"Have you seen Sugar lately?" asked Pepper. 

   "No." Aliment replied gravely. "I think he. . ."

   The two teenage boys shared a heavy silence. The walk home from school used to include a whole group of boys seeking safety in numbers, but today it was down to two. The cold bit at their faces, but it was the anticipation of warmth that worried them the most. 

   "Are any of us going to make it to graduation?" Aliment said out of frustration. They all knew that high school's male survival rate was terrifyingly low, but it seemed like their year had it worse than any other. "How many are even left? Are we even in double digits anymore?" 

   Pepper shuddered. If things were that grave, he didn't think he would be able to escape notice for long enough. Still half a year left. . . "We can't think like that. Some of us will make it, and the ones who live will remember the ones who didn't." 

   "Sure, for a few years until they get eaten too. It's so unfair!"

   Pepper didn't know what to say. Aliment wasn't wrong, and he knew of nothing that could dampen the blow of that reality. Unfair was an absurd understatement. No matter how lucky they got, all of them were well past the halfway point of their lives, well past the nine tenths point of their lives in all likelihood. What could they have to look forward to but the feeling of accomplishment that comes with surviving high school? It's a milestone that most boys will never reach. Even if you don't make it very long after that, you'll at least have accomplished something special. "We'll make it. One of us will make it. . ." 

   He could tell Aliment was losing hope. Pepper was close to losing it himself. Morale among their group had been plummeting ever since their friend Jenny turned on them the month before. She told them that she wasn't going to protect them anymore, that they could all just digest for all she cared, and made sure they knew she meant it by eating one of them right before their eyes. No one knew what they had done to make her go from standing up for male rights and fending off hungry girls, to outright murdering their friend in front of them, but it was pointless to ask. Maybe she finally "grew out of that equality nonsense" like all the other girls said she would. Pepper had watched a few friends give up since then, throwing their lives away by approaching girls or even purposefully getting invited to parties. He couldn't blame them for thinking that if they were just going to die soon anyway, it was better to have some control over the way that they died than to resist it entirely, but he didn't want to see the same thing happen to Aliment. 

   "Hey Ali, do you want to come over to my house today and-" Pepper turned to face his friend, but instead he found himself face to face with a woman. She gulped down her mouthful and smirked, hand on her hip in a cocky pose. He noted her key characteristics: short blonde hair, brown eyes, and relatively small stature for a woman. This exact description was passed around in hushed tones from boy to boy, always with a warning to be extra careful and avoid at all costs. This was Elise, a local legend feared by every boy as a ravenous devourer of men! A concerning amount of boys could say they had friends or brothers whose lives came to an end in her guts. 

   "What were you saying about one of you making it?" She teased, gracefully licking her fingertips. "I guess it's up to you now?" Pepper begged himself to run, but his legs were frozen in place. All he could do was stare. Elise was dressed in a light sweater and shorts, exposing much of her thighs to the cold. This was just one sign of her immense privilege as a woman, blessed with a body almost entirely protected from the elements. She could probably remove the sweater and still be comfortable, while Pepper had been shivering even in a heavy winter coat. 

   He had encountered a monster out of his nightmares, and just like in a nightmare he was completely helpless to save himself. "Hey, were you going to do anything else today? I think I just canceled your plans so you're probably free, right?" Pepper's eyes froze on the loose cloth of her sweater, behind which his friend was now buried. "I'm hanging out with my friends today and we would be glad to have you!" 

   Elise took a poised, huntress' step towards him, finally breaking Pepper out of his fearful paralysis. He turned and bolted, bringing forth all of his energy for what would be the flight of his life. A warm hand clamped around his sleeve before he could reach a sprint.

   His pitiful attempt at running had been nothing compared to the burst of speed that any woman could generate at a moment's notice. Betting his survival on a test of athletics was a foolish decision motivated by mindless terror. As though anyone male could ever outrun a lady! But was there even a better option? Pepper uselessly tugged against her grip, begging, "Please! Let me go!"

   "Oh, don't be such a whiny little boy! There's nothing to worry about! Everyone will love you! It'll be fun!" The woman started to walk off with him in tow. He tried to dig in his heels but it was useless, he could either keep up or be dragged along. 

   "Please! I'll do whatever you-"

   "It's a given that you'll do whatever I want, you're doing it right now!" 

   "I'm begging you, won't you feel better if you commit an act of kindness and-"

   She spoke slowly and condescendingly, making sure he understood every word. "Women don't need to do spontaneous acts of kindness to feel good! We are being kind all the time. I'm showing kindness right now by not breaking your arm!" 

   "Ple-"

   "Nope! Be quiet!" 

   A direct order to be silent was something he couldn't disobey even in such dire circumstances. He didn't know what he expected to get out of his pleading, but he couldn't just submit without trying everything. Elise had him and would take him wherever she wished, but Pepper still held onto hope. Elise had already eaten, and even the most voracious women still preferred not to eat more than one man at once. The fact that he wasn't currently in her stomach proved that this woman was no different. There was still a chance that one of her friends would take pity on him, or do something to give him an opportunity to escape!

   Pepper submitted for the rest of the long walk through the suburbs with Elise. Her grip was rough and her presence was scary, but at least her body heat kept the air around her warm. She mostly ignored him, fiddling with her phone in the other hand as she went. They passed other women occasionally, and not one of them spared a second glance at what was obviously a kidnapping. They'd all done it too, of course. Seeing a boy in mortal peril was a mundane part of everyday life. 

