Carlos fumbled with his itchy school uniform, his trousers not cooperating with him as he pulled them up. He looked at his watch and noted he was making better time than usual. Carlos crammed his calculus book into his overstuffed backpack and skipped downstairs in his Brooklyn apartment for breakfast with his dad. Alejandro, his dad, sat in the dining room, and had prepared a bowl of cereal ready for him.

“Thanks dad,” he mumbled. He dropped his bag on the ground and pulled a seat.

“De nada, m’hijo,” his dad said while flipping through channels on the flatscreen that was mounted on the wall.

“What show are you looking for?” Carlos asked.

“Morning news.” Alejandro found the channel and set the remote down and continued eating his own bowl of cereal. “They’re interviewing a goddess this morning. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to miss that.”

“I don’t care about that stuff.”

“Oh—no?” Alejandro asked as he crammed a spoonful of Lucky Charms into his mouth. “We have multiple gods roaming the earth, and you don’t care?”

“Nope.” Carlos played with his spoon and didn’t bother eating.

Alejandro let out a tiny snort, recognizing his son’s foul mood. “Cheer up m’hijo. I’ll pray to the goddess that she brightens your day.”

Carlos rolled his eyes at his dad and then focused on the TV. He saw it was a morning show, the kind where two hosts talk about various topics and usually do interviews with celebrities. The show had a lively atmosphere with brightly lit lights and colorful furniture decorating the set. The hosts were a male and female wearing vibrant colored outfits and sitting on two barstool-looking seats.

“If you’re just joining us, we have a special guest this morning,” the male anchor said. “She’s a goddess that needs no introduction. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the show, the ruler of all gods, Goddess Melissa!”

The hosts stood and clapped along with the studio audience. Off stage, Goddess Melissa came walking in at approximately 20 feet tall. She was full of smiles and waved at the audience, her head coming close to the overhead stage lights. The cameramen had difficulty framing her entire body in the shot, having to pull their cameras back.

The goddess wore a summer dress that had a plunging neckline and ended about mid-thigh. Open-toe high-heels adorned her feet, showing off her white painted toenails. She wore her hair down, which was long and sleek, framing her beautiful Cuban face. Her skin tone matched her rich Hispanic heritage and was free of blemishes, wrinkles, or any imperfections. Even prior to Melissa’s ascension to godhood, most people would’ve considered her a goddess—post-ascension, her ‘goddess’ moniker transformed from a flirtatious nickname to an awe-inspiring reality.

After a boisterous round of clapping, the hosts dropped to their knees and bowed in prayer to the literal goddess gracing their presence and walked in front of them. The audience soon followed, and they too prayed Melissa’s prayer.

Carlos rolled his eyes. “For fuck’s sake. How can people demean themselves like that?”

“M’hijo, she’s a god. It’s just the way things are.”

“I don’t care who she is. I’ll never bow to her.”

On the TV, Goddess Melissa said, “thank you everyone. I feel everyone’s warmth and love here this morning. Please rise.” Everyone obeyed and took their seats, except for the hosts who stood at her knees. Fortunately, the soundstage was large enough to accommodate the deity. However, the cameras having to tilt far back to reveal the undecorated parts of the set and the myriad of stage lights that hung overhead. “Let me shrink down to something a little more reasonable.” With that, the goddess’s stature shrunk to approximately 10 feet.

The anchors waited for Melissa to sit before they sat in their seated. Melissa sat on a couch that was in the center of the set, which looked like a little playschool seat under her statuesque frame.

The news anchor was visibly perspiring, his brows dotted with sweat droplets. His voice almost cracked, his necktie feeling extra tight as he was about to interview god in front of the world. They exchanged a few pleasantries, like thanking her for coming on and whatnot, before proceeding to the actual interview.

“So, it’s been a year since you and the others ascended. Could you share with us what that day was like?” the male anchor asked.

“Well, it was quite chaotic—as everyone on earth knows. None of us knew what was happening. One moment we were our usual selves, and the next, we were... well, more than human.”

“And the... transformation. It was sudden?”

“Absolutely. Imagine if the world suddenly shrunk around you... Except the world didn’t shrink. Me and Goddess Hailee, who was with me at the time, found ourselves standing over Brooklyn, naked, and in a split second. It was so weird and shocking when it happened. Me and Hailee didn’t know we became gods and that our new size reflected our new powers. Unfortunately, it led to a lot of unintended collateral damage that day.”

“That must have been terrifying for you and the people around.”

“It was. We were scared, confused… It took us some time to learn how to manage our new forms and powers.”

“When you learned you were a god, how did your family react?” the anchor asked, reading the notes in his hand.

Carlos perked up, his eyes glued to the TV, and eagerly waiting for her response.

Melissa regally adjusted her seat on the small couch and said, “everything has stayed the same.”

“What?” Carlos asked aloud, causing his dad to turn his head toward him.

Melissa continued and said, “my family and I don’t live in a palace. We still live in Brooklyn. I’m still a mother and a loving wife. We moved to a bigger apartment and my son goes to a private school now, but other than that, things haven’t really changed. Instead of a New York police officer, I do what I can to prevent and punish the harshest crime.”

The anchor, caught up in the moment and without looking at his notes, asked, “why don’t you stop all crime? Can’t you stop evils like crime and disease from existing in the first place?”

Melissa’s brightened mood ended. Her smile was no longer and genuine and appeared more like a smirk. “Are you insinuating I can’t?”

