"Frog? Albert?" he corrected hastily. "No no no, you don't know Albert. Don't even think about it. Don't even ask."
    The door opened behind him. He glanced behind him and saw Paige, with a gun in her hand, already firing. The gun emitted a cone of blue circles that condensed down onto Jenkins, who slumped to the floor. Phoenix Talon instantly launched a mirror in an attempt to lassoo the gun out of her hand. It wrapped around her hand, but when he yanked the cord her arm didn't move at all. She turned toward him. Peter was hiding under the table, groping for the intercom, which was about six inches to his right.
    She fired at Phoenix Talon. He realized where he'd seen the gun before; Star Wars, when they'd captured Princess Leia. Then darkness fell.

    He woke up, still in his costume, still with his belt and bokken. He was lying on the ground. He grabbed his weapon, flipped the switch and came to his feet, ready for anything. He was in a large, dimly lit room with a wooden floor. A circular pillar stood about five feet from him, running up as far as he could see into the shadows. He could make out three more, spaced around him. Behind him was the wall, with a rather odd, deep extrusion at about head level, and what seemed to be a tapestry hanging on it. Two more pillars that seemed to be supporting the tapestry. He couldn't see any designs or anything on it.
    He was still fully armed, so things couldn't be that bad. Whoever they were, these guys must be pretty dumb. But where was he?
    In the distance was a large open space, probably a window, very high up, that seemed to be the source of the dim light. Looking up, he realized that the ceiling was much higher than he had thought. The four pillars were supporting something else overhead.
    He moved swiftly to the tapestry and kicked it. Checked it out. Fairly heavy, dull grey, coarse fibers. When he kicked it, it pushed in; it seemed to be connected to something more substantial at about head level. He lifted it up and saw a dark space, with more tapestry all around, and the supports in the distance, light coming in under the edges. He shone his flashlight around.
    There was some stuff under there, balls of what looked like tumbleweed, and a couple of manhole-cover-sized objects. He stepped back out and reconnoitered the room's dimensions. The place was huge. The wall had, again at about head height, a little trellis or something before it flattered again. He found a corner, saw more pillars holding high objects.
    Then the perspective snapped into place. The pillars were the legs of a table. Those others were three chairs.
    "You son of a bitch," he muttered. I'm six inches tall!
    He wasn't in the office. It looked like an average living room. He ducked under the couch, stooping since it wasn't quite high enough for him to stand straight, and checked the objects; yes, they were coins. He picked one up and tried to see how far he could hurl it. About as far as he could have thrown a twenty-pound frisbee.
    Damn. I'm going to miss the Blood Board meeting, aren't I. Okay, I'm tiny. Now what?
    He ripped out some of the couch lining to try to get more headroom. Sounds seemed to indicate someone coming. He started tunneling deeper into the stuffing, but ran into a hard plastic barrier after only a few inches.
    "Mm. Looks like he's awake," a voice boomed. Something tapped on the window, and a massive arm reached through. "Hello Phoenix Talon. You in there?" A massive rushing of air. "Now where are you.... are you under the chair?"
    "Are you under the couch?"
    He held onto the bottom as someone lifted up the couch.
    "That looks like stuffing."
    He hooked a grapple around the guy's arm and swung up. He could see that the guy was wearing a costume with a full hood, with a sort of cross design on it, like a T. Before he could see much more the man flicked his arm and sent him flying across the room to land on a chair.
    "Oh, feisty! Always like that in my new toys. As you may have noticed, I have reduced your dimensions. I, by the way," he added, "am the Toy Man."
    "Yeah, you're the one with the Sphinx, and those other guys," Phoenix said, remembering the name. "I heard about you from Lucky."
    "That was the old Toy Man," his captor corrected him. "I am new and improved."
    "Nah, you're the same guy, I saw the pictures. I think you're using Grecian formula now." He was just trying to annoy the man.
    "You may prattle all you want, but you are now here for my amusement for the foreseeable future. I understand that you consider yourself to be a decent martial artist. Let's see how you handle youself against some of the greatest who have ever... not necessarily lived. Been conceived."
    He heard a sound, as of a cage opening. Running through the doorway came several people his own size, in military garb which he very quickly recognized. One was a woman with bright red hair, one wore all black with a full face mask, four others. It was the GI Joe team.
    "There is an exit from this house that will return you to your normal dimensions," the Toy Man said. "Assuming you are still alive to find it. Have a nice day, Mr. Phoenix Talon."
    From his new vantage point on the chair, Phoenix Talon took a look around the room, saw another door, slightly open.
    "All right, fan out! He has to be around here somewhere!" Hawk barked. They hadn't seen him yet. Snake Eyes had already vanished into the shadows. "Reconnoiter the room, check under the objects." The group fanned out. Scarlet was about to fire a crossbow grapple to get up onto the table for a higher view while Lone Eagle checked for tracks. Halo Jumper and Triage headed toward the couch on their way to the other door.
    Phoenix Talon crawled to the edge of the chair and pulled a grenade, tossed it toward the last two just as they were about to split up. After all, they were just toys. In mid-throw Lone Eagle annouced, "I sense danger! He's up there!"
    The grenade blew off Halo's leg. No blood, much to Phoenix Talon's relief, though it seemed that the guy was still conscious and might actually be getting up.
    "There he is!"
    "We have a fix on him, team, open fire!"
    Well, at least he already knew they were really bad shots. Hawk grazed him, though. Triage ran over to look after Halo Jumper and picked up the leg. Scarlet continued to move forward with her original plan, working her way toward the table top. Phoenix rappelled down the chair and sprinted for the partly open door, the toys in hot pursuit.
    "He's already taken down Halo! We may need more help! Bring in the support teams!" Hawk ordered.
    That couldn't be good. He reached the door to the next room. There was a hall beyond it, with several doors along it and another window. It was a lot darker in this room. He threw himself against the door, moved it a few inches but couldn't close it. Tried again, no better result. Then someone slammed against it from the other side. Phoenix Talon stood back, ready.
    An eagle swooped through with a screech, high above his head. He blinded it with a flare of light.

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