   Elise and her prisoner arrived at one of the nicer neighborhoods, coming to a stop in front of an immaculate red house on a larger property. A woman with brown hair and glasses was waiting on the sidewalk, and perked up when she saw them coming. 

   "Mary! I'm so glad to see you!" Elise moved close and gave Mary a one armed hug with Pepper awkwardly trailing behind. "You could have just walked in, you know? Power doesn't mind." 

   "I know, but. . . I haven't met her in person yet." Pepper didn't like the way Mary's eyes wandered to him as she spoke. She was a little timid, but physically she was much more imposing than Elise: taller, with broader shoulders and a bigger chest. She wore a cozy sweater and a long skirt. 

   "That's okay, we can go in together!" Elise yanked Pepper's arm. "Do you want to hold him? I brought him along with you in mind!"

   "Oh, yes! Thank you!" Elise let go of his arm, and there was a brief moment where Pepper could have made another escape attempt. Instead, he held still and accepted what was coming. There was no way he could outrun or elude two women, and he was lucky to have come out of his last attempt without being punished. If he got caught again it would be normal for a woman to break one of his arms, or beat him until he bled. Being eaten might be the scariest fate, but there were many other horrors that women could inflict. 

   Without another look at his face, Mary put one hand on his back, and with the other she plunged him face-first into her breasts. The woman's boobs warmly cradled his face from either side, her feminine scent overwhelmed his nose, and her heartbeat pounded against his skull. The softness was divine. He sank into it; it enveloped him. Pepper had been warned about the irresistible dominance of a woman's chest, but it didn't help. He became lost in the embrace, his awareness of where he was and what he wanted fading away. Had he been afraid of something? How could there be anything to fear when there was such a warm and protective force holding him close? 

   When she finally let him go, after what felt like hours but could only have been seconds, he felt that he had returned to reality from some other place. He remembered that here he was a toy and a snack, and the fear and desperation returned. Still, there was something that had weakened within him, that innate masculine submissiveness that he resented so much coming forth and telling him that there was no reason to resist. He reminded himself again and again to keep his survival instincts running, repeating a mantra inside his head: "if I do not escape, they are going to kill me." Mary wrapped an arm tight around his ribs and the two women headed for the door. 

   Elise opened the door without knocking. Mary and Pepper followed her into a narrow entrance room decorated with high-class statuettes and paintings of powerful, confident women. Pepper winced at one painting of a woman with bloody hands possessively cradling a beaten young man in her lap. The owner of this house was going to be dangerous. 

   Mary glanced thoughtfully at each piece of art as they walked down a similarly decorated corridor to a remote room with a bright pink door. In contrast to the rest of the house so far, this room was casual and disorganized. Two girls and two boys sat on an assortment of cushions and bean bags in the center, their attention trained on the massive screen dominating one wall. The other walls were lined with shelves and stacks of more video games, movies, anime, and manga than you would find in a store, and a few posters and figurines haphazardly placed wherever they fit. One such poster seemed to be a slightly worn piece of authentic NGO revolution propaganda, depicting a woman in a pink military uniform with the caption 'Fight For Female Supremacy!' followed by directions for how to join up in fine print. According to history, the forces that responded to calls to action like this one were so effective they hardly ever fought in real battles, easily occupying one government building after the other.

   The two girls were gripping controllers, locked in fierce competition with one another. On the screen was a fighting game featuring well-built female martial artists. 

   One girl had long, unkempt blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She was decidedly not modest in how she dressed, wearing only a loose pink tank top and her underwear. She pressed the buttons with unreasonable aggression and sweated profusely. 

   A young man clung submissively to her thigh, watching the screen with interest. He bore the unnatural, deliberately engineered features of an artificially born male designed specifically to be eaten: fluffy grayish-white hair and big pink irises. Boys like him were a very rare sight, as they tended to take a swift and direct route from the communal raising facilities to a woman's digestive system. His kind were more often referred to as candies than people. 

   The other girl had shaggy black hair and dressed in an oversized t-shirt and baggy sweatpants. Her eyes had dark circles around them from countless long nights. She handled the controller with thoughtful precision, and a glance at the screen showed that she was thoroughly winning. She had a light haired boy nestled under her arm, eyes closed and body pressed close to hers. Every visible portion of his skin was covered in grisly scars, as well as fresher cuts and bruises. A bloodstained bandage peeked out from under the sleeve of his expensive shirt. 

   Elise flopped down on a comfy cushion (Pepper tried not to imagine what that motion had felt like for Aliment) and greeted the two girls, who only grunted in acknowledgment. Mary carefully found a place to sit next to Elise, letting Pepper take off his coat before positioning him on her lap, her chest pressing on his back and neck. He did his best to stay still and made no moves to resist. 

   They watched the rest of the battle play out. It didn't take long, resulting in the brutal defeat of the blonde girl. She roughly tossed her controller aside and groaned. "Why can't I beat youuu!? I've been playing this for so much longer!" 

   The winner smirked and spoke in a soft voice. "You should block more. And stop jumping for no reason."

   "Whatever. . ." She huffed, and then finally paid attention to the other guests. "Hey Elise. And Mary, I finally get to see you!" 

   "I'm glad to meet you, Power! Thank you for inviting me." Mary took one of Pepper's hands and squeezed it anxiously out of sight of the other girls.

   "Of course! If you're friends with one of us you're friends with all of us!"

   "Um, your house is so beautiful! It's like a museum!"

