A Story To Shrink Theo

A kangaroo muttered to himself, hunched over a table adjusting the composition of a potion. It was delicate work; one missed drop of this stuff and he’d find himself caught in a sea of carpet fibers. The kangaroo carefully used an eyedropper to move the concentrated shrink potion and-

“HEY ALKALI,” an obnoxious cat’s voice said from behind.

The kangaroo shuddered violently, fur sticking out in every direction. “Theo! What the hell, don’t do that! This is dangerous stuff!”

Theo blinked, tail flicking in confusion. “Ohh. Sorry, didn’t realize you were working. That’s all.”

“It’s… it’s fine. Just hang on. I’ll be done shortly.” Al shook his head and returned his focus to the little eyedropper. He nearly forgot that Theo was coming over. That could’ve ended very badly if he dropped the solution.

“Is there something I could drink while I wait?” Theo asked. But the kangaroo didn’t answer. His focus was singular; the words went in one ear and out the other. Theo sighed and took a seat nearby, hands cupping his chin. This would be boring. His eyes scanned the lab and landed on a lightly glowing blue liquid. It looked like soda, fizzing gently in a transparent glass mug. The cat’s mouth watered just thinking about it. It might be a little rude to take something without asking but Alkali was busy, so…

The feline swooped over to the table and without a word picked up the mug. Theo sniffed curiously at the liquid, trying to place the flavor. It wasn’t like any soda he’d had before. But it didn’t smell bad either. He shrugged and took a sip. The liquid was sweet, and fizzed pleasantly on his tongue like pop rocks. The first test out of the way, Theo licked his lips and chugged the entire mug in a single go.

At first there was no indication anything bad was happening. Theo took his seat again and let the pleasant fizzing fill his stomach. It popped and fizzed the whole way down his throat causing the cat to purr involuntarily. He burped and pulled out his phone, ready again to wait for Alkali to finish… but had to pause when a sharp pain filled his torso. A feeling like the worst stomach ache he’d ever dealt with stabbed at his stomach. Just what was in that soda?

The answer came quickly, when Theo’s clothes suddenly tightened across his body. In a few short seconds he’d gained a full foot of height, overfilling the chair he used. The clothes didn’t handle this new change well and decided to bail on their owner. His pants and hoodie ripped along the seams revealing the black fur beneath. Theo’s fur stood on end as he looked over his body. How could this happen?

“H-Hey Al, I could use a little help-”

“Quiet dude, this is really delicate. Just a second longer and we can hang out…” Alkali answered crossly without even turning around.

“But it’s really important,” Theo persisted, down to only his boxer briefs. The chair collapsed a second later under him sending him crashing to the floor.

That caused the kangaroo to pause for just a moment. “Cut that out, whatever you’re doing. You almost made me drop this solution again!”

Theo whined and backed up into a corner, trying to take up as little space as possible. The ceiling was terribly close now and that didn’t bode well for his situation. On one hand he really didn’t want to break anything and get in trouble from growing like this. But on the other hand, Al might be really unhappy that he drank something dangerous without asking. The grumbling in his stomach intensified and with another burst of size Theo found his head pressed into the ceiling tiles with a thud.

“Theo! You didn’t get into anything back there did you?” Al asked, still without turning around to look.

“N-Noooo… I mean… yes but… help?” Theo mewed. He squirmed in place, accidentally knocking a foot into the side of the scientist’s table. That was finally enough for Alkali. He flipped around in his office chair, ready to give the cat a piece of his mind but was instead confronted with a cat taking up half the space in his lab.

“What on earth did you do? Theo, what did you drink?” Al cried, leaping out of his seat.

“I had some soda and then I got giant, I don’t know, just help!”

The marsupial put a hand to his temple and sighed. Of course. He left a growth potion out today as well. He almost said something about ‘curiosity killed the cat’ but just couldn’t bring himself to make that stupid of a reference.

“Okay. Just drink this. You’ll be fine,” he mumbled. Reaching back into a chemical hood the kangaroo pulled out a dark purple solution in a beaker.

Theo didn’t waste any time waiting for Alkali to explain. He reached forward and grabbed the bottle, two fingers covering most of the kangaroo’s hand as he pinched the beaker. It was barely thimble sized so he couldn’t afford to wait; if he got any bigger he might not be able to handle the bottle. Tipping it back in his mouth Theo felt that same tingling, fizzing sensation drop into a single spot on his tongue.

“I did it. How long does it take to get into effect?”

“Oh it should be fairly immediate,” the marsupial responded with a smug grin. “You just drank my concentrated shrinking potion after all, not the diluted version.”

Theo didn’t have much time to register what that meant. The gurgling in his stomach was suddenly replaced with a cooling sensation, and then the world grew again. He breathed a sigh of relief; the lab wouldn’t be destroyed today. He smiled and waited for the shrinking to stop… then lost the smile when he realized the shrinking hadn’t stopped. He fell to five feet tall, four, three, and still didn’t stop. The boxer briefs that used to be stretched tight, full to bursting on his hips, looked more like a shirt as he shrank into them. The ripped shreds of his undies surrounded him as Theo struggled to get free. Quite the monumental task when each second of he got shorter, making the movement to climb out only more difficult.

The world looked much different by the time Theo was safely free from his fabric prison. He looked up at the tables holding potions and lab equipment, looming far overhead. This was going to be pretty problematic. Suddenly the cat was knocked flat by the shaking of the ground. Someone large was stepping closer and closer, until a shadow loomed overhead. Theo only had an instant to try getting away but it was too late. A long kangaroo paw landed atop the tiny feline, pinning him in place.

“Oof, uhh… h-hey Al. Is that you up there?” Theo asked, trying to squirm his way loose. But Alkali’s toes clenched a little tighter.

“That’s why you don’t drink random potions you find in labs, shorty. Now you’re gonna have to help me work on another experiment to make up for the lost materials,” he boomed. Theo felt the roo’s foot lift, but couldn’t react in time before a hand clenched around his body as if he were a doll. Wind rushed around him as that palm pulled him upward toward a face that was comparatively an office building’s height away. Theo gulped when he saw Alkali’s brightly grinning face, especially the large teeth.

“First, I am a bit hungry. Maybe we should solve that problem,” Al said, licking his lips. Theo’s face went bright red and the fur on his tail puffed out. Lesson learned: don’t drink random potions in Alkali’s lab.