Menace of the Mighty Microns!

By Pixis

Part 1

The empty factory was cold and its chambers seemed cavernous to the tiny figures that filed into it one by one. Atop an abandoned workstation, they saw Dr. Milton Raton (otherwise known as the Mouse Man) lounging upon a makeshift throne formed from overturned milk cartons. Like his furry namesake, Dr. Raton was around two inches tall. He was clad in a gray costume with a long pink tail and wore a headpiece affixed with large round ears and a whiskered nose-guard.

“Welcome, my friends!” he called to the new arrivals. “Come forward! Join me!”

The Mouse Man gestured to a doll-sized ladder beside the workstation. The small beings each ascended this (or flew to the top under their own power) and gathered before the throne. Milton rose from his seat, beaming excitedly at the assembly.

The tiny creatures stood in a semi-circle, muttering amongst themselves suspiciously. Each had received the Mouse Man’s invitation but was skeptical as to its purpose.

“Thank you for answering my summons,” Milton said. “As you know, I am the magnificent Mouse Man. Some of you may know each other by reputation but allow me to make introductions.”

He turned to a three-inch-tall man dressed in a bodysuit of blue and white. A cowl covered the top of his head and he wore a yellow belt with an atomic symbol on its circular clasp. In his hand was a long, menacing Bowie knife which he periodically flipped and caught by the hilt.

“This is Dwarfstar, size-changing foe of the Atom…” Milton declared. Dwarfstar gave an unsettling grin.

Beside him was an ugly green caterpillar-like creature about two inches long. Large white bug-eyes surveyed the group and the pincers of its mouth clicked disapprovingly. Hanging around its neck was a tiny electronic speaker.

“…Mr. Mind, Venusian mind-worm and enemy of Captain Marvel…”

Next in line was a beautiful blonde woman who stood only half an inch tall. A tight purple leotard hugged her minuscule figure and she sported a long yellow cape and matching gloves and boots.

“…Lesla-Lar, ‘science criminal’ of the Bottle City of Kandor and rival of Supergirl…”

If Lesla was the smallest of the group, the being beside her was by far the largest. At a foot tall, he towered enormously over the others (though he was a mere dwarf by human standards). The somber creature was dressed in high-tech gray armor with an elaborate and oddly shaped helmet.

“…and Devouris the Conqueror, the so-called, um, Eater of Worlds.” 

‘Very small ones, no doubt,’ Milton thought to himself. ‘If it’s not just boastful bravado.’ He felt it wise not to offend his guest however.

“The others I have summoned remain invisible to the naked eye,” the Mouse Man said. He gestured to a small Soder-Cola bottle cap lying nearby. “However, we arranged to meet at this time on that very spot. Dwarfstar, if you would be so kind?”

Dwarfstar grinned wider. “You got it, boss.” He stepped over to the bottle cap, turned a knob on his belt buckle, and instantly began to dwindle in size. In seconds, he descended to a microscopic range and vanished completely from sight. 

A few moments later, he returned to his previous three-inch height, accompanied by two individuals who could not be more different. Dwarfstar had used the white dwarf radiation of his bio-belt to enlarge these new arrivals, bringing them from sub-atomic size to roughly his own dimensions. The first was a redheaded woman with cold green eyes and regal bearing. She was clad in a slinky emerald dress with a plunging neckline and high shoulder pads. On her forehead, she bore a golden crown.

“Allow me to introduce Queen Atomia of the Atom Galaxy,” the Mouse Man said. “Like myself, an adversary of that Amazonian harridan, Wonder Woman.”

The others bowed or politely nodded their heads to the tiny queen. They next turned to Atomia’s companion and immediately wished they hadn’t.

Beside the queen floated a hideous entity that resembled a yellow pulsating mushroom with the legs of a praying mantis. A faint golden glow filled the area surrounding the creature and those closest to it were overcome by a sudden uneasiness and fear.

“And this is the final member of our company,” Mouse Man announced with pride, “Despotellis, sentient virus of the Sinestro Corps.”

The other villains gasped and took a few steps back. Despotellis was one of the most feared enemies of the intergalactic Green Lantern Corps. At full strength, the virus could wipe out an entire planet’s population in days.

Thankfully, Despotellis was not at full strength. It had been weakened by a battle with the Green Lantern Leezle Pon (a sentient smallpox virus) and by the experiments of Dr. Soranik Natu, the Lantern medic who sought to cure Despotellis’ pestilence. Only the Mouse Man knew of the virus’ weakened state from their previous correspondence. He chose not to share this with the others just yet.

“All right, so now we know each other,” Mr. Mind said haughtily, his voice crackling through the amplifying speaker on his neck. “Well and good. But just what have you brought us here for?”

“Indeed,” added Devouris. “Thou darest much to summon the terrible Devouris, Earth-man. What is thy purpose?”

The Mouse Man adopted an air of solemnity as he addressed the crowd. “My friends, each of us has been wronged by the superhuman community, dismissed and ignored for our…shared condition.”

“Cause we’re all so teensy, right, boss?” Dwarfstar interjected.

“Er, yes. Quite,” Mouse Man stammered. “Thank you, Dwarfstar. What I propose is that we form an alliance. We shall be a team of miniature menaces to reign terror upon the superheroes. In their arrogance, this world’s defenders will never suspect us. We will be underestimated, considered a non-threat. But through stealth and guile and our collective genius, we will utterly destroy them. Ladies and gentlemen, I propose that we kill the Justice League.”

This statement hung in the air like a pall as the gathered criminals considered it. At last, the moment was broken when Lesla began to laugh hysterically.

“Bwahahahaha! You’re kidding me, right?” She snorted derisively and tried to compose herself. “This lot kill the League? Despotellis might be able to manage it. Maybe. Assuming Earth’s Green Lantern hasn’t inoculated them against his poison. But what in Rao’s name do you expect the rest of us to do?”

“I must concur with Ms. Lar,” said Mr. Mind. “I see no tactical advantage to a team such as this. Surely we would be better served by hiring larger creatures as muscle, whilst we plan our stratagems behind the scenes. That was always my method when I led the Monster Society.”

“I myself have many henchmen,” Queen Atomia announced. “A vast legion of Neutron Robots. Enlarge them, as you have me, and we shall sweep over this world like a cleansing fire!”

“Devouris tires of thy folly, Earthlings,” the armor-clad alien declared. “He shall return to the depths of space and contemplate the infinite.”

“Silence, all of you!” the Mouse Man shrieked. “No goons, no henchmen, no larger creatures! It must be us, don’t you see? It’s the principle of the thing! David vs. Goliath! The small and meek triumphing over our loutish oppressors! Have you no confidence in yourselves? No backbone? Are we men or mice?!”

“I thought you were both,” said Dwarfstar.

“Never mind that! At least hear me out! This plan will work, I swear it!”

Listen to him, an icy voice intoned. Despotellis had spoken at last, or rather had beamed its thoughts directly into their minds with its yellow power ring. The group felt a chill run down their backs.

“Let me explain,” said Mouse Man. “I’m not suggesting that we take on Superman or the Martian Manhunter or anyone like that.”

“Or Wonder Woman?” asked Dwarfstar with a cocky smile.

The Mouse Man bristled at the mention of his hated archenemy. “No. Not her either. Not yet. We start smaller, if you’ll excuse the pun. Strike the League when they are weakest. And I know the perfect opportunity. I have received intelligence from my vast network of spies—”

“Your mice,” said Dwarfstar.

“Yes, my mice,” Mouse Man snapped in annoyance. He was beginning to regret recruiting Dwarfstar to the group. “They have informed me of a gathering of several Justice Leaguers. Second- or third-tier members at best and all female at that. The weaker sex. Er, present company excluded, dear ladies.”

“Watch it, rodent,” Lesla sneered, her eyes glowing a menacing red. Though she only came up to the Mouse Man’s knee, Lesla-Lar possessed all the powers of a Kryptonian under Earth’s yellow sun. Unfortunately, her last escape from the shrunken Bottle City had been without the aid of a re-enlarging ray.

“According to my agents—my mice—” Mouse Man corrected himself before Dwarfstar could speak. “—the fools are gathering for some sort of insipid ‘ladies’ night.’ It is then that we shall strike!”

“Now pay close attention,” he continued. “I have devised a plan and have a role for each of us. I shall serve as leader, coordinating our efforts by—”

“Why you?” asked Mr. Mind, his bug-eyes narrowing.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Why you?” the worm said again. “I am the former leader of the Monster Society of Evil, a renowned genius and master of telepathy and mind control. Surely I should be leading this assault.”

The Mouse Man clenched his tiny fists but held himself in check. “No one doubts your power or your experience, Mind. But this is, after all, my plan and my team. And I have need of your mental abilities in the field.”

“Very well,” said Mind. “But I dislike taking orders from anyone.”

“As do I,” Atomia agreed. “I am a queen, not some lowly underling to be issued commands!”

“Devouris concurs,” the would-be world-eater said. “He does not answer to lesser beings.”

The Mouse Man nearly exploded in fury but once again took a deep breath and composed himself. “If it helps, you may consider yourselves co-chiefs of our organization.”

Lesla frowned and put her hands on her hips. “Hey, wait a minute! Why do they get to be—?”

“Fine! We’re equal partners, all right?! No leaders!” Mouse Man shouted. “Now may I please continue?”

“Speak, Earth-man,” said Devouris. “Tell us what thou wouldst.”

* * * *

A few hours later, the Mouse Man and his team stood assembled on a rooftop overlooking their target, an oval-shaped art deco building in downtown Washington, D.C. The tiny tyrant was preparing to order his warriors into the field.

“Everyone knows their role?” he asked.

“Like a book, boss-man,” Dwarfstar said.

All is in readiness, Despotellis added. The heroes shall soon know fear.

“Excellent. Now, when I give the signal—”

Devouris reached into a compartment on his belt and removed a small green globe. “First, Devouris must send forth his herald to prophesize the destruction of their world.”

As he held it out, the item suddenly floated into the air and began to twist and writhe, altering in shape.

“Your what?” said the Mouse Man. “That’s not part of the plan!”

“This is how it has been done since time immemorial,” the dwarfish alien insisted.

“Damn it, Devouris! It’s a stealth attack! We’re not supposed to announce our arrival!”

The green blob coalesced into the shape of a tiny but feature-less humanoid creature perched in what appeared to be a flying toboggan.

“What’s that idiot doing now?” Lesla spat.

“Behold the Genetixos!” Devouris declared. He held out his hands towards the little green figure and energy sprang from his fingers, bathing the doll-sized creature in light. “I imbue thee with the Strength Celestial! Go forth, my herald, and do my bidding!”

As the green being floated serenely towards the building, Mouse Man desperately barked orders to the others.

“Change of plans! Now! Go now!”

* * * *

Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice (the Justice League’s embassy linked via teleporters to their orbiting Watchtower), a group of heroines was enjoying a celebratory drink. Gathered around the table were Supergirl, the Last Daughter of Krypton; Zatanna, top-hatted lady magician; Vixen, master of the animal-powered Tantu Totem; Jade, green-skinned offspring of the original Green Lantern; Jesse Quick, super-strong speedster; and Mera, Queen of Atlantis.

“Here’s to surviving another crisis, ladies,” Zatanna said, hoisting her glass. “Thanks for coming tonight, by the way. It’s nice to have some time to just hang out. You know, before the next alien invasion, world-conquering despot, or Multiverse-threatening cosmic event.”

“I hear that,” said Jesse, pouring herself some wine. “It was almost a cosmic event getting Rick to watch the baby tonight. I told him Hourman’s ‘hour of power’ can wait. Mama needs to get her drink on.”

Supergirl snickered and leaned over to whisper to Mera. “Guess we know who wears the pants in that house, huh?”

The redheaded Atlantean glanced at the short shorts of Jesse’s uniform and arched an eyebrow.

“Well, I didn’t mean literally!” Supergirl protested.