The studio lights hummed above normal as they became brighter. The interviewer realized his mistake and said, “of course not. Nevermind, I didn’t mean to ask—”

Carlos said to his dad, “and there she goes, getting all power-trippy again.”

“Poor bastard,” Alejandro said.

“My actions are deliberate,” Melissa said on screen, neither upset nor happy. “Whether I stop a crime or do not; whether I prevent all diseases or not—as a mortal, it is not your place to question your god.”

The anchor dropped to his knees before Melissa’s feet and said, “forgive me, goddess. I was being foolish. I didn’t mean any slight to you. Please have mercy on me.” He then recited Melissa’s prayer on repeat.

The studio lights return to their normal operation. Melissa smiled at the groveling man and looked up to the female anchor and asked, “do you have questions for me?”

“Umm. What’s your favorite food?”

Back at the breakfast table, Carlos asked his father, “jeez, was she going to smite him or something?”

“Nah. You know your mom—she’s all bark and no bite. She’s just putting a show on for the entire world to see.”

“What’s the point, though? Why is mom making people bow and pray like that? She’s so full of herself.” Carlos pushed himself from the table and grabbed his bookbag.

“It’s the new reality, m’hijo.”

“Well, tell mom this new reality sucks ass. Instead of scaring people and making them bow at her feet, maybe she should be home having breakfast with us family? Just a thought.”

Alejandro had something ready to say, but didn’t want to push it with his son. He could visibly see his anger and hear the quivering in his voice. “I’ll bring it up with her. Have fun at school.”

“Whatever.”

===

The rhythmic click-clacking echoed down the long old hallways of the 19th-century-era school. It was a private school, established for the world’s elites in Manhattan overlooking Central Park. The students wore costly uniforms: pristine white buttoned-up shirts, plaid skirts for the girls and gray slacks for the boys. All the High School students were impeccably elegant, with sharp haircuts, clean fingernails, and wrinkle-free uniforms.

The rhythmic clacking of heels on the polished floor ceased at a classroom’s doorway. The door, a stately piece of polished oak with a frosted window, swung open with a sense of purpose. A woman entered unannounced, interrupting the day’s lesson. The teacher was about to reprimand the intruder, that is, until he laid eyes on who it was.

“Goddess Melissa,” he said, trembling and dropping the chalk from his hands.

The classroom, once filled with the sounds of scribbling pens and shuffling paper, fell into a hushed awe, every pair of eyes drawn to the imposing, nine-and-a-half foot tall celestial who stood there, her presence commanding respect that silenced the room instantaneously.

The Goddess gracefully leaned into the doorway, clearing her head, and standing back upright once inside. Adorned in a tailored gray business suit that elegantly hugged her slim form, she radiated an air of both authority and grace. Her skirt fell short of her knees, embracing her shapely thighs and accenting her hips. Her blazer, fitted perfectly, complemented her statuesque figure. Beneath it, a white blouse shimmered like the sun’s reflection off a lake.

The teacher dropped to the ground and said, “Goddess Melissa, please forgive me,” before reciting her prayer:

“O Melissa, leader of the gods with heart so pure,

“Your reign is just, benevolent and sure.

“In your all-powerful embrace, we dwell,

“Guide us to peace, where love shall prevail.”

Melissa placed her hands together, interlocking her fingers, and rested them in front of her waist. Satisfied with the man’s groveling, she walked to the front of the class and eyed the high school Seniors who stared back with a terrified silence. Her body weight caused the floor to warp and groan under her divine feet. Her toes, flawlessly manicured, were on full display within her black strappy heels, which cost as much as an economy car.

She stood in front of the first row of tables; the students, too scared to even blink, didn’t dare say a word until she spoke. Melissa looked at all their terrified faces from up high. As she looked around the classroom and was pleased to see it organized and filled with expensive furniture and educational material for the students. Many first-edition books lined their bookcase and rare artifacts displayed on top of shelves. The school spared no expense for the education of its students. Her attention returned to the students.

“Children,” she said. “Your goddess stands before you. You do know what that means, right?”

They all let out a collective gasp, which was swiftly followed by them pushing their chairs back, scrapping them along the hardwood floor. The students fell to their knees and bowed, placing their hands flat on the ground, mimicking their teacher. Each student then uttered Melissa’s prayers through trembling lips.

“Looks like you were not taught well,” Melissa said, looking back at the sobbing teacher, his face planted on the filthy floor as he prayed. She turned back to the class. All the students were worshiping and praying incessantly. All except one. “Carlito,” she said. “Know why I’m here?”

“Why, mom?” he asked with a sigh, clearly unafraid of his mother.

“Your dad says you used his credit card at the mall without his permission. What do you have to say?”

“Mom,” he groaned. “That’s why you came down here? You’re embarrassing me and scaring all my friends.”

“Scared?” Melissa asked with hands raised. She then asked the classroom, “anyone scared of me?” There was no response. “See, no one fears little ole me.”

“Of course they won’t say it to your face,” Carlos said with a drawn-out sigh. “Listen, can we talk about this back home? I’ll pay back dad, don’t worry.”

“We’ll ‘talk about it’ when I want to talk about it. Which is right now. I don’t think your teacher minds.” Melissa looked over her shoulder and saw the teacher slink further into the ground. She turned back to her son and said, “I don’t care about the money you spent. What I don’t like is stealing your dad’s card to purchase something behind his back.”

“But what’s the big deal, seriously?”

