It had just passed noon on the next day, a Sunday afternoon, as Thomas pulled his shirt over his head and onto his upper torso. He was dressed in his now cleaned red and black T-shirt, grey jeans, and black sneakers; the exact same clothes he had worn when he first made his trek to Melissa's house several weeks ago. This attire was quite fitting; as this was Sunday, Sayuko would be going over to Melissa's house. Except that Thomas would also be going with her.

Thomas picked his wallet and keys from his make-shift bed and shoved them into his right pocket. He looked back towards his bed, at the crucifix necklace that Gloria had given him. She called it a good luck charm, and now was the time that he would need all of the luck that he could get. He grabbed it and held it in his hands or several seconds as he stared at it.

If things went well, he would be seeing his companions once again. Though he was a bit angsty about Gloria, and her possible pregnancy. How would he tell her that he had started to bond with Sayuko? Would she consider it a slap in the face, even if she did somewhat push him to get close to Sayuko?

But those issues would have to wait until if and after both he and Sayuko succeeded. The plan he came up with was risky, but with Mr. Cruz out of the picture, it was their only option.

Thomas pulled the necklack over his head, and then brought it down around his neck. He then tucked the crucifix into his shirt.

Sayuko then walked into the room, wearing a pink shirt and a demin skirt that came to her knees. She headed to her bed and sat down on the edge facing Thomas. Once there, she slipped her barefeet out of her fuzzy pink slippers and slipped them into her red sandals.

"Sayu," Thomas called as she strapped her feet into her sandals. "Are you ready?"

Sayuko looked up towards him. "To be honest, Thomas-kun... No, I'm not. I'm scared, and nervous. ...But I know that I have to do this."

"Yeah. I'm scared too, but I know that we'll pull it off."

"How do you know?"

"...I don't know... I guess I just have faith in us. ...Mainly in you. After all, you rescue me from Melissa's house, and you got Mr. Cruz's phone number, even if that didn't work out. You're braver than you think."

"Do you mean that, Thoma-kun?"

Thomas smiled. "Yeah."

Sayuko returned with a smile of her own. "Okay. I'll believe in myself and what I can do."

With her feet firmly strapped into her sandals, she grabbed her red purse from the bed and stood up. She then walked towards her desk, stopping right in front of Thomas. Sayuko was a very short young woman, but at his current size, she towered over him like a skyscraper.

"I guess it's time to go now," Sayuko said as she placed her purse on the desk, right beside Thomas. Afterwards, she picked him up from the desk, and set him inside of her purse.

"I'll see you when we get to Melissa's," Thomas said as he looked up at her massive face.

"Yes," Sayuko said, before closing the purse and leaving Thomas in the darkness.

He sat down on the soft fabric, as he felt the purse begin to move about around him.

"...Here it comes," Thomas said to himself. "The final boss of Melissa's game."

Inside of his plastic hamster house, Taro awoke to the sound of the chain around his dark prison being undone, and seconds later, light flooded into this world. The light was almost blinding, as his eyes have since become accustomed to the darkness inside of this cabinet.

"Taro~o" she called. "I have something to tell you. You might like it."

Grogging along the way, Taro picked himself up from the ground, and slowly but surely made his way out of the doorway. As he walked how, he was met by the visage of Melissa's smiling face. Despite how sweet one would find it on the outside, he had come to associate it with something ominous.

"Sleepy as always, little man," she said.

"...What is it you wanted me for?" Taro asked, trying to get straight to the point.

"So impatient! What, did I interrupt a wet dream?" She laughed.

Taro moaned, but remained silent.

"...Anyway, you know that your sister's coming today, right?"

"She's coming today?" It had been nearly a month since he had last spoken to her. "Is she well?"

"...I don't know. But if she does what I say today, you'll be reunited with her."

Taro's eyes widen in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"You'll finally be able to hug her like I bet you've been wanting to for the longest now."