   "Thanks! You can praise Harmony, my housekeeper, for that! I wouldn't know the first thing about how to make all this stuff look good. You should see my mom's house, she only gave me, like, a tiny bit of the stuff we have!" Pepper assumed that Power was descended from one of the many women who exploded in wealth during the revolution period. It wasn't hard to get rich when you could seize the assets of every man you devoured. 

   "By the way Mary," Elise said. "I should've warned you earlier, Vivian's boyfriend is completely off limits. She doesn't want anyone touching him or talking to him. I didn't take her seriously at first and licked him as a joke, and she gave me a black eye for it!" The boy in question opened his eyes at the mention of his mistress' name, and Pepper detected a hint of pride on his bruised face when Elise reported how Vivian had defended him. So that's how it is, then. Now the boy looked to Pepper like the stuck up, pampered pet cat of an extravagant villainess. This boy would probably outlive him by years. Pepper both pitied and envied those boys obedient and lucky enough to be kept around as pets before they end up as food. 

   "Aww, that's adorable!" Mary smiled at Vivian's pet. "How long have you had him for?" 

   "He's been mine for three years." Vivian answered, pushing his head down under her arm so the others couldn't see him. 

   "Wow, you must really love him! Do you plan to eat him?"

   "Someday. . ." Vivian's cheeks turned red. 

   "Right, and in the meantime she's abstaining from eating other boys, so more for us!" interjected Power. 

   The girls transitioned into discussing what game they should all play together, and Pepper tried to tune them out and think, working against all his lessons to always be attentive to what women are saying. How was he going to get out of this? What kind of opportunities should he be looking for? Maybe if they got absorbed into a game Mary would put him down and he'd be able to slip out unnoticed while they're distracted. If they seemed like they wanted something, should he offer to get it for them and then climb out a window? As though he would know where to get anything in this house! There were just enough boys here for every girl who wants one to eat one. In order to survive there had to be a reason for one to go hungry. He knew that escape attempts always got boys killed, but doing nothing made him so anxious! At a loss for a solution, he at least felt like his odds were better than the poor guy who was literally made to be food. 

   They ended up settling on Bloodied Frills, a 3rd person shooter featuring maids. A maid was a type of fictional warrior known to wear frilly black and white dresses and fight with an arsenal of weapons, while riding around on skateboards. The game was popular for its casual multiplayer battles, but Pepper didn't know much more than that. He always tried to avoid girl stuff like video games. It was almost impossible to find anything fun that wasn't considered girl stuff, and thus too skillful or too intellectual for boys to handle. What he really loved was finding books that felt like a welcome break from his reality, rare stories where boys could do things and be characters without immediately being eaten. Sometimes he was even lucky enough to find unaltered media from before the revolution. He enjoyed such things with undivided attention, guiltily contemplating what that world must have been like. Could it really have been so bad before women decided to take over and strip men of their unjust power and rights? He found it hard to imagine there ever being a time when women let men get away with mistreating them. 

   The girls passed controllers around and started up the game, explaining the controls to Mary who had never played. No one even suggested letting one of the boys play. As the first round started, Pepper found he didn't have much interest in watching what was going on onscreen. His eyes locked on Mary's hands. She had rested the controller on his legs. Her fingers moved clumsily as she figured out the game, but he could see her dexterity as she learned and improved. She would be good at it in no time. From Pepper's perspective, it was always like that for girls.

   Cream watched the girls battle each other with fascination. They were all so skilled! It was one thing to watch ladies compete with each other in videos online, but another thing entirely to be caught in the middle of it. He felt the warmth of Power's thigh against his cheek and thanked the blessings that brought him here. 

   He was grateful to the caretakers at the facility of his birth for raising him and teaching him all about the glorious divinity of femininity. He was grateful to his adoptive mothers for taking him in and treating him so kindly, giving him the chance to live a little longer in this wonderful world. Today, he was most thankful to Power, for inviting him here and allowing him to be a part of this.

   His mothers had included him in their interests from the moment they took him in. They taught him all about anime and video games and let him share in these things with them. Growing up, he never knew a thing about what girls did for fun. He was enthralled by these art forms dominated by the will of women. He felt like he was understanding women through the things they do and create. As he expanded his horizons, Cream always avoided interacting with women online, out of reverence and respect. Girls had more important things to think about than some boy, he thought. That is, until his mothers started encouraging him to try, assuring him that girls love it when guys show interest in the things they like. When he started to let his gender show online, girls would constantly praise him for being so skilled for a boy, and try to help him and guide him. He felt the immense love and appreciation that women have for men in every little interaction. What did he do to deserve to be so valuable?

   "Vivian!" Power cried as the black haired girl's maid kickflipped over her unconscious player character for the third time. "How are you this gooooood!? You don't even play this game!" Cream felt the tension in her muscles as she yelled. Women are so strong! "Fucking three time tournament champion, of course no one can beat you at shit!"

   "And that's just for one game, too." Elise added. 

   "I know!" Instead of getting shut down by Vivian again, Power encountered Mary next. Mary seemed to panic a bit, but ultimately defeated Power with a barrage of explosives. "Mary, you too? Dammit, I can't let you do this to me on your first time!"

   Vivian presented her controller to Power. "Why don't you let one of the boys play a bit? Maybe then you can win some?" Every woman in the room laughed at this.

   Power snatched the controller with force. "Good idea!" She shoved it into Cream's hands and patted him on the head. "Here you go, candy boy! You should know how to use it, right?" 

