Dude! I Shrunk the Let's Players! Chapter 28

Chapter 28

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Jon awoke with a start when he heard a loud piercing scream echo through the house. He immediately leapt out of bed and ran into the hallway, trying to figure out who had screamed so loudly. When he ran out, he saw Reese, Tyler, and Patrick all peeking out of their guest bedrooms with curiosity and worry all over their faces. The source of the screaming was soon evident, and Josh ran out of his own room with tears trailing down his face. They quickly realized what was wrong. Josh was small. Really small. It was so noticeable now than it had been yesterday. What was going on? He looked to be at least four now. 

"What's wrong with me?! I feel funny! Make it stop guys!" Josh gripped Jon's pants and he was shaking terribly. "Please...Please help me!"

Jon didn't know what to do, but Jake quickly moved over and scooped up the still shaking Josh and hugged him close."It's okay..." He turned sharply to Jon. "We need to check on the others." Jake was worried, he could even feel Josh in his arms shrinking at a faster pace than before.

The rest of the group rushed forward and located Donna and Tim, both shrinking just as quickly as Josh was. They were both quickly scooped up as well, and all three were carried to the living room by Tyler, Reese, and Patrick. That left Jake and Jon standing in front of the very last room in the hallway. Emile's room. They weren't sure what to expect. Emile had been the youngest one when they were de-aged, and they don't know what he would look like  if he was shrinking just as fast as the rest. Jake was the first one to finally move, and he slowly reached towards the doorknob to open the door.

It swung open slowly, and they both walked into the room. The nightlight glinted off their glasses as they approached the bed, where there was a small wriggling figure underneath the fuzzy red blanket. Jon approached the bed cautiously and moved away the blankets. He stared at the form below him before stepping back a bit to sigh, and stare up at the ceiling. "Why is this happening?"

Jake moved next to him and stared down. Lying in the blankets was a small chubby toddler staring up at them with a huge grin on his face. He couldn't be older than two right now. He stuck his arms up in excitement. "Ma! Ma! Dada!" He kept squirming to be picked up, and Jon moved over to lift him.

His clothes were definitely too big for him right now, so Jon grabbed the blanket as well as they moved towards the living room. The trio of adults were sitting in the living room on the floor with the shrinking children on the couch. They all had somber looks on their faces as Jake and Jon both walked in with Emile. Reese looked relieved to see the toddler in Jon's arms. "He didn't disappear...That's good."

Jake looked at her sharply. "You thought...They were gonna disappear?!"

"It's a regular old case of Benjamin Button here! They're all shrinking! Pretty soon it'll be 'pop!' and they're gone!" Reese sounded frantic, and scared. "What'll we do then?!" 

"Don't say that Reese! You're scaring me!" Josh choked out. "I...Wait...Where am I?" Tears were tracking down. "No...No...I'm forgetting things...." He clutched his head. 

Donna and Tim looked at him in fear. It was obvious what they were both thinking as they watched Josh struggling to remember things. When were they going to go through the exact same thing? They felt their own small bodies quickly shrinking, and oddly enough, they knew what was coming. It was exactly what Reese said. Yet...Why didn't they feel as scared as Josh? They felt fear...But it was different.

"Why is this happening?" Patrick asked slowly, looking serious for once. "Who is doing this?"

Jon and Jake looked at each other, as Jon adjusted his hold on the shrinking Emile. "Well...It wa--"

Everyone jumped at the sound of the voice, and the lights flickered out, leaving them in darkness. Josh, Donna, and Tim immediately flew off the couch and into the arms of a free adult, because they were scared at the man who was standing purposely in the shadows so they could not get a look at his face. Emile started to cry, and he curled up close on Jon's chest. 

"You! Why are you doing this?!" Jake called out the shadowed man.

"New....Life?" Tyler asked, confused evident in his voice.

"But...That doesn't explain why they're shrinking! They wanted to be kids again...Okay. But why are you doing this?" Jon spat at the man.

"But--" Jake started, staring wide-eyed at the man.

"They will disappear, and you will forget them. They will forget you. I think you should say your goodbyes now. Good day, and enjoy your own lives." The shadowed man disappeared, and the lights flickered back to life. 

The room was bathed once more in the bright white lights from the lightbulbs, and they stared at the shrinking kids in their arms. Jon was rocking a baby Emile in his arms, and tears were falling freely from his face. "This can't be happening. This cannot be fucking happening."

They were shrinking even faster than ever, and they could clearly see the memories in their eyes slowly slipping away from their minds. They could only imagine what it felt like, slowly shrinking and forgetting everything they had ever learned. All the good and bad moments slipping completely away. What would this mean for them? When they disappeared the world would change so drastically for them. But only them. There were so many people in the world it was a trivial matter. People lost others every day.

Emile was shrinking the fastest. It was becoming like a deranged version of Futurama, when they managed to shrink to fetuses. That's what was happening to Emile as he slowly shrank. Tears were falling fast, and Jon looked up to see the same happening to everyone one else as the children shrank further and further.

"G-Good bye guys...You may not understand me right now...But...W-We'll miss you..." Jon choked out.

Everyone else choked out their own goodbyes, not even bothering to hide the fact that they were crying. Tyler was clutching the soft black teddy bear that Emile had given them in the hospital, and they still had their art on the fridge. Jon stared as the baby in his arms disappeared with a small 'pop'. Just like Reese said. It was soon after that the same fate met with the others.

They sat in silence, with only their sobbing and sniffling breaking the silence as they mulled over what had just happened. Then suddenly all hell broke loose. Reese and Tyler were sobbing uncontrollably in each other's arms. Patrick had gotten so angry that he actually punched his hand through the window, not even crying out when his fist came back cut and bloody. Only Jon and Jake stayed where they were, looking around with such a look of depression that they couldn't do anything.

They suddenly felt sleepy. Extremely sleepy, and they wondered what had become of their dear friends, if they truly were brought back to life like the man said, and as Jon slumped forward on the ground, he remembered the bright brown eyes who would excitedly call him daddy, and then suddenly remember the happy-go-lucky young man who would scream in his ears. Then he remembered Tim, Josh, and Donna all fighting over something or other, and he smiled. He smiled one last time before he finally passed out.