"Melissa... Are you telling the truth?" Taro was still in disbelief

"Of course. Why would I lie to you?" She smiled again. "She just has to kill my mom and sis, and then you two will be together again."

"What?!" This bit of information stunned Taro. "You're going to make her kill your family?!"

"And that little moocher, too."

"How could you make her do that?!" Taro exclaimed.

Melissa sighed. "I was going to do it myself, but they're not worth it anymore. It'd be better and more humiliating if they were killed by someone infer-"

"That's not what I meant! How could you be so cruel to your own flesh and blood?!"

"Flesh and...?!" Melissa became agitated; there was no trace of the smile that she had before. "Listen, you little piece of shit. You have no idea of what those two put me through for most of my life. They are not my family. They're nothing. Don't ever say anything like that that again, or," Melissa struck the cage with her hand, which caused it to shake violently and caused Taro to lose his footing and fall to his bottom, "I'll kill you and your sister. Got it?!"

Taro nervously nodded. No matter how many times she became cross with him, it always sent chills down his spine.

Melissa smacked the cage once more. "And don't ever interrupt me again."

Taro stood to his feet as Melissa dropped a small white bag into the cage. It fell right in front of his feet, and he could now see that it was a white bag from a fast food restaraunt.

"Eat your shit," Melissa ordered, her mood now sour. "You have water, so I didn't bother to get you a drink this time."

Taro kneeled down and picked up the bag, just as Melissa closed the doors of the cabinet, once again encasing him in darkness. He opened the bag and looked closely inside. He saw a plain hamburger and a medium size of fries. The usual stuff. He sighed and carried the bag back into his house.

Melissa had truly crossed the line. It was horrifying enough to kill dozens of innocent people as if they were indeed nothing more than insects, but to include her own family among those ranks? The thought almost made Taro so sick that he could not even look at the food that she had given him. His family was gone, dead because of a careless drunk driver. He would give anything to have them back, if only for Sayuko's sake, and that is how Melissa treats her family?

On the other hand, he would finally be reunited with his sister.

