Captain Miniature and the Red Moll Conundrum

The Dark Stomach Saga

It was 1964 in Sydney Australia. Bryce Banta was doing exceedingly well at North Sydney Public High (a co-educational school). One afternoon, he was walking to the station, when he was approached by a young woman, who leaned out of the window of her parked car.

"Can I give you a lift?" she asked.

Bryce thanked her and got into the car.

"I'd actually like to take you somewhere else first," she said, and he agreed to be driven to her own laboratory and let in on one of the best kept secrets in the country.

"I don't even know your name yet. Mine is Bryce," he said, as she showed him into a building in Crows Nest and led him to her lab.

"I'm Dr Ann O'Malley," she said, "And you're about to see why my codename is Anomaly. I've been monitoring your school secretly for some time, and if you're interested, I have chosen you to be the test subject for my greatest invention: The Super Schoolboy Formula. Once taken it should give you the permanent ability to manifest super powers. These powers are vitally needed, so that we can give you your own television show in an effort to kick start the Australian television industry."

"Is the situation really that desperate?" he asked.

"Yes, very. Apart from a few low budget cop shows and soap operas, we're reduced to importing everything from England and the United States. So are you prepared to drink the formula?"

"Well I am due for afternoon tea," he said.

"That's good. The formula appropriately includes elements of red cordial, the same type that causes hyperactivity in some children. I've added my own chemicals as well. With any luck, you'll soon be just what the networks need. If it works, I will be the only person working with you in your scenes. I'll tell other stars in your programs, that your masked hero persona and your secret identity are played by two different people. Here you are. Drink up."

Bryce tried the formula, and waited to see what would happen. He shrank to tiny size, and found that he had x-ray vision that could see through everything except the material used in making clothing. He concentrated his thoughts on returning to normal size, and found that the x-ray vision power left him as soon as he was full sized again. He made subsequent tests, and found that every time he shrank, he gained a super power (but not the same one each time) until he regrew to full size.

"I wasn't sure what powers you'd get," said Dr O'Malley, "I suspect the x-ray vision will return on a subsequent shrinking experience, but you'll never know which power you're going to get until you reduce. We need a suitable name for you. How does Captain Miniature sound?"

"I love it," said Bryce, "Looks like my hero persona will have to be explained to other stars as some sort of remote controlled doll you've designed."

"I'll build a fake remote control device," said Dr O'Malley.

"I now vow to wage war on bad ratings and narrow minded network censors," said Bryce, "Since the formula seems to reduce any item of clothing attached to my body at the time, I can design a costume to be worn under my school uniform, with a mask I can pull up."

"I'll stitch it together for you," she said.

"You can do that too? How good are you?" he asked.

"Sew-sew," said Ann.

She finally drove him home. In the weeks ahead, they took every opportunity to start filming episodes of the Captain Miniature television show, after O'Malley had successfully pitched a pilot episode to one of the networks.

One lunch time, Bryce Banta was reading a book alone, up in the classroom, when he heard a lot of noise coming from the playground. Looking out the window, he saw a scene of bullying and decided that it could use the personal attention of Captain Miniature. Bryce stripped off his outer school uniform clothing and tossed it behind the lockers. Then he shrank to tiny size, pulled the mask over his face, and used the unique sense that he had acquired from his original consumption of the Super Schoolboy Formula. It would always enable his body to send a quick signal to his brain, instructing his mind as to which power he had acquired. On this occasion, he found that he had received Telly-Scopic vision: the ability to see what was tuned in on any TV screen in a five mile radius of his location.