“What are we drinking, by the way?” asked Jade.

“A Themysciran red,” Vixen told her. “From the finest wine-makers of Paradise Island.”

The green-hued heroine took another sip. “Hmm. Not bad. Has a lot of body to it.”

“So did the wine-makers,” said Vixen. “Amazons, am I right? They probably don’t even exercise!”

The heroines looked up suddenly as a shrill alarm began to blare throughout the building. Someone or something had triggered the proximity sensors. The Hall of Justice was under attack.

Jesse Quick sped to a nearby control board and inspected the report on the screen. “It looks like we have an intruder. No one’s showing up on the security cameras though.”

“What did I tell ya?” said Zatanna. “A new crisis already. Never a dull moment.”

Vixen walked up behind Jesse and looked over her shoulder at the security feed. As her teammate had said, there was no one to be seen on the monitors. The ebony beauty leaned in closer, perplexed. “What do you think, Jess? Invisibility? Cloaking tech?”

“Not sure, Mari. It’s almost like—wait! I see someone! He’s—he’s right on top of us!”

The women turned as a tiny green-skinned man riding a flying sled phased right through the wall. He came to a halt above the round meeting table and hovered over their heads pensively.

“Hearken ye, mortals!” the green man said. “I am the Genetixos, herald of the almighty Devouris! The Conqueror has come! Pray to thy gods for this world’s hour of death is at hand!”

“Devouris?” Zatanna repeated. “Never heard of him. That name ring a bell with any of you?”

“Can’t say that it does, Zee,” said Jade.

“Atlantis knows him not,” Mera added.

Vixen reached up to poke the little green elf with a fingertip. “What do you suppose this thing is, some kind of probe?”

The Genetixos backed away from the huge feminine finger and floated higher. “Accost me at thy peril, mortal!”

The front of the tiny sled suddenly morphed into a pair of guns that shot forth two quick blasts of electricity. Vixen yelped in pain and pulled her hand away from the sudden shock.

“Oh, you did NOT just do that!” she snarled.

“Whatever it is, it’s hostile,” said Zatanna. “Somebody catch it!”

The heroines leapt to their feet and began to chase the tiny herald. Genetixos zipped about the room with incredible speed, staying just ahead of the huge grasping hands that attempted to capture him. He swooped this way and that, circling about the ladies’ heads, under their legs, bouncing off the top of Zatanna’s hat, and even whooshing through the thick red curtain of Mera’s hair. Supergirl and Jesse charged after him at full speed but only succeeded in crashing into each other. Jade tried to enclose him in a bubble of green energy but the creature phased straight through it.

At last, Zatanna had had enough. She raised her hands, focused her will on the Genetixos, and cast a spell. “Elttil gniylf nam, pots!”

The herald suddenly froze in mid-flight. The twinkly ion trail he had left in his wake gradually faded as his every motion ceased. Satisfied, the magician took a step forward and reached out to pluck the little thing from the air. As a slender hand closed around his tiny body, the Genetixos exploded in her grip like a popping grape. A sickening green goo oozed between Zatanna’s fingers, dripping down to the floor.

“Eww!” the sorceress cried. She shook her hand vigorously, trying to fling away the slimy remnants.

“You killed it,” said Supergirl.

“Wasn’t trying to,” Zatanna insisted. “I barely touched it. It just sort of…went kerblooey.”

Down at Zatanna’s feet, several semi-solid puddles of goo began to bubble and writhe. After a moment, the green gel started to slither away like half a dozen tiny garden snakes.

“It’s still alive!” Jade called. “There it goes!”

Before anyone could give pursuit, the alarm blared to life again. Once more, Jesse was at the control board.

“Multiple breaches!” she exclaimed. “We’ve got hostiles in the monitor room, the teleport bay, the hangar, the trophy hall—We’re being invaded!”

“What are we dealing with?” said Vixen.

“Again, there’s no one on the screen,” Jesse answered, clearly puzzled. “But the sensors are going nuts!”

“Fan out, ladies,” Zatanna told her teammates. “There’s something really weird going on here.”

* * * *

“3X2(9YZ)4A!”

Speaking the scientific mantra that unlocked her powers, Jesse Quick was off like a shot. At superhuman speed, she made a circuit of the entire building but saw no sign of the intruders. It made no sense. How could they evade her? How could they stay hidden when every piece of equipment was blaring its electronic warning? She thought of the little floating man in the meeting room. It was clearly some sort of shapeshifter. Could the others possess the same abilities? Were they all around her even now, disguised as ordinary items?

She was pondering this as she sped into the trophy room that served as a museum for the public. In truth, this was the second time she’d passed through. This time she eyed every item in the hall carefully, seeking for a tell-tale sign that things were not what they seemed.

Queen Atomia crouched in a corner, hiding behind a display case containing the Gamma-Gong of Kanjar Ro (a non-working replica of it at least). If the towering speedster was inspecting every nook and cranny, Atomia knew she could not stay hidden for long. 

‘Hmm. The swift one grows suspicious,’ she thought to herself.

Jesse raced from one display case to the next, drawing ever closer to the atomic monarch’s sanctuary. Each time she ran, the ground below Atomia shook from the impact of the heroine’s footfalls. Violent quakes that lasted only a few seconds shook the earth. Soon, Atomia had to fight to keep her balance.

When Jesse stopped to inspect the glass case and the gong, the tiny villainess saw two huge red boots planted dangerously close on either side of her. Mortified, Atomia realized she had come within a hair’s breadth of being stepped on. Thankfully, the giantess had not yet looked down. Atomia craned her neck back and stared up at the long, muscular bare legs that stretched into the sky above. Satisfied with her inspection of the Gamma-Gong, Jesse sped off again, forcing the tiny queen to press herself tight against the wall of the case for protection.

It took a few moments for Atomia to catch her breath. Once she had done so, she returned to her mission. The minuscule redhead reached into a pocket of her gown and removed a handful of blue dust and a glass vial. Holding the dust in one hand, she uncorked the vial with her teeth, allowing a fine mist to seep out into the air. With a sweep of her hand, she scattered the dust into the cloud of mist. She took a few steps back and waited.

It had taken some spirited debate but Atomia had finally convinced the Mouse Man to allow her the use of her minions. She did not have enough “hydroxo-gas” to enlarge them to full human size (nor would Mouse Man have allowed it, the proud deluded fool) but she had accepted the small victory.

As the gas spread, the tiny dust particles within it began to expand. They grew larger and larger until they took on the form of small warriors with a blue metallic sheen. Atomia concentrated her telepathic powers, sending a silent command to her Neutron Robots.

The air around Jesse was suddenly filled with dozens of tiny metal men, each about three inches tall. They swooped about the room with their rocket boots and fired miniature laser pistols at the bewildered heroine.

“Aha! There you are!” she declared. Laser beams stung the skin of her arms and legs as the tin soldiers encircled her. “Ouch! Hey, watch it with those things!”

When she reached out to grab them, the Neutron Robots scattered in all directions. The speedster began darting about the room, trying to catch as many of the robots as possible. Her hands quickly filled with tiny, struggling automatons. She looked around for some sort of box or container to trap them in. But as more emerged from the mist, the trophy room and the surrounding chambers were soon swirling with hundreds of the things.

“That should keep her busy for a while,” Atomia said proudly. She ducked for cover in a knothole of the floor as the giant blonde sped back and forth, futilely chasing the ever-growing swarm of mechanical men.

* * * *

Zatanna wandered through the hangar bay that housed the Javelin jets the League used as transportation. She had lost the little green man’s trail and had seen no sign of the other invaders. Puzzled, she stopped near one of the aircraft to plan her next move.

Far below in the shadow of her black high heels, a tiny green worm inched its way towards her. Mr. Mind activated a jetpack of his own design and lifted off into the air. The pack was on its lowest setting to minimize noise so his ascent up the length of Zatanna’s person was slow. Up, up he floated past the seemingly endless tower of a fishnet-clad leg, past the wide expanse of a meaty thigh, past an enormous building-sized torso draped in a long black tailcoat. His flight took him further, alongside a mountainous bosom that strained against the white button-down shirt that barely contained it. When at last he approached the lovely moon-sized face in the sky above, Zatanna finally turned her head.

She hadn’t been sure what to expect but a caterpillar with a jetpack was pretty low on the list of possibilities. Her shock only lasted a moment though and the lady mage opened her mouth to recite a spell.

“Now!” Mind cried. From the top of the worm’s head, a nearly invisible speck leapt into the air. Dwarfstar grew larger and larger as the arc of his jump carried him directly into Zatanna’s open mouth. He was a good three inches high as he slid along the length of her tongue, four and a half inches when he slipped over the precipice of her throat, and was soon enlarging to six inches and more when his body lodged itself in her gullet. All this had happened in a split second.

Zatanna’s spell died mid-syllable and she gasped for air, choking on the sudden obstruction. As the sorceress flailed and wheezed, grasping at her throat, Mr. Mind casually redirected his flight. The jetpack carried him around the side of Zatanna’s head and stopped before the cave-like entrance to her ear. Landing on its lower edge, the worm wriggled his way directly into the woman’s ear canal. Once safely within, the Venusian mastermind unleashed the full fury of his psychic powers. Hypnotic suggestions filled Zatanna’s brain and within seconds, her desperate flailing ceased. The lady’s eyes glazed over and she became oddly calm. Mr. Mind had taken control.

“I have her,” the worm spoke into his communicator. Deep inside Zatanna’s esophagus, Dwarfstar scrabbled his way back up the slick, fleshy walls, pushing his hands and feet against either side. He shrank back down slightly and slipped through the epiglottis, clambering up onto her tongue. At last, he stood before the wall of her closed teeth and knocked three times on the white enamel.

“Ahem,” he said. “Open sesame.”

Mr. Mind sent out a mental suggestion and the brainwashed magician opened her mouth once more.

“Thanks, you’re a peach,” Dwarfstar called as he jumped back out of Zatanna’s lips. Lowering his body’s density, he floated gracefully down to the floor. Dwarfstar eyed the magician’s enticing curves as he descended, enjoying the tour much more than his wormy companion had.

“Just imagine it,” Zatanna said in a flat tone, though it was Mr. Mind speaking the words through her. “One of the world’s most powerful mystics is now mine to command! Oh, this is going to be such fun!”

To be continued...

Part 2

Jade floated down the corridor, bathing everything in an eerie emerald glow. The fire of the Starheart blazed within her, causing tendrils of green flame to lap along her body. Whoever these intruders were, the shadows would not be their allies. Like her father before her, she would shed her light over dark evil. For the dark things cannot stand the light of the Green Lantern.

At least, that was the plan. So far, she hadn’t actually found anyone.

Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a tiny object hovering behind her. It was no bigger than a fly but it flitted to and fro with a speed greater than any normal insect. It also seemed to be wearing a minuscule cape. Curious, Jade made ready to stun it with an energy burst when the small shape shot right past her, grazing her shoulder. She cried out in pain as something sharp cut her.

Whatever the little thing was, it had somehow gotten through her personal force field and managed to draw blood. It was only a tiny wound but still disconcerting. Jade knew her powers were vulnerable against wood but what sort of bug attacked with a wooden stinger?

* * * *

At superhuman speed, Lesla-Lar had swooped towards the green-skinned giantess, clutching a toothpick in her hands. Moving faster than perception, she landed on the wide smooth surface of a giant shoulder. The trunk of a huge neck loomed behind her and dark green hair hung like vines above her head. Lesla slashed downward with her pointed weapon, slicing Jade’s skin. A small gash opened in the fleshy ground beneath her. Before the giant woman could react, the little Kandorian was gone, blasting away like a speeding bullet.

Lesla activated the com-link in her ear. “Wood! What an absurd weakness! I’ve cut her, Despotellis. She’s all yours.”

