* * * * *
Catwoman arched her eyebrows.
"I've heard of you. Your hubsand was Walter 'the Spider' Odette. The Al Capone of San Francisco!* "
"Yes," replied the older woman: "Till he over-reached himself, thirty years ago. And paid for it with his life! I've tried to carry on, for him, as best I could. But, fighting a two-pronged war--against a frustratingly incorruptible D.A. named Scanlon; and a young upstart rival called the Green Hornet--has proven too much for me. That's why I've relocated here, to Gotham City."
Catwoman half-smiled: "No offense, Mrs. O. But, I don't think you'll find things much easier here. Not if the Caped Crusaders have anything to say about it!"
"I'll worry about them, when the time comes. Meanwhile, you just rest and recuperate. The Bestiary has sheltered a Scarab, two Octopi, and a slough of Scorpions. But, you're the very first _Catwoman_ to grace our corridors with your presence! And, I would like very much to converse with you, again, before you finally feel up to leaving."
MEANWHILE, TWO YEARS IN THE FUTURE...
The mesmerized Batman haltingly explained how the dehydration ray could reduce any human body to dust, simply by evaporating all the water in it. As he and Robin had seen for themselves, when Gotham City's United Underworld (a fortunately short-lived crime syndicate, formed by the _worst_ of the Dynamic Duo's Rogues' Gallery) had used it to kidnap the U.N. Security Council!
"What about this stuff called 'shrinking solution?' " asked Florence.
"It merely...shrinks...the Mad Hatter's...hats...to...a proper...size."
"And, how would someone evaporated by the Schmidlap ray get rehydrated?"
Batman haltingly told her how he and Robin had used soft light water to restore the Security Council. As hard heavy water had been revealed (by a bizarre battle with some of the Penguin's pirates) to make rehydrated molecular structures too unstable!
"Show me," commanded Florence: "Evaporate the guy on the floor for me."
"Yes...Mistress," replied Batman (as he had been ordered to address her with all his affirmative replys). He aimed the fire extinguisher-like device at Tony Newman. And, seconds later?
The unconscious time traveler was a pile of yellow dust!
Florence's resulting grin could only be described as "fiendish." Because, the next thing she did was to remove the cap from the bottle of shrinking solution...and rehydrate Tony Newman with it!!
The latter coughed and sputtered as he regained consciousness. He had a strange bitter taste in his mouth. And, his head was ringing like the proverbial bell. Although, if the truth be told, the bell's peals sounded more like peals of laughter. That was when Tony looked upward...and gasped with incredulous shock.
For there, staring down at him (dressed like someone from ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA), was a beautiful giantess. At least, a hundred feet tall!
"Out of sight!! Now, it's your turn, Batman. You come stand over here. So, I can do this to _you_."
"Yes...Mistress."
* * * * *
Meanwhile, in eight-century Basra, Doug Phillips and Sinbad had introduced themselves to each other. And, Doug had to admit; it was refreshing to meet someone who could accept the concept of time travel so relatively matter-of-factly.
Then, again; Sinbad's explanation as to the source of their bio-miniaturization might be proof that Arthur C. Clark had been right. Sufficiently advanced technology _was_ indistinguishable from magic!
Unfortunately, their dialogue was interrupted by the slanting of the bottle. Followed by their landing in the palm of Rumina's left hand.
"Now, then," she said: "Let's play a game of cat-and-mouse. With you two as the mice. And, my black cat Cicero in the title role!"
The aforementioned feline affirmed this, by seeming to lick his lips in anthropomorphic anticipation.
tbc
Giantess World
Author's Chapter Notes:
THE BESTIARY
(MARCH 1966)
(MARCH 1966)
Chapter End Notes:
*The Spider: arch-enemy of Dick Tracy in the 1937 movie serial of the same name.