Kyle heard footsteps behind him, and gulped as he tried to pick up his pace, shouldering his heavy backpack. He’d had to stay at school a little later than usual to check a telescope back in that he’d borrowed for stargazing, and while he didn’t regret it in the slightest he hadn’t realized at the time that this would leave him in a nearly empty school at the same time as the girls’ soccer team would be starting their practice… and the girls’ soccer team meant-

“I think I saw him go this way Carmen!” a girl’s voice giggled.

“Nope,” Carmen herself laughed, stepping out of a hallway directly into Kyle’s path, “he’s right over here, aren’t you Kyle?” Her hand shout out, grabbing the strap of his backpack before he could run

He sighed, letting her tug and lead him through the hallways while the two other girls with her giggled. He didn’t bother resisting, Carmen was tall for a girl, at five foot ten, to his own five foot five, with a lean and toned physique that was the result of hours of extracurricular athletics. The team called her “The Phoenix,” for her apparent ability to turn around losing matches in the second half, and it was no wonder, Kyle had always found her terrifying and he could only imagine how she would be on a soccer pitch.

Carmen giggled and winked at him a led him like a condemned prisoner through the hallways, the school’s bright soccer uniform contrasting with her light brown skin and waving black hair as they reached their destination.

“C-Carmen, I can’t go in the girl’s locker room,” Kyle panicked.

Carmen’s minions giggled, and she just rolled her eyes, “get in here squirt,” she pulled him forcibly inside, and he gulped as he saw the rest of the soccer team, dressed thankfully, all smirking at him as Carmen dragged her prisoner along.

“Okay,” Carmen said, stopping Kyle in front of a locker as the group looked on, “where’s the other one?”

A girl squealed in panic as she was shoved to the front. Whoever she was, Kyle was pretty sure she wasn’t on the soccer team, she was a mousy looking girl, with frizzy red hair and thick glasses and skin just pale as his own.

“C-Carmen,” the girl stammered, “p-please I just want to go home-“

“In a minute Sammy!” Carmen said with a sigh, “I just need you and my little buddy Kyle here to help me win a quick bet!”

“There’s no way you can fit two people in one of these lockers,” a blonde said, crossing her arms.

“Look, it’s a sports equipment locker, it’s huge,” Carmen said, pointing to it. Kyle’s heart sunk, it was large… for a locker, if she was intending to stuff him in there- his thoughts were interrupted by Carmen slapping his back hard, almost knocking him forward, “Kyle here is a teeny tiny shrimp,” Carmen said, “and so is squeaky little Sammy, plus she’s got those little mosquito bites on her chest, so she won’t take up much space.”

The girl blushed, and tried to stammer something, looking down, but Carmen ignored her. A moment later she squealed again as Carmen lifted her up under her arms with a grunt.

“Get in there!” Carmen laughed, pushing the poor girl in. She playfully flicked the girl’s nose as she fought back tears, “now stay put Sammy!”

Kyle felt his stomach fall as his realized what she was planning, and he struggled a moment against the laughing members of the girls’ soccer team as Carmen strutted up to him. He felt her hands slid up to his shoulders, slipping his backpack off and letting it clatter to the ground, a heavy sound born of his textbooks, there was a *crack* like plastic snapping, and he sighed as he realized his graphing calculator was likely broken.

“Oops,” Carmen said with a shrug as she looked down, “shouldn’t keep fragile stuff in there Kyle.” He gasped as she lifted him up bodily, he was light, true, but it always shocked him just how strong Carmen actually was. The girl easily hefted him up on the locker room bench, and with a shove that caused him to wince as his shoulder impacted the metal siding, forced him into the locker alongside the crying girl.

“See?” Carmen laughed as members of the soccer team giggled and snapped pictures with their phones, “two losers, one locker, it can totally be done.”

“Okay, haha,” Kyle sneered, “let us out!”

Carmen just smirked, then slammed the door shut while he shouted impotently at her. A moment later he heard the click of a combination lock sliding into place, sealing the locker and trapping him and the sobbing girl inside.

“Now you two have fun,” Carmen laughed as the rest of the girls giggled and egged her on, “I’ll be back to let you out after practice!”

The two of them heard chatter, and through the thin slits in the locker they could see the girls on the soccer team filing out after Carmen, already chatting about the practice and everything else but the two people they’d just trapped in a locker. Soon the only sound in the locker room was the soft sobbing of the girl pressed against Kyle’s chest. He grunted and tried to separate from her, but there simply wasn’t room.

“Hey,” he whispered, “it’s going to be okay… I’m Kyle, what’s your name?”

“S-Samantha,” she sobbed, looking at him. “Why does she do this shit!?” she asked angrily, tears still in her eyes, “I just had to return a microscope, I just had to borrow one and return it during her soccer practice!”

Kyle laughed a little, “you’re not going to believe this… I was returning a telescope and the same thing happened.”

Samantha did giggle a little, sniffing as the tears slowly stopped, “wanted to see the meteor shower last night?” she asked.

“Yeah!” he said excitedly, “did you-“

“Couldn’t,” Samantha sighed, “I had to stay home and babysit my sister…”

“That’s a shame,” Kyle said, forgetting that the two were trapped in a locker, “it was pretty great, I went a few miles outside of town to watch it.”

Samantha gulped, suddenly nervous, “there’s uh… there’s a comet passing by in a few weeks, if you wanted to maybe… watch it together?”

“Sure!” Kyle said, his smile barely illuminated by the small amount of light filtering through the slits in the locker.

…

Over the weeks and months that followed, Samantha and Kyle found themselves spending more and more time together. It seemed the most natural relationship in the world, and both found themselves shocked that they’d found someone who loved astronomy, anime, and tabletop games as much as they did.

Neither wanted to ruin what they had by asking exactly what they had, at least until one day when the other thing they had in common reared itself again.

“Mind if we sit here?” Carmen asked, leading a trio of other girls from the soccer team through the lunchroom to the table where Kyle and Samantha sat.

“Yes, actually,” Kyle said angrily as Samantha looked down at her tray.

“Aww come on Kylie,” Carmen mocked, ignoring him as the other girls joined her, “there aren’t any other open spots, the girls and I got here a little late today.” She smirked, “besides, with Prom coming up, can you really afford to be mean to any girls?” She smirked, “you know Kyle, I could really use a boy to buy me dinner that night…”

Samantha looked up suddenly, “H-He’s not going with you!” she squeaked, her voice trembling.

Carmen raised an eyebrow, and a predatory smile crept over her features, “Oh? Are my favorite little losers an item now?”

“Maybe Squeaky Sammy is jealous and wanted you to take her?” one of the girls laughed.

Carmen joined in, “is that it Sammy? Did you want to go with me? I mean I knew you had a bit of a curious streak with the way you look at me during PE, but-“

“S-Shut up!” Samantha stammered. She reached across the table, surprising Kyle as she gripped his hand, “we’re going together.”

“Really now?” Carmen asked with amusement, causing her cronies to giggle, “hey Sammy, you know Kyle still wears tighty whities, right?”

“I do not!” Kyle sputtered.

“It’s true,” Carmen said in a condescending tone, “I pantsed him in the hall once, we all saw them.”

“Samantha!” Kyle said, looking to her pleadingly.

“I know what kind of underwear Kyle wears,” Samantha said confidently, causing the girls with Carmen to look at the fuming bully in shock. Samantha smirked, enjoying the rare victory, and in a moment that caused the entire lunchroom to go quiet she leaned across the table, hooked an arm around Kyle, and buried his stunned face in hers as they shared a deep kiss.

When they parted Samantha was grinning, Kyle was red faced and stunned, and Carmen was giving them a glare that could have shattered glass.

“You know you have to show me your underwear later, right?” Samantha whispered as they parted. Seeing his look she giggled, “well I need to know or I’ll look like a liar!”

…

As their senior year of high school came to a close Samantha and Kyle were officially dating, and when both of them got in to the same school, they excitedly planned the next phase of their lives together.

For Carmen’s part, she upped her torment, knocking books out of their hands, mocking them during student gatherings, and being a terror to the two that they couldn’t wait to escape. The final month before graduation seemed like an hourglass filled with a slow mud, the days dribbling by in a painfully slow fashion.

This sensation reached a new height when Carmen came and sat next to Samantha and Kyle during their literature class, the only one the three all had together.

“Hey bitches,” she said with a wide smile, “what’s happening?”

“What do you want Carmen?” Kyle asked in a tired voice as he glanced at the front of the room. The teacher, Mrs. Krupp, an aging woman with short grey hair, was present, but was checking something on her desktop. Carmen usually didn’t do anything too aggressive in front of staff but… it paid to be on guard around her.

“Just recruiting you two for the big group project,” Carmen said with a shrug.

“Oh god,” Samantha moaned, realizing what she was implying.

Mrs. Krupp had opted for a final group project instead of a final exam, a paper worth ten percent of the class grade. Few people were really thinking about it, and Samantha and Kyle had planned to simply do it together over a few hours that weekend.

“Yeah, I was thinking… I need an A on this project,” Carmen said with a shrug, “and you two get A’s on everything you do so… we’re a group now. I don’t think I need to go into what’s going to happen if you don’t let me in?”

“Fine,” Kyle said, defeated, “we’re meeting at Samantha’s house on Saturday, if we do this you need to leave us alone for the rest of the year, none of your usual-“

“Oh come on I just fuck around with you two big babies,” Carmen said dismissively, “fine, Saturday it is,” she groaned, “and what a waste of a day…”

…

The group collaboration wasn’t going well, it had quickly become apparent that Carmen hadn’t read any of the assigned books for the class, and the session had rapidly become Kyle and Samantha doing the work while Carmen lounged on her bed, reading her phone.

“You guys hear about this shrinking lady?” Carmen said suddenly.

Samantha and Kyle sighed, turning away from the computer, this wasn’t the first time a bored Carmen had derailed their work.

“The nurse?” Samantha asked, “yeah, those are just rumors though.”

“Internet chatter,” Kyle said dismissively.

“Nope, turns out she’s the real deal,” Carmen said, sitting up excitedly and showing them her phone, “she’s on all the networks right now!”

Samantha frowned, then minimized the document they were working on and pulled up a news site. The three crowded around Samantha’s desktop, reading the developing news story.

“Shrinking phenomena defies much of known science,” Samantha mumbled, reading aloud.

“Therapeutic health benefits?” Kyle asked, “like… if she shrinks you, it heals diseases or something?”

“Wounds, diseases, and even some genetic conditions,” Carmen said, “that is so fucking cool! Like she just looks at people and BAM! They’re fucking bugs!”

“Look at the video here, it seems like there’s a little more to it than that,” Kyle said, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the news story for more details, “I guess she was exposed to some kind of gene therapy to activate this…”

“Superpower,” Samantha said, “let’s call it what it is… it says she’s intending to use her abilities to treat the sick and injured… huh, good for her.”

“I can’t wait until I get that shit,” Carmen said eagerly, “I don’t care how much it costs, I’m-“

“Oh please,” Kyle laughed, “the article says only one in five thousand women even have the genes for it, and they’re not going to take you, you spent two months in juvie and you’re constantly getting into trouble.”

Carmen scowled, “you guys know I’m getting a full ride soccer scholarship, right? They’re saying I could go pro, maybe be on the Olympic team. I’m going to be a big deal someday, they’ll be talking about Carmen the Phoenix on every sports network, shit I’m going to have a Wheaties box. They’ll give me whatever the hell I want, everyone will!”

“What would you even want to do with shrinking powers anyway?” Samantha asked, “you don’t strike me as the type to want to heal up sick people by making them tiny.”

“Nah,” Carmen laughed, “I think I’d use it to… keep my favorite people close,” she ruffled Samantha’s hair playfully, causing the other girl to step back angrily. “Like if it was me that had the shrinking powers, I think I know which two little squirts I’d start with.”

“Samantha and me?” Kyle asked in a tired voice.

“Damn straight,” Carmen said, “Sammy, you’d be way cuter as a doll, like I’d have a jar for you that I’d cover in unicorn stickers, and I’d take you out when I wanted to play with my squeaky little friend.” She grinned, “think of all the fun you could have as my little toy Sammy! Remember when I shoved my sneaker in your face a few weeks back? You could slide the whole way in, really get a good whiff.”

Samantha gulped, “q-quit it-“

“And you Kyle?” She grinned wickedly, and he tensed as she gripped his shoulders, massaging them in a rough and mocking fashion, “a little slave to paint my nails, maybe… I don’t know, how small can that nurse lady shrink people? Like if it was me, I’d be finding out with you.” She giggled, “god, imagine if she can make people like, microscopic…” She bit her lip, “yeah Kyle, you’d be tossed in with my sweaty gym clothes and… poof!”

Kyle blinked, a sort of unease building in him as he realized that Carmen wasn’t just trash talking, but was really thinking of what she’d do if she could shrink the two of them. The room was silent, and Carmen giggled softly as Samantha came to the same understanding.

“I-It’ll never happen,” Kyle muttered, looking back to the computer screen, “we’ve wasted enough time on this, Carmen just get the hell out of here, we’ll do the project.”

“Whatever,” she sighed, picking up her purse, “you guys make sure it’s an A, okay? I cannot stress that enough, I need a certain GPA for my scholarship and this class can’t be the one that gums it up for me.”

With that she strutted out of the room with an air like a master dismissing servants. Samantha and Kyle stared after her a moment, then returned to the computer, working on the next parts of the group paper.

“I fucking hate her,” Samantha growled suddenly.

“I know,” Kyle said.

“No, I really hate her,” Samantha repeated in a hushed tone, “I just wish there was something we could do to her…”

Kyle stared at the screen a moment, a plan forming in his mind that he felt somewhat guilty for even entertaining, “What’s your grade in this class?” he asked suddenly.

“95, why?” Samantha asked.

“Mine’s a 96,” he muttered, “so… if we just crapped out on this paper, we’d get Bs… I can live with a B, what about you?”

“Yeah but…” Samantha gaped, then slowly smiled as she realized what he was saying, “but a certain soccer loving witch wouldn’t have the GPA to claim that scholarship…”

“No scholarship, no college, no athletic future,” Kyle said with a smirk.

“Let’s make some changes to our work so far,” Samantha giggled, “Great Expectations is the blurst novel of all time, the main themes are…”

“The light side of the force and the dark side of the force,” Kyle cut in.

“Oh, this paper’s coming along!” Samantha laughed.

…

“W-What do you mean an F?” Carmen stammered, looking at the returned paper from Mrs. Krupp.

“I’m sorry Carmen,” the teacher shrugged, “perhaps your group should have put a little more effort into it.”

“Y-You don’t understand,” she started, “those two losers, they sabotaged me-“

“Carmen,” Mrs. Krupp said sternly, “I’m sorry, but you have never prioritized my class, there is nothing I can do.”

“B-But-“ Carmen stammered, but Mrs. Krupp just sighed and walked to the next student, laying a paper on their desk.

Carmen felt numb, then a boiling white-hot rage forming in the pit of her stomach, those two, she thought furiously. She whipped around, looking at where the pair normally sat in the class, but their chairs were empty.

…

“Man, it sure sucks that we got the flu during the last few days of school,” Kyle laughed, looking up at the clouds go by.

Samantha sighed, laying next to him on the grassy hillside, “it feels good, we won… we’re going to college in the fall, and we’ll never see her again.” She turned to him and smiled, gripping his hand as the two enjoyed the early summer day.

…

Months later Carmen stared angrily into the boiling oil of the fryer at the fast-food restaurant where she worked. With a sigh she pulled the fresh order of fries out, dumping them into a nearby tub and wiping her forehead with her arm.

For the millionth time she felt like crying, this wasn’t her life, it wasn’t supposed to be her life anyway…

“Carmen!” Mr. Cargill, her manager, shouted, “I need you to work Saturday.” The pudgy man waddled his way through the kitchen, scowling at the other employees.

“I can’t!” She shouted angrily, “I haven’t had a day off in-“

“No arguments!” Cargill shouted, “you’ll be here or I’m writing you up!”

Carmen scowled as he left, her parents had forced her to get a job or move out of their house, and with rents in their city skyrocketing she hadn’t had much of a choice but take the first offer she’d gotten. She fought the urge to scream as she brought the fries up to the order window.

“Hey Carmen,” the cashier said, “a pair of guys are here to see you.”

“A pair of guys?” Carmen asked with a frown. She glanced through the order window and saw two men in business suits waiting at the register, “I’m going on break!” she called, walking out into the lobby.

“Are you Carmen Mendez?” One of them asked as she approached.

“Who wants to know?” she asked, beckoning them over to a table.

“We’re from the Valkyrie Project,” one of the men said as they all sat down, “we’d like a few moments of your time.”

Carmen raised an eyebrow, “Valkyrie Project? Like that shrinking lady on the news?”

“Nurse Groves, yes,” one of the suited men said with a smile, “a sample of your DNA was sent to our lab during your sports physical-“

“I don’t recall consenting to that,” Carmen said, crossing her arms.

“Miss Mendez,” the second man said, cutting off his partner’s protests, “you’ve tested positive for the Groves gene, you’re one of the rare few who can receive the same gene therapy as Melinda Groves… we want you to enroll in the project immediately, now obviously you’ll have other questions-“

“You mean I’m one of them?” Carmen asked numbly, “I can shrink people?”

“Not yet,” the man explained, “and there will be considerable training and preparation before you receive the gene therapy, but-“

“Hey Cargill!” she shouted with a smile, “I fucking quit!” she tore her nametag off, standing up and shoving it into the nearest trashcan. She turned to the two recruiters with a grin, “when we do we start boys?”

The phoenix is back, she thought, feeling a surge of fiery excitement as the two men began producing consent forms.

…

Excerpt from Project Valkyrie Website

PROJECT VALKYRIE FAQ

Q. What is Project Valkyrie?

A. Project Valkyrie is a joint public private venture to fund and facilitate the recruitment and creation of “Enhanced Individuals,” or as they have colloquially become known, “Valkyries.”

Q. What are Enhanced Individuals?

A. Enhanced Individuals are women who have had their Groves genes activated by advanced genetic therapy, in addition to a number of physiological enhancements, such as enhanced strength, speed, and agility, those with active Groves genes have the ability to reduce others in size through a mass reduction or “shrinking” process.

Q. How does the shrinking process work?

A. Enhanced Individuals can usually cause anyone within a five meter radius of them to reduce in mass, with the speed and effective range varying by the individual, though physical contact also makes the process much easier. A special “receptor serum” can also be injected to allow for easier mass reduction.

The process itself can be fully and easily reversed by any Enhanced Individual, and is often reported to be easier to perform than the initial shrinking itself.

Q. Why is this mass reduction, or “shrinking” process desirable?

A. Persons undergoing mass reduction exhibit dramatically increased healing rates and ability to repair bodily damage, for victims of terminal cancers, genetic disorders, or grievous injuries, reduction therapy is often the only possible chance at survival. Due to the limited number of Enhanced Individuals available and trained, priority is given to the neediest cases.

Q. Is shrinking safe?

A. Members of Project Valkyrie are expertly trained in the handling and care of reduced persons, who will stay in one of our expertly crafted clinics until the healing process is complete and they are cleared for re-growth. As of this writing there have been no lethal incidents on any Project Valkyrie property.

 

7 Years Later

…

“Morning Judy,” Carmen said casually, waving to her nurse as she walked down the halls of the reduction clinic. The sword and wings badge pinned to her scrubs identified her as one of the Valkyries, but it was hardly necessary, the genetic therapy which had unlocked her shrinking abilities had also added several inches to her already impressive height, leaving her a six foot three amazon.

“Here’s your first patient’s chart,” Judy said, handing it to Carmen.

She smirked as she saw Judy’s face blush slightly. The nurse took a quick breath, then cleared her throat, following behind Carmen as they walked to her examination room. Judy was new, she wasn’t used to the pheromone cloud that fully activated Valkyries put off. In time she’d learn to deal with it, they all did, but for now? Carmen swayed her hips a little wider as she walked, almost sashaying them and knowing that her poor nurse’s eyes were probably glued to her ass.

…

Jason sat in the examination room, nervous. It wasn’t too different from a normal doctor’s office really, there was a table with a paper sheet, a few anatomy posters on the wall, it was surreal to think of the reason he was really here.

The seizures had started without warning, and at only nineteen years old Jason had been told that he had an inoperable brain tumor. Years ago that would have been the end for him, but today the doctors had sent him to these… people, the Valkyries.

Reduction therapy was a treatment reserved for the neediest cases, people who would otherwise be untreatable, he couldn’t wrap his head around it entirely, but whatever process these women used to shrink people, it fixed you… or so they said. 

It’s not like you have a choice, he reminded himself, his life expectancy without the treatment was six months.

He was startled out of his thoughts by the door to the room opening. Whatever he’d seen on TV or read about, it didn’t prepare him for seeing a Valkyrie in person. She was tall, the tallest woman he’d ever seen, with thick powerful thighs and a pair of breasts that instantly drew his eyes. He was hard almost instantly, and he crossed his legs, embarrassed and pathetically trying to hide it.

Carmen gave him a somewhat smug smile, even after all these years she never got tired of that, “Good morning Mr. Clarksdale,” she said in a soothing tone, “how are you doing today?”

“Well uh… not good, that’s why I’m here,” he stammered.

“Judy, could you go prepare a shot of receptor serum for me,” Carmen said, reading his chart as she sat down across from him, “I’m going to talk with… do you mind if I call you Jason?” she asked with a smile.

Jason nodded, still wide eyed at the absolutely stunning woman in front of him, from his expression Carmen could have called him anything she wanted.

“Good, you can call me Carmen, or Miss Mendez if you prefer,” she said with a grin as the nurse left, “I feel like formalities just get in the way of this whole thing.” She tapped his chart with her pen, “So kid, says here you’ve got a brain tumor, but you’re otherwise healthy?”

“Y-yeah,” he stammered.

“I’m thinking I’m sending you down to six inches for a few days,” she said, chewing her pen and regarding him idly. He was a scrawny guy, short, weak, just her type really…

“S-Six inches!?” Jason exclaimed, “d-does it have to be that small?”

“You’re right,” she said with a grin, relishing his panicked expression, “let’s just be on the safe side, how does three sound?”

“Three inches?” Jason rasped, imagining the world at that size was… terrifying.

She loved the expression, watching his mind race and guessing his thoughts. With just an idle thought she’d cut his size in half, like she was deciding what size coffee to order.

“Given how deep that tumor is, I think a smaller size is better, relax,” she chuckled, “you’ll spend most of it in one of our dormitories, they’re about the size of a shoebox and have everything a little mouse like you will need. TV, internet, and a nurse will bring you food three times a day, it’ll be like staying in a hotel, you’ll hardly notice you’re small.”

“I guess that doesn’t sound so bad,” he muttered.

“That’s the spirit,” Carmen said, “I’ll bring you back up to four feet sometime on Wednesday, we’ll check you out, then if you’ve still got the tumor, I’ll send you back down again, maybe smaller depending on how well we’re doing. I’m guessing you should be ready to check out sometime next week.”

Smaller? Jason thought, his heartbeat picking up again.

“Now,” Carmen muttered, turning the page on his chart, “let’s talk about this next section… says here in your relationship status that you have no girlfriend, no significant others?”

“Yeah,” he said, blinking and trying to gather his thoughts. His erection hadn’t gone down a bit, if anything it felt harder.

“Uncross your legs,” Carmen said, her stern tone shocking him, “there’s no point in hiding the boner Jason, I’m very aware of the effect I have on people.” He gulped as he obeyed, spreading his legs and revealing the tent in his jeans. Carmen just smirked, staring at it a moment and going back to her chart.

“Serum’s ready,” Judy said, walking back into the room with a syringe in her hand. She rolled up Jason’s sleave and began rubbing his skin down with iodine, preparing the injection site.

“What’s that for?” Jason asked, eyeing the dark green solution in the syringe warily.

“Receptor serum,” Carmen explained, “makes it easier to work my magic on you, normally it would take me all day to get you down to fun size, and it would really tire me out too. With the green goop in your veins though? I can do it in a few minutes without breaking a sweat.”

“That lady on TV never uses this stuff,” Jason said, wincing as the needle went in.

“Melinda’s the first one of us,” Carmen said with a shrug, “she can shrink five people to a few inches tall every day without needing any, she’s just insanely good at it. Even with this stuff I might be able to do three today, and that’s still going to leave me tired on the drive home.” She shrugged, “some of us are just better at it than others.”

“All done,” Judy said, disposing of the syringe in a nearby biohazard bin.

“Thanks, Judy, I’ll take it from here,” Carmen said, giving Jason a predatory smile as the nurse left the room.

“So, Jason,” she said, “your chart says you’re single, no girlfriend, nothing, that right?”

“Y-Yeah,” he stammered, “why do you guys need to know that anyway?”

She sighed, “you didn’t read the materials you were given, did you?”

“I was kind of nervous,” he admitted.

“Right,” Carmen giggled, “well Jason, here’s the deal, us Valkyries? Despite all the airs we put on, we’re not doctors, we have our own codes of conduct, we’re pretty much only answerable to each other.”

“Okay…” he said nervously.

“Now you’ve got a raging stiffy just sitting there next to me, and getting shrunk? It’s going to make you insanely horny kid, like all of our dorms have a goddamn lube dispenser built into the wall. The most intense part of it is going to be the first few minutes after you’re tiny, like you’re literally going to cum yourself if I wink at you.” She smirked, “add in the fact that physical contact makes the shrinking easier, and well…” She licked her lips, loving his gaping expression, “taking all that into account, it’s not surprising that we’re allowed to have a little fun with our patients during the treatment, if they’re up for it.”

“So that’s why you wanted to know if I had a girlfriend,” he muttered.

“We don’t want to be homewreckers,” Carmen said with a shrug, “typically if someone has a significant other, we try to have them here and to give them a bit of ah, privacy, post shrinking. In those cases I pretty much just tap their forehead to make them tiny, then there are people that would just prefer to keep things… impersonal, which is fine with me, but…” she bit her lip, fighting a laugh, “I think you’re the kind of boy that will let me play with you a bit.”

“I-I don’t,” he stammered.

“Come on Jason,” she laughed. The nervous fear was reminding her of… them, if not for his dark colored hair he could almost be a stand in for Kyle.

“I’ve never… I mean I uh…” he gulped.

“That’s okay,” Carmen said, fighting the urge to lick her lips as she kicked her shoes off, “just do what I say, start by coming over here and taking my socks off.”

He frowned, but the haze of Carmen’s pheromones and her commanding tone were quickly clouding his mind. He slid off the examination table, kneeling down and slowly peeling the thick wool sock off her foot while she smiled down at him. Carmen wiggled her toes as the air hit them, her deep rich red nail polish shining slightly as Jason almost reverently put her socks to the side.

He stared at them a moment, and Carmen chuckled, causing him to go red in the face. She knew he wanted nothing more than to bury his face in them, the Valkyrie pheromones would often linger on clothing and would be irresistible to a horny boy like Jason.

“Now, rub them,” she said, smiling as he began to slowly massage her feet, “Ahh, that’s good, she said, leaning back with a sigh. “You know I’ve always hade huge feet,” she mused, watching him work, “they got a little bigger after my gene therapy… I guess it’s a good thing I never liked super girly footwear, because I’m stuck shopping in the men’s section these days.” She smiled, watching his lustful face as his thumbs ran up her sole, “do you like feet Jason?”

“I-I didn’t think so, but I guess I do now,” he managed.

Carmen smirked, “give them a kiss and we’ll get started.”

“A what?” he asked.

“Did I stutter?” Carmen said, crossing her arms, “Kiss. My. Foot.”

Jason lowered his lips to the top of her foot, planting a kiss on the soft caramel colored skin. A moment later electricity seemed to race up his spine, pins and needles dancing along his skin as the foot in his hand began to get bigger.

“And down you go!” Carmen giggled. Like him she felt the energy coursing through her, sending a shiver through her as she mentally controlled the flow, bringing her force of will to bear on him, causing him to shrink away with a thought.

With the look of sudden surprise on his face, along with fear, he looked stunningly like Kyle. Rage filled her, and she clenched her fists a moment as the old memories welled up. The shrinking process faltered, and Jason looked up at her quizzically, his clothes hanging off of him as he stood maybe three feet tall.

“A-Am I don-“

“Keep kissing my foot!” she snapped, causing him to quickly bring his head down again, smooching her foot desperately.

Focus, she growled at herself. She breathed out, and forced the energy back into Jason, a second later his shrinking resumed and she let herself relax. Shrinking people required a certain mental state, and she rarely found herself able to perform when she was angry, when she remembered-

Don’t think about them, she forced herself with a sigh. She watched as Jason’s clothes fell off him, and he yelped with surprise, backing up from her as he stood in his shirt collar. He was down to a foot tall now, feebly covering his crotch with his hands and looking up at her in fear.

“Almost done,” she said in a quiet voice, “you can put your hands at your sides Jason.” Seeing his hesitation she smirked, one of life’s pleasures was shrinking shy boys down, she decided. “I’m going to see it one way or another,” she teased, “come on.” Slowly he lowered his hands to his sides, revealing his erection, “that’s better,” Carmen said smugly as he continued to dwindle, “and that’s an adorable little cock by the way.”

“T-Thanks?” Jason managed.

Her foot swept over him, causing him to cry out in surprise as it pinned him. He felt his skin rubbing against Carmen’s soft sole as the final few inches of his shrinking were carried out, and he gasped as the motion caused him a near instant orgasm.

“That’s it,” Carmen said with a grin, “blow your little load on my feet, let’s get it all out…” she felt him spasm as the shrinking finished, leaving the three inch tall patient squirming feebly against her as he finished his orgasm.

“Fuck,” he panted, looking up at her in awe. Jason felt a ting of fear as he realized exactly where he was, how big everything was… how she could easily crush the life out of him. He felt his heart rate pick up, and Carmen smirked, guessing his thoughts.

“Interesting perspective, isn’t it?” she said quietly, “I could step on you without even notice, there’d just be a little crunch and… well, I supposed I’d need to wipe the floor off with a tissue.”

Before he could panic more, she lifted her foot off of him, leaving him laying on the cool tile of her examination room, feet more four times the length of his body on either side of him. Once she’d slipped her socks and shoes back on, she bent down, gently curling her fingers around his body and lifting him up.

He was still scared, that much was obvious, but he was also getting hard again, Carmen smirked, basking in the power a moment.

I could just close my fist… she breathed out again, forcing herself to calm down. Like she’d told Jason, she was incredibly turned on, and she fought the urge to slip a hand down her pants and begin touching herself then and there.

She sighed, time for that later, “Let’s get you to your accommodations squirt,” she said with a wink. She stepped out the exam room door, “Judy, can you collect his things?” she called, glancing back at the pile of clothing.

“A-Are there clothes for me in the tiny room or whatever?” he asked. It was all he could do to keep from panicking, looking up at the building sized face of the goddess carrying him, he felt vulnerable, terrified. He shut his eyes, hugging her finger to keep steady.

“There are robes in your little box, yeah,” Carmen said, enjoying his reaction to his now much bigger world, “what’s the matter little guy? Don’t like being small?”

“No!” he shouted, squeezing her finger tighter and keeping his eyes shut.

She sighed, this happened sometimes. She enjoyed a bit of fear, and why shouldn’t people be scared? But sometimes…

Shit, I went a little too far.

“Hey,” she said in a soothing voice, “open your eyes, come on Jason.”

Slowly he forced himself to open his eyes, keeping his gaze on her face, large and intimidating as it was, it was better than looking around the enormous hallway, or at the massive drop from her hand to the floor.

“I do this all the time, I know it’s scary,” Carmen said softly, “but you’re going to be fine, we’re going to take really good care of you, I promise.”

“T-Thanks,” Jason said, trying to calm down, “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be sorry about a thing,” Carmen said, gently stroking his hair with the tip of her finger, “look, we’re here!” a series of glass boxes of various sizes were stacked atop each other, looking not unlike the fish section at a pet store. Inside were doll sized beds, couches, and screens on one wall, several were occupied, and Jason saw people ranging from a foot tall all the way down to his own three inches lounging inside them.

“Here’s yours,” Carmen said, tapping a button on the side of one of the cases and causing a small door to slide open. Gently she ushered him inside, and he felt his panic subside as he was again surrounded by “normal” sized items. “Better?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he breathed, sighing with relief.

“Okay, there’s a button over there if you want to make your walls opaque for some privacy,” she said, her giant hand invading his room and pointing around, “robes are in the dresser over there, they’re one size fits all.” She smiled, “you get settled in, if you need anything else use the call button.”

“Thanks,” Jason said, pulling a robe out of the small dresser, “I’m… feeling a lot better, thanks.”

Carmen gave him a final smile, pulling her hand out of his container and waving goodbye to him. A moment later as she turned to leave she saw him cause his walls to go opaque. She smirked, she hadn’t been lying when she’d told him the shrinking would make him hornier than he’d ever been, and she had a feeling she knew exactly what he would be thinking about when he relieved that pressure.

“Good to see your bedside manner has improved,” a gravely woman’s voice called, “I remember the first young man you ever shrank was in tears.”

Carmen turned to see Melinda Groves, the head nurse herself. Like Carmen she had a statuesque physique as a result of Project Valkyrie, and although she was in her mid 50s, she didn’t have a single grey hair amid the brown bun on her head.

“Well, if it isn’t the boss lady,” Carmen said, crossing her arms and giving a small smile, “you’re a long way from New York, aren’t you?”

“Et in Arcadia ego,” Melinda said with a smile, “I’m in Chicago on other business, and I thought I’d pop in to see an old student while I was in town. Walk with me dear.” She gestured for Carmen to follow her. Carmen scowled, she’d never liked the imperious tone Groves always took with her, or anyone really, but she followed behind her all the same. She scowled as she saw Melinda pull box of cigarettes from her front pocket, taking one and sticking it in her mouth, lighting it quickly and taking her first puff with a sigh.

“You’re smoking here?” Carmen asked, “in my clinic?”

“Neither of us can get cancer anymore Carmen,” she said, taking another long drag, “and anyone in bad enough shape to be sent to us… well a little secondhand smoke is the least of their problems.” Carmen’s mouth was a flat line, and Melinda smirked, enjoying the younger woman’s discomfort, “tobacco covers up some of the pheromones,” she said idly, “sometimes it’s nice to ride a subway or eat at a restaurant without turning everyone into a stuttering mess.”

“Making everyone a horny nervous wreck is half the fun of being like this,” Carmen said, the corner of her mouth twitching in a small smile, “why are you really here Melinda?”

“Worried about you dear,” she said with a sigh as she led Carmen to the clinic’s administrative office. She sat down at the computer, quickly bringing up the clinic’s inventory, turning the monitor towards Carmen she gestured at the screen, “are these numbers correct? You’ve been using receptor serum for every shrinking this month?”

“Is there a problem?” Carmen asked defensively, “I’m getting my people small, what does it matter-“

“In and of itself I suppose it doesn’t,” Melinda said, taking her cigarette out of her mouth and exhaling slowly, the puff of smoke filling the room, “receptor serum is meant as a crutch my dear, for when you’re experiencing a heavy workload, which to be blunt, you have not as of late.”

“So, what are you saying?” Carmen asked, fighting to keep anger out of her tone.

“There’s something off,” Melinda said, “you’re mentally distracted, or depressed, you’re using receptor serum to cover for the fact that you’re not in a state of mind to perform your normal duties.”

“I’m getting it done!” Carmen snapped, “who cares if I’m using a little-“

“Carmen!” Melinda growled, “listen to me! We literally hold people’s lives in our hands here, I don’t…” she sighed, rubbing her temples as the last of her cigarette smoldered, “you were one of the last people I trained personally,” she muttered, “I’ve had… failures Carmen, I’ve seen people use what I’ve taught them to go on and do terrible things.”

“You still have doubts about me? Even after all these years?” Carmen asked quietly.

“You’ve grown a lot since we first met,” Melinda replied, carefully avoiding the question, “I’m very proud of the Valkyrie you’ve become, but you have an anger in you that I don’t understand, an anger that reminds me of another girl I tutored before you who eventually lost herself to it.”

“If you don’t have any business with me, then let’s call it a day,” Carmen said, an edge to her voice.

Melinda was quiet a moment, “Carmen,” she said finally, “think about taking some time off, consult a therapist, or a priest, pray, meditate, exercise, whatever you believe is best… you used to play soccer didn’t you? Perhaps-“

“I haven’t touched a soccer ball since high school,” she said bitterly.

Melinda frowned, “Take care of yourself Carmen,” she said softly.

With that the head nurse stood up, walking back out through the clinic’s hallway. Carmen followed behind her, neither of them saying anything as they reached the glass entryway. Melinda paused as she stepped outside, and for a moment Carmen thought she’d have some final remark, but the first Valkyrie just sighed, tossing her cigarette into a nearby ash receptacle before heading out into the parking lot.

Carmen watcher her go a moment, before her gaze drifted to the large billboard atop the office building across the street from her clinic. Kyle and Samantha’s grinning faces greeted her, along with a smiling green cartoon goblin that was the mascot for their company.

It had gone up a month earlier, seeming to mock Carmen by literally overshadowing her own clinic, a constant reminder of the pair that had destroyed her life… or her plans for it anyway.

Kyle and Samantha though? They’d gone off to college, like she’d wanted to, they’d gotten married, gone into business together, and now they were rich off an app they’d developed, it had all worked out for the pair of nerds. Did they ever think of her? Did they care where she was now?

She shook her head and looked back to her clinic. A more rational part of her knew that obsessing over the two after all these years was insane, she was a Valkyrie, a literal superhuman with a seven-figure bank account, what did she care if they’d derailed her plans for some silly sports career?

And yet…

She stared at the billboard and growled angrily.

Melinda’s right, I need some time to clear my head.

…

While she hadn’t played so much as a pick up game of soccer since the end of school, Carmen had found other ways of staying in shape, and as the head nurse had advised her, she did have a preferred method of relaxation.

“Come on!” she shouted at the musclebound man across the ring from her, “HIT ME!”

The young man was Carlos “the killer” Allanzo, an up-and-coming MMA star and supposedly a master of several martial arts, infamous for his sneering visage in pay per view fight commercials.

Now though he didn’t have that look on his face, he had a familiar look of trepidation mixed with adrenaline as his mind tried to determine fight or flight, in that moment he could have been any of her victims from back in high school.

He found his courage, rushing at her with a shout, a flurry of blows which Carmen blocked with a mocking giggle. He gripped her wrist, and they made eye contact for a half second, letting her drink in the fear before she gripped him, throwing him bodily against the walls of the gym’s ring, causing him to bounce to the padded floor with a groan.

“Don’t try to grapple her,” the man’s coach warned, “she gets you on the ground, you’re done.”

Carmen flexed her muscles, she still had a feminine and girlish figure, but as a Valkyrie her muscles were unnaturally dense, while few of them focused on fitness and strength to the degree Carmen did, it was theorized that they could surpass men’s Olympic athletes.

“Come on, get back up,” Carmen said with a grin, “I’m not gonna pin you, that’s the bitch’s way out.”

“Don’t fuck him up too bad,” the coach said with a laugh.

Carmen rolled her eyes, plenty of competitive fighting coaches brought their young studs to her for sparring matches, she’d had her time in the ring against heavyweight boxers, jiu jitsu tournament competitors, and a dozen other disciplines.

“You need to focus on your technique,” the coach called to the terrified young man, “she’s stronger than you, she’s faster than you, but Carmen there doesn’t spend nearly as much time practicing throws, falls, and punches as you do, come on Carlos, use your head.”

“Yeah Carlos,” Carmen mocked, “use your head.”

The fighter squinted; blinking sweat out of his eyes as he circled Carmen. She smirked and gave him a flirtatious wink, with how sweaty she was there was no way his thoughts weren’t on sex, the pheromone cloud adding yet another advantage to her over the baseline human. She mockingly put her hands on top of her head, feigning a moment of rest, lifting her armpits and letting the scent billow out into the ring.

With how sweaty this guy’s got me, everyone in this gym is going to need to jerk off when they get home, she thought with some amusement.

“Feeling all right?” she teased.

He screamed, rushing at her in a move that genuinely surprised her. She gritted her teeth, blocking the punches one after another. Suddenly he feinted slightly, and a moment later she felt a sting of pain as he managed a vicious uppercut right under her chin. It wasn’t a move she’d been expecting, and she staggered back a moment.

“God damn boy!” Carmen laughed, spitting blood and savoring the taste a bit, “that’s what I wanted to fucking see!”

“I think that’s enough for today,” the coach shouted, “thanks Carmen, Carlos! Hit the showers.”

The coach and the few people who had been watching the bout wandered away, Carmen smirked as she saw several of the men awkwardly trying to hide erections. She glanced back at Carlos, letting her own gaze drift down.

“G-Good match,” he panted, not quite letting his guard down as she approached him.

“Yeah whatever,” she muttered, leaning in close, “my car’s parked around back, you want to finish this out at my place? Be there in five minutes.”

Carlos gulped, looking up slightly at the Amazon fearfully. Carmen giggled, walking past him. A moment later he yelped in surprise as a *clap* echoed out through the gym. He rubbed his stinging ass cheek, wondering if he wanted to follow her or not… with a gulp he slowly walked after her.

…

“S-So uh,” Carlos stammered as Carmen drove through the city, “why don’t you fight competitively?”

“The only sport us “enhanced individuals” are allowed to compete in is swimming,” Carmen explained, turning into her driveway, “it’s sort of a cruel joke.”

“Why’s that?”

She shrugged, “we can’t swim, our bodies are so dense we just sink like rocks.”

“Oh,” he muttered, “sorry about that.”

“You’re not here to feel bad for me,” she growled, bringing the car to a stop in front of a two-story suburban home, “Bedroom, now.”

…

Carlos was a physically powerful man, one who had spent plenty of time with women of all sorts, he’d been with girls who had wanted to tie him up, who got off on binding up the big tough man to torment him, and while it wasn’t his thing, he’d always been up for it if the girl was hot enough.

Carmen didn’t need any ropes or handcuffs to render him helpless, and he grunted as she lifted him, roughly kissing him as she pressed him into the wall. Her tongue shot into his mouth, easily overpowering him while she grabbed his wrist, keeping him from embracing her back as her free hand explored his body.

He grunted as he was tossed on the bed, they were both naked, and this gave him a chance to see Carmen’s form in full. She was magnificent, that was the only thing he could think to say, like she’d been carved from marble.

She climbed on top of him, and he licked his lips nervously… then frowned as she didn’t stop at his midsection, “what are you-“

“You’re going down on me first,” Carmen growled, positioning herself over him.

“I uh…” he gulped, looking up at the curled jet black pubic hair and the wet pinkness waiting underneath, “I don’t usually do that-“

“Well tonight you do,” Carmen laughed, bringing herself down on him. She groaned as she felt his panicked movements, his tongue darting out and beginning to work her as she ground herself on his face. She gripped his hair, hissing with pleasure through gritted teeth as she controlled his pace.

Carlos struggled for breath as her immense thighs closed on either side of his face, squeezing him tight as she neared orgasm. The wave of wetness became a torrent as she came on his face, using her grip on his hair to force him against herself as her hips bucked wildly.

“Fuck,” she grinned, looking down at his soaked face, “for a boy who says he doesn’t eat pussy you sure are a natural.”

“T-Thanks,” he muttered weakly as she rolled off of him.

“You look good like that,” she muttered, ruffling his hair, “all covered in my cunt…” she sighed, “well boy, you ready to lay pipe?”