Indeed. You’re mine, green one, the virus’ shrill voice whispered. Once more microscopic and unseen, Despotellis floated towards the cut on Jade’s arm. From its sub-atomic perspective, this tiny gash seemed like a huge fissure of the earth. Blood gushed from the depths like bubbling magma. Despotellis dove into the cavern and entered the vast tunnels of Jade’s bloodstream. At once, it began to replicate itself, sending forth a legion of spores to spread its poison.

As Jade searched for the strange insect that had bitten her, she felt an odd sensation come over her. Her face felt a bit warm and beads of sweat soon dotted her skin.

“Hmm. Must be coming down with something,” she muttered to herself. But there was no time to think about that now. Turning a corner, she floated down the next hall and continued her search.

* * * *

With the first part of her assignment completed, Lesla-Lar shot down the hallway seeking her true target – her old enemy Supergirl. Revenge upon the Kryptonian heroine was what had enticed her to join this motley band and she was eager for a rematch. The fact that she was now only a fiftieth of the size of her opponent did not daunt Lesla in the slightest.

She finally came upon her in the monitor womb where the Justice League’s equipment scanned for crisis points around the world. Lesla watched the gargantuan blonde fly about the room, searching in vain for the intruders. Supergirl floated lightly from place to place, with her long golden hair, red cape, and miniskirt billowing behind her. Even at such a grotesque, cyclopean scale compared to the little half-inch Kandorian, the Girl of Steel had a grace and beauty that made Lesla hate her guts more than ever.

The shrunken criminal’s rage built to a breaking point and she projected herself at Supergirl like a tiny guided missile. Closer and closer she flew until that colossal visage filled her entire field of vision. With fists outstretched, Lesla-Lar collided with the vast wall of Supergirl’s cheek.

The heroine recoiled when something small smacked into her face. Supergirl looked around in confusion. Before she could figure out what had happened, another blow struck her on the opposite cheek.

“What the—?” Supergirl began but a swift-moving speck swooped in and punched her in the chest, knocking the wind out of her. Like an angry hornet, it buzzed past her this way and that, slamming into her body with tiny but painful impacts. Supergirl moved at super-speed, trying to catch it, but the little thing seemed to move as fast as she did. Try as she might, her hands closed around empty air when she attempted to grab it.

As the speck swooped towards her once again, Supergirl pursed her lips and blew. A gust of cold air shot forth with the force of a tornado, sending her tiny opponent flying.

Lesla found herself in a tailspin, flipping uncontrollably through the air. She struggled to regain control of her flight. Chilling super-breath filled the area around her, causing small icicles to start forming on her limbs. Her hair and cape stiffened as if assaulted by winter’s frost. Soon a layer of ice covered her whole body. Frozen like a statue, she began to plummet.

Seizing the moment, Supergirl pursed her lips again but this time decided to change tactics. She began to suck air in with her powerful lungs, creating an inescapable vacuum. Her tiny enemy’s fall was paused in mid-air and its trajectory changed. It was now being drawn towards her as if caught in the pull of a black hole.

Supergirl didn’t want to risk actually inhaling the thing for she was still unsure what it was. Judging from the force of its attacks, it might shatter her teeth or do damage to her insides if she pulled it into her mouth. She hoped she could at least throw it off balance and catch it as it approached her.

As Lesla was pulled ever closer, she saw the looming gates of her opponent’s giant lips. Did the heroine mean to consume her? Then she saw the huge hands poised on either side of the cliff-like face, ready to strike. So that was her game. She was being drawn into a trap. Lesla narrowed her eyes and projected her heat vision, melting the ice on her head. Just as she was nearing the girl’s gargantuan face, she released another blast, aiming for her lip. Supergirl cried out as she was singed and the vacuum ceased. Freed once more, Lesla swooped away from the grasping fingers, melting ice from her body as she flew.

The miniature creature was now circling Supergirl’s head like a satellite orbiting the Earth. Around and around it swooped, picking up speed with every circuit. The heroine was getting dizzy trying to follow it. She held up a hand to try and stop it but it nimbly dodged her fingers once again. The creature arced its way around her head, grabbed hold of her hair, and yanked hard. The Girl of Steel stumbled in surprise as her whole body was pulled backwards and flung against a wall. Whatever this little thing was, it was very strong.

Chuckling at her sport, Lesla swooped under Supergirl’s legs, flying straight up her skirt. Above her loomed the mighty hills of the heroine’s backside in a pair of silken red panties.

‘What’s that Earth expression?’ she thought to herself. ‘I see London, I see France…’

Lesla’s eyes released two more beams of heat vision, scorching the surface of the enormous rump. Supergirl yelped and leaped into the air as the tiny woman shot back out into the open, laughing hysterically.

As her super-hearing picked up the sound of this distant, tiny laughter, a scowl came over Supergirl’s face.

“Oh, you want to fight dirty, huh?” she muttered. “Fine!”

When the speck shot past her again, Supergirl slapped her hands together swiftly, trying to swat it like a bug. Given the force with which it had been hitting her, she was reasonably sure the little creature would survive (though at this point, she was starting not to care). Once more, her little enemy was too fast however. Slap after slap missed their mark. Shockwaves spread out from Supergirl’s hands with each clap, doing more damage to the room around her than to her little buzzing foe. Chairs and tables went flying, monitor screens cracked, and equipment shattered from the force of the vibrations. Supergirl frowned. This was going to come out of her Justice League stipend.

The tiny dot dive-bombed at her once more and slammed into her stomach. The cut of Supergirl’s costume left her midriff bare and unprotected, though this was usually not an issue for the invulnerable Kryptonian. Whatever was attacking her now however was strong enough to hurt even her. The tiny flying thing came back again, pummeling the young woman’s abdomen over and over.

Lesla was so enjoying the battle that she became a bit sloppy. On her last assault, she misjudged her impact point and flew straight into Supergirl’s navel, crashing headfirst into a wall of flesh. Grunting in pain from this collision, Supergirl lurched forward and clutched a hand to her belly. Giant fingers suddenly covered the opening of Lesla’s alcove, trapping her inside.

“Let me out of here, you gigantic brat!” she shrieked, awkwardly trying to stand in the tiny cave. Reddish-tinted darkness enshrouded her and she could feel the giantess’s body heat emanating off the walls. Behind her, Lesla could hear the loud gurgles of the girl’s stomach digesting whatever she’d had for breakfast. As Supergirl doubled over with pain, the flesh of her belly folded in on itself, threatening to crush the miniature criminal. Pinned between the floor and ceiling, Lesla screamed defiance and let loose another burst of heat vision at the barrier of fingers.

Supergirl cried out in surprise when something burned her. Bewildered, she reached two fingers into her belly button and pulled out whatever had been thrashing around in there. She held the object up to her eyes and her mouth dropped open in shock. It was a tiny woman, less than an inch tall.

The Maid of Might squinted at the bug-sized being struggling between her thumb and forefinger. She used her telescopic vision to zoom in on the little woman’s face and got another surprise.

“Lesla-Lar?”

* * * *

Vixen crept down the hall, seeking signs of the invaders. Whoever they were, they had cut the power in this part of the building, forcing her to hunt through the shadows. It didn’t concern her. The hunt was where Vixen felt most alive.

Through the power of the Tantu Totem hanging around her neck, she was channeling the abilities of a bloodhound. Everything around her was a potential clue on the trail, every scent led her closer and closer to her prey. Her tan jumpsuit rustled quietly as she slipped around a corner, eyes darting to and fro. She caught an unusual smell in the air but could not quite place it. It seemed vaguely human but was mingled with other scents that were rodent-like. 

With her sense of smell baffled, she tried another tactic. Vixen called upon the echolocation of a bat, sending a shrill almost imperceptible cry into the dark. The vibrations that bounced back to her told her that something was moving up ahead. But her foe was much smaller than she had expected. She channeled the night vision of an owl, trying to locate him.

At last, she sighted movement in the shadows. She was about to attack when she realized it was only a small mouse darting out of a hole. The little critter stopped when it saw her and seemed uncertain what to do. Finally, it resumed its travels. Vixen could hear the skittering of its tiny legs as it moved towards her. She watched with bemusement as it scurried directly over to her, finally stopping next to her foot.

“Well, hello, little one,” she said. “You’re awfully bold.”

Slowly, so as not to frighten it, Vixen lowered herself to a crouching position. She peered down at the mouse curiously and suddenly did a double take. It was not a mouse at all but a tiny man dressed in a gray, furry mouse costume!

“So you’ve found me, hero,” the little man said. “Very well. Our game of chase is at an end. You face now the wrath of the maleficent Mouse Man! Have at thee!”

The little villain pulled an equally tiny metal rod from somewhere in the folds of his uniform. He thrust it against the side of Vixen’s ankle, sending a surprisingly strong electric shock up her leg.

“Yowtch!” she cried. The crouching heroine was taken by surprise and lost her balance, tumbling backward onto her butt. One leg kicked out wildly in front of her, connecting with the Mouse Man’s body and sending him flying. He careened down the hallway and skidded a few times along the tiles like a stone on the surface of a lake.

Once he came to a stop, Mouse Man picked himself up and brushed the dust from his clothes. “Well struck,” he said. “You are a formidable opponent. But our dance has just begun.”

As Vixen sat back up, the Mouse Man hurried back to her, tiny Taser in hand. He began prodding the side of her leg, zapping her again and again.

“Ow! Ow! Why, you little—” After suffering a similar attack from the small green man in the meeting room, Vixen was getting really tired of being electrocuted by tiny people. She moved to grab him but her small opponent was too quick. The Mouse Man leapt out of the way, dodging the long nailed fingers that closed inches behind him. Vixen jumped to her feet and prepared to give chase. She reached for her totem amulet and summoned up the abilities the most appropriate animal she could think of – a cat.

Vixen’s eyes seemed to glow in the dim light as she stalked forward, slowly and deliberately. She could see the Mouse Man scurrying just ahead of her and the sight of the tiny frightened thing summoned up a predatory instinct in her. She dropped down to the floor and began crawling after him on hands and knees. When he was a short distance away, Vixen arched her back and wiggled her backside ever so slightly. Then when the moment was right, she pounced.

Vixen leapt forward with a snarl and made another attempt to catch him. Mouse Man doubled his pace as the gigantic form descended towards him with arms outstretched. He stayed barely out of her reach once again and she crashed against a nearby wall, landing in a heap. Vixen whirled around and hissed. The impact tremor of her fall had caused him to stumble and the Mouse Man was frantically trying to scramble back to his feet. Just as he stood up, Vixen slammed her hand down on top of him, pinning him to the floor.

After a moment, she carefully lifted her hand and looked at the tiny stunned creature. Mouse Man was in too much pain to move and simply groaned weakly into the linoleum. Playfully, Vixen batted him back and forth from one hand to the other like a toy. Soon bored of her game, she took hold of the tail of his costume and hoisted him up into the air. The Taser dropped from his hands to clatter on the floor below. The Mouse Man found himself dangling upside down in front of a giant beautiful face that regarded him coolly. The heroine once more felt the instincts of the predator rise up within her. Vixen stared intently at the little man and licked her lips subconsciously.

She lifted him higher and tilted her head back, opening her mouth wide. Mouse Man stared fearfully down into the woman’s cave-like maw. He could see the wriggling pink tongue and the rows of perfect white teeth extending back into the darkness. In the distance, a black gullet yawned expectantly. He could even see the reddish uvula dangling above it. Hot breath swept over his body and the tiny scientist began to panic.

“You—you wouldn’t!” he cried in a feeble squeak that sounded much like his namesake. In answer, the giant woman released his tail and let him plunge into her mouth, snapping her jaws shut behind him.

Blinded by the sudden dark, Mouse Man found himself under assault by a gigantic wet tongue that tossed him back and forth. It slithered up and down his body, tasting him curiously. He rolled around inside her mouth, feebly trying to fight back. Had she so chosen, Vixen could have easily swallowed the little man in a single gulp. But the predator in her was out for blood. The tongue pushed him forcefully to one side and positioned the Mouse Man on her lower incisors. The upper row of teeth hung suspended above him, ready to slam downwards and bite him in two. Mouse Man gave a scream of primal terror.