“You know exactly what you did wrong, and not another word from you. And if you talk back again, I’ll ground you for a month. Remember Carlito, my punishments can be a lot more creative than what other parents can come up with. Want to spend a month in my shoe box with no TV or games, again?”

“No,” he said. He looked around at his classmates and felt so flustered he wanted to run out of class and never return.

“Okay, then. When you come home tonight, you will apologize to your father and work off the debt for using his card.”

He bit his lips, not wanting to push things with his mother. “Sorry, mom. Won’t happen again.”

“That’s my boy.” She walked over to him, bent over, and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

“Mom! Come on, please.” He whined.

Melissa walked over to the teacher, her feet planting right before his face, her toes in front of his eyes. She told him to rise, and he did so with gusto. She tilted her head and looked down at him like a concerned parent, her brows furrowed upwards.

“Know what you did wrong?” she asked. The sky outside turned dark as thick thunder clouds covered the sun.

“Yes, Goddess Melissa.” He was on the verge of breaking down.

“It’s important these students, who are on the verge of adulthood, learn how to properly respect their gods,” she said with a tone full of maternal warmth. It started raining outside, and the wind picked up with enough force to make the leaves in trees rustle and the branches crackle. “That means dropping to the ground in prayer when a god is in your presence—come on, you know this. I won’t tolerate it again.” Thunder from outside reverberated in the room.

“Yes, Goddess. I’ll do better.” His lips were trembling, his skin perspiring.

“Aww,” she placed a hand on his shoulder. The storm outside vanished and was replaced with a calm sunshine. Carlos rolled his eyes. “I know you’ve been having a hard time. Isn’t that right?”

“Umm, I—”

“Money problems, huh?” Melissa asked as she closed her eyes and explored the man’s life. “Your wife is in the hospital? And you’re accumulating a lot of debt. Why haven’t you told me this?”

“Goddess?”

“In your prayers to me?”

“I—I can’t trouble you… I can manage…”

Melissa brought the man close to her body for a hug. Because of her towering height, it looked like an adult hugging a young child. “You’re a good man. Let me help you, yeah? When you get home, your wife will be back from the hospital, with no more cancer. And I’ll just take care of all those pesky loans.”

“God—goddess? Really, did you just…?” he asked, his eyes filling with unbridled joy and tears streaming down.

“You can worship me later,” Melissa said with a warm smile. “Now, you have a lesson to get back to. And remember to treat my son like any other student. No special treatment.”

===

“This cruise was a good idea, mi amor,” Melissa said to her husband.

“I thought it might help. You’ve been so busy lately, running around the world, doing this and that,” Alejandro said.

“I know. I’m still finding pockets of humanity that are still unwilling to accept me and the three as gods.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

Melissa giggled and said, “only a human would ask that kind of question.”

“Should I be offended when you call me human like that?”

“What? No, don’t be silly.”

“Okay. Because it sounds a little insulting when you say it.”

Melissa laughed this time. “Not an insult, you baby. It’s who you are: a little human.”

“But you’re human too!”

“No, I’m not.” She said with a wide smile. “What am I? I want to hear you say it.”

“Melissa Camillo,” her husband said.

“Not my name. Try again. Who am I?”

With a groan, he said, “you’re a goddess.”

They were on the deck of the cruise ship, near the stern, where an open bar and large hot tub stood. For a completely booked ship, with over three thousand passengers, the deck was relatively empty. The few patrons that dared enter the area—whether by accident or to pass through—were on their knees, hunched over and praying on the floor, angled towards Melissa. They kept praying, waiting for the Goddess to dismiss them.

The lounge chairs were placed meticulously in a grid-like pattern on the deck. They were all empty, save for the ones Melissa and her husband occupied. At her comfortable height of nine and half feet, Melissa used her powers to grow one lounge chair to fit her frame. Her husband, laying in his, was well below her body and in her shadow.

Alejandro wore a woolly jacket, ski pants, and thick, fur-lined boots. Even in gloves, his hands were in his jacket pocket, attempting desperately to stay warm. His lips cracked, and he dreaded fishing for his chapstick, because that meant he had to take off his glove to work the little capsule. The beanie in his head wasn’t doing much, keeping his ears warm. He wondered if the sundries shop had earmuffs in stock.

Melissa, on the other hand, wore her white bikini. A skimpy bottom and top provided little modesty as she tanned her skin under the sun.

It was an arctic cruise that took its passengers on a tour of glaciers, whale watching, and breathtaking scenery. The temperature hovered between 10 and 14 degrees Fahrenheit—but the worst part was the winds. They cut through the thickest jackets and chilled the bones.

“What kind of goddess?”

“¿Que?” Alejandro asked his wife.

“What kind of goddess am I?”

He sighed and failed to hide his grin. “You’re the goddess. Head honcho. The one in charge.”

She giggled. “Why does it bother you so much to say that?”

“It doesn’t bother me you’re a goddess. But y’know, you were my goddess, and my goddess alone. Now the entire world prays to you and it takes some of the fun out of it. Wasn’t it better when only I praised you, honey?”

“Oh, sweetie, I could just eat you up! How did I get so lucky to marry you?” Melissa asked.

“You were after my money, remember?”

“What money?” She laughed. “Remember our first date? McDonald’s; we had to share a coke, and you only bought from the dollar menu.”

“Why buy separate drinks when refills are free?”

She laughed again.

“Speaking about everyone praying to you.” He pointed behind his shoulder with his thumb. “You think you got enough prayers for now?”

“I suppose,” she said in a mocking tone. She then addressed her subjects on the deck around her and said, “thank you everyone for your devotion. You are dismissed. But if you come near my presence again, I expect more bowing and praying.”

