The setting was Fenster Forest, a picturesque getaway located on the outskirts of town. Its tall trees, tempid weather and soothing sounds of nature made it the perfect place to get away for fatigued residents of Minitropolis.
While the addition of the larger Enormo Enterprises sister location created a bit of an eyesore and an obstruction over the otherwise tranquil horizon, the azure visage was relatively untouched as it pertained to the sparkling lake in the center and the foliage which surrounded it.
At least, that had been the case before Max's latest chaotic experiments were causing portals and dimensional disruptions. Things seemed calm for the moment which left Lexi to wonder what was going on.
Lexi herself took a bit of a stroll through nature but this was not ones ordinary stroll. Standing at just 3 inches tall in a clearing, glancing up at dandelions the size of redwood trees and smiling a bit at the wonderment of something so simple as a blade of grass was a truly serene experience. Her bewilderment at the sheer size of things was soon broken up by the appearance of a similarly sized friend -- the female fairy known as Spark.
"Spark..." Lexi said, swooning a bit and giving her fairy ally a hug. "Its great to see you again"
"You too, Lex" Spark said with a friendly nod, "just wish it was under better cirumstances..."
"You gonna tell her?" Mark asked, suddenly poking out from behind a thicket.
"Yes ... also you didn't have to follow me here, yknow" Spark said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"You think I wanna stay back there?" Mark said with a wince, drawing another annoyed gaze from his sister.
"Is ... he okay?" Lexi asked
"Is he ever...?" Spark retorted, resting most of her weight on one hip as she shook her head in disapproval towards his behavior, "He's just a little unnerved ... about everything..."
"Something's going on, Spark" Mark said, in an out of character but demanding tone of voice, "People are freaking out ... our leaders haven't spoken up once. Nobody's even seen Dani since this started..."
"Hon hon hon..." Lexi said, trying to calm the male fairy down, "since what started? What exactly is going on?"
Spark winced as she fought through another of her headaches. Lexi watched as the fairies' knees buckled briefly.
"It's ... the interdimensional disturbances..." Spark sighed, "They ARE very real ... and they're getting worse..."
At that moment Lexi glanced up to see for herself as a small tear in reality formed overhead depositing a large comet like object into the grass up ahead. The object, no bigger than a stone caused massive tremors for the trio of tiny folk.
Lexi got a running start to investigate while Spark and Mark followed closely behind, allowing their feet to leave the ground as their wings did the rest of the work.
"Do you remember...?" Spark asked, "when you got sucked into the Quartzarian realm?"
"Heh, you mean when I fought futuristic looking crystal monsters, had some creep try to MARRY me and got the same size changing car I currently drive?" Lexi retorted, "that tends to be something you don't forget..."
"Told you she'd remember..." Mark huffed
"I never said she wouldn't..." Spark sighed as they got closer to the glowing crater ahead, "Anyways ... the nearest realm to us is Quartzaria ... and while not all of these strange disturbances have been from there ... a lot of the Quartzarians technology has been sometimes briefly appearing or even falling through the portals... such as ... well ... this"
With that, the three came to a dead stop to explore the craters contents. It was a starship vessel sized boulder glowing bright yellow. Lexi recognized it immediately as a shrink stone that her cohort Emerald wore in her battlesuit, although she had never activated it. Rather it was another color stone Lexi remembered a bit better.
"...have you been seeing any ... RED stones??" Lexi asked
Spark nodded
"Yeah ... and normnally I'd be thrilled ... red is my favorite color after all" Spark smiled
"and how great do you look in it?" Lexi giggled, checking out the fashionable fairy.
"Can we focus...??" Mark grumbled
"Right right ..." Spark sighed, "Well yeah ... NORMALLY a sort of uh ... meteor shower of red would be something kind of awesome ... but ..."
"They're growth stones" Lexi said, already realizing the issue or at least identifying the problem.
"Yes... and there's more ... other colored gems that we're not even sure what they do ..." Spark sighed, "but some Fensterians are more than happy to try and find out ..."
"You mean?" Lexi asked
Spark nodded.
"The stones are very hot to the touch, nearly impossible to pick up, at least until they've cooled down for a while but even then... you'd imagine something this big would be hard for a Fensterian to transport..." Spark explained, "but with a GROWTH gem..."