The sound of the scream suddenly shocked Mari McCabe back to reality. In an instant, she remembered who she was and what she was doing. Horrified, she spat the Mouse Man back into her hand. She held him in her palm and looked with pity at the small, shivering, wet thing.

“Wow, that was intense,” Vixen said breathily. “I almost gobbled you up, little guy! That cat and I were a little too simpatico, I guess.”

“You show mercy. An admirable trait perhaps,” Mouse Man said. “But also a sign of weakness. It will prove your undoing! I had hoped to defeat you myself but I shall have to rely on my underlings, it seems.”

Placing a hand to the side of his head, the Mouse Man sent forth a telepathic command to his minions. A moment later, several small brown mice scurried out of a hole in the wall and began to approach Vixen. They seemed to have some sort of devices strapped to their heads.

The heroine looked down at them with a smile. “Well, aren’t you just precious? What’s that you have there, little mousies?”

After another silent command from their master, the mice tipped their heads upward and focused their metal headpieces towards the tall woman. The front of the devices suddenly glowed bright red and, with a high pitched whine, tiny beams of light projected forth, striking Vixen’s legs.

“Ouch! That stings!” she cried. More little things shooting at her, she thought ruefully. She was going to need a lot of ointment after this caper. 

“Hang on. Mice with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads?” Vixen burst out laughing. “I hate to break it to you, little fella, but Dr. Evil you’re not.”

“Yes, that’s it, mock me, you fool,” Mouse Man said, still sitting in her hand. “We’ll see who’s laughing soon.”

With hands on his temples, the little villain released more telepathic messages into the ether. More and more mice began to crawl out of holes and wall ducts and ventilation shafts. In moments, the hallway was swarming with them, a tiny furry militia, armed to the teeth. There were even a few of Queen Atomia’s Neutron Robots riding the mice like small blue knights on their noble steeds, serving as commanders of smaller battalions. The rodent army surrounded Vixen on all sides, unleashing dozens of laser blasts at the heroine.

“Ow! Yow! Cut it out!”

Laser fire swept over her, burning little holes into her costume and singeing her skin. Mouse Man ducked his head as a stray blast flew past her hand. Seeking cover from the attack, he ran onto her arm, slid to the crook of her elbow, and scurried up to her shoulder. As Vixen tried to shield herself from the lasers, Mouse Man leaped down her collar, vanishing inside her jumpsuit.

“Hey! You little pervert!” Vixen exclaimed as she felt him slide down her body. She hadn’t time to fish him out for the laser attacks were intensifying. “What do you think you’re—Ow! Ow! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!”

By now, there were so many tiny red energy beams striking her that they were no longer simply an annoyance. They were doing real damage and causing severe burns. The mice seemed intent on frying her to a crisp. The Tantu Totem glowed as Vixen summoned the traits of a scarab beetle, giving her skin an extra layer of natural armor. A dark, shiny exo-skeleton began to grow over her body.

Deriving her powers from the animal kingdom, Vixen was a great lover of nature and was loath to harm the little mice. But it was looking like it was them or her. She called upon feline attributes again and leapt into action. Vixen hissed and spat as she lunged about, swatting the tiny mouse commandos around the hall. Mice and robot warriors went flying around her as she unleashed her fury.

In the mid-section of her jumpsuit, Mouse Man could only hold on for dear life as she jumped about. He was pressed tight between the tan material and the wall of her belly (not as smooth a surface as one would surmise, thanks to the beetle-like carapace that had grown over Vixen’s skin). A sudden jerk of movement caused him to slip under her belt and he felt himself tumbling down into one of her leggings. The little man slid down her thigh, over her knee, and along the length of her shin, finally coming to rest somewhere inside her boot. He clung to the top of her foot desperately as the woman charged about and continued the battle.

* * * *

Jade stumbled her way into the infirmary, head swimming. Her skin felt like it was on fire and not from the mystic green flame of her powers. A fever had come over her, followed by chills and cold sweats. Her stomach roiled and her vision was blurred. What was happening to her? Was it the bug bite? Had it infected her with something? It couldn’t have been a real insect, it had to be some sort of micro-sized weapon. Whatever it was had made a biological attack. And if she didn’t do something to stop it, it very well might kill her.

She rifled through the cabinets, looking for medicines that could fight infection. But her knowledge of such things was limited. How she wished her old friend Dr. Mid-Nite was here. If she couldn’t prevent what was happening to her, was there time to contact the superhero physician? Would she last long enough?

The fever intensified and another wave of pain swept over her. Dizzy and disoriented, Jade collapsed onto a nearby cot. Somewhere in the vast tracts of her bloodstream, Despotellis was laughing.

To be continued...

Part 3

Mera walked through the Hall’s gymnasium regally, head held high. She was the Queen of Atlantis and wife of Aquaman, co-ruler of the Seven Seas. Any intruders who dared to face her would receive their just comeuppance.

She glanced at movement near the center of the room and saw the tiny flying man that had attacked her and her teammates in the meeting room. The Genetixos it had called itself. The little green entity was hovering over the exercise equipment, seemingly waiting for something.

“Stay where you are!” Mera commanded. “You will answer for this trespass!”

“I answer to one alone,” answered the Genetixos. “And at last, he approaches! Behold Devouris the Conqueror and tremble as thy world dies!”

One of the windows of the gym shattered and a small figure floated through the opening. A being clad in elaborate gray armor levitated across the room to join his little green herald near the center. Mera eyed him curiously but couldn’t help but find the whole scene absurd. The little man was no more than a foot tall.

"I have come,” the dwarf declared solemnly.

“You’re Devouris?” said Mera. She tried to suppress a chuckle. “Surely this must be a jest.”

The Genetixos bristled with anger. “Call not the Conqueror by this name of ‘Shirley!’ Bow down to him, slave, and thy life may be spared! For he has come to destroy you all!”

“So you keep saying,” the queen acknowledged. “I would see this Conqueror’s power for myself. Does he dare to face me in single combat?”

The little green herald scoffed. “Devouris does not sully his hands with the likes of thou, Earthling. But if it is his will, I shall dispatch thee myself!”

Devouris inclined his head slightly and the Genetixos sprang into action. His flying sled carried him about the room at startling speed, sending forth bursts of electricity. Mera leaped about, dodging the attacks. Powerful Atlantean muscles strained with each jump, carrying her to Olympic-level heights. Mera concentrated intently and used her powers to pull moisture out of the air itself. She turned the room’s humid atmosphere into a weapon, coalescing the moisture into a construct of liquid. The queen increased the density of her construct until she had formed a large semi-solid broadsword made of water. As the Genetixos swooped nearer, she swung her sword with savage ferocity.

*SWISH* The tiny flyer swooped to the side as the sword swung past him. *SWISH* The Genetixos dodged the opposite direction as Mera swung the sword once more. With a cry of rage, the monarch dove towards her target. *SWISH-SPLATT* The water-sword connected with its intended victim, slicing the little green man in two.

The two halves of the Genetixos fell to the floor with a dull, wet thud. Mera stood triumphantly over the tiny broken thing and surveyed her work. But in moments, the deformed green globules started to squirm and writhe, regaining their shape. Each half expanded until there were now two Genetixos, each slightly smaller than the other. They took to the air and began to swoop about Mera’s head, assaulting her with bursts of laser fire.

Annoyed, she swung the sword through the air once more, carrying it in a sideways arc that sliced through both little men like a knife through butter. But once again, the Genetixos merely divided itself like a cell. Now there were four of them swooping angrily about her.

Changing tactics, she reshaped her sword into a shield, blocking the heralds’ attacks. Simultaneously, she drew more moisture from the air. As gas changed to liquid, Mera created more constructs to aid her. On either side of the queen, there now stood a warrior made of water. They resembled two beautiful Atlantean women clad in helmets of coral, seashell breastplates, and fish-scale chainmail. At once, her watery honor guard sprang to her defense. Mera’s shield became a sword once more and she joined their charge.

The queen and her guards swung their broadswords wildly, slicing and cutting the miniature assailants. But each time the result was the same. The pieces of the little herald reformed into smaller versions of itself. The redhead was soon surrounded by a swarm of tiny green beings, many of them less than an inch tall. The green specks swooped about on their flying sleds, slamming into each other and merging to gain mass. As their numbers dwindled, their size increased until there was once again a single Genetixos, seemingly no worse for wear. The herald resumed its attack.

As she contemplated her next move, Mera felt a sudden shift in the room’s temperature. It was getting hotter. She looked up curiously and saw Devouris tampering with the overhead lights.

“Thy strengths and weaknesses are known to us, Atlantean,” the dwarf said. “Thou requirest moisture to survive and to call upon thy powers. This dry heat shall be thy undoing. And thou shalt ne’er again see thy beloved oceans.”

The heat was now oppressive, reaching the level of a sauna. Mera felt her strength failing. Beside her, the watery warriors lost solidity and melted away into puddles. Her shield and weapon soon followed. Mera sank to her knees, parched and weakened, her body crying out for the water that sustained her.

* * * *

Jade lay immobilized on a cot in the infirmary. Her symptoms had gotten worse and she was so weak she could barely move. Her fever was almost at life-threatening levels, she had retched into a bucket more times than she cared to count, and her body was wracked with pain. With dreadful certainty, she knew that she was—

Dying, a chilling voice said inside her head. Yes, green one, you are dying. As all the Green Lanterns will. I see no power ring upon your finger but the energy you command leaves no doubt. You are a Lantern. And that means you are my enemy.

“Who…are you?” Jade muttered.

Yes, you should know who has defeated you, who is the instrument of your doom. I am Despotellis of the Sinestro Corps! A disciple of fear! I am your death!

A chill ran down Jade’s spine. She wasn’t sure if it was caused by her symptoms or her terror. She knew that name. Her ex-boyfriend, Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, had told her of Despotellis. The virus had claimed many lives, including that of Kyle’s mother. As horrifying as it was to know what had infected her, Jade took solace in one thing—at least now she knew her opponent. If she could find a way to purge Despotellis from her system, she might stand a chance.

Jade closed her eyes and concentrated her powers inward. Green energy began to flow through her veins. Theoretically, the power of a Green Lantern could do whatever its bearer imagined. Could it boost one’s immune system?

Jade was not technically a Green Lantern anymore but, genetically, she had inherited the powers of her father, Alan Scott, Earth’s first GL. If her will was strong enough, she could fight this. In her mind, she pictured her white blood cells becoming infused with green fire. The energy increased their strength and doubled their infection-fighting ability. Thus armed, she willed them to go forth and patrol her circulatory system like a microscopic Green Lantern Corps.

From its hiding place in one of her arteries, Despotellis could sense the approach of an eerie verdant light. It turned and saw an oncoming legion of “green blood cells” drawing closer.

Clever, woman. Very clever. But I do not fight alone. 

Yellow light radiated off of Despotellis as it summoned its army of spores. Sensing their master’s peril, they swam through Jade’s blood, converging on the virus’s location. Each resembled a slightly smaller version of Despotellis itself. The yellow cells and the green collided and began an epic struggle, each trying to consume or destroy the other. Green fire swept over a spore, burning it down to nothingness. Yellow energy assaulted a blood cell, tearing it to pieces. Back and forth the conflict went with each army claiming casualties.

As spores fell, Jade felt a little of her strength returning. She held out her hand and projected a beam of light towards the telephone mounted on the infirmary wall. It was a risky gambit dividing her power like this but she had to try. Her beam formed into a hand and pulled the phone off its hook, carrying it back to her. Desperately, Jade called for help.

She dialed the secret number for the Justice Society of America, hoping to reach Dr. Mid-Nite. She would need a physician’s expertise to defeat Despotellis for good.