A crowd of about twenty passengers got up from the floor and raced off the deck. They learned their lesson about walking near the goddess. Some had been praying for as long as 45 minutes before she released them.

Melissa grabbed a margarita that was on a table near her. Her personal bartender kept the oversized glass filled and a fresh lime nearby stocked. After taking a drink, Melissa adjusted her breasts in her bikini top. She grabbed a plastic bottle of suntan oil and squeezed a generous amount onto her flat stomach. She rubbed the oil into her brown skin as another ice-chilled breeze came howling across the ship. It caused Alejandro to shiver, despite all his protection he wore for the cold.

“You think it’s messed up we’re vacationing without Carlos?” her husband asked.

“Not at all. I’m still mad at him for using your credit card.”

“Fair enough.”

“Whoa, that’s pretty,” she said, pointing off into the distance. “Come, let’s get a better look.” Melissa grabbed her drink and padded off to the railing. Aside from her bikini, Melissa had large sunglasses and a Panama hat. Her skin glowed, almost giving off an ethereal radiance as the cold sunrays caressed her body. As they looked out, they saw a bay surrounded by pristine white glaciers. The bay almost looked like a tub with floating ice cubes, which were actually building-sized icebergs.

“Damn, that’s gorgeous,” Alejandro said. “I can’t believe animals swim in that water. It’s gotta be way below freezing, huh?” He asked Melissa, but as he turned to face her, she was gone. “Babe? Where’d you go? A loud splash caused him to snap his head back out to the scenery. “Oh, god…”

Melissa had grown herself. A lot. From head to toe, Melissa was five thousand, five hundred feet tall. She nestled herself in the bay as if she were laying in those free-standing bathtubs. Her head rested against a mountain that jutted out of the coast. She crossed her legs at the ankles, planting her heels on the shore, causing a flock of penguins to scatter away as if they were mites in the shadow of her feet. In her hand, her margarita, sized for her proportions, now sat inland, surrounded by glaciers.

As Melissa materialized and landed in the ice-cold water, a wave about fifty feet tall formed around her, and splashed outwards like a shockwave. Alejandro swallowed a lump in his throat as he saw the wave crashing towards him. With no sense of urgency, Melissa waved her fingers towards the cruise ship, creating an invisible shield around it, just as the frigid arctic waters threatened to slam against the white cruise liner.

Alejandro and the passengers were in awe as the ocean waters splashed upward around this shield. If they looked closely, they could see fish and whales in the waters. Though the ship was safe from the violent collision of the ocean, the sounds it created were nerve-wracking. Like a hundred hurricanes rolled into one cacophonous crash. The environment wasn’t safe from Melissa’s splashdown. Glaciers broke apart, and icebergs she landed on top of floated upwards around her body and launched outwards like missiles. Land flooded with tsunami-like waves as her mile-long body occupied the once serene bay.

“Ahh,” Melissa sighed as she relaxed in her makeshift bath. She wiggled her toes and stretched her back, pulverizing the mountain so it conformed to her body. “Now, this is divine,” she said, drinking her cold beverage.

Melissa’s powers protected the ship further from the unsteady waves, as her body displaced hundreds of million gallons of ocean water. She hooked a thumb under her bikini top and pulled it downward to show off more cleavage. Satisfied her boobs looked good and were above water, she went back to relaxing.

Alejandro's mouth remained open in astonishment the whole time. His knuckles turned white as he gripped tightly to the railing, afraid to loosen even for a moment. The goddess cracked her eyes open and turned her head to face the ship, which was about the length of her foot.

“I’d say you should join me, honey.” Melissa said. “But I think the water is a tad too cold for you.”

Alejandro whimpered. His wife was the size of the landscape. He’s never seen her so large before, and even though it was his wife, he feared for his life. The ocean was violent and strong waves kept forming around her powerful body, cascading outwards and colliding into everything with wrathful force. The shield and ship stabilization kept everyone safe while floating dangerously close to the gigantic giantess.

“Don’t worry, honey. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” She drank her margarita. Melissa then snapped her fingers, and the waves ceased, the ocean becoming as flat as a sheet of glass. Another wave of her 400 feet long fingers, and the cruise ship gently glided closer to her body. Alejandro’s, along with the thousands of passengers, felt their hearts drop as they came close to Melissa’s massive breast. “You know what your goddess would love right about now?” She asked everyone on the ship, her breath slamming against the toy-sized vessel. “Some worshiping.”

Almost everyone on the ship, no matter where they were located, even if they were in the head, dropped to their knees and recited Melissa’s prayer. She moaned as she felt her worshippers grace her with their fear and love.

“That’s so good,” she said, with a mixture of pleasure and relief. She sunk deeper into the arctic waters, but floated high enough for her boobs to be above water, rivaling any present iceberg.

Alejandro’s adrenaline pumped so fast through his veins, he didn’t feel cold anymore. He backed away from the railings. Dropped to his knees and prayed to his wife.

“Oh, honey.” Melissa moaned at that exact moment. “You’re so sweet. I love you so much! I love all my children,” she said, referring to the passengers.

Alejandro felt it and so did everyone that was praying. They felt her love embracing them. The warmth one gets when holding a puppy, or holding their child for the very first time. Like enjoying an ice cream cone with one’s sweetheart on a hot Fourth of July. Some of those praying were crying as they felt their goddess’s love reciprocate.

