//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Size Doesn't Matter // by Pixel Berry //------------------------------// Crowds were made as the two of us walked through the market area at comic con. Both of us agreed to go as Ant-Man and The Wasp, having the suits ready but lacked the helmets. It wasn't a deal-breaker, with our costumes being nearly movie-accurate and people knew what we were going as. Many people took pictures of us, with some even having us pose with an ant plushie they conveniently had on them. But it changed when we stumbled upon one stand that sold various masks and helmets. The stand owner was dressed up like Yellow Jacket, nearly movie-accurate to add, similar to us. He whistled at us, impressed by our costumes. “Very nice of you two,” He said, pointing at Liz. “Got the wrist blasters and wings.” “Heh, thanks,” Liz replied with a slight blush. “You certainly went all out yourself. Do those wings shoot lasers?” “If they did, I wouldn't be here.” He jokingly replied. John picked up a nearby Ant-Man helmet. “Wow! Look at this!” He spoke, almost as excited as any kid on Christmas. “Holy crap! Did you seriously make this!?” “With my own hands and scrap I found. I also got a Wasp helmet.” He leaned down and picked up a helmet that, similar to the Ant-Man helmet, was also nearly movie accurate. Liz nearly snatched the helmet from his hands. “No way! These are just what we needed.” She said, even trying it on and seeing it didn’t show any sign of discomfort or strain. “Are you sure you didn’t steal this from the studio?” She asked sarcastically. “Please, you're giving my position out.” The merchant replied, horribly acting like he's guilty. “Tell you what, I normally charge about a hundred per helmet, but for you both, it'll be fifty altogether.” “Fifty bucks!?” John asked in shock, quickly pulling out his wallet. He pulled out two fifty dollars bills. “Keep the change, man.” “Heh. Aren't we excited?” “Are you sure? What if we see something else we want?” Liz asked. “Pfft! Relax. I'm sure this is all we're gonna get.” John replied. “And if you get hungry, I got my credit card ready.” He put the helmet on, it being a perfect fit over his head. However, upon putting it on, both felt a strange, woozy feeling. “Hey, what are you both doing?” The stall owner asked. “I don't feel so good,” Liz spoke. The two felt like the world was growing, or them shrinking, and their vision faded to black. ~-~-~ His vision was blurry, but John regained consciousness. He found himself in what looked like a strange forest of sorts, as dirt took over the floor and some strangely shaped trees were all over the place. His head felt pretty light, but he shook it off. All he did was take his helmet off… or, at least, tried. The helmet was stuck on his head. “Come on, stupid thing!” He grunted. The sound of some kids laughing got his attention. “Oh! Kids! Hey! Care to help a guy out!” He ran ahead, feeling pretty faster than he did before. “Woah! Gym must be finally paying-” He was distracted, looking up to see a gargantuan hoof falling down. “Oh crap!” He turned to run away but was kicked in the air by it. All he thought was that he was going to die, but landed on something soft. His eyes opened, seeing that he was on a strange, soft cushion of sorts that was divided between light purple and pink. In front of him looked like a white cone of sorts, only, the end of the cone wasn't sharp. Whatever it was, it was moving, having him hang on. The sound of a girl laughing boomed in his ears. “What the hell’s going on!?” He yelled, grabbing onto the cone and looking out. His jaw dropped under his helmet. Everything was either gigantic, or he was now small. And the laughing came from what looked like ponies; A yellow coated pony with a red mane with a pink bow, and an orange Pegasus (indicated by its wings) with a purple mane. Looking down, he was near the horn of a unicorn. “... What the f-!?” “Who's there!?” The unicorn he was on asked in a squeaky voice, looking around. Its movements made him lose footing, making him fall and grab onto her horn. “What's wrong, Sweetie Belle?” The regular pony asked in a western sounding accent. “Yeah. You look like you just saw a ghost.” The pegasus added with a raspy sounding voice. “I thought I heard someone just now...“ The unicorn spoke. ‘Not what I had in mind, but here goes.’ John asked. He slid down onto her muzzle and turned to the building-sized green eyes. Its eyes focused on him. “Uhh… hi. I'm lost here and would gladly like some-” He was interrupted as the unicorn let out an ear-piercing scream. “BUGBUGBUG!!!” She repeated, shaking her head so hard, John was launched away. He screamed as he was launched to the floor. The crash was painful, but he alive, albeit, bruised. With a shake, he got up and yelled. “I ain't a bug, horse!” He paused and realized something. “Hold on… am I… Ant-Man?” He looked at his suit and looked at the built-in screen on his right arm. The screen turned on. It showed an image of what was a male model, now small. He was relieved at one thing. “Ok. I'm small now. The world is not filled with giant, talking ponies, or creatures, that may eat me. But what about-?” He pressed the built-in button on his right hand, remembering this how Scott Lang in the movie grew back to normal. Nothing happened. “Hey! Work!” He pressed the button again. Nothing. He pressed the button multiple times. “What's wrong with this-!?” A beeping came from his wrist. Looking at it, it simply read ‘Broken regulator. Need Energy.’ “Broken!? Aw, man! Where am I gonna get some energy!?” He paced around a bit, before suddenly remembering something. “Oh crap! Liz!” ~-~-~ After her own initial shock, Liz hid in an alleyway in the small village… small to a village of giant talking horses, of course. She was nearly stepped on a couple of times, but her quick thinking and suddenly faster movements saved her from becoming a bloody stain. She was catching her breath through the helmet, fog showing a little through the glass. Once she saw that she was safe for now, she resumed in trying to take the helmet off, not knowing if this is supposed to happen, or if it was stuck against a part of her cosplay. “Stupid helmet! No wonder it was cheap, that darn merchant.” She said in frustration. “Is that I think it is!?” An unfamiliar woman's voice shouted in glee. Liz turned around to see a mint green unicorn looking down at her with a wide grin. The sight startled Liz, turning to run away, but was captured as a jar fell over her. Her captor picked up the jar and placed a lid on it. “I knew humans existed! They said I was insane, but I have you now! And your hands will be mine!” ‘Please let this be a nightmare of some kind.’ She thought, questions flying all over the place in her mind as she questioned why giant talking ponies were everywhere, and how this one mare saw she was a human and not some bug like the others that almost stepped on her. ‘And how do I get this dumb helmet off!?’ She thought, once again trying to take it off. Her captor’s horn glowed, picking the jar with an aura as she trotted away. “Bon-Bon! Check what I found out!” Since it didn’t happen for the umpteenth time, she decided that she shouldn’t try and take it off in case she might break it, John did pay fifty bucks for both of them after all. Instead, she tried to see if she could find a way out of the jar, looking up at the lid to see if there was any way she could easily slip out. She looked at her wrist guns. ‘This is not gonna work, but I might as well try.’ She pointed her wrists at the side and flicked them in a shooting position. Much to her surprise, laser came out of her wrists, making a sloppy hole, but an escape nonetheless. ‘Wait a minute! Then does that mean-!?’ She looked at her back, then outside. It was now or never. She ran out of the hole and jumped out. Her imagination took over on what was going to happen next, and it wasn't pretty. Liz didn't feel pain. She opened her eyes to see she was a few inches from the floor, hovering. A fluttering sound was heard. Looking behind, her suit had sprouted wings, which buzzed like a bug’s. “I-I’m the wasp?” She asked aloud. “Oh my god! I'm the Wasp!!!” Liz tried to aim to fly around. In her mind, she was going to be flying gracefully, past all the giants' faces, and grow back to normal size, showing herself to the world. But in actuality, she flew across the floor with her face dragged on it, also hitting against walls, and couldn't grow back to size. ‘Geeze, the movies made it seem like it was easy.’ She thought, it being alone a reason why movies weren’t real life. But soon enough, she was good enough to at least stop herself from hitting a wall all the time… just most times. “G-gotta find John, and avoid that weird pony.” She said out loud, making a mental to-do list while she continued to try and fly.