"...Just one more," Taro said. "Please, sister. Just hold out once more..."

~~~

Robbie sat at Kim's knees, with his back turned against her. He held her right foot in his hands, and was attempting to massage it, though it seemed to come across more as fondling. Luckily for him, Kim did not mind.

The last 24 hours had been horrible on the couple. Kim almost had a breakdown once it hit her that, after talking with the others, they were all but guaranteed to be trapped in this dark prison until Melissa decides to kill them. Robbie was able to calm her down, though that was not to say that he was not anxious abut the situation as well. Through each other's comfort, they figured that they could at least bare this torture until their time came.

"...I missed Code Geass," Robbie said, trying to get his mind off of the current situation.

"What?" Kim responded. "I already saw the entire thing a year ago!"

"Well, excuse me for liking the dub! I think Johnny Yong Bosch does great as Lelouch!"

"...Whatever. Johnny always sounds so angry. He makes a better Ichigo. Oh, and Bleach's dub sucks, too."

"You weeaboo."

"Why should I stay up late and watch something I've already seen a year ago?" Kim sighed. "...But that doesn't matter anymore."

"C'mon... Don't think about it." Robbie turned towards her. "...Hey! Remember the time me and Thomas almost beat you in Brawl, but you came back and kicked our asses?"

Kim nodded. "You two thought you had me, but then I got the Smash Ball that appeared."

Robbie chuckled. "Damn Marth and his one-hit KO Final Smash. I don't know how you got both of us with that!"

"You guys just got cocky."

"...Riiight. Whatever. We should have won that match. It's the game's fault for making a Smash Ball appear there."

"If one of you had gotten it, you wouldn't have thought it was unfair."

Robbie chuckled again. "Maybe so."

Kim looked in front of her, past Robbie, and he saw a look of realization appear on her face. He turned back towards his front, and saw Dawson approaching them.

"Well, if it isn't the happy couple!" Dawson greeted. "How are you both holding up?"

"I'm doing better," Kim answered. "Robbie's just trying to make me remember some of the good times."

"Wow... That was fast," Dawson said. "Usually it'd be at least a few days before people start to reminisce."

"Well... You all said that you've been here for a long time. Why should I think that it'd be different for us?"

"Kim..." Robbie called as he brought her foot closer to his face. "Try not to think about it too much. Maybe something will happen."

Kim did nothing but silently look at Robbie as he kissed her instep.

"Maybe some angel with a sword will come down and smite Melissa," Robbie said.

"...An angel?" Kim asked, before rolling her eyes. "Right..."

"...What about Godzilla?"

"Why would Godzilla attack a little suburb like this? He usually goes after those big cities like New York or Tokyo." Kim folded her arms. "And even if he came here, he wouldn't care about us. I don't even think he'd see us!"

Robbie kissed her foot again. "C'mon, sweetie. Just play along with me. You shouldn't give up hope until the very end, right?"

"I guess..." Kim responded.

"Hey, Robbie," Dawson called. "Can I ask you something? Out of curiosity?"

"Sure," Robbie responded.

"Are you family?"

"What?" Robbie said, not having a clue as to what Dawson was refering to.

"You're rubbing on Kim's foot, and you kissed it twice. Do you have a foo-"

"Yes!" Kim quickly answered for Robbie.

Dawson laughed. "About time I found another person here who shares my quirk! I have one too, you know."

"Yeah," Robbie said. "We figured it out when you said that she had nice feet yesterday."

"...And she does! I would just, for a second, love to touch-"

"No." Kim interrupted again. "Sorry, but my feet are only for Robbie. Why don't you ask that other girl? ...Jenna, I think."

"I tried already. She let me do my stuff one time, a long time ago, but now she just blows me off." Dawson shook his head. "And she has such pretty ones, too. ...She use to be barefoot all of the time, but after that war a few days ago, she's been wearing shoes that she got off of a dead Homeless woman."

"Is that right?" Robbie said.

"I have another question," Dawson said.

Kim pulled her foot from Robbie's grasp, and then stood up. "I'm going to chat with the others." She slipped her foot into its red flip-flop sandal, and then walked away from the two men.

Dawson watched as she headed towards Jenna. "Oh man... I hope Jenna doesn't brainwash her."

"About what?" Robbie asked.

"Jenna thinks I'm a perverted freak." Dawson turned back towards him. "The last thing I need is another cute girl conspiring against me."

"Well, I don't know about that. Kim perfers to think on her own. But you're right on one thing: She is cute."

"...How'd you meet her?"

"Me and Thomas went to a bowling alley back in March. It was there that I first met Kim and a bunch of other girls. At first, I tried to hook Thomas up with one of them, but they didn't seem to be too interested in him. Later, Kim and I started talking, and I asked her out. The rest is history."

"I see... I need to find out where this bowling alley is, if there's more cuties like that around!"

"Anyway, is that what you wanted to ask me?"

"No..." Dawson moved towards Robbie and sat down besides him. "...So, you have a foot fetish."

"Yeah."

"...What about a giantess fetish?"

"The hell is a giantess fetish?"

"Oh, it's awesome!" Dawson seemed to be getting excited. "Basically, it's when you're turned on by a giant woman, or by being shrunken so that normal-sized women look giant from your view!"

"Oh. ...In other words, what happened to us now."

"Yeah," Dawson said as he nodded. "Back home, I would fantasize about being squished like a bug under the feet of some pretty girl. It's quite hot, don't you think?"

"...No."

"What?! How can that not be hot?! You love feet, so wouldn't you love a much bigger foot?!"

"I don't love feet. I just have an affinity towards them, I guess. Also, I wouldn't want to be killed."

"Hmm..." Dawson calmed himself. "Maybe you're right. At least if you stay alive, you can enjoy the feet more. ...But the girl could still step on me. Just lightly... And barefoot to be safe."

"...You're one weird guy."

Dawson laughed. "We're all weird in our own unique way."

"True." Robbie looked back towards Kim, whom he could barely see in the dim light.

"You know what's funny?" Dawson asked.

"What?"

"...If what happened to us was actually just a story, I would think that it'd be the best story ever. Melissa could have been the best evil giantess in GTS literature history."

"...That'd be one messed up story." Robbie snickered. "And the guy writing it obviously is sick in the head."