"...fairies are able to grow" Lexi said, finding the idea strangely cute but also a bit concerning when considering what might happen if a creature who spent their entire lifetime a certain size found themselves to be an opposite size. Then again, it wasn't too unlike what Lexi herself faced since unintentionally acquiring her superpowers.
"Right..." Mark said, then turning to Spark, "and tell her about the fractured crystals..."
"You know, she's RIGHT here..." Spark grumbled, "you're welcome to chime in anytime!"
"Fractured....?" Lexi asked
"Some of the gems we've been finding are broken, but it doesn't appear they were broken from the fall..." Spark said
"My guess is the Gallant Gang or the Brash Brigade has seized some of them ..." Mark continued, shaking his head with worry.
"Gallant ... Brash ..." Lexi stuttered, "wait ... fairies have CRIMINALS?"
"Well ... yeah" Spark said, sort of matter of factly. "There's crime or evil in ANY society of course... I guess what keeps our village fairly peaceful is that our powers are more or less equal."
"Even in larger numbers, most crimes don't amount to much because we neutralize each other ... there's never much fighting and hasn't been for many decades because of this..." Mark said, "but if one side or another was suddenly able to acquire extra powers ... especially from a dimension known for WAR..."
"...yeah... that ... that sounds like Quartzaria..." Lexi lamented, remembering how chaotic everything was despite having what was otherwise a beautiful realm to live in. "I definitely understand your concern ... but ... how can I help?"
"We don't know for sure ..." Spark sighed, "We just know you're the only human who's BEEN to Quartzaria ... we're not asking you to go back of course but ... even if you could help us figure out who's behind all this ..."
"Hmm... who would cause dimensional disruptions like this and why?" Lexi sighed, "Nobody even knows that place exists ... except..."
Lexi stopped all of a sudden, cold in her tracks.
The dimensional researcher ... Dr. Giovanni Guillardo!
It wasn't HIM so much that she was worried about though ...
______________________________
As it appeared a vein on the forehead of Dr. Maximillian E Mumford was just about to rupture, the angry middle aged man burst into his lab, taking his hands and placing them on a cacouphony of disassembled robot parts. He tossed them all to the ground with reckless abandon and screamed over the ensuing noise.
"What the fuck?! This is my COMPANY! They can't DO this to me!!" Max shrieked, pacing around a bit more and looking at all of the work he had assembled over the past months.
Kicking an office chair would be his last act of rage for the time being as he watched the chair flop against his computer console before wobbling back to an upright position and remaining there like a bowling pin. He was just about to strike again when he heard a voice from behind.
"Um... Doctor ... um... Mumford, sir?" the shy young woman asked. Normally she wasn't so shy but seeing a grown man lose his mind had that kind of effect on even the most headstrong of people, and Gloria Graff was certainly one of those under normal circumstances. "...are you okay? I heard a crash..."
It didn't take the intelligent Miniborough U student long to surmise that the crash arose from the self inflicted racket of the Doctor's tirade but she still, despite her better judgement, ventured further into the office, as the Doctor remained with his back turned, both hands pressed on his console, his bloodshot eyes staring at the flickering monitors. At this point, he saw those monitors more often than he saw other human beings.
"I'm .. fine ... Miss... Graff, was it?" Maximillian said. Gloria was low key surprised the Doctor actually remembered her name, given his usual propensity to treat employees, much less interns as nameless worker drones.
"Um... yes ... sir" Gloria replied, walking more into the office and carefully navigating the shells of robot parts that littered it. "Does this have ... anything to do with that big board meeting you were in?"
"Oh! So you heard!" Dr. Max said, his voice raising a little bit as he flailed his arms, "I suppose the whole world has heard now! This is probably BIG news ... everybody LAUGHING, always LAUGHING AT ME!!"
"Huh? No no no..." Gloria said, making her best attempt to reel things back, "I just ... saw you were in a big meeting is all ... in fact wasn't one of those guys ... the owner of the company?"
"Yes..." Max sighed, a bit dejected as he let his head rest on the sleeves of his smooth white lab coat, "Edward Enormagiatti ... used to be a good friend..."
"Used to be?" Gloria asked
"Don't ask..." Dr. Max lamented, "business ... hell even science ... only leads to pain in the end..."