   He did. He was actually pretty good at this game, against other boys at least. He had never played it with girls, and the thought excited him. How much luck could one boy have? Vivian had been using a maid who takes a lot of skill to master, equipped with a precision rifle and throwing knives. It was probably out of his league to make it work, but he was being told to play, so he should try, right?

   His first encounter was with Mary. She approached his player character with cautious curiosity. She didn't attack him at first, seemingly content to just watch. He followed suit, pretending he didn't know she was there. When she finally did attack, all of her shots mysteriously missed. He wasn't sure if she wanted to let him beat her, or if she was just going easy, so he fought back but deliberately missed his target just as much. 

   From then on Mary continued to follow him around and playfully attack him this way. On the other hand, Power was on a mission to hunt him down. She seemed to always take the quickest route to wherever he was, and would take him down with everything she had while ignoring all else. When he looked up at her face she was grinning. 

   Cream had met Power earlier that week, when she messaged him after they won a match of a competitive game together. They found that they enjoyed a lot of the same games and anime, and seemed to hit it off easily. However, Cream could tell that Power thought she was talking to a girl. In the past he might've let her think that and then silently hid away from the relationship, but now he felt brave enough to tell the truth. He confessed to his gender. Her response wasn't what he hoped. She typed up a furious paragraph about how things like anime and games are above the understanding of men, and that men should sit still and watch quietly rather than putting their pathetic little hands on women's things. Cream knew it wasn't his place to argue. He found himself confused. As a man he knew it was in his best interest to listen to women and obey their every word, but what if women contradict each other? Should he defer to his mothers who encouraged him, or should he adhere to the words of Power and retreat from the passions which he was never worthy of in the first place? He hadn't yet brought himself to ask his mothers for guidance, when Power ordered him to show up at her house for a small gathering. Confused as he was, this he easily understood. A woman desired his presence, and he was elated to oblige!

   After a long stretch of being dominated by Power, the tides started to shift. Mary had started putting her life on the line to defend him, predicting where Power would come from and putting her body between him and her bullets if she had to. At the same time, Elise seemed to have realized that everyone else's positions depended on his, so she would hide near to him and ambush either Mary or Power whenever they let their guard down. The chaotic conflict gave him a lot of opportunities to score a few points against any of them, but he was scared to actually take advantage of this. Would the girls get mad if he actually played well? Is it his right to truly participate in this girly fun? He ended up deliberately failing at every attempt and adding not a single point to Vivian's score. 

   When the round ended, Cream was revealed as the winner by a landslide. "Fuck!" Power yanked the controller out of his hands and tossed it back to Vivian. "You're so good you can let a boy play for half the round and still win!"

   Vivian, who had been spending the time stroking her boyfriend with one hand and digging her black painted nails into his abdomen with the other, caught it easily in one hand. "I can handicap myself if you want?"

   "No! I'll beat you this time, I swear! No handicaps!" As they started up another round, Cream tried to go back to cuddling up against Power's thigh, as he had been told was his role today, but she had different plans. Her hand snaked out and clamped down on his throat. He was dragged up to eye level, glared at, and punched hard in the face. A woman had never hit him before, not ever. There was more force behind it than he could have imagined. The strike lit up sparks inside his skull which scattered and spread pain throughout his body. All he could think was that he was proud he hadn't cried out in shock. Or should he have? Oh no, did girls want him to cry out? His vision was still dark and blurred when he saw a red flash of light. There was a brief sensation of hovering through the air, before he felt his body fall heavily on a soft surface. 

   Power must have let his body fall onto the cushions, he thought. That's why he feels such softness beneath him. His breathing synced comfortably with the rhythmic rise and fall of the surface he rested on. Only when he heard a resounding, vibratory gurgle from below did he open his eyes and realize what had happened.

   Cream had been dropped face first onto the thin fabric of Power's tank top, coming to rest on her belly. She had shrunken him down! There was still a sharp pain around his eye and piercing deeper, but he only processed joy! He knew this was his fate, he had seen it depicted so many times, but the actual experience was so much more powerful than anyone could imagine. He turned his head to look up at her, seeing the massive hills of her breasts and her heavenly face towering beyond them. She scowled and grimaced as she forcefully mashed the buttons on her controller. Her emotions felt so far above him that he didn't even try to interpret them as anything but the object of his awe. 

   Cream was clinging lovingly to the slight incline of her toned stomach, not a single complex thought in his mind, when her digestive system spoke once more. The growl from deep within her shook his body, and his heart began to pump more urgently than before. It finally occurred to him what that sound meant. Could it be? Finally someone was going to eat him? It was like the predatory avarice that resided inside of her core had called him by name. Cream felt frightened, but his excitement was so much greater. 

   He turned himself over and looked around the room, feeling that everything he saw was of religious importance. He stared at every one of the women, each so distant and titanic. They were all focusing on the screen, but to him it was so large and distant that he could hardly process it. Should he be thinking of them as goddesses? Should he have always been thinking of them as goddesses? 

   Cream always knew he was living in a beautiful, nearly perfect world, but had it been heaven all along? What other explanation was there for the magnificence around him? Every woman is monolithic, a mountain, an entire world in and of herself!

   "Yes!!" Power yelled, sudden movement causing Cream to bounce slightly on the surface of her abs. "I won!" Her voice crashed down on him from above like a thunderclap. Finally, he was experiencing a woman's voice with all the volume and force its importance demanded!

   Vivian spoke, her voice soft and distant yet similarly powerful. "You did very well. You should focus more often!" 