“Almost perfect…” Melissa said. She replaced the loving warmth everyone felt with an icy chill. “There are some of you that are not bowing and devoting your mortal lives to me.” She turned and looked at the toy ship next to her island-sized tits. Her eyes burned with a growing flame that terrified them as the goddess grew angry. The frigid water near her skin boiled, steam rising like a thick fog. “No need to fear everyone. I’m not one to smite everyone, for the actions of a few. Which is not something that can be said about the other gods. Everyone, check your phones. I’m texting you the names of the 23 individuals, foolish enough not to worship me. Bring them to me on a lifeboat.”

As she declared, the names of the non-believers popped on everyone’s phones. It was the fastest game of hide-and-seek ever performed on a cruise ship. The passengers shoved twenty-three doomed lives onto a lifeboat and lowered into the waters.

“Honey, what are you doing?” Alejandro asked. Though there was a vast size difference between the two, Melissa had a link to her husband where they could speak normally, and it was equivalent to having a conversation in front of each other at the same size.

“Just some god-stuff.” She smiled.

“Yeah, but you’re making me kinda nervous. Is it terrible that some people don’t drop to their knees for you?”

“We’ve been through this, mi amor. I can’t explain it to you, because you won’t understand.”

“What? Because I’m a mortal?” he asked.

“Hey, you said it, not me.”

“Babe, please don’t hurt them.”

“Honey, I don’t tell you how to do your job. Don’t tell me how to be god.”

“But you tell me how to do my job all the time.”

Melissa giggled. “Yeah, that’s right. Hey, babe, why don’t you go wait in our cabin? I don’t want you to see this.”

“Babe, no—”

The scenery changed for Alejandro faster than a blink. He was back in their stately cabin. She shut the porthole window and sealed the door leading out, effectively making him a prisoner in his room. “Mierda.”

Back outside, Melissa took control of the lifeboat with her celestial powers and cruised it towards her, straight under her chin. She was sunken enough in the water, so that they floated above her upper chest, but were flanked by her exposed tits that came out of the water like a volcano. The men and women on the boat tried to stand resolutely and unphased by Melissa, though they couldn’t help feel insignificant under her massive size.

Under the depths of the water came her finger, and the tiny lifeboat balanced on her gigantic fingernail from her index finger. She brought the boat up to her immense brown eyes. Her divine powers prevented the boat and their non-believing from falling over during their rapid ascent into the sky. She toned down her speech to not send them flying.

“Tell me, why do you refuse to believe I’m your god?” she asked with no trace of emotions.

“You ain’t no god, demon!” one man shouted. “Jesus is the only true god!”

An argument broke out in the boat as the non-believers argued Jesus was no god either. Each person on the boat shouted who god actually was. From Yahweh to Allah, and Ganesha to Elohim.

Melissa’s eyes narrowed, and her brows dropped. “Enough! I am your god.” Her voice sounded like it came from everywhere at once. The fog from her boiling the arctic waters surrounded them as she talked down at them. “I am a goddess. The most powerful goddess in the universe. And I’m right in front you in the flesh, doing godlike—things! Why do you choose not to believe me and worship me?”

Their explanations varied, but the common theme was they believed the god they were respectively indoctrinated into.

“I will give you one chance, and once chance only. Recant your old gods. Give yourselves unto me, or forfeit your souls.”

The non-Melissa believers remained steadfast to their devotions of their gods. They didn’t fear the ‘false god’ that held them up on her finger. The non-believers remained faithful to whatever god they believed before Melissa’s ascension. They were persecuted from day one, since Melissa made the heretical claim she was a god and abolished all old world religions. No, they believed in their true god, who would, in turn, reward them for their unwavering faith.

“So be it,” Melissa said with a cruel smile. “But you’re all in for a rude awakening in the afterlife.”

Melissa opened her mouth, tilted back, and let the lifeboat with twenty-three souls drop in her mouth. They screamed in fear as they fell in the black void in the back of her throat. Her uvula was larger than their boat and hung menacingly over their heads as they dropped into the black void in the back of her throat. She swallowed them as if she were knocking back a pill. She moaned as she took an extra long sip from her margarita. “Delicious.” Their bodies disintegrated in her divine stomach. Their souls would soon reckon with a harsh afterlife.

-

“Hey, what’s up?” Melissa asked her husband as she entered their cabin, back to her normal nine and half feet tall stature. “Miss me?”

“Babe, what the heck was all that about?” Alejandro asked.

“Oh, baby, did I scare you?” She pouted.

“What did you do to those people? You didn’t hurt them, did you?”

She tilted her head, smirked as if she were an uncaring teenager, and shrugged her shoulders. “Y’know, goddess stuff.” She was still in her bikini, and her skin had a briny sheen from the cold ocean.

Alejandro sighed. “I know—I know. My little mortal mind won’t be able to handle it, huh?” he asked as he sat on the bed. Melissa sat next to him, her weight pulling the mattress downwards, causing her husband to sink into her. She caught him in her arms and hugged him.

“That’s right. Your goddess works in mysterious ways.” She kissed him on the lips as she cradled him under her arms.

“Babe, you couldn’t even parallel park a year ago,” he said as their kissing turned up a level. Their tongues tasting each other’s mouth. “Now, you’re the most powerful force in the universe.”

“Mm-hmm.”

He jumped on her, and straddled on top of her as she laid back on the small bed, her long legs hanging over the sides and her feet planted on the floor.

“And for whatever reason, you choose to stay with me. I guess my mortal ass will never understand why, huh?”