Gloria frowned a bit. Cheering people up (despite her prior time as a cheerleader) wasn't really something she specialized in, but she was willing to at least venture a try. At the very least, it may lead to a good recommendation letter in the future from her eccentric but highly ranking scientist boss.
"You don't mean that Dr. Mumford, sir..." Gloria said, "your inventiveness is what has always sustained the company ... you know? And science is all about discoveries ... which sometimes means trial and error..."
Dr. Max peeked back, a bit surprised to hear the phrasing as it was very close to a paper he had written and published recently in the self serving newsletter from Enormo.
"I... read your stuff sometimes ..." Gloria sighed, "Not many people see me as a science buff ... you know ... cuz I look like this..."
Dr. Max wouldn't answer but simply nod
"You'll uh ... keep my secret, right?" Gloria said with a half laugh, "Don't need the other kids on campus thinking I'm some kind of nerd... heh ... no offense of course"
Max would chuckle a bit, a rare sight indeed before spinning in his chair to face the young intern with the flowing brown locks.
"Secret is safe with me, Ms. Graff" Max said, "Looking like I do, I'm often thought to be a crazy mad scientist..."
"W-Well that's ... that's not true..." Gloria said, trying to keep the tone of the conversation civil. She was conversing with a man who had seemingly trashed his own lab not too long before.
"Oh maybe it is ..." Max sighed, "You see... that ... SHRINKGIRL... that monstrosity that runs amuck in our streets... it's partially my fault ... it's this company's fault ..."
"What ... do you mean?" Gloria asked
"How do you think she is the way she is?" Dr. Max asked, "she was exposed to an unfinished project .. a project that would've revolutionized so much in our world had it only ..."
"Holy shit, we can shrink people?!" Gloria gasped, almost sounding part excited but also worried as her loud voice echoed a bit, prompting a harsh shushing by the scientist in the chair.
"Okay okay ..." Dr. Max said, a bit miffed now, "that was partially the goal yes ... but it doesn't matter now ... the original prototype was destroyed by that ... by that ... GIRL, that reckless girl..."
"I'm just glad you're one of the few who doesn't buy into her whole ... 'look at me, I'm a fairy princess'!" Gloria said, briefly breaking her professional tone to offer an unflattering impression of Alexis Cole.
"Oh trust me..." Dr. Max said, shaking his head, "When you get to be my age ... you see through that kind of stuff very fast ... most people either lack the maturity or intelligence to see that girl for what she really is ..."
"...a menace?" Gloria asked, attempting to finish the Doctor's thought.
"Ehhhh ... yes" Dr. Max replied, "but more than that ... she is reckless ... she puts people in danger but most don't see it or care because of the flashy purple suit and the gold wings and jetpack!"
"Um... I don't think she HAS a jetpack... or wings..." Gloria said nervously
"Whatever, you are getting my point ..." Dr. Max said, "...I probably shouldn't be telling you this but what's the difference at this point? I'm likely going to be yesterday's news pretty soon unless I can get this new project to work and fast..."
"New project?" Gloria asked curiously
"After Alexis destroyed the original machine, I was able to quickly get another prototype up and running..." Dr. Max explained, recounting the events of another fateful night, if not omitting some key details, "unfortunately that machine too was destroyed, and just before I was able to find a willing and ready test subject"
"Maybe you're right, maybe I shouldn't be hearing this..." Gloria stuttered, beginning to feel that uneasy feeling again. Even as she found herself in agreement with the Doctor, she often felt conflicted.
"It's just ... that project was called Project Delta ... I am trying to rectify things ... I'm trying to ... try again ..." Dr. Max said, "but what's the use? It didn't work last time, it won't work this time ... and worse yet, as much as I hate that Alexis girl ... there's no telling what side effects her exposure had on her..."
"H-How so?" Gloria asked
"Well that's just it... we'll never know!" Dr. Max said, "I've tried to send her briefings, and requests to come get tested but she always turns me down... she calls me MAD MAX ..."
"Ugh, she's a petulant child!" Gloria sighed
"Tell me things of which I do not know!" Dr. Max chirped back, "but yes ... Project Delta was not perfected. But the board said I have two weeks to show them that the successor, codenamed Project Epsilon can produce the results that I KNOW it can ..."
"They're only giving you two weeks?" Gloria said, sounding appalled.
"Yes... and for this I am upset ..." Dr. Max said, "this and a great many things but yes..."