   "I can do it again, too! I'm not losing anymore!" Power's fingers grasped Cream and lifted him up. She gripped him roughly and without care. One of his arms was twisted painfully and dangerously. He found himself faced with that same cold glare, massive blue eyes boring into him with an expression he couldn't quite comprehend. Never in his life had Cream felt like an equal to women, the idea never crossed his mind, but this gaze gave him the idea that he hadn't truly understood the extent of that inferiority. He was like an insect before her, an insignificant mortal at the whim of a cruel god. This was the way it had always been, whether he knew it or not. Oh, how lucky he was indeed!

   "If I win again, I'll eat this candy as a treat!" The tip of Power's gargantuan tongue peeked out and wet her lips. Then, she let him drop from her fingers. He plummeted briefly, but was caught safely by her breasts. He sank into the warm space between them, plush flesh enveloping him. The aggressive movements of her hands as she began to play sent rippling vibrations to her chest, working him deeper and deeper into her cleavage. 

   Only an increasingly thin strip of light reached Cream in his place in Power's embrace. He closed his eyes to hide away from it. From where he was now, he could actually hear, and feel, the persistent percussion of her heartbeat! Blood was flowing vitally through the softness that surrounded him, the life force that supported a being of heavenly proportion! His mind could hardly bear such closeness to the divine!

   Cream's body was inundated with her sweat and overwhelmed by her warmth. The occasional girly laughter and chatter which penetrated the encasement of her boobs sounded like it was coming from very far away. He was squeezed and compressed by his soft containment, as though Power was trying to make him smaller still. All thought of anything but her was melting away.

   "Noooo! What the hell!?" Power's voice radiated from her chest and shook Cream to his core. "Were you going easy this whole time? How can you win so easily!? Shiiiit!"

   "This happens at least once a month." Said the far away voice of Elise, followed by more laughter. 

   "Whatever. . . I'm still going to eat him. . ." Cream didn't process what these words had to do with him until he was plucked from his resting place by Power's brutish fingers and lifted once more. 

   By the time he regained his bearings, he was already being brought up to her open mouth. Her half parted lips framed dark depths within. Cream gazed into the mysterious afterlife before him with feverish piety. 

   Lips larger than he was closed around his body, squishing and pressing. Her hand gave him up entirely, her mouth taking over the role of dominating him. Within seconds he was sucked fully inside, passing her teeth, the white gates of heaven.

   Power's mouth shut and light was removed from his world. Her tongue cradled and enveloped him, it rolled him over and back and tasted every side of his body, baptizing him in the holy saliva. Cream, a boy who had always been valued and loved for what he was, now felt valuable and lovable beyond any extent he could have imagined. Oh, how lucky he felt!

   Even he could detect the sudden shift in intent, as her domineering tongue began to slide him to the back of the throat. He knew that this was it, he was teetering over the point of no return. Once he is sent down the passage of her esophagus he ceases to be even an edible person, he is completely and truly a scrap of food and nothing less or more. Cream used his last few seconds to ensure that his final words as a living being were honorable ones. "Thank you!"

   The muscles of Power's throat hugged him and pulled him downwards headfirst, and then he was inside of the wonderful sound that had echoed throughout all of his fondest dreams. Gulp! The goddess's body drew him deeper within, and for a few moments he was tantalizingly close to her heart. Each thumping beat vibrated him down to his cells, demanding harmony from every single atom. Cream wept at the sublime privilege of being so close to the center of the universe. 

   His pilgrimage finally came to an end with a short drop and a soft landing. Cream made no effort to orient himself. He enjoyed the welcoming warmth and nurturing softness of Power's stomach and knew he was exactly where he was always meant to be. Her heart was still audible, working steadily somewhere out of reach.

   Cream knew that he was here to die, but not one of his thoughts were of endings. All his life he had been taught that digestion is only the beginning of a man's existence. To become a part of something greater is the highlight of his life. Cream was only thinking of the immense privilege afforded to him, to be melted down and made into a living part of the heavens.

   A shy, friendly voice reached Cream in Power's stomach, muffled but still audible. ". . .really taste like candy?" 

   "Yeah! They're delicious!" Power's voice projected itself through her body, broadcasting her words to Cream from every direction. "Sooo sweet!"

   Another distant voice: "I know it has something to do with their sweat. I've heard that their blood tastes sweet too, but I can never bring myself to chew them. They're just too obedient, it feels wrong!"

   "Smart women put all that genetic engineering into making their blood taste like lemonade and you won't even try it! Shameful, Elise!" Power teased.

   The way Power's internal temperature was cooking his brain, Cream could hardly tell what they were talking about, but he knew it had something to do with him and that made him feel proud. 

   His consciousness winked in and out. Enclosed as he was, Cream had no reference even for time. One minute and one hour were indistinguishable concepts. All he could tell was that the peculiar stinging sensation all over his body was getting stronger every moment. To him, the pain wasn't frightening. He had long been prepared for the agony of this transition. It would all be more than worth it for what was to be gained. With tears of ecstasy washing the bile from his cheeks, Power's snack hugged the sheltering walls of her stomach and waited for salvation.

   Pepper fought to suppress the tears that were welling up in his eyes. Seeing him cry would only make Mary hungry. Not one of the women showed sympathy when Power ate that poor boy. It was as normal as any other meal to them. He had seen this happen so many times. How could they be so cruel? 