“Because I love your mortal ass,” she said with a hoarse voice.

Moments later, the entire cruise ship heard the goddess making love to her husband.

===

Melissa teleported herself and her husband back to New York, in front of their apartment door. Though she was the most powerful, and leader of all the gods, she raised her family in a somewhat modest apartment in Brooklyn, her home city. Her unit was two stories, four bedrooms and two baths, with a quaint balcony. She was back wearing her business outfit, standing at her normal Amazonian height, and Alejandro wore his comfortable jeans and a shirt.

They entered, still enamored and kissing one another. Carlos appeared halfway down the stairs and froze. “Mom, dad… what are you doing back so soon? I thought you were still on vacation.”

Melissa could already sense it. “We decided to come early. Anything wrong with that, Carlito?” she asked.

“Umm, nothing.”

Melissa closed her eyes as if something stung her. “M’hijo, please don’t lie. You know it hurts me when you do that.” Alejandro stood by the door, nervous about what his wife might do to their son, but ready to intervene if it escalated.

“Nothings wrong, mom,” Carlos said with a shrug.

Melissa walked up to the stairs. She closed her eyes and focussed her powers on shrinking her frame to her pre-goddess height of 5’6”. It was hard packing a god to such a small height, and might only last for a few hours before going back to her ‘normal’ height, but it would be long enough for her to have a conversation with her son, and not intimidate him. By the time she reached him on the stairs, she shrunk down shorter than him.

“Everything went well when we were gone?” she asked, her eyes smoldering.

“Yeah.”

“And nothing interesting happened?”

“Nope.”

She nodded. “Okay.” She looked down at her husband, who still stood in the doorway. The tension in the room was so thick, it could be cut with a butter knife. “I’m going to take a bath,” she said to Alejandro. She looked up at her son. “Then I’m off to sleep. Good night, in case I don’t see you,” she gave her son a peck on the cheek and walked past him.

As soon as they heard the bedroom door closed, both father and son let out their breaths, not realizing they were holding it in.

-

Carlos rushed into his room and said, “you gotta get out of here, now!”

“Oh my god, oh my god,” Vanessa said as she crawled out from under Carlos’ bed. Her shaking hands grabbed her purse and spilled its contents with her fumbling hands. Carlos helped her scoop everything back in. “She’s going to kill me if she sees me.”

“She won’t kill you,” he said, rather unconvincingly. “She’s not like that.”

“Carlos, I’ve heard she’s killed people for so little.”

“Those are just stupid rumors. My mom isn’t a murderer and not some crazy sociopath.”

“She’s god… your mom is god. And it’s scary that I’m sneaking into god’s house like this. What was I thinking?”

“Relax, it’s gonna be fine.”

Carlos guided her to his bedroom door. He stopped her and opened it ajar, wide enough to stick his head out. The hallway was clear and he could hear his mother turning the knobs to the bath several rooms down the hallway. He closed the door and turned to his girlfriend.

“Here’s the plan. I open the door and we calmly go downstairs and out the front door,” he said.

“What about your dad?” she asked.

“He won’t care if he sees you. It’s mom we have to worry about. Ready?”

She took a nervous breath, as if she were about to parachute out of a plane for the first time. “Ready.”

“One. Two. Three.”

Carlos swung the door open, and they both went through the doorway together.

“Shoot,” he said.

They didn’t enter the hallways like they expected. Instead, their world transformed beyond imagination. They were now in a giant world. They probably stood around four inches tall judging by the surrounding items nearby; everyday objects loomed overhead like colossal structures. The salt and pepper shakers looked like pillars on a mansion and a cereal box was grander than a movie screen.

Vanessa’s eyes widened in terror, her body tensing as she clutched Carlos’s hand. She recognized where they were. They were on a kitchen island; countertops that stood on their own in the center, detached from the walls. As she looked out, she saw a row of gigantic barstools lined near the counter, and beyond that was the dining area.

Every sound was amplified—a distant drip of water from the faucet sounded like a heavy thud, the hum of the refrigerator like the drone of an aircraft. The air itself felt different, heavier and more imposing. The grains and knicks on the wooden countertop resembled deep grooves in the earth. Dust and crumbs were as large as river rocks, and everything was so far from them because of their size, it was like standing on top of a mountain and gazing at the distant landscape.

“Mom’s idea of a joke,” he said, his voice sounding annoyed. It was yet another godly antic courtesy of his mother that involved size difference. They looked back at the bedroom door. It was just the door and frame, but peering in, they could see the entire room. He moved his head left and right and could see the parallax of his room giving the illusion it was right there, despite it being only a five-inch doorway that was standing there.

Then, the immense figure of Melissa loomed over them, her presence like that of a titan from Greek mythology. To Vanessa, she appeared as a goddess in her full, awe-inspiring grandeur, her features both beautiful and terrifying in their magnified state. Her eyes, usually warm and kind, now seemed mixed with amusement and maternal sternness.

Goddess Melissa was done with her bath, as shown in her outfit and the towel wrapped around her head. She must’ve slowed down time to enjoy her bath, Carlos figured. She wore her pajama shorts, which were a little too short for Carlos’ comfort. A baggy white shirt, her breasts unsupported, and a sheer cotton bathrobe that was loosely draped over her shoulder. Carlos and Vanessa were like mortals meeting the Gods at the pantheon, but instead of Athena, it was a mother in her comfortable post-bath outfit, about to scold him in their modest kitchen.

