice rubbed his chin and changed positions to be sitting atop Crehvan's head between his ears.

"How's that saying go?" Crehvan asked. "With a long enough lever and a stable platform you could move the Earth? Well... Not quite the Earth but we're going to test that theory now." Crehvan shoved the tip of his pole directly into the inside ledge of the cabinet. He then began to push against it trying to pry the cabinet open. It wasn't quite moving. "Oof! It's not enough. I need more force."

"Don't just stand there!" Odddice hissed at Kickaha. "Help him!"

"I am helping!" Kickaha insisted. "I'm providing invaluable moral support while he comes up with the good ideas!" Despite his claim Kickaha did move to help. He grabbed a second paperclip and unfolded it into a pole. He shoved his in next to Crehvan's. Together they worked... And slowly the cabinet door was pried open. Only by an inch... but that was more than enough for the three to squeeze in.

"We actually did it..." Oddice muttered.

"Technically we did it! Me and Crehvan." Kickaha snickered at Odddice. "You mostly just sat there and complained. But hey, great moral support!"

"Hey I wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for you!" Odddice complained.

"Really?" Kickaha mused. "I seem to recall your clothes already laying discarded in this basement before I even arrived."

"Well um..." Odddice fell silent. "Let's just get the crystal."

"No." Crehvan spoke.

"What do you mean no!?" Odddice shouted.

"Because something has come up." Crehvan's tone was one of reverence. The fox-boar stared in awe at something within the cabinet.

"What... What's going on Crehvan?" Kickaha asked, a hint of genuine concern in his voice. "Talk to me."

"I'm afraid the time has come." Crehvan responded. "I must face my destiny." He then began to walk towards what it was that fascinated him so much.

The object of his obsession was inside the cabinet with them. It was a single bag of chips. Crehvan approached the giant bag with hunger in his eyes. He gored the bag with his tusks, ripping the side of it open and letting the giant salty chips spill out.

"Hey!" Odddice shouted. "You can't just start eating my stuff."

"Look, I'm technically the only one in this situation who is completely blameless." Crehvan responded. "And I'm only here because someone promised me snacks. Now... I come face to face with giant chips and I'm expected not to do anything? No I think not!" Crehvan bit into the side of a chip as big as him. "Destiny thy name is tater chip!"

"Could you at least wait till after we fix my invention?" Odddice whined.

"No because then the chips won't be giant sized!" Crehvan responded. "I may never get this chance again in my life." With that Crehvan tore in. Odddice reeled back from the motions, tumbling from the fox-boar's back and landing on the ground.

Crehvan was not ready to move on until he had eaten his fill! Which in the end was really only about one chip. Satisfied with his snack he patted himself on the belly before picking Odddice back up again and setting him on his shoulder. "Now we can move on." He then looked down to the other side of the cabinet. A large clear crystal was sitting there. "That it?"

"Yes. Now we just need to get it back." Odddice explained.

"You keep your magic absorbing crystals right next to a bag of chips?" Kickaha quirked an eyebrow.

"What?" Odddice returned the look. "Sometimes I get hungry while I work!"

"Well we found the crystal..." Crehvan looked at it. "So how do we get it back without breaking it?"

"It shouldn't be too heavy!" Kickaha responded. He walked up to it and began to lift it. The crystal was easily three times his size. Still he managed to lift it. As he did he made a face though. "Ooooooh it's heavy!"

Crehvan ran over to help grab it. Together the two of them found they were able to bear its weight. "Okay... This is going to be the hard part."

"Tell me you have an idea..." Odddice said.

"Well once we get it down to the floor carrying it won't be too bad." Kickaha suggested. "Hmmmm we still have that thread... Think we could lower it down?"

"Doubtful. It's not that long." Crehvan crossed his arms.

"Maybe... You could do the same thing you did climbing up?" Odddice suggested. "Tie the thread between you two... But also tie it to the crystal?"

"Well I guess if it doesn't work we can go for another one!" Kickaha said. "You know except in the event that it drags us to our doom and we crash to the ground with a big splat!"

"Why do you say things like that?" Crehvan whined.

"I'm just doing my part to help people stay alert and on their toes!" Kickaha responded. "Even if they're not quite the same toes they were five minutes ago."

"Going to just... Not ask questions about that..." Crehvan muttered. With Kickaha's help he carried the crystal out of the cabinet. They sat it down as Crehvan tied the thread around his own waist first and then around the crystal. Lastly they tied the thread around Kickaha.

"So far so good..." Odddice muttered. "Now just the climb."

"Okay... This is going to suck..." Crehvan muttered. "Okay... Let's slowly lower it over the side to make sure we don't immediately drop ourselves." Crehvan and Kickaha both dug their hind claws into the top of the counter as they pushed the crystal over the edge. The thread went taut as the crystal fell over the side. Both of the fox hybrids stumbled forward slightly but managed to avoid falling over the edge.

"Easy!" Kickaha smiled. "Now we just have to climb down."

"Easy he says..." Odddice whined. "And right, the hard part."

"You can always carry the crystal if you'd like!" Kickaha spoke in a tone dripping with playful sarcasm.

"Shutting up now." Odddice went quiet.

With that they went over the edge. By this point they knew how to climb the counter. The cracks and ridges in the side were easy to find. The problem was the giant weight trying to pull both of them down to their doom. It made the process excruciatingly slow... And that made it worse because it wore on their endurance.

Suddenly Kickaha felt his claws slip. He scrabbled with his paws trying to flail at the side of the counter and get a grip. He missed. His hind paws slid off the side of the counter and he fell.

He let out a loud yap of genuine fear... Then suddenly he stopped in mid-air floating upside down. He felt a slight pain coming from his tail. He opened up his eyes and looked up. Crehvan had grabbed him by the tail preventing the coyote-fox from falling.