   The girls were done playing Bloodied Frills, and had begun to talk about watching a few episodes of an anime next. Once again, Pepper tuned out their discussion to the best of his ability. Boys who lived to the latter half of high school would often discuss survival tactics that they had learned. It was bleak business, full of all too many don'ts and not enough dos. Don't run: women are faster and it'll only excite them. Don't hide: women can smell fear and they love to play games. Never go near dangerous places like public gyms or sports fields. Avoid disagreeing with or arguing against a lady no matter what she says. Never let a woman who talks to you get the impression that she isn't the most important thing on your mind in that moment. Stay away from women who work in high stress professions, such as office ladies. Boys talked about what they called "dead ends", which were situations for which there were no known routes to survival. Being singled out by a woman who already has plans to eat you is the textbook dead end. Failing to keep a girl entertained on a date was another often discussed one.

   What kept Pepper from losing hope was the knowledge that his current condition was still not yet a dead end. Parties and casual hangouts like this one were highly dangerous, for sure. If males were brought along it was for the sole purpose of entertainment, and women tended to see eating a man as the culmination of that entertainment. Still, Pepper himself had met a handful of boys who had survived this sort of thing. Their advice was always roughly the same: do not cry, do not beg, do what you're told and don't draw any attention to yourself. If you don't make yourself seem like interesting prey then you might just be overlooked. 

   Pepper had no idea what his odds were now, considering he had already failed in at least one of these areas, but he saw some positive points. There was only one girl at the party who would still consider eating him. He was still in Mary's lap, but she wasn't paying as much attention to him anymore, no squeezing or hugging. She had been helping herself to a bowl of potato chips for a while by then, so maybe she wouldn't be hungry enough to eat him? All he had to do was sit still and not act too much like prey. Surely this would be enough?

   Pepper had expected the girls to put on one of their terrifying anime shows where the digestion of boys is emphasized and made out to be cute and romantic, but instead they put on some artsy show that Vivian had recommended. It was surreal and surprisingly somber for something women created, and there wasn't a single male character to be seen. Pepper didn't get what any of it meant. Something about coming of age, maybe? He probably still wouldn't have gotten it if he hadn't been scared for his life at that moment. Girl stuff was always leagues above his head. 

   After they finished watching, the girls spoke about their thoughts on the show. They might as well have been speaking another language. Boys weren't meant to think deeply or critically about things like women can. He at least understood Elise when she praised the visuals and the pacing, not that he would've thought of it himself. 

   As the discussion faded out, Mary pointed at something on top of the short shelf that held the game consoles beside the screen. "Is that authentic?" 

   "It is!" Power sprang to her feet and retrieved the object, a partially folded pink uniform. "Well, mostly. This one was made back in the day but stayed in storage up until I got it. It didn't come with the boots either, but I have replicas. My mom still has every bit of the uniform that my grandmother wore, though!" She held up both pieces of the outfit for everyone to see, a short sleeved button up collared shirt and a knee length skirt. The pink pigment was a little faded on both, but otherwise they were in excellent condition. "I can't help it, I've gotta put it on now!" Power hummed to herself and dressed up in front of the others. The shirt was a little small for her, so she didn't bother buttoning it all the way. When she was done, she posed dramatically and did a cute flourish with her skirt. 

   "Wow!" Mary smiled. "Are you very interested in the revolution?"

   "Oh no, Mary. . ." Elise groaned.

   "Here she goes. . ." Vivian sighed.

   "Ah, what-"

   Power grinned, straightened out her posture, and took a deep breath. "Well, of course I am! The women of the revolution are only the greatest heroes history has ever known! If it weren't for them, men would still have rights and we'd still be getting pushed around as if we're not superior! Not that there can ever be any doubt that the revolution would've happened when it did, it was natural and inevitable at that point!" She was taking big steps back and forth across the room, stomping in the big pink boots that went with the uniform. Elise had her head in her hands.

   "Someone had to actually step forward and do the work though, and it was an entire generation of women who took on the responsibility! It was the greatest act of cooperation the world had ever seen, and we've been continuing that legacy of compassion and justice ever since! But that's why it's so important that we maintain a strong appreciation for the revolutionaries and continue to tell their stories as we move forward. If we forget them, then we will also forget what they fought for and why they fought so hard. Already I can see so many women who don't know anything about the revolutionaries or what they rebelled against! If we let them fade away then next we will watch the world they created fade away too! It's not like the boys are going to rise up or anything, they don't have a chance of that, but there's always the possibility that we will gradually show them mercy over time until they're considered equal again and it was all for nothing. The revolutionaries were brutal and merciless, but that wasn't just for the sake of punishing men for their wrongs. Sure they were angry, but women never let anger take control of them. They did those things because they were the right thing to do!" 

   Passion looked absolutely beautiful on Power's face, Pepper had to admit, but that was just the thing about women. Their passion makes him feel small, makes him realize how different their worlds are, how bright theirs can be. How frightening his is. "Men exist for us to temper our superiority against them! The fact that being humiliated and consumed is fulfilling to them too is only a side note. They are meant to show us who we are through our reflections in their hearts, and then reward us when we act on the realization that we are above them! If we listened to what the revolutionaries had to tell us, we'd know that showing mercy to men is an inherently unhealthy act that harms a woman's soul!"

   By the end of Power's rant, Pepper was nearly crying again. He hoped Mary couldn't feel the way he was shaking. What was terrifying to him was a source of joy and inspiration to these women. He couldn't bear it.

   Power looked like she was about to continue, but Elise interrupted. "I've said it before, but I think you're way too paranoid. Women are not gradually showing mercy to men. Have you ever met a girl older than seventeen who thinks we are being too harsh to men? Anyone who's had time to think out their worldview knows that the way we've structured society is fair. Hardly anything about the way any culture approaches men has changed since the days after the NGO was officially established!"