Melissa’s voice boomed like thunder, yet held a softness that was unmistakably her. “Seems like you had plans while I was away,” she said, a playful inflection in her tone.

Vanessa, still clutching Carlos’s hand, was too overwhelmed to speak. The vastness of the kitchen, the enormity of Melissa, the surreal nature of their situation—it was all too much to comprehend. She felt herself drop to her knees and bow down towards the goddess, reciting her prayer on repeat, as fast as an auctioneer in Texas. Carlos was about to tell Vanessa to knock it off and get back to her feet, but somehow knew his mother would force her back to the ground.

Carlos, attempting to maintain a semblance of dignity, said, “ah y’know, just showing Vanessa around the house. She asked me to give her the mini-tour.”

Melissa smirked. Her colossal form stepped away, her bare feet slapping against the hard floor of the kitchen, causing the floor below the miniature couple to quake. Melissa returned with a filled glass of red wine. Though she was one of the most powerful entities in the universe, and could call upon anything she desired, her glass was filled with $11.99 wine from Costco. She sat at the barstool nearest the two and set her glass next to them.

“Vanessa?” Melissa said, with no trace of anger or malice. “Thank you for your worship. You can stand back up next to my son.”

Vanessa nodded and did as she was instructed. She tried to hide her body behind Carlos, while peering at the goddess staring back down at them. Melissa took off the towel from her head and dropped it on the ground, her dark hair cascading down and bouncing into a perfect hairdo.

“Want to know why I’m upset, Carlito?” Melissa asked, drinking her wine.

“I snuck a girl into my room,” he said, whining.

“Actually, no.”

“No?” Carlos and Vanessa asked at the same time.

“I’m mad that you lied to me. Come on, m’hijo. Not only am I god, but I’m your mother and I know when you’re lying to me, even without using my powers.”

“I guess…”

“And Vanessa,” Melissa said, her eyes cutting through the terrified girl. Vanessa shut her eyes and felt tears running down her cheek. She was quaking so much, her vision blurred.

“Yes, Goddess Melissa.”

Melissa looked down emotionless, wineglass in hand, gazing at the frightened little thing. “Where did you get those earrings?” Melissa asked, with a lilt.

“Uh?” Vanessa asked. She felt her ears and remembered what she was wearing. “Clair’s.”

“Of course. I need to head out there one day.” Melissa took a long, sensual drink. “What were you up to before I rudely interrupted your evening?”

Vanessa wanted to lie. She wouldn’t—couldn’t tell Melissa the truth. But was it worth it? To lie to god? …heart so pure; your reign is just, benevolent and sure. Vanessa recited part of Melissa’s prayer in her mind. She mounted what little courage existed in her tiny body and said, “I was making out with your son.” She squinted her eyes, as if about to be struck.

“Mom, before—” Carlos intervened, but Melissa shot him a look that caused him to shut his mouth.

“Tell me, Vanessa,” Melissa said slowly, the tension heightening. “Did Carlos brush his teeth before your little make-out session?”

“What?” Vanessa asked, unsure where the goddess was going with this. “No.” She told the truth.

“Carlos, what’s the matter with you?” she asked her son.

“What?” he asked, confused.

“When’s the last time you brushed your teeth?”

“Last night,” he said, not even believing himself. “I think.”

“You don’t even brush your teeth in the morning, and now you’re kissing this poor girl with your yucky mouth?”

“It’s not that yucky.”

“This poor, poor girl.” Melissa said.

She yelped and hugged Carlos tightly as Melissa’s finger came down and stroked her back gently. The massive digit made small circling moves around her upper back and had a soothing effect on her. Over time, Vanessa could sense Melissa’s love extend to her and felt her fear fade away.

Melissa spoke to her son while massaging the girl and said, “you took a shower at least, right?”

“Yes,” he groaned.

“And you’re wearing clean underwear? You know, the one without the streaks?”

“Mom! Please!”

“I threw out all the dirty pairs I found, but that only left a few behind. We’ll go shopping for new underwear tomorrow, okay? We can also shop for new clothes for you. But you’ll have to try them out in the store and show me they fit, okay?”

“I’m literally going to die from embarrassment.”

Melissa smiled and removed her finger from Vanessa. She said, “so, you two are dating?”

“Yes,” Vanessa said.

“Carlito, why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend?”

“I was planning on telling you over breakfast. But you haven’t been around for weeks, so I guess you didn’t get the message.”

Melissa’s eyes lowered away from the tiny couple under her massive form. Carlos wondered if he went too far, but those were his true feelings regarding his mom’s absence from his life. Melissa took a breath and released slowly. “You’re right,” she said. “I’ll do better, m’hijo. It’s not fair to you I became god and that my attention is needed elsewhere. I’ll be a better mom, okay?”

I’ll believe it when I see it, Carlos thought to himself.

“Vanessa?” Melissa asked. “Since you’re dating my son, my home is your home. And as a special rule for you, you don’t have to worship me when inside my home. Oh, and one day we’ll have to sit down together and have dinner, okay? Now, head back to your room and enjoy the rest of the night.”

The tiny couple turned and headed over to the free standing doorframe.

“Wait!” Melissa said, “are you two having sex?”

Vanessa, not wanting to lie to the goddess, said, “yes.”

“Vanessa!” Carlos shouted.

“Protection? You are using protection, yes?”

“We are,” Venessa said.

“Oh, thank me.” Melissa gave her head a few shakes before taking another sip of her wine. “I don’t mind what you do, as long as it’s safe.”