He jerked up excitedly, “Y-Yeah!” he said nervously, climbing on top of her.

She loved this, turning these powerful men back into nervous boys. From the way he stammered when he talked, he was acting more like a nervous guy on his first time over a professional athlete who’d bedded hundreds of women.

Carmen grunted with satisfaction as he entered her, driving away in a smooth practiced motion that made the best use of his impressive asset. She let her hands come up, gripping his ass and taking control of his pace, guiding him into her as she shouted encouragement.

“That’s it, come on!” she shouted, wrapping her legs around him. He gasped with exertion, panting as he struggled to keep up with her demands. Her arms wrapped around him next, and he felt powerless in her grip as they built to orgasm together.

“YES!” Carmen shouted, squeezing him so hard into her that he felt his back pop as he came, matching her shout as pleasure rocked his body.

Carlos rolled off her, panting and sore, feeling like he’d just lost a rough match in the ring. He looked over to her, feeling his chest swell with pride seeing the satisfied smile on Carmen’s face.

“D-Did I do okay?” he managed.

“You managed to hit me, and you got me off, so yeah,” Carmen chuckled. She reached for her phone on the nightstand, “here, let me call you a ride.”

“A ride?” he asked, sitting up, “I thought I’d maybe stay the night, we could get breakfast-“

Carmen burst out laughing, Carlos was a notorious womanizer, with a new piece of arm candy escorting him into every one of his matches. She counted that as another little victory, turning Mr. Pump and Dump into a wannabe romantic.

“No,” she said, rolling her eyes, “I’m not your type, and you’re not mine, we had our fun, now get the fuck out of my house.”

Carlos gave her a pathetic look, having given the same speech to who knows how many women, but with a sigh he got up and slid his shorts back on.

…

Lounging in her bath robe, Carmen watched the rideshare she’d called for Carlos pull out of the driveway, disappearing down the street.

Alone again, she thought with a mix of wistfulness and satisfaction. With a sigh she flopped onto her couch, flicking her TV on with the intent of watching a few minutes of the news before returning to the period drama she’d been watching.

She started as she saw Samantha and Kyle being interviewed, “and you’re saying the two of you aren’t interested in selling your app, Goblin?” the newscaster asked.

“Not right now,” Kyle laughed, “it started as a passion project, and it still is.”

“Goblin is our life’s work,” Samantha said, hugging herself close to Kyle with a smile, “it kind of started as a joke, even the name, Goblin, I mean it’s so silly, isn’t it?”

God she still has that fucking mousey look, Carmen thought bitterly, the two of them were older, more mature looking, but they were still clearly geeks, with Samantha sporting glasses and that same mess of curly red hair, Kyle definitely hadn’t gotten any taller either.

“Silly enough to be valued in the billions,” the interviewer laughed, “if you could part from it anyway.”

Kyle just shrugged, “nah, I think Samantha and I will be working on it until we drop, gotta rub it in the faces of all those bullies, you know?”

“Oh, you had trouble with bullies in school?” the interviewer asked.

Carmen scowled, sitting up and listening attentively.

“Oh yeah, there was one girl, she just wouldn’t leave us alone,” Samantha giggled, “what was her name again darling?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Kyle laughed, feigning ignorance, “Carmine, Carolyn? What does it matter now?”

Carmen squeezed the television remote so hard that the plastic casing shattered.

Kyle stretched, yawning as he woke up with the first rays of light drifting through the curtains. With a smile he leaned over and pulled Samantha close to him, causing her to mumble as she slowly blinked sleep out of her own eyes.

“Morning beautiful,” he said with a grin, leaning over and planting a kiss on her lips.

“Morning,” she muttered, joining him in stretching across the massive king-sized bed.

“Another day in paradise?” he asked with a smile.

“We’ve got to meet with Richard again,” she muttered, closing her eyes.

“He just wants us to sell, since we’re not going to it won’t be a long one,” Kyle said, stepping out of bed.

He took a moment to look around his room, lingering on the window and admiring the long and forested view below the mansion the pair lived in. He was still struck sometimes by how lucky he was, years ago in college Samantha and he had programmed a silly social app together, Goblin, meant to link up people with hobbies like theirs. What had started as a way to fill Dungeons and Dragons sessions had quickly ballooned into a massive juggernaut, jumping from a mere hobby meetup app into something that was bringing people together all over the country. Advertising revenue alone had made them rich and had brought plenty of investors in, though he, Samantha, and their old college friend Richard maintained a controlling share.

He smiled as he turned back around to the real prize of his life, his wife, finally managing to haul herself out of bed. Samantha was still the geeky girl she’d been in high school, and he smirked as he saw she was wearing an obnoxious pair of Dragonball themed panties he’d gotten her for her birthday.

“Like what you see?” she giggled, swaying her hips slightly.

“Always,” he said, embracing her, “did you ever think our lives would end up like this?”

“Nope,” she said, throwing her arms around him and looking out the same window that had captivated him a moment before, “and to think, it all started with getting shoved in a locker…”

“You ever wonder what happened to her?” Samantha said wistfully.

“I like to think she stayed stuck at that fast food joint forever,” Kyle said with a grimace, “but she probably moved on, got a real job… Wherever Carmen is, she probably doesn’t even think about us anymore.”

“No, she probably cries herself to sleep every night, thinking about how I stole her man,” Samantha said, walking to their closet.

“Stole her man?” Kyle laughed, “I was never-“

“Please, she wanted you so bad, she asked you to prom Kyle!” Samantha said, rolling her eyes.

“She asked you to prom too, kind of…” Kyle retorted.

“Yeah,” Samantha muttered, “she spends the whole year implying I’m into girls, and then she asks me out, fucking lunatic…”

“Well, you are kind of…” Kyle smirked.

Samantha just rolled her eyes, “yeah, maybe, sometimes, whatever!”

“You left your hentai site open a few nights ago,” Kyle teased, “what were those tags I saw? Yuri, forced kiss, handholding?”

Samantha blushed a deep red, but smiled, more amused than actually embarrassed, “Oh, we’re spying on each other’s porn now?” She whirled around, poking him hard in the chest, “if you’re going to give me crap for my tags, we’ll talk about who was searching femdom, mind break, and pegging.”

Now it was Kyle’s turn to blush, “I uh… was just curious about what all’s out there.”

“You’ve got a cute butt Kyle,” Samantha giggled, “maybe I should-“

“JUST CURIOUS!” Kyle repeated, a little more forcefully than he intended.

Samantha just laughed, throwing her arms around him and pulling him back down into the bed, “fuck me you dork,” she giggled, reaching to pull her panties down.

…

Richard Stevens, their business partner, had booked them a private room in an upscale restaurant downtown, and Kyle sighed as he saw that there was a man in a suit and tie, obviously an attorney, with him.

Richard himself smiled, standing up and looming over Kyle slightly as he reached out to shake his hand. The three had met in a statistics class in college, and where he and Samantha had come up with the idea for the Goblin app, Richard, a business major from a wealthy family, had immediately seen the potential. With their ideas and his connections, they’d turned Goblin into the nationwide phenomena it was now.

“Kyle,” he said with that salesman smile he’d used so often in pitch meetings, “Sammy! You’re both looking great!”

“Funny how everyone you meet with always looks great,” Kyle joked, sitting down.

“I only meet with handsome people,” Richard replied without skipping a beat, “Now let’s cut right to it, I want you guys to think about selling Goblin again, pretty much all the big tech companies want it, we could be looking at a bidding war netting us all-“

“Richard,” Kyle said with a sigh, “is there really anything I can’t do with a hundred million dollars that I could do with a billion?”

“He’s got a point Richard, we’ve got more money than we can spend,” Samantha laughed as the waiter arrived with wine glasses.

“No such thing,” Richard said, “I mean come on, you guys won’t even let us optimize the app for-“

“We’ve got ads on it already,” Kyle said, rolling his eyes.

“Ads are chump change compared to what we could make with user information!” Richard said in exasperation, “to say nothing of sponsored content-“

“We’re not exactly having trouble keeping the lights on,” Samantha said dismissively, “I know you see this as the next Apple or whatever Rich, but to us it’s still the silly little app we made to help schedule DND games.”

“And Amazon used to be a bookstore,” Richard said angrily, “humble roots, yada yadda, it’s very cute that you guys still act like you’re part of some community of people using this damn thing, but it’s time to grow up, move on, sell.”

Kyle sighed, “how do the other shareholders feel?” he said, it wasn’t a gauntlet he’d wanted to throw down, but he was also growing tired of Richard’s sales pitches.

“They want to do whatever the two of you want to do,” Richard admitted bitterly.

“That settles it,” Kyle said with a smile as their food arrived, “Goblin stays with us.”

Richard glowered at them a minute, then it was gone, replaced by a cheery façade as he changed topics to the local sports team.

…

Juliet quietly sipped champagne as she looked out of the hotel window at the Chicago skyline, the long red cocktail dress she wore reflecting in the window as she waited for her appointment. She took another moment to admire her face, when she’d first been administered the Valkyrie treatment the first hints of crow’s feet had been creeping into the corner of her eyes, now though? She could pass for being in her twenties again… along with the other benefits that being a Valkyrie carried.

There was a knock at her door, and she turned, her long blonde hair swaying behind her as she walked to admit her guest.

“Uh… hi,” Richard stammered, looking up at the amazon, “are you the person from Jormungand? The uh… the Valkyrie”

“I am, you may call me Juliet,” she said with an amused smile. You could always tell who had never met an enhanced individual in real life before, and she ushered him into her room, enjoying his nervous air. “For future reference Mr. Stevens, those of us who are in the Jormungand group prefer to refer to ourselves as Serpents.”

“Serpents, right… Is it safe to talk here?” Richard asked quietly, looking around as if he expected to see an electronic bug sticking out of the wall.

“It is,” she said, sitting down on the suite’s couch.

Richard blinked, trying not to stare at her cleavage, visible through the low cut dress. He swallowed nervously, summoning the will to look her in the eye.

“The pheromone effect already getting to you?” Juliet asked with a smirk, “I’ll try not to be offended if your eyes wander… the only thing that seems to help is atrocious amounts of perfume or cigarettes, and personally I find smoking to be a filthy habit.”

“Right,” he said, sighing and steadying himself, “I didn’t expect it to be so strong…”

“Everything about us is strong,” Juliet said dismissively, pushing an empty glass towards him. “Try a little of this, alcohol can dull them somewhat.” He nodded, taking the already opened bottle and pouring himself a glass and taking a sip while she studied him.

His eyes traced across a small black jewelry box set in the middle of the table between them, and he frowned. It wasn’t part of the hotel’s décor, he was sure of it.

A gun? He wondered, no, just looking at the amazon across from him, he could tell that she wouldn’t need a firearm if she wanted to subdue him…

“Let’s cut right to it,” Juliet said, “you want to eliminate your business partners?”

“Not really,” he said with a sigh, “or… not right away, I have a very specific set of needs you might say.”

“Interesting,” Juliet said, raising an eyebrow, “go on…”

“Well, I need them under control,” Richard explained, “ideally I’d like to have them in a place where I could use them for public statements, get any info about the app’s code out of them, then maybe…”

“Throw them out when you’re done,” Juliet guessed.

“Yeah,” Richard said with a smile, “I mean it’s a shame that’s how the relationship’s got to end, but business is business, am I right?”

“Indeed,” Juliet said coolly, “though I must admit, even in matters such as this it is rather bold to simply state something like that out loud.”

Richard grinned, seemingly happy he’d unnerved her, “hey, dog eat dog world baby.”

“Right,” she chuckled without a trace of warmth. It was an odd sound, and it sent Richard’s confidence fleeing as quickly as it had come. “I can make arrangements to have your associates injured in such a way that will require the services of a Valkyrie,” she said, staring idly into her champagne glass, “the paramedics will naturally ask for any Valkyries in the area to respond, and this is where my agent will come in. It will all appear official at the outset, we’ll fabricate an acceptance from a clinic in the area before any others have a chance to respond.” She sipped her champagne and continued, “I’ll be sending one of my… off the books girls to shrink your friends and bring them to us. By the time anyone realizes she’s not official, this entire affair will be over.”

“And you can keep them tiny forever?” Richard asked hopefully.

“The receptor serum can be mixed in a fashion that renders them unable to be regrown, highly illegal of course,” Juliet said, “it’s most often used when those who hire us want to make sure a body is never found, or when they want a particularly strong message to be sent.” She set her glass down, reaching for the black box in the middle of the table. Slowly she opened it, and Richard’s ears perked up as he heard a mix of begging and sobbing from inside.

“This man here didn’t feel like paying his gambling debts,” Juliet commented idly, pulling out a flailing and naked one inch man, easily pinched between her fingers, “now he’s a bug…” she grinned at a stunned Richard, “sends quite the statement, wouldn’t you say? I charge more for the smaller sizes, as you can see by this one, he angered the wrong bookie.”

“W-What are you going to do with him?” Richard rasped, suddenly nervous.

“Who can say?” Juliet laughed, “he’s a product now, there are plenty of people who would love to get their hands on him, the only stipulation is that he doesn’t come back.” She sighed, squeezing the screaming man like a ripe grape, “sometimes I miss the days before that whole secondary market… I used to just step on them myself, and isn’t that a rush Mister Stevens… but with people willing to pay so much to do it themselves… well it’s hard to justify it.”

“P-People pay to step on-“ Richard stammered.

“Among other things,” Juliet said with a shrug, “One of my regular customers is an heiress from an oil rich nation who has developed a taste for American food.”

Richard gulped; eyes wide as Juliet lifted her tiny prisoner to her mouth. He watched, his heart pounding as her tongue came up, sweeping over the tiny man in a lick that coated him with a shining layer of saliva.

“Mmm… you taste good,” Juliet giggled, “what do you think my little bug? Would you like to meet her? If you want, I can see when she’s next going to be in the country…”

“PLEASE LET ME GO!” the man sobbed.

Juliet just sighed, stuffing the flailing one-inch man between her immense breasts, “Quiet down,” she ordered sternly, using her fingertip to push him down further into the fleshy prison, “just relax in there, you deserve one last nice thing before I find you a buyer, so enjoy it!”

She looked up to Richard, smiling at his discomfort, “is there a problem Mr. Stevens? Business is business, as you said, and I want you to be very aware of what sort of business you are entering into by working with me, what the stakes are if anyone should fail to uphold their end of the bargain.”

Richard stared a moment, the tiny man had completely disappeared between Juliet’s breasts, any movements or attempts to escape didn’t even register anymore, and whatever pitiful sounds he was making had been silenced.

He sighed, Sorry, he thought, giving a halfhearted apology to his absent business partners, but this is how the world works. He downed the rest of his champagne in a single gulp, then extended his hand. With a grim smile Juliet too, it, shaking and sealing the deal.

…

“Which car do you want to take to dinner?” Samantha called.

“The Lexus is parked out front,” Kyle replied, walking down the stairs in a casual pair of sweatpants and a Marvel Comics T-shirt. Samantha joined him as they walked to the door, similarly dressed in baggy sweats and shirt advertising one of the Batman movies. Kyle smiled and gave her a quick peck on the cheek as they got in the car together, even after all these years he still loved seeing her in what he jokingly called “lazy clothes.”

Tonight, the pair was going to drive to their favorite pizza place, get takeout, and return to binge an anime series that had been recommended and advertised on their own app. Kyle smiled at Samantha as she got in the car with him, and for a moment he reflected that his favorite nights with his wife, the cozy ones indoors, weren’t all that much different as a rich man from when he was a broke student.

He turned the key, and then screamed as pain rocked his body and the world flashed white.

…

Kyle heard muffled voices talking, “localized radiation bomb,” someone said, “massive cellular damage, organ failure.”

“Samantha,” he croaked, his vision slowly coming back into focus. He was in his own home, that much he was sure of, there were red and blue lights flashing outside… police? Ambulances? He glanced to his side, then started as he saw Samantha’s unconscious form. He grunted with exhaustion and felt pain split every joint in his body as he cried out as knifepoints flashed across every part of him.

“Easy,” a paramedic said, pushing him down gently, “she’s alive.”

“W-What happened?” Kyle whispered, licking his lips, “I’m so thirsty…”

“We’re still trying to figure it out,” a police officer said, walking up to them, “sir, do you remember anything prior to the explosion?”

“No,” Kyle groaned, “are we… are we going to make it?”

“Whatever that thing was, it bathed you and the area within a five foot radius of your car with an insane amount of radiation,” the EMT said, “it’s like you and your wife took a vacation in the Chernobyl reactor.”

“Detectives say it’s something out of Eastern Europe, some kind of old east bloc assassination weapon,” the police officer muttered, “I guess it wasn’t working properly, because you two made it. We’re trying to get a Valkyrie up here.”

“A Valkyrie?” Kyle rasped, “you mean we’re going to-“

“You need shrinking therapy now,” the EMT said forcefully, “you’ll be lucky to live until tomorrow morning without it.”

Kyle just groaned, leaning back onto his pillow, white hot knives of agony rocking his body until unconsciousness took him again.

…

“Elaine from the Clinic downtown will be in to take my care of patients,” Carmen said with a sigh, walking with Judy through the clinic. While she always had staff in to take care of the patients, she usually didn’t stay this late herself. Today though… she’d be leaving for a while, she wanted to make sure everything was in order.

“Everything’s going to be fine!” Judy said cheerfully, “the other nurses and I can handle things, we don’t have anyone staying with us under three inches right now, it’s all pretty standard stuff.” The two of them paused near the front door and Carmen sighed, twirling her keys in her hand. “If you don’t mind me asking, what prompted the sudden vacation, Carmen?”

Carmen stared at her a moment, not sure what to say. I’m a fucking idiot who can’t get over some dumb shit from high school? She thought, those fucking twerps are out there never got what was coming to them?

“Just needed some time off,” she said noncommittally.

Their conversation was interrupted by an alert on both of their phones, “huh, Valkyrie alert?” Judy said, “odd to see one this late…”

“Two radiation victims, severe?” Carmen muttered, reading the message on her phone, “how the hell did they get radiation burns around here? That’s going to take a couple months of shrinking cycles to even-“ she read the patient names and froze.

“Carmen?” Judy asked, but her voice was somewhere else, far away.

She read the patient names once, twice, a third time.

Kyle and Samantha Westwood

Kyle. And. Samantha. Westwood.

KYLE AND SAMANTHA WESTWOOD.

“I’m going,” Carmen said in a dreamy voice, “is the emergency response van still stocked?”

“Yeah,” Judy said curiously, “it always is, you uh… don’t really use it much, Carmen, what about your vacation?”

“I’ll postpone it,” she said, pushing her way out the glass doors and into the parking lot.

Judy watched her go, a little confused. Her phone buzzed again, and as she read the message her brow furrowed.

“Another Valkyrie clinic is already responding? That’s fast… Hey Carmen!” she shouted, but Carmen was already pulling out of the parking lot in the clinic’s van. Judy sighed and tried calling her, but the number went straight to voicemail.

…

Carmen arrived at the lavish mansion outside of town, marveling at the massive drive up to the house and the large, forested, grounds. She’d known Kyle and Samantha had done well for themselves in life, but this was beyond anything she expected. The large circle drive in front of their house was swarming with police cars and an ambulance, and she pulled her own vehicle up next to it.

Valkyries rarely responded to injuries “in the field,” preferring to let EMTs make the call on whether the injured needed a hospital or to be brought one of their clinics. Overall the Valkyrie program had a strange relationship with the rest of the medical community, the limited number of potential Valkyries meant that most injuries and illness still were, and always would be, treated via normal medicine, and Melinda had insisted on a certain independence for the program from the very beginning.

Still the paramedics smiled and nodded when she arrived, “Are you the Valkyrie?” a police officer asked, stepping between her and the mansion’s double doors.

“I am,” she replied, pulling out her wallet and quickly showing him her ID card, a silly gesture in her opinion given her stature, but she wasn’t going to slip up now. She could hear her heartbeat, looking up at those doors, and it almost felt like her brain was on autopilot.

“Well, the two victims are in there,” the cop said, nodding towards the door, the light glow through the windows seeming to almost invite Carmen in. “Also, your kit arrived early, so we had it brought in for you.”

Carmen frowned, my kit? She glanced back at her van, where the various supplies were stored, I guess someone from another clinic must have had their stuff sent ahead of time while they get out here? A field kit for a Valkyrie was mostly just diagnostic equipment and maybe a receptor serum mixer. She pushed the thought out of her head, I was here first, she thought, they’re mine.

The door to the house opened, and for a brief moment time seemed to stop.

There, in the center of the room on two folding roller cots, were Kyle and Samantha. They were unconscious, with IV bags, and red splotches already appearing on their skin. She walked towards them, like in a dream, a dozen emotions fighting within her.

“Okay, everyone out,” the EMT called, “Valkyrie’s here!”

Carmen listened to hear own heartbeat as the police and medical personnel filed out of the room. She took a deep breath, listening to the door close behind her.

Of course they’d all leave, she thought somewhat madly, almost wishing they’d come back and prevent her from… from doing what exactly? She asked herself.

She felt like she was watching someone else as she stepped up to the unconscious pair, more like Carmen was a character in a movie, not her… the paramedics had cut the clothing off of the two, but had draped blankets over them for modesty. Casually she reached down, pulling the IV needles out, Samantha first, then Kyle.

Mild shrinking first, shave maybe one foot off to stabilize their condition, she thought, as if she were treating any other patient, then check vitals, determine appropriate size and duration for long term healing.

Kyle coughed, startling her. His eyes blinked open, and she felt an odd tinge of pity for him when she saw they were slightly clouded over. The pair were pale, clammy…

“You look like a Walking Dead extra Kyle,” she said without thinking.

Kyle started, blinking and trying to clear his vision, that voice, he thought, gritting his teeth, no… I’ve got to be hallucinating, they gave us drugs or something-

“You don’t look much better Sammy,” Carmen said, running a hand through her red hair idly.

“C-Carmen?” Kyle managed. He felt a nervous void opening in his throat as he saw her circling Samantha.

“You two really got fucked up huh?” Carmen said casually. It was… hard, seeing them like this. She’d always imagined some kind of dramatic confrontation, a true revenge with a cinematic speech outlining all they’d ever done wrong to her. Walking in on them in this state though? It was… “Pathetic,” Carmen muttered. She sighed, a little of her long simmering anger fading as she looked down at Samantha’s unconscious form. “Hold tight Sammy,” she muttered, “I’m going to fix you up…”

Carmen took a deep breath, focusing and drawing the energy into herself, then channeling it down into Samantha as she laid a hand on her forehead. Kyle watched through blurry vision as his wife dwindled in her cot, her chin sinking towards the blanket on her chest. A second later his wife, now maybe a little under four feet tall, sat up and gasped.

“KYLE!” she shouted.

“I’ll get to him next,” Carmen laughed, forcefully shoving a shocked Samantha back down onto the cot.

“CARMEN!?” Samantha squeaked, her eyes going wide. “W-Wha-“

“And here I thought you two forgot my name,” Carmen chuckled, walking around to where Kyle was.

She laid her hand on his head, and a moment later he grunted as his vision cleared, the soreness in his arms and legs vanished, and… He gulped, looking down, realizing he had a powerful erection, easily visible through the thin blanket the paramedics had laid on him. The cot itself was wider now, more like a queen sized mattress. His head swam slightly as he looked around, it was surreal seeing his own home’s entryway so much… bigger.

“Oh god,” Samantha moaned, realization setting in, “that thing in our car, was there a bomb?”

“So the cops say,” Carmen said with a shrug, “they’re still poking around in it outside on the lawn, I guess you two pissed off the wrong person, but that does seem to be a habit, huh?”

Kyle swallowed nervously, “It’s uh… good to see you again-“

“Cut the crap!” Carmen snapped, “you two ruined my fucking life, and now?” she grinned a wicked toothy smile, “you two are fucking mine for the next two months, and we’re going to relive the good old days.”

“Oh god,” Samantha squeaked, pulling the now oversized blanket up to her chest.

“We’ll get someone else to do the shrinking therapy,” Kyle said, summoning more fire for his voice than he really felt, “We-“

“Ha, no such luck squirt,” Carmen chuckled, “I’ve already taken a foot and a half off each of you, I’ll bet it feels great after almost dying, but in another hour or so? I’m sending you the rest of the way down, you’re going to be bugs in my hands.” She smirked, “I’ll toss you in my little carry case and just walk right out of here with you, then we’re back to my clinic for two months of treatment… and what a shame, I forgot your phones and the internet for your container just isn’t working.”

“How the hell did someone like you become a Valkyrie?” Kyle asked angrily.

“When two little shits tanked my future, and I didn’t have any other options!” Carmen snapped, “if I’d been off playing soccer in college, I’d have never given these people the time of day, but thanks to the two of you I was slaving away in front of a deep fryer when they came for me.” She gave a faux happy sigh, “funny how life works out though, huh?”

She walked around the bed, casually letting her hand drift over the thin blanket barely covering Kyle’s erection, “oops,” she teased, watching him grunt and try to keep himself from orgasm, “sorry, I guess I have a sort of effect on people now…” She looked over at Samantha, still gaping at her, “then again, I’m pretty sure I always did on the two of you…”

“G-Go fuck yourself!” Samantha managed.

“Ooh, squeaky Sammy got braver!” Carmen laughed, “don’t worry, I’ll have plenty of time to play with you too.”

There was a sudden movement out of the corner of her eye, and she jerked her head back to Kyle’s cot. The reduced man had slipped down to the floor and was now bolting, naked, towards the front door.

“Glad to see you’re feeling better,” she laughed, starting after him, “but seriously Kyle,” she said, easily scooping him up like a fleeing puppy, “you couldn’t outrun me back in high school, you’re not getting away now.”

Kyle shivered as she lifted him up, too scared and shocked to hide his nakedness as she lifted him up. She’d caught him so easily; at this size he really hadn’t had a chance of escape against an amazon like this… He blushed red as she licked her lips, letting her eyes trace down his body.

“I was lying back in school Sammy,” She laughed, forcibly hauling Kyle back into the living room, “I never got to see Kyle with his pants off.” She smirked, enjoying Samantha’s rage and Kyle’s embarrassment, “I can’t say I’m surprised though, cute little guy, cute little…” she smirked, “well, you know…”

Samantha had slid off her cot too, the aches and pains of her injuries fading as Carmen’s shrinking ability healed her. She nervously grabbed the blanket, wrapping it around herself like a robe as Carmen sat down with Kyle on the couch.

“Carmen,” Samantha said pleadingly, “look, let’s just calm down, you did some stuff you regret, we did some stuff we regret-“

“I had fun with you guys!” Carmen sneered, “I played some pranks, you fucked up my entire life!”

“Pranks!?” Kyle exclaimed angrily, forgetting their situation for a minute, “you made our lives- AH!” he yelped as a slap rang out, Carmen giggled, she’d just lightly slapped his bottom, but at his size it had to be a fairly intense spanking, one good enough to shut up him up again.

“Ah hell,” she laughed, standing up and letting Kyle slip out of her grip, “you guys look healthy enough, let’s just get to the next part and box you two up.” She jokingly made a sign like she was pulling on an imaginary train horn, “ding ding, two dweebs to go!”

Kyle and Samantha looked up at her, terrified, they only came up to her bellybutton at best, and the towering amazon enjoyed their fearful embrace as she turned to retrieve her supplies. She shot them one last glance, making sure they weren’t going to try to run again, then frowned.

Fuck, I forgot my bag in the van… Without the receptor serum she wasn’t confident she was strong enough to shrink both of them down as far as she wanted… and if she opened the door to go for it, those cops are still out on the lawn… these two could yell or run for help.

She thought a moment, then realized there was an obvious solution. The Valkyrie supply bag for the other clinic had been placed against the wall, and with the other Valkyrie still not there, nobody had claimed it or moved it. Carmen grinned, picking it up and carrying it into the living room.

“Now who wants to be first?” she asked wickedly, watching the trembling pair as she laid the bag on the table and withdrew the serum mixer.

It was a small silver case, with a handful of electronic components built in to allow the serum strength to be customized. Slowly she opened the top, letting the display flicker to life and revealing a needle full of the swirling green liquid. Casually she began the pre-injection check.

Carmen laughed at the hopelessness in their eyes, “you two are so fuck-“

*Beep* *Beep* *BEEEP*

An alarm from the serum mixer sounded, startling Carmen. With a frown she looked back to the box, blinked, and then repeated the safety test.

*Beep* *Beep* *BEEEP*

A red “WARNING” lit up at the top of the box’s electronic display.

“That’s not possible,” Carmen muttered, a pit forming in her stomach.

“W-What?” Samantha asked hesitantly, “why’s it saying warning?” She blinked away a tear, “what are you going to do with that stuff!?”

“This isn’t mine!” Carmen snapped, “someone… someone mixed this to shrink you permanently!”

“Permanently!?” Kyle asked, horrified, “Carmen, you can’t-“

“IT’S NOT MINE!” she almost shouted, “I wouldn’t, I mean there’s no way I’d-“ she gulped, forcing herself to calm down. She felt a mix of rage and despair as the implication dawned on her, someone else was after the pair, and with far worse intentions than hers.

“Guys,” she said slowly, hating herself for what she was about to do, “go get dressed, throw those blankets on or something, we’re going outside to the police.”

Kyle scowled, the absurdity of the situation overriding his fear, “what the fuck is going on Carmen? You were about to kidnap us, now you want us to go out to the cops with you?”

Carmen crossed the space between them in a split second, before he could blink or think how impossible it was for a woman that large to move so fast. She’d knelt on the floor, bringing her closer to his level, and gripped his shoulders. Kyle had a sudden realization that he’d seen Carmen angry, happy, even sad once when her dog had died, but he’d never seen Carmen… scared.

“Listen to me!” she hissed, looking back and forth between the stunned pair, “there is only one group in the world that makes serum to permanently shrink people, and they also kill shrunken people in the most fucked up ways you can imagine!” She sighed, “whatever you two pieces of shit deserve, it’s not that.”

“Y-You think the people who bombed our car are sending a Valkyrie after us too?” Samantha asked, her eyes wide with fear.

“That’s why the call was only up for a few minutes,” Carmen realized, “it was a cover… they wanted to hurt you in a specific way so that you’d call for one of us, one of them rather…” and I just came here anyways… because I wanted revenge on you. She looked down at them, the full weight of everything she’d said and done starting to mentally rain down on her.

“Okay,” Carmen said finally, “here’s the deal, I shrank you guys to four feet, we had a friendly chat when we realized we knew each other, and that’s it.”

“Just like old times,” Kyle spat, “threaten anyone who might tell on you…”

“And it always worked,” Carmen said with a smug smirk, “now come on, let’s get you two somewhere safe-“

She was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. The three of them turned together to see another woman entering through the front door, a brunette with short cropped hair, clearly a Valkyrie by her six-foot stature and immaculate skin.

“Good evening,” she said, looking around, “I’m the Valkyrie you called for-“ she stopped, looking at Samantha and Kyle, already reduced to four feet tall, and then to Carmen. Her look of confusion became a frown as she saw the box with the still flashing “WARNING” light on it, revealing the defect in the serum.

The entire room was silent, as she stared the three of them down, then finally she reached behind her, locking the front door with a loud click that echoed through the entryway.

“Sammy, Kyle,” Carmen whispered, standing up, “get behind me…”

“If she makes a move, I want you two to run for the back door, then try to get the cops’ attention,” Carmen muttered as the other woman approached them.

“Carmen?” Samantha asked fearfully.

“Just fucking do it!” she hissed.

“I see you’ve been in my kit,” the other Valkyrie said, eyeing Carmen warily, “that’s… rude.”

“Yeah well, I left mine in the van,” Carmen said, “I think that’s close enough.”

The woman stopped maybe ten feet from her, “I’m… Jane,” she said.

“Last name Doe?” Carmen said sarcastically, “walk out the door, I won’t go to the cops until you’re gone, that’s the best deal I’m willing to cut with a fucking snake.”

“Serpent,” Jane corrected casually, moving laterally from Carmen, Kyle, and Samantha in a circular predatory motion, “these two are ours Miss… what is your name girl?”

“Carmen Mendez,” she said, cracking her knuckles, “and they’re mine.”

Behind her, Kyle and Samantha shot each other a look, briefly wondering together which was worse. “Jane” gave the pair a sudden cold smile that left Kyle with no illusions about which of the two women he’d rather leave with.

“The bravery is admirable,” Jane said, “but if you get in my way tonight girl, you will die. There’s nothing you can do to save those two now, don’t throw your life away for the fool nurse’s ideals.”

Kyle and Samantha watched the scene play out, glancing at each other. They made eye contact as Carmen and Jane stared each other down, and the unconscious decision was reached between them.

Run! Samantha mouthed.

Kyle nodded, turning and sprinting for the back door. He shouted in surprise as he tripped, the floor seeming to fly out from beneath him, expanding in all directions. He tumbled across the carpet, the fibers suddenly rising around his ankles like a tall grass as he stumbled to his feet. He glanced to his right, seeing Samantha had somehow gotten a lot farther away, impossibly far away.

We’re smaller, he realized, whirling around in horror and seeing that Carmen and Jane now loomed over them, true giants.

“Don’t go anywhere you two,” Jane chuckled, glancing at Carmen.

Carmen felt a small buzz, almost like a static electric shock, and rolled her eyes, “You can’t shrink another Valkyrie dumbass, you’d know that if you hadn’t gotten your gene therapy in some mobster’s basement.”

“Always so fucking eager to hold that official status over those of us on the outside,” Jane sneered, “you’re no better than I am just because you got to meet the nurse a few times.”

“Et in…” Carmen began, then paused, hell, what is it Melinda always says? She sighed and raised her fists, “Fuck it, you want them, you go through me.”

“Acceptable,” Jane said with a wide grin as she lunged at Carmen.

For Kyle and Samantha, it was like seeing two buildings fight, and they sprinted towards each other, stumbling over the carpet like it was an overgrown field, the floor rumbling with their footsteps as they made contact. Kyle felt himself stop, looking up in awe.

Jane threw a punch at Carmen, who deftly stepped out of the way, grabbing the other woman’s wrist and using her momentum to throw her into a nearby wall, cracking the paneling. Carmen flew at the other woman while she was down, screaming and bringing her fist down just as Jane rolled out of the way.

“I thought you organized crime girls were supposed to be tough?” Carmen mocked, rearing back for another blow. She never got a chance to try it, Jane swept her legs with a snarl, sending her tumbling to the ground too.

“Come on!” Samantha shouted, pulling at Kyle’s arm and breaking the stunned awe that he was in, watching the pair of skyscraper sized women fight.

We can’t be more than six inches tall, Kyle thought, looking around at their massive entry room fearfully, what can we even-“

“Under here!” Samantha screamed, pulling him underneath a couch at the edge of their living room. The gap between the floor and the edge of the couch was maybe two inches, and they got on their bellies, crawling into the dark space.

“God, when was the last time we vacuumed under here?” Kyle coughed, feeling his heartbeat start to slow as they crawled across the rough surface of the carpet. In the darkness beneath the couch, he felt safer, like they had a moment to breathe and-

“FOUND YOU!” Jane shouted, curling her fingers under the couch and tossing it over in one smooth motion. Light flooded Kyle and Samantha’s vision as they looked up, feebly shielding their eyes as the grinning woman stood over them triumphantly.

“I’d say a capture is right out,” Jane said, lifting her massive tennis shoe with a grin, “guess we’re going to have to cut straight to elimination!”

That shoe was easily twice the length of Kyle’s body, and looked more like a falling truck than a piece of footwear. Time seemed to slow, and he gripped Samantha in his arms, surprising himself with his own strength as he rolled them both bodily to the side. Jane’s foot slammed into the ground with enough force that he felt his hair blow back, and the sound was like a gunshot, startling him and causing him to hug Samantha close and squeeze his eyes shut.

Samantha whimpered, trying to move her head and squeeze herself into Kyle’s shoulder, but she realized with horror that her hair was pinned beneath the immense shoe that had only just missed crushing the pair of them into a messy red stain on their own carpet. She opened her eyes and moaned in terror, tears in the corner of her eyes as she saw that foot raising over them again, the grin on Jane’s face etching into her mind as she readied for the killing blow.

There was a loud *CRACK* as an end table broke apart across Jane’s back, staggering her and causing her to swear loudly. Kyle and Samantha screamed and held each other as the massive pieces of wood fell around them, each one more than capable of crushing the pair as they landed like falling rocks in an avalanche.

Jane snarled through the pain and whirled, looking for Carmen, only to be greeted by a right hook that sent her seeing stars, stumbling backwards through the living room.

Kyle and Samantha watched as Carmen moved like a billowing storm cloud, an unstoppable natural force passing over them, raining blows like lightning down on the woman who had been about to end their lives.

Carmen found herself in a state of surprising calm, the kind she hadn’t felt in years not since…

This is what it was like, turning a soccer game around… She smirked, adjusting her boxer’s stance as a bloodied Jane steadied herself against the back wall of the house, sneering and raising her own fists. From the way she moved she’d had her own share of martial arts experience, Krav maga at least, Carmen thought, moving out of the way of a strike that would have blinded her had she been a hair slower.

She grabbed Jane’s arm, pivoting and using the other woman’s momentum to toss her through the sliding glass back door of the house. With a predatory grin she stepped through the newly created opening, the glass crunching under her feet as she stepped out onto the patio.

The commotion had attracted the police, several of whom had been milling around the back yard. They ran towards Carmen and Jane, shouting with their guns drawn. Carmen sighed and put her hands up, but her eyes went wide as Jane just snarled, leaping to her feet and running towards the wooded edge of the property.

Carmen heard gunshots, and the other woman twitched slightly with the impacts, Valkyries were far from bulletproof, but from what Carmen had heard, and what she was seeing now, they could take some absurd punishment.

One of the officers, a big man, as tall as Carmen herself, stepped in Jane’s way, “NO!” Carmen shouted, abandoning her posture, “Just let her go, you don’t-“

She watched, horrified, as the man disappeared, a small moving bundle in his pile of clothes the only thing remaining as the gun clattered to the ground. Carmen’s world slowed, and she gritted her teeth, both impressed and despairing that this woman had apparently been able to shrink three victims inside of an hour.

Jane raised her foot up over the shrunken officer just as he poked his head out from the pool of his own uniform. A small scream rang out, and Carmen matched it, holding out her hand and willing with all her might to restore the man to his full size.

The shoe came down, and there was a crack as it impacted the man just as his size shot back up to normal. He cried out in pain, those ribs were definitely broken, but he was alive.

“HER HEAD!” Carmen screamed, “you have to shoot her in-“

A hail of bullets followed as more officers came around the side of the house, opening fire at the genetically enhanced woman standing over their wounded comrade. At least one of the officers had heeded Carmen’s advice, and as the gunfire ceased Jane toppled over, bleeding out on Kyle and Samantha’s freshly cut lawn.

Carmen sighed, her heart still pounding as she tried to calm down. The police were shouting, running towards the other Valkyrie sprawled out on the grass, though she didn’t really hear them. She turned, stepping back into the house and looking at the damage from the fight. She felt an odd sense of pride, and although she certainly didn’t feel like it, she had a small smile on her face as she entered the living room.

“Sammy?” she called quietly, “Kyle?”

The six inch tall pair peeked hesitantly out from under one of the remaining end tables, looking for an amused Carmen like a pair of scared mice.

“I-Is she-“

“Cleanup, aisle three,” Carmen muttered, jerking her thumb out the shattered window.

Kyle felt an odd sense of relief, and a moment later he held Samantha’s hand as the naked couple nervously stepped back out into the living room. They watched, still awestruck by Carmen’s size and strength, as she easily righted their couch, the *thoom* as it hit the floor echoing to the tiny pair like a cannon.

“C-Can you make us big again?” Samantha asked feebly, looking up at the skyscraper of a woman as she sighed, flopping herself on their couch.

“Give me a minute,” Carmen grunted, her mind bringing her back to why she was here in the first place, “I’ll let you guys go to four feet,” she said, mentally summoning the energy to unshrink them, “that radiation really fucked you guys up, you’re going to be spending most of your time on the small side for at least the next few months.”

The world spun, and Kyle and Samantha staggered, steadying themselves as a feeling like a carnival ride gripped their stomachs. The world shot up, and they went from mice on the ground to four-foot dwarves in an instant.

Numbly Samantha grabbed one of the discarded blankets, wrapping it around herself for modesty, and for warmth as the night air blew in through the shattered window. Kyle moved to her side, bringing the blanket over himself too as the pair collapsed on the couch next to Carmen.

“That… wasn’t the relaxing night I expected,” Samantha said in a meek voice.

Carmen snorted, and Kyle fought a chuckle himself. The three of them broken into an almost mad laughter all at the same time.

…

Carmen looked out the window of one of the mansion’s guest bedrooms, in her mind, whatever was between you, if you saved someone’s life you deserved to crash at their house, and she’d fallen into a deep sleep once the police had finished questioning them.

The forested view really was spectacular, the mansion itself wasn’t that far outside of the city, but the trees were planted in such a way as to give the illusion of a countryside manor. Idly, she wondered how much it had cost the pair.

There was a knock at her door, “come in,” she called, not taking her eyes off the morning sunrise.

She knew who it was immediately, the thick smell of cheap tobacco wafting into the room ahead of Melinda, “Carmen,” the head nurse said quietly.

“Melinda,” she returned, sighing as she turned to face the head nurse.

“There was quiet a lot of excitement here last night,” she said quietly, “I’ve spoken with everyone else, from the sound of things you’re quite the hero.”

Carmen shrugged, “I wasn’t going to let some bitch from Jormungand take my patients, is there anyone who would?”

“No,” Melinda said, bringing her cigarette to her mouth for a moment. She puffed a small grey cloud from her nostrils as she thought, “I’m impressed you fought her off though, they tend to be much more… physical, than those of us on the side of angels.”

“Most Valkyries aren’t me,” Carmen replied, crossing her arms, “and by the way, when were you going to let those of us in the clinics know there was a Jormungand cell operating in Chicago?”

“The FBI and the rest of the letter agencies know, after some discussion with them I made the decision to keep those of you at a clinical level in the dark… I suppose now you know what my business in the Windy City is.” She looked out the window, where police cars still sat on the driveway, along with one van marked “County Coroner.” Melinda looked at Carmen again, and while she said nothing Carmen could hear the wheels turning behind those eyes.

Carmen’s face darkened, “you thought it was me, didn’t you? You thought I was in fucking Jormungand?”

“They’re operating out of one of the clinics here, and you were one of our top suspects,” Melinda said in a neutral tone, “to be honest, when I saw the police report with your name attached to this incident…” She gave a small smile, “well, the rest of the report was a pleasant surprise.” She glanced down at the coroner’s van again, “that girl has nothing on file anywhere, identification is fake, no dental records… her fingerprints place her at the scene of numerous disappearances throughout the Midwest. She’s a pawn, the real mastermind is operating on a more legitimate level… mostly.”

“Why would you suspect me?” Carmen asked angrily.

Melinda just chuckled and rolled her eyes, “Carmen… I did my best to beat a little empathy into you during our time together, but you are who you are, and I will not say any more on the subject.”

Carmen sighed, feeling a mix of guilt and anger. She wanted to protest, but…

What were you here tonight to do? She thought, self-reflection being forced into her like a hot knife under the withering gaze of her mentor.

She sighed, then smiled, “you’re one to talk about empathy Melinda, you were the harshest teacher I ever had.”

“Judging by the state of your education when they brought you to me, I’m also the only one who ever taught you anything valuable,” Melinda said with a smirk.