   "Even if it hasn't noticeably started yet, that doesn't mean it isn't going to happen! Haven't you seen those men's rights groups popping up lately?"

   "Power, that's just a trend, every one of those is a trap to lure guys in. I know half of the girls who are doing that around here, they're even harsher towards men than you are!" said Elise. 

   "Well, that's a relief." Power admitted. This was news to Pepper too! He found out about the local movement when he overheard some girls making fun of it, and had been considering checking it out himself. He should've known better than to complacently trust women. "That's a fun way to make sure the most disobedient men aren't making it very far!"

   "See, you're paranoid!" 

   "What about Hera? Did you hear that they just put up a restriction on how many men you can eat? What could they possibly be thinking?"

   "You're taking that out of context." Vivian said.

   "How so!?"

   Elise explained, "Their matriarch explicitly stated that it's a temporary measure so they can set up better infrastructure to keep up with women's eating habits. She was praising her citizens for being so enthusiastic about digesting men, and apologizing for failing to keep up with them! She promised that they'll be generating several times more males for the future, and they'll work on importing men from other places so they don't have to worry about running out."

   "Ugh, I guess you're right, I am paranoid! I won't argue with good news. But my point still stands, we can't let ourselves forget the past or we really will lose our way!" 

   "Well, there's nothing wrong with remembering the past! I'm just worried that you're way too stressed out about it! Women are always going to be on top, and men are always going to be prey. Just relax and enjoy it!"

   Pepper's muscles seized and his heart rate picked up. He had never been caught in the middle of such a devastating conversation. Why were the deadly implications of what they said so trivial to them? 

   "Oh, I am enjoying it!" Power patted her uniform clad stomach.

   Without warning, Mary tilted Pepper's head back and put her lips on his. She pried her way into his mouth and forced her tongue onto him. The boy was paralyzed with fear, as he was meant to be, unable to resist in any way. Unable to even determine if he wanted to resist. As the taste of her saliva filled his mouth he couldn't shake the feeling that this was only the first step. Saliva is digestive, and she is going to digest him!

   Mary ended the kiss with one last hungry lick, and then carried on as though nothing had happened. Something had happened, though. Pepper had reached his limit. These women were going to kill him! Fear consumed his mind and set every muscle into motion. He threw off Mary's arms, leapt from her lap, and scrambled for the door! He was out in the hallway and running when he heard Mary's nervous voice. "S-sorry! I'll get him!"

   Pepper found himself in a fancy dining room and stopped dead in his tracks. How did he end up here? Did he take a wrong turn? He could already hear Mary's urgent footsteps coming nearer. Logical, rational thought had left him the moment he decided to run away. Now there were only animal instincts. He ran back into the hallway he came from. He would get it right this time, he would make it to the front door and run all the way home!

   Mary was closer than he thought and almost snagged his collar as he ran past. Something very foolish inside of him told him that he could still keep the lead and escape from her. Instead, he tripped and skidded his arm on the carpeted floor. He was able to turn onto his back just in time to watch Mary pounce on him. 

   She pinned him down by both arms and dug into his leg with her knee. "Why did you run!? Are you okay?" Tears streamed down Pepper's face, and he couldn't bring forth anything but heaving sobs. "Please don't cry! I won't hurt you!" Mary comforted, but she was licking her lips and her eyes were sharp and predatory. She took her weight off of him, staying poised over his body in case he tried anything. "Don't run, okay! Let me talk to you. What's wrong, honey?" 

   "Let me go! D-don't eat me! I want to go ho-" Mary put a hand over his mouth before he could whine any more. 

   She smiled warmly and said "Sweetie, you're just confused! I am your home!" She gestured vaguely at her body. "You'll be warm, and safe, and loved! You have nothing to be afraid of!" 

   She removed her hand and he immediately spoke again. "No, don't do this, you can't-"

   "Shhhhh! You're a boy! Women are where you belong! I promise it'll be okay! Your body and soul will become a part of me and you'll be in bliss forever!" 

   "N-no, no no no no no, please don't ple-" Mary shushed him again and kept him silent with a firm hand on his face. 

   "I feel a little sorry for you, so I'll be extra nice, okay? I'll walk you through it step by step." Mary scooped Pepper up in her arms and held him tight, her boobs pressing heavily against him. She licked his face affectionately along the line of his tears. "I'm going to shrink you down now. I promise it won't hurt a bit! It'll be over in a second. Are you ready?" 

   Pepper tried to object, to struggle, to do anything, but there was nothing left. The realization that nothing could save him now hit him like a brick. This was a dead end. His life was over. All he was able to muster was a weak "Please. . ."

   Mary didn't need an answer. She smiled down on him and her eyes turned red. Pepper's world spun and tumbled and he shut his eyes in fear. When he opened them, his entire field of view was occupied by her face. He tried to back away but was blocked by her fingers and gently slid back into the palm of her hand. 

   "See? You're safe!" Mary's voice boomed. She held her hand close to her face, mouth open in obvious anticipation. Her every exhale sent a wave of hot breath over Pepper's body. He cowered and pulled his limbs close to his torso. 

   "Now I'm going to eat you, okay? I'll be gentle and slow! I won't bite you, I promise! Please don't try to escape again, you could get badly hurt!" Pepper wished he could attempt another escape, no matter how foolish that may have been, but he couldn't move. No one could move under that massive, hungry gaze. Women were scary enough at a regular size, their voices authoritative enough when they weren't echoing inside his skull. Did she have any idea how terrifying she was? 