~~~

"I can't believe your boyfriend's talking to him!" Jenna said to Kim as she looked towards the two men further away from them.

"I don't see the problem," Kim said. "Dawson's looks like a nice guy."

"But he's a freak! A freak who fucks feet!"

"So you hate him because he has a foot fetish?"

"...I don't hate him, but I definately don't like him. I mean... What sane girl would go for a guy who likes feet? Feet are nasty!"

Kim laughed. "Well, I do."

Jenna looked at Kim, with a surprised and shocked expression on her face. "No... Not you. You seem so down-to-Earth..."

"Well, that's because you don't know me too well. I'm actually a geek. But I think that it's cute. Plus, he gives nice foot rubs, and I love when he sucks my toes."

"Ewwwww!!!!" Jenna contorted her face so that she looked absolutely disgusted.

"It's not that bad. Plus, he doesn't go overboard with it like I hear some others do."

"Like him."

Kim laughed. "I guess."

"...But I guess he's not all bad. He DID save me from those Homeless bastards, and he did get me these." She pointed towards the dirty and somewhat ragged shoes she wore. "I don't like having my feet exposed for freaks like him."

"Yeah..." Kim looked towards her right, and saw Carlos, the Hispanic guy who seemed to be in a world of his own, standing against the glass wall further away from her. "So, what's the deal with Carlos?"

Jenna shook her head. "He didn't always used to be like that. It started when we found out that Gloria was dead."

"Who's Gloria?"

"She was a Refugee, like the rest of us. But I didn't know too much about her. She looked like a gothic gangster, or something like that."

"Oh."

"I think that it's Thomas' fault that she's dead."

"...What?" This statement irked Kim. "What makes you say that?"

"He and Gloria were the only ones of us who were not caught. Then, all of a sudden, Gloria dies, but Thomas is nowhere to be found? That sounds fishy to me."

"Jenna..." Kim said. "Thomas wouldn't do anything like that."

"How do you know? It's survival of the fittest, and I bet that he thought that Gloria was slowing him down or something!"

Kim had heard enough. "Look, Jenna-"

"Jenna," Shawn interrupted as he approached the two young women. "I don't think you should be saying stuff like that to Thomas' friend."

"Yeah, but-"

"Drop it," Shawn sternly commanded.

Jenna sighed. "Fine. Sorry, Kim. I kinda crossed the line."

Kim shook her head. "It's okay."

Shawn nodded. "We can't afford to have any tension between us. Not at this stage."

"The young man's right." Sheryl, the ragged older woman that Kim briefly spoke to the day before, approached the group. "I hate to see such young people like yourselves fighting like that."

"...No one was fighting," Jenna stated.

"Well, you could have if this one here didn't intervene," Sheryl said, referring to Shawn. "We're the Survivors, so we need to survive together as long as we can, right?"

"You're right," Kim said, before sighing. "Maybe Robbie's got the right idea. Maybe something will come up. Not an angel, because they don't exist, but maybe... I don't know, a savior of some sort."

"...Nothing's happened before," Jenna said, "so I wouldn't hold out for some miracle."

"Jenna," Shawn said. "You do love to destroy people's hopes, don't you?"

"I'm just being realistic."

Kim looked away from the group, towards the large hanging clothes off in the distance. She had no idea what to believe. Was Jenna right? Was there no hope of ever being released from this dark prison? Could they truly do nothing except await the death that Melissa would bring upon them?

