Amanda sat at her table wondering what she should do next.

She had come to the local anime and game convention with a group of her friends. They had each dressed as a character from Sailor Moon, with Amanda dressed as Sailor Mars. It was the first time they had gotten together since they had all come home from college for the summer.

So far it had been a fun reunion. They had played a bunch of old games, watched some hilarious new series, and taken countless pictures. Nonetheless, Amanda was glad to get away from the crowd for a bit. She had wandered off to grab a bite to eat and was now looking at the event program in an out-of-the-way way lobby of the convention center.

"Nice costume!" She heard a voice behind her say. She turned around to see a guy with a camera around his neck, a large book under his left shoulder, and a dufflebag over his right.

"Thanks, my friends and I each put together one," She responded.

"Well yours is one of the best I've seen today, would you mind if I got a picture for the event website?" He continued.

Amanda had taken so many pictures that day that she was sure she'd end up on the event page anyway, so she didn't see the harm in obliging his request. She moved over to stand in front of the wall of the lobby and posed with her hands on her hips. The guy counted to three and clicked the camera's shutter.

A blindingly bright flash of blue light erupted from the camera, yet Amanda' eyes did not reflexively blink in response to it as expected. "What the hell?!" Amanda was ready to yell, except her mouth did not move to produce the sound. She tried to walk forward but found she could not move a muscle. She was locked in the pose she had taken for the picture.

Before she could process the strange sensation of being completely immobile, her eyes started to show the room around her getting bigger, leading her to wonder if the flash had damaged her eyes.

The guy lowered his camera and seemed to study Amanda for a moment, giving her an uneasy feeling she could not escape due to whatever it was that was keeping her in her pose. He then began moving toward her. As he got closer, she came to the horrifying realization that she had not imagined the room getting bigger. By the time the guy reached her, she could only see his shoe and could not look up to see the full extent of how much he towered over her.

"How is this possible? Did that flash somehow shrink me?" She thought. "No," She reasoned, "That kind of thing only happens is fantasy stories." Still, no matter how much she reasoned it was impossible, the evidence was right there in front of her.

The guy crouched down and motioned his hand to grab her. Still unable to move or speak, she was powerless to stop it. His fingers wrapped around her body, which still did not move her from the position she was posed in. As she was lifted off the floor, she noticed a strange weight following her, as if something was stuck to her feet.

He set her on a nearby table and took a seat right in front her. A twinge of anger mixed with Amanda' fear. Here she was, scared out of her mind at suddenly finding herself shrunken and paralyzed and he seemed to be treating her like a toy. There was now no doubt in her mind that he had done this to her, whatever this was.

It was then that they both noticed voices moving toward the lobby. The door swung open and in stepped two of Amanda' friends. Steffi was dressed as Sailor Venus and Nicole was dressed as Sailor Saturn. They were talking about the things they saw at the merchandise stands, when Nicole caught sight of Amanda.

"Hey, check out this Sailor Mars figure," Nicole said to Steffi while looking right at Amanda. "Figure? What is she talking about?" Amanda thought, but the horrible truth was starting to sink in. It explained her predicament, the inability to move, her small size. The weight she felt beneath her feet when the guy had picked her up was..."my base," she realized with a sinking feeling.

“Yeah, Amanda would love one like this,'' Steffi replied."I'm right here! He did this to me! Help me! Do something before you end up like this too!" Amanda thought frantically, but in her current state, thinking was all she could do. Her friends didn't recognize her. To them she was a figure that could have been purchased at any of the merchandise stands they were just looking at. This realization truly sent Amanda to despair.

"Yeah, it cost plenty," the guy answered as Amanda protested silently. "We should find Amanda and see if we can find her one," Nicole suggested.  Steffi agreed and the two girls left the lobby. With that, it seemed Amanda's one hope of rescue was gone....