“JSA HQ, what can I do for you, dearie?” said a kindly, motherly voice. It was “Ma” Hunkel, formerly the Red Tornado, now the caretaker of the Justice Society’s headquarters.

“Mid-Nite…” Jade whispered, still somewhat weak. “Need…Mid-Nite…”

“Dr. Mid-Nite’s off on a mission with the others,” Ma answered. “But I can take a message. Who may I say is calling?”

“J-Jade…”

“Jennie? How are ya, kid? You’ll have to speak up, sweetie, I think it’s a bad connection.”

Her strength spent, Jade’s energy construct dissolved, dropping the phone to the floor.

“Hello? Jennie? You still there?” Ma’s puzzled voice piped through the receiver but Jade could no longer hear her. Deep in her veins, Despotellis’ spores had renewed their assault.

* * * *

Tiny robotic warriors directed their steeds skillfully under and between Vixen’s legs as she leaped about. Holding the reins of their mousy mounts with one hand, each mechanical soldier held a plasma rifle with the other hand, adding to the barrage of energy blasting at the heroine.

“For Atomia!” they bellowed. “We must to the aid of our queen’s new consort!”

Queen Atomia would have balked to hear the Mouse Man described this way. The little scientist had perhaps stretched the truth just a bit. But he was prepared to do what he must to ensure the loyalty of the robot soldiers.

Even with her armored skin, Vixen was taking heavy fire from the miniature army. The beetle-like shell she had created could only withstand so much and her costume was now practically in tatters. The cat-like part of her mind wanted nothing more than to tear apart her little foes and feast on their flesh but the human part of her brain rebelled against this in horror. There had to be a way to end this without hurting any more of the creatures. After all they were innocent, victims of the Mouse Man’s mind control.

Mind control—of course! Vixen slapped her forehead when the solution occurred to her. Her totem linked her to animals in more ways than simply stealing their abilities. It allowed her to communicate with them as well. If she could establish a psychic link with the mice, maybe she could counteract the Mouse Man’s telepathy.

Vixen re-doubled her armor, blending the beetle’s traits with those of a rhinoceros. Her exo-skeleton took on a leathery gray tone and increased in thickness. Satisfied with this for the moment, she stood absolutely still, allowing the laser fire to bounce off her hardened skin. Concentrating intently, she could feel her mind begin to link with the Earth’s morphogenetic field, the vast web of life that connected all animals. She zeroed in on the swarm of angry rodents surrounding her and soon began to discern their thoughts.

‘Kill! Kill!’

‘Burn the two-legs!’

‘Help the boss!’

Vixen tried to appeal to the little creatures’ limited reasoning skills. ‘He’s using you! You don’t have to do this!’

‘Boss promised us cheese!’

‘Lots of cheese!’ 

‘And food pellets!’

‘I’ll give you all the cheese you want,’ Vixen insisted.

‘Pretty lady has cheese?’

‘We can has cheese?’

‘More cheese than you could dream of,’ she told them. ‘And cookies! Martian Manhunter keeps a stash of Oreos here. Hell, you can have free reign of the kitchen! But you have to stop trying to hurt me!’

Deep inside Vixen’s boot, Mouse Man could sense his hold on the mice beginning to weaken. Clinging precariously to the top of her foot, he cried out in rage and projected his thoughts once more into the minds of his army. But it seemed there was an interloper within that psychic web.

‘What do you think you’re doing?!’

Vixen turned towards the voice and was surprised to find that she was no longer in the Hall. Surrounding her was a seemingly endless void filled with swirling colors and lights. She stood upon a glowing ribbon of energy snaking through this void like a floating path. Just ahead, she saw a shimmery half-solid image of the Mouse Man – now standing as tall as she was.

‘Wow,’ she remarked. ‘That costume’s even more ridiculous-looking full-size!’ Vixen marveled when she realized that the words were not coming out of her mouth but were merely her projected thoughts.

‘I ask again, what are you doing? You think to break my hold on my minions?’

‘Where are we, some kind of psychic Twilight Zone?’ Vixen asked. ‘Manhunter tried to explain this stuff to me once but I wasn’t really listening.’

‘We are on the astral plane,’ the scientist answered haughtily. ‘At least the part of it our human minds can comprehend. You wished to invade the hive mind of my army so I thought I would oblige you. But I must warn you…the psychic realm is my domain.’

The image of the Mouse Man solidified and began to expand. Up and up his body grew until he towered above the bewildered beauty. In moments, he had become a fifty foot giant. Vixen found herself utterly dwarfed by him and dangerously exposed on the empty golden pathway. She craned her neck back and stared up at her opponent fearfully. A wicked grin crossed the Mouse Man’s face as he relished this rare reversal of fortune in his shrunken life.

‘Ah, I’d forgotten what it was like,’ he mused. ‘To be bigger, stronger, more powerful than all! To hold life and death in one’s hands and to have small creatures tremble before you! That’s your cue, my lady. Now tremble!!!’

He took a step forward on the shimmery pathway they stood upon, causing Vixen to retreat from his colossal boot.

The heroine fled as the enormous foot crashed down. With a booming laugh, the giant continued to move towards her. Vixen ran for her life, barely keeping ahead of the huge footfalls. As the Mouse Man’s boot hung poised over her head, a burst of terror caused her to leap forward into the air. The boot slammed down on the space she had previously occupied, missing her by inches. Vixen was amazed to find that she hadn’t come back down but was actually floating forward through space. Apparently, she could fly in this strange realm. She wondered what else she could do.

Vixen looked down at her body (or the residual self-image of her body. Whatever one would call it) and pictured it growing. Instantly, she felt herself getting larger. It seemed that her astral-self was limited only by her imagination in this place. As Vixen grew bigger and bigger, she turned around to face her enemy. Now she was once again level with the Mouse Man’s face. His expression of astonishment was priceless. With a playful smirk, she continued to grow. She doubled, tripled, and quadrupled her size, growing hundreds of feet high.

‘That’s more like it,’ she thought. Vixen had enlarged herself to such a scale that the Mouse Man was once again tiny in comparison. In fact, he now seemed smaller than ever, a mere insect-like speck by her feet. She felt like Godzilla towering over a helpless, minuscule citizen of Tokyo.

‘Try to step on me, will ya?!’ she snarled. Vixen lifted her own foot this time, slamming it down on the tiny figure. She expected to feel him squish under her weight or at the very least for his astral-self to dissipate, snapping them back to reality. Instead, she was surprised to find that the Mouse Man had caught her foot and was hoisting it up on his shoulders like a miniature Atlas. With incredible strength, he pushed it aside, causing Vixen to stumble backwards and fall. She landed on her back with a tremendous crash that threatened to crack the semi-solid energy path below them.

The Mouse Man fought to maintain his footing as the giantess collapsed. The pathway rumbled below, throwing him off balance. Rather than be thrown to the floor, he willed himself to levitate off the path. With his hands thrust forward, he flew over the vast, curvaceous landscape that was Vixen’s fallen form. He floated over her endless legs and the wide open expanse of her belly. Gaining altitude, he crested the rolling hills of her bosom and flew over her Mount Rushmore-sized facial features. With nimble accuracy, he landed on the tip of her nose.

‘Very impressive, my dear,’ he said. Vixen had to go cross-eyed to focus on him. ‘You’ve mastered the astral plane more quickly than I would have guessed. But your efforts are futile. Our powers are evenly matched in this realm.’

‘Oh yeah?’ Vixen answered. ‘We’ll see about that, Mickey!’

She reached up to grab him but the Mouse Man swooped away. Vixen only succeeded in slapping herself in the face. The tiny villain flew a safe distance away and landed on the path near Vixen’s head. Once again, he began to grow, expanding to his opponent’s size. Now they were both colossal giants and the energy ribbon below strained under their weight.

‘You see?’ Mouse Man said. ‘As the old song goes, anything you can do, I can do better.’

Vixen sat up and willed herself to grow again but the Mouse Man simply grew with her, matching her size. Up they shot, one after the other, as if on two rising platforms.

‘I can keep this up all day if I must,’ Mouse Man told her. ‘Though if we stretch ourselves much further, I don’t know if our minds can withstand the strain.’

‘I’m game to try if you are,’ Vixen challenged. And so they continued to grow, planets and stars and celestial bodies wheeling past them in the void as they expanded through the vast dimensional gulfs.

To be continued...

Part 4

When Jade came to, she saw a man in a dark red tunic and a black hooded cowl with a crescent moon on his brow. He was busy checking her pulse and her temperature when she looked up to meet his gaze.

“Mid-Nite,” she whispered. “You came…”

“I rushed over as soon as Ma relayed your message,” said Dr. Mid-Nite.

“Despotellis?” she asked.

“I’ve been taking samples of your blood,” Mid-Nite answered. “I don’t know how you fought it off but you kept it at bay until I arrived. Whatever you did to your white blood cells—I’ve never seen anything like it! It’s astonishing, Jennie! The mixture of magic and biology. You have to let me do some tests. The things we could learn!”

“Later, Doc! Just tell me if I’m gonna live.”

“I’ve given you some anti-biotics that should help finish the job,” Mid-Nite said. “I expect a full recovery.”

“What about the virus itself? Is it…is he…still inside me?”

“It’s hard to say,” the doctor admitted. “It could be lying dormant somewhere or it could have withdrawn, retreated back to space to return to the Sinestro Corps. We’ll know more once I can get you to my lab. Now lie back, Jen. I think the worst is over but you still need rest.”

Somewhere within a vein in Jade’s abdomen, Despotellis brooded. Cursed physician! You will be the next to die! 

But as soon as it had it expressed this, it saw another wave of mystically enhanced blood cells swimming towards its position. These green champions were legion and Despotellis no longer had its spores to back it up. Flinging a few more angry epithets, the virus ran for its life.

* * * *

“Release me, you mountainous moron!” Lesla-Lar demanded, still squirming impotently in the grip of a massive finger and thumb. Without her super-hearing, Supergirl was unsure if she would have even heard the words.

“What are you doing here, Lesla?” the giant blonde asked. A look of pity suddenly came across her billboard-sized face. “You obviously escaped from Kandor some time ago if you’re still shrunken. You should count yourself lucky. The Bottle City was re-enlarged a while back but—”

“—But most of its people are dead!” Lesla spat bitterly. “Killed in a war with Earth’s governments. I saw it all happen on an Earthling info-box.”

“Television,” Supergirl corrected her.

Lesla ignored this and continued to rage. “When Kandor was restored, I wanted to return. To be changed back to normal and take my place among my brothers and sisters. But I knew I’d never be welcomed back. They still considered me a criminal and would have locked me up if I showed my face among them.”

“Can’t imagine why,” Supergirl deadpanned. “And you with such a charming personality.”

“Shut up, you titanic twit!” the tiny lady squeaked, wriggling angrily between the heroine’s fingers.

“Oh, very nice,” said the Girl of Steel. “Do all super-villains get lessons in alliteration?”

“You don’t know what I’ve been through!” Lesla continued. “I stayed hidden, searching for a cure to my condition. Then the war started. Earth’s scientists altered the rays of the sun itself! The red energy drained us of our powers and everywhere, Kryptonians were dying. Falling from the sky, suffocating in space, murdered by soldiers armed with kryptonite. And there I was, powerless, as small as an insect. Huddling in fear from every human’s careless footfall, every beast seeking to make a meal of me. I could only watch, helpless, as my fellow Kandorians were slaughtered!”

“I’m sorry, Lesla. More than you know,” said Supergirl. Her tone had changed as she listened to Lesla’s rant. The so-called “War of the Supermen” had been a dark time in Earth’s history—and that of her own family. Emotion threatened to overcome her as Kara Zor-El relived painful memories.

“We all lost so much in the war,” Supergirl continued. “My parents were in Kandor when it happened. They…they didn’t make it…”

“And yet you still protect these Earthlings? How can you do it?” the minuscule woman shrieked, banging her fist on Supergirl’s fingernail. “How can you live among these monsters who killed your own people?!”