Or was Robbie right? That some savior of some sort would come in and free them? The others had been here for months, and they have all but given up hope of ever being liberated from Melissa's grasp. Would things be different for her and Robbie? As it looked now, it did not seem likely.

Kim sighed. For now, she had no choice but to make the best of this situation.

But at least she would be able to endure this ordeal with Robbie.

~~~

Sayuko walked up to the white front door of Melissa's house. She was nervous, but nonetheless took a deep breath, and rung the doorbell. Several seconds later, the door opened, revealing Melissa, who wore a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and her black flip-flops. As per her nature, she was giving her her trademark smile; one that Sayuko had since come to loathe.

"Why, good afternoon, Little Sayu!" Melissa greeted. Please, come in!"

Sayuko walked into the house, and Melissa closed the door behind her. Melissa then walked in front of her, and turned towards her.

"I have a surprise for you," Melissa said. "I think you'll love it."

"Really?" Sayuko said, faking a surprised tone.

"Yeah! C'mon upstairs, and you'll get it after you do your job!"

Melissa then began to climb up the front stairs, and then motioned for Sayuko to follow her. Sayuko did so.

Upon reaching the second floor, Sayuko looked to her left. The door on the far end was cracked open.

"Umm... Melissa?" Sayuko called.

"...What?" Melissa answered.

"Could I use your bathroom?"

"...Why? Didn't you go before you left home?"

"I didn't have to." Sayuko faked a smile.

Melissa sighed. "Go ahead. But come straight to my room after you finish. I'll be waiting."

Sayuko nodded and walked towards the bathroom. Then, she walked inside, but peeked back into the hallway and watched as Melissa walked int her room. Sayuko then closed the bathroom door, and locked it. She then walked to the toilet, and sat down on it.

Once she was settled, she pulled her purse from her arm and placed it on the floor, before unzipping it and reaching inside with her right hand. She then pulled out Thomas and placed him on the floor between her feet.

"We made it," Thomas said. "You ready to do this?"

"Yes," Sayuko answered, talking very quietly. "There is no turning back now."

"So, you remember what you have to do, right?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Sayuko stood up, and pressed down on the toilet's lever to flush it, to take it sound as if she indeed relived herself. She then walked towards the sink, being careful of where Thomas was on the floor below her, and ran the water for a few seconds, before turning it off.

She grabbed her purse off of the floor, and then walked towards the door. She looked behind her, and saw Thomas running towards her. Once he had secured a position behind her feet, she unlocked the door and peered outside, looking both ways. Melissa was nowhere in sight. She walked out of the bathroom, and motioned for Thomas to make his own run. He nodded, and started to dash towards the opened door at the end of the hall nearby.

As she watched Thomas for a few seconds, she gulped, and make her way towards Melissa's room. Melissa was still inside waiting for her.

"Well, that took you long enough," Melissa said.

"You must take fast bathroom breaks, then," Sayuko responded. "I wasn't in there long."

"Whatever. Anyway, as for the surprise-"

"Oh, and I have something to tell you," Sayuko interrupted.

Melissa grunted. "It better be good if you're interrupting me like that."

"When I was coming back from the bathroom, I saw one of them run into the room down the hall."

"One of what?"

"The little people."

Melissa's eyes widened. "Oh, really?" She said this in a tone as if she did not completely believe her.

"Yes!"

"Then why didn't you get it?"

"...Because I thought that it would be rude of me to go into a room that I don't belong in."

"...Good answer, I guess. So... What'd it look like?"

"Um... Well, I think he had dark skin like you, and I think I saw some red and black on his shirt."

Melissa's mouth dropped in what looked like disbelief. "Are you sure?! You sure you weren;t seeing things?!"

"Why would I lie to you, Melissa? You have my brother."

Melissa became frantic, and rushed towards the doorway. "I'll be right back! ...Shit, if that's who I think it is, then your surprise will be bigger!"

With that, Melissa disappeared from Sayuko's sight.

"...Be careful, Thoma-kun..." Sayuko said under her breath.

