THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING GUNMAN Part 5 By GirlX Remember, Feedback is very much appricated! (I need to know SOMEONE'S reading this...) 10:18 am (Next day) LGM Lair “Oh sh*t, it’s morning.” Frohike woke up on the couch, where he’d fallen asleep. “Byers, Jimmy- When did we last check on Langly?” “Hm? Oh, 11: 30 I guess.” Jimmy dozed on a chair. “Yeah, it was about-It’s morning!” Byers snapped awake. “We have to see if he’s okay!” The three exchanged worried looks, and raced to Langly’s room. “Langly? Langly??” Byers voice became pressing. Langly was gone! “Oh my God, we lost him!” Frohike gasped. “We promised we wouldn’t and we did!” Both Frohike and Jimmy looked like they were going to cry. “I’m sure we didn’t lose him. He has to be here somewhere.” Byers sounded more like he was pleading than convincing. “Langly?” Jimmy called. Byers thought he heard something. “Wait a second, guys be quiet.” There it was again! “Did you hear that too?” “Yeah, it sounded like a mouse or a rat or...” Jimmy trailed off. “...You don’t think...” “Langly?!” Byers whispered. “Where are you?” “Here!” A squeak answered them. “Where?” Frohike hissed. “On the floor!” The gunmen looked down and gasped. Langly was there all right. But he was six inches tall! “Langly!” Jimmy shrieked. “What happened?!” “Not so loud!” Langly shouted. “Do you want to make me deaf?!” “Sorry.” Jimmy whispered. “Oh man...” Frohike cautiously picked him up. He could feel Langly’s heart beating wildly, like a little bird. “Hey, careful.” Langly warned. “I’ve got brittle bones.” “I’ll give you brittle bones, you twerp.” Frohike rolled his eyes. “How did you get on the floor?” Byers asked. “I must have fallen out of bed last night.” Langly sighed. “At least some things haven’t changed.” Frohike said, trying to sound upbeat. Langly often fell out of bed in the middle of the night. Or he managed to spin himself around into other positions. He seemed to have the same amount of liveliness sleeping as he did awake. “We’d better get Scully.” Jimmy bit his lip. “This is dangerous. We could crush you!” “Well, I’m small enough to fit in the vent now.” Langly said. “Yeah, but you weren’t supposed to be able to yet. You’re shrinking too fast.” Byers said worriedly. “All the more reason to get that ray." Langly pointed out. “We’d have to wait until tonight. You could shrink down to nothing.” Frohike unconsciously tightened his grip. “I’ll never make it to tonight, if you don’t stop squeezing me!” Langly shrieked. “Sorry.” Frohike said softly. “Look, you need medical attention. Maybe a hospital could-” “All the instruments would be to big.” Langly interrupted Jimmy. Byers sighed. “We have to do SOMETHING. I mean, your six inches tall. What if we lose you again? “I’m surprised we even heard you.” Frohike said somberly. “It’s not like I’m going to wander off or anything.” “If we lost you even for a little while...” Jimmy trailed off. “Then we wouldn’t need that ray.” Byers said bluntly. “So what’s a hospital gonna do? Tests. Lots and lots of tests.” Langly began to quiver under Frohike’s fingertips. “Okay, so hospitals are out. What about Scully?” “She can’t help either. The only thing I can do is to rest.” Byers carefully picked Langly up and brought him to eye level. “You’re sure?” He asked anxiously. “Positive. I think.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3:43 P.M. Byers glanced down at his tiny companion. Langly was sitting next to a pile of documents, with his knees drawn to his chest, looking down. “Hey Langly? You hungry?” He asked quietly. Langly glanced up a little startled at how loud Byers sounded. “Uh, I guess so.” Langly really didn’t feel like eating, but he figured Byers would make him anyway. Byers had managed to cut a tiny chunk out of an apple. It was actually about the size of an apple to Langly. “Thanks.” He muttered. Byers turned, and accidentally nudged the table. Glancing back, he saw the documents wobble unsteadily. Images of Langly flattened under the pile of papers flashed through his mind. Biting his lip, Byers slowly moved the stack to another table. Similar hazards occupied his thoughts. ‘This is really risky.’ He thought. ‘He could get killed! We could crush him.’ Thoughts of minute blood splatters, and a tiny shoe box-sized coffin entered his mind. Shaking these images off, he went over to Frohike. "Frohike, do you think we're doing the right thing?" "Huh?" "You know, sending Langly into the compound." "Well, we don't have much of a choice, do we? Without that ray, in a day or two he'll just..." "I know...but what if he gets hurt?" "Langly knows what he's doing. And if worse comes to worse, we could find a way in.” "I still don't like it. I wish one of us could go with him." Byers said wistfully. "Me too." Frohike sighed. "But there's no way." "Okay." Byers murmured. "It'll be all right." Frohike assured him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10:18 am “Oh sh*t, it’s morning.” Frohike woke up on the couch, where he’d fallen asleep. “Byers, Jimmy-When did we last check on Langly?” “Hm? Oh, 11: 30 I guess.” Jimmy dozed on a chair. “Yeah, it was about-It’s morning!” Byers snapped awake. “We have to see if he’s okay!” The three exchanged worried looks, and raced to Langly’s room. “Langly? Langly??” Byers voice became pressing. Langly was gone! “Oh my God, we lost him!” Frohike gasped. “We promised we wouldn’t and we did!” Both Frohike and Jimmy looked like they were going to cry. “I’m sure we didn’t lose him. He has to be here somewhere.” Byers sounded more like he was pleading than convincing. “Langly?” Jimmy called. Byers thought he heard something. “Wait a second, guys be quiet.” There it was again! “Did you hear that too?” “Yeah, it sounded like a mouse or a rat or...” Jimmy