She looked outside one final time, the police were still doing crime scene analysis, and true to Melinda’s word a large black van with an FBI logo on the side was heading up the drive.

“So why does the FBI want you involved in all of this?” Carmen asked, “Jormungand are Enhanced Individuals sure, but they’re just another gang at the end of the day, right?”

“They’re more than that,” Melinda said bitterly, “and they have their reasons to fear me.”

“Fear you?” Carmen asked, raising an eyebrow, “no offense Melinda, but while I respect you I’m pretty sure I could take you apart-“ she gasped as her clothes began getting looser, looking up in awe at a smug Melinda who now loomed over her.

“T-This is impossible,” Carmen stammered, “our powers don’t work on each other!”

Melinda just chuckled, taking another drag of her cigarette. A moment later Carmen was back at her normal height, eye to eye with the head nurse.

“Remember dear, the Groves gene is named for my late husband, and I had my powers for a decade before going public with them… I taught the first generation of Valkyries everything you know, but I didn’t teach you half of what I know.” She chuckled at Carmen’s expression as she walked out the door.

…

Kyle and Samantha lay in their bed, staring at the ceiling together. At their newly reduced size the already massive bed was truly gigantic, and they cuddled each other in the middle, embracing as they tried to make sense of everything that had happened.

“What are we going to do?” Samantha moaned.

“It’ll be okay,” Kyle said soothingly, stroking his wife’s hair while his own mind raced, “w-we’ve got cops all over the place, and we’re smart, we can figure this out! Get ahead of… whoever is after us.”

“We’ve got to let them make us small…” Samantha whispered, “C-Carmen said we’d have to spend time like that for months?”

“We won’t always have a psychopath trying to kill us at that size,” Kyle muttered, hopefully.

“These Jormungand people though, they could be anywhere?” Samantha whispered, “how are we supposed to know if the next one that comes is working with them?”

Kyle was quiet a moment, not sure if he should be the one to say it first. Samantha turned to look at him, gulping nervously as she summoned up the courage to air what they were both thinking.

“W-We know Carmen isn’t one of them,” Samantha said finally.

“Is that better though?” Kyle asked with a sigh, “I mean yeah, she’s not with Jormungand, but she didn’t exactly come here with our best interests in mind.”

“She still saved our lives,” Samantha said quietly.

Kyle swore under his breath in frustration. As an avid strategy game player, he knew which route he should logically take, the potentially lethal unknown, versus the unpleasant known…

“Damn it,” he growled, “I guess we lived through her for four years; we can handle another few months.”

…

Kyle and Samantha walked through their house, each wearing an overly loose bathrobe as the only clothing that would reliably fit at a mere four feet tall. Kyle gulped as he looked at how large his house looked, even with a relatively small amount of size taken from him. The brief time on the floor at six inches had been terrifying, even without the two giants battling through his living room.

Carmen was in their kitchen, and Kyle scowled as he saw she was drinking orange juice straight from the carton.

“There are cups right up there,” Samantha said, sharing Kyle’s annoyance.

“No need,” Carmen said, taking another swig and several long gulps of the orange juice. “Ah,” she said happily, putting it down, “I’m just going to finish it off.”

“There was almost a whole carton left,” Samantha muttered, crossing her arms and causing the loose robe to billow around her.

“I eat like four thousand calories a day Sammy, more when I’m shrinking people,” Carmen replied, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. “Listen-“

“We need to talk,” Kyle said, hoisting himself up into one of the kitchen chairs with some effort. He grimaced as he saw how close the table came to his chin, he looked like he needed a booster seat…

“Look,” Carmen growled, “it’s been a wild twenty four hours, why don’t we call this thing a wash and I’ll get out of-“

“We want you to do our shrinking therapy,” Samantha interrupted, grunting as she faced the same struggle to get into a chair that Kyle had.

Carmen snorted, “What?” she asked, “look guys, I’m going to just forget the whole thing with dragging you back to my clinic for…”

“Torture?” Samantha asked, crossing her arms and glaring at the amazon.

Carmen rolled her eyes, “I wasn’t going to torture you, you babies, yeah I was going to get some payback for what you did but-“

“Okay enough,” Kyle said angrily, “we need someone to fix us up that we know isn’t in this Jormungand thing, Samantha and I were talking, and we want you to stay with us until either these people are caught or we’re able to go back to full size.”

“I wasn’t lying,” Carmen said with a smirk, “it’s going to be months to repair all that cell and organ damage, they really pushed you guys up against death’s door.”

“Why can’t we just stay at four feet tall?” Samantha asked, “it’s not great but it’s not as bad as…” she gulped, “smaller sizes.”

“The energy that causes shrinking jump starts healing,” Carmen explained, “but when you return to full size only some of it sticks, you’re both feeling okay at four feet, but if I put you back up all the way you’d be a pair of radiation zombies again within a half hour.” Carmen grinned a little at their discomfort, “longer time at smaller sizes? More of it sinks in, there’s a bit of a diminishing return per shrink, so it’s best to routinely bring you back up to a bigger size, and give you a “fresh” hit of the energy.”

“Well great, you’re going to be the one doing it for us,” Samantha said, “our very own live-in Valkyrie for our treatment.”

Carmen scowled, “now look here, I don’t know if the life of the super-rich has gone to your head, but nobody gets their own personal live in-“

“I think it’s a grand idea,” Melinda said, walking into the kitchen, thankfully without a cigarette this time. “Carmen dear, these two need you, and it’s not safe for them to be traveling to and from clinics, or frankly to have unknown Valkyries coming in and out.”

“Hold on a minute,” Carmen growled.

“It’ll be best for your own safety too dear,” Melinda said idly, “the police will be keeping a close watch on these two, and by extension you, it should keep Jormungand from attempting any reprisals.”

“I’m not scared of them,” Carmen said angrily.

“Then you’re a fool,” Melinda muttered. “I have to be going,” she smiled, nodding at Kyle and Samantha, “It was a pleasure Mr. And Mrs. Westwood, I hope next time we meet it’ll be under more pleasant circumstances.”

The trio watched her leave, and Carmen glared across the table at Kyle and Samantha, who were giving her smug grins. She squeezed the empty carton of orange juice angrily, crushing it and startling the two. Now it was her turn to smile as uncomfortable looks traced across their faces.

“Fine, I guess you two are getting what you wanted,” she growled, “meet me in your bedroom, one hour.”

“M-Meet you for what?” Samantha asked uncertainly.

“You guys should have been shrunk the rest of the way last night,” Carmen said with a wicked grin, “we’ve got to make up for lost time.”

…

Samantha walked to the window, drawing the curtains closed as Kyle nervously sat on the bed. She turned to him and gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, but she was fighting to keep herself calm too. Their last foray into smaller sizes had been frightening, reduced to insects before a woman determined to kill them in a brutal and horrifying manner…

Then there was Carmen herself… however much she didn’t believe her former bully would permanently harm or kill her and her husband, she worried exactly what Carmen would do. In a way it was high school all over again, seeing her approach in the hallways and wondering what hellish torment she’d cooked up for the day.

Carmen entered without knocking, startling them both. The towering amazon was wearing a tight-fitting white t-shirt, soaked through with sweat revealing a black sports bra underneath, along with a pair of running shorts that exposed her long dark skinned legs. She had a smug grin on her face, and her hair was slick with sweat, jet black as her bangs were plastered to her forehead. As the smell billowed into the room Samantha felt a warmth between her legs. She bit her lip as she felt her arousal build, and on the bed Kyle squirmed, trying to hide a rising erection beneath the loose bath robe.

“I was just trying out that treadmill I saw in your workout room, I was kind of surprised you two of all people would have weights and stuff, but I guess when you have a house this big why the hell not?” Carmen laughed, enjoying their discomfort as she walked in and kicked her shoes of, setting her sweaty socked feet on the carpet one after the other.

“I-It’s mostly for guests,” Samantha stammered, trying to keep a cool head as she felt a dampness between her legs.

“Well, I am a guest, aren’t I?” Carmen chuckled, “oh oops, sorry, I must have forgotten about my pheromones… they get crazy strong when I’m all sweaty like this.” Carmen jokingly lifted her arm, inhaling and wrinkling her nose, “whew, I know that you normals just love this smell, but to us it’s just our normal stinky old sweat.”

“A-Are you going to make us smaller or just drip your sweat all over my carpet?” Kyle managed.

“I suppose that’s what I’m here for,” Carmen said with a predatory grin. “Okay, you guys want to take the robes off or let me shrink you out of them?” The two hesitantly looked at each other and Carmen rolled her eyes, “come on guys, I already saw the vienna sausage and the itty bitty titty committee, just take them off.”

“Fuck you,” Kyle growled, sliding the robe off and going to join Samantha, who was also disrobing.

“You wish,” Carmen giggled.

She hadn’t bothered preparing receptor serum, she felt electric, unstoppable, Zen as it were. Before Kyle could react, she reached out and touched the tip of her finger to his forehead, and for the first time in far too long, relished the electric feeling of the shrinking energy racing down her arm. It was like stretching a limb that had fallen asleep, and a moment later Kyle looked up at her from the carpet, blinking in wonder at her immense form.

“Whatcha think Sammy?” Carmen asked, “is he cuter like this?”

“H-How small is he?” Samantha asked nervously, fighting the urge to scoop up her tiny husband and run.

“We’re doing three inches today, now how do you want to get yours?” Carmen laughed, “a forehead tap like Kyle? Or maybe…” she jokingly blew a kiss at Samantha, causing the nerdy girl to blush as red as her hair.

“F-Forehead!” she squeaked.

“Whatever,” Carmen said with a small smile, tapping Samantha just above her closed eyes. Like Kyle it was startlingly easy, and she looked down happily at her tiny nerds, pitifully getting to their feet amidst the ankle high carpeting of their own room.

“How’s the view down there?” she called, “now, normally I keep the tinies in a nice specially sealed dormitory, but I accidentally left it out in the van…” she tapped her chin thoughtfully, “I can’t just leave you two on the floor while I go get it…” She snapped her fingers! “I know!”

Samantha and Kyle watched, spellbound, as a socked foot the size of a bus lifted off the carpet. Carmen slowly peeled the damp footwear off, causing a new wave of her scent to billow over them as the caramel colored skin was exposed.

“Oh no,” Kyle muttered, instinctively turning to run as Carmen’s massive hand dove down for him.

“Gotcha!” she giggled, bringing the squirming Kyle over to the sock’s opening. He shouted in surprise as he was dropped in, tumbling along the stretched cotton sides before landing in the toe. Samantha couldn’t even muster the will to run as the hand curled around her, the tree trunk thick fingers tightening around her as she was delivered up to the same fate as Kyle. “And two!” Carmen laughed, dumping Samantha in next. Like Kyle her descent was slowed as she bounced along the sides, coating her with bits of white fuzz and Carmen’s sweat until she landed with a grunt on top of her husband.

The pair groaned, looking up at Carmen’s grinning face, “Now you two be good in there while I go get your new house…” She slowly tied the top of the sock shut, dimming the light and trapping the pair. She giggled as she looked at the squirming as the two struggled in the sock’s toe, then gently laid it across the mattress.

“You two have fun in there!” she said, bending over to enjoy the sight one final time, “I think I might take a shower… get a little snack, so just make yourselves comfortable!” She laughed as she walked out of their bedroom.

Kyle and Samantha gagged, the thick smell of Carmen’s sweaty sock coming at them from all sides. The most bizarre thing was they’d both smelled it before, Carmen had always loved tormenting them with her gym socks, but they’d never had the added layer of a Valkyrie’s pheromones. Within seconds both of them were panting, fighting a powerful arousal as they pawed at each other in the dark space.

“Oh my god,” Samantha laughed suddenly, startling Kyle, “this is just like when she put us in her locker…”

“Her locker smelled better,” Kyle said. The earthy smell of Carmen’s post-workout feet had started to settle on them, a grimy salty feeling that marinated their skin. The sock was still slightly warm from when she’d been wearing it, and it felt almost like being in a muggy tent.

“I know it’s fucked up,” Samantha moaned, “but… Kyle, I need you right now.”

“Yeah, I know,” he breathed, his own erection rock hard as he positioned himself over her in the dark. She cried out in pleasure as he entered her, an easy thing with how wet she was. The two of them settled into a brisk pace, the wildness of the situation and the powerful pheromones driving them both into a frenzy that they rarely had as a couple.

“Yes!” Samantha screamed, pulling him into her as she came. The smell of Carmen’s sweat permeated the air between them as he collapsed on top of her.

…

Carmen walked back into the master bedroom, her hair wrapped in a towel after the long hot shower she’d enjoyed, and the small terrarium sized dormitory under her arm.

“Okay you two, I’m-“ she paused, hearing a loud scream of pleasure, Sammy’s? echo from the small lump of her tied sock on the bed. She blinked, then chuckled, I’ll come back in a few minutes…

Richard nervously entered the hotel room, Juliet was seated at the couch, a bottle of red wine out this time, with a glass already poured for him. He sat, quickly taking a few sips of the red wine, hoping to dull the effect of Juliet’s pheromones, already distracting him…

Did she have to wear such a low-cut dress? It was black this time, and he wasn’t sure if that was better or worse. He spared a glance at the table, almost sighing with relief when he saw there wasn’t a box on the table this time.

“There’s been a complication,” Juliet said, cutting straight to the point.

“Yeah, we don’t have them, and your hitter is dead!” Richard snapped, “this is sloppy shit Juliet, you better get your act together! I can’t go to jail over this, If I-“

His suit felt looser suddenly, and he struggled to keep a hold on a wine glass that was suddenly more like a wine bucket. With a gulp he brought his other hand around, poking through his sleeve and looking pathetically small as he steadied it.

“Be respectful,” Juliet said sternly, “this is the underworld Mister Stevens, not a fast-food establishment, you will not get good treatment by being rude with the service provider.”

He gulped, a chill going down his spine as the massive woman got up, walking over to him, “Um… sorry, but y-you need to-“

“Stop,” Juliet said with a small smile as she sat down next to him. She towered over him, easily six feet tall to his… was he four feet? He wasn’t sure. She ruffled his hair, making him feel small and pathetic as her massive arm draped around him, “everything is going to be okay Richard,” she said in a soothing voice, “I know you’re not used to the more cutthroat aspects of this business, but losing an expendable asset is nothing to fret about.” He was very aware of the curve of her hips as she gently hugged him into her.

“Yeah,” he muttered, biting his lip as his pants rubbed slightly against the raging erection he’d sprouted, “okay… what do we do next then?”

“You do nothing,” Juliet said, running her fingers through his hair again, “I will see that additional assets are moved to help with your problem. We may reach out to our friends in the local crime families, with Melinda in the area I don’t want to draw any more attention to my clinic… for now.”

Richard gulped, finding a small bit of fire again, “I want a discount!” he demanded.

“A discount?” Juliet laughed, “Richard my boy… we’re going to do this for you for free. The higher ups have decided that we’re going to move from contractors of yours to… business partners. Our front groups will be the buyers of the company when it goes up for sale.”

Richard started, “that wasn’t part of the deal-“

“Would you like me to call my superior and let her know that you would like to back out?” Juliet asked, a wicked grin on her face. From Richard’s pale expression she could tell the answer was a firm “no.” She chuckled, “Richard,” she said in the same soothing voice she used for scared patients, “you wanted to be a wealthy and powerful man, and you will be. We’re just going to walk that extra mile with you. We need to branch into more legitimate businesses, more thumbs in more pies you understand. Jormungand is at present a mere criminal enterprise, but we have larger aspirations.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Richard managed, bringing the now bucket sized wine glass to his face and struggling to remain calm as he took a sip.

Juliet chuckled, taking the wine glass from his hands as they disappeared into his sleeves and setting it on the table in front of them. She continued to will him smaller, until he looked up fearfully in the puddle of his clothes, struggling to hold his shirt collar up and preserve his modesty.

“It’s always funny to shrink someone for the first time,” Juliet mused, a small smirk on her face, “the trepidation, the feeble attempt to cling to modesty…”

“I get it! You’re big and scary and in charge!” Richard said, more ire in his voice than he felt, “now can you please undo this?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Juliet mused, “wouldn’t you rather I carry you into the bedroom and relieve some of that stress?”

Richard froze, looking up at the colossus of a woman. He gulped, she was already one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen, and the pheromones she exuded made him want her even more, even with the small into alcohol fogging them slightly.

“Do I have to be…” he gulped, “small?”

“Smaller,” Juliet said with a predatory grin. “Rest assured, for all the tiny people who have met their demise with me, I can be as gentle as a kitten if I wish…”

“I don’t know if I’d want to meet a kitten at this size,” Richard rasped.

“You wouldn’t,” Juliet laughed.

“I-I’m going to pass!” he yelped. Juliet just sighed and rolled her eyes, with a flick of her wrist he shot back up, filling his clothes again and suddenly only sitting a little shorter next to Juliet on the couch.

He’s lucky I value our business partnership, Juliet thought wryly as she stood back up.

“Very well, but I’ll leave you something to remember me by.” Juliet reached under her dress, sliding her hips back and forth as she slid her panties down. The silky red fabric fell to the floor, and Juliet stepped out of them.

Richard’s eyes bulged as he saw a tiny man sitting up in them, blinking at the sudden light. He seemed startled, and he slid off the massive hammock and took off like a bug across the floor.

“Whoops!” Juliet laughed, bending down and easily snatching him up in her hand, “I forgot he was in there…” She looked around a moment, embarrassment interrupting her normally cool demeanor. “Ah, here we go.” She reached over to her empty wine glass, a few small red drops pooling at the bottom. Her fingers opened over it, causing the man, perhaps an inch or two tall, to plummet into it. He scurried against the sloped walls of the wine glass, but it was clear that escape was impossible.

“Now, where was I…” she walked back over to where her red panties lay on the ground, and picked them up. With a smirk at Richard’s expression, she handed the underwear to him, fighting a giggle as he took them hesitantly. “You go ahead and keep those,” Juliet said, “later, take a nice long whiff and imagine what it would be like to be where he was a few moments ago…” she jerked her head at the tiny man in the wine glass, “of course, your journey would be a far more pleasant one…”

“I-I’ll think about it,” Richard stammered, standing up and walking towards the door. Juliet watched him go, a smug smile on her face as she saw he was gripping her panties so hard that his knuckles were almost white. As the door slammed behind him he looked down at the red fabric in his hands, fighting the urge to bury his face in them then and there.

What the hell did I get myself into? He wondered, shaking slightly.

Back in the room Juliet lounged on the couch, smirking at her prisoner in the wine-glass. Richard was greedy, weak, an excellent puppet, and how she longed to be the one who got to pull those strings… He would deliver Goblin and the entire company into Jormungand’s hands, and himself into hers.

…

Carmen blinked herself awake, feeling serene as the first rays of light drifted through the curtains of Samantha and Kyle’s master bedroom. She’d claimed it for herself of course, they were tiny, they wouldn’t need it, and she shifted herself over their expensive imported sheets with a certain satisfaction that she would enjoy it while they slept in a doll’s bed in a terrarium on the dresser.

“Rise and shine!” Carmen said, throwing the blankets off herself and strutting over to the glass dormitory she’d prepared for the two. She chuckled as she saw they’d opaqued the glass. In her clinic the feature was to allow the tiny patients a sense of privacy, something that was almost universally appreciated given the heightened sex drive that shrinking could cause. She tapped on the clouded glass, “hey, come on! Wake up!”

A moment later the glass went clear and a scowling three inch tall Kyle was glaring at her from the other side of the glass. The small dormitory was arrayed much like a hotel room, with a small television set, a couch, a bathroom and shower, and a small bed. It was fitted for six inch tall people, so even in these small confines the furniture and bed loomed large around the three inch couple, just barely useable.

“What do you want?” Kyle asked, hitting the small intercom button on the side.

“I just thought I’d get you up so we could all hang out!” Carmen said with a grin, “what’s the matter, did I interrupt anything?” judging from the way Samantha blushed and pulled the blankets up to her chest, she had, and she shot the tiny woman a wink that just made her face ever more crimson.

“Hang out?” Samantha asked incredulously, “are you serious?”

“Honestly the FBI guys won’t let me leave,” Carmen said with a shrug, “they’ve got a dude we’re supposed to call if we need anything, and he goes to the store or whatever for us… it’s kind of cool being waited on hand and foot but I’m also bored. Do you guys want to come up to a bigger size for a while? It shouldn’t throw your treatment off if we limit it to a few hours a day or so.”

That had their attention, and she smiled, knowing she had them. Sammy and Kyle didn’t particularly care for being small, though admittedly they’d had a traumatic introduction to it. Kyle walked away from the intercom, talking with Samantha in a hushed tone that she couldn’t hear through the glass. A moment later the two approached, the tiny white tissue thin robes provided for extra small patients billowing around their tiny bodies.

Kyle clicked the intercom button, “okay, sure take us out.”

Carmen nodded, standing up and opening the small entryway on the side of the glass box. Kyle and Samantha tensed as a hand that dwarfed either of them pushed its way in to their living space. Slowly, and with surprising tenderness, Carmen’s palm swept them both off their feet, clutching them together as her warm fingers curled around them.

“Relax,” she chuckled, seeing their expressions, “I handle tiny people every day, you two are going to be fine. I know you guys think I’m a bitch, but I promise I’ll keep you safe.”

Somehow that actually did make Kyle feel better, and he relaxed slightly as Carmen carried them across the room.  

She turned and slowly lowered them to the bed, dropping them slightly onto the blankets. She stood up, then snapped her fingers, an unnecessary but amusing gesture as the pair almost instantly shot up from three inches to four feet tall. They tore through their small robes instantly, leaving them naked and flailing for balance as the world changed size suddenly.

“Wah!” Samantha cried, tumbling over backwards as the world shifted underneath them.

Kyle grunted as he tumbled off the side of the bed, not a long fall even at that size, but Carmen still chuckled. He growled as he stood back up, covering his crotch with one hand as Samantha pulled the blanket up around herself.

“The modesty is getting real old guys,” Carmen said, rolling her eyes. She walked back over to the dresser, next to the glass enclosure she kept them in at tiny size was her duffel bag. She unzipped it, rooting around for a moment and then tossing two plastic sealed packages onto the bed for them.

“What’s this?” Kyle asked.

“Ready to wear one size fits all clothes for a four-foot adult,” Carmen replied, “specially made for our clinics, we have enough people at that size to make it worth it. Your other options are to go naked or shop in the juvenile section.”

Kyle tore the packaging open, revealing a pair of plain black shorts, a white t-shirt, and…

“Oh, come on,” he said, holding up the white briefs style underwear.

“Kyle wears tighty whities!” Carmen laughed, almost doubling over. “I swear, I don’t pick what comes with them, that’s on the supplier.”

“I’ll go commando,” Kyle muttered, pulling up the shorts and leaving the underwear on the bed.

“Suit yourself,” Carmen said as the pair got dressed. By necessity the clothing was a little loose, but she could tell the pair felt much more comfortable at four feet and wearing something that at least resembled normal outfits.

“You just love this, don’t you?” Samantha said bitterly, finishing lacing up her shorts, “you can’t turn around or something while we grow or shrink? Maybe give us some privacy?”

“Nope, gotta see ya,” Carmen said with a smirk, “or at least have some idea of where you are… It’s not a big deal guys.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re not the one getting stripped via size changing twice a day,” Kyle muttered.

“Okay, take a look over here,” Carmen said with a smug grin. She hooked her hands under her shirt, lifting it over her head in a flourish that instantly caught both Kyle and Samantha’s attention. She let it fall to the floor, chuckling at their reactions as she reached behind her back to unclasp her bra.

“Carmen what are you-“ Kyle rasped, but he was cut off as her massive breasts bounced free with a *snap* as she undid the back hook of her bra.

“See, now we’re even!” Carmen said, enjoying the mix of arousal and embarrassment on their faces. She jokingly flaunted her breasts, cupping them in her hands and jiggling them slightly, “I know Kyle’s been dreaming about them for years, now you finally know what they look like.” She bit her lip as she looked at Samantha, “not sure about you though, you were always trying to catch a peek of me when we changed for PE, but I don’t know if you ever-“

“I-I was not!” Samantha stammered, “p-put your shirt back on!”

Carmen giggled, enjoying how she’d gotten under their skin. Still, she leaned down and picked up her bra, fastening it back on. A moment later her T-shirt covered her torso again.

“Well,” Kyle said, blinking a few times, “how long do we have at this size?”

“I can give you three hours,” Carmen said, “after that? Back to tiny town.”

“Great,” Kyle nodded, “I’m going to head down to my office and check some emails, maybe I can try to figure out what’s been going on with Goblin while we’ve been dealing with all of this.” He quickly headed out of the room, and Carmen couldn’t help but notice the tent in his pants.

“So how are you going to spend your time as a midget Sammy?” she asked, turning to the other girl, “I was thinking you could show me around this pl-“

“We are going to have a talk!” Samantha snapped, reaching up and poking Carmen in the chest.

“Oh my god you are so cute!” Carmen laughed; the angry little redhead was about eye level with her belly button.

“I’m serious!” Samantha said, stamping her feet angrily.

Carmen had to fight another laugh; she was just making herself look cuter…

She sighed, “okay red, what’s got you worked up?”

“You!” she fumed, “you’re still mad after all of these years that I got Kyle and you didn’t!” She crossed her arms and grinned up at Carmen, who raised an eyebrow, “you don’t have a chance of stealing him from me, and we both know it!”

Carmen stared down at her a moment, then slowly chuckled, rising slightly and finally laughing. The sound rapidly undid Samantha’s confidence as she looked up at the amazon, and she licked her lips nervously.

“Okay Sammy, let’s talk, girl to girl.” She swept Samantha off her feet with a squeal, sitting on the bed and forcing the tiny woman onto her lap. “Personally, I think you’re right, there’s no way in hell I could get Kyle off you, even with the pheromones. Why do you think I’m trying to break you two up?” she asked, amused.

“Y-You’ve always liked him; you asked him to prom!” Samantha stammered.

“I did, didn’t I?” Carmen laughed, “I’m not going to lie to you, Kyle’s fucking cute, he was then and he is now, you’re a lucky girl Sammy.”

“Uh…” she gulped, “yeah, thanks…”

Samantha was suddenly aware of how the arm draped around her was drifting lower, “didn’t I ask someone else to prom too though?”

“Y-You were just making fun of me!” Samantha squeaked.

“Come on Sammy,” Carmen laughed, “don’t you think it would have been fun? I’d get you a little corsage, fix your hair, do the slow dances with you…” she leaned in close, “and then at the end of the night…”

“W-We’d kiss?” Samantha whimpered. She rubbed her legs together, embarrassed at how wet she was.

“Maybe to start,” Carmen replied, causing Samantha to look at her almost longingly as she set the smaller girl back down on the floor. She grinned, pleased with how flustered she’d turned Samantha after her attempt at a dramatic confrontation. She stood up to her full height, towering over the tiny woman and making her gape up, still somewhat entranced by Carmen.

“So, here’s the deal Sammy,” she said, placing a hand on her head and ruffling her red hair playfully, “we’ve all got a… complicated history. I’m a Valkyrie now, I’m basically always putting off pheromones that turn people into horny idiots, that and making people small just makes them even hornier. It’s a recipe for awkwardness.”

“Yeah,” Samantha agreed, blinking and trying to focus. She breathed out slowly, “I… I get that.”

“Let’s not get hung up on things,” Carmen giggled, “if you want to rub one out while thinking about me or shout my name while you and Kyle are having sex, go right ahead, you have my permission.”

Samantha’s eyes shot open, “Wait, what!?”

“I’m going to go see what Kyle’s doing, do you guys want to watch TV or something?” Carmen said with a smug casualness as she got up and walked by Samantha. She paused, a devilish grin on her face, “oh, and for the record Sammy? Trying to steal Kyle from you would be like trying to steal an oreo without the cream, they’re better to have together.”

“W-What’s that supposed to mean?” she stammered.

“Figure it out Sammy!” she laughed, waving as she continued walking away.

“Wait! Get back here!” Samantha said, still flustered, “we’re not done talking! CARMEN!”

“Wow, already shouting my name! Good start Sammy!” Carmen called as the redhead fumed behind her.

“What the hell is wrong with her?” Samantha asked herself. She blinked as she realized she was watching Carmen’s swaying ass as she headed for the stairs. The pheromones, she told herself, just the pheromones…

…

Kyle and Samantha spent their limited time at four feet tall checking their emails and making calls to various employees at their company. When that was done, the pair settled in to their living room, eager to finish out their limited time at a relatively large size playing a console racing game together, something that was impossible at smaller sizes.

“This track is rigged,” Kyle said, jokingly throwing down his controller as Samantha’s character circled the final lap.

“Get good,” Samantha mocked, giggling as she leaned against him.

“All right squirts,” Carmen called, bringing a large tray into the living room and setting it in front of them, “you’ve got like thirty minutes left before you’re going back to Smallville, so I made you some lunch.”

Kyle eyed the plate of hot dogs and burgers warily, “what did you do to them?”

“I grilled them,” Carmen said with a scowl, “why? You so rich that you only eat imported burgers now or something?”

“You always fucked with our lunches!” Kyle said, “what is this, some kind of weird attempt to relive it?”

Carmen rolled her eyes, grabbed one of the hot dogs from the plate and bit into it, chewing it obnoxiously and then swallowing it. Samantha and Kyle looked at each other, then hesitantly reached out to the platter and took some of the food.

“Wow,” Kyle muttered, chewing the burger and swallowing, “this is… actually great!”

“What’s on this?” Samantha asked curiously.

“Steak seasoning,” Carmen replied, “surprisingly good on a burger.” She sat down and smirked, “you know that does bring me back, do you remember how funny it was when I put that ghost pepper sauce in Sammy’s PB&J? Everyone laughed their asses off!”

“I didn’t,” Samantha muttered angrily.

“Oh, come on Sammy it was just a prank,” Carmen said, rolling her eyes.

Kyle and Samantha were both quiet a moment, just glaring at her. Carmen was about to say something else, but the look on their faces gave her pause, and she frowned. An awkward silence hung in the room as they ate.

What is with those two? Carmen thought, trying to hide from the niggling guilt that was rearing its head seven years after the fact, they were just pranks, a little roughhousing…

“Thanks for lunch Carmen,” Kyle said with a sigh, placing half the burger back on the platter, “it was good, I just can’t eat much at this size.”

“Same,” Samantha said, patting her stomach.

“All right, if there’s nothing else…” Carmen stood up, walking over to them. The pair tensed as Carmen tapped Samantha’s forehead, sending her down to three inches tall, and then Kyle’s, sending him on the same journey through billowing clothes as they collapsed like a circus tent around him.

The pair poked their heads up through their respective outfits, looking up at her as she reached down to grab one of them in each hand. She smirked as they squirmed in her grip, trying to get comfortable.

“You two make the cutest little dolls,” she teased. She glanced at the stairway, leading back upstairs to where their dormitory was… then she had another idea. Slowly she sat down, and the pair looked at her quizzically.

“You’re not taking us back upstairs?” Kyle asked.

“I was thinking… do you guys maybe want to play a board game or something?” Carmen asked, a little more hopefully than she’d intended.

…

Samantha grunted as she hefted a monopoly car the size of her torso, waddling as she carried it three spaces down the board to Park Place. She beamed with excitement as she looked down at the stack of bills on her side of the board.

“I’m buying it!” she proclaimed.

“You know, I can move your pieces for you,” Carmen chuckled.

“Nah, I think we can do it,” Kyle said, tossing the dice over his shoulder and moving his own piece, the thimble.

I hate Carmen, and I hate monopoly, but this is… fun? He’d honestly been surprised they even had a board, but Carmen had dug one up from somewhere. She’d carefully poured the pair bottlecaps full of wine, which they drank out of like bowls as she’d set up the board. She’d even gone upstairs to get them some fresh clothes in their current three-inch size, a gesture that had surprised him.

Kyle hefted his monopoly thimble, and slowly made his way around the board, grimacing as he put it down and realized he’d landed on one of Carmen’s spaces.

“Pay up!” She laughed.

“I think I’m bankrupt,” he muttered.

“Aww, that’s so sad!” Carmen teased. “I guess I own you now!” She reached across the board, grabbing him and smirking at his nervous expression. “Go directly to jail,” Carmen quipped, bringing Kyle around to her backside.

“Hey!” Samantha protested, “Carmen!”

“Sorry squirt, rules of the game!” Carmen laughed. With the way she was sitting the top of her buttcrack was just visible beneath her dark red cotton panties, and Kyle tried to protest in vain before being slipped inside. Carmen pulled her pants back up, muffling his shouts as she scooted forward again to focus on the game.

“Let him out!” Samantha demanded.

“Nope, he stays there until the game’s over,” Carmen said, “and if you lose… well, he might have a cellmate.”

Samantha gulped, “Y-You can’t just sit on him, isn’t that dang-“

“He’s in a valley between two very soft hills,” Carmen said dismissively, “he’s fine,” she giggled suddenly, “I can feel him moving around back there…” She laughed again at Samantha’s reaction, “okay, tell you what Sammy, if you win, not only will I let Kyle out, I’ll give you a shot at pulling a prank on me.”

Samantha looked at the board, then up at Carmen, “Okay, fine!” she snapped. She stalked over to a pair of dice that came up to her knees.

…

Kyle struggled against her enormous butt cheeks, every now and then she seemed to clench around him. The only thing he could hear was the rumble of her words, imperceptible overhead as she talked with Samantha over the game of Monopoly.

The smell of her sweat was impossibly strong here, and he found his will to escape weaker than he would have liked. There was one point where he finally managed to struggle his way out, escaping the massive light brown globes on either side of him, only to meet the wall of her panties preventing any further progress. He gritted his teeth and tried to use the fibers to climb higher, but Carmen just giggled overhead.

“Something tickles,” she teased, a moment later her finger descended like a massive column, pushing him all the way back to where he’d started in a split second. He fought feebly, all of his strength depleted as he accepted that he would be stuck between cheeks until she decided to let him out.

He wasn’t sure how long he was trapped there, the pheromones in his sweat driving him to insane heights of arousal, but eventually her hand returned, fishing him out and returning him to the table. He stumbled a little, getting his bearings, then looked up at Carmen and blinked as he saw crude lettering scrawled across her face.

“Carmen,” he began, “does your forehead say-“

“Samantha’s Bitch,” Carmen growled, “yeah, as it turns out I fucking suck at Monopoly.”

“It’s sharpie,” Samantha said proudly, “she held me up while I wrote it, it took a little while but I managed.” She threw an arm around Kyle and grinned smugly at the fuming giant, “Carmen, do you mind taking us back to our container now? I’m in the mood to relax.”

…

Later that evening, Kyle and Samantha were in the glass terrarium in the bedroom, slipping into the oversized doll bed together. Beyond the glass, in what was normally their bed, Carmen slept peacefully, the amazon seeming like some faraway geographic feature from their spot on the dresser.

“It was weird,” Kyle said, “having fun with Carmen…”

“She stuck you down the back of her panties,” Samantha said with a wry grin, “you call that fun?”

Kyle blushed a moment, “I uhh…” he cleared his throat, searching for the words. It hadn’t been fun exactly, but… he felt himself getting hard at the memory and decided not to try to explain it to Samantha.

“I’m honestly surprised she honored our little bet,” Samantha laughed, “I thought for sure she’d just shove me back there with you!”

“Well, we finally got one over on her after all these years,” Kyle muttered with a smile, sliding into bed next to her.

Samantha sniffed him suddenly, “you’ve still got a bunch of her sweat on you,” she muttered, “those pheromones are driving me insane…” She pushed him down, climbing on top of him with a lustful look in her eyes.

“W-Wait!” he laughed, “let me go turn the dial and make the glass opaque! If Carmen wakes up-“

“Stay right there,” Samantha giggled, putting a hand on his chest, “I don’t care if she sees!”

Kyle glanced at the sleeping giant one final time before his wife occupied his thoughts in full, it’s not really so bad having her here…

5 Years Ago

Carmen walked along the freshly shoveled sidewalk behind Melinda, the trail of smoke from the older woman’s cigarette wafting casually back to her in the winter air. Carmen’s nose rankled at the foul smell of the tobacco, Melinda always bought the cheapest smelliest cigarettes. It was understandable though, from what she understood the smoke masked some of the pheromones that also wafted behind the head Valkyrie. Carmen hadn’t received her own gene therapy yet, and so even with the smoke she couldn’t help but feel a slight heat towards her mentor. She scowled and blinked, clearing her head.

“Where are we going?” Carmen asked angrily. Christmas lights lit the yards, shining through the first heavy coat of snow of December as she hugged her puffy coat to herself, shivering. “It’s got to be negative five out here Melinda, come on!”

Melinda paused, looking back with some amusement, she was wearing a lighter coat, completely unsuited to the weather.

“Apologies, I forget that you normals do not burn quite as hot as we do,” She said with a small smile, “in any case, we are here.” She pointed to the door of a small one-story house with a lit Christmas tree in the front window.

“What is this?” Carmen asked hesitantly as Melinda led her up to the door.

The head nurse knocked once, then turned to leave, “you’re having dinner with some people,” Melinda said idly, walking back down the freshly shoveled sidewalk.

“And you’re not coming?” she shouted.

“I’m taking a walk dear!” Melinda called, “a cigarette on a winter’s night is one of life’s little pleasures!”

Carmen was about to call back for her, but the door opened, “Hi! You must be Carmen!” a kind and frumpy looking middle-aged woman said softly, “I’m Mrs. Seacourt, but you can call me Cindy. Please come in, it’s so cold outside!”

“Uh, sure,” Carmen said hesitantly, walking into the warm entryway which spilled into the living room. A pair of young children, a boy and a girl, chased each other laughing, clattering the shining glass bulbs of the Christmas tree as they ducked behind it from one another. There were a few presents under that tree too, the ribbons shining in the soft glow of the strands of Christmas lights.

“And this is my husband Mark,” Cindy said quietly, leading her to a sickly and pale man in his forties, his hair already almost all grey as he huffed painful gasps from an oxygen mask.

“Pleased to meet you,” Mark rasped, reaching out shakily.

Carmen awkwardly shook his hand, not sure what else to do, “So...” Cindy said quietly, leading her away, “you can probably see why we are interested in the Valkyrie Project,” she said softly, gazing back at her husband. “I know your people told us that they didn’t have the staff to treat him, but… it does mean a lot that they’d send someone here to talk to us anyway.” She bit her lip, looking at Carmen hopefully, “I don’t suppose there are any updates?”

Melinda what the hell is this? Carmen thought angrily, “Uhh…” she cleared her throat, “I’ll make sure you know as soon as I hear something.”

…

Carmen sat through the most awkward dinner of her life, chewing forever on mouthfuls of sliced ham and a mix of potatoes and greens as the family discussed their business.

“I wish we could have gone down to see Grandma this year,” one of the children, their son, said.

“Maybe daddy can take us next Christmas when he’s feeling better!” the girl said excitedly. Their mother visibly flinched, and Carmen felt a pit form in her stomach.

…

“Thanks for coming,” Cindy said, handing Carmen a foil covered plate of leftovers, “It really does mean a lot to know we weren’t… forgotten.” She sighed, “Merry Christmas.” With that she shut the door, inside Carmen could hear the opening credits of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer beginning to roll as the family gathered in the living room.

“Merry Christmas,” Carmen muttered, shivering as she stepped down the walkway again.

“Did you enjoy meeting the Seacourts?” Melinda asked, walking down the sidewalk towards her, a cigarette still billowing lazily in her hand.

“What the hell kind of Christmas Carol bullshit was that?” Carmen asked angrily.

“Oh, not a fan of Dickens, are we?” Melinda smirked.

“I failed out of high school thanks to a paper on Great Expectations,” Carmen replied, “seriously, what are you playing at?”

“I just thought you’d get some perspective from a dinner like this,” Melinda said with a sigh, white smoke billowing off her nostrils and into the night air, “Mister Seacourt’s health took a turn after his old employer did not provide protection from certain hazardous chemicals that he worked with, his lungs are barely functioning and he will not see New Year’s.”

“So go in there and fix him!” Carmen said angrily.

“I’ve done eight reductions today dear, if I do another I might pass out,” Melinda said calmly, “for that matter I am booked solid for the next several months, and I simply do not have enough Valkyries to meet the demand for shrinking therapy. Who would follow up with him? If you wish, go look at my patient roster and make the decision on who should meet the reaper instead of Mr. Seacourt in there.”

“What about that scumbag he worked for?” Carmen hissed, “can’t someone do something? Make them pay up?”

“I believe the Attorney General is on it, but it will be some months, if not years,” Melinda said with a shrug, “not that money or prison sentences will give a husband and father back to his family.” She glanced at the Christmas lights a moment, the joyful pattern reflecting in her eyes, “even in Arcadia…”

“This isn’t fair!” Carmen said, blinking a tear from her eye angrily.

“Fair?” Melinda laughed, “fairness doesn’t exist, why is it that I stand here a genetically modified superhuman while another would die if they underwent the same treatment? Why is it that someone bigger and stronger than Mister Seacourt in there decided to throw away the man’s life for some marginal profit?” She was quiet a moment, “why is it, that the same car accident which took my husband from me, left me without so much as a scratch?” She sighed, taking another long drag of her cigarette and letting the sound of a faraway siren and the winter wind pass between them.

“So that’s what you wanted me to learn, the world sucks, deal with it?” Carmen asked angrily.

“No Carmen,” she said quietly, “I wanted you to understand exactly what the Valkyrie Project means to me, a chance at to shine a light and make a little of the world’s suffering vanish. Maybe we never get “fair,” or “justice” or whatever you would call it, but we can come across the pieces and put them back together and make something worth living for.” She sighed, reaching into her pocket and fishing around a moment. She withdrew a small shining pin, a winged sword, the symbol of the Valkyries.

Carmen’s eyes went wide as Melinda laid it on top of the foil covered plate, “Y-You’re approving me for the gene enhancement?” Carmen asked excitedly.

“I feel that your education in the field of anatomy has come as far as it will,” she said in a tired voice, “report to the project laboratory tomorrow at eight o clock sharp, and prepare for a lifetime of shopping at the big and tall stores.” She smiled and looked back at the Seacourt residence, “don’t look so excited girl, it’s two weeks floating in a vat while they feed you through a tube, after that you will meet the Seacourt family again and bring a little more joy to their holiday season.”

“You won’t regret it!” Carmen said, looking at her badge in awe.

“Let’s hope not,” Melinda said under her breath, staring up at the night sky.

…

Present

Carmen fingered the small Valkyrie badge idly, gently poking the tip of the little sword into her fingertip as she watched Kyle and Samantha set up their video conference. The two were using their few hours at four feet today to chat with some other employees from their company, the whole idea bored Carmen, but being stuck in the mansion under FBI protection didn’t leave her with a lot to do, so she’d decided she’d watch her favorite nerds from out of frame.

Richard appeared on the screen wearing an expensive looking suit and tie. A few moments later a few other corporate employees appeared, though apart from the legal department most were wearing more casual clothing. Samantha and Kyle were of course wearing the plain white shirts Carmen had provided for them.

“So you’ll be happy to hear that I think you guys are right,” Richard began, that used car salesman smile flashing across his face, “now is not the time to sell!”

Kyle and Samantha blinked, looking at each other in surprise, “That’s good to hear,” Samantha said hesitantly, “I heard you got some threat letters in the mail too?”