“It’s not like that,” Supergirl insisted. “Not all the humans hate us. And those that do, they were manipulated. The war was engineered by Lex Luthor and General Lane to—”

“They’re all dead and you’re still here!” Lesla screamed. “Why are you still here?! I don’t care how big you are! I’ll kill you myself, you human-loving bitch!” Once again, she started to thrash about wildly, trying to free herself from the giantess’s super-strong grasp.

Supergirl sighed. “No, Lesla. You won’t.” She brought her other hand close to the tiny woman and held her thumb and index finger together. With a quick flick of her finger, Supergirl knocked the shrunken criminal into unconsciousness.

* * * *

Mera fell to the floor, all of her strength leaving her as the temperature of the room increased. Devouris continued to turn up the heat, watching with satisfaction as his opponent struggled like an ant under a magnifying glass. The Genetixos had ceased his attacks, content to observe from his master’s side for the moment. It would not be long now. Soon he could swoop in for a killing stroke.

“Burn, Atlantean,” Devouris snarled. He floated over until he was hovering a few feet above where Mera lay prostrate upon the ground. “Tis but a preview of the doom I bring to thy people! As my strength grows, I shall lay waste to this planet and consume it, like the ancient world-eaters of old!”

Mera strained to look up at him with a scowl. “B-big talk for a little m-man,” she stammered.

“You doubt me?” asked Devouris. “Tell her, Genetixos! Tell her the stories they speak in whispers across the cosmos! Of the civilizations that have but lately fallen before Devouris the Conqueror!”

The herald paused, uncertain. “Thou, er, hast not consumed any civilizations recently, my lord.”

“I’ve been amassing my power,” the dwarfish Conqueror insisted. “Thou knowest this.”

“Aye, lord, I do. Only…”

“Only what, my loyal herald?”

“Well, master, I have but lately entered thy service. I was awed by thy legend and thy reputation, as well thou knowest. And I am honored by thy bestowal of the Strength Celestial upon me. But I have been waiting, um, that is to say, I have been very anxious for, er…”

Devouris frowned impatiently. “Yes? Well? Speak, damn you!”

If the Genetixos had had any facial features, they would have looked extremely nervous in that instant.

“I was merely wondering when the almighty Devouris would see fit to…devour something.”

The Genetixos averted its gaze and shuffled its feet nervously upon its flying sled. Even in her agony, Mera could not help but look up to watch the Conqueror’s response.

“I see,” said Devouris. “Is not my appetite legendary throughout the universe?”

“Indeed, lord,” the Genetixos agreed. “Thou consumed a near mythic quantity of sandwiches at the trans-galactic diner we stopped at last week but—”

“J-just as I suspected,” Mera said. She propped herself up on her hands and forced a slight chuckle. The look on the armored alien’s face was worth it. “The terrible Devouris is all talk.”

The dwarf shifted uncomfortably in mid-air, mortified. Fighting through it, he returned to his default position of blustery rage. “Silence, sub-creature! How darest—?”

“No, you don’t get to speak to me like that, little man.”

“Be that so?” Devouris challenged. “And what, pray tell, dost thou intend to do about it? Thou canst not even stand!”

Mera pressed her hands against the ground and enacted a final desperate salvo. Concentrating intently, she focused all her remaining power on the closest source of water she knew of—the Hall of Justice swimming pool, located elsewhere on the same floor as the gymnasium. Accessing a body of water remotely from this distance was a difficult task but her options were limited.

“I will not be broken by the likes of you, Devouris the Fool!” she declared. “I am Mera, Queen of Atlantis and Champion of Xebel! And I will not be conquered!”

The doors burst open as a tidal wave of water came sweeping into the gym. The flash flood caught Devouris and Genetixos completely by surprise, blasting into them and sweeping them from the air. Mera let the wave wash over her as well and relished its cool embrace. Chlorinated pool water was no substitute for the life-giving power of the ocean but it would have to suffice.

Her enemies were carried across the room and slammed violently against the far wall. Devouris knocked his head hard on the wooden surface, collapsing into unconsciousness. The Genetixos simply exploded against the wall like a rotten tomato. As the flood subsided and the water level came to rest, Mera surveyed her work. She fell to the floor once more, exhausted from this herculean final effort. The queen passed out with a smile of satisfaction on her face.

* * * *

At speeds approaching the sound barrier, Jesse Quick zipped about the room, capturing or disabling every miniature robot in her path. She swept through the clouds of tiny enemies like a blonde-haired hurricane. The Neutron Robots had tried to overwhelm her with sheer numbers but it was difficult to face an opponent who could be almost everywhere at once. 

Having determined that her foes were not organic beings, Jesse pulled no punches. She caught the little metal men in her fists, crushing them utterly with a quick squeeze. She slapped her hands together around others, swatting them like flies. Those closer to the ground she simply stomped upon, trampling them as she rushed past. The little automatons hardly knew what hit them. They saw only a reddish yellow blur, followed by the sight of a giant fist or boot coming towards them with tremendous force. When she came upon a larger cluster of them, Jesse ran circles around the group at incredible speed, trapping them in a whirlwind. They spun about wildly until the heroine redirected the path of her homemade tornado, smashing them against the wall.

Even at super-speed, it took some time but at last Jesse had destroyed or captured every metal warrior in her path. After a quick trip to the Hall’s museum gift shop, she had procured a number of boxes to imprison the horde of machines. She didn’t want to risk the less damaged ones suddenly reactivating and resuming their attack. Soon she had the whole pint-sized army safely stowed in a series of boxes, gift-wrapped for the police or S.T.A.R. Labs or the Department of Extranormal Operations—whoever one contacted in the event of a tiny robot invasion (Jesse was a bit unclear on this point).

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one last straggler down at floor level, attempting to beat a hasty retreat. Jesse was about to run over and step on it when she noticed its appearance. The creature was not blue, nor did it have a shiny chrome skin like the other robots. Jesse saw a flash of red on its head that appeared to be hair. Curious, the speedster ran after it and in a split second had scooped the little thing into her hand. She was surprised to find herself holding a tiny redheaded woman in what appeared to be a slinky green evening gown.

“Okay, I’ll bite,” Jesse said in confusion. The minuscule lady flinched at this and tried to shield herself. 

“Whoa, relax!” Jesse giggled. “Figure of speech. I didn’t mean that literally! What are you supposed to be?”

The little woman regained her composure and scowled up at her captor. “I am Queen Atomia, sovereign of the Atom Galaxy! Unhand me, you unwashed peasant!”

“Hey, watch it, Tinkerbell. I just showered this morning.”

Atomia placed a hand to her forehead and sent forth a mental command to her minions. On the floor at Jesse’s feet, the gift boxes suddenly began to shake and rattle as the little damaged robots fought to escape.

“You’re controlling those things?” asked Jesse. “Hmm. I think you’d better come with me.”

She reached for a box to trap the tiny queen in but thought better of it when the robots began to thrash about more violently inside. If this little lady was their commander, it would probably be best to keep them separated from her. Jesse looked around for an alternative place to put her. Unfortunately, her costume didn’t have any pockets. She flashed the miniature monarch a mischievous smile.

“Sorry about this, ‘your majesty’,” Jesse said with a smirk. Before Atomia could respond, the heroine slipped her down the front of her collar and stuffed the little struggling queen into her bra. Atomia found herself trapped tightly between a barrier of fabric and a pair of breasts as big as the hills. She fumed and raged at the indignity but Jesse simply laughed and gave her bosom a light pat. The force of a giant hand slapping against her was enough to shut Atomia up for the moment. Once the tiny woman was secure, Jesse gathered up the boxes of mechanical prisoners and prepared to return to the meeting room.

She was about to charge off at super speed when she thought of what that might do to her minuscule passenger. Jesse was wearing a sports bra that gave plenty of support and, well…kept things more or less in place. Still, it might get a bit bumpy in there.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take it slow,” she said, peering down in the general direction of her chest. Holding the boxes under her arms, Jesse began walking down the hall with careful measured steps. Pressed headfirst into a wall of flesh, Atomia could only seethe in anger.

* * * *

All across the Hall, the Mouse Man’s allies were falling before the Justice League. But the gray-suited scientist knew nothing of this. His consciousness was far away, still locked in psychic combat with Vixen on the astral plane. The pair of them had been expanding their mental projections for some time now, each growing themselves larger to match the other. Even the Mouse Man was uncertain how long they could continue.

‘Cease this folly, woman!’ Mouse Man’s thoughts shrieked. ‘If we grow any further, our minds could snap!’

Still expanding through the extra-dimensional void, Vixen hopped from planet to planet as if they were stepping stones. She grabbed a passing comet and chucked it at the Mouse Man. ‘Trying to scare me, Mouseketeer?’

The scientist ducked as the comet whooshed past his head. ‘You imbecile! If we keep expanding, we’ll lose ourselves in the ether! Our bodies back in reality will lie there, comatose and brain dead as our minds are torn apart!’

Vixen had to admit he had a point. This battle was getting them nowhere. And as her astral-self stretched over so great an area, she was finding it harder to focus. There was something he had said that was important. Something that might turn the tide. What was it?

‘Our bodies in reality! Of course!’ the heroine exclaimed. ‘Why am I even bothering with all this psychic mumbo-jumbo? Back in the real world, you’re just a tiny, little man trapped inside my shoe!’

The Mouse Man bristled at this. ‘A technicality. In this realm, the mind is the true power!’

‘Not if I can wake myself up,’ said Vixen. She closed her eyes (or at least imagined her mental-self doing so) and tried to send a message back to her body.

‘Mari! Hey, Mari, wake up, girl!’

Thousands of astral miles away, yet somehow also right next door, Vixen’s physical form was lying on the floor of a hallway in the Hall of Justice. The mouse army surrounded the fallen woman on all sides. They had paused their attack as they waited for instructions from the Mouse Man. In her mind, Vixen kept screaming at herself and tried to sense the presence of her body. With some effort, she got her foot to twitch. Something small tumbled down her instep. Vixen moved her foot around experimentally in her boot as she searched for her tiny opponent. Finally, she found him. With another command to her corporeal self, Vixen clamped her toes around the Mouse Man’s neck.

Back on the astral plane, she saw the Mouse Man suddenly gasp for air. His eyes rolled back and he started to choke and wheeze, flailing about like a rag doll.

Vixen moved her foot back and forth, simultaneously watching the image of her enemy being flung from side to side by an invisible force.

‘This is too weird,’ she thought. But she kept at it, having far too much fun.

Eventually, the Mouse Man’s mental projection lost substance and began to fade. Once it had vanished, Vixen felt herself being drawn back to reality.

She awoke with a start and sat up. This sent the mice all around her scurrying for cover. The Neutron Robots riding them tried to steer them back into the fray but the mice were once again only common animals acting on instinct. Vixen reached through a tear in her legging and stuck her hand into her boot. She fished the Mouse Man out and held him up before her. The tiny villain laid in her hand, gasping for breath.

“I win, Mickey,” Vixen said.

* * * *

The heroines regrouped in the meeting room, each with a wild story to tell and an unusual catch to display. Supergirl and Vixen held their tiny captives firmly in their hands. Lesla was still unconscious in Supergirl’s palm while the Mouse Man was too weak to put up much of a fight. Jesse Quick reached into her top to retrieve Queen Atomia, prompting giggles from her teammates. Mera, somewhat recovered though still weak, staggered into the room with Devouris flung over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. A call from Dr. Mid-Nite in the infirmary informed them of Jade’s progress.

Once the team had compared notes, they placed their tiny prisoners in a shoebox and prepared to turn them over to the authorities. The largest, Devouris, they tied to a chair.

“I’ve gotta say,” Supergirl told the group, “this has to be the weirdest super-villain team-up I’ve ever seen.”

“Agreed,” said Mera.

