Thumbarina

[Katarina Karkov]

Katarina had been walking into the dining hall when everything suddenly became much....much....bigger.


This was going to be a problem.

((open))

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jezabelle has been sitting at a table, eating a veggie wrap and a bottle of water when it had happened. One minute she was about to take another bite and the next her entire world had changed. The seat of her chair stretched out before her like the floor of the gymnasium. Stories upon stories above her the half-eaten wrap hit the plate with a dull thud while the water bottle tipped over to result in a waterfall over the edge of the table and onto the floor far below.

Stunned, confused, and scared, she began to panic and screamed.

[Katarina Karkov]

"Wait! Wait hello yes, I am coming!" Katarina said, heading into the general direction of the scream. "Yes, wait, no, I am here..."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

A tiny little head eventually poked out over the edge of the chair, staring down at the floor below. This view did not help her panicking at all.

[Katarina Karkov]

"Jez! Be careful! Something has happened, and that is a long, long drop!"

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"That... that's not helping!" Jez called back. How on Earth was she going to get down? SHOULD she get down?

[Katarina Karkov]

"Do not worry! I have a plan!"

From her pocket, Katarina pulled out what looked like a small black keychain, with a single silver button on it.

She pressed it.

"There. That should bring help."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

There was a moment of silence.

"What kinda help? Is that a LifeAlert?"

[Katarina Karkov]

"Something like that. It should bring Nika here to rescue me, and by extension, you as well. We just need to remain safe for as long as possible, and everything will be fine."

Katarina had perhaps not thought this all the way through.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"You... you think this hasn't happened to her to?" Jez asked as she tried to look for a way down.

"I mean if it hasn't... how's she gonna find you?"

[Katarina Karkov]

"I...." she started. "I mean, she's probably fine. She's Nika after all."

She hesitated.

"Maybe I should try to get up there?"

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"... that's true." As if Nika wasn't already massive, imagining her from this scale... well that was grounds for heavy breathing.

"Wait! No, give me a second, I'm gonna try something..."

[Katarina Karkov]

"Be careful! It is a long way down!"

[Narrator]

Somewhere behind Katrina, she hears a sound that frankly has the most in common with a jaunty tap dance revue.

Goodness, some entertainment might lessen their stress, wouldn't it?

It sounds somewhat distant, but seems to be getting closer.

[Katarina Karkov]

"That is probably not good...

...Whatever you are doing, now would be a good time to do it, Jezebelle."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

There was a shriek as Jezabelle fell from the chair and plummeted to the floor, followed by the wet snapping sound of both legs breaking upon impact. The girl collapsed into a crumpled mess, completely inert. It seems that the hard surface of the floor didn't have the cushioning give of the carpets in the dorms.

"... okay, let me try something else." Came Jez's voice from back up on the chair. Looking to the other side, her school bag was leaning against the chair leg, the slope a bit steep but at least it wasn't straight down. It would have to do. She disappeared over the edge of the chair, and after a moment there was more shrieking as she slid down the rough surface of the bag, before tumbling off of her feet at the bottom. Poor Katarina would eventually see her emerge from the other side and start jogging toward her.

[Katarina Karkov]

"Oh! Oh my! Oh my goodness!

Are you..." Katarina said, looking back at the other Jez. "Are you...alright?"

[Narrator]

The tapdancing on the linoleum is getting clearer and louder, and Jez can see something she probably never wanted to get to know at this angle approaching at a scuttle behind Katrina's back.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Yeah! Just lemme pick myself up and..." It took a moment for the girl to focus, the horizon and perspective at this scale was so bizarre to her. She let out a scream and pointed toward Katarina - or rather behind her.

"Run! Run Kat!" She motioned toward herself, trying to beckon the redhead to escape the Burroughs-esque horror.

[Katarina Karkov]

"Run from w....AAAH!" Katarina shrieked, turning to gold and trying to run after Jez.

[Narrator]

The thing seems unsettlingly fast, and soon it propels itself forward with a short leap, rearing up and trying to wrap several pairs of legs around the tiny golden girl.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez ran toward Katarina... or rather a couple of Jez's did, one of whom ran directly toward the face of the charging insect while the other reached to grab the girl's hand and run away with her.