“Yeah, real nasty stuff,” Richard said dismissively, “probably those Jormungand women that went after you, I’m standing firm with you guys though! We can’t let these people intimidate us.”

“It’s good to be on the same side for once,” Kyle said, nodding, “if there’s nothing else let’s talk about holiday promotions-“

“Well I had some other ideas,” Richard said, cutting back in, “I don’t want to sell, but I think it’s time to expand!”

“Expand?” Samantha asked curiously, “like branch out into Europe? We didn’t do great in the UK…”

“I say we give it another shot,” Richard said, “I’ve already started talking to some new investors-“

“Richard I don’t want to do anything with the company ownership right now,” Kyle protested, not while Samantha and I are still…”

“Small, tiny, yeah,” Richard said, waving dismissively, “just let me handle it, you two just focus on getting well-“

“Richard-“ Samantha began hesitantly.

“Guys, I said I’m handling it,” Richard said dismissively, “a lot of the meetings are already set up so-“

Carmen rolled her eyes and walked forward, ducking into the camera frame between Kyle and Samantha, “Hey, buddy, they said no,” she said.

Richard blinked, “I’m sorry, who is this?”

“Carmen, I’m the Valkyrie taking care of them, and they don’t want to expand or whatever.”

“Now I understand that you might have a certain attachment to your patients,” Richard said nervously straightening his tie, “but this is business and-“

“She’s right,” Kyle said, oddly feeling more confident with Carmen’s massive form behind him, “we did say no Richard.”

Richard was silent a moment, then gave a hollow smile, “hey, it can wait until you guys get back to full speed.”

The meeting went on a few more minutes, mostly discussing the upcoming holiday promotions on Goblin, and then one by one the various attendees dropped off. Richard was the last to go, giving them that same smile he always gave them when he didn’t get what he wanted before flicking his webcam off.

“I don’t like that guy,” Carmen said, leaning against a wall.

“Richard’s an asshole but he’s all right when you get to know him,” Kyle said, “he’s handled a lot of the business side of things for years.”

“Whatever,” Carmen said with a shrug, “you two have another two hours before we’ve got to make you little again, so enjoy them.” With that she left, leaving Kyle and Samantha to discuss the company.

…

Carmen listened to the treadmill whine below her, she had it on the fastest setting it would go, which still felt more like a brisk jog at most to her, and with every one of her heavy footfalls against the machine there was a *thud* anywhere else she’d have worried about the wear and tear she was putting on it, but she figured that she couldn’t exactly go jogging outside and she was pretty sure that Kyle and Samantha could afford a new treadmill after she sent this one to an early retirement.

Not like those two pipsqueaks ever use their workout room anyway, she thought, looking around at the untouched weights and machines. It was fairly well equipped, almost like a hotel fitness center, but judging from how tidy everything was apart from a thin layer of dust on the weights, it was rarely used. Guess when you have a house this big you might as well put in one of everything.

She stepped off the treadmill with a sigh, giving the protesting machine a break as she dripped sweat. Suddenly the door opened, and she raised an eyebrow as she saw Kyle poked his head in. She pulled her earbuds out, the hard rock music she listened to during her workout fading as she put her hands on her hips and gave him her attention.

“Well?” she asked with a smirk, “come on in, it’s your house.”

Kyle hesitantly walked in, glancing at the mirrored wall and gulping as he saw his reflection compared to Carmen’s. She seemed to notice his discomfort and rolled her eyes.

“Something I can help you with squirt?” She asked, crossing her arms. The smell of her sweat filled the room, and from his flushed face the pheromones were starting to kick in on him. He blinked as sexual thoughts filled his head and forced himself to look up and meet Carmen’s eyes.

“Hey,” he began, his throat dry, “Uh… thanks for telling off Richard earlier, but Samantha and I think we need to be the ones making business decisions so in the future-“

“Don’t listen in on your video calls?” Carmen guessed.

“Yeah,” Kyle said with a relieved sigh.

“We’ll see,” Carmen said with a grin that made Kyle slightly uncomfortable, “I can’t let anyone else be pushing my dorks around, can I?”

Kyle’s face burned red, “Carmen this is serious, this is our business, we’ve worked really hard and-“

“And you’re still a pair of dweebs getting pushed around,” Carmen laughed, “look, you’re my patients, I’m in charge. Remember, while we’re here I wake up every day and get to decide whether you’re a four-foot midget,” she jokingly ran a hand through his hair, “a three-inch-tall toy, or…” she grinned, “an ant.”

Kyle’s eyes bulged as she giggled at his reaction, “y-you can’t really make people that small,” it was a mix of a plea, and a question, while the a bit of time playing board games on the safety of the dining table hadn’t been so bad, he wasn’t quite used to the world at tiny sizes yet, and the prospect of going from toy size to bug sized sent a chill up his spine.

“It’s hard,” Carmen admitted with a toothy grin, “but you two have just put me on my A-Game lately, I’m pretty sure I can do it.” Her smile widened, “No, I know I can! What do you say Kyle? Want to help me push some limits?”

“NO!” Kyle cried, surprising himself as he backpedaled. He turned to head for the door, but the world raced away from him as he shot downward, his own falling clothes becoming a barrier that kept him from escaping as Carmen approached him.

“Damn, and not even any physical contact!” Carmen said happily, looking down at the squirming bump in the pooled clothing, “I am on fire Kyle!” she nudged his shirt aside with her shoe, revealing a naked and squinting Kyle looking up at her in fear.

“Y-You didn’t-“

“Nope, you’re just at the good ol’ three-inch size,” Carmen said happily as she squatted down to pick him up. “Oh don’t look relieved yet, I’m still making you a speck today, I just thought you could relive your first kiss before we get there.”

He struggled in her grip, nudging his arms up over her coiled fingers, “M-My first kiss?” he asked with confusion, “it was with Samantha!”

Carmen laughed, throwing her head back as she stood up, “No, your first kiss on the lips was with Sammy, don’t tell me you already forgot our special moment?”

Kyle’s face dropped, “Oh no,” he whispered.

“Yep,” Carmen laughed, pulling her own shirt over her head as she kept a grip on him. Soon he was looking at Carmen’s colossal torso, a black sports bra stretched across her enormous breasts. Her light brown skin glistened with sweat, and she held him in one hand as she grinned at him and raised her arm.

“Carmen don’t!” Kyle begged.

“Kyle’s first kiss,” Carmen said in a faux wistful tone, “was with my sweaty pits after PE!”

Kyle struggled futilely as the landscape of Carmen’s armpit hovered in front of him, the wave of heat coming off it filling his senses with the thick earthy smell of her sweat. He panted as the air became hot and muggy while she slowly brought him towards it, she was doing it slow, she wanted to make it last he realized.

Her armpit was shaved, but there were a few bristled short hairs that were visible at his tiny size. He made contact with the soft skin and cried out in disgust as Carmen pressed him into the sweaty flesh.

“Brings you back, doesn’t it?” Carmen laughed, swirling him around and dragging his face up and down her pit like he was a stick of deodorant. Her sweat soaked his hair, his body, and he coughed as his mouth became filed with her post-workout grime. The worst part of it was how turned on it was making him, Carmen’s pheromones made it so that even with how strong the smell of her sweat was, he almost wanted more of it, even as it coated him and soaked his hair, filled his mouth…

“How was it? Was it as good as you remember?” Carmen taunted.

Kyle just groaned, going limp as he accepted defeat, all of his senses being overwhelmed by Carmen’s post workout funk. Her sweaty pit had thoroughly soaked him, he smelled her, he felt the cool air as it dried on him, he tasted her, a salty earthy flavor that she’d forced on him years before in a demented “first kiss” after a PE class they’d shared.

“Don’t feel too bad Kyle,” Carmen laughed, “Samantha’s first kiss was my butt! Though I did have my shorts on, so I don’t know if that one counts.” She chuckled at his reaction, then pulled her sports bra away from her skin, casually dumping Kyle down into the sweaty abyss between her breasts.

Kyle’s light disappeared as she released the elastic sports bra, slamming him against her soft chest. If her armpit was bad, the slick walls of her skin and breasts were worse, causing him to slide down into her cleavage as she walked through the house. He felt the warm masses trapping him bounce up and down, causing him to slide up and down slightly due to the sweat, smearing him with more of the potent grime with every movement of hers.

Carmen felt him struggling feebly inside the bra, and she had a smug grin on her face as she walked through the hallway, taking nice wide steps which caused her breasts to jiggle up and down more. She almost burst out laughing imagining what it would be like for him when she reached the staircase.

…

Samantha sighed as she soaked in the warm waters of the bath tub. The small dormitory that Carmen kept them in when they were three inches tall had a shower, but she’d always found baths more relaxing. She’d opted to spend her remaining time at four feet today in the tub, enjoying the floral soap she’d chosen. A bath at four feet tall was, if anything, even better, the tub was more spacious, she was able to submerge herself more easily…

“Hey Sammy!” Carmen said, opening the door to the bathroom.

“C-Carmen!” Samantha shouted in shock, splashing slightly in the tub, “you can’t just barge in here without knocking-“

“Too bad, time to go small again,” Carmen said, enjoying the smaller woman’s discomfort. She frowned at the sight of Samantha in the bath.

“What?” Samantha asked angrily, covering her breasts with one arm, “never seen a tub before?”

The truth was that Valkyries had an instinctive aversion to being submerged that tended to kick in a few weeks after their gene therapy. Showers were fine, but Carmen had found that even something as simple as a bath made her unusually nervous, unable to relax… she didn’t need Samantha and Kyle knowing she was scared of baths though.

She shook her head, “come on Sammy, get out and dry off.”

“Where’s Kyle?” she asked, stepping out of the bath.

“I already got him,” Carmen laughed, reaching up and jiggling her sweat soaked sports bra with a grin.

Samantha’s eyes went wide, “you didn’t put him in-“

“I’ll let him out whenever you’re ready to go down, just come on already!” Carmen said, waving for Samantha to follow her as she walked back into the bedroom.

Samantha finished toweling off with a scowl and followed Carmen into the master bedroom with a sigh. She glanced at the small terrarium style dormitory where Carmen kept the two of them. With Carmen living in their master bedroom, and them living in a glass box on the dresser, it almost felt like she’d taken over, made them her pets.

Carmen reached into her sports bra, slipping a sweat soaked Kyle out while Samantha looked on with a frown. She watched as her husband was set on the ground. Carmen snapped her fingers, and Samantha felt the same tingling feeling mix with vertigo as the world seemed to shoot away. She stumbled, struggling to keep on her feet as the world seemed to shift around her.

“Okay Sammy, head over there to Kyle,” Carmen said, standing over them with an evil grin.

“Carmen please don’t,” Kyle pleaded in a defeated tone as he looked up at her.

“What?” Samantha asked, going to Kyle’s side, “what’s she going to do?”

Carmen took a deep breathe, focus her mind and guiding the harnessed energy down towards Kyle’s spot on the floor. Samantha watched, mouth wide, as Kyle dwindled in front of her.

Kyle felt his heart hammer in his chest as he looked up at the towering trees that were his carpet fibers. His sky was blocked out suddenly by the massive concerned face of his wife, her blue eyes racing over the carpet fibers that came up to her ankles and were now a jungle for him.

“CARMEN WHAT DID YOU DO!?” Samantha yelled, falling to her knees and peering down at where Kyle had shrunk.

“I just made him a little smaller,” Carmen said, biting her lip, “I um… didn’t mean to do it that much, can you find him Sammy?”

Kyle waved his hands, screaming for Samantha’s attention. He felt a wave of relief wash over him as Samantha spotted him, reaching down a finger that was larger than his body to fish him out of the curled carpet fibers.

“I found him,” Samantha shouted, “Kyle, are you okay?”

Kyle blinked, looking up at Samantha’s gargantuan face, then up further at the mountainous form of Carmen, a faraway behemoth that he couldn’t comprehend was a living, breathing, person. He felt weak, and he collapsed into his wife’s cupped palms, hugging her soft skin as he tried to hide from the massive chasm that the world had become.

“P-Please ask her to fix me,” Kyle squeaked, closing his eyes.

“He’s terrified!” Samantha said angrily, looking up at Carmen, “make him my size at least!”

Carmen gulped, guilt welling in the back of her throat, “I uh…” she cleared her throat, willing the shrinking energies to manifest, but… they didn’t come. She looked down at Samantha’s furious expression, “I think I’ve burned myself out for today,” she said quietly, suddenly feeling very small herself.

Samantha looked down at Kyle with a sigh, “hey… I think you’re stuck like this for a little while, until her mojo comes back or whatever…”

Kyle moaned in despair, curling up into a ball and burying his face in Samantha’s palm, “J-Just keep me safe,” he begged.

“I’ll put you in the dorm,” Carmen said hurriedly, “it’s completely safe in there-“ she reached down to pick up Samantha, who glowered at her as she carried the tiny pair to their housing. The small plastic entrance hissed open, and she gently placed Samantha and her even tinier husband inside.

“Thanks,” Samantha said coldly.

“I was just fooling around!” Carmen protested, “I just wanted to see if I could… do it…”

“Just come get us tomorrow when you can grow Kyle back,” Samantha growled, using her free hand to hit a button and sealing the door behind her. A second later the glass in the tiny dormitory went opaque as Samantha blocked her out from seeing them.

Carmen scowled, a part of her wanted to simply override it, open the dormitory, and drag Samantha back out to keep talking… but that would just be digging the hole deeper, wouldn’t it?

She sighed, mentally trying to will the energy to return to her, a few mental sparks went down her spine, nowhere near enough to grow Kyle back from the size she’d sent him to…

Tomorrow, she promised herself, I’ll fix him first thing tomorrow morning, then everything will be okay. She glanced at the opaqued terrarium; I hope…

Kyle sighed, looking up at the ceiling of the shrunken patient dormitory, itself a glorified terrarium. It was a massive open void to him, the tiny doll sized couch off in the distance across vast smooth plastic plain. Being in here was easier than being… outside, at this size. He still felt small, but he wasn’t the insignificant speck he was. It was an illusion of course, everything in here was only a few inches tall, including the giant woman he was laying on, but… it helped him cope.

He felt Samantha’s enormous chest rising and falling beneath him as he lay across her. Both of them were naked, there were no tiny clothes small enough for his ant sized form, and Samantha hadn’t bothered getting herself new ones from the small dresser near their bed yet.

A finger as thick as his torso came down, gently rubbing his hair, “you feeling better now?” Samantha asked quietly.

“Why did she do this?” he asked numbly, “I felt like we were all just starting to get along…”

“Same reason she does anything,” Samantha growled angrily, “to make us feel small and weak, to make herself feel big and powerful.” She reached for her chest, her breasts weren’t nearly as big as Carmen’s so while Kyle was able to rest between the two small hills, he wasn’t enveloped like he would have been. Her fingers curled around Kyle, lifting him like a small doll for Samantha to examine.

Kyle felt a little nervous being handled like this, but… it was Samantha, and she gave him a warm smile as she teasingly pinched his arm, raising it like she was adjusting an action figure. It was an odd sensation, being posed like this while his wife was in total control…

“Is that a little boner?” Samantha teased, tilting her palm and opening it slightly so she could see. She giggled, “Is that Carmen’s pheromones or are you just happy to see me?”

“Definitely you,” he breathed, his nervousness fading as he wondered what his wife would do, even at three inches tall she was a giant to him…

“It’s good to see she’s not the only girl that gets you going when she plays with you at doll size,” Samantha said with a grin.

He gulped, “H-Hey, Carmen doesn’t-“

“Please Kyle,” Samantha chuckled, rolling her eyes, “it happens to me too, she might be an evil bitch, but Carmen is…” she sighed, as if she was about to confess to some terrible crime, “Carmen is hot, let’s not kid ourselves, she was before she was a Valkyrie and she is now.”

The statement hung in the air, the awkward unspoken truth that neither of them had wanted to come to terms with.

“Yeah,” Kyle admitted with a sigh, “the really messed up thing is-“

“You get turned on when she pushes you around,” Samantha muttered, “yeah… same.” She rubbed her temples a moment, “clearly our youth with Carmen left us with some…”

“Complex emotions,” Kyle finished.

“Let’s call them that,” Samantha agreed, “for now…” she grinned, “if you’re up for it Kyle, maybe I can give you that giant girl fix?”

“You’re three inches tall Samantha,” Kyle teased.

“And you’re a speck, so it works,” she said, gripping him again as she sat up slightly. She let his feet dangle below the ring of her fingers around his chest, giggling as she shifted him back and forth, enjoying the helpless swaying motion of his legs. “I can definitely see what Carmen likes about this,” Samantha mused, “holding someone so small is interesting…”

She held him up, briefly licking her thumb and then bringing it back around to his crotch. He gasped, his tiny body going rigid as she slowly began to play with his erection. She bit her lip, enjoying how the slow circular motion of her thumb could cause him so much pleasure.

“Look at you go!” Samantha laughed, watching him desperately starting to grind his hips against the soft pad of her thumb. She leaned in for a better look, grinning widely as she watched her tiny husband roil with pleasure from the smallest motions of her thumb.

Kyle gasped, looking up to see Samantha’s grinning face become his entire world. Her warm breath billowed over his face like a humid fog, causing his hair to sway with each time she exhaled. Her own curly red hair hung around her face, framing her smile in a way that reminded him why he loved her.

“I’m going to-“ he warned.

“Just do it silly!” Samantha giggled, “you’re so small that you’re not going to cause a big mess no matter where it goes!”

Kyle blushed, a little embarrassed at being reminded of his size, but a second later he gritted his teeth as pleasure rocked his body and his hips bucked against Samantha’s thumb for a final wonderous few minutes. He collapsed back into the soft padding of her palm a moment later, panting.

“See?” Samantha said with a smug grin, wiggling her thumb at him and showing off the small glistening load, “no big deal at all… in fact-“ she lifted the thumb to her mouth, sucking it for half a second as she easily slurped the tiny mass up. She grinned and held her now clean thumb down to him, “You being tiny is kind of nice, easy cleanup…”

“I guess I finally convinced you to swallow,” he said with a stupid grin on his face.

Samantha smirked and shrugged, bending down a little and placing him on the bed between her legs, “enjoy it, because I still won’t do it at full size!” she bit her lip, watching his reaction as she bent her knees slightly, spreading her legs and letting one finger dip lower to begin lightly tracing around her entrance.

“S-Samantha?” Kyle asked, suddenly nervous.

“What, you got yours, now you’ve got to give me mine!” Samantha said, a broad grin stretching across her face as Kyle realized the implication.

Kyle looked between his wife’s legs, wide eyed. Samantha had always kept herself clean shaven down there, giving him a clear and unobstructed view when she used her fingers to part her lips, revealing a glistening pink tunnel that could easily swallow him up. Would easily swallow him up…

“Okay,” he breathed, forcing himself to walk across the bed, “L-Let’s do this!”

Samantha’s eyes went wide, “oh my god, Kyle, I was just kidding, you don’t have to go inside my-“

“I’ve come this far,” Kyle said with a defiant smile.

Samantha’s eyes went wide, “O-Okay,” she stammered, “do you want me to just-“

“Hold it open and maybe um… help me the rest of the way in when I get there,” Kyle said, forcing one foot in front of the other as he approached the giant form of his wife.

He felt his heart hammering as he made the first contact, the small feeling of his hand reaching up into Samantha causing a tremor through the bed as she shuddered with anticipation. He felt her fingers grip him again, forcing him up in a move that surprised him.

His head was inside her before he realized it, the glistening wetness quickly soaking his face and flattening his hair against his head as she pushed him inside, his shoulders, his torso, and even his legs disappearing in one slick fluid push.

“Oh wow,” Samantha breathed, gripping the blankets as her eyes threatened to roll back in her head, “K-Kyle be careful in the-“ she was cut off by a moan, the muscles inside of her constricting on her shrunken husband as his tiny hands found the most sensitive places inside her.

Kyle felt the walls of her womanhood squeeze around him, seeming to swallow him up as he struggled to breathe. He gritted his teeth and pressed against Samantha’s insides again, running his hands back and forth over the spot that had elicited such a strong reaction.

“K-KYLE!?” Samantha squealed, trembling as he brought her to a powerful orgasm. She made a pathetic mewling sound as her body went tense, finally collapsing, limp as the wave of bliss subsided. She blinked a few times, trying to make sense of things and remember where she was. Her eyes suddenly went wide as she remembered where Kyle was, the small tickling of his attempts to escape her bringing attention to his plight.

Kyle felt a pair of massive fingers pinch his ankle, and sighed with relief as he was pulled backwards into the light. The air hit his skin, and he shivered slightly as the sticky fluids coating him began to dry. Samantha had a somewhat amazed expression as she righted him, and he smiled down at her as she brought him back to her chest, laying his soaked form between her breasts again.

“We’re going to have to do that again,” Samantha said in a breathy voice.

Kyle smiled as he enjoyed the warmth from Samantha’s heaving chest. He glanced at the opaqued walls of their dormitory, knowing that with the press of a button they would be transparent again, revealing that they were tiny, on their own dresser, and of course Carmen would still be out there… for now though he could relax, the world was just him and Samantha.

…

Carmen paced the mansion’s master bedroom, occasionally glancing at the opaqued out grey glass of the dormitory on the dresser. She’d given the couple the night to themselves, even with Kyle at an extra small size they’d be completely safe inside of there. She scowled and looked at the clock, it was nearly noon, there was no way they were still sleeping, they were avoiding her.

I didn’t do anything that bad! She reasoned with herself, yeah, I made Kyle extra tiny, but that’s just… just messing around, he’s fine… isn’t he? They were always fine after everything I did!

Almost as if she was watching someone else do it on a faraway TV screen, Carmen marched up to the small glass box and flipped a switch on the side. The opaqued sides of the container instantly went clear, revealing a robed Samantha sitting casually on the small couch, a little speck of a thing that was Kyle sitting snugly in her lap.

The cold look Samantha gave her flared that same mix of shame and anger in Carmen, “hey!” she said, holding the intercom button on the side of the box down, “what gives? Why haven’t you two called me yet?”

“Because we didn’t want to speak to you,” Samantha said icily, “but since you’ve barged in anyway, fix Kyle!”

Carmen gritted her teeth, “I’m sorry, okay?”

“Are you?” Samantha scowled, placing Kyle on the floor of the container.

“I said I was, wasn’t I?” Carmen replied venomously.

Kyle felt a sense of nervousness come over him, his own wife was already a colossus, but looking at Carmen and the world beyond the tank again… he gulped, wishing Samantha would stop antagonizing her, but at the same time not sure he wanted to speak up and draw attention to himself.

Carmen glared down at them, “give me a second,” she said, breathing out as she focused herself. It was hard, it always was when she was upset about something. She gritted her teeth, her frustration rising as she tried to control the energy, to call it down on Kyle and restore his size, but…

Nothing...

“Well?” Samantha asked impatiently.

Kyle shifted, then shouted as loud as he could, “Come on Carmen, this isn’t funny anymore!”

Carmen heard his voice through the small intercom system, he sounded far away, and afraid.

Carmen gulped, trying her best to clear her mind, “I just need a minute!” she said, her mouth dry as she desperately willed Kyle to grow, but he seemed to defy her, remaining speck sized while she gazed helplessly.

“What is wrong with you?” Samantha asked, raising an eyebrow.

“T-There’s some receptor serum in the van,” Carmen said weakly, “I’ll just go get it, it’ll help regrow you guys-“

“That stuff that almost permanently shrank us?” Samantha asked angrily, “no way Carmen! Just focus up or something!”

“The regular stuff won’t permanently shrink you!” Carmen said through gritted teeth, “that was a vial that was tampered with-“

“I’m not taking any chances on being this size forever!” Kyle shouted as loud as he could.

“You two are being irrational,” Carmen growled, “I only need that crap because of you two any-“ She stopped herself just before she could finish it, but it was out, the damage was done. Samantha was looking at her curiously, even Kyle’s ant sized form seemed to be regarding her warily.

“Because of us?” Kyle shouted, “that doesn’t make any sense!”

“He’s right,” Samantha said, crossing her arms, “I don’t know how all of this Valkyrie stuff works, but you can’t possibly blame us because you can’t hack it with the rest of them!”

Carmen felt rage boiling inside her, and as she reached for the small portal on the side of the dormitory, she couldn’t help but grin as she saw Samantha’s cool vanish. She tapped a button, and it sprung open, giving her access to them.

“Carmen?” Samantha asked, bending over and scooping Kyle up as the giant hand stretched out for her. Samantha gave an adorable little squeak and turned to run just before the larger woman’s hand lashed out like a cobra, snatching her up.

“Keep a good grip on the ant,” Carmen said with a devious smile.

Samantha yelped as she was roughly drawn out of the glass box, and she hugged Kyle to her chest as Carmen’s vicelike fingers squeezed her body. The tiny woman and her tinier husband were brought up to Carmen’s face, it felt like they were beneath the gaze of some angry goddess as she regarded them, fire in her eyes.

“You two are everywhere, commercials, ads, the fucking gym I go to has your stupid Goblin app, you’ve got a billboard with your dorky little faces smiling down on my parking lot every day!” She blinked away a quick tear, “every day I get to see that the people who ruined my life got to go on and be rich and famous, people I thought were-“ she scowled, “it fucks with my head Sammy, and when I’m not in a good mental state it’s harder to do my thing, you might say you two came back around to torch my life again after you burned it down the first time!”

Kyle felt Samantha’s hands curl around him, seemingly protecting him from the angry storm above. He’d never felt so powerless, even when Carmen had bullied them in high school she’d always been a normal girl he could eventually get away from… now, seeing her like this, it was like the distilled essence of everything she’d ever been to him, a tormenting and all powerful monster bent on nothing but making him feel weak and pathetic.

“FUCK YOU!” Kyle shouted, his face going red.

His outburst barely reached Carmen’s ears, and she smirked, leaning in closer, “gonna have to speak up shrimp.”

The response just fueled his rage more, “Where the hell do you get off?” Kyle screamed at the top of his longs, “you were constantly treating us like dirt! Every time we saw you, we’d wonder if you were going to break something of ours, humiliate us in front of everyone! What the fuck did you think was going to happen when you came to us for help on that project? That we’d just roll over and give you what you wanted? I am not fucking sorry Carmen! And you know what? I’m glad I’m screwing up your backup career.”

Carmen was clearly fighting tears, and her mouth twitched with rage, “I was just having fun! I didn’t deserve what you did!” There was a hint of doubt in that statement, a weakness, a gap in the stormclouds, “I thought…” she sniffed, “I thought…” she couldn’t finish the sentence, her voice was trembling as she tried

Samantha had initially felt a wave of dread at Kyle’s outburst, but her own anger was returning, mixed with… pity?

“Carmen,” she said quietly, hugging Kyle close to her, “I don’t know what you thought, but you made us both nervous depressed wrecks for years, I don’t know if you made up something in your mind about how we were all friends or buddies or whatever, but we weren’t.” She sighed and looked at Carmen, “I’d like to say I’m sorry for what we did with that paper Carmen, but I’m not.”

The only sound in their master bedroom for a moment was the sound of Carmen’s sniffling as she tried to keep her emotions under control. Samantha and Kyle felt a shared sense of odd calm, reminiscent of a death row prisoner accepting their fate. Carmen’s fuse was lit, it was only a matter of time until-

“Fine,” Carmen sniffed, taking a deep breath and collecting herself, “fuck you both too then,” she said. She walked over to where her workout shoes had been haphazardly tossed as she’d gone into the shower and picked one of them up. “Kyle, you’re staying that size, hope you like the view from below.”

Kyle started, “Carmen,” he shouted, “you can’t-“

“I’m completely in charge of your treatment,” Carmen said with a wicked grin, “and I’ve decided that Kyle’s cell damage isn’t healing fast enough at three inches, so…” she shrugged, “say goodbye to mouse life and hello to bug life until we’re done!” She lowered Samantha down to the mouth of the shoe, the foul stench of Carmen’s sweat wafting up to meet them.

“You’ll get in trouble for this!” Samantha shouted, “I’ll tell Melinda, I’ll tell-“

“Sammy,” Carmen said, rolling her eyes, “I really don’t give a shit at this point.” Her powerful fingers easily stuffed the struggling mouse-girl into the dank cavern of her footwear. She giggled as she saw Samantha struggling to keep a grip on Kyle as she rocked the shoe, causing them both to tumble down into the toe.

Kyle fell free of her grip, screaming as he fell what felt like dozens of feet down to the filthy insole of the shoe. It didn’t hurt when he landed, but he got a mouthful of the foul funk that filled it, and he almost gagged as he tried to spit the flavor out.

Carmen squinted, just barely able to see the scene playing out for her shrunken captives, “Aww, Kyle, is the food in there not as good as it is in the nice little glass dorm?” she mocked, “too bad, I think that place is too good for you, I’ll be keeping you in here from now on.”

“You won’t get away with this!” Samantha shouted, “this isn’t high school anymore Carmen, you’re going to-“

“No Sammy, you’re right, this is way better than high school,” Carmen said, an eerie look coming over her face. The next part of what she was going to say erupted out of her, like someone else was saying it, “I should go get that receptor serum,” she said dreamily, “I can whip up a batch of the stuff for permanent shrinking, imagine you and Kyle being like this… forever.”

She regretted it already, and she saw the look of fear and horror pass over Samantha’s face, and the tiny form of Kyle looking up on his hands and knees like a pathetic faraway speck. A feeling like ice gripped her chest, and it was all she could do not to stammer that she’d been kidding, that she hadn’t meant to say that, but-

No I’m not apologizing to THESE TWO! They can feel scared and afraid for a bit, they have it coming.

“CARMEN!” Samantha shouted one final time as she saw the balled-up sock coming.

“Buh bye!” Carmen taunted, giving a final teasing little wave as she stuffed her dirty sock into the shoe’s opening, sealing the pair off from the world.

She heard the muffled little pleas for a moment, taking some pleasure in her moment of revenge, but the sadness and anger were quickly roiling back to the front of her mind. She sighed, looking at the shoe that held the pair that had occupied her thoughts for so long. Slowly she brought it back down to the floor, and gently scooted it under the bed with her foot, out of view.

Putting them out of sight did not take them out of mind, and Carmen sat on the bed, thinking, there had to have been some time we all had fun together, she insisted, at least one time where we all did something that they enjoyed too… she wracked her brain for any memory like that, any glimmer of hope that might prove to her that it hadn’t been so bad, that if they weren’t friends then at least they were something close, that she hadn’t been the monster they described.

She felt a tear roll down her cheek and a hollowness in her stomach as she came up empty.

…

Samantha tried to be careful how she moved, knowing that Kyle was somewhere at her feet. Even at three inches the interior of Carmen’s shoe was a cramped and claustrophobic space, with no light to help see she fumbled in the dark with her hands, searching for her husband. The worst part of it was the rising heat between her legs, and she cursed the effect of the Valkyrie pheromones, the ripe scent of Carmen’s dried sweat was turning her on even while it made her gag…

“I’m here!” Kyle shouted, and she felt her hand come into contact with his tiny body a second later. She sighed with relief and gripped him, flopping onto her back and treating the filthy insole as a bed while she lay in thought.

“So, what now?” she asked bitterly.

“We did manage to make Carmen cry, that’s kind of a win, right?” Kyle asked uncertainly.

“Yeah, and we won a trip to her shoe,” Samantha muttered, “all over a bunch of stupid stuff from high school…”

“I guess that’s on us for thinking Carmen could ever change,” Kyle said quietly. “ Do you think she is serious about that serum? The one to make us… like this, forever?”

“I don’t know,” Samantha muttered, “she definitely seems like she’s gone off the deep end and doesn’t care what’s going to happen to her after this… but that’s a way bigger step than just shoving us in her dirty shoes, like she’d definitely go to jail Valkyrie or not, unless…” Samantha swallowed nervously, “unless we weren’t around to say what happened.”

“I don’t think Carmen would go that far,” Kyle reasoned, more trying to convince himself than Samantha, “she saved our lives, didn’t she?”

“She used to beat the crap out of any other kids that messed with us too,” Samantha said, “that’s just how she thinks, we’re hers, of course she’d save our lives if someone else was trying to do something to us…” she sighed, “do you remember what she said she’d do Kyle, back when this whole shrinking thing was first going public?”

“She said she’d keep us,” Kyle muttered. He was quiet a moment, then sighed, “Okay, I can see her doing that… or trying anyway. What do we do?”

“I doubt she’s going to let us call for help,” Samantha said quietly, “but remember there are cops all around the property… we’ve just got to get outside and get their attention.” She smirked as she gently ran a finger through his hair again, “don’t worry, it’ll be like when we play MMOs, I’ll carry you.”

“Ha ha,” Kyle said, though he really was fighting a small laugh, “okay, here’s what you’re going to want to do, doors are right out, but if we can get down to the garage…”

…

Judy finished entering inventory at the clinic, checking the water and food levels in the provided patient dormitories via computer before logging off for the day. She looked up from the front desk to see Elaine, Carmen’s replacement Valkyrie, wave to her as she came in the door.

“Night Judy,” Elaine called, “I’ve got it from here!”

“Thanks,” Judy said with a smile, sitting up and stretching, eager for the weekend. Personally Judy found it easier to deal with Elaine than Carmen, she’d been a nurse for plenty of the enhanced women over the years since the program had begun, and she noticed they all had certain… quirks. Whatever Elaine’s were, she kept them under wraps better than Carmen did.

“Evening,” Juliet said, leaning against Judy’s car.

Judy started, “Uh… should you be here?” she whispered under her breath.

“That’s what I need to talk to you about,” Juliet said with a cold smile, “why don’t you come for a short drive with me?” She gestured to a large black Humvee that was idling a few spots away. Judy gulped, knowing that if she tried to run the towering amazon could easily catch her and bring her into the vehicle by force.

“Sure, a drive,” Judy muttered, following Juliet to the car. The vehicle shifted as Juliet stepped in and took a seat, the Valkyrie’s massive weight rocking the suspension slightly as she beckoned Judy in. A man she didn’t recognize was driving the vehicle, and he didn’t look back at her as she buckled in.

“W-Whatever is going on with Carmen I didn’t have anything to do with it!” Judy panicked, “Juliet you’ve got to believe me, if I’d known your people were going to be there I would have stopped her, I-“

“Relax Judy,” Juliet chuckled, “we’re not angry with you, you’ve been a very valuable asset to the organization.”

Judy calmed a little, gulping as the pheromones wafting off Juliet began to fill the vehicle’s cabin. She flushed, and Juliet seemed to recognize what was happening. With a smirk she cracked one of the windows as they drove, the effect subsided a little, but not much.

“It’s going to be a little harder to get you all the receptor serum you need,” Judy said eagerly, “not until Carmen gets back, she uses so much of the stuff that it’s easy to order extra and then “lose” it…”

“That’s done,” Juliet said, waving dismissively, “we won’t be able to use Carmen’s clinic as an easy source of receptor serum either way, Carmen’s extensive use of receptor serum and her… conduct, have put her far too much under the spotlights of Melinda and law enforcement. Even if Carmen herself actually is innocent, sooner or later someone will start probing her other staff, including little miss Judy.”

“S-So I’m out?” Judy asked hesitantly. She was half angry, half relieved, sliding receptor serum to Jormungand under the table had been a great extra source of income for her, but the danger had been starting to feel a little too close lately…

“No,” Juliet sighed, “this is always a tough conversation to have, but… we’re going to need you to do some jail time dear.”

“JAIL TIME!?” Judy exclaimed loud enough that the driver flinched.

Juliet on the other hand, was unfazed, “It won’t be so terrible,” Juliet said reassuringly, “you’ll have the finest in legal representation, with a plea bargain and your testimony you’ll probably get less than five years in a minimum security facility… and you will be compensated well for your time there. You’ll leave the prison system in a few years a wealthy woman.”

Judy gulped, “a-and if I-“

“Judy please,” Juliet chuckled, “you’re going to do it.”

Judy bit her lower lip, but she nodded, “so… you said something about testimony?”

“Melinda and the FBI want the Valkyrie running the Chicago branch of Jormungand,” Juliet explained, “so we’re going to give her up… well give Carmen up anyway.”

Judy blinked, realizing what she was getting at, “you want me to say Carmen was in on it… that she was the one leading Jormungand here?”

“The rest of us will simply go dark for a time,” Juliet said with a smile, “it’s funny, I almost recruited Carmen…”

“Why didn’t you?” Judy asked.

Juliet sighed and leaned back, “despite what she seems like at first, I just don’t think she’s cut out for our organization, let’s leave it at that. We have a few other pieces that need to be put into place before we can drop the hammer on this Judy, just continue your normal routine until I give you the signal that it’s time for your confession.”

…

Richard was waiting in Juliet’s apartment when she arrived, his car parked out in the street in broad view. The cold wind nipped at her ears as she stalked into her home, spotting him waiting at her kitchen table with a cup of coffee in hand. She wanted to slap him across the face when she entered it, but the way he recoiled from her furious gaze was good enough.

“What are you doing here Richard?” she asked angrily, “it is very important that we only meet at safe times and locations-“

“I lost the guy following me, we’re good!” Richard insisted.

Juliet sighed, making a mental note to check on that. The police had been observing Richard since the initial attempt on the Westwoods, as their business partner he was a fairly obvious suspect. Jormungand largely relied on assistance from friendly organized crime networks when it came to the police, and dirty federal agents and police could be arranged to allow meetings even under the eyes of the law, but not on a spur of the moment decision and not at her home!

“What is so important that you felt the need to put us both in this kind of danger?” she asked, walking over to the coffee pot and pouring herself a cup. She quickly took a sip, the warmth driving a little of the Chicago November out of her system.

“I feel like I’m entitled to some kind of answers,” Richard said, “how are things coming along? What are you going to do to get the heat off me when the next phase pops off?”

“We’re blowing up your car tomorrow morning,” Juliet said coldly, causing Richard to start.

“M-My-“

“Oh don’t whine to me,” Juliet snapped, “it needs to at least look like we’re trying to kill you, a few creepy letters alone won’t do it. The detonation will occur when you walk out onto the driveway, you’ll be startled but unharmed.” She grinned, “though you may want to remove any personal effects when you go home tonight.”

“Yeah,” he muttered, “okay…”

Juliet sighed, sitting down at the table, “Get over here.” Richard nervously set his coffee down and rounded the table, coming to face her. She snapped her fingers and pointed to her feet, “take my shoes off, since you insisted on coming here you may as well make yourself useful.”

Richard gulped and slowly fell to his knees, slipping the enormous set of heels off Juliet’s nylon clad feet. He didn’t need further instruction, setting the shoes aside and beginning to rub a pair of feet that dwarfed his own.

“Ah, that’s nice,” Juliet said, leaning back in the chair and smiling. She teasingly poked at his nose with the tip of her toe, enjoying the red look on his face as she flexed her toes through the nylon.

Richard blinked, seeing an odd stain had set in the sheer fabric, “you have a uh…” he gulped, the motion of his massaging fingers stopping as he realized the stain was a rusty brownish red… and it wasn’t the only one. He looked up at Juliet in horror, and she just smiled.

“Sorry Richard, I was wearing these for some work earlier, if you step on something that stains in nylons it’s really just best to get a new pair, I suppose…” She idly looked outside, enjoying how Richard hesitantly began rubbing her feet again without needing a prompt, the swirling grey clouds betrayed the hint of an early snow sometime soon.

“You really need to be more professional about this whole thing Richard,” she said calmly, “The World Serpent is coming soon to oversee the operation herself, she’s very excited about our future partnership.”

Richard froze, looking up at her, “T-The World Serpent?”

“Silly moniker, I know,” Juliet laughed, “but that’s what she’s called on this side of the Pacific, the Yakuza she likes to run with these days have their own nicknames for her.”

“I’ll see that I make a good first impression,” Richard said, gulping nervously.

“I’m glad you understand things,” Juliet laughed, pondering the drifting grey clouds outside her window, a winter storm was coming, she was sure of it.  

Carmen watched the sleet coming down outside, blurring her view of the front yard and the police cars beyond. The officers guarding the mansion would no doubt have retreated into their vehicles, the usual slow patrol around the perimeter being done from the comfort of a squad car instead of their usual look on foot.

The slow rattle of the icy pellets hitting the roof gave the entire house a sleepy feel, and Carmen shivered slightly as she walked through the kitchen. The main floor of the house was still a little cooler than the rest, courtesy of the boarded-up back window she’d thrown “Jane” through on her first night here.

She’d spent the afternoon quiet, thinking, her emotions a turbulent storm she was struggling to navigate. Guilt, hate, sorrow, they dueled for supremacy in her mind as she was forced to truly take stock, to mentally account for her youth and her relationship with Samantha and Kyle.

Fuck me, she thought miserably, thinking of the time she’d thrown a dissected frog at Samantha during a science class, causing the girl to cry… Another memory flashed by, Kyle trying desperately to impress some girl during PE… and she’d spiked a volleyball directly into his face…

Her thoughts were like knives, driving white hot lances of pain into her as she slumped in the chilly living room, listening to the world freeze over outside.

They weren’t your friends, they weren’t your buddies, you were nothing

No, you weren’t nothing, you were what they were afraid of, you were why Sammy was always so withdrawn, you were why Kyle ate alone at lunch…

She gritted her teeth, why hadn’t she tried something… else? Why was her first instinct always to see them alone and isolated, and make it worse? It wasn’t what she’d wanted, not really, what she’d wanted was…

They weren’t your love interests either Carmen.

Now that one hurt.

They HATED you!

She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing her own thoughts would leave her alone.

They ruined my life! She protested to herself; they had this coming!

But did they? What would two people, scared and alone, do against a tormenter when given one chance, one small far flung chance, to strike back after years of what she’d put them through? Carmen swallowed, looking hollowly at the greying world beyond the mansion windows, she knew what she’d do, if someone she hated found themselves in her power… She’d had Kyle and Samantha in hers after all, and what had she done? She’d lashed out, been prepared to make them hurt, the way she thought they’d made her hurt…

I deserved what they did, I deserved to have them tank my grade after what I put them through.

“The fuck I did,” she muttered under her breath, but it was a hollow protest.

I. Deserved. It.

Carmen felt like something inside her shattered, and she slumped against the chair. Tears started streaming down her face again, and the numbness she felt had nothing to do with the winter weather.

…

“Push!” Kyle shouted, encouraging Samantha as she grunted with all her might, pressing against the disgusting sock that sealed them in their prison.

The pair were rewarded with a tiny pinprick of light, and Samantha grunted again, squeezing her way through the small opening as Kyle gripped her hair for dear life. Samantha winced as the grime from the sock coated her, another layer of Carmen’s sweat and dirt added to what she’d already picked up from her imprisonment in the Valkyrie’s shoe.

“Hold on!” Samantha squealed to her ant-sized husband as she tumbled out of the shoe. Kyle screamed, flailing as he struggled to hold on to the strand of her red hair. The few inches drop was dozens of feet to him, and while a rational part of him knew he was too small to be hurt by falling, it was still a shock.

“Down here!” Kyle shouted up to Samantha as she looked around for him. Her face lit up as she parted a small group of carpet fibers, retrieving him from the artificial forest.

“She stuck us under the bed,” Samantha mused, looking up at the football field sized box spring overhead.

“Out of sight, out of mind,” Kyle mused, “I don’t see her up here, hug the walls and head for the north staircase, Carmen has no reason to go over there, the only rooms are one of the guest rooms and the library.”

“S-Staircase?” Samantha protested, “Kyle I don’t know if we can-“

“Climbing a staircase might be a problem, but going down one? No, at this size the worst you’re going to catch from a fall is a bruise,” Kyle explained, “me? I’m a flea Samantha, you could probably toss me down it like a baseball if you wanted.”