“Pint-sized criminals!” Jesse added. “What will they think of next?”

“How about you, Zee?” Vixen asked, turning to Zatanna. “Did you have any trouble with killer leprechauns or thumb-sized masterminds?”

Zatanna smiled slyly at the others. “Not as such,” she said. “But I’d say that your troubles are not quite over.”

Vixen looked at her puzzled. “How do you figure?”

Zatanna gestured dramatically with her hands and focused her power on the team.

“Ecitsuj Sreugael, knirhs!”

Mystic energy sprang from the magician’s fingers and struck each of the startled heroines. As it spread through their bodies, they felt themselves suddenly dwindling in size. Within moments, the Leaguers were each about the size of one of Mouse Man’s furry minions. Zatanna now towered above them enormously, a look of unsettling malice on her distant face above. A tiny man in a blue and white jumpsuit poked his head out of the top pocket of her shirt and gazed down at the bewildered crime fighters.

“Mr. Mind,” said Dwarfstar. “I do like the cut of your jib.”

“Thank you,” the Venusian mind-worm said through the brainwashed Zatanna. “But I don’t think our little friends here share the sentiment.” The colossal magician took a step towards the shrunken heroes, sending them scattering before her feet.

To be continued...

Part 5

The miniaturized Justice Leaguers, now roughly the size of mice, looked up in fear at the gargantuan form of their teammate Zatanna. The twin pillars of her fishnet-clad legs seemed to stretch up hundreds of feet, terminating at a pair of hips almost as wide as the horizon. The cliff-like contours of her chest obscured any view of her face high above. But the heroines were reasonably sure that the face was smirking triumphantly.

As the leggy giantess stepped forward, they were forced to flee from her gigantic feet. They scattered in all directions like cockroaches escaping the light. The ground shook beneath them with every impact of those boat-sized high heels. 

Still weakened from her battle with Devouris, Mera stumbled and fell, thrown off balance by the rumble of a huge footfall. A dark shadow passed overhead. The tiny redhead peered over her shoulder to see a huge black shoe descending towards her with incredible speed. The Queen of Atlantis gave a very un-regal shriek of terror.

There was a rush of wind and a crackle of electricity as Jesse Quick darted under the giant shoe and pulled Mera to safety. Zatanna’s foot landed with an earth-shaking crash behind them. The resulting tremor sent the little heroes bouncing slightly into the air but Jesse never broke her stride. She dragged her friend under the shelter of the meeting room table where the other heroines had regrouped.

“Jesus H. Tap-Dancing Christ!” Vixen stammered. “What’s gotten into Zatanna?!”

“I heard a voice,” Supergirl told her. “Before she did this. There was a…a little man in her pocket. He called her Mr. Mind.”

“The worm guy?” Vixen said. “So it’s mind control.”

“Looks that way,” Jesse agreed. “Mind usually has to be somewhere on his victim’s person to maintain control, if I recall. He could be in a pocket as well or latched onto her neck or—”

“In her ear,” said Supergirl, peering intently into the distance. “I can see him.”

“X-ray vision for the win,” Vixen quipped.

“We’ve got to get him away from her,” said Jesse.

“And how do you propose we do that?” Mera asked. “We’re no bigger than guppies.”

“Don’t worry, ladies,” Supergirl declared, her face a mask of determination. “I’ve got this.”

Before the others could protest, the Maid of Might marched boldly out from under the table and took off into the air. The tiny Kryptonian flew higher and higher as she crossed the room, approaching the towering shape that was Zatanna. The magician’s back was turned and she had ceased her pursuit of the shrunken heroes for the moment. She stood calmly in the center of the meeting hall, a shapely skyscraper fixed to the spot. Supergirl hesitated and hovered for a moment, fearing a trick. But as her presence hadn’t been noted yet, she continued her flight.

As she drew closer to this human mountain, Supergirl had new appreciation for how Lesla-Lar saw the world. Zatanna’s body seemed to stretch up into the sky. Her long black hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall. The top hat on her head was almost as big as a house. Human beings and the world they inhabited now seemed unfathomably large to Kara Zor-El. She recalled that Lesla was far smaller than the three-inch dimensions Kara had been reduced to. Supergirl suppressed a shiver. What must she have looked like to the miniature criminal?

She cast these thoughts aside and sped towards Zatanna’s billboard-sized head, aiming for her ear. Without turning, the lady mage casually lifted a hand and uttered a single word:

“Etinotpyrk.”

Instantly, a golden ring on the magician’s finger turned bright green. An otherworldly glow began emanating from it and Kara felt suddenly sick. All her strength abandoned her and she started to fall from the air as she felt the effects of kryptonite. Supergirl plummeted like a stone and crashed into the ground hard. With a chuckle, Zatanna turned around and dropped to one knee. Weak and disoriented, she could only hold up her hands in a futile attempt to shield herself as Zatanna reached down and scooped her up.

Holding Supergirl tightly in her fist, the mystic made sure to keep the hand with the kryptonite ring as close as possible. The radioactive rock hovered over the heroine until the she felt like her insides were on fire. The twin pools of Zatanna’s eyes fixed her with an icy stare.

“You Kryptonians think you’re so untouchable, so god-like,” Mr. Mind said through Zatanna. “You don’t impress me, little lady. I’ve fought gods before. And let me tell you, Mary Marvel you’re not. I’ve brought her and her brother Captain Marvel to their knees and that was without a convenient alien mineral to steal their powers.”

Zatanna walked over to the meeting table, causing the other heroes to scramble for cover as they saw the huge feet coming closer. But her attention wasn’t on them. The magician dumped Supergirl onto the tabletop and removed the kryptonite ring from her finger (making sure it was never far from her tiny prisoner). She grinned wickedly and slipped the ring over Supergirl’s head, letting it hang about her neck. With a mumbled incantation, she caused the ring to expand slightly and began to force Supergirl through the opening. When she had finished, the ring was looped about the tiny woman’s mid-section, pinning her arms to her sides. The minuscule heroine doubled over in pain, wriggling like a worm as she tried to free herself.

As Supergirl writhed in agony, Zatanna reached for one of the discarded wine glasses the women had left behind. She overturned this on Supergirl, trapping her under the goblet.

“Feel free to die slowly now,” Zatanna said. “But if you don’t, I’ll be back to check on you soon. First I have to find your teammates.”

“Come out and play, my wee little friends,” Zatanna continued, addressing the general vicinity of the floor. “FYI, I’ve disabled all communication devices in here. So there’ll be no calling the rest of the Justice League or anyone else for help. And your green-skinned associate should be well on her way to Dr. Mid-Nite’s lab by now. It’s just you and me.”

Down by her feet, the heroines were in a panic. “Crap, crap, crap,” said Vixen. “She just took out our heavy hitter.”

“We must help Kara,” Mera insisted. “She’s dying up there!”

“We’ll be dying down here unless we think of something fast!” Vixen said.

“Fast is my specialty,” said Jesse. In the blink of an eye, she was gone, speeding out from under the table and leaving an electrical trail in her wake.

“Jesse, wait!” Vixen called. “We need a plan!”

With a pop that was probably the world’s smallest sonic boom, Jesse ran towards Zatanna’s enormous foot. She sped over the top of a stiletto heel, moving with such speed that she was soon running straight up the magician’s leg. The creamy surface of the giantess’s skin rushed by below her as Jesse continued to pick up momentum. Whispering to herself, she focused on her scientific mantra (“3X2(9YZ)4A”) and summoned the power of flight. Like her super-speed, this was an ability she had inherited from her father, Johnny Quick, but it required intense concentration to maintain.

Jesse rose into the air, still moving at blinding speed. She swooped past Zatanna’s building-sized abdomen and up to the side of her head, aiming for her ear. She had arrived at her destination faster than the magician could blink. Jesse grabbed hold of the ear’s outer rim and hung there like a human earring. She reached into the orifice with one arm, searching for Mr. Mind.

A sudden electric shock sent her reeling backwards. Jesse fell from the giantess’s ear and began to tumble wildly. She tried to shake herself back to her senses. She knew she had to create a whirlwind to slow her descent or build up enough speed to activate her flight power again.

“Ezeerf!” Zatanna called. Jesse’s whole body seized up and her muscles refused to respond. Her fall suddenly stopped and she hung suspended in place, approximately level with Zatanna’s chest. The magician smiled and reached out a hand, plucking the frozen Jesse from the air.

“Did you think I’d leave myself completely vulnerable in here?” Mr. Mind asked through his mesmerized hostess. “Please. Give me a little credit. It’s only a rudimentary force field, I admit. But I was pressed for time and materials.”

Zatanna looked down at the tiny statue-like form in her open palm. “So you’re the swift one, eh?” she said. “Didn’t you hear me say I’ve fought Captain Marvel? If I can outsmart someone with the Speed of Mercury, I can do the same to you. I’m sorry, speedster. All you’ve succeeded in doing is to give me a sudden craving for…fast food.”

The magician lifted the hand holding Jesse high above her head. That wicked grin was once again on Zatanna’s face. Tilting back her head, she opened her lips wide and dangled Jesse above the daunting abyss. Frozen and helpless, Jesse could only stare down into the massive jaws at rows of teeth as big as her head and a huge serpent-like tongue slithering below. With a flick of her fingers, Zatanna dropped her little prisoner into her mouth.

Jesse landed on the surface of the tongue with a wet plop. The light was cut off behind her as Zatanna closed her lips. Unable to move or fight back, Jesse felt herself being pushed from side to side by the enormous slippery muscle below. She was completely petrified (in more ways than one). After a moment of sampling her taste, Zatanna pushed Jesse between her upper and lower teeth and prepared to bite the heroine in half.

The magician felt a sudden sharp pain in her ankle as Vixen launched herself at it with newly grown claws. Vixen bit and scratched and tore at the flesh of the giant leg, slicing the skin and the lower end of Zatanna’s fishnet stocking to ribbons. The giantess gave a cry of pain, dislodging Jesse from her teeth. The tiny speedster tumbled backwards into her throat and caught there, choking her. Zatanna gagged and coughed while simultaneously trying to kick Vixen off her leg. 

Refusing to release her victim, the sorceress changed tactics and tried to swallow. It took a bit of effort but after a moment, she felt the miniature heroine slide down her throat in a massive gulp. Jesse was gone, tumbling down into the dark recesses of her body.

No longer distracted, Zatanna focused fully on Vixen and sent her flying with a determined kick. Mera was there to catch her and the two Lilliputian heroines soon stood before the gigantic magician. The shadow of her colossal form cast them both in partial darkness.

“Look what you made me do! I would have made it quick for her…excuse the pun,” the giantess said. “But you had to attack me. Now I’ve gone and swallowed her. Well, she’d be dead either way.” Zatanna smirked down at them and lightly patted her belly. “Your little friend will simply take longer to die this way. Hmm. Digested alive. Nasty way to go.”

“Gods of the sea,” Mera whispered. “Jesse...”

Vixen ignored her horror and yelled defiantly up at the giant woman. “Hey, Mind! Afraid to pick on someone your own size? Why don’t you face us yourself?”

Zatanna frowned. “That seems counterintuitive, my dear, when I could simply crush you with one step. Still…I’m feeling sporting. Let’s play a game, shall we? I’ll turn off my force field for the next, oh, two minutes. If you can reach me all the way up here by then, we can spar one-on-one. Well, get going, heroes. The clock is ticking.”

Frantically, Mera and Vixen ran towards their enormous opponent. They suspected a trap of course but this was a better chance than staying at ground level near those high-heeled weapons of destruction. They clambered up the sloping insteps of her feet and grabbed hold of the lower end of her fishnets. With Vixen on one side and Mera on the other, the heroines began the arduous climb up the shapely towers of Zatanna’s legs. The huge mystic held very still and watched the little climbers with a bemused expression.