"Huh... I am so sorry Doctor, I didn't know..." Gloria sighed, slowly having retreated to the threshold of the doctor's lab, "I'm uh ... about to go out to grab some food at Kekse ... you want anything...?"
"Oh I couldn't possibly..." Max groaned, throwing his head against the keyboard, "I'm much too sluggish right now..."
"... I understand" Gloria said, beginning to walk away before the Doctor would stop her one more time.
"...actually if you're going anyway ... maybe get those ... snickerdoodles? you know the ones?"
____________________
Elsewhere in a remote location, a determined Officer Sonia Sanders was investigating something that was much less lighthearted than a bag of snickerdoodles.
The weary police officer who was used to pulling double or even triple shifts in the wake of recent happenings, narrowed her eyes as she took a closer look at a wrecked drone, carefully inspecting the bend on one of its metallic wings. She'd run her fingers through one of the rudders and shake her head.
"...something isn't right here..." she said to herself, recalling the drone attack itself.
There were many wounded and others endangered, despite the best efforts of the Mini Troop and the vigilante exploits of the superheroine known far and wide as ShrinkGirl but thankfully the drones were neutralized, save for one. The one drone that was brought down to the ground still intact had been taken back to an evidence lockup in the basement of the Mini Troop office. Most had simply glazed over it but Sonia was determined to find some kind of evident proof to trace the weaponry back to Enormo Enterprises.
The only thing was ... the drone didn't quite resemble the one she remembered, even if it had been mangled on a city street.
Weirder still, there were no traces of bar codes or any kind of identifying numbers on the drone, a legal requirement of any kind of airborne object, especially one that would belong to a well known company like Enormo, or even Cybertek.
Sonia leaned over the shattered evidence with a look of resignation on her drawn face as a door slowly opened behind her. She'd turn to see Officer Scolex standing, walking in slowly.
"Still looking over these drone parts?" Officer Scolex asked
"It just doesn't make sense..." Sonia sighed, "I could swear we had busted those bastards this time..."
Carl shook his head, trying to pull Sonia from the evidence.
"I know, Officer Sanders ..." Carl Scolex said, "But our forensics team has already given this drone the once over ... there's no definitive proof to trace it back to Enormo Enterprises ... although I always appreciated your thoroughness..."
"I just don't get it ..." Sonia sighed, "we collected the drone pieces that day ... had them loaded onto the armored car ... this doesn't even LOOK like the same drone ..."
"You think we were duped?" Scolex asked
"I... I don't know ..." Sonia sighed, as Scolex again tried to guide her away from the wrecked drone parts.
"You need some rest, Officer ... that's an order..." Scolex said with a hint of a smile.
Sonia shook her head but admitted Carl was right, heading out of the evidence lockup.
Carl Scolex let out a bit of a sigh after Sonia had cleared the room. He glanced back at the suspicious evidence with a worried glance before closing the vault door.
_________________
Back on Miniborough Campus, an anxious Gloria Graff made her way through the swinging glass doors of "Kekse" only to see that besides a few patrons sitting in their chairs, the place seemed nearly abandoned. There was nobody behind the counter, and only a sign just by the register that said "BACK IN 15 MINUTES"
Gloria grumbled under breath as she approached anyhow, hearing the odd sounds of power drilling emanating from somewhere nearby.
"...I don't have 15 minutes..." Gloria sighed, looking at her watch.
Stepping up closer towards the counter, she'd hear the sounds of drilling, building and hammering getting louder, raising an eyebrow.
"Hello?" Gloria asked, an impatient tone in her shrill voice as she tapped her foot, "Can I get some help here?"
A few customers gave her annoyed looks but ultimately rolled their eyes.
Gloria, never one to be ignored, peeked over the counter to see nobody even in the kitchen that extended just beyond that. But then who was making all that racket?
The tall brunette would shake her head, wasting no time stepping behind the counter and peeking down a door that was adjacent to the kitchen.
Gloria peeked her head down and noticed a tall hulking figure of a man, too focused on welding some metal to notice her snooping. Sparks flew from his welding torch as he seemed to be working on an ominous machine that stretched towards the ceiling. Gloria quickly backed out of the threshold before she was spotted. The technology she saw was on par with something she'd see in Dr. Max's lab and one thing was for sure ... it likely wasn't a new kind of convection oven ...
Giantess World