"Ew ew ew EW EW OH GOD I'M GONNA HAVE NIGHTMARES ABOUT THIS!"

[Nika Novak]

There's a sudden crash of breaking glass as a tiny pebble punches through one of the nearby windows and embeds itself in the wall.

"Down!" Nika barks as she awkwardly climbs through the hole in the glass, trying to get what appears to be a sewing needle through it. Balancing it on her forearm she squints down the length of the needle with one eye, taking aim at the distant house-centipede.

[Katarina Karkov]

Katarina, instinctively, dove down when Nika ordered her to.

[Narrator]

The centipede is trying its damnedest to wrap Jez up in its frontmost legs, aiming to hold her still for two stinger-like fangs poised on either side of its mandibles.

[Nika Novak]

With Katarina safely out of the line of fire and one of the Jezzes wrangling the centipede Nika channels her power into the needle. It's way bigger than anything she usually uses it on. At least relatively speaking. She briefly shakes her head to flick the beads of sweat off her forehead before they can drip into her eyes, forcing every bit of her strength into the sewing needle until she can feel it snap into place - fixed into it's physics-ignoring state - and she gives it a flick, sending it flying at Jez and the centipede.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

The Jez holding Katarina's arm ducked down as she was told, but the other one did not. Instead it shut it's eyes and ran straight into the centipede's face; such easy prey would hopefully give it reason to pause and buy them some time, or make it an easier target for Nika. The double wouldn't tolerate too much harm before it would break apart into grey dust, even if the original was starting to whimper and hyperventilate.

[Narrator]

The sting of a house centipede is roughly on-par with that of a honeybee, with the added bonus of not being strong enough to pierce human skin normally.

Normally.

At this scale it's enough to send a Jez into anaphylactic shock, which is mercifully cut short by the needle slamming through both of them, sending a puff of ash before the many-legged horror is suddenly pinned, still wriggling fitfully, to the wooden leg of one of the cafeteria tables.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

The regular Jez cried out and practically collapsed onto Katarina's golden form, her body shaking erratically. She hadn't actually been stung, or stabbed, or fallen and broken her legs - at least not physically. But mentally she had experienced all of it, and it hit her hard.

[Katarina Karkov]

"Jez! JEZ!" Katarina said, holding the traumatized girl tight.

"<Medic!>"

[Nika Novak]

Nika keeps her eyes on the centipede for a second longer to make sure it's pinned before slipping off the window-sill and letting herself fall, arresting her momentum a couple times by using her power on some of her clothes before hitting the ground. She doesn't even bother running, instead pushing her power into her boots, bracing herself and rocketing herself over to where Katarina is cradling Jez.

"<Are you alright?>" she asks as she comes to a skidding stop.

[Katarina Karkov]

"<I am fine, but Jezabelle appears to be badly hurt,"> Katarina said, continuing in Symkarian.

[Nika Novak]

"<Shit.>" she mutters, checking Jez's neck for a pulse and looking her over for any injuries. "<Though I have to admit, you've chosen well. She's braver than she first seems.>"

[Katarina Karkov]

"<She is a sneaky goose who has gotten herself into trouble.

Is there somewhere safe, you think?">

[Nika Novak]

"<At this size, I doubt it. But if we can move her then we should get to a more defensible position before other things can find us.>"

[Katarina Karkov]

"<IS there somewhere defensible, like this? I do not know what is going on...">

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez was, physically, fine. Other than a speedy heartbeat and clammy skin, she was fit as a fiddle. But she had "died" twice in less than five minutes, and that can take its toll on a girl's mind. She eventually drew in a deep gasping breath as she started to come to, clinging to Katarina as she tried to make sense of where she was and what had happened. And then she started to softly sob.

[Katarina Karkov]

"Sshhh. It's going to be OK, Jezebelle. Nika is here. We will be safe," Katarina said, trying awkwardly to comfort her.

[Nika Novak]

"<There...>" she starts in Symkarian, stopping herself and switching to English when Jez wakes up. "There has to be a better place than being this exposed out in the open. I don't know what is happening but I didn't see anybody who was regular size on my way over. Can you walk?" she asks, trying not to sound too standoffish, but Nika's not great at expressing compassion.

[Katarina Karkov]

"Perhaps it would be best if you carried her," Katarina suggested.