~~~

A dark-skinned man wearing red and black? There was no doubt in Melissa's mind that this Bugman that Sayuko saw was none other than Thomas, the last of whom she was missing. Melissa ran from her room, across the hall way, and pushed the door to the room on the other side open as she entered the Master Bedroom.

Once inside, she scanned along the floor with her eyes, looking for any sign of movement, though with the lights off and curtains pulled closed, it made for a somewhat difficult task.

"Where are you, Thomas?" Melissa asked as she looked on the floor around her.

She walked further into the bedroom, watching where she stepped as she looked on the floor. She did not want to kill Thomas, not yet. Plus, the floor here was covered with a carpet, and blood was somewhat hard to clean out of carpets.

Melissa kneeled down onto all fours, and looked under the queen-sized bed that had not been used in quite some time. She saw nothing underneath, but noticed something on the far wall. It looked like a slowly moving figure, trying to avoid detection by hiding as close to the wall as it could.

Melissa quickly stood back up, and rushed towards the spot where this tiny figure was. Once Melissa drew near, it moved away from the wall and tried to run away from her, but as it was so tiny, it was a futile effort, as Melissa reached it in no time at all. She reached down with her right hand and picked it up from the floor. She held it close to her face as she examined him. Dark skin... Red and black shirt... Glasses... This Bugman was indeed none other than Thomas.

"Well, well," Melissa said. "Long time no see, little man!"

Thomas struggled in her grasp. "Dammit! I thought I could get away from you!"

"Oh, no... You could never escape me. You did a good job trying, though, but your luck ran out." She smirked. "Admittedly, I have a good mind to squash you right now, but it'll have to wait. I have a guest that I'm entertaining right now."

"A guest?" Thomas asked, confused and curious. "Are they in on your twisted games?"

"...Shouldn't you know that? Weren't you watching with your friends?"

"How do you know that?"

"A little birdie told me. Anyway, it doesn't matter now, because you're mine again, and there's no way you're getting out this time!"

"Shit!" He blurted out, obviously defeated.

Melissa laughed. "Yeah, you're screwed, and... Hold it."

"W-what?"

Melissa examined the tiny man's body closer. Something seemed off... For someone who was missing for over a month, his clothes were oddly clean, as if they had been washed. Using the thumb and index finger of her free hand, she lifted up his shirt and looked at his white undershirt underneath, which was also stain-free. This especially struck her as odd: there was no way that not even a small bit of dirt, grime, or sweat have stained his clothes. It was unnatural, and she was sure that there was not any decent running water in the walls that could be used to clean clothing.

Finally, she brought her nose closer to Thomas' body, and sniffed. There was no odor. In fact, he almost smelled like roses.

Melissa's gasped in horror, as she suddenly had a thought. "Shit."

With Thomas in hand, she rushed out of the Master Bedroom and back towards her room.

Upon her arrival, Melissa's fears were soon realized: A very angered Sayuko was facing her, and in her hands was the Shrink Ray, which was pointed towards her. Melissa looked towards her dresser, and saw that the top drawer was open, and its contents were strewn about.

Now in fear, Melissa faced back toward Sayuko. She raised her hands, despite Thomas still being in her right hand. "Sayuko... W-what are you doing?"

"Drop him," Sayuko ordered, as she briefly pointed the ray gun towards the floor in front of her. "Do it now!"

"Okay, okay."

Melissa slowly and carefully placed Thomas onto the floor between her and Sayuko. She then backed away from him, and watched as Thomas ran towards Sayuko.

Melissa raised her hands again as she focused back onto the threat at hand. "Look, Sayuko. I don't know what you plan to do with that thing, but I don't think that this is right. Just put it down, and we can talk about this. What do you say? Just put the Shrink Ray dow-"

Before Melissa could finish her sentence, she was blinded by a bright flash of light.