“Guess you’re lucky I never played sports,” she said with a wink.

He chuckled, the bit of levity brightening his spirits in the face of the terrifying task of traversing the house at this size. He shuddered as he thought of all the things that could bring an end to them, Carmen might step on them without even noticing… and that might be a mercy compared to what she would do if she caught them…

“We beat her before,” Samantha said quietly, “we’re going to do it again.”

Kyle smiled into the face of his wife, a giant at three inches tall, “Let’s do it then,” he muttered.

…

4 Years Ago

Carmen stood next to Melinda, looking in a the Seacourt residence where a Christmas tree was brightly lit in the window. Like her mentor Carmen now wore a much lighter coat, the winter cold no longer biting as it did. The Seacourts were no doubt inside, celebrating the holiday while the pair of Valkyries looked on, leaving them to do so in peace.

“Merry Christmas Carmen,” Melinda said, taking a drag of her cigarette with a smile.

“Merry Christmas Melinda,” Carmen said, a warm feeling rising in her chest as she watched the man she had saved pass in front of the window, a glass of eggnog in hand as he embraced his wife, children running around them.

“It’s one of the great pleasures of healing someone, to see them go on and live happily,” Melinda said with a sigh, gesturing for Carmen to follow her as they walked along the icy sidewalk.

“Yeah,” Carmen muttered, a certain thought eating her up inside, “you held me back from getting enhanced a lot longer than any of the other girls I started with,” she said quietly, “how many people died waiting for me to get my shit together?”

Melinda looked at her a moment, unblinking, “The number is hardly relevant, but some did,” Melinda said finally, “I couldn’t put you through until you were ready-“

“And because you didn’t think I was ready people died?” Carmen asked, a hint of an edge to her voice.

“People died because you weren’t ready,” Melinda said coldly, “and I have blood on my own hands because I have in the past allowed women who were clearly unfit access to that gene therapy.” She sighed, seeing Carmen’s angry expression, “If you feel guilty, I encourage you to reflect and act on it Carmen. I had my own guilt after my husband passed, irrational though it was, and I’ve tried to use his research to build something I think he would be proud of.” She took a long drag on her cigarette, the small cloud of smoke trailing into another winter sky, “guilt without action is just self-indulgence Carmen, remember what I said last time we were here-“

…

Present

“Maybe we never get fair, or justice,” Carmen muttered, blinking herself back awake, “but we can put the pieces back together and make something worth living for…” she sighed, when had she fallen asleep? She wasn’t sure… She debated wallowing in self pity for a few moments, longer, but her mentor’s words came again.  

Guilt without action is self-indulgence, the older Valkyrie’s voice seemed to echo in her head.

Goddamnit, Carmen thought miserably as she stood up, first step is letting them out I guess… then what?

She paused, trying to think about exactly how she’d approach this, I’ll leave, she decided, fuck Jormungand, if they feel like assassinating me at this point that’s a fucking favor. Her mind turned to Kyle and Samantha, they’d still need a Valkyrie for some months, I’ll find someone trustworthy for them… I’ll drag Melinda back here and make her do it herself if I have to, I owe them that much…

And for her? She groaned, Kyle and Sammy never seemed like the suing type, but they might be now? Whatever… it’s not like I was really in this for the money. She thought about her clinic, Elaine or Juliet would probably take over, they were the other prominent Valkyries in the area, when word of what she’d done to Kyle and Samantha got out Melinda would probably all but lead her around on a leash for the rest of her career.

And would that really be so bad? She wondered. She chuckled, yes, it’s going to be hell, but I can still fix people up and maybe figure out where to go from there.

She sighed and plodded her way up the stairs like a man going to his own hanging. Every additional step seemed a little harder, but she forced herself to the top. She walked into the master bedroom, remembering where she’d left Samantha and Kyle after their fight, she grimaced, there was one more thing to apologize for.

“Hey guys,” she began, pulling the shoe out from under the bed, “We uh… we really have to talk-“ she froze, the sock sealing the pair in had been pushed out, leaving the mouth of the shoe wide open.

They got out… she felt an electric panic blossom in her chest, No, no, no! Carmen dropped to her knees, looking under the bed desperately, hoping to see Samantha’s tiny form carrying Kyle beneath one of the end tables. They have no idea how dangerous the world is for them at that size! She thought, her heart racing. She tried to force herself to be calm.

“K-Kyle, Samantha, if you’re here please come out,” she said feebly, “I’m sorry, I’ll make you guys bigger and we can all talk!”

Only silence replied.

Carmen tried to keep from panicking as she dropped to all fours, slowly checking beneath and behind the pieces of furniture in the room.

They’re just scared, she reasoned, they couldn’t have gotten far, they’re just hiding from me! She desperately hoped it was true.

…

“EEP!” Samantha squealed, tumbling as she leapt from the last of the steps on the house’s far staircase.

“Come on!” Kyle shouted, waiting for his enormous three inch wife to right herself, “I heard footsteps, Carmen’s probably back in the bedroom right now!”

“KYLE?” Carmen’s voice echoed down the hallway, “SAMMY!?”

Samantha’s eyes went wide, and she scooped Kyle up as she sprinted as fast as she could down the hallway.

…

Carmen slowly walked down the hallway, peeking in doors and hoping for any show of movement. She paused a minute at the library, then shook her head, cursing her stupidity.

What are they going to do, read a book at that size? She thought miserably. She licked her lips, she hadn’t seen any insects or anything since she’d been staying here, Sam and Kyle were pretty clean people but… most houses had some. Clinics housing shrunken people were regularly sprayed just to be on the safe side, not that most insects or spiders would bother even tiny people but… it paid to be safe.

“Sammy!” she called again, “I’m sorry okay? I’m… I’m sorry!”

…

“Is she yelling that she’s sorry?” Kyle asked, rolling his eyes as he gripped Samantha’s curly red hair, wrapping around himself for balance.

“She must think we’re pretty stupid,” Samantha muttered as she came to a stop near the garage. She looked up at the massive door, realizing there wasn’t any way to get it open, “and maybe we are,” she said with a sigh, “how are we supposed to get this open?”

“We don’t,” Kyle explained, “the north garage is actually heated, we just need to go through that vent down there and we should be able to get in,” he gestured to a grate along the base of the wall just a few feet from them. “I think if we pull it open as far as it’ll go, you can squeeze through it…”

…

“Guys please come out!” Carmen said desperately, she was crawling on all fours, a ridiculous site as she peered through the rooms, trying to peek under furniture, behind bookshelves… “I mean it guys it’s not safe for you to be out of my site like this!” she shouted. She had a sudden flashback to her training, a short slide show Melinda had prepared on “hazards of shrinking” she shuddered and picked up her pace.

…

Samantha grunted as she slid through the heating vent, with the lever pushed to open it as wide as it went, she was just barely able to squeeze her three inch form through. Kyle just vaulted over what was a chest high barrier at his size, scurrying after her as she headed through the vent to the dim light of the mansion’s north garage.

Suddenly Samantha stopped, a feeble gasp escaping her throat as she saw what was waiting by the vent at the end of the dusty hallway. Kyle stopped, looking for what had caused his, relatively, giant wife so much fright.

“Oh,” he whispered, seeing the eight glistening glassy black eyes. Crooked legs scurried along a web that stretched across half the vent they would need to pass through, and a pair of jaws seemed to click eagerly as the spider webbed up a small beetle that had wandered in.

“K-Kyle?” Samantha whimpered.

He gulped, “I’m too small to interest it,” he said slowly, “and you’re too large,” it was true, the spider was the size of a dog to Samantha, but she was still bigger than anything he thought that this kind of spider, some small orb weaver? Would eat. “Just stay out of his web,” he said firmly, “and he won’t bother us.”

“S-She,” Samantha muttered, blinking as she knelt down to pick him up, “t-that’s a girl spider,” she shakily pointed to an egg sac in one part of the web.

“Right,” Kyle said, “just… take it nice and slow, don’t make eye contact maybe?”

Samantha managed a squeaky laugh as she inched her way towards the grate, Kyle winced as her grip tightened once they got near the spider. It just sort of stared at them, there wasn’t anything in those eyes, they were like marbles really… Kyle found himself watching it, tense for some leap, some scurried pursuit, but none came. A moment later Samantha grunted as she squeezed through the next set of bars, looking back in fear as though she expected to see spindly legs grabbing at her.

“W-Well,” she said, her panic subsiding a bit, “I guess you were right… it wasn’t interested in us.”

“Yeah, but let’s not take our chances on running into something that is,” Kyle said, grunting a little as he adjusted himself in Samantha’s hands, “look there,” he pointed to the garage door, “those laser sensors at the base make sure the garage doesn’t close while anything’s in the path, but I’ll bet we could open that thing up and get it to open the garage door for us, after that it’s just a short sprint across the lawn to where the police are.”

“You know,” Samantha said with a grin as they walked towards the sensor, “we’re kind of badass!”

“We can celebrate when we’ve escaped,” Kyle said, but it was hard to keep a grin off his face, they’d escaped Carmen, they’d outwitted her again, victory would be sweet.

…

Carmen’s head shot up as she heard the garage door open, no, it can’t be… it’s impossible! She sighed, no, those two are geniuses, of course they’d figure out how to open the garage at bug size… She paused a minute, listening to the ice pellets hitting the roof, and her blood ran cold.

They don’t realize how quick their bodies are going to lose heat! She thought, scrambling to her feet, they’re just going to try to run across the yard, they won’t last five minutes!

…

Kyle shuddered, hugging himself into Samantha’s hair as the cold air billowed into the garage. The world outside was become a glittering frozen wasteland as the sleet and freezing rain continued, in the distance the faint outline of a police squadcar could be seen.

“We just need to get over there,” Samantha said, shivering, “it’s just a few hundred feet…”

“A few hundred feet at this size is a lot,” Kyle said, his uncertainty growing, “and you’re just wearing that little cloth robe…”

“And you’re wearing nothing,” Samantha replied, gently putting him higher up on her scalp, “really get that hair wrapped around you, okay?” Kyle nodded, burying himself in Samantha’s red forest and gripping tightly. She took a deep breath, looking at the icy hellscape that stood between them and rescue. “No guts no glory,” she whispered, stepping out of the massive cavern of their garage and into the tundra that had become their yard.

Samantha gritted her teeth, feeling the chunks of ice, to her the size of baseballs, impacting her skin. Worse was the still liquid rain, that hit her and froze against her hair, crackling as the wind blew it. Each wave of the steely cold washed a little of her resolve away, and after a few minutes, she realized she couldn’t feel her feet, or her legs anymore.

“K-Kyle!?” she called, reaching into her hair for him, but if he was there, she couldn’t feel him, her hand felt like concrete, a few pins and needles dancing here and there as the frigid air robbed her of locomotion. Finally, her fingers closed on a small solid lump she was sure was him… “Kyle?” he still didn’t answer, but if he had would she even hear him over the sound of the sleet falling around them?

This was a mistake, she realized, I’ve got to get us back to the garage. She tried to turn, despairing a little when she saw how pathetically short their flight had really been, if she had to guess she had gotten maybe ten feet down the driveway. She attempted to turn, but stumbled. She fell to the icy ground, her face feeling like fire as she made contact.

You have to get up, she told herself, you have to get up or you and Kyle will-

She couldn’t bring herself to think it, and she struggled to get her arms underneath her. The world was fading, and she looked longingly at the garage, just a few short steps away at her full size, an impossible frozen gulf at this one.

She closed her eyes, enjoying the brief feeling of rest as the pain in her extremities began to fade. She opened her eyes a final time, a blurry figure was in the garage, an enormous person she couldn’t make out, she tried to wave, but she didn’t have any energy left to do so before the world went white.

…

“No!” Carmen sobbed, scooping Samantha’s still form off the icy driveway, she blinked a tear out of her eyes, scanning the ground for Kyle, knowing that if he’d been frozen over it would be impossible to ever find him. She felt a wave of relief as she saw his tiny, still, form roll out of Samantha’s ice riddled hair.

She turned and sprinted back towards the house with them in her cupped hands, “Just hold on guys,” she said in a shaky voice.

You’re a Valkyrie, she told herself, focus, fix them! She took a deep breath, Kyle was so small that, so long as he wasn’t dead, he’d pop back from severe frostbite in a few hours, nothing more she could do but try to warm him up. Samantha on the other hand… three inches… it was borderline for a rapid frostbite recovery, but with how she looked Carmen didn’t want to take any chances, she’d need to be smaller.

Can I do it? She wondered, Can I… she took a deep breath, that otherworldly energy flowed into her like a warm spring.

“YES!” Carmen shouted, literally jumping for joy as she watched Samantha shrink in her hands.

…

Kyle blinked, trying to regain his bearings. The icy pain in his limbs was gone, but everything was dark, soft, warm… He struggled against the fleshy walls pressing on him from other side, and a moment later a familiar scent wafted into his nostrils, it wasn’t as strong as after her workout, but there was no mistaking it.

Carmen’s sweat, he thought miserably, she caught us… and I’m… he grunted and squirmed again, her breasts had easily swallowed him up at three inches, at this ant size he was at now? He was trapped.

“Hello!?” Samantha’s muffled voice echoed below him, and he felt a little relief that she was alive too, albeit trapped in the same place he was. He sighed and began a slow climb upwards, feeling almost like he was wading through jello as each of Carmen’s breaths caused his entire world to heave.

The pheromones were getting to him, being this small in close contact with Carmen, along with the knowledge of where he was… He gasped, feeling a shock of pleasure race up his spine as his erection traced over her soft skin.

I’m going to cum myself just trying to climb out of her, he thought miserably. The escape attempt had been another humiliating reminder of how powerless they were, now, squirming like a crumb that had rolled down into her cleavage, nearly brought to orgasm just by the motion of her breathing… it was another nail in the coffin he’d bury his self esteem in. And the worst part is I like it, he growled angrily, forcing the part of him that was enjoying this to the back, Carmen had them, they had to get away, they had to-

The world above him parted as Carmen looked down into her cleavage, smiling as she saw her two charges were awake and moving.

“I thought I felt a couple of bugs down there,” she said softly, her finger coming down to fish the ant sized pair out. It was difficult, she finally managed to roll Kyle onto her fingertip, pinching him and concealing his whole body between the pads of her fingers as she set him down on the bed next to her. A moment later he heard a squeak as Samantha was deposited next to him.

Carmen stood up, a colossus beyond compare, a walking skyscraper that overshadowed them. He ran across the shifting landscape of the bed, trying to keep his balance as he embraced Samantha. He hugged her too him, pushing her head into his shoulder as he looked up at Carmen, a defiant sneer on his face that didn’t match how he really felt.

“L-Listen Carmen-“

“Get ready,” Carmen said with a sad smile, holding her hand out.

Kyle winced, and hugged Samantha to him as she shut her eyes tight, waiting for the end.

Kyle tumbled over in surprise as it felt like the rug was pulled out from under him, he and Samantha suddenly didn’t have nearly as much room as they did, and he heard her yelp with pain as her head hit the baseboard. He blinked, looking around in surprise, they were big! Well not that big, Carmen had put them back to four feet, supposedly the largest she could make them until the radiation damage was fully healed…

“Were you guys really so scared of me that you went out in this?” Carmen asked quietly, pointing to the ongoing ice storm outside the window.

“You said you were going to shrink us permanently,” Samantha replied, pulling the blanket up over herself and glaring angrily at the amazon.

“Yeah,” Carmen muttered softly, not meeting her eyes, Why did I say that? Carmen thought miserably, I don’t even know how to make receptor serum for that… I just wanted to scare them, and I guess I did.

“Carmen, what is this?” Kyle asked suspiciously.

“I’ve… been doing some thinking,” Carmen said slowly, “and I uh…” she trailed off, walking away from the bed and sitting in a small reading chair in the corner of the master bedroom, “I don’t really know how to start…”

“If it’s a sorry maybe with… a sorry,” Samantha said bitterly.

Carmen glared at her a moment, then sighed, “Yeah, I’m sorry, for… for all of it, for high school, for coming back into your lives like a maniac, for all the crap I’ve put you guys through since I got here.”

Samantha and Kyle were both stunned, and they looked at Carmen, then to each other, then back to her. Silence filled the room until finally Samantha cleared her throat.

“Carmen,” she began, “that’s great that you’re feeling sorry, but-“

There were two thumps as Carmen tossed their phones onto the bed, “There you go,” Carmen muttered, “Call everyone, tell them what an evil bitch I am, call Melinda, the cops, whoever, if you want to sue me, I won’t fight it, just send the demand letter.”

“What the hell is this,” Kyle whispered to Samantha under his breath, “it’s got to be a trick or something.”

“I can hear you!” Carmen snapped angrily, “look, I’m a shitty person, I get it!” for a moment it looked like she was going to cry again, but she just looked away a moment, “I’m getting out of your hair tomorrow.”

“What?” Samantha asked, a little alarmed, “Carmen, we need you to keep doing our shrinking therapy, and what about the people trying to kill us? They’re supposed to be after you too now-“

“I’ll find you someone else!” Carmen said, speaking over them, “I’m not going to leave you guys in the lurch, okay? If I’ve got to hang around for a few days until Melinda finds someone else we can trust, I will. After that I think I’m going off with her for a while… if she’ll have me anyway. I’ll be safe around her.”

There was a beep from downstairs in the kitchen, carrying up through the house. Carmen perked up, then stood up and headed for the door.

“I threw a frozen pizza in the oven,” Carmen said, “I was kind of hoping you guys would be awake before it was done, food is just better at bigger sizes.” She paused by the door and gave them a smile, “by the way, you guys are just south of billionaires now, why do you still buy the cheapest brand of frozen pizza?”

“It’s what we used to eat on our study dates in high school,” Samantha said, reaching under the blanket and clasping Kyle’s hand, “it kind of takes us back,” the two shared a quick smile.

Carmen smiled, but she still looked sad, “those things’ll have you seeing another Valkyrie in a few decades, they’re terrible for you!” She shook her head, chuckling under her breath as she went down to the kitchen to get their dinner.

Kyle and Samantha looked at each other, “What the fuck?” Kyle said finally.

“I think she actually feels bad,” Samantha said quietly, “like… she actually realized she was the asshole.”

“So, what do we do with that?” Kyle asked, flopping back onto his pillow, enjoying the feeling of being almost full size again, even if only for a short time.

“I don’t know,” Samantha mused, “it sounds like she’s going away, so I guess… it doesn’t matter what we think, does it?” She thought a moment, “We should say something to her,” she muttered, “I don’t know if I really forgive her for everything, but… it feels wrong to just yell at her, be angry, you know? Kicking someone who’s already down…”

“Kicking someone’s who’s already down,” Kyle laughed, “are we still talking about Carmen?” He forced himself to sit back up, “I think you’re right; I don’t want to just forgive her or whatever, but…” He searched for the words, “if she’s serious… then yeah, we should say something… I’m just not sure what.”

They were interrupted by Carmen’s return, the pizza held on a serving platter, perfectly cut and accompanied by a pair of plates. She gently set it in front of them, and then reached for the television remote on the nightstand, tossing it to the pair.

“You guys should take it easy,” she said, looking at the clock, “give it about… four hours, I’ll have to put you back down to three inches, then I’ll put you guys to bed for the night, sound good?” They nodded and she gave them a smile, “great, if you need me I’ll be downstairs-“

“Carmen!” Samantha said suddenly, causing her to pause.

“Yeah?” Carmen asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Do you uh…” Samantha looked at Kyle, who just shrugged. “Pizza!” Samantha said, pointing to the platter Carmen had brought, “do you maybe want to have a piece while we watch something?”

Carmen raised an eyebrow, “I uh…”

“Carmen, just have a piece of pizza,” Kyle said in a tired voice, reaching for one of the plates.

She frowned, but reached down to grab a piece, returning to the reading chair as Kyle turned on the TV and flipped through the streaming services. The poster of a decade old teen drama flashed across the screen as Kyle scrolled.

“Wait, that one!” Carmen cried excitedly, “I haven’t watched The Creek in years!”

“You watched Creek?” Samantha asked, surprised.

“Wasn’t that kind of a nerd show?” Kyle asked, a wry smile on his face.

“It was a show about nerds but everyone watched it,” Carmen said, rolling her eyes, “start it up.”

…

Kyle and Samantha lay in the bed in the small shrunken patient’s dorm, three inches tall. They’d spent an evening binge watching the first season of an ancient teen drama, eating their favorite food from high school, with their old high school bully. It was a somewhat surreal time, and Carmen had easily shrunk them without any pause or thought when the time had come to send them back down, placing them back in their tiny housing without fanfare.

“So… Carmen,” Kyle said finally, “you think she’s… better?”

“I don’t know,” Samantha said with a sigh, “I… I guess I don’t want to sue her or get her in jail, so that’s a start.”

“Maybe we’ll look her up again when this is all over,” Kyle said with a smile.

“Kyle,” Samantha said, an odd expression coming over her face, “can I ask you something a little messed up?”

“What?” He asked, curious.

“Did you find it really hot being stuck in her…”

“Her tits?” Kyle said, enjoying her blush at the vulgarity.

“Yeah,” Samantha said in a breathy voice.

Kyle rolled over on top of her, grinning as he looked into her eyes, “yeah it’s messed up… but yes, they were hot… you want to go before bed?”

“Yes!” She said eagerly, her eyes lighting up.

 

The small private jet skidded to a stop, the salted runway and the grime of the post-sleet morning crunching beneath the wheels of the landing gear. Hiroyuki gritted his teeth, the runway was not as free from ice as he would have liked, and while he’d had plenty of landings in Japan’s winter weather, he was used to landing in sunny California or even Florida during the few flights he’d made to the United States. Being in America during the winter felt… wrong somehow.

He sent his final few logs to the air traffic controller, then collected himself a moment, preparing to go speak to his passenger. She waited, expectantly, in an elegant black skirt and dress shirt that matched her short cut hair, sitting she was no less imposing, and Hiroyuki gulped as she stood up, seeing her full height again.

These Valkyries… they’re too much, he thought, clearing his throat as he found the wave of lust he suddenly felt for the woman. Judging by her amused expression she knew exactly the effect she had on him.

“Have we arrived?” Arisu Moriyama asked calmly in Japanese. She would likely be forgoing her native tongue for the next week at least while she was here, and she wished to indulge in it with the pilot for a short time before switching to English.

“We have Miss Moriyama,” Hiroyuki said with a quick bow, “can I carry your bag until we meet your driver?”

“There is no need,” Arisu said, hefting the large duffle bag next to her. Metal clinked inside, and… Hiroyuki could have sworn he’d heard a cry for help, muffled and far away, but that was…

Don’t question it, he reminded himself, you have seen all manner of things flying for the Yakuza over the years, and you still live because you wisely forget them. He watched as she gave him a final nod as she left the plane, and he felt a sense of relief come over him as he watched her walk down the portable staircase through the circular jet window.

…

“How was the flight?” Juliet asked as Arisu stepped into the black limousine.

“Uneventful,” Arisu said in slightly accented English, sitting next to the other Valkyrie as the car drove off. “The Yakuza were willing to provide me with a flight, as a sign of respect,” she grinned, “it was a long effort to earn their trust, but now that I have it, they are quite open with gifts.”

“The Italians here were much the same,” Juliet mused, “though I think they still view us as hired muscle and… disposal. They’ll be providing us with a few pawns for the plan… I must ask though, what drove you to come all the way here to see this carried out yourself?” Juliet gave a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, “do you not trust me?”

Arisu turned her head ever so slightly, giving the other woman a cold gaze. The very tip of her mouth curled into something, but it would be a stretch to call that a smile either.

“I trust you enough,” Arisu said, meeting her gaze and unnerving Juliet slightly. “I forget, what did you do before the nurse came for you?”

“I was a librarian,” Juliet said uncomfortably, she didn’t like to think of her life before the gene therapy.

“I was a waitress,” Arisu said, “at an establishment of ill repute.” She looked out the window, looking at the skyscrapers of Chicago as they moved further into the city, “I know that many of you like to think that you have become something greater, but I know I am that same girl, and I did not survive in that place by allowing those I did not trust to stand behind me as you do.” She smirked at Juliet’s uncomfortable silence, “of course now I am powerful, I could easily kill those men I was afraid of with my bare hands! If not simply reduce them to bugs beneath my feet.” She looked at the other Valkyrie and smirked, “tell me, has decent sushi reached this city? Or should I have stopped in California?”

…

Juliet and Arisu sat together in her hotel suite, each with a plate of sushi rolls from the hotel’s restaurant in front of them. Arisu had spoken with the chef a few moments in her native tongue, and, apparently satisfied, had ordered two plates to her room.

Juliet stared at the chop sticks a moment, “Would you be offended if I-“

“Please,” Arisu said, gesturing to a fork and knife that had been brought along with the traditional utensils.

Juliet nodded, reaching for the fork, then paused, Arisu was reaching into her large duffel bag for something… She raised an eyebrow as she saw the Asian woman hover her hand over her plate, and she struggled to keep her face impassive as a pair of shrunken men, no larger than bugs, no larger than rice, screamed, falling onto one of Arisu’s sushi rolls.

“Is there a problem?” Arisu asked sweetly, using her chopsticks to reach for a salmon roll. She slowly lifted it to her mouth, popping it in and chewing it slowly, closing her eyes and savoring the flavor. The two shrunken men screamed feebly from their spot on the next roll in the line, and seemed to struggle against the sticky rice as they tried to escape.

“Doing your executions over dinner seems a little…” Juliet searched for the words, not wanting to admit how uncomfortable she was.

Arisu’s eyes lit up, “oh, you’ve never eaten one of your tinies?” She gave an almost girlish giggle at the thought.

“I like to use my shoes,” Juliet replied coolly.

“That is amusing as well!” Arisu beamed, “but there is something delightful about this,” her enormous face loomed over the panicking men with grin that stretched like a railway train across her impossibly large visage. The chopsticks came down, twin columns that easily shifted their entire world as Arisu picked up the sushi roll. “There is an art to it,” she said, turning the sushi roll and watching the two men try to keep their balance, “you chew slow, careful, you don’t want to accidentally crush them on the way down!”

Juliet watched, stone faced, as Arisu casually popped the sushi roll, and the two men, into her mouth. She moaned with pleasure, chewing slowly, her tongue occasionally poking her cheek as she shepherded the two extra additions to her sushi roll away from her teeth as she chewed.

Arisu sighed, savoring the feeling of the two thrashing and panicking for just a moment longer, then with a loud gulp she swallowed, sending them to their fate. With a smirk she reached for a small cup of sake, eager to wash the morsel down.

“I love turf wars back home,” Arisu said idly, “it gives me many delicious opportunities for work.”

It’s not any different from you stepping on someone, Juliet told herself, keeping her hand steady as she ate one of her own sushi rolls. It’s not… she couldn’t convince herself, if the World Serpent had wanted to rattle her, she’d succeeded.

“Are you still worried about why I am here in person?” Arisu asked, leaning over the table and putting her head in her hands like she’d just confessed to a friend which boy she liked, “please try to relax, I am not some madwoman who would come to execute an underling for a single failure, you do a very good job with our operations here.”

Juliet relaxed slightly, “if not me, then why?” she asked.

“The initial failure is not the end of the game,” Arisu explained, “it is a hand we lost, but as I have communicated to you, I believe the answer is to raise.” She took another sip of sake, smirking as she felt the small tickle inside her belly that had nothing to do with the alcohol. “Melinda has involved herself, and this Carmen is one of hers.”

There was a bitterness to the World Serpent’s voice, a haunted tone that almost made Juliet want to probe it.

“The business partner, Richard, is he fully ours?” Arisu said, moving on.

“He’s a greedy fool,” Juliet said with a smile, “but he’s wrapped around my finger. I won’t protest if the answer is no, but I’d like to keep him.”

“Consider him yours,” Arisu said dismissively, “we’ll have plenty of use for him for years to come, we certainly can’t have our surrogates openly take control of… what was the company called again?”

“Goblin,” Juliet said, almost chuckling at the name, “I can’t believe it’s coming pre-loaded on phones now…”

“Goblin, interesting…” Arisu mused, “I almost called us The Yokai… but Melinda and her Valkyries made me want a more appropriate name, and so we are Jormungand.” She chuckled, “it hurts her every time she says it, reads it, thinks it.”

“So it’s personal then?” Juliet said, reaching for her own cup of Sake. She downed it in a single gulp, the harsh rice-wine burning a throat more accustomed to Port.

Arisu’s face was expressionless, “Tell me about this Carmen,” she said finally, “she killed one of your field girls?”

“The police did, but by all accounts, Carmen was able to physically overpower her,” Juliet replied, “reconnaissance indicates that she often spars with professional fighters.”

“She must be decently skilled then,” Arisu said with a smile, “I do wish I could meet her myself… so few of us who receive Melinda’s gift appreciate the finer aspects of it.” She glanced at Juliet and smiled, “I don’t suppose you have any interest in the martial arts?”

“No,” Juliet said, a little too quickly, “I er… prefer to use my shrinking abilities or… a gun.”

Arisu shrugged, patting her stomach lightly as she felt her meal’s movement slow, “Everything has a place, I know you could not discuss details over our normal communication channels, but… tell me now, I am eager to hear them!”

“Carmen’s nurse will flag her as the leader of our operations in Chicago,” Juliet said, “obviously a police raid will be needed to extract such a dangerous individual from such high-profile hostages, and…” Juliet smiled, “so many things can go wrong, Carmen attempted to shrink the officers, Carmen resisted, Carmen stomped them to death before the police could get to her… The story isn’t set yet, but all three will be dead by the time it’s over.”

“You have someone in the police force who can guarantee this?” Arisu asked with an eyebrow raised.

Her tone was impressed, and Juliet beamed, “Yes, the local organizations have plenty of assets they’re willing to loan out for the right price.”

“I long for the day when our own group is so established as to have tools like that,” Arisu sighed, “tell Richard to prepare his media campaign, I want everyone in the world to know Carmen was Melinda’s student, that Melinda had another protege go down this path.”

“We have a picture of Carmen and Melinda shaking hands post gene therapy,” Juliet said with a smile, “it will be everywhere by this weekend.”

“She takes one of those with all of us,” Arisu said with a smile, “or she did… back when she still did the instructing.”

“I wouldn’t know” Juliet replied, “she’d retired from it by my time.”

“I want to tell her Carmen was innocent,” Arisu decided, “I don’t know when, maybe in a year, five years, ten… but I will tell her one day.” She smiled and turned to Juliet, “I will see the death of her dream, I will force her to bury her husband’s ghost.”

Juliet was quiet a moment, “Melinda’s husband, did you…”

Arisu looked out at the skyline again, “No… sometimes tragedies are just tragedies. If Melinda is right about anything, it’s that existence is unfair.”

…

Carmen had called Melinda several times, but had only gotten her voicemail. She shrugged and sighed, the other Valkyrie was probably healing a lot of people today or trapped in meetings. She’d returned Samantha and Kyle to four feet after lunch, giving them the afternoon at a larger size to get a few of their own things done. She’d tried to give them some space, she felt a little better around them now, but… she needed to go, she was sure of it.

With little else to do Carmen walked into the living room and flopped onto the couch, grabbing the TV remote and exploring Samantha and Kyle’s streaming packages.

…

Kyle and Samantha looked over the Goblin holiday promotions, “So we’re burying an actual treasure?” Samantha giggled, leaning in close and hugging Kyle. The pair were small enough that they could share the computer chair, but big enough that they could still use the device.

“Yep, real gold coins and everything, total worth around two hundred grand,” Kyle said with a smile as he reviewed the email. “It’s already done, we’ve got a few acres of farmland rented out and the work crew did the job and signed the NDAs last night.”

“You know our users are going to figure out the clues as soon as you post them,” Samantha said, running her fingers through his hair, “your DnD puzzles were never as clever as you thought they were.”

“I’m not writing the clues,” he said with a smirk, “I had the promotions department find a bunch of folklorists and a few b-list sci-fi authors to do it, I’m hoping they can cook up something that keeps our holiday treasure hunt going for at least a week, and for the record as a Dungeon Master I stole all of my riddles from children’s books, if you guys couldn’t crack them that’s on you.”

They were quiet a minute as they reviewed the promotion paperwork, then Samantha cleared her throat, “So uh… Carmen.”

“I guess she’s serious about leaving,” Kyle muttered, “she’s been trying to get ahold of that Melinda woman all day.”

“Yeah…” Samantha said, tensing up, “Kyle… I have a really bad idea, but I want to air it anyway.”

Kyle stopped, turning to stare at her a moment, “Uh… okay, shoot.”

“Do you want to,” Samantha said hesitantly, “I mean since she’s leaving and we might never see her again…” Samantha trailed off, unsure of how to word her absurd request to her husband, “It’s just… we both find her really hot, and I’m sure she feels the same way about us, and-“

“Oh my god,” Kyle said, a smile tracing across his face, “you want to have a threesome with Carmen!?”

“I-Is that really so crazy?” Samantha stammered.

Kyle leaned back in the chair, “I mean… I know we used to joke about inviting hot people for a threeway but…” he fought a chuckle, “I never thought we’d actually do it…” He glanced at her and gave her a reassuring smile, “so you finally want to try it with a girl, huh?”

Samantha’s face burned red, “K-Kyle you know I love you and I’m very attracted to you and-“

“Calm down,” Kyle laughed, “you know how I feel about Carmen, that girl is…” he sighed, thinking of Carmen’s teasing smirk, her Amazonian physique, “Carmen is something else.” He looked at Samantha and smiled, “you know if we do this, it’s like setting off a bomb, we can’t un-do it.”

Samantha beamed and clasped his hand, “let’s go find her!”

…

Carmen glanced up from her phone as the pair entered the room, she had something on TV, but she was mostly ignoring it.

“Hey guys,” she said casually, “you’ve got a few hours left before your next shrinking, so-“

“Carmen,” Samantha said boldly, “We want to have sex!”

Carmen started, almost dropping her phone on the floor, “What!?”

“I thought you were going to approach it a little more delicately,” Kyle hissed under his breath.

“Why dance around it?” Samantha replied as Carmen got up and walked over to them.

The pair watched as she retrieved something from her bag. A moment later Carmen knelt down in front of them, holding a contactless thermometer to Samantha’s head.

“I think you might have tiny fever,” Carmen explained, “it’s not dangerous but it can leave a shrunken person with some weird desires-“

“I don’t have tiny fever!” Samantha snapped, “I meant what I said, tell her Kyle!”

Carmen looked, to him, and he shrugged, “Yeah we uh…” he gulped, “we wanted to invite you to er…”

“To fuck?” Carmen asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow, “look guys, it’s been a crazy few days for me, so I don’t know if-“

“Now you listen up,” Samantha said, strutting up to the amazon and poking her in her ample chest, “you’ve spent all these years implying we wanted you, that I was into girls and had some huge crush on you, that Kyle should date you, well here we are Carmen, time to put up or shut up!”

Carmen rolled her eyes, “is this how you feel too Kyle?”

He gulped, “Uh… yeah.”

Carmen looked at the two of them, and they watched her expression, tension building in the room, is this really a good idea? she wondered. She desperately wanted to say yes, for so many reasons, but… should I really let myself get further into their lives? I’ve never brought them anything but-

“She’s chickening out!” Samantha said in disbelief, “I can’t believe it,” she gave a taunting grin, “big bad Carmen is-“

She reached for Samantha’s head, easily grabbing the smaller woman and crushing her face into her chest. Samantha squealed in surprise as she flailed against Carmen’s immense breasts, smothered by the warm pillows while Carmen chuckled. A moment later the pheromones were starting to kick in, and Samantha’s resistance falter, she started inhaling the aroma of Carmen’s skin, rubbing her face against her and almost purring.

With a chuckled Carmen grabbed Samantha, who looked at her, a little stunned and light headed, and tossed the smaller woman over her shoulder. She grinned down at Kyle, who was looking up with a mix of arousal and nervousness.

“Come on Kyle run, it’ll be funny,” Carmen said with a broad smile.

He turned and ran, but a moment later a powerful arm swept around waist, lifting him and tossing him over Carmen’s shoulder. He looked to his left, seeing Samantha similarly being hauled, an amazed and aroused expression on her face.

“I-It’s really happening,” she almost whispered, a stupid grin spreading across her features.

No getting off this ride now, Kyle realized as Carmen carried the pair up the stairs to the bedroom. His thoughts were interrupted as Carmen tossed the pair onto the bed, causing them to bounce slightly.

“I can’t decide if I’m excited or annoyed that I’m doing this while you two are four feet tall,” Carmen said, standing over them with her hands on her hips. She snapped her fingers, “strip!” The pair hurriedly tossed off the simple white shirts and shorts she’d given them, and she smirked when she saw Kyle was wearing the briefs style underwear she’d provided. “God damn those make your ass look good,” she muttered, pulling her own pants and panties down in one smooth motion. Her shirt went next, and she climbed on the bed, naked, rocking it with her size as the pair looked on in awe at her Amazonian form.

“W-What do you want to do first?” Samantha asked as Carmen settled between them.

She was answered by Kyle shouting in surprise as he shot down to three inches, Carmen giggled as she gently picked him, bringing the tiny man around so Samantha could see him. Kyle looked back and for the between the two giants, his mind racing as he wondered what Carmen had in mind.

“Kyle you’re sitting round one out,” Carmen said with a grin, “girls only, but I’ll put you in a good place to watch.”

She lay back on the bed, slowly placing Kyle between her breasts, giving him a good view of the bed, and his very nervous wife. He shivered as Carmen’s scent began to affect him, she wasn’t particularly dirty, and judging by the soft smell of some fruity shampoo she’d showered that morning, but as he sunk between breasts the size of houses the pheromones were rapidly sending him into a state of frenzied arousal.

“Now Sammy,” Carmen grinned, leaning back, “time to eat your first pussy!” she gestured for Samantha to crawl forward, and the redhead gulped as she slowly did so.

“Oh wow,” Samantha muttered, looking down at Carmen’s jet-black bush, and the dripping pink opening waiting just beyond. She gulped, you can do this, she told herself, summoning her courage, it’s not that different from giving a blowjob right? Just… get in there and-

She yelped in surprise as Carmen’s massive hand made contact with the back of her head, forcing her in. The taste quickly hit her, and Carmen’s juices rapidly coated her face as she eagerly began licking. Carmen moaned, keeping her hand on Samantha’s head, her fingers wrapping the red curls around them as she guided her, grinding Samantha against herself.

“Oh yeah,” Carmen growled, “Sammy you are a natural!”

Kyle couldn’t agree more, peeking out from between the hills of Carmen’s breasts he watched, awestruck, as he watched his wife eating Carmen out. It was by far one of the hottest things he’d ever seen, and as Carmen moaned his whole world rocked, the breasts on either side of him heaving as her breath quickened. The smell of Carmen’s arousal was wafting up to him too, and if the effect of her skin was powerful, the smell of her womanhood was absolutely overwhelming. Kyle tried to steady himself on the rocking see of Carmen’s breasts, reaching between his legs to begin to stroke himself as he watched the gigantic scene unfolding before him.

“Oh, Kyle seems excited,” Carmen managed, smiling and gritting her teeth as Samantha’s tongue sent another electric wave of pleasure up her spine. “That’s it Kyle, tug your little cock to your wife eating me out!” Carmen grunted, cut off as Samantha pushed her over the edge. She swore under her breath as her muscles tensed, the arcing of her back causing Kyle to tumble over just as he came himself with a tiny yell, bouncing off the sides of her breasts as the world seemed to collapse around him.

Carmen panted a moment, dimly aware of Kyle squirming around somewhere between her breasts. Samantha lifted her face, looking up like a puppy eager for approval as Carmen’s juices covered her, causing her skin to glisten slightly as she smiled.

“H-How was that?” she asked timidly.

“Good girl Sammy,” Carmen said breathily, reaching down to pat the red-haired girl on the head. She sat up, causing Kyle to tumble down her stomach with a scream.

“Uh, do you need a few minutes to get ready again?” Samantha asked, leaning down and looking at her panting husband resting in the nook Carmen’s bellybutton.

“No need,” Carmen said, gently scooping him up. She grinned at his confused expression as she brought him down to her freshly eaten pussy, gently tracing him along the surface, mopping up the juices with his hair, marinating him in the same mixture that now coated his wife’s face.

“What the hell?” Kyle breathed, feeling his erection instantly rising again.

“When a Valkyrie really gets going our body fluids make Viagra look like a cold shower,” Carmen said with a grin, “I can keep little Kyle here going all night.”

Kyle gulped, not sure whether to be excited or terrified at the prospect, “S-So what now?”

“It would be rude not to return Sammy’s favor, don’t you think?” she asked, glancing down at the blushing redhead.

“Oh uh,” Samantha gulped, “Yeah, if you wanted to do me it would be-“

“Flip over Sammy!” Carmen ordered.

Samantha eagerly complied, rolling over onto her stomach as Carmen crawled across the bed. A loud slap rang out and Samantha squealed as Carmen lightly spanked the smaller girl.

“I want to work this ass until it’s as red as your hair,” Carmen said with a wicked smile.

“Uh… i-if you want-“ Samantha said, shuddering in a mix of apprehension and pleasure as she felt the woman twice her size run a finger along her butt cheeks.

“Oh relax Sammy, I’m not going to spank you much… right now,” Carmen turned to Kyle, “I have a wonderful idea about how to make going down on Sammy even more fun for her.” She held the tiny man up to her billboard sized face, grinning as she licked her lips.

 

Kyle felt himself dwindling, soon he was only two inches tall, held between Carmen’s fingers. She slowly brought him into the humid cave of her mouth, and he started as her tongue snaked out, a bus sized wall of muscle that slathered him in her spit. Her fingers abandoned him, and he was tossed about in her mouth as she swished him to and fro like a piece of hard candy. She stuck her tongue out a moment later, Kyle’s soaked form riding out on it as she giggled and plucked him up with two fingers again.

“What was that for?” he asked hesitantly, it hadn’t been bad being in her mouth, but it had been somewhat… unexpected.

“Lubing you up,” she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Lubing me-“ he realized she was bringing him down, towards Samantha, specifically towards her round bottom, still slightly red where Carmen had slapped it. “CARMEN!” he shouted in panic as he realized what she was planning, “Carmen seriously don’t-“

“It’s going to feel great for Sammy,” she giggled, “don’t worry, you don’t need a ton of air at that size.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Samantha asked, too scared to look back, “Carmen, what are you doing with Kyle?”

Carmen grinned and gave him a look, “just relax Sammy, and I mean really relax.” She paused, biting her lip, “Kyle…”

He seemed to understand what she was asking, and he sighed, giving a resigned smile, “do what you want with me,” he said, looking down at Samantha again.

“Fuck yeah,” Carmen laughed. Samantha’s eyes went wide as she felt a hand parting her cheeks, and a moment later the squirming form of her husband being pressed against her back door.

“CARMEN!” Samantha yelped, feeling the spit-lubed tiny man being forced in, “A-Are you-“ she stopped, moaning as she felt Kyle begin to wiggle inside her.

“Goodbye Kyle!” Carmen giggled, using the tip of her finger to force his head the rest of the way into Sammy’s tight hole, his tiny arms flailing for just a moment before he was pushed in too far to be seen anymore.

“EEP!” Samantha mewled, feeling his movements, “oh wow, i-is he going to be-“

“He’s going to be fine,” Carmen laughed, forcibly flipping Samantha over, “just clench your cheeks and enjoy him.” She slowly moved down Samantha’s body, hovering over the four-foot girl’s own womanhood and giving her a grin, “you ready?”