trailed off. “...You don’t think...” “Langly?!” Byers whispered. “Where are you?” “Here!” A squeak answered them. “Where?” Frohike hissed. “On the floor!” The gunmen looked down and gasped. Langly was there all right. But he was six inches tall! “Langly!” Jimmy shrieked. “What happened?!” “Not so loud!” Langly shouted. “Do you want to make me deaf?!” “Sorry.” Jimmy whispered. “Oh man...” Frohike cautiously picked him up. He could feel Langly’s heart beating wildly, like a little bird. “Hey, careful.” Langly warned. “I’ve got brittle bones.” “I’ll give you brittle bones, you little twerp.” Frohike rolled his eyes. “How did you get on the floor?” Byers asked. “I must have fallen out of bed last night.” Langly sighed. “At least some things haven’t changed.” Frohike said, trying to sound upbeat. Langly often fell out of bed in the middle of the night. Or he managed to spin himself around into other positions. He seemed to have the same amount of liveliness sleeping as he did awake. “We’d better get Scully.” Jimmy bit his lip. “This is dangerous. We could crush you!” “Well, I’m small enough to fit in the vent now.” Langly said. “Yeah, but you weren’t supposed to be able to yet. You’re shrinking too fast.” Byers said worriedly. “All the more reason to get that ray." Langly pointed out. “We’d have to wait until tonight. You could shrink down to nothing.” Frohike unconsciously tightened his grip. “I’ll never make it to tonight, if you don’t stop squeezing me!” Langly shrieked. “Sorry.” Frohike said softly. “Look, you need medical attention. Maybe a hospital could-” “All the instruments would be to big.” Langly interrupted Jimmy. Byers sighed. “We have to do SOMETHING. I mean, your six inches tall. What if we lose you again? “I’m surprised we even heard you.” Frohike said somberly. “It’s not like I’m going to wander off or anything.” “If we lost you even for a little while...” Jimmy trailed off. “Then we wouldn’t need that ray.” Byers said bluntly. “So what’s a hospital gonna do? Tests. Lots and lots of tests.” Langly began to quiver under Frohike’s fingertips. “Okay, so hospitals are out. What about Scully?” “She can’t help either. The only thing I can do is to rest.” Byers carefully picked Langly up and brought him to eye level. “You’re sure?” He asked anxiously. “Positive. I think.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3:43 P.M. Byers glanced down at his tiny companion. Langly was sitting next to a pile of documents, with his knees drawn to his chest, looking down. “Hey Langly? You hungry?” He asked quietly. Langly glanced up a little startled at how loud Byers sounded. “Uh, I guess so.” Langly really didn’t feel like eating, but he figured Byers would make him anyway. Byers had managed to cut a tiny chunk out of an apple. It was actually about the size of an apple to Langly. “Thanks.” He muttered. Byers turned, and accidentally nudged the table. Glancing back, he saw the documents wobble unsteadily. Images of Langly flattened under the pile of papers flashed through his mind. Biting his lip, Byers slowly moved the stack to another table. Similar hazards occupied his thoughts. ‘This is really risky.’ He thought. ‘He could get killed! We could crush him.’ Thoughts of minute blood splatters, and a tiny shoe box-sized coffin entered his mind. Shaking these images off, he went over to Frohike. "Frohike, do you think we're doing the right thing?" "Huh?" "You know, sending Langly into the compound." "Well, we don't have much of a choice, do we? Without that ray, in a day or two he'll just..." "I know...but what if he gets hurt?" "Langly knows what he's doing. And if worse comes to worse, we could find a way in.” "I still don't like it. I wish one of us could go with him." Byers said wistfully. "Me too." Frohike sighed. "But there's no way." "Okay." Byers murmured. "It'll be all right." Frohike assured him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10:04 P.M. “It’s time.” Byers announced. Langly glanced up. “Good. I think I shrank some more.” “I’ll measure you one last time.” Frohike picked up a ruler. “Four inches.” “Oh man...” Jimmy said fearfully. “I shrank two inches?” Langly sighed. “At least it wasn’t three.” “Lets go, before you get any smaller.” Byers picked Langly up, and took him out to the bus. “Jimmy, would you-” “I got it.” Jimmy took him. “You don’t need to hold me!” Langly snapped. “Would, you rather ride in a mouse cage or something?” “Shut-up Doo-Hike.” “I know you don’t like it, but it’s better than the alternative.” Byers said in a fatherly tone. “Maybe from where you’re standing.” Langly grumbled. “But from here, it sucks.” “Aw, be quiet, or I’ll squeeze you.” Jimmy threatened good-naturedly. “Squeeze this.” Langly flipped him a very tiny middle finger. “Well, your attitude seems to be intact at least.” Byers noted. Langly rolled his eyes. “Can we hurry this up? I’d really like to get full-size again.” “He’s easier to manage like this.” Jimmy joked. “Shut-up.” Langly tried to squirm from his grip. “Or at least, loosen up. You’re gonna crush me!” “Sorry. You must be really delicate or something.” Jimmy thought for a second. “I got it! This way I won’t crush you, and you don’t have to be held.” “What? What way? What are you doing?” Langly stopped when Jimmy placed him in his front pocket. “Oh, no way! There is no way in hell-” “It’s either this, or I hold you.” Jimmy reminded him. “NO FREAKIN’ WAY!!” Langly yelled at the top of his lungs. “Langly, do you really want a former football player using his grip on you?” Frohike questioned. Langly remained silent for a moment, brooding. “Oh alright.” He finally growled. “But I want you to know, I hate this!” “We know! We know!” The three full-size Gunmen said together. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~