The warm gym was a welcome escape from the crisp autumn air outside. It was dark outside, and still would be when Fulda left. If temperatures kept dropping like this, she would soon need something more substantial than a black crop top and compression shorts to protect her from the cold during the walk to and from her dorm room. She needed a full workout to start the day, and in the wee morning hours there was no one to compete with for equipment.
She stepped into the weight room, her enormous Converse slapping the rubber floor with each step. Even though it was secured in a French braid, her auburn hair brushed her back as she looked around, reveling in the silence. Her icy blue eyes did not spot a single person besides herself in the mirrors. Fulda gulped down the last bit of her protein shake and walked toward the back wall to get started with some squats.
Just before she could step inside the frame and claim the equipment for herself, someone stepped in front of her and grabbed the bar. Fulda looked at him in surprise. Not only was it a shock that someone else was in here this early, but he had gone out of his way to disrespect her. She could not let this stand, and needed to assert her claim as early morning gym queen.
Fulda cleared her throat loudly to get his attention before saying, “Excuse me, I believe you’re using my machine.” Most men suddenly turned into cowards when faced with her, and she hoped she could deter him without having to use force.
“Didn’t see you using it,” he replied nonchalantly. “Plenty of other squat racks for you to use.” As he spoke, he walked around the squat machine and began loading plates onto the bar. Three on one side marked him as ambitious, but hardly a powerhouse. He was a pipsqueak compared to Fulda, who might use that as a warmup.
“Look, I’m on a very tight schedule,” Fulda told him. “I’ve been doing the same routine here for months, and this one’s centrally located with the other machines I use. Think you could move aside for a bit so I can do my squats? It’ll only be a few minutes, I promise.”
“Sorry, you can’t reserve machines like that.” He loaded the other side while talking to her. “If you absolutely have to use this one, I suggest you wait for me to finish. I’ll only be a few minutes too, I promise.”
His refusal to respect her demands was bad enough, but Fulda could not abide his patronizing tone. She glowered down at him, trying to bore a hole through him with her eyes, but he paid her no further mind. It was clear she would have to use more extreme methods to get what she wanted, and she waited until he was back under the bar but struck before he could grab it.
Eric did his best to ignore the woman lingering in front of him, though it was difficult. It was rare he met a woman several inches taller than him so she must have been gigantic, her body rippled with toned, bulging muscles, and her cold eyes seemed to stare through him. However, her physical power would not help her here. He was clearly in the right, and not even the most roided-out freak would assault someone over a minor disruption to their workout routine.
As he reached for the bars, he realized something was wrong. The metal no longer rested on his shoulders, and he found himself unable to move aside from turning his head. Further, the demanding woman seemed to be getting larger before his eyes. It did not take a genius to conclude she was shrinking him, though he had no idea how. He looked up at her, shocked that his eyes were already below her chest, and worried she would simply make him walk out a humiliating foot shorter. His dwindling continued, however, and he soon found himself gaping up at her waist, then her powerful thighs as he slipped below her knees. When the shrinking finally stopped he was dwarfed by her shoes, no taller than the white rubber toes astride him.
He could move again but getting away from her was impossible. It would take a minute just to run the length of her gargantuan feet, and she could stop him with a simple twist of her foot. “Okay, you can have the rack!” Eric shouted up at her. “Just grow me back!”
“That’s a pretty decent weight you’ve got here,” she boomed. Her voice had been deep and husky before, but now it was a terrifying low rumble. Every syllable made his stomach quiver as its raw power flowed through his body. “Let’s see how you do with something a bit heavier.” It was clear she either could not hear him or had chosen not to listen.
She picked up one of her ginormous shoes and took a half step forward. The rubber mat absorbed the shock of her heel hitting the ground, but her tremendous sole stretched over and well beyond him. Eric was stuck inside her shoe’s shadow, and everywhere he looked above him was brown rubber. One of the diamonds etched into the sole was centered over him, and if he laid flat he might span the length between its tips.
The foot dropped, and he braced himself for impact. To his surprise he was able to stop it from smashing him, though his legs shook from the immense weight. That changed once she stopped holding back. His knees gave out, forcing him to do a macabre version of the splits as the shoe pressed down. It kept coming, and even if he could stand, he would not have been able to resist it. In an instant his spine compressed and all his bones shattered, then her foot met the mat, utterly squishing him beneath her sole.
Fulda let her foot linger on him for a moment, pressing down with all her weight, then lifted it back up. She stomped on the disc of his smashed remains a few times for good measure, then finished by raised her heel and ground her toes over him. Once she was certain there was nothing identifiably human left on the mat, she stepped inside and ducked beneath the bar. 270 would be a good warmup set for her, and her blood was already pumping from the thrill of smashing someone.