Samantha couldn’t do anything but nod, and as Carmen lowered herself and began her own round of oral service, she had to grip the bedspread, her eyes bulging as she was assaulted by waves of bliss seemingly from all sides.

For Kyle the dark interior of Samantha’s rear began to quake, and he heard faraway moans as Carmen brought Samantha to the brink. Every move he made seemed to help Carmen’s efforts, and as he struggled in the tight confines the walls around him shook more.

“EEEP!” Samantha came with a squeak, her orgasm taking her completely by surprise, like a rogue wave at sea scattering her thoughts and leaving her stunned.

“Not bad, right?” Carmen said, leaning up and showing off the coat of Samantha’s own juices on her face.

“No,” Samantha whispered, feeling Kyle squirming inside her, “uh… should we let Kyle out?”

“Oh definitely,” Carmen chuckled, “next round he’s going to be the big one and you’re going to tiny time out.” Samantha gulped; her eyes wide as Carmen laughed at her expression.

…

Kyle and Samantha were both about two feet tall, resting in Carmen’s arms on either side of her like a pair of teddy bears. They were exhausted, having spent the afternoon with Carmen in a frenzy of different sizes, sex positions, and scenarios that neither of them could imagine. Their hair was mussed and frazzled, and both of them had shell shocked expressions on their faces as the brown skinned giant between them chuckled and squeezed them closer to her.

“Whew, what a way to kill an afternoon,” Carmen said, staring at the ceiling with a grin on her face. She wasn’t nearly as wiped out as they were, but she had gotten her own enough that she felt a sense of relaxed satisfaction.

“I can’t feel my legs,” Kyle muttered, shifting in her grip.

“Oh good, it’s not just me,” Samantha said, sighing as Carmen giggled and snuggled her tighter.

“Quit complaining you big babies,” Carmen laughed, “you had a great time.” She glanced at the alarm clock on the dresser and sighed, “sorry guys, but we’ve got to get you back to your smaller size.” She stood up, leaving them on the bed as she searched for her clothes. She glanced at her phone and frowned, no missed calls… where is Melinda?

She didn’t let it bother her, she looked back and Kyle and Samantha as she pulled her panties up, then waved a hand, quickly reducing the pair to three-inch toys, rolling on the messy bed.

“I guess I should make some dinner,” Carmen mused, swaying her hips as she walked over to them. “What do you guys think? Want to come down to the kitchen with me?”

Samantha and Kyle looked at one another, “Yeah, sure!” Kyle called.

“Good,” Carmen said with a smile, reaching down for the two of them. She giggled at their confused expressions as she lowered them down to her panties, pulling the elastic away from her skin, “who wants front, who wants back?”

“Oh come on Carmen,” Kyle began with a laugh, “just carry us in your-“

“FRONT!” Samantha called.

With a chuckle Carmen slid Samantha down the front of her panties, nestling the girl in her curly black pubic hair as she let the elastic snap shut.

“Wait that’s not fair!” Kyle protested as Carmen brought him around to the back,

“Damn Kyle, lots of big girl butts in your life today, huh?” she teased, pulling the elastic away again. “Next time you should call the front first instead of arguing about it!” she dropped him in, his fall cushioned by her ample butt as he tumbled into the hammock of her panties. She teasingly waved goodbye to him as she let the elastic snape shut again, trapping him firmly in her crack.

She took a moment to enjoy their movements as she pulled her pants up, sealing the pair into their respective prisons even tighter as she zipped up the jeans. She sighed, putting her hands on her hips as she surveyed the room.

Well Carmen, you’ve complicated things for yourself even more, she thought wryly, simply walking out of the pair’s life seemed somewhat… off now, and as the reality of the sex filled afternoon set in, she wondered exactly where she, Kyle, and Samantha were supposed to go from here.

Fuck it, I’ll worry about it tomorrow, she thought, walking out of the room and down to the kitchen. Her mind turned to other things, I wonder if these two could eat pudding at that size? The texture shouldn’t be too different… I think I saw a box of mix in the pantry. She smiled, planning a dessert for her tiny passengers as she bounced down the stairs.

Kyle ran through the hallway, knowing if he could just make it to the doors at the end then he could-

“Too slow squirt!” Carmen laughed, casually pinning him against the wall. He grunted as she laughed, pressing his face into her breasts, the low cut prom dress making it easy.

He blinked, we’re at prom? He looked down, he was wearing a rented tux, a flower pinned to his jacket that matched Carmen’s, matched Carmen’s and… He looked to Carmen’s side, seeing Samantha standing there in her own glittering red dress, far more revealing than anything she’d ever worn back in school, perhaps, her wrist mounted corsage matched theirs, and she gave a sheepish smile as he noticed the collar around her neck, a leash attached to it and leading to Carmen’s hand.

“Hey Kyle,” she said nervously, “y-you ready?”

This doesn’t make any sense, he told himself as Carmen giggled, fixing the collar around his neck and tugging the pair towards the dance.

“Come on Kyle!” she called, “or should I make you tiny and put you somewhere fun while I dance by myself?”

He scowled, “you didn’t have shrinking powers in high school…”

Carmen just smirked, and a moment later he was dwindling away in front of her, Samantha was too, and the two huddled on the ground before the enormous form of their elegantly dressed bully. She bent down, scooping the pair up with a wide smirk, giving the pair a wink before she tilted her hand, sending them tumbling down in the massive valley of her cleavage.

“Have a fun prom guys!” Carmen said, exaggerating her steps and causing her breasts to jiggle, the movement causing her squirming passengers to slip deeper and deeper until they couldn’t be seen.

…

Kyle woke up with an almost painful erection straining against the blanket of their bed. Only it wasn’t their blanket, he looked down at the fabric, a red satin pair of panties that stretched over their bed like a comforter. Carmen had jokingly dropped her panties into their enclosure the night before, telling them to replace the bedspread with them, and he turned to see Samantha with a dumb smile on her face, cuddled up in the satiny fabric.

“Morning,” she said quietly, “you have weird sex dreams too?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled, “I think whatever pheromones of hers clung to the panties might have uh… impacted my sleep.”

“What was it?” Samantha giggled.

“She took us to prom on leashes,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Mine was getting put in her old cleats after soccer practice,” Samantha said with a shrug.

“So…” Kyle began, “do we… still want her to leave?”

Samantha frowned, “I don’t know, I mean… maybe not? I don’t know if it’s really our choice though, she seemed pretty determined to, but that was before we all…”

“Fucked each other senseless?” Kyle laughed. He flopped back onto the pillow, “I still can’t believe we did that…”

There was a tap on the glass, and the two hauled themselves out of bed, grabbing the tiny sized robes and throwing them on before walking together to the small switch that would make the glass transparent again. Kyle slapped the oversized, to them at least, button, revealing Carmen’s billboard sized face grinning it at them.

“Hey guys, do you want to regrow for breakfast? I think we can budget around three or four hours a day for you guys at four feet without interrupting your healing process, so if you want you could eat, then go back down and save your bigger time for more fun stuff later on!”

Samantha and Kyle looked at each other a moment, “What kind of breakfast are we talking about?” Kyle asked finally.

“I made sausages, eggs, and my signature breakfast potatoes with green onions!” Carmen said excitedly.

“Sounds great,” Samantha said, a little stunned, “Just uh, give us a minute and we’ll meet you at the little door over there.” She tapped the button to opaque the glass and shut the intercom again. “Carmen made us breakfast,” she said, a dumb grin on her face.

“Truly hell has frozen over,” Kyle replied, still digesting things, “well, so far she’s been a surprisingly good cook, that pudding last night could not have come out of a box, let’s try these signature potatoes of hers.”

The two of them got dressed and headed to the side entrance of their small container. It opened, and Carmen’s hand scooped them up as always. She was wearing a pair of running shorts and a loose-fitting T-shirt, and she had an amorous grin on her face…

“So… how about a little fun before breakfast?” Carmen asked, licking her lips.

Samantha and Kyle looked at each other, then grinned, “Yeah!” Samantha shouted.

“Lovely,” Carmen purred, “Kyle, pick your favorite body part, is it my tits? My ass maybe?”

Kyle’s mouth went dry, he had a specific request but… he wasn’t sure how Carmen was going to take it. He licked his own lips, searching for the words.

“Feet?” he said, almost too quietly to be heard.

Carmen raised an eyebrow, and an evil grin spread across her face, “Did you just say feet Kyle?”

“Yeah,” he admitted, his face red.

Carmen stared at him a moment, then looked to Samantha, resting in her other hand, then back to Kyle. She started chuckling, then it turned into a full laugh, leaving Kyle wanting to burrow himself into her clenched fist.

“Sammy, are you a foot-girl too now?” Carmen wheezed, looking down at her.

“Uh… a little,” Samantha admitted, “I don’t think I ever was before…”

“Oh man, I think I accidentally brainwashed you guys with the pheromones,” Carmen said, chuckling and shaking her head, “well, if I gave you guys a foot fetish, it only seems fair to let you indulge it.” She used the tips of her toes to begin peeling her socks off, balling them up and kicking them away, wiggling her toes as they felt the air.

Kyle stared down at them, feeling himself growing hard in Carmen’s grip as she lowered the pair to the floor. She sat on the bed, leaving the tiny pair staring at her bare feet.

“Well,” Carmen said smugly, crossing her arms, “give them a little kiss!”

Kyle and Samantha hesitantly stepped forward, Carmen’s feet were clean, she’d showered that morning apparently, but even a short amount of time in her socks had given them enough of an odor that he felt himself drawn to them. Before he knew it he was on his knees, kissing Carmen’s feet while she smirked at the sight. Across from him Samantha worshipped Carmen’s other toe, lustful moans reaching his ears as she embraced the oversized digit.

“Wow,” Carmen laughed, throwing her head back, “I should have come for you two after my workout! How’s it taste Sammy?” Samantha didn’t answer, sighing as the aphrodisiac effect melted her brain into a lustful puddle. Carmen gently lifted her foot, then slowly knocked Samantha onto her back. The tiny woman squealed as Carmen placed her big toe between her legs, slowly rocking it back and forth.

“Aww poor little bug,” Carmen teased, watching as Samantha squirmed, her back arcing as pleasure raced up her spine and a thin layer of grime from Carmen’s feet coated her. Samantha gave a pathetic mewl, Cumming herself as Carmen’s toe rocked back and forth.

Kyle gulped, realizing Carmen was turning to face him, a smug grin on her face. He almost wanted to run, but he was knocked over by the tiniest flick of her big toe. Her soft sole pinned him to the carpet, and he gasped as she began to slowly scrunch her foot over him, back and forth, gently just like she had with Samantha. He grunted as she brought him off, and he heard a rumbling giggle from somewhere overhead as Carmen felt the tiny droplets of his cum spray across the bottom of her foot. She lifted it up, admiring the stunned and flattened Kyle, blinking from the light as he felt the weariness of post orgasm bliss.

“You two really are a couple of little foot freaks now,” Carmen chuckled, “this is going to be fun to play with.” She stood up, snapping her fingers as the pair shot up to four feet, “Okay, time for breakfast!”

…

“Oh my god, what is in these?” Samantha moaned, scooping another forkful of potatoes into her mouth.

“Family secret,” Carmen said with a wink, “but it wasn’t anything that you two didn’t already have.”

“I don’t even know what all we have in this kitchen,” Kyle muttered, looking over the spice rack and shuttered pantry. “Samantha and I usually just eat frozen stuff or takeout.”

Carmen stared at the pair a moment, “you’re joking,” she said finally, “you two are rich enough that you could hire a full-time chef, and you’re eating Chef Boyardee for most meals?”

“It’s the high-end frozen stuff,” Kyle said defensively, “the boxes say healthy and everything!”

“Okay, well I’m a genetically engineered freak who can scarf three cheeseburgers for every meal and only gain like five pounds,” Carmen laughed, “but you two should be eating better.”

“You should join the Goblin cooking group,” Kyle said, “they’re always sending us recipes and stuff, but Samantha and I aren’t really into it.”

“I’m not on your stupid nerd app,” Carmen replied, staring into her plate of eggs and sausage.

Kyle and Samantha looked at each other a moment, then smiled, “Want to be?” Samantha asked with a grin.

…

“So this is a list of pickup soccer groups in the area?” Carmen asked, studying the dancing green goblin on her phone, pointing to various local sports clubs.

“You can adjust your interest,” Kyle explained, “anything from a full league to a casual show up on the spot pickup game.”

“I don’t know guys, I haven’t really touched soccer since high school,” Carmen muttered.

“It’s a shame, you were a real monster,” Samantha said with a smile, “a phoenix, that’s what they called you right?”

“Did you two ever see me play?” Carmen asked skeptically.

“Marching band, I played the trumpet during that fight song when you scored the final goal,” Samantha replied.

“Journalism club,” Kyle said with a smile, “I only saw the back half of that game, but I wrote that article with the title “Phoenix Rises at State,” a little corny, but I think it worked.”

“I fucking framed that,” Carmen muttered, how did I never notice Kyle wrote it? How did I never notice Sammy on that trumpet solo?

Kyle lit up, “do you have a copy of it anywhere?” he asked excitedly, “I don’t have any of my old journalism club stuff, I lost that old PC to a soda spill!”

“Nah,” Carmen said with a sad shrug, “I kept it framed, but I have no idea what I did with it.”

Kyle was visibly disappointed, but he gave her a smile, “ah, what’s high school anyway, just a bunch of bullshit, right?”

“Right,” Carmen said, looking away a moment and smiling, “just a bunch of bullshit…”

The three were quiet a moment, then Carmen sighed.

“Okay!” she said, turning to them with a smile, “Melinda hasn’t gotten back to me on a replacement Valkyrie for you guys, so-“

“What if we didn’t want a replacement?” Samantha asked uncertainly.

Carmen started, “Uh… well too bad,” she said firmly.

“What if we only trust you to keep shrinking us,” Kyle said, a defiant smirk on his face, “what if we use our army of lawyers and rabid fans to make you stay?”

“You wouldn’t,” Carmen muttered angrily, “you guys, it’s not a good idea, our history is-“

“Carmen!” Samantha shouted, cutting her off, “come on! You want this as much as we do!”

Carmen was quiet a moment, a silly smile on her face, “I… I’ll think about it.”

…

Melinda sighed, staring at her reflection in the lady’s bathroom mirror of the Chicago offices of the FBI. She was tired, and it had nothing to do with a lack of sleep. If the clinic nurse, Judy, was telling the truth…

My god, I left those two in the jaws of that monster. She sighed, she didn’t want to believe it, but all of the evidence added up, the missing serum, the complicit nurse… what had hurt most was when she’d called Carmen’s old high school principal in desperation, eager for any clues as to her history with the Westwoods.

Oh, those three hated each other, he’d said with a small laugh, rumor has it the two of them spiked her grade somehow, ended up in her getting washed out for an athletic scholarship, the whole thing is a damn shame…

A damn shame… she thought, looking at her phone and the missed calls from Carmen. She sniffed, not allowing herself a tear as she dismissed the alerts. She’s gone to a cold place, she even sacrificed one of her own to cover her tracks, to let her get this sick revenge… She wiped her face quickly and put on a stern face, the agents wouldn’t want Melinda, they’d want the Head Nurse, the Valkyrie.

And here I go, to put down a feral student once again, she thought bitterly, pushing her way out of the bathroom with a forceful push that caused the men waiting outside to jump in surprise.

“We’ll need large caliber bullets,” Melinda said coldly, “someone bring me a vest, I’m following behind… she won’t be making any of you small this time.”

She’ll get one chance to surrender, she thought bitterly, after that… She listened as the men debated what weapons the team would be equipped with.

…

Captain Summers had been a dirty cop for most of his career, starting with taking money to simply not be in certain places, and then finally ending up with direct involvement in moving goods across the city. This though… this was an escalation, an outright murder… well it had all be building to this, hadn’t it? He’d probably be disciplined on some level officially, but the money he would make from this would make the rest of his career an afterthought.

The swat van came to a stop in front of the mansion, the beat cops that had been assigned to watch it peered up curiously as Summers stepped out, leading his men in a tight line as they exited the vehicle.

“Shit,” one of the beat cops called, “we’re really doing this then? The Mendez girl’s the one we’re after?”

“Just keep the perimeter secure,” Summers said, checking his weapon as he gestured to his men to follow him.

“We’ve got the feds coming with their own team in about fifteen,” the cop said, “you guys should probably just help us keep things contained, it’s pretty quiet in there I don’t think she knows we’re on to her.”

Summers’ blood ran cold, if the federal team entered first the Valkyrie and the two rich snots would be taken into custody…

“No time, she’s been in there with the hostages for a good week now, those people need to be rescued,” Summers said.

The other cop looked at him, confused, “look, Captain, I respect your experience but-“

“The Valkyrie has no doubt seen the van by now,” Summers said impatiently, “she’s going to kill those people.” He turned back to his men, “We’re going in in five!” he shouted, the look on his face telling the men following him that he wouldn’t tolerate any more discussion on the matter.

…

Carmen squinted, looking out the window at the mass of police cars that had gathered on the front driveway, Samantha and Kyle were coming up behind her, watching the lights with confusion too. Carmen’s phone rang, and she looked down, feeling a mix of emotions as she saw Melinda’s name.

“Hello?” she said curiously, “Melinda I’ve been trying to-“

“We know Carmen,” Melinda said coldly.

“Know what? What’s going on?”

There was an angry sigh on the other end, “your nurse told us everything,” Melinda growled, “we know you lead Jormungand in Chicago, give yourself up or you will be shot.”

Carmen’s blood ran cold, “Melinda, I’m not in Jormungand! I don’t know what’s going on with Judy, but-“

“Then give yourself up,” Melinda snapped, “and we can sort this out, but I am in no mood for games Carmen!” she hung up the phone, leaving a stunned Carmen to stare at the screen.

“They’re setting you up,” Kyle said in shock, looking to Samantha, who nodded, “this is ridiculous, we’re going to tell them it’s all bullshit!”

“We’ll get the best lawyers in the country!” Samantha said angrily, “if they think they’re going to lock you up on some trumped up charge-“

“Thanks guys,” Carmen muttered, “but we’ve got company.” She nodded to a group of officers approaching the front door, and another group spreading out to go around the side, all wore body armor and carried assault rifles. Carmen sighed, and got on her knees, putting her hands on her head.

“This is unbelievable,” Kyle muttered, crossing his arms angrily as the police reached the door.

…

Summers hefted his gun, motioning for his men to take cover. With a grunt he kicked the door in, barging into the living room and seeing the Valkyrie waiting to be taken into custody, the four foot shrunken pair waiting behind her with indignant looks.

“I’m giving myself up,” Carmen called, “so just-“

“You two,” Summers shouted, gesturing with his gun at Samantha and Kyle, “move next to her!”

Kyle started, and he and Samantha looked at each other, hesitantly walking towards Carmen. Summers licked his lips, flicking the safety on his gun off. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself.

“SHE’S TRYING TO SHRINK ME, OPEN FIRE!” He screamed into his helmet headset.

Carmen’s eyes went wide, “WHAT!?”

Time seemed to slow, and Carmen’s heart skipped a beat as she realized the officer wasn’t leveling his gun at her, but at Kyle and Samantha. With a snarl she threw herself in front of them, and as the flash and the bang rang out, she felt a cold sensation the bullet hit her just below her left breast, then searing hot pain.

Missed the heart and lungs, she thought, almost clinically, won’t slow me down much, hurts like hell… Didn’t Melinda get shot once? She blinked away the absurd thought as pain spread through her toros, with a snarl she held out a hand and willed the captain to shrink. A moment later his body armor and assault rifle clattered to the ground, the man himself now a tiny squirming mass in his own puddled clothes.

“She shrank the captain!” another officer shouted, “shots fired! Officer down!”

“H-He tried to shoot us!” Samantha said, her eyes wide, “he wasn’t aiming at you he was-“

“They’re trying to hit us again!” Kyle realized, looking around in panic as officers swarmed the other entrances of the house, “Carmen, that cop was dirty, what if-“ he was cut off by a burst of gunfire, his world spun and he was suddenly thrown to the floor, shrinking out of harm’s way as Carmen’s massive hand scooped him up.

“Carmen, you’re hurt!” Samantha squeaked from her other palm as she sprinted through the house.

Kyle’s mouth went dry as he saw the bullet wound, gushing blood uncomfortably close to the center of Carmen’s chest. She had a pained look on her face, but it wasn’t slowing her down one bit. He felt numb, like he should say something, tell her to get help but…

“Carmen, my car keys are on the coat hook by the north garage!” he shouted.

Her head snapped down to him, pale and full of adrenaline, like she’d forgotten about her tiny charges as the officers pursued them, but she blinked and nodded. His world swayed as Carmen sprinted through the hallway, and his ears rang as gunfire rang out. Carmen ducked, and in front of them the drywall was shredded by bullets.

“This can’t be happening!” Samantha moaned, “K-Kyle, we have to-“

She was interrupted as Carmen kicked the garage door open, “Hold tight!” she shouted to her tiny passengers as she quickly stuffed them down the top of her shirt and into her sports bra, it was skintight, they’d be safe she reasoned.

Kyle and Samantha’s world went dark as they were plunged into Carmen’s clothing, the familiar soft expanses of her breasts muffling the chaos going on outside. Kyle tried to shout, he wasn’t sure what, but he felt so powerless…

Carmen grabbed the keys off the hook just as a flashbang grenade rattled into the hallway. Her eyes went wide, and with a shout she leapt into the garage, squeezing her eyes tightly shut as an explosion caused her ears to ring. She stumbled to Kyle’s car, despite his nerdy background the one in this garage was an expensive looking red sports car, and in spite of the situation she couldn’t help but chuckle to herself.

Compensating for something Kyle?

She pulled the door open, starting the engine with a roar. There was shouting from behind her as the first officer stormed into the garage, leveling his gun. She snarled and hit the gas, bursting through the garage door as the rattle of gunfire rang out behind her. She gritted her teeth as she rounded the front of the house, and the officers at the perimeter leapt out of the way as she roared down the driveway and onto the rural roads surrounding the estate.

…

Melinda quietly sat next to the FBI swat team members in the van, she was dressed as they were, a bright yellow “FBI” stenciled across the vest she wore as they approached. She frowned as she saw the team captain listening to his radio intently.

“We’ve got a situation,” he said finally, “local PD team got there first, they jumped the gun.”

Melinda’s eyes went wide, “they what!?” she hissed.

“We’ve got shots fired, an officer tiny, and…” the team captain paused, Melinda had been nothing but kind and professional with him and his men but… she was still a towering Amazon with the power to shrink him, he carefully chose his next words. “Carmen has taken the Westwoods and is fleeing by car.”

Melinda felt a rage she’d only felt once before in her life, and it took all of her willpower not to lash out at the captain. She sighed, and the entire van, full of armed FBI veterans, was tense for a moment.

Melinda saw the trepidation, these agents had worked on the Jormungand cases, they knew exactly what horrors a Valkyrie was capable of, and it broke her heart and cut through her rage to see such hardened men so afraid of her.

“Just… get us there,” she said finally as the men relaxed.

…

Arisu sat in the parking lot of a long closed and abandoned gas station, leaning on her motorcycle idly as she listened to the police radio bands. She smiled as she heard the report of shots fired, then frowned as she heard that an officer was down. Was that their pawn? Her curiosity was piqued further when she heard that Carmen had taken the Westwoods and was fleeing in a red Lamborghini.

She’s going on the run? Arisu couldn’t help but smile, Juliet’s plan had failed, Carmen and the Westwoods could easily turn themselves in to any police force now, even some small county sheriff would do, and they’d be safe. The plot to snuff them out would be foiled and Goblin would forever be beyond their reach… unless she intervened.

She started the motorcycle, grinning as she lowered the visor on her helmet. The truth was that she’d secretly hoped for something like this from the start, Jormungand had been her grand gesture of spite towards Melinda, but the day-to-day management of the organization brought her no pleasure, even with the wealth and power attached. In a perfect world someone else would have taken up the cause of tainting Melinda’s dream, of corrupting her precious Valkyries, and Arisu could have been the sword in the hand of such a person… but alas it fell to her… still she would enjoy these brief moments when she could act directly.

She savored the skidding of the tires on the rural gravel road and the smell of the dust in the air as her bike rocketed through the countryside.

…

Carmen drove through the countryside, the gravel roads crunching beneath the expensive sports car. Her heart was pounding, and her lower body was slick with blood from a bullet wound that had already stopped bleeding. She tried to gather her thoughts, but found them erratic. She blinked and scowled, she needed… brainpower.

She brought the car to a stop, raising a cloud of dust and throwing rocks around the rear tires. She reached into her shirt, drawing the Westwoods out. With a sigh she lowered them to the passenger seat, and with a thought brought them back up to four feet, big enough for seatbelts she figured.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?” Samantha squealed.

Kyle was calmer, a grim determination on his face, “Jormungand made another attempt on us,” he muttered. He gave Carmen a worried look, “are you… okay? That wound looks nasty.”

Carmen laughed, only a little pain shooting through her as she chuckled, “I’m a Valkyrie, a flesh wound like this is nothing, look it’s already sealing up!” she pulled her torn shirt away and wiped at the dried blood a moment, revealing a scabbed up wound already twisting in on itself.

“That cop tried to kill us,” Kyle said angrily, “who the hell did we piss off to get dirty cops on our back?”

Carmen shrugged, “Someone big, listen, I have no idea where to go from here, what do you guys think?”

Kyle and Samantha looked at each other a moment, “We find a rural police department,” Samantha began, “they’re less likely to be on the take from whoever is after us… and you, then we wait for the feds to come.”

“None of this makes sense,” Kyle muttered, “Samantha and I… we’re rich, and Goblin is a big social media thing, but Jormungand wants to strike at all of us now, there’s something going on here that isn’t just about us, it’s about you too Carmen.”

They were interrupted by the roar of a motorcycle engine, and all three of them stared as a black clad woman on a bike skidded into view a few hundred yards from them. The figure was a Valkyrie, that much was clear from the skintight outfit in spite of the late season cold, showing off the curves of her Amazonian physique.

“I don’t think that’s a cop,” Kyle muttered.

…

Arisu grinned as the Lamborghini stuttered to life. She steadied her bike across from them, a few hundred years down the graveled road, and drew her katana from the scabbard across her back. She flourished it in the sun, making sure the driver and her passengers would see it.

…

“Is that a sword!?” Kyle shouted.

“Who the hell is that,” Samantha breathed fearfully.

“Relax,” Carmen said, louder than she intended as she revved the engine, “she’s roadkill!”

…

Arisu giggled as the sports car sped towards her. She dismounted her bike, and began running towards it. Most Valkyries took their enhanced physiques for granted, the real prize of the gene therapy was the shrinking and the healing powers that came with it after all. Arisu was one of the few women who was eager to push herself, and as the car barreled down on her she deftly leapt to her side, lashing out with the sword and slicing through the front driver’s side tire.

No fucking way she just did that, Carmen thought, stunned as she tried to regain control of the spiraling vehicle. She shouted in surprise as they spun off the road, slamming the side of the car into a thick tree. The airbags went off, and Kyle and Samantha screamed.

Arisu grinned as she approached the wreck, swaying her hips slightly as she watched the Westwoods force the door up, tumbling out as they scrambled to their feet on the dirt road. She waved her hand, and the pair were six inches tall, looking up at her like the goddess of death she was. She normally liked her victims smaller of course, but she needed the pair big enough to be identified… a pair of crushed tinies on the side of the road? Nobody would believe Carmen hadn’t done it…

“No,” Kyle whispered in despair, looking up in horror as the black leather boot rose over them. He grabbed Samantha and squeezed his eyes shut.

Arisu’s triumph was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass, her eyes widened as she saw Carmen burst through the car’s windshield, snarling with rage as she leapt at the sword wielding woman. With a smirk she raised her blade, preparing to end the charge with a killing stroke, but instead of flesh her blade sparked against steel. Her eyes widened as she realized Carmen had parried her strike with a large tire iron, and she barely had time to leap back before being brained by it as Carmen swung it fast enough to make the air hiss.

“Nice sword,” Carmen growled, “is it a thousand years old or some shit?”

“Just a replica,” Arisu said, smiling sweetly as she circled the other Valkyrie, “forged on Honshu though.”

“The tire iron’s from Detroit,” Carmen snarled.

Arisu couldn’t help but grin, she felt her heart pounding as she charged Carmen again, and although her sword had reach, Carmen was careful, deftly blocking the blade with her own weapon. Arisu laughed madly, letting herself get reckless as she enjoyed the fight.

An edgy bitch, Carmen thought angrily, she’d met plenty of girls like that on the soccer field, all full of wicked witch energy until you give them a little taste of pain! She broke her defensive stance, leaping forward and surprising Arisu. With a flourish she brought the tire iron around, flipping both it and the sword away from them. Her fist rocketed into the other woman’s stomach, causing her to grunt and stagger back. Let’s see how you like that you-

Carmen frowned as Arisu looked up at her, a mad grin on her face like she’d just been told she won the lottery.

Shit, she’s the real deal.

Kyle and Samantha watched as the titans fought, cowering in the shadow of the dueling women. Fear and astonishment flew across their faces as Carmen blocked a flurry of blows, gritting her teeth and looking for an opening to strike back.

“Magnificent!” Arisu shouted, dancing around Carmen and raining punches, “I haven’t had a fight like this in years Carmen!”

“You’ve got my name, what’s yours?” Carmen panted, separating and shooting a glance to her tiny friends as she tried to think of a plan. Arisu was better than her, and if they kept fighting, she’d slowly wear Carmen down… and then… she gulped, wanting to yell for Sammy and Kyle to run, but she worried it would draw this madwoman’s attention back to them.

“Arisu Moriyama, the world serpent of Jormungand!” She beamed, throwing her arms wide as if taunting the trio.

“The head snake herself,” Carmen muttered, “a lot of shit’s starting to make sense. I can’t wait to tell Melinda how I knocked your teeth out.”

Arisu’s grin faltered at the mention of Melinda, and a dark look came over her, “I wonder how your precious nurse is taking your fall from grace Carmen?”

Carmen smirked, she’d found a sore spot, and like any bully she zeroed in on it, “So that’s why you’re here? Still trying to get Mommy’s attention?”

“Shut your mouth,” Arisu growled.

“Holy shit!” Carmen beamed, giving her best smug grin, “that’s it isn’t it! This whole thing is just one big tantrum!”

Arisu’s calm was gone, her face was red and she bared her teeth as she ran at Carmen. This time the blows came with such speed that Carmen barely had time to keep them from cracking her ribs, and she hissed in pain as her teeth were clacked together by a vicious uppercut. She stumbled back, hearing a scream of terror from beneath her as she almost crushed Kyle and Samantha by accident.

Arisu chuckled, readying for another assault, when the sound of sirens rang out through the countryside. She paused, her fists shaking with rage as she screamed in frustration.

“Time’s up,” Carmen panted, steadying herself with a grin. Suddenly she felt exhausted, the bullet wound throbbed, and she wondered how much blood she’d lost. Still, for how she felt it was almost like she’d just had a tough soccer game…

“No it isn’t,” Arisu hissed, “you listen to me Carmen, you care for those insects?” she nodded at Kyle and Samantha, still looking up at the giants in wonder. “If you go to the police now, I’ll kill them. No more plots, no more scheming and using proxies, I will find them and I will put them through a death that will make you weep to think about.”

“Get fucked,” Carmen spat, hearing the sirens get closer.

“Melinda, the police, you, all just delaying the inevitable, Et in Arcadia Ego Carmen, I am everywhere! I will get them eventually,” Arisu grinned, seeing the fear on the tiny couple’s face and the realization on Carmen’s that she spoke the truth.

“What the hell do you want then?” Carmen asked.

“Flee girl,” Arisu chuckled, “we will settle this later… in the field. I will come to you.”

With that she turned and sprinted back to her motorcycle, looking almost like a cheetah as she leapt on it in one fluid motion. The engine roared to life, and as soon as she’d come, Arisu was gone, disappearing into the countryside.

Carmen shakily bent down to pick up Samantha and Kyle, “you guys okay?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah… that was…” he blinked, “you were amazing!”

Carmen blushed, “so what do you guys think? Do we do what she says?”

“Kill her,” Samantha said suddenly, surprising the other two with the sudden venom in her voice, “we should kill her… the three of us,” she gulped, “together…”

Carmen scowled, the sirens were close enough that if not for the trees she was sure she’d be able to see the squadcars, “Sammy this isn’t a DnD game, that woman is-“

“She’s right,” Kyle said in a tired voice, “Carmen, I don’t want to be dealing with this for the rest of my life… don’t go to the cops, we’ll just… play along, then we can turn the tables on her somehow.” He tried to give the giant holding him a reassuring grin, “we can do this, we’ll lure her in and end this whole thing.”

Carmen sighed, then smiled, “Fuck it… I guess I’d better get running.” She stuffed the pair back down into her sports bra, enjoying the little surprised squeak they gave as she released the elastic, snapping them against her chest.

Carmen felt the pair squirm, but they were secure. She put her hands on her hips and looked down the road.

You’re shot, beaten half to death, and stranded in the countryside with no car, no wallet, no phone, and the cops and a psycho bitch are after you… She smirked, well, time to earn that Phoenix nickname…

Carmen leapt through the woods, the late November cold bothering her far less than it would have an un-enhanced human. As a Valkyrie, she was able to clear obstacles and cover ground with surprising speed. Every now and then she’d heard sirens, or even the buzz of a helicopter overhead, but from the way both had appeared less and less as the hours dragged on, it appeared she’d actually evaded her pursuers… for now.

“Carmen!” a muffled voice called from inside her sports bra. She peered down, hooking her finger around both her shirt and the now sweat soaked bra and pulling them away from her skin with a wet sticking sound.

“How are you guys doing in there?” she asked.

“We’re covered in your sweat and we’ve been tossed around by your giant tits for the last few hours,” Kyle replied, a little cross, “it’s like being in a bounce that got thrown down a mountain.”

Carmen couldn’t help but chuckle, “well you guys have to stay in there, it’s too chilly out here for tinies, and even if you were able to go to full size, I doubt you could move through this terrain like I can.” She smirked, “besides, you guys probably love being trapped in my bra.”

“Carmen!” Samantha squeaked, forcing her way up from the larger woman’s cleavage, “it’s fun when we’re at home relaxing! Not when you’re running through the woods like you’re Tarzan or something! Besides eventually they’ll get bloodhounds or something, even a Valkyrie can’t flee on foot forever.”

“She’s right!” Kyle called up, “go to the road and steal a car!”

Carmen blinked, “steal a car? Really?”

“If we live through this, I’ll buy the owner a new one,” Kyle said in a tired voice.

…

“J-Just please don’t kill me like you did to those others!” the man whimpered, shakily handing Carmen his keys.

Carmen scowled, she’d waited on the side of the rural road, this one paved at least, until a car had come, then she’d simply stepped out in front of it. The man had given up easily enough once she’d confronted him and demanded the keys, but apparently news of a fugitive Valkyrie was out, even if the details were murky…

“I didn’t kill anyone!” Carmen snapped, pulling the man out of the driver’s seat.

“You’re covered in blood!” the man said, pointing to her stained t-shirt, the bullet hole showing her skin beneath.

“It’s my blood,” Carmen said, rolling her eyes. She leaned over, quickly pulling her shirt and bra down. Kyle and Samantha tumbled into view with squeaks of terror, “Look, they’re fine, see!?”

The man gawked at the tiny and naked couple, and at the sight of Carmen’s immense cleavage. Kyle and Samantha tried to scurry back in, eager to avoid being seen.

“Carmen quit it!” Samantha shrieked, “I don’t want some rando to see us naked!”

“Uh, sorry,” the man muttered, looking away as Carmen smirked before slamming the door.

The car was older, Carmen wasn’t sure exactly what year, but old enough that it probably wouldn’t have any kind of remote shutdown or GPS. With a sigh she withdrew Kyle and Samantha, depositing them on the backseat, with a snap of her fingers they were up to four feet again, and the pair quickly scrambled to pull a scratchy wool blanket they’d found under the floor over themselves.

“Okay, we’ve got wheels, at least until that guy can report us to the cops,” Carmen muttered. She turned back to the Westwoods, “what’s the next step of my master plan?”

“Clothes, for all three of us,” Samantha said without missing a beat, “it’s getting close to Christmas, a lot of the shopping centers will have donation bins for the needy.”

“I’m feeling pretty needy,” Carmen said with a shrug, “I guess let’s get looking.”

“Head west,” Kyle muttered, “there’s a small farming town called Washdale about forty five minutes away, we’ll need to stop there once we steal some clothing.”

“Why?” Samantha asked.

Kyle smiled, “we’re going to need some money.”

…

Finding one of the donation bins hadn’t been too hard, although none of them were wearing clothing that fit particularly well or looked good. Carmen was in a men’s triple XL shirt promoting the super bowl appearance of a losing team from a few years before, and Kyle and Samantha were in matching children’s sized striped shirts and jeans that told the story of a corny family photo.

From there the trio had followed Kyle’s instructions, reaching the small farm on the outskirts of the town of Washdale as the sun began to go down. Kyle had leapt out, leading the group and wincing as he walked, barefoot, over the coarse earth of the harvested-out cornfield, finally stopping near the center.

“And… forty eight,” he muttered, finishing the count of paces from the edge of the field.

“Forty eight what?” Carmen asked, “why exactly are we out here?”

Kyle just grinned, kneeling down and pawing through the dirt a moment. Samantha and Carmen’s eyes went wide as the Goblin app mascot grinned up at them, stamped in bronze.

“The Goblin holiday treasure hunt,” Kyle said, lifting the lid off, “I had this treasure buried out here as part of the contest, I feel kind of bad for taking something that was meant for our users,” he said, gesturing to the glittering gold coins, “but we’ll make it up to them with a free hat for their avatars.”

“Well, now we’ve just got to find a hotel that takes gold,” Carmen said with a grin, kneeling down and running her hands through the coins.

“Don’t be silly,” Samantha said with a laugh, “we’ll go to a pawn shop or something, how long can Kyle and me last at full size before we start getting sick?”

“Maybe thirty minutes,” Carmen said, a little awed at how easily Kyle and Samantha were navigating things.

Kyle pursed his lips, “Okay, so Carmen you grow one of us to full size and we take it to a pawn shop or something. We won’t get a good deal on it,” he said, chewing over the details, “but I guess that doesn’t really matter, we need maybe a few thousand in cash to last us a few days, after that we’re either with our money again or we’re dead. Sound good?”

“How often are you guys on the run?” Carmen asked, a little amused, “you’re really taking to all this pretty well…”

“Samantha kills guards in roleplaying games and she doesn’t play a stealth character,” Kyle said with a shrug, “so… we’ve had a surprising number of discussions about evading the law.”

…

“As one of the founders of Goblin, I am shocked and saddened tonight to hear of what the rogue Valkyrie, Carmen Mendez, has done to my dear friends Kyle and Samantha Westwood,” Richard said solemnly, “wherever you are… you are in my prayers.” He reached up, wiping at a nonexistent tear that hopefully wouldn’t appear too pandering to the cameras. He gave the collected paparazzi a steely look, “for too long this Jormungand has threatened the public, I stand before you a victim of their terror, they have threatened me, tried to kill me, but I’m still standing!” applause rang out and he nodded with a smile and continued, “To Melinda Groves, I speak as a man hurt by the loss of his friends, if you are tied to Jormungand in any way, I will find it, and everyone on the Goblin App will be with me when we expose you!” This time there were cheers, whistles. Richard smiled, and walked away from the podium that had been erected in front of their corporate headquarters, waving as security ushered the press away from his waiting limo.

“Well done!” Juliet beamed as he stepped in, “you really should be in politics Richard, you’re wasted in business.”

He couldn’t help but smile as he reached into the limo’s minibar, drawing out an old-fashioned mixer and a small bottle of Jack Daniels, “What can I say? I was student council president.”

“The head snake really wants to needle Melinda,” Juliet chuckled, “even with all of our connections we won’t be able to get any law enforcement agencies interested in investigating her, but still…”

“What makes her so untouchable?” Richard asked with a frown, passing Juliet a drink.

Juliet rolled her eyes, “Melinda is a true believer in her own cause, people like that tend to attract diverse friends, especially when they can heal fatal disease. She spent a decade preparing to go public, a surprising number of important people had healing for themselves or their families done by her…” Juliet swirled her cocktail a moment, “she’s truly a remarkable woman… the World Serpent hates her, she wants her broken in a very particular way I think..”

“What way is that?” Richard asked, raising an eyebrow.

“If she just wanted Melinda dead, I think it could be done,” Juliet muttered, “even a Valkyrie is just flesh and blood at the end of the day, our dear leader though, she’s after some kind of spiritual victory,” she smirked at Richard’s grimace, “the World Serpent… she doesn’t see things like you and I do, Mammon doesn’t interest her half so much as Ares.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t follow,” Richard said quietly.

“It doesn’t make much sense to me either,” Juliet giggled, leaning towards Richard and angling her glass for a toast, “but whatever is going on between the two of them, we stand to profit greatly, ride the current and mind the rocks!”

…

Richard gasped as Juliet slammed him against the wall of his penthouse apartment, the Valkyrie was the first woman he’d ever met who could manhandle him like this. She giggled as she shifted, carrying him bridal style towards his bedroom. Was he smaller? He was, he was sure of it, the ends of his sleaves dangled limply as she tossed him onto the bed, and as the grinning form of the enormous woman came into view, he found himself tossing and struggling in his own shirt as though it were a blanket.

He gasped in surprise as fingers as thick as his legs curled around him, drawing him naked out of his piled clothing. Juliet giggled, licking her lips excitedly as she brought him up to her billboard sized face.

“Look at you!” she breathed, “my very own little toy…” She smirked at his reaction, “don’t worry Richard… I won’t hurt you, well any more than you want me to anyways.”

She crawled the rest of the way onto the bed, gripping him tightly as she flipped over onto her back, laying across the mattress in her stunning black dress. Her hair was spread out around her like a blonde ocean, and with the amorous smile that lit up her features below him, Richard could almost forget what a monster the woman was, or what a precarious position being tiny around her was…

The fear came back to the front of his mind with a roar as she brought him to her mouth, dipping his legs in, and then slowly working the rest of his body down, her red lips seeming to tighten around him as she sucked his lower body, then his torso, then finally ringing his neck like a soft pillow before sucking him in with an audible *slurp*

His world was dark as he was tossed back and forth by her tongue, screaming for help, for mercy, for anything. The wet slimy appendage was a monster, exploring every nook of his body and seeming to enjoy battering his struggling form against the sides of her cheeks, coating him with her thick sticky spit and plastering his hair to his head as her mocking giggle echoed up from the dark tunnel of her throat.

Richard fought helplessly, banging his fists against the wall of her teeth as her tongue dragged him back for another round of playful wrestling. He coughed as he swallowed mouthfuls of her spit, and his heart leapt with hope as her lips parted, letting him see the light of his bedroom again. A pair of fingers dipped in to retrieve him, and he almost cried with relief as Juliet lifted him out of her mouth, the cool air quickly hitting his wet skin as she smiled up at his dangling form.

“I-I could’ve drowned!” he sputtered, trying to wipe her saliva out of his eyes.