"Thanks..." Kickaha said with genuine appreciation.

"Please... Counter... Grab..." Crehvan huffed. With both Kickaha's weight and the crystal's he could barely hang on. His claws that were hanging onto the side of the counter began to slide downward. Crehvan winced in pain.

"Uh right!" Kickaha flailed at the side of the counter before he found his grip again. Once he grabbed the side he righted himself. Crehvan gave a sigh of relief he felt some of the weight lifted. The two then slowly made their way back down. They collapsed from exhaustion the second they touched down on the ground.

"Come on come on!" Odddice was excited. He was going to be normal sized again! He ran in circles around the two. "Get up! Let's go! We're almost there!"

"Need a minute!" Crehvan objected. He brushed the little fox aside knocking him over. "Claws... Hurt. Muscles hurt. Body failing. Need more chips."

"They're back up on top." Kickaha responded.

"Dang it all." Crehvan whined. "Then I'm dead now."

"But but!" Odddice objected.

"Dead." Crehvan responded. He pinned Odddice down with one of his foot paws to keep the little fox from running around too much. He then went limp, just leaving the tiny fox pinned against the ground.

"Get off me!" Odddice shouted.

"Can't. Dead." Crehvan objected.

"Alas poor Crehvan! I knew him well!" Kickaha giggled. "Well not that well! But he was... Definitely a person I saw on the streets today and tried to involve in shenanigans through bribery of snacks!"

"A moving eulogy..." Odddice growled. Stuck beneath Crehvan's paw he could do nothing but lay there until the two decided they were done with their shenanigans. He lay pinned on his stomach and just tapped at the ground with his paw impatiently. After about ten minutes the two seemed to recover.

"Okay... less dead but still mostly dead..." Crehvan stood up, being careful to move his paw so as not to squish Odddice. He then grabbed the tiny white fox and set him on his shoulder again. "Let's get this done."

"Yes I suppose the game has worn on for a bit..." Kickaha conceded. "All good things must come to an end."

"Kickaha..." Odddice looked at the giant coyote-fox. "You're fired."

"Alas, it was bound to happen." Kickaha spoke in the tone of one who didn't really care.

Dragging the crystal back to Odddice's invention was a lot easier now that they were on the flat floor. Then following the small white fox's instructions they removed the broken shards of the old crystal and slowly pushed the new one into place.

"Okay... How do we set this up?" Crehvan asked. "Just... Want to make sure we don't set something wrong and shrink smaller."

"Yes! Good!" Odddice spoke. "That's a good question! Thank you for being cautious! Okay! There's a knob hidden behind these wires... Just go ahead and turn it." Crehvan had to stand on the tips of his toes to turn the knob... But he managed to pull it off. As it did the crystal lit up.

"Oh hey that looks promising..." Kickaha looked at the barrel of the machine... Just in time for it to fire out a beam of red light that engulfed him. The fox-coyote yelped as he began to swell in size. The basement shrunk back to its normal size as he grew back to his full three feet of height.

"It works!" Odddice jumped up and down on Crehvan's shoulder. "I mean... I knew it would!"

"Heeeey!" Crehvan waved up at the now giant Kickaha. It was weird having to look up at the coyote-fox who had always been chest tall to him at best. "Come on! Give us a zap now."

"Right right!" Kickaha responded. "No tricks this time." He picked up the device to use it again. It immediately began to shoot out a red light. However before Kickaha could aim it properly he let out a yelp. "It's still hot!" He dropped the gun. As it did the red light ran over Crehvan and Odddice. It then crashed to the floor with a bang.

Meanwhile Crehvan and Odddice began to grow in size. They stayed at the same size in comparison to each other. Still both of them breathed slightly easier as they saw the basement slowly start to shrink back to its normal size.

And then it stopped abruptly.

Crehvan blinked. He was currently standing staring at Kickaha's stomach. He had stopped growing too.

"Wh... what?" He asked. Instead of returning to his full size. He was now only about a foot and a half tall. "What just happened?"

"Hey we're not big enough yet!" Odddice shouted. "Give us another zap!" Odddice had grown as well... But he was only about an inch and a half tall. It was at least a little more noticeable than a tenth of an inch.

"Um about that..." Kickaha looked at the invention where it lay on the floor. This time the device hadn't landed on the crystal. It had landed on the barrel instead and the entire machine had smashed open. There were now pieces of it littered all over the floor. "Uhhhh so um... This might be slightly harder to fix than just replacing a crystal."

"Wh... WHAT!?" Odddice shouted. "No it can't be! Months of work!" Horror set in on him. "Wait I'm stuck like this then!?" He shouted. "No I can't stay this small!" But at this point the machine looked beyond repair. There would need to be a completely new one built... And he couldn't do that at his current scale.

"Well... That's how the cookie crumbles sometimes." Kickaha shrugged. "Ohh, cookies sound nice. Who's up for snacks!"

"Snacks sound nice!" Crehvan's mind went back to food immediately. It was true he had hoped to be back to his normal size... But giant snacks were still on the table now! And this size was a bit more manageable! If it meant giant cans of soda and trays of cookies he could stay like this for a bit.

"Come on let's go!" Kickaha gestured as he started up the basement stairs.

"Right behind you!" Crehvan shouted.

"But but but!" Odddice almost wanted to sob. "What am I supposed to do!?"

"Come with us for snacks of course!" Kickaha ran back down the stairs and scooped Odddice up into his paws. "Besides! Since the science thing didn't work out I might need an assistant in my next endeavor!" He then headed back up after Crehvan so that he could prepare the promised snacks.

The End