   The prey wanted to look away, but he couldn't avert his eyes as Mary's tongue slowly extended towards him. The dexterous tip at first stroked and prodded him, leaving trails of viscous saliva on his arms and face. She paused, let out a long, humid exhale, and then scooped him up and brought him swiftly into her mouth. 

   He was instantly soaked from head to toe in the spit that flowed forth from her hunger. Her tongue drew him deeper in and pressed him gently against the roof of her mouth. 

   "Mmm! You're so delicious!" Her voice bellowed up from the depths within and consumed him inside its vibrations. It was difficult even to interpret the meaning from these impossibly huge utterances. Was he expected to feel complimented?

   Pepper stared hopelessly at the light which reached him from outside. A thin glimpse of the world of the living in the shape of Mary's smile. He struggled to focus on the colors and objects framed by her lips. There was a painting hanging on the wall. It showed a woman in red delicately lifting her dress, to do what? Pepper strained against the constant, subtle motion of Mary's head until he could make it out. Ah, of course. She was stepping on a man's head.

   There was no warning when Mary closed her mouth and blocked out the light. The sudden darkness brought fear and urgency back. Pepper tried to stand, but was instantly squished back down against her palette. "Wait! Let me out! Please!" Whether she could hear his pleas or not, she proceeded to work him towards her throat regardless. "No! No, stop! You can't!" The sensation of sliding backwards and down made Pepper's heart drop like a stone. "Help me! No!" He grasped for any handhold at all, but every surface was hopelessly slippery. The back of Mary's tongue squeezed him down and sealed his fate. He dropped into her throat and slid downwards, a mouthful of saliva washing over and past him. 

   The steady, pounding drumbeats of her heart greeted him as he sank into the depths of her body. "Please, help!" Pepper couldn't even hear his own begging over the percussive sound. The walls of her esophagus gripped him with increasing tightness as he dropped. The heat of her inner body became more overwhelming with every inch. 

   Pepper was finally squeezed painfully through a tight opening and dropped rudely into the stomach. He was instantly buried under an unidentifiable mess of partially digested food. He struggled to stand but couldn't begin to balance himself and only fell again into the slop. He crawled and groped at his surroundings and felt enclosing walls in every direction. This claustrophobic confinement elicited a heavy sob from Pepper, his limbs giving out and letting him fall into the muck. 

   Mary's voice filled his chamber of flesh. "Isn't it nice? Don't you feel a little silly now for being so scared? You don't need to worry anymore, I'll take care of everything from here, honey!"

   Pepper thrashed and wept and cried out, "No no no, this can't be happening!" He tried to prop himself up on the slimy stomach walls only to slip again and again. "Please no, I don't wanna die, no no no no!" 

   His tiny world swayed slightly as Mary began to walk. Pepper tried not to picture it. He didn't want to visualize the woman's living, moving body, knowing that he was trapped inside of it. The idea of it was almost beyond his comprehension. How could he go from waking up and going to school to being swallowed whole in a single day?

   Elise's voice came from the other side of the walls that encased him. "Did you get him?" 

   "Yeah! I took care of him."

   "Why did he run?" asked Vivian. Did she really not understand?

   Pepper's world lurched violently, and he briefly found himself pressed against the ceiling of Mary's stomach instead of the floor, before falling heavily back down. So that's how Aliment had felt. "I think he was just nervous!"

   "What are they teaching these boys?" Power complained. "How can they be so disrespectful? We need to be twice as strict in showing them how to act around their superiors!" 

   "Yeah, running away is not okay." Vivian agreed. 

   Power continued, "I think we should do away with all the nonsense about sending them to school and giving them a normal education, even if it's at a way lower level than what girls get. It clearly goes to their heads! What's the point of prepping them for some useless job where they'll get eaten in a few months anyway? What do they even do with the pocket change they get paid? At most, boys should just be trained in how to be good little slaves, and then kept chained up until someone needs them. The nations where males can't own anything or have jobs are much better off!"

   Pepper scratched uselessly at the impervious walls of his prison. Was this really all there was to life? Spend every day getting pushed around and bullied by girls, only to finally get gulped down and be bullied some more until you die? A part of him always thought there would be some kind of salvation or retribution in his future. He couldn't bear to accept the reality waiting behind those fragile beliefs. There was never anything coming to save him. Every man goes through this experience. It is as natural and inevitable as any other stage of life. 

   Mary's stomach made a low, ravenous sound, and Pepper presently became very aware of the way the acids were stinging his flesh. The sweltering heat wore him down, the enclosing space overwhelmed him, the thin air gradually choked him. The overstimulation from the enveloping scent of Mary's meal left the poor boy dazed. Pepper was food, and he was beginning to truly understand what that meant. 

   "Please don't let me die. . . please. . ." This couldn't be it! Weren't there so many more things for him to experience? "Someone. . . help me. . ." Mary's body shook with laughter in response to something someone said. Pepper no longer had the faculties to listen. They were just muffled voices from another room. "It's so. . . unfair. . ."

   The most painful part of it all was the realization that the women had been right. They were right as they always were, about everything. Pepper was food, and he belonged where Mary had put him. What other explanation was there for the way he had always proven to be inadequate next to his female peers? Why else would he be so easily shrunk, and fit so comfortably atop her tongue? What else could justify the feeling within that told him to relax, that all was right, his life is in good hands? Stupid boy that he was, he could only see the truth when it swallowed him whole.