Juliet just laughed and rolled her eyes, “please Richard, it’s nearly impossible to drown someone your size, which is good considering where I’m going to put you next…”

Richard paled as Juliet lowered him down to the bed, her raised knees on either side of him like mountain peaks as she spread her legs, giving him a good view up her dress. She wasn’t wearing any underwear, and as the warm smell of her arousal reached him, Richard’s fears were confirmed as to exactly what part of her body Juliet intended to place him in next.

“L-Let’s slow down,” He stammered, looking up at the cavern formed by her dress, “is uh… is this safe-“

Juliet’s response was for her hand to dip down behind him, her fingers gently pushing him along as he stumbled across the bed. She bit her lip, trying not to laugh as he disappeared beneath the hem of her dress, walking like a condemned man to his final destination.

She gasped as she felt his slick form press between her lips, and reaching her hand up her dress once more she helped guide him in. His movement was electric, causing her to writhe and moan as he struggled, the powerful muscles of her womanhood pressing him from all sides, almost desperate to keep him from escaping.

Juliet let her back arch as she moaned, this was always such a wonderful feeling, to have someone completely inside her, at the mercy of her most intimate places… her orgasm alone would be enough to overpower them, to kill them if she set her mind to it, crushing tiny bodies in the throes of her pleasure.

Her eyes shot open and she stared at the ceiling, smiling as she came, fighting to keep herself composed as Richard’s tiny body slid out of her. She collapsed back onto the bed with a sigh, grinning to herself as her hand fumbled around for her tiny lover. She found him, limp, weakened, defeated, and pulled him back up, gently laying the tiny man between the pillars of her heaving breasts.

“Wonderful job Richard,” she said in a low voice, “see, it wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“Y-Yeah,” he stammered, still in shock as her cum began to dry on his skin. He looked up at the massive pillowy walls on either side of him and was suddenly thankful for the warmth. He’d done it, he’d slept with Juliet… kind of. He gulped as he realized he was being drawn further in to her web, a helpless fly to her spider…

Juliet was thinking very similar thoughts, and with a chuckle she reached down and patted his head with a single finger. He was hers now, he had been since he’d first come to her for help eliminating his business partners, but in this moment the reality of his situation was plainly on display for both of them.

A shame he’s too useful to permanently shrink, she thought with a sigh, he’d have made a lovely pet. She smiled as she looked down at him, still… we’ll have our fun.

…

Carmen stepped out of the shower, savoring the fine feeling of finally being able to wash the mix of blood and sweat off herself after a day on the run. She wanted nothing more than to throw herself on the cheap motel bed and sleep, and she chuckled as she saw Kyle and Samantha, each four feet tall, lounging on the end, watching the TV.

“Carmen was always a real psycho,” a dark-haired woman said to a news reporter, “she hated Kyle and Samantha, but I never thought she’d kidnap them, you know?”

Carmen scowled, “that bitch was on the soccer team with me, she came up with half the stuff I did to you guys!”

“She’s blaming you for everything,” Kyle said with a shrug.

“Not just her either,” Samantha said, “they’ve got half your old gang on TV talking about how you were always a serial killer waiting to happen.”

“Oh, come on!” Carmen said, sitting on the bed between them and causing the springs to creak, “those girls were all just as bad as I was!” She looked to Kyle and Samantha for support, but Samantha bit her lip and awkwardly looked away, while Kyle just cleared his throat uncomfortably.

“They’re hardly innocent, how’s that?” Kyle said finally, hoping to move past the subject.

Carmen sighed, it hadn’t been quite what she was hoping to hear, “Yeah, I got it,” she muttered.

“This latest incident has many questioning the role Melinda Groves had in the founding of the Valkyrie program,” the newscaster continued, the screen flashed to a picture of a smiling Melinda and Carmen shaking hands. “Critics of the program have often called into question Groves’ judgement in which candidates receive Valkyrie gene enhancement, with Goblin partner Richard Stevens now leading the charge.” The screen cut to Richard, dressed in an expensive looking suit and standing at a podium.

“I will use all of the resources at Goblin’s disposal to get to the bottom of this,” Richard said in a serious tone, “whether or not Melinda Groves is personally involved, she bears responsibility for what is happening with these rogue Valkyries in Jormungand, and I’m ready to hold her to account even if other businessmen and political leaders aren’t!”

Carmen growled and reached for the remote, turning the television off, “Fucking hell,” she muttered, “they’re going after Melinda too?”

“That’s… weird,” Samantha said, “Richard doesn’t usually care about that sort of thing, like I can believe he’d want to get revenge for us maybe, or for himself since they’re after him too, but… This whole grandstanding thing about the Valkyries? It’s not like him at all.”

“What kind of guy is he normally?” Carmen asked curiously.

“I’ve been friends with him for years now, but he’s honestly a selfish asshole,” Kyle said with a sigh, “a great guy to have in your corner, when he is in your corner, otherwise?” He shrugged, “Samantha’s right, it’s weird that he suddenly wants to be some kind of reformer or pushing for investigations and stuff.”

“And he’s after Melinda, I don’t think he even said my name,” Carmen said, thinking, “that girl, Arisu, she hates Melinda, her whole mood changed just hearing her name…”

Kyle and Samantha exchanged a look, “Carmen,” Samantha said finally, “Richard’s not a great guy, but he wouldn’t-“

“Think about it, you’re dead, he gets the company, and he gets to be the big guy in the media pushing for investigations into Jormungand,” Carmen said, “he gets everything he wants and he doesn’t just look clean, he looks like the fucking hero…” Carmen clenched her fists, “and Melinda gets heat for all the stuff I supposedly did…”

Kyle and Samantha were silent a moment, then Kyle spoke first, “It all makes a certain kind of sense,” he said finally, “but if it is Richard…”

“A trap,” Samantha said eagerly, “we can contact him Kyle! If we can get ahold of a smart phone or a computer, we can message him on Goblin using our admin account!”

“So what, you want to just fucking ask him if he’s trying to kill you?” Carmen asked, crossing her arms, “I feel like he’s going to be a little too clever for that one.”

“No,” Samantha explained, “we tell him where we are… or close to where we are, and we tell him to send help.”

Kyle’s eyes went wide, “if the cops come, he’s clean, if Arisu comes…”

“Then we’ve found who sent Jormungand after you two in the first place,” Carmen said, falling backwards on the bed with a sigh, “it sounds good, but I’m gonna need to pick this one up tomorrow guys, I’m beat.”

Kyle yawned, and he peered over to see Samantha stretching too, “Fine by me,” he said, “it’s been a hell of a day… Samantha do you want to help me get the foldout couch up or-“ he suddenly felt the room stretching, his clothes becoming looser as the ceiling pulled away. He blinked as he came to a halt at maybe two feet tall. A quick glance to his left saw Samantha similarly struggling in her now oversized clothing.

“Forget the foldout couch,” Carmen said with a grin, leaning up to wrap an arm around each of them, “there’s plenty of room on this bed…” She flopped back again, tucking each of her shrunken prisoners under an arm like they were stuffed animals, snuggling them close to herself with a pleased sigh.

“C-Carmen, at least let us get under the covers or something!” Kyle muttered, struggling against her grip. From the soft sound of her breathing it sounded like she’d already fallen asleep, the day having taken its toll on her at last. With his own sigh Kyle gave up, and he heard Samantha’s snore from the other side of the bed just as he began to drift off himself.

…

Richard was back at his full size, staring his bathroom mirror and trying to decide whether to be traumatized or proud of the events of the previous night. He glanced back into the bedroom where the Amazonian woman was tangled in his bed’s blankets, sleeping peacefully with a smug smile on her face. He sighed, wondering if she’d want to continue this unorthodox relationship once the Westwoods were dead and the whole thing was over.

His thoughts were interrupted by a message on his phone, and with a frown he picked it up. It was a message over Goblin, while he didn’t care as much for the app itself as he did for the money it made, he still had an admin account from the early days when it had just been him, Kyle, Samantha, and a dozen friends.

Rich, it’s me Kyle, this whole thing is a big misunderstanding, Carmen didn’t kidnap us, it’s all a setup! Richard couldn’t help but chuckle as he read, while he wasn’t aware of everything he thought it was a little endearing that the first thing Kyle had wanted to do was clear the Mendez girl’s name.

That’s great buddy! Where are you and Sammy? I’ll send the cops!

I need you to send me some lawyers and stuff first, Carmen, Samantha, and me, we’re all going to turn ourselves over to the cops at once, make a big media event of it so we can show everyone Carmen was innocent.

Richard chuckled, Kyle you stupid fuck, you’re walking right into it! He kept reading as Kyle gave them a location in a small town about an hour away. Then with a smug grin walked over to the bed and gently shook Juliet awake.

“What!?” She growled, blinking angrily as he handed her the phone. The sleep quickly left her eyes as she read, and a broad grin came over her features as she leapt out of bed, “now isn’t that a pleasant way to start the day,” she laughed, “I’ll get in touch with the top snake.”

…

Arisu smiled and stretched, walking barefoot through the kitchen of the small country home to get herself a pot of coffee. It was a cheap store brand mix, but she still enjoyed the smell as she poured it into a mug emblazoned with a local sports team’s logo.

“You might as well come out,” Arisu giggled, leaning against the counter, “it’s that, or stay small and wait for the rats to get you, and I’m sure I heard some last night, a perk of country living I suppose…”

The young man who’s house she’d “borrowed” for the night nervously came out from under the table. She’d released him into the kitchen when she’d gotten up, not bothering to watch her step as she enjoyed his coffee and a few pieces from a jar of dried jerky on the counter.

“What was your name again?” She asked in a bored voice as she sauntered over to him. She smirked at his fear, she’d sent him down to two inches, he’d have to really raise his voice to be heard.

“D-Dave miss!” he shouted.

“Much more polite this morning,” she giggled, tracing her foot in a slow circle around his tiny form. The night before she’d kicked in his door, tired and looking for a place to sleep. The isolated farmhouse seemed ideal, and she’d come across Dave in a sad state drinking straight from a bottle of cheap whiskey. He’d called her “bitch” and even attempted to shoot her with a small pistol. A shrinking had put a quick stop to that, and he’d spent the night tiny, at the bottom of her boot while she enjoyed his bed. “So Dave… why does a man like yourself spend his evenings drinking all alone in such a big house?”

“M-My wife left me,” he stammered.

“Sad,” Arisu mused, and with a flick of her toe she knocked him over, sending the tiny man sprawling to the tiled floor. He screamed in terror as her foot, the size of a bus, hovered over him. Slowly her toes came down, cradling him as they held him against the floor.

“P-Please!” he wheezed as her toes scrunched around him painfully, “Don’t!” his nose was filled with a mix of vanilla, lotion maybe? And the slight grime that had built up as Arisu had walked around barefoot. He gasped for breath as her grip on him loosened a moment.

“You know, a lot of people write me off as some kind of monster,” Arisu said with a mocking sigh, “but really I’m just putting things the way they should be, why have this phenomenal power if you’re not going to change the world for the better?”

“Y-Yeah?” he asked, confused and blinking a few tears out of his eyes.

“Now, your life is pretty pathetic,” Arisu chuckled, gesturing around the dirty house, “you’re lower than a cockroach! You really should be smushed into a red stain on the floor.”

His eyes went wide, “N-No, please, I’ve got-“

“So much to live for,” Arisu giggled, glancing at the unwashed dishes piled in the sink, “I am feeling charitable Dave,” she said, her smile growing wider as she squeezed him with her toes again, “I’ll let you live today, and we can see if your life really can be any better.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket, making a calendar reminder.

“W-What are you doing?” he managed to grunt, struggling to breathe as her toes compressed around him like a steel cage.

“Setting a reminder,” she said casually, “one year from today, I’ll come back to check on you, see if you’re living up to your potential!” His eyes went wide and she shrugged, “if you’re still a sad drunk mess living in filth, I’ll crush you like the bug you are, if you’re a happy man bringing happiness to those around you? I’ll never bother you again, either you’ll be dead or you’ll be happy! Either way, the world will be a better place.”

“T-That’s insane!” he protested.

“I could just crush you now,” Arisu said with a smile, “I love squeezing the life out of people… there’s something so thrilling about feeling you pop like grapes, your blood running between my toes and-“

“W-What should I do?” he screamed in panic, “t-to be better?”

Arisu laughed a harsh sound with no mirth in it, “you are asking the wrong woman! Maybe a new job, perhaps a new girlfriend, who can say? Success in life takes many forms, but I will know it when I see it.” She grinned and squeezed her toes against him a final time, relishing the *crunch* scream of pain as his arm and a pair of ribs broke. She laughed, lifting her foot off of him and looking down as he writhed in agony, clutching his side.

With a snap of her fingers Dave was full sized again, his face pale and covered in sweat as he gritted his teeth against the pain. He looked at her with a mix of rage and terror, it was a sentiment she was well familiar with, and she just shook her head and smiled as she drained the rest of the coffee, placing the mug next to the overfilled sink.

Her phone beeped, and she casually checked her messages, smiling when she saw that Juliet had information on her true prey’s whereabouts. She sauntered through the house, collecting her things and slinging her sword’s scabbard back over her back. She paused as she headed towards the door, Dave had managed to haul himself into a kitchen hair, and he looked at her warily as she regarded him again.

“Remember, one year!” Arisu said with a happy grin, “and don’t bother trying to hide, I’ll find you!” She hummed a happy tune as she walked down the driveway to where she’d parked her motorcycle. It always felt good to help people.

Carmen, Kyle, and Samantha watched as Arisu’s motorcycle pulled into the hotel where they’d been staying. The three of them were across the street, watching from inside a restaurant. Kyle and Samantha were, for the moment, full size, and although Carmen’s height drew a few stares, most of the diner’s patrons seemed uninterested in anything but nursing hangovers with runny eggs and coffee.

“Son of a bitch,” Kyle muttered angrily, watching Arisu approach the hotel room they’d been staying in, “Richard fucking sold us out!”

“I can’t believe it,” Samantha said, stunned, “he was one of your groomsmen!”

“I always knew he was a real bastard,” Kyle growled, “but… god damnit Richard, trying to have us killed?”

“Money’ll do that,” Carmen muttered, “come on guys, let’s leave through the kitchen.” Outside of their hotel room they saw Arisu reappear, an angry snarl on her face as she looked for them.

The three were silent as they walked through the restaurant’s kitchen. The diner staff gave them odd glances, and a grizzled cook who looked like he belonged on a wanted poster was about to say something until they opened the back door, exiting with a brief nod.

“We should have come up with a trap or something,” Carmen muttered as the trio walked to a beaten old brown car they’d “borrowed” after ditching their previous ride earlier that morning.

“I didn’t think she was actually going to come,” Kyle sighed, “fuck me… now we’ve got to deal with Richard too.”

“Richard will be easy,” Samantha muttered, “let’s talk about the killer ninja lady that’s on us now.”

“First things first,” Carmen said with a grin, “time for you two to go small, let’s say six inches, big enough for me to hear you without having to shout too much.”

“Wait Carmen not right here in the parking-“ Samantha began, but Carmen just giggled as Samantha fell through her clothes with a squeal of surprise. A moment later she was balling up the clothes, taking their tiny occupants with her as she tossed them into the passenger seat. With a final look around to make sure that nobody had seen, Carmen started the car.

“Carmen!” Kyle shouted, peeking out of the pile of clothing on the passenger’s seat, “you’ve got to be more careful! We’re on the run remember? A six foot three woman is suspicious enough, let alone one who shrinks people in public.”

“Sheesh sorry,” Carmen muttered, pulling onto the highway, “it’s my first time on the run from the law!” She sighed, “okay, so how exactly do we want to deal with Arisu? I don’t suppose you have some machine guns buried for a holiday giveaway somewhere?”

“No,” Kyle muttered, “if we could get our hands on some guns though-“

“Fat chance,” Samantha said, cutting him off, “we don’t even know how to use them if we did, and besides from what I’ve seen guns don’t stop Valkyries.”

“We’re like zombies,” Carmen said with a small smile, “you’ve got to hit us in the head if you want us to really go down, that said getting shot hurt like hell and I’m pretty sure if we filled her up with enough lead it would do the trick.”

“Okay, do you know how to use a gun?” Samantha asked, a little exasperated.

“I shot my dad’s hunting rifle a few times, that’s it,” Carmen admitted. She paused, her eyes lighting up, “actually… it’s probably still at our old family cabin!”

“Where?” Kyle asked.

“It’s up in Michigan,” Carmen explained, “maybe four hours from here, there’s a little resort town we used to go to in the summers, but I don’t think my parents have been there since I moved out.”

“And you think you can get into it?” Samantha asked.

“There’s a key hidden in a fake rock and I know the alarm code,” Carmen said with a smile.

“And you’re not worried that the cops or Jormungand might be watching it?” Kyle asked, it all sounded too good to be true, a place they could hide out at and it had a gun in it to boot…

“The town it’s in has maybe three cops,” Carmen replied dismissively, “I’m sure they drove by it, but I doubt they’ve got a guy sitting outside of it or anything. If Jormungand is watching it… well we want to confront them at some point, right?”

“When we’re ready,” Kyle cautioned, “showing up and scrambling for your dad’s old bolt action rifle while a crazy woman with a sword hacks the door down doesn’t sound like a winning plan to me.”

“Carmen,” Samantha asked suddenly, “is there any chance you could get a sword?”

Carmen snorted as she took a highway exit headed north, towards Michigan, “I’m not picking up swordplay in the next few days Sammy, but I’m not half bad with my fists if she’s waiting for us.” She looked back at the road, not wanting to say much more. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened, and she bit her lip, wondering what would happen if she fought Arisu again.

You’ll beat her, she told herself hollowly, you don’t have any other choice.

She flipped on the radio, catching the end of a weather forecast warning of more winter weather on the way.

And we’re heading into Michigan, Carmen thought wryly, hope Arisu likes snow…

…

“What do you mean it’s going to impact the search?” Melinda asked angrily, “it’s just a bit of cold!”

Agent Wilkins sighed, staring down into his coffee cup. He was a fifteen-year veteran of the FBI, and the agent in charge of the operation. In theory Melinda was just an outside consultant, in practice she had more control over things than he was entirely comfortable with, though to her credit she always deferred to his authority. The two were meeting now in his private office, away from anyone else.

“They’re saying it’s going to be the storm of the century,” Wilkins explained, “hurricane force winds over the Great Lakes, feet of snow on the land. The national guard’s being activated, they’re briefing the president on it Melinda,” he said with exasperation, “all the local police affiliates are going to be busy, and we can’t exactly have our agents moving in the field in those kinds of conditions. We can get a few snowplows to give our team some mobility, but unless someone calls in a direct sighting of them… We’re stuck.”

Melinda sighed, “I understand…”

“If it’s any consolation, once it starts to come down Mendez won’t be able to move either,”

“A small favor from God,” Melinda muttered, reaching for a cigarette. She lit it up, ignoring the flinch of the man as she took a long puff. She rolled her eyes at his reaction, “it’s me smoking or you spending all of our meetings fantasizing about me,” Melinda growled, “we must pick our poisons unfortunately.”

“Yeah,” Wilkins muttered, looking away a moment. Working with Melinda so frequently had made dealing with the pheromone effect something of second nature to him, intrusive sexual thoughts were common, and though he hated the smell the cigarettes did make them easier to ignore. He took a moment, steeling himself before delivering the next round of bad news, “Arisu Moriyama has been spotted in the Chicago area,” he said quietly.

Melinda coughed, almost choking on her cigarette, “WHAT!?” she rasped, “why didn’t you tell me?”

“I only just found out in the last hour,” Wilkins said, “she walked into some poor guy’s house and threatened to step on him I guess, from what I’ve seen of her work, he’s lucky to be alive.”

“She’s here for Carmen,” Melinda spat angrily, “they’re going to link up together and disappear.”

“It’s odd though,” Wilkins muttered, “why would she come personally? Jormungand is friendly with most other criminal groups, it would be easy to get Carmen out of the country if that’s what they wanted…”

“She’s here because she wants to spit in my eye,” Melinda sighed, “I think the Westwoods are still alive, Arisu is prone to dramatic gestures, maybe they fit in somehow.”

Wilkins glanced out the window at the dark grey sky, seeing the trees in the parking lot sway slowly back and forth, “Whatever it is, we’re all getting stuck soon… you can just tell there’s a storm coming in,” he muttered, “a bad one…”

…

Carmen felt something in her die a little as she saw the boarded-up storefronts in the resort town where her family had spent so many happy summer getaways. Mapleport had at one time been a thriving community, with the fishing industry and tourism giving the town a vibrant boardwalk. Now though, the fishing boats were docked, rusting at anchor in a Marina with support pillars crusted over with striped mussels, and the hotels that lined the beach were dark, the pools emptied and the parking lots cracked and deserted.

“The economy has not been great to this place,” Kyle muttered, peering out the window. Carmen had grown the two of them back to four feet tall as they’d entered the final stretch of their journey, and they peered out the windows of the car as the desolate town rolled past.

“It used to be nicer,” Carmen muttered defensively. Was it though? She wondered, or was that another thing she was remember better than it had been?

The town itself seemed lethargic, a sleepy place driven to deeper slumber by the cold winds blowing across the lake, a sure warning of a harsh winter storm on its way. Nobody so much as glanced at the car as they rolled to the edge of town, where the lakeside cabins lay in secluded plots covered in evergreens.

Carmen almost breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the old family cabin, and she drove around to the back of the gravel driveway, parking their “borrowed” car out of sight of the road. The three of them stepped out and walked up to the cabin, and Carmen withdrew the key from a fake rock near the door with a grin.

“Looks like mom and dad still own the place,” she said, pushing the door open. She quickly moved to the alarm, typing in the code and disarming it with a loud beep. She looked around, grimacing at the thin layer of dust on everything, “looks like they haven’t used it in a while… there’s a groundskeeper guy that is supposed to come by once a month to check on it… I’m going to check the pantry and see if there’s any food.”

Kyle and Samantha walked in after her, glancing around the dilapidated cabin. From the look of things there was a living room with a simple couch and a truly ancient television, and a pair of bedrooms. Kyle pushed one open, revealing a room decorated in soccer posters, with handful of old trophies on the dresser.

“This must have been Carmen’s room,” Kyle muttered as Samantha followed him in.

“Holy shit!” Samantha laughed, pointing to a picture frame on the nightstand, “look!”

“No way,” Kyle grinned, grabbing it, “come on, let’s show her!”

“All right guys,” Carmen called, “the only stuff here is a bunch of canned beans my dad bought when he thought the world would end in 2012, so-“

Kyle and Samantha walked back into the main room of the cabin, smiling and holding the frame up to her. She went silent as she slowly took it from them, her eyes going wide as she read the framed school newspaper article.

“Phoenix Rises at State,” she grinned, blinking away a quick tear as she looked at the photograph of her scoring the final goal in the state championship, “by Kyle Westwood… and… Sammy look, you’re in the back there, in the stands!” she pointed to the school band assembled behind the triumphant shot, Samantha was there, in a band uniform, trumpet at her lips.

The three of them were silent, looking at the old school newspaper article as they thought over everything that had happened between them. The wind howled outside as the storm grew more powerful over the lake, and the three shivered, looking back at the open door.

“I’m uh… gonna run out and get us something to eat,” Carmen said finally, walking towards it.

“Aren’t you worried about being recognized?” Kyle asked uncertainly.

Carmen sighed and gave a small smile, “I feel like everything’s going to end pretty soon anyway, don’t you think?” A gust of wind seemed to emphasize the point, the trees swayed outside as the sound of the waves on the shore a few hundred yards away picked up.

“Yeah,” Kyle said quietly, and he looked to Samantha, who nodded solemnly.

“Come back to us though, okay?” Samantha said quickly, “before the end.”

“I will,” Carmen promised with a smile and a nod. She had a sudden mischievious smirk on her face, “try to have a little fun while I’m gone.” She winked, and suddenly Kyle cried out in surprise as he disappeared into his clothing. Samantha winced, readying for her own shrinking, but it didn’t come. Carmen smirked, “I just get this feeling like you guys like Sammy to be the big one, am I wrong?”

“Nope!” Samantha beamed, reaching into the pile of clothing and fishing out a naked Kyle.

“Well uh, I wouldn’t mind being the-“ Kyle started, but Samantha covered his mouth with a single finger, giggling as Carmen walked out the door. Once the Valkyrie was gone, she removed her finger, smirking down at her tiny husband.

“Nice try,” Samantha laughed, “but… you’re mine Kyle!”

He just sighed, giving her a goofy grin, “Of course…” he made a mental note to have Carmen shrink Samantha for him one of these days… he had a few ideas of what he could do to his wife if he had the opportunity to hold her in his hands, but for now he was her toy.

Samantha giggled, carrying him over to the couch and flopping down on it, “Carmen said to have a little fun… we’ve had a stressful couple of days, I’m thinking I will.” She licked her finger, bringing it down between his legs and causing him to hiss as she slowly circled it over an erection he hadn’t realized he had.

“S-Samantha,” he groaned, squirming in her grip.

“I might not have those Valkyrie pheromones,” Samantha said with a smirk, “but I’ve been playing with you long enough that I don’t think I need them to turn you on.”

“No,” he groaned, his eyes almost rolling back in his head as Samantha continued to toy with him, “y-you don’t…”

Samantha fought the urge to laugh, leaning back into the couch as she slowed her motions, toying with her husband and delaying his orgasm while she thought over what to do with him. It was a nice diversion after the insanity of the past few days, to hold Kyle like a doll and enjoy this bizarre sexual experience that they’d gotten as a silver lining.

“Fight it a little Kyle!” she giggled, slowly twirling her wet finger around his manhood, “you’re making it too easy for me!”

“I-I can’t!” he managed, trying in vain to squirm out of her hand. He groaned as he sprayed his seed across her fingers, causing her to smirk triumphantly as his hips bucked against her palm.

“Now let’s talk about how you’re going to get me off,” she giggled.

Kyles eyes widened, “down your panties,” he said quickly, trying to cut her off before she got other ideas.

“What’s the most you ever lost on a coin toss?” Samantha said in a fake gravelly voice, imitating a movie they were both fond of. She teasingly held up a quarter she’d found in the couch.

“S-Samantha come on,” Kyle said, licking his lips, “j-just put me down your panties! I’ll crawl right inside, you’ll love it!”

“Heads, you go in the front,” Samantha said, giving him that goofy gravelly voice again, “tails…” she giggled, the serious persona instantly abandoned, “well I really liked the way you felt up my ass Kyle, let’s say tails and… it’s a pretty obvious pun, you know what happens if it lands on tails.”

Kyle gulped, “Flip it.”

Samantha bit her lip, stifling a giggle as she flipped the coin. She squealed in surprise as she missed the catch, and the coin rattled across the floor and came to a rest on the other side of the room.

“Call it,” Samantha said, grinning at him.

“Just go see what it is,” he said, irritated.

“I can’t call it for you, that quarter is from 1998, it’s been traveling 24 years to get here, call it!” Samantha giggled as Kyle rolled his eyes.

“Heads,” he said finally. His world shook as Samantha stood up, walking across the cabin to where the quarter lay on the floor. She bent over, holding him tightly in her fist, giving him a sense of vertigo like on a roller coaster as the two of them peered at the coin.

“I guess that’s your lucky coin,” Samantha said with a giggle, “don’t mix it in with the rest of the change.” She stood back up, causing his stomach to lurch as he was shifted ninety degrees in the span of half a second.

“So uh… do I get to pick what happens now?” Kyle asked eagerly.

“Nope,” Samantha giggled, “remember the coin toss was just on whether you’d be getting me off in the back or the front…” She brought him down to her waist, pulling the sweatpants she’d looted from the donation bin away from her skin. She tossed him in, and he flailed for a moment as she pulled the drawstring tight, sealing him against her womanhood.

Samantha fought a shiver of pleasure as she bent down to pick up the quarter, chuckling as she slipped it into her own pocket. She’d put Kyle through a few more coin tosses before Carmen came back, lucky coin or not she was sure she’d win one eventually.

For now, though, Samantha collapsed on the couch again, enjoying the sensation as Kyle began his journey inside of her.

…

Carmen hadn’t immediately gone to the car, instead wandering down to the frigid beach. She felt a sense of unease as she watched those waves crash upon the shore, she’d swam on this beach dozens of times in her youth, from her time as a little girl all the way up into high school. It had carried a sense of familiarity and peace, had. Now though? Carmen fought the urge to step away from the shoreline, large bodies of water made her nervous, and had for the past five years, a deep irrational and primordial fear that all Valkyries shared. That lake was no longer the joyous excursion it was in her youth, it was death.

She shook her head and forced herself to turn away, walking back to the car. Coming to this place, to Mapleport… she was already regretting it. Everything, from the shells of her favorite boardwalk shops, to the dust covered cabin, reminded her of a past she increasingly questioned.

Get some food for everyone, she told herself, starting the car, once that storm rolls in, we’ll be snowed in for a couple days at least…

She paused before entering the vehicle, pulling a bottle of body spray from her pocket with a grimace. She’d found it in the cabin’s bathroom while searching for supplies, a strong musky aroma that had been popular back when she’d been in high school. With a sigh she began spraying it over herself, it be suspicious to arouse everyone everywhere she went, and she hoped that the spray would cloak at least some of her pheromones before going into town.

…

The old grocery store was almost the same as Carmen remembered, she’d accompanied her dad here plenty of times to buy hot dogs for beachside cookouts after. It was nice that at least one thing in Mapleport was still the same as in her rose-tinted memories.

“Carmen?” the grocery store clerk, an aged man in a striped uniform asked suddenly as he bagged up her items.

She froze, “Y-Yeah?” she said.

“It’s me, Marvin?” he said excitedly, “I can’t believe you’re back after all these years, are you staying at your parent’s old cabin?”

Carmen blinked; she did remember Marvin, did he not know she was on the run? That she was a Valkyrie? She licked her lips, then put on what she hoped wasn’t a suspicious smile.

“Yeah, just in town for the weekend,” she lied, “I missed Mapleport I guess.”

Marvin chuckled, “I think most people want to revisit familiar things at some point in their lives. I hope something here makes you happy.” He pushed a coffee can full of lollipops towards her, “would you like one? Normally they’re for kids but… well I remember you used to love them.”

Carmen hesitated, then with a small smile grabbed a red sucker, “Thanks Marvin… close early, okay? The radio says this storm is going to be a real monster.”

“Part of growing up is not being afraid of monsters,” Marvin said with a wink, “take care Carmen.”

…

Carmen walked through the parking lot, carrying bags of groceries in each arm. The sky had grown increasingly dark as she’d shopped, and she looked up and wondered how long it would take before grey ceased to be an accurate descriptor and the radio would switch over to black. She opened the car door, placing the bags in the passenger’s seat.

“Hi Carmen,” Arisu said from behind her.

Carmen whirled around, screaming as she rained blows down upon the Asian woman. Arisu giggled, blocking each strike in turn, then leaping backward in a spinning kick that Carmen just barely managed to duck underneath. She gritted her teeth, shifting her stance and raising her fists like a boxer as Arisu circled her, the movement of her feet suggesting a Muay Thai approach.

“No knife this time?” Carmen asked, “nodding to the sword on Arisu’s back.

“I don’t want to kill you right now,” Arisu said with a grin, “let’s take a step back…” She held her hands up in mock surrender, “I must say I love everything about this! Your parent’s old cabin, this town you spent so much time in… one of my favorite English words is haunt Carmen, and you’ve brought me to yours, a place of power for you?”

“Something like that,” Carmen said quietly. “If you don’t want to fight here, what do you want?”

Arisu chuckled and pointed to a bar across the street from Marvin’s grocery store, “A drink and a short discussion?” she said.

Carmen sighed, reading the sign Four Winds Bar. It had a reputation, even when she had come here in her youth she’d heard of it, and it made sense that Arisu had found lodging there.

“The front two doors are locked, and the windows are barred,” Arisu said, looking up at the approaching storm clouds, “but there is one door left in the back that we can use… if you would join me.”

Carmen gritted her teeth, “fine,” she growled, “lead the way.”

…

The Four Winds Bar was cold, and the dim fluorescent light above didn’t warm as Arisu walked behind the deserted counter and poured herself a drink. She reached for a glass, pouring Carmen a thick brown whiskey, sliding it across the wood to her.

“If you want to get me drunk, you should know better,” Carmen muttered, reaching for the glass and downing half of it in a single gulp.

“Not at all,” Arisu smiled, “I have to drink an entire bottle of Sake to feel anything after Melinda’s gift, I’m sure you are much the same?”

“Yup, that gene therapy gives you one hell of a tolerance,” Carmen said, downing the rest of the glass and then slamming on the bar, indicating she wanted more. “I don’t suppose you’ll just fuck off and leave us alone?”

“No,” Arisu smirked, pouring Carmen a second drink, “we’ve come too far for that… but fighting you, following you… I became intrigued, I found out as much about you as I could Carmen.” She sighed, sipping her own drink, another thick brown bourbon. She grimaced, “I prefer Sake, but when in Rome…”

“Did Melinda teach you that phrase?” Carmen asked with a smirk.

“She did,” Arisu laughed.

“Et in Arcadia Ego!” the two women said together. In spite of everything, Carmen laughed, and toasted with Arisu as they drank.

“She is everywhere,” Carmen muttered, looking at Arisu.

“She is,” Arisu agreed, looking away a moment. “She’s here at least…”

“Yeah,” Carmen smirked, holding out her glass for another drink, “what do you want Arisu?”

“I really like you Carmen,” Arisu said eagerly, leaning over the bar, “I want you to come away with me, be my friend, my enemy, I don’t care, I just want you to abandon this whole life Melinda has dictated for you and step into a more… open one.”

“And what about Kyle and Samantha?” Carmen asked, reaching for a toothpick and twirling it around her fingers idly.

“Shrink them permanently,” Arisu said, “they’ll be out of their old lives for good, and you could keep them as your pets! A happy ending for all three of you!”

Carmen’s mouth quirked, “that’s a happy ending?”

“For the people that matter,” Arisu said with a shrug, “look in my eyes and tell me that there is no part of you that wants that.”

Carmen slid her glass away and stared Arisu in the eyes, trying not to flinch away from those dark orbs, “Plenty of me wants that,” Carmen said, summoning a fire she didn’t know she had to stare the other woman down, “but not the me that I want to be.”

“Fool,” Arisu began, “you-“

“Now you listen,” Carmen growled, “I don’t have some big army of thugs, or bribed cops-“

“It’s just you and I!” Arisu said, throwing the whiskey bottle to the ground, smashing it to pieces, “my people are far away, as are yours! You know I will kill you if we fight each other to the end, I am offering you a way out!”

“Melinda loves history,” Carmen said suddenly, “I’m guessing you do too?”

“She told me some interesting stories of this country,” Arisu said hesitantly.

“Pour me a shot of rum,” Carmen growled.

Arisu frowned, but turned around, searching for a moment before finding the spirit, a rarely used one in an American bar in this part of the country. She poured a glass in a tumbler from behind the bar, setting it in front of Carmen.

Carmen grinned, walking forward and taking the glass, lifting it and downing it in a single gulp, “Damnation seize my soul if I give any quarter,” She said with a wicked smile, proud that she was finally able to quote something Melinda had explained to her word for word, “or take any from you!”

Arisu’s eyebrows raised, then she smiled in turn, “fine last words the first time they were said, and fine now. I’ll come for you and your friends with the storm.”

“See you real soon,” Carmen said, lifting a middle finger salute as she walked for the door.

 

Kyle and Samantha were startled as Carmen stormed into the cabin, “She’s here,” Carmen growled, “and she’s coming for us when the storm rolls in.” She snapped her fingers and Kyle shot up to four feet tall, stumbling as he rolled on the floor out of Samantha’s hands.

“Now!?” Kyle asked, eyes wide as though he expected Arisu to burst through a window at any second.

“No, she’s going to come after us when the storm rolls in,” Carmen said quietly, “we… had a bit of a talk.”

“What is there to say at this point?” Samantha asked as Kyle stood up and reached for his clothes.

“She offered to let us go if I would permanently shrink you two,” Carmen said. There was a quiet a minute, then she chuckled, “come on guys, obviously I told her to go to hell.”

“So, what now?” Kyle asked, “we can’t just wait for her, Samantha and I have been brainstorming a little, do you have that gun you talked about?”

Carmen sighed, walking by Kyle and Samantha and into one of the cabin’s rooms. There was a click as she unlocked a safe under her dad’s old bed, and a moment later she returned to them, carrying a bolt action rifle and a small box marked “Winchester 30-06” which she placed on the table in the cabin’s kitchen.

“I’ve only shot this a few times,” Carmen said, looking down at the gun, “I still remember how though… come over here so I can show you guys how to load and fire it.” Kyle and Samantha nervously came over to the table as Carmen explained the bolt action mechanism, how to load and unload it, and where the safety on the side of the rifle was.

“Do you think this is going to help us at all?” Kyle asked finally, “I mean… I guess it’s better than nothing, but I’d like to at least get a chance to practice with it first if we’re going to do this.”

“Obviously if we had the options I’d like an AK-47 or something instead of my dad’s old deer gun, and I’d like to spend a few hours at a shooting range, but we’ve got to work with what we’ve got,” Carmen sighed.

“Do you think we could get away from her again?” Samantha asked quietly, “maybe try to put a little distance between us so we could have more time to figure something out?”

“Nope,” Carmen said, looking out the window as the first snowflakes started to fall, “that storm is rolling in, we’ll get stuck in the snow, and honestly I don’t know if we’re going to get a better chance at her than right here.”

“Let’s go all in then,” Kyle said with a sigh, “I’ve got some ideas on how to do this… first off, we need to let the feds know where we are, she’s stuck here for the storm the same as we are, if… if things don’t go well for us, at least she’ll be surrounded by cops at the end of it.”

…

Agent Wilkins knocked on the door of Melinda’s borrowed office, causing her to look up with a start, “you’ve got a call,” the agent said in a somewhat surprised voice, “it’s… it’s the Mendez girl, the Westwoods are on the line with her.”

Melinda’s eyes went wide, and her mind raced with possibilities as she followed Wilkins to a conference room. A dozen agents were gathered around the teleconference speaker, and they parted as Wilkins and Melinda entered. One man on a computer in the corner gave them a thumbs up, indicating he was tracing the call.

“Carmen,” Melinda said hesitantly, “are the Westwoods…”

“We’re fine!” Kyle called over the line, “you’re on speaker on this end by the way.”

“Carmen’s innocent,” Samantha cut in, “this whole thing was a setup!”

Melinda frowned, “I’d like to believe that, but you understand that I can hardly trust anything the two of you are saying while you’re in her custody, if you would just wait for us to get you-“

“We’re at my parent’s old cabin in Mapleport, Michigan,” Carmen said, “and some woman named Arisu’s coming to kill us, she seems to know you Melinda…”

Melinda was quiet a moment, “yes, she was a student of mine the same as you were.”

“I’m guessing I know who you meant when you always talked about the wrong people getting the treatment,” Carmen chuckled sadly, “what happened with her?”

Melinda sighed, “I’m not having this conversation now Carmen, we’re going to come bring you into custody and figure this whole thing out.”

“You won’t get here before she does,” Carmen said, “one way or another this is ending tonight when she gets here.”

Melinda clenched her fists, her knuckles going white, “Carmen, Arisu is a cold blooded killer, she’s one of the most dangerous people in-“

“You worried I’d end up like her,” Carmen said, a hint of accusation in her voice.

Melinda looked around at the gathered federal agents, hoping for someone to swoop in and save her from this conversation. They looked away uncomfortably, this would be left between her and Carmen it seemed.

“You had a similar anger at the world, among other things,” Melinda said finally, “I… I truly hope you are telling me the truth Carmen, and that this is all a misunderstanding.”

Carmen sighed, “fair enough, I hope I made you proud anyway. Melinda… Arisu and I… only one of us is coming out of this, so if I don’t get to talk to you again… thanks, for everything.”

Melinda’s eyes went wide, “Carmen wait, you don’t have to do this, run from her! Come to me and I can-“ she was cut off by a *click* as Carmen hung the phone up. She sat, stunned a moment, and blinked away a quick tear…

“Well you heard her people!” Wilkins shouted, interrupting the tense silence, “Mapleport, Michigan! It’s Arisu herself, the head snake!” He met Melinda’s eyes, and she nodded, standing up as the group filed quickly out of the room.

…

Carmen hung up the wall mounted phone, an almost ancient relic mounted on the wall of the cabin from the days before cell phones. She’d been a little surprised the landline still worked, but it hadn’t taken much to get transferred to the FBI offices in Chicago. She turned to Samantha and Kyle and forced a smile.

“Well… help is on the way,” she said finally, “I’m not sure what good it will do us though. Any other plans Kyle?”

“Yeah,” Kyle said, looking at Samantha, who nodded, “but… you’re not going to like it.”

Carmen frowned, “what do you mean?”

“We’ve been thinking,” Samantha said hesitantly, “about Valkyrie weaknesses…”

Carmen raised an eyebrow, “we don’t really have any, you’ve just got to keep hitting us until we die.”

“Really?” Kyle asked, crossing his arms, “maybe we should take a walk along the beach?”

Carmen froze, “No thanks,” she said a little too quickly, “I uh-“

“You’re scared of water,” Samantha said, fighting a bit of laughter in spite of the situation, “all of you Valkyries are, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Carmen admitted, crossing her arms, “it’s like a switch gets flipped, I loved swimming before the gene therapy, now the thought of wading in the shallow end of the pool gets me nervous… what does that have to do with anything?”

“We’re a mile away from a marina on the world’s largest lake,” Kyle said with a smile, “maybe if we add one of those boats to our mounting grand theft auto charges, we could sail out there... it could give us an edge.”

“Forget Arisu, what about me!?” Carmen asked angrily, “guys I don’t think I can go out there, and that storm… I mean you know these Great Lakes storms take down huge cargo ships, right? Like there are songs about it-“

“Do you think Arisu will care about any of that, or do you think she’ll chase us out there anyway?” Samantha asked.

Carmen was quiet a minute, “she’ll follow us,” Carmen admitted angrily, “then we can all drown instead of getting stabbed to death, great improvement Kyle, love the plan.”

“Carmen calm down,” Kyle said, “Samantha and I did a little sailing once we got rich, we’ll get you set up with a safety line, you’ll be safe when the boat is tossing around, her though? If she slips off the deck…”

“She’ll drown like a rat,” Carmen finished, “fuck me… are you guys sure about this?”

“Unless you think you can beat her here in the living room,” Kyle replied, “It’s not exactly ideal, but… I think it’s our best shot at evening the odds.”

Carmen looked out the window, the waves were crashing on the beach now, frothy things out of a dark grey lake that was rapidly growing more tumultuous as the sky overhead blackened and the winds picked up, sending the descending snowflakes sideways. She felt a lump in her throat and an uncharacteristic fear. She took a moment, steadying herself and breathing out slowly.

"Okay," she said finally, giving them a cocky grin that didn’t reflect her feelings on their plan at all, “let’s do it!”

…

“I need boat keys,” Carmen growled, shoving the marina owner roughly against the wall of the small supply shop abutting the dock. Kyle and Samantha winced at the man’s pained grunt, but stayed quiet, standing behind her at their four foot heights.

“Y-You’re the crazy Valkyrie from the news!” the marina owner sputtered, “oh god, please don’t kill me, I-“

“Boat keys!” Carmen barked as the wind howled, blowing the doors of the small shop open and scattering snowflakes inside. The man shakily pointed to a large board behind the register, where a number of keyrings were hung, each with a number.