The netting of her stockings gave them plenty of handholds so their journey was fairly quick at first. Vixen was making better progress, having called upon the climbing prowess of a monkey. In moments, she had ascended up the length of the shin, over the bumpy surface of a knee, and onto the wide expanse of the magician’s thigh. Mera had only just reached the knee as Vixen took hold of the black trunks that covered Zatanna’s pelvis. She scrambled up higher, grabbing the bottom of a silken white dress shirt.

Adjusting one hand at a time, Vixen maneuvered herself towards the middle of the shirt. With a mighty leap, she reached the lowest button and clung to it tightly. She repeated this with impressive agility, jumping from one button to the next as she continued to make her way upward. The twin hills of Zatanna’s bosom soon loomed above her, creating a daunting overhang. Vixen summoned the adhesive touch of a spider so that she stuck to the shirt even as she was forced to climb outward and over the suddenly curving terrain. She pulled herself up on top of one of Zatanna’s breasts, resting for a moment on the soft spongy surface.

As she glanced to the side, she saw that the top few buttons of the shirt were undone, exposing a rather generous amount of cleavage. The tiny heroine couldn’t help but stare into the depths of this fleshy chasm. At her current size, such a tunnel could likely swallow her up entirely.

“This is so weird,” Vixen muttered to herself.

Zatanna caught her looking and smiled. “Don’t fall in, my little mountaineer.” She chuckled at her joke, causing a jiggling tremor to shake her chest. Vixen grabbed hold of the shirt fabric desperately to keep from being thrown off.

Resuming her trek, Vixen climbed up the collar of the shirt and onto the black velvet tailcoat Zatanna wore over it. With one last effort, the heroine pulled herself up onto the giantess’s shoulder. A curtain of black hair hung in front of her, over the shoulder’s edge, and the brim of the top hat high above created a bit of shade. Vixen laid there for a few seconds and tried to catch her breath. She soon realized, however, that she was not alone.

“Howdy,” said Dwarfstar, standing over the exhausted hero with his knife in hand. “Let’s you and me dance, sweetness.”

Vixen jumped to her feet, barely dodging the thrust of the blade. She bobbed and weaved from side to side as Dwarfstar continued to slash at her. But the shoulder wasn’t very wide and she didn’t have much room to work with. Grinning from ear to ear, Dwarfstar advanced on his foe, slicing at her with glee. Now and then, she wasn’t fast enough and she felt the sting as the knife slashed little cuts in her arms. Out of the corner of her eye, Vixen saw that she had been backed up to the very edge of the shoulder. A terrifying drop of several hundred feet lay below.

With a savage cry, Dwarfstar leapt forward, intent on cutting his victim open from neck to sternum. In her panicked state, Vixen channeled the abilities of a rhinoceros and increased her body’s natural armor. The knife struck her chest and bounced off, throwing Dwarfstar off balance. Vixen retaliated with a right hook to the face. The villain stumbled backward along the shoulder in surprise. His knife flew from his hand, tumbling off the side of the shoulder. Vixen came at him again, punching with the force of an angry rhino. Dwarfstar flew backward and struck the trunk of Zatanna’s neck. Still the heroine did not let up and she began to charge at him.

Shaking himself to his senses, Dwarfstar slapped the button on his belt and started to shrink. He dwindled below the trajectory of Vixen’s fist, causing her to punch Zatanna’s neck instead.

“Ow!” the giantess cried. She turned her head towards her shoulder. “What’s going on down there?”

Now merely an inch tall, Dwarfstar scurried through the gap under Vixen’s legs until he was behind her.

“Heh. You’re strong, lady, I’ll give ya that,” he said, rubbing his aching jaw. “But I can play that game too.”

Adjusting a setting on his belt, Dwarfstar increased his density. He ran at Vixen and punched her in the small of her back. The impact was like being hit with a boulder. Vixen shrieked and fell forward against Zatanna’s neck. The comparatively dwarfish Dwarfstar jumped onto Vixen’s shoulders and started pummeling her. This time she was ready. The denser the criminal made his fists, the tougher Vixen built up her armor. Punches glanced off her as Vixen jumped to her feet and tried to shake him off. But Dwarfstar held on tight, tightening his arms into a choking grip. They seemed to be at a stalemate.

Finally, Vixen called upon the power of an electric eel. The Tantu Totem glowed as she began to generate electricity. A powerful shock emanated from her skin and flowed straight into Dwarfstar’s body. The villain screamed in agony. After a few moments, the pain overwhelmed him and he simply passed out. With a grunt of disgust, Vixen pried Dwarfstar off of her and chucked him over the side of Zatanna’s shoulder. The unconscious super-villain slid down the giantess’s chest and vanished into the canyon between her breasts.

“Impressive,” Zatanna said, ignoring the tiny form sliding down into her bra. “But ultimately futile. Your time’s up and the force field is back o—wait. What are you doing?”

Vixen had jumped up onto Zatanna’s ear and thrust her arm inside. Energy crackled and sparked as the she hit the force field but the heroine ignored it. Vixen growled in rage and pain as the sparks continued to fly. Zatanna also was crying out as her ear was nearly electrocuted. At last, the field shorted out and Vixen reached in further, grabbing hold of the slimy tail of the mind-worm within. She yanked hard.

“Ahhh! Stop!” two voices shrieked at once, one from the giant magician and the other a small, modulated one coming from inside her ear. Zatanna reached a hand up and grabbed Vixen’s tiny legs, trying to pull her out. But the heroine tightened her grip on Mr. Mind, forming claws that latched onto his carapace. The more Zatanna pulled, the more her wormy master was pulled along as well. Mr. Mind dug his pincers into the flesh of the ear, trying to dig himself in.

Zatanna reached her other hand up to pry Vixen off but found that the hero had wrapped herself around the worm’s body in a bear hug. If Mind commanded his thrall to crush Vixen, he’d be destroyed along with her. Physical force was too risky in his current position. But he still had a powerful sorceress under his control.

The mage opened her mouth to cast a spell on Vixen but immediately choked on her words. Her mouth and throat had gone completely dry. In her peripheral vision, she saw Mera on her other shoulder. The little queen had her arms outstretched, using her powers to sap all the saliva from Zatanna’s mouth. Each time she tried to speak, the giantess merely coughed and gagged. She reached a hand up to grab Mera but the monarch leapt from her shoulder and tumbled down onto the surface of the meeting table. Mera ran towards the drinking glass currently imprisoning Supergirl.

Zatanna tried to cry out in protest but again could only gag. Instead, she slammed her fist down onto the table, attempting to smash Mera to a pulp. Zatanna was now fighting a battle on two fronts, one hand tugging at Vixen on her ear, the other pounding the table. The huge fist crashed against the tabletop again and again but the tiny queen was too quick for her. Mighty Atlantean muscles strained as Mera pushed the drinking glass off the table.

In an instant, the two heroines plummeted to the floor, glass shattering everywhere. Mera tucked in her legs and rolled as they hit the ground, trying to minimize injury. Her Atlantean body was durable but she still felt something crack within her. The fall had done its work however for the kryptonite ring had also shattered into a dozen pieces. Limping painfully, Mera scooped the weakened, unconscious Kara into her arms and tried to find shelter.

Zatanna whirled about, one hand still awkwardly locked at her ear trying to remove Vixen. Multitasking, she gave pursuit to the little figures on the floor and prepared to stomp them both into oblivion. For the second time, Mera saw a dark shadow pass over her and sensed the presence of a monstrous giant above.

She was nearly upon them when Vixen dug her claws deeper into Mr. Mind. The alien worm screeched in pain and for the briefest of moments, his hold on Zatanna began to slip. Cognizance came back into her eyes for a split second before Mind sent out another psychic command and regained control.

It had only lasted a moment but it was enough. Had anyone been watching the shards of kryptonite, they would have seen them change back into tarnished gold. Zatanna’s spells were fading. Almost immediately, the sorceress felt an odd sensation in the pit of her stomach. Her insides seemed to be churning and roiling as something thrashed about within her. Zatanna clutched her belly in pain, overcome with nausea. A small semi-transparent form could be seen emerging from her abdomen like an alien bursting out of its host.

With her mobility and powers returned, Jesse Quick was vibrating at such speed she was passing between the molecules of Zatanna’s body. She had phased straight through the wall of the stomach and through flesh and fabric to emerge back out in the open. Regaining solidity, she swooped down to the floor.

It was almost more than she could manage. Jesse was a wreck. Her skin was badly burned, much of her hair had dissolved, and her costume was reduced to a few scattered rags. Imprisonment in Zatanna’s guts had nearly killed her. Luckily, with her powers back, her super-fast metabolism was already beginning to heal the damage. Jesse staggered to where Mera and Supergirl had fled.

“H-how we doin’? ‘Re we winnin’?” she muttered before collapsing to the floor.

“Jesse!” Mera cried. “You’re alive!”

“Not for long,” a voice declared above them. Zatanna loomed over them once again and lifted her foot high, bringing it down with swift finality. Mera closed her eyes and waited for the end.

But the foot had stopped. The Atlantean looked up to see Supergirl with arms above her head, halting the massive juggernaut’s descent. Still weak, her muscles strained and her face was a grimace of effort. But the Girl of Steel would not give up. She held the foot there for a moment, a female Atlas supporting the heavens, before she pushed against it with all her might and sent Zatanna tumbling backwards. The titanic magician fell and landed hard on her back, creating an immense earthquake for the tiny heroines. Almost utterly spent, Supergirl collapsed next to Jesse.

“She’s down!” said Mera. “We can’t stop now! Fight on!”

Half dead with barely any strength between them, the three heroines forced themselves to their feet. In a daze, Supergirl managed to fly them all to the side of Zatanna’s head. They approached the prostrate form of the giantess and grabbed hold of Vixen’s waist. Like contestants in a miniature tug-of-war, they pulled. Mr. Mind at last popped out of his sanctuary.

“Curse you!” his small electronic voice wailed. “I’ll destroy you all! You’ve not heard the last of Mr.—”

Huge feminine fingers closed around the mind-worm, cutting off his threats. Only sounds of muffled agitation could be heard inside the giant fist.

“Hi girls,” Zatanna said, propping herself up on one arm. “What’d I miss?”

* * * *

The heroines were soon returned to their proper sizes and the villains each locked in cages, ready to be shipped off to a metahuman prison facility. Zatanna had fished Dwarfstar out of her décolletage and taken his size controlling-belt, trapping him at a mere inch tall. She also whipped up a red sun-lamp in Lesla-Lar’s cage to sap her powers. Mr. Mind had been frozen with an icy blast from Supergirl’s breath while Atomia and her robots were packaged in individual boxes like action figures. A short time later, the Justice Leaguers were turning their miniature prisoners over to federal agents.

The Mouse Man brooded furiously in his cage as he awaited his turn to be handed over. He perked up slightly when he was placed close to the larger cage holding Devouris the Conqueror.

“Devouris, now!” he declared. “Plan B!”

The would-be alien despot stuck a hand through the bars and projected a beam of blinding white light in Mouse Man’s direction. “Milton Raton, thou art chosen! I imbue thee with the Strength Celestial!”

As the light bathed the shrunken scientist, his body began to glow and levitate off the floor. With a gesture, the Mouse Man melted the bars of his cage and floated menacingly out into the air. His costume had changed into an elaborate suit of high-tech armor and his mouse ears emerged from a vaguely Greco-Roman style helmet. The heroines and feds turned to face him in astonishment.

“Ahahahahaha!!!! Behold!” the villain cackled, arms spread wide. “The power of the cosmos is mine! No longer shall I be the pitiful Mouse Man, subject of ridicule and disdain! Gaze with wonder, heroes, at the majesty of the Mouse-Lord!!!!”

Two giant hands slapped hard around the Mouse Man’s tiny body, knocking him senseless. Instantly, the light drained from him and his costume returned to normal. Vixen opened her hands and held the unconscious little man in her palm.

“Cute trick, Mickey,” she said. “Should have opened with that.”

The End