“Go for number thirty-eight,” Kyle said, peering out at the docked yacht, “it’s one of the bigger ones.”

“You people aren’t seriously going out on the water right now, are you?” the marina owner balked, looking out at the mounting waves.

Carmen wanted to make a sarcastic comment, but a chill was beginning to overtake her that had nothing to do with the cold wind. She sighed, forcing herself to grab the key ring off the board, and with a wave Kyle and Samantha followed her outside. The boat Kyle had picked was about seventy feet long, with an enclosed cabin and a wide front deck no doubt meant for folding chairs and fishing, or simply enjoying the open air.

As they pulled away from the dock Carmen felt the rocking of the boat and the howl of the wind outside the cabin, and fought the urge to shut her eyes. Suddenly she felt someone grab her hand.

“Hey, we’re fine,” Samantha said softly, gripping Carmen’s palm as tightly as she could at her small size.

“For now anyway,” Kyle muttered, gritting his teeth as he turned the wheel, “any chance you could put me up to full size while I steer this thing?”

Carmen blinked, then nodded, “y-yeah…” she focused, and a moment later Kyle’s baggy shirt wasn’t so baggy, and he was standing at his normal height while he guided them out onto the water. He wouldn’t have long like that, but she hoped they wouldn’t be out on this roiling lake long enough for it to matter.

“Samantha, go find a safety harness and get Carmen strapped in, if Arisu shows up, you’ll want to go out there to… deal with her,” he said quietly.

Carmen looked at the flurries of snow falling around them, at the dark blue-grey waves crashing over the deck and rising and falling into the distance… The idea of going out there shook her to her core, and she had to stop herself from squeezing Samantha’s hand hard enough that it might hurt the poor girl.

“There she is,” Kyle shouted over the din of the storm outside. The grass and sands around the marina had been coated white as the snowfall continued, and Arisu stood out easily in her black outfit, mired against the pristine landscape illuminated by the lights of the marina. Her sword was in her hand, and the steel blade reflected the lamplight as it struggled through the first flurries of the blizzard.

Chicken out, Carmen begged mentally, just go, you can’t follow us here, you can’t-

Arisu seemed to answer her by stalking her way to the marina shop, and a moment later they watched as she exited, her own keys in hand. Carmen’s heart sunk, she’d known Arisu was mad enough to fall for Samantha and Kyle’s trap, but being out here rocked by the raging waters… she’d secretly hoped that some sense would turn the other Valkyrie away, that they wouldn’t have to fight in a place like this.

“Carmen,” Kyle said quietly as they watched Arisu leap into a small speedboat, “are you okay? We could… we could try to outrun her.”

Carmen looked at Kyle and Samantha, then back to the small boat bobbing on the waves as Arisu made her way to them, a vicious smile on her face as the wind buffeted her hair. With the fading lights of Mapleport behind her, Arisu looked like a ghost, some malicious phantom escaping a dying world and honing in on the small point of light that was their own boat.

“She was wrong,” Samantha said quietly as the ship rocked on the waves, “Melinda I mean… you’re not anything like her Carmen.”

“Agreed,” Kyle muttered, steering the yacht to bring them further away from shore, “if this is it… Carmen… whatever else happened between us, you’re my friend.”

Carmen blinked away a quick tear, then gave a cocky smirk, “you two losers are acting like we’re already dead, I’m going to kick this bitch’s ass and then you two are buying me dinner.”

She seized the feeling of bravado, riding it as she slid the yacht’s door open. The wind blasted her across the face, cutting at her as a thousand snowflakes flew in to the main cabin. She gritted her teeth and picked up the rifle, forcing herself onto the ship’s deck.

Being out in the open with the water panicked her, but the fire in her burned warm enough that she was able to bring herself to the ship’s front, clipping the cord of the safety harness to the ship’s railing the way Samantha had shown her. The movement of the lake beneath them made balance difficult, the waves were growing higher, and though they’d taken the biggest boat at the marina, water crashed over the sides as it bobbed, spraying the earthy tasting lake water into her face.

She wiped her eyes with a snarl and scanned the horizon, smiling as she spotted the small speedboat carrying the other Valkyrie. With a smile she brought the rifle up to her shoulder, through the scope she could see Arisu’s face, a hateful smile on her face as she closed in. There was something about those eyes of hers that caught Carmen off guard, they were full of a dancing hatred, one that would never sleep, would never die…

Smile bitch! Carmen thought angrily as she pulled the trigger.

The crack of the rifle echoed across the lake, the flame from the barrel shining brightly against a sky that had gone as dark as a black cat. Carmen fought the urge to jump in triumph as Arisu jerked back, a blossom of red erupting from her shoulder as she fell to the deck. Kyle and Samantha cheered from inside the cabin, and she grinned as she nodded back to them.

She quickly worked the bolt, causing the brass shell to pop out, glimmering in the gloom as it splashed into the frothing water. She brought the rifle back up to her shoulder, but Arisu was back at the helm of the speedboat, a look of rage on her face as she zigzagged her approach, making Carmen’s aim difficult. She squeezed off another shot, one that went wide and caused a small spout to erupt in the water behind her target. With a swear she worked the bolt again, but Arisu was almost upon them.

For one brief moment as the other woman’s boat bobbed and rocked Carmen dared to hope it would simply capsize, sending Arisu to the depths, but they weren’t so lucky. The boat flew upwards, climbing a rising wave that lifted the deck above their own. Arisu leapt through the air, landing on their own deck with a *thump* Carmen could feel as the other Valkyrie squared up against her with a smile.

“A gun Carmen? I’m disappointed!”

“Welcome to the States,” Carmen growled, swiveling the barrel as she tried to shoot at Arisu again. The other woman was too quick, and with a mad laugh her hand was under the rifle barrel, jerking it skyward and causing Carmen’s shot to fire off into the swirling black clouds above them. With a jerk Arisu pulled the gun from her hand, tossing it and causing the rifle to skitter across the deck.

Fuck me, hands it is, Carmen thought, rushing at Arisu before she could draw the sword on her back. Arisu grinned, forgoing reaching for her weapon as she blocked Carmen’s blows, the two of them swaying as they struggled to keep their balance on the increasingly rough waves. The shore was far away now, the lights of the town just dim flickering stars against a black horizon, bobbing up and down in the darkness.

“CARMEN!” Kyle shouted a warning from inside the cabin, she and Arisu looked together and her eyes went wide as the ship’s nose dipped, a massive wave rising out of the darkness as the cabin’s lights feebly lit up its surface. The wave crashed down on the pair like an avalanche, knocking Carmen from her feet and sweeping her backwards. She cried out in surprise as the safety harness went taut, yanking her backwards and keeping her from being swept off the deck. She panted a moment, her heart pounding as she shakily forced herself to her feet. Her hair was plastered to her skull by the water, a frigid heavy liquid that chilled even a Valkyrie.

Arisu! Her eyes shot up, darting around the deck and looking for her enemy as the ship bobbed up and down again. The other Valkyrie had her arms wrapped tightly around the ship’s railing, her eyes wide and her face white. Carmen couldn’t help but grin as she walked back towards her.

“What’s wrong? Scared to get wet?” she taunted, throwing her arms wide in a challenge.

Arisu blinked, releasing her hold on the railing as her fire returned, “I must commend you for your choice of battlefield Carmen,” she said, a wide grin forming on her face, “I haven’t felt afraid of anything in years!” She laughed as the deck shifted, riding the momentum and running towards Carmen. She raised her fists to block the oncoming assault, but Arisu dipped low, raining a series of punches into Carmen’s gut that were so fast the falling snow seemed to part around them.

Carmen coughed, struggling for breath as she stumbled backwards, but as Arisu readied for another strike, she brought her elbow down on the other woman’s back, breaking the charge as she brought her knee up into Arisu’s chin.

She was about to kick her foe again when Arisu slipped around her side, drawing her sword with a flourish. Carmen’s eyes went wide and she tried to dart away, but Arisu wasn’t aiming at her body.

“Let’s see how brave you are without this!” Arisu hissed, slicing through the safety tether attached to Carmen’s vest.

There was a jerking feeling as the tether, which protected her from being swept into the stormy waters, went limp. The ship began to dip again as it entered the trough of another wave, and Carmen’s eyes went wide with fear as Arisu grinned at her, gripping the railing again and wrapping an arm around it.

The wall of water crashed into her again, and this time there was no safety line to save her. She was pushed along the ship’s deck, tumbling and scrambling desperately for any hold she could find. Her fingers closed on something solid, and she gripped it, feeling a ripping pain in her shoulder as her movement jerked to a stop. The water slid off the ship’s deck as it climbed again, and Carmen forced herself to her feet, again wiping the water out of her eyes and coughing as she looked for Arisu.

Her heart stopped as she saw the cabin door flailing open, a dark shape moving inside.

KYLE AND SAMMY!

“Kyle!” Samantha cried in panic as Arisu stood over the two of them, grinning like the devil as she raised her sword.

Kyle shouted a battle cry, at his full size she still loomed like a giant before him, but he hoped by charging her he could buy Samantha a minute to do… something.

Arisu just laughed, her massive hand stretching out and catching Kyle by the neck. She almost casually threw him across the ships cabin, and there was a crash and a scream of pain as he flew through the front windshield, breaking the glass as he tumbled out into the storm and the wind and snow rushed in.

Samantha turned to run, but her clothes billowed around her as she shrank, the mocking laughter of Arisu filling her ears as she tripped over her own underwear, fumbling out of the tent sized garments and onto the yacht’s rough carpeting.

She almost cried in despair, tears in her eyes, as Arisu’s fingers curled around her, lifting her in the air. She shut her eyes, not wanting to see that evil grin that stretched across a face the size of a house.

“Look at me!” Arisu growled, squeezing Samantha hard enough that she screamed in pain as something cracked. Her eyes opened, and she moaned in despair as Arisu smiled down on her. “Carmen is dead, washed into the waters you no doubt intended for me!” She glanced out at Kyle’s limp form, “I haven’t had to work this hard in a very long time… I’m going to enjoy you two.” She smiled and licked her lips, “I didn’t have dinner yet…” she started raising Samantha to her mouth.

Samantha’s eyes bulged, “NO!” she squirmed and struggled, ignoring the pain in an arm that was probably broken.

“I like to swallow you little things whole,” Arisu giggled, “you’ll be surprised how long you can stay alive in there…” she patted her belly, “though it’s time you’d rather not have, I think.” She opened wide as Samantha screamed, dropping the flailing girl onto her tongue, savoring her terror as she fought Arisu’s tongue, trying to climb out and escape her fate.

Samantha wept, feeling Arisu’s powerful tongue explore her body, tasting her and toying with her as her mouth filled with saliva, preparing to push her down to Arisu’s stomach, where a painful and humiliating death waited for her. Arisu tipped her head back, a smile on her face as she prepared to swallow.

A blur of motion in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she wheeled around just in time to see Carmen’s hands close on her throat, rage billowing off a face twisted into a snarl that caused her lip to quiver as she bared her teeth. The ferocity caught Arisu off guard, and she choked, temporarily stunned as Carmen lifted her bodily by her neck, slamming her into the wood paneled wall of the cabin.

Her mouth opened, and Samantha tumbled free with a yell of terror. Carmen restored her size without a thought, and Samantha’s hundred-foot fall became a five-foot fall as she rolled to the floor, looking up in awe as Carmen began to pummel Arisu, each blow slamming her into the wall with a speed that went so fast that Samantha couldn’t follow it, her fists blurring as she roared with anger.

Suddenly Arisu’s leg shot out in a furious kick that sent Carmen flying back, slamming into the other wall of the yacht’s cabin with a thud. Her face was bloodied and bruised, and any mirth she’d taken from the fight was long gone as she drew her sword. Carmen groaned, laying limp on the floor as Arisu approached.

She stumbled slightly as Samantha leapt onto her back, pounding at her feebly, tears in her eyes. Arisu just chuckled, throwing her off easily and letting her fall back to the floor.

“We’ll play later,” Arisu said with a wink, raising her sword over Carmen’s slumped form.

She paused as she heard a loud *click* as a bolt action was set, she turned towards the cabin’s door, still billowing in the wind, as Kyle stood, soaked, bloodied, and pale, Carmen’s rifle in his hands and leveled at her. There was a boom and Arisu howled with pain as she took her second bullet of the evening, her blood spraying across the wall behind her as she stumbled back, her sword dropping the floor with a clatter.

Carmen was on her feet again before Arisu steadied herself, leaning down to scoop up the sword as she summoned all of her strength for one final charge. The blade pierced Arisu through the stomach, causing her to gasp as Carmen’s momentum carried both of them crashing through the side window of the yacht’s cabin, tumbling to the deck as the snow swirled around them.

“Have a drink!” Carmen shouted as she hoisted Arisu up, driving the sword the rest of the way through her to the hilt as she forced the other Valkyrie towards the ship’s railing. She grinned in triumph as Arisu began to topple over.

Arisu’s head snapped up, a wicked smile on her face as her arms wrapped around Carmen, dragging her along over the ship’s edge in one final act of spite. Carmen’s eyes went wide as she felt her feet leave the yacht’s deck, the black waters rushing up to meet her as the cut safety line slid uselessly along the boards behind her.

They crashed into the water together, the uncaring black waves greedily taking them in. Arisu gripped her tighter as they fell, those terrible dark eyes focusing on hers as the world blurred and fell away, it was just the two of them, and as they gripped each other Carmen found herself staring back, thinking of everything that had brought her here.

Kyle, Samantha, Melinda… She smiled back at Arisu, and even in the chill of those icy roiling waters, she felt a bit of warmth. We beat you, she thought dreamily as her consciousness waned, We-

Suddenly she felt a jerk on her back as the vest pulled at her, and air escaped her lungs as she realized the line was being pulled. The motion caused Arisu to lose her grip, and Carmen watched as she fell into darkness, a snarl on her face as those evil eyes gave her one last hate filled glare as they disappeared.

…

“Pull!” Kyle shouted, gripping the safety line and gritting his teeth. It was slipping, and it cut into the wet skin of his palms as he and Samantha struggled to keep the tether from slipping away into the waves. One of her arms hung limply at her side, but she wrapped the line around the other, her eyes shut in pain as she tried to help him. His eyes widened as the yacht dipped, and a wave splashed down on the deck, throwing him and Samantha backwards and almost washing the pair off the deck.

Kyle screamed in despair as he felt the line slip out of his hands, but then his eyes went wide, and he shouted in triumph as he saw what the wave had washed back onto their deck.

“Carmen!” Samantha shouted, running towards her. Kyle followed behind, and the pair struggled to lift Carmen’s massive form, one of her arms over each shoulder as they stumbled over the shifting deck back towards the ship’s cabin. The three collapsed inside together, and Kyle summoned the last of his strength to climb over Carmen, beginning chest compressions.

Carmen coughed, the murky lake water spurting over her face as she gasped, sitting up. She looked to the two of them, then slowly smiled.

“You guys… did you save me?”

“We held onto the line for a few minutes, then we got lucky and you got washed back up on deck,” Kyle said, slumping back to the floor. He groaned, the impact of the fight was beginning to set in, and he hurt all over.

“Arisu,” Samantha moaned as her own injuries started to throb painfully, “is she-“

“Sleeping with the fishes,” Carmen said quietly, “you guys have been full sized for way too long, and you’ve added a lot of extra injuries on top of that radiation thing we’ve been working on since this all started…” the pair cried out in surprise as they dwindled, looking up at Carmen’s giant form. She sighed, picking them up as she felt the bruises and cuts from the fight across her own body. She stood up, feeling the deck move beneath her as the waves continued to rock the boat.

“What now?” Samantha asked, rubbing an arm that was already feeling better as the healing side effects of shrinking began.

Carmen smirked, pulling her wet shirt away from her face, slowly sliding Samantha into one cup of her bra, and then Kyle into the other, letting the two nestle against her breasts as her underwear held them in place.

“You two just relax and rest up,” she muttered, shifting her breasts slightly to tumble them a little deeper. She sighed, looking out at the dark waves and the falling snow. With the windows destroyed the cabin didn’t offer nearly as much shelter from the storm as it had, and she bit her lip and blinked snowflakes out of her eyes as she pondered her next move.

I have no idea how to drive a boat, she realized with a laugh. Another wave rocked the yacht, cutting off her laughter and causing her to gulp, fighting a new wave of panic. She ran to the ship’s wheel, biting her lip as she looked over the unfamiliar instruments. She looked out into the blackness around the ship’s lights, and realized that she had no idea which direction land was even in. Evidently the storm had knocked power out for the mainland, because the twinkling electric lights she’d seen before had disappeared.

She smiled as something illuminated the blackness, the far away swirling blue and red sirens, tiny dots on a distant horizon, Et in Arcadia Ego… she thought, Melinda, you really are everywhere… She gripped the ship’s wheel, turning it in the direction of those faraway sirens, fighting the waves as she struggled to bring the yacht back to land.

Carmen gritted her teeth as the waves buffeted the boat, she wasn’t sure if accelerating or decelerating was the right move, and it had taken her an embarrassingly long time to realize that a boat didn’t have a brake. She could see the police convoy on the shore now, a pair of snowplows that looked closer to tanks clearing away the blizzard for a long line of black vans and squadcars. She watched the shore, bobbing up and down as the snow swirled around her, and her throat went dry as she realized just how fast they were going towards the rocky outcroppings of the shore.

“Oh shit!” Carmen howled, the crunching of the rocks against the yacht’s hull drowning out her screams. The floor seemed to tilt away, and she felt herself flying through the air. The red and blue lights flashed, blinding her as men shouted, leaping out of the vehicles in surprise as the yacht crumpled against the rocks. Her last thought as she rocketed towards that jagged beach was to throw her arms over her chest, trying to protect Kyle and Samantha.

…

Carmen groaned, turning over in the bed as she tried to think of where she was. Her eyes shot open as she bolted upright, the events of the last day racing back to her.

“Kyle!” she shouted, “Sammy?”

“We’re over here!” they called, waving to her from a pristine white couch in front of a large television screen.

She blinked, looking around and taking in her surroundings. It was a mostly white room, spacious, like a hotel suite almost. There was something familiar about it, like she’d seen it in pictures but never visited. She looked down and realized she was dressed in a white robe, the same as Kyle and Samantha were, her eyes widened as she recognized the outfit.

“Wait,” she muttered, “we’re in…”

The walls went transparent, revealing Melinda’s gigantic smiling face looking in at them, “I see Carmen is finally awake, tell me dear, how are the patient terrariums from the other side?”

Carmen almost fell backwards back into the bed, “They’re uh… great,” she murmured. “How long have I been out?” She peered out of the now transparent walls, seeing a nondescript office, Melinda’s? They’d been placed on her desk, and she reclined in an office chair regarding them with a smirk on her face.

“You slept most of the day,” Kyle said with a grin, “you busted yourself up pretty good “docking” the boat.”

“With your enhanced physique you could have probably recovered without being miniaturized,” Melinda drawled, “but I didn’t feel like waiting,” she smiled, “and it is so rare to get to shrink another Valkyrie…”

“So I’m guessing you’re convinced I’m innocent now?” Carmen asked, crossing her arms.

“We’ve been telling them everything while you were out,” Samantha said eagerly.

“The FBI guys think you’re a hero for putting Arisu down,” Kyle commented, “I guess she had a pretty nasty reputation with them.”

“She did,” Melinda said bitterly, “Carmen, if it would be all right, could I have a word?”

The small portal on the side of the tank opened up, and Carmen gulped as she saw Melinda’s massive open palm waiting for her. She’d never considered how intimidating this whole thing could look from the other side.

“Yeah, okay,” Carmen said, steeling herself and walking towards the dormitory’s exit. She took a breath, stepping out into Melinda’s soft palm. She was slowly lowered to the floor, and then a moment later she yelped in surprise as she shot up, tearing through the tiny white robe as she returned to full size. She quickly covered herself with her arms, causing Melinda to chuckle.

“There’s a spare set of scrubs in the cabinet there,” she said, gesturing to a locker on the far side of the office, “should fit you…”

“T-Thanks,” She stammered, edging towards it.

“Now Carmen, you know modesty has little place in shrinking therapy,” Melinda chuckled, standing up and leaving to give her privacy.

…

Carmen’s nose wrinkled in annoyance as the smoke from Melinda’s cigarette billowed her way with the wind. The city skyline was visible from the FBI’s office, and the coat of white across the streets and sidewalks was slowly but steadily being cleaned up below as traffic resumed following the snowstorm. The head nurse had brought her up here for their private talk, and Carmen couldn’t help but regard her suspiciously, wondering what she wanted to say after everything that had happened.

“Arisu…” Melinda said finally, “she’s really dead? You saw it?”

“I saw her go into the water,” Carmen replied, “I just barely made it back out myself.”

“The search teams haven’t recovered a body,” Melinda said uncertainly.

“The lake it is said, never gives up her dead,” Carmen quoted with a sigh, “they might not ever find her Melinda, but she’s gone.”

The elder Valkyrie breathed out slowly, then nodded, “it’s just… difficult to move on, mentally.”

“What happened between the two of you?” Carmen asked, causing Melinda to start, “I had to kill her Melinda, I think I deserve to know how she ended up on that boat with me.”

A mix of emotions flashed over Melinda’s face, anger, sorrow, regret… then resignation. She took another puff of her cigarette and chewed her lip, trying to decide where to start.

“She was one of the early girls we found with the right genetic components, back before we went public,” Melinda began, “we took her out of… a bad place. She had no one in America, or back in Japan to be frank, and my husband Harrison and I took her in after her gene therapy. For a time, we were very close, like sisters.” Melinda looked up at the skyline and sighed.

“Ouch,” Carmen muttered, “I’m sorry…”

“The Arisu I knew died a long time ago,” Melinda muttered bitterly, “if she ever existed… you remember I told you about my husband’s passing?”

“Yeah, car accident,” Carmen said, “did Arisu…”

Melinda smiled, “No… she wouldn’t have. Harrison was dear to her as a friend as he was to me as a husband. Losing him hit her as hard as it did me, perhaps harder since she hadn’t known a lot of warmth in her life.” She ground her cigarette into a nearby ashtray and joined Carmen in leaning against the rooftop railing, “the driver of the car that killed my husband was named Donovan Carlyle, a sleep deprived new father who nodded off behind the wheel. A true tragedy for all parties involved… Harrison was a very forgiving and nurturing man Carmen, he would have…” she sighed, “he would have wanted to forgive that young man if he could… I don’t know if that’s how I feel, but that’s how he would have.”

“And Arisu?” Carmen asked quietly.

“Arisu murdered mister Carlyle while he was out on bail,” Melinda said coldly, “she shrank him, then crushed him to pulp, the first such act in a long career of savagery.” She looked down at the street, “she came to me afterwards, she thought I would be happy… I was horrified, and I think between Harrison’s death and my rejection… well, that was when Arisu became the World Serpent I think, Jormungand and everything that came after it… in a twisted way I wonder if it was her grieving process, for what we all had once.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Carmen said, “she was crazy, there was nothing you could do…”

“I know her decisions were here own,” Melinda said softly, “but at night… when I’m alone, it’s hard to convince myself.” She sighed, “regardless, it’s over now. I’m parting ways with the FBI, hopefully for good.”

“Isn’t there more of Jormungand out there?” Carmen asked curiously.

“I’m sure there is,” Melinda said in a tired voice, “but Arisu was my own mistake to correct, I knew her, I could counter her, I’m not worth much in dealing with the rest of them. I’m going back to New York, to my clinic… saving people’s lives like Harrison intended.”

“I’ll have to visit sometime,” Carmen said with a small smile.

“See that you do,” Melinda said, smiling and turning to embrace Carmen a moment, before walking towards the stairwell. She paused, chuckling, “you may have to postpone it, I hope whatever mental block you were dealing with is gone, because you’re likely going to have to pick up some extra patients soon.”

“Oh?” Carmen asked, raising an eyebrow.

Melinda chuckled, “when we told your nurse, Judy, that you were in custody, and that we knew everything, she flipped on her true employer fairly quickly.”

…

“Shred everything in that cabinet!” Richard shouted at his crying secretary, “if I come out here and I don’t hear a shredder shredding I swear to god I will run you through that fucking thing!” In response the girl, picked for her looks over her talent, sobbed and simply ran for the office door. Richard scowled angrily, “fine! Fuck you! Go!” He ran to the cabinet and looked at the mountains of paper inside, full of transactions that weren’t recorded anywhere else in the company…

Fire, he thought in a panic, maybe I could start a fire? He glanced up at the sprinkler system, now how would one go about disabling those?

He heard the door at the front of the office open and he sighed angrily, wandering out into the abandoned cubicles, “I told you!” he shouted, “everyone needs to go home and stay home until I-“

“Dear me, am I interrupting something?” Juliet asked with a smile, her heels clacking against the floor as she walked through the abandoned office to him.

Richard smiled, almost crying out with relief, “Juliet!” he shouted, wiping his forehead. He paused, frowning at how sweaty he’d gotten, with a shrug he smudged it off on his suit, turning to face his savior, “I’m so glad to see you, just help me gather a few of these filing cabinets up and then we can-“

“Don’t worry about the files Richard, it won’t matter,” she chuckled, reaching into her purse.

He frowned, “what do you mean, we need to destroy all the evide-“ he gasped as her hand darted out, a syringe in it that quickly pierced the side of his neck. He felt pressure as Juliet pressed down on it, filling his body with a tingling sensation.

“I’m afraid that both of our old lives are over,” Juliet said with a sweet smile as he began to dwindle in front of her, “you’re not really of any use to me or my organization without your company,” she explained as she pulled the needle away, “normally a loose end is… well tied off, if you catch my meaning.”

“No!” he whispered in horror, struggling against his billowing shirt as his height dipped below Juliet’s waist, then her knees… he gasped in panic, searching for a way out of his own clothing.

“I couldn’t bear the thought of it of course,” Juliet said with a sigh, “I’ve become very attached to my little Richard. This serum will render you permanently small.” She tossed the syringe into a nearby wastebasket, focusing on Richard for a few minutes and completing his shrinking. With a grin she reached into the pooled clothing, pulling out the panicking and now naked four inch tall man. “Perfect!” she said with a giggle.

“G-Grow me back!” he demanded feebly.

“Richard, nobody can do that now,” she said in a nurturing tone, standing up with him in her grip, “don’t worry, I’m going to take very good care of you, you’ll be my prized little pet!”

Richard stared at her, wide eyed in horror as the implication dawned on him. Something inside him broke, and he realized that whatever else he’d been, it had been thrown away, he wasn’t a multimillionaire partner of an important tech firm anymore, he was… a pet, Juliet’s pet to be precise...

He swallowed, looking up her and forcing a smile, “I’m uh… excited miss Juliet!”

She chuckled, “Don’t bother with the titles, we don’t need them to remind us who is in charge, and they feel too formal anyway.” She lifted him up to her shirt, unbuttoning it slowly and revealing the deep cleavage of her breasts. She slowly brought him down to them, sliding him between the soft globes and pressing down on his body until he was concealed from view.

Richard felt himself swallowed up in the warm embrace of her breasts, the world, and his old life, quickly disappearing from view as Juliet claimed him. He sighed, letting himself sink further, if nothing else it was warm…

Juliet smiled, pleased that Richard had so easily accepted his fate. With a slight hop in her step, she headed for the stairwell, the journey to the border wouldn’t be the luxury she was used to, but having her newest pet with her would make the journey bearable, she was sure of it.

…

Samantha and Kyle’s world rocked a bit as Carmen picked up the terrarium they were staying in, “you guys ready to get out of here?” she asked, looking in at them with a smile.

“The cops said our house is still pretty torn up,” Kyle replied, holding down the terrarium’s intercom button, “it’s going to need some work before we can head back there.”

Carmen chuckled, “we’ll head to my place, it’s not as nice as yours but I’m still doing pretty well for myself.”

“Sounds good,” Samantha called, “do you have frozen pizza?”

“No, I don’t keep that poison in my house,” Carmen chuckled, “but I’ll stop for some on the way home.”

…

Kyle and Samantha lounged happily on Carmen’s couch at four feet tall, enjoying slices of cheap frozen pizza while Carmen descended from her bedroom in a set of comfortable red pajamas. While Kyle and Samantha’s house had stocked many luxuries, she’d been re-wearing the same few outfits for too long, Valkyries needed to get a lot of their clothing tailored, and she’d missed her custom sleepwear. With a grin she vaulted over the back of the couch, landing on it and causing the tiny pair to squeak in surprise as the furniture shook.

“So,” Carmen began, leaning back into the armrest opposite them, “you guys have another five weeks of being tiny to fix yourselves from all that cellular damage, you still want to stay with me? Arisu’s gone, Jormungand Chicago is being folded up by the cops, and your asshole business partner is missing in action, presumed tiny.” She sighed, “you could go to any Valkyrie you wanted now, the whole trust issue is kind of solved, isn’t it?”

Kyle and Samantha looked at each other, then grinned, “Are you serious?” Kyle laughed, “like really, do you even have to ask what we want to do?”

Carmen smirked, “just wanted to make sure you knew all your options.”

“After everything that’s happened, do you think there’s anywhere we’d feel safer than in your hands?” Samantha asked, hugging Kyle close, “you literally took a bullet for us.”

“And the fucked-up thing was, that was probably one of the easier things to deal with,” Carmen said, running her hand over her stomach a moment. It was covered by her pajama top, but the bullet wound had left just the faintest scar on her skin, apparently even Valkyrie healing wasn’t perfect.

The three of them fell quiet, the TV filling the void as the three of them smiled, enjoying the warmth of the dim living room. Carmen looked at the two of them, and they returned the gaze, the memories of the last few weeks seeming to flow between them without any words being said.

Carmen smirked, “well if you’re staying with me…” she waved her hand, and the two squeaked in surprise as they began to dwindle, “you’ll have to let me play with you some more.” She didn’t shrink them quickly this time, but dragged it out, grinning as they scrambled to put their plates on the coffee table as they hit three feet, two feet, one foot… and then into the inches.

Carmen chuckled, leaning over the pair of them like a colossus, a predatory grin on her face as she licked her lips. She reached a hand out to the piled white clothing, searching for the squirming lumps. She giggled as her hand closed around Kyle first, then her other around Sammy, drawing them out, naked, in her left and right hands respectively. She’d put them down to about five inches, easy handheld size, and she enjoyed the way they felt in her grip.

“You two,” she muttered, bringing her thumbs up under their chins, “are so fucking cute…” She grinned, “now, who wants to-“

“I call it!” Kyle shouted.

“I didn’t even say what it was,” Carmen said, amused.

“Last time I waited I got a trip to the back of your panties,” Kyle said with a grin, shooting a look at Samantha.

“Fair enough, front for you this time,” Carmen chuckled. She shot Samantha a wink, then began lowering Kyle down, ducking her hand under the waistband of her pajamas and panties and sliding him through the thick black hair until he was well and thoroughly tangled. “Go the rest of the way on your own,” she ordered, shivering as he began crawling through the small forest. With a chuckle she pulled her hand away, sealing Kyle in.

She leaned back on the couch, enjoying Kyle’s journey southward as she regarded Samantha, “So, what do I do with my little Sammy doll?” she wondered aloud.

“L-lick me!” Samantha shouted.

Carmen raised an eyebrow, “uh… you sure? I know things on the boat got kind of-“

“Don’t bring it up!” Samantha squeaked, her face red as she forced any thought of Arisu and the Yacht away, “I said what I wanted!”

Carmen bit her lip, then smirked, “Let’s see what Sammy flavoring tastes like…” she brought Samantha up to her mouth, parting her fingers and letting her tongue slide out between her lips and slowly slide its way up the tiny redhead’s body, causing her to shiver with excitement as Carmen’s saliva coated her.

Samantha struggled to hold on to Carmen’s tongue as it slid across her, lingering between her legs and tasting her arousal as she gasped and squeezed at the powerful appendage, flicking over her and rubbing slowly over her womanhood. She moaned, feeling her orgasm rise as Carmen teased her. Her eyes went wide as Carmen’s tongue suddenly slid under her, scooping her up off her soft palm.

“W-Wait, Carmen!” Samantha panicked, but her shout was silenced as Carmen slurped her between her lips, just a quick squeak of surprise echoing and a small bit of Samantha’s red hair sticking out from between Carmen’s pursed lips as she continued to toy with the tiny woman. Samantha’s world was dark, and the sounds of sloshing saliva filled her ears as Carmen’s tongue flipped her easily, causing her to flail as it found it’s way between her legs again.

She gasped loudly, and Carmen smirked, tasting the flood between the redhead’s legs as she came. She sucked greedily on Sammy for a few more seconds, treating her like a piece of hard candy as she savored the flavor of the tiny woman’s orgasm, then slowly stuck her tongue out, freeing her prisoner to flop, soaked, into her waiting palm.

“Delicious,” Carmen teased, reaching her other hand lower to massage Kyle, still trapped in her panties, closer to her opening. With a chuckle she brought Samantha to the neck of her shirt, sliding the girl in and letting her tumble down towards her breasts. She got caught in Carmen’s cleavage fairly easily, and didn’t need to be told to settle in. “You just stay there for a few Sammy,” Carmen growled, focusing her attention lower, on Kyle, who had finally found her entrance and was crawling in.

From Kyle’s perspective the humidity and warmth was overwhelming, and as he gritted his teeth and began crawling inside the tunnel, sliding along Carmen’s walls and causing her to clamp down on him as pleasure rocked up her spine.

“Oh yeah, like that,” Carmen hissed, bringing a hand down on her crotch again, “just keep going Kyle…” She crossed her legs, sealing him in as he squirmed, causing an electric feeling that caused her to gasp.

For Kyle it was like the world collapsed in on itself as soft silky walls around him pressed in, threatening to squeeze the air from his lungs and crush his body. He wasn’t afraid though, he trusted Carmen, and with a grin and another grunt of exertion he forced himself deeper inside her, the wet walls of her womanhood sliding against his skin.

“Yes!” Carmen howled, feeling a spasm start between her legs, quickly spreading to the rest of her body. She reached down the front of her pajamas, fingering herself furiously as Kyle’s movements caused an earthquake that lasted several minutes, leaving her in a heap on the couch, dazed and a little sweaty. “Good boy,” she murmured, grasping around in her underwear as she searched for him. Her fingers found him, and she pulled him out with a grin.

“Fuck, I think I almost passed out,” Kyle wheezed with a smile. He was completely soaked with her fluids, glistening slightly in the low light.

“You did fine, you big sissy,” Carmen laughed, “go join Sammy,” she brought him up to the neckline of her shirt as she had a moment before, and sent Kyle tumbling down to his wife. She smirked and focused on the two, causing them to shrink smaller, smaller still, until the five in couple was a one-inch couple, trapped hopelessly in the endless fields of her breasts.

That should keep them occupied for a while, Carmen thought sleepily as she fumbled for the TV remote. Kyle’s efforts had really taken a lot out of her, and she struggled to keep her eyes open as she watched the news report detailing the FBI’s report on Jormungand activity in the Chicago area.

…

Melinda twisted a cigarette in her ashtray, happy to be back in her own office where nobody would give her a dirty look for her love of cheap tobacco. She sighed and looked around at the walls, pictures of her and various Valkyries following their gene therapy coated the walls. One in particular, with a gilded frame, showed a smiling Asian woman, a porty bald man, and herself. For so long the picture had brought her a pang of sorrow, but now… she was able to see the smiles on all of their faces again. She turned and looked at the other wall, where Carmen’s smiling face looked back at her from behind the framed glass, and with a nod and a smile she sat down in her chair.

“Lacey,” she said, hitting the intercom button to her receptionist, “I’ll be staying in the clinic more regularly from now on… I’d like you to put out the word to the hospitals that I’m willing to commit to seven reductions a day, every day this month. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

“Y-Yes ma’am!” Lacey said eagerly, “that’s going to really make the Christmas season for a lot of families!”

“It won’t end there,” Melinda promised, looking at her husband’s photo on her desk, “we’re back to helping people…” I hope you’re proud Harrison, I did my best, she thought, picking up the picture and giving him one final smile.

The End

One Year Later

…

Juliet relaxed on the private beach, listening to the waves as she soaked up the sun, a margarita in hand. What the drug production facility lacked in modern amenities it more than made up for in location, and for a moment Juliet could pretend that her life hadn’t imploded, that she was still the powerful head of Jormungand’s operations in Chicago, not acting as a petty enforcer for a cartel.

Still, it wasn’t all bad, “enjoying the sun?” she purred, reaching down between her breasts, where a tiny man was suspended by his wrists on a necklace line, a pair of shark teeth rattling on either side of him.

“Yes Juliet,” Richard said, squinting up at the bright sky. He was well tanned, and with a far more muscular build than he’d ever had at full size, Juliet forced him to keep himself in top physical condition, outfitting his cage with a hamster wheel and some small makeshift weights. The first few weeks he’d slacked, not showing the results she’d wanted, she’d responded by placing him in the bottom of her boot for a day, her foot pressing on him and nearly crushing him as she’d gone about her business. After that he’d kept up his workout routine, he was a pet now, he had to look good…

“You know there are some girls trying to restart Jormungand?” Juliet mused, shifting and causing her bound pet to bounce against her breasts as she adjusted herself. “Some of them are going on about how Valkyries are so superior, should rule the world, I’m sure you can imagine the rhetoric, it’s hardly original.”

Richard licked his lips, wondering what she wanted him to say, “Do you not believe Valkyries should rule the world?” he asked hesitantly.

Juliet just chuckled, causing the breasts on either side of Richard to jiggle, “There aren’t enough of us for anything like that, Arisu always kept those type in line, with violence if need be. Arisu had her own flavor of madness, but she never let her head get so big that she dreamt of world domination… No, she saw us as wolves among the sheep, but the wolves don’t rule the sheep. I see nothing good coming from it, a soldier with an assault rifle only has a slightly harder time ending a Valkyrie’s day than anyone else's.”

“You know best,” Richard said eagerly.

“Such a good boy!” Juliet beamed, reaching up to the necklace’s manacles and slowly unclipping Richard, letting him hang limply in her fingers as she brought him up for a quick kiss, her pillowy lips enveloping his torso in a soft cool embrace that felt wonderful in the tropical heat. “Let’s get you out of the sun,” she giggled.

She lowered him down to her bikini bottom, sliding him underneath the fabric and into contact with her womanhood. She sighed as he began a well learned routine of pleasuring her, and he had to admit it was a treat to be out of the sun…

…

Melinda opened the envelope, drawing out the Christmas card from Carmen. “Happy Holidays” it read, showing Carmen, in her lab coat, standing before a group of nurses and another Valkyrie, a young woman auburn haired woman named Cindy, who was being trained in shrinking abilities by Carmen following her own gene therapy.

“Over six hundred patients healed this year,” Melinda read, leaning back in her leather armchair as a cigarette smoldered between her fingers. She smiled, “good for you Carmen! And your own student…” she sighed and stubbed out the cigarette in a nearby ashtray, “she’s learning from a fine woman.”

…

“So for Christmas dinner the currently tiny patients get… fruit loops?” Cindy asked curiously.

“I’d like to grow them all back for the occasion, but with just the two of us it’s not in the cards,” Carmen said with a shrug, “just take out all but the red and the green ones, they only need like two or three each, trust me they’ll love it, food sucks at tiny size and some super processed sugar and food dye will really hit the spot.”

“Okay… before you go, did you stock up on receptor serum for me?” Cindy asked, biting her lip, “I just don’t want to get in a position where I can’t resize people over the holiday…”

Carmen chuckled, “there’s a little in the back, a nurse can ready it for you, but I don’t use that stuff much anymore. You’ve got to keep a clear head, mental peace, stability, all that good stuff.” She grinned, “if all that fails, Peter Pan it, find a happy thought and cling to it, it’s Christmas, it should be easy.”

Cindy beamed and nodded, “Okay Carmen, I will!”

“Don’t hesitate to call me in if you need something,” Carmen said, “I’m staying just outside of town, I can be here in an hour if I need to.”

“Spending the holidays with the Westwoods?” Cindy asked. She blushed a little, the tabloids were rife with rumors of the scandalous relationship that Kyle and Samantha had with the Valkyrie that had saved their lives and slain the World Serpent with them.

Carmen chuckled and rolled her eyes, “Yes, as a matter of fact I will be staying at Westwood manor for the next few days.”

“Who’s playing you in the movie?” Cindy blurted out.

Carmen started, “M-Movie!?”

“Yeah, after the whole thing with you three beating Jormungand the movie rights to the story were being bid on by all the big studios! Goblin’s media department has been teasing it for the last week!”

“Oh have they?” Carmen asked, fighting to keep from laughing.

…

“Carmen!” Samantha said excitedly, opening the door to greet the Valkyrie, who had a small suitcase behind her as she walked into the mansion.

“Movie,” Carmen deadpanned, turning to face her.

From Samantha’s sudden pale expression she could tell that whatever Cindy had heard had some truth to it, “S-So Goblin had some contacts in Hollywood, and they came up with some very interesting script treatments-“

Carmen sighed, waving her hand. Samantha squeaked as she disappeared, her clothing billowing around her as the Valkyrie walked through the entryway, bending down to pluck the tiny redhead up without at thought.

“Where’s Kyle?” Carmen asked.

“T-The gym!” Samantha yelped, squirming in the larger woman’s grip.

“No, seriously,” Carmen said, raising an eyebrow.

“He’s really down in the gym!” Samantha protested, “he’s been trying to get in shape, he felt kind of emasculated or something-“

“Okay red,” Carmen chuckled, stuffing Samantha down her shirt and tucking her into the folds of her bra, “let’s go see what Kyle’s been up to.”

…

Kyle shouted as the metal song reached its climax, giving him the extra boost he needed to finish his bench set. With a growl he let the bar catch on the bench’s safeties and sat up, enjoying the soreness in his chest.

“Oh my god it’s Hulk Hogan,” Carmen teased, strutting into the workout room with a grin. Kyle did look a little better since she’d last seen him, but just to mess with him she casually lifted the bar he’d been struggling with using a single arm, “starting out light for your warm up, good strategy,” she said with a smirk, letting the bar crash back down.

“Not all of us are Valkyries,” he said a little defensively, “where’s Samantha?”

“Lost in a deep dark valley,” Carmen smirked, “where you’re about to go if you don’t tell me about this movie nonsense.”

Like Samantha his face paled, “we thought it would be a fun surprise to bring up over Christmas dinner,” he began.

“I can’t believe you two started thinking about a goddamn movie without telling me,” Carmen chuckled, slowly walking towards Kyle and pinning him against the wall. “I’m not sure whether to be flattered or pissed.” She snapped her finger, and Kyle made a surprised squeaking sound as he dwindled into his workout clothes. A moment later a familiar hand reached in, fishing him out.

“W-We’d obviously never do it without your permission!” Kyle squeaked as Carmen rolled her eyes, bringing him around to her backside.

“Why don’t you cool off from that workout back here,” she said with a grin, sliding him into the crack of her panties. She clenched her cheeks around him once, silencing him and stifling any movements.

A movie… she chuckled again, looking around the workout room. With a grin she sauntered over to the treadmill, the motion no doubt causing her two prisoners to be buffeted by her jiggling flesh. A nice light jog should be a good punishment for those two. She typed the settings on the treadmill, of course for a Valkyrie a “light jog” was rather intense, and within a few minutes Samantha and Kyle would be soaked in her pheromone riddled sweat, both reduced to tiny horny little messes for her to play with.

Carmen grinned as she began jogging, life was good.