Carlos mumbled under his breath, close to imploding under the weight of his overbearing mother. He quickly guided Vanessa back to his room and slammed the door behind him.

===

“How’d it go?” Alejandro asked as his Amazonian-sized wife laid in their enlarged bed next to him. Her weight caused the mattress to sink and her husband to rise a little higher in a seesaw effect. Their bedroom was dimly lit, the purple glow from their flatscreen providing most of the illumination in the room.

“Great. Did you know our son has a girlfriend?” Melissa asked.

“Uh, yeah, I think he mentioned it.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“Guess it slipped my mind.”

She shot him a look while shaking her head. She brought her bare legs under the bedcovers and sighed.

“Sorry, I didn’t tell you. I didn’t know it would bother you not knowing.” He said.

“No, it’s not that. That was my fault and I’ll fix that. It’s something else.”

“What’s up?” he asked while setting the alarm on his smartphone.

Melissa drank some wine and set the glass on her nightstand. She then picked up an oversized remote and flipped through Netflix shows on their smart TV.

“Something strange happened on the cruise,” she said.

“Oh?”

“Ever since I became a god, I not only have all these powers. But I also have these… senses. I’m not talking about seeing or hearing better, although those are heightened. But I also have these weird senses. Like, I know when there’s someone around. I can feel their life… their soul.” She set the remote down and made gestures with her hands as she spoke. “When I entered our apartment, I already knew Carlos had a girl in his room. I felt her. Her soul was so scared when I came inside, poor thing.”

“You already knew Carlos was lying, then?”

“Yeah, but that’s not what I’m getting at. The thing is, I can feel the lives and souls anywhere I go, whether or not I focus on it.”

“Must be annoying,” he said, taking the remote and browsing for a show.

“I learned to live with it. When we were on the cruise, I could feel everyone on the ship. If I walked down the hallways, I could tell how many people were in the rooms next to me, below me, above… everywhere. I knew where everyone was at all times, because I could feel them.”

“Alright…” Alejandro said, waiting for the point his wife was driving at.

“When I was heading back to our cabin, I thought I saw someone. Down the long hallway, like a hundred feet away, I saw a shadow of someone running down a corridor.”

“And…?”

“And I didn’t sense their presence. At first I thought I was seeing things—but I was like, ‘nah, I’m god.’ I don’t see things or hallucinate that I see things. I saw someone, a quick, blurry, black shadow, run by. Whatever it was, it didn’t have a soul. They had no presence.”

Alejandro felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. “You someone with no soul? No life force?”

“Yes. And this wasn’t the only instance. I’ve encountered it before several times, and I don’t know what it is.”

“Strange. Is something following you? Should we be afraid?”

Melissa was lost in thought. She turned to her husband, who was full of worry. “Oh, I didn’t mean to scare you, honey.” She wrapped her arms around his tiny frame and pulled it against her warm body. “Forget I said anything. Right now, I need you between my legs.”

“Yes, goddess,” he said with a grin.

===

Grace wandered the aisles at Walgreens, shopping for motion sickness pills for her upcoming vacation to the Bahamas. It was going to be a quick plane trip from Florida to the islands with her fiance, but no matter how short the trip was, she was sure she’d get motion sick before arriving at the islands. Her search for the pills ended when she spotted them on the top shelf.

Grace, standing at a mere 4’9", found the top shelf a nearly impossible task for herself to reach. Eager to snatch the Dramamine pills, she stretched her body and got onto her tippy toes, straining towards the elusive bottle perched high above. Despite her efforts, it remained frustratingly out of reach. She tried again, this time leaping with arms outstretched. But even jumping proved futile, as the yellow-labeled bottle was just beyond her grasp.

“Here, let me help you out,” a woman behind Grace said.

Still looking up at the bottle, she saw a woman’s arm extend overhead and pluck the bottle with ease. Grace could sense that this woman was taller than her, but that wasn’t saying much, given her exceptionally short stature. The stranger lowered the pills in front of her face, where Grace reached and gently clutched it.

“Oh, thank you! I don’t understand why they put these so hi—” As Grace turned to the stranger, she leaped backwards in fear, the back of her body colliding with the product shelf, knocking some flu medicines to the ground. It was Goddess Hailee—she was sure of it! Despite Hailee, wearing a face mask to cover herself, Grace recognized the goddess’s distinct, ethereal eyes.

Her hands went numb, dropping the bottle of motion sickness pills on the floor next to her feet. Without turning her head, Grace eyed around the busy store and saw everyone going about their business, unaware there was a goddess in their presence. Grace lowered herself, preparing to pray to Hailee, but felt the goddess stopped her, lifting her up from under her pits.

“No, please don’t do that, Grace.”

Grace’s lower lips trembled as she said, “I’m sorry, Goddess Hailee.”

“Shhh.” Hailee lifted a finger up to her masked lips. “I don’t want anyone to know it’s me.”

Hailee stood at 5’7” tall, her pre-ascension height—and it was temporary height, given the difficulty of cramming so much divinity into a small package. She transformed herself to this height and wore a mask so she could visit Grace in public without drawing attention.

Goddess Hailee was a mixture of half a dozen races, giving her a rich dark brown tone that showcased her African American, Filipino, and European descent. Hailee wore clothes that could mistake her for a fashion model, wearing the latest must-have streetwear. Her stylish clothes, from world-renowned designers, accented her form and sculpted ass. Her hair was a natural dark brown with highlights about mid-length. Currently, she had it styled in a ponytail.

“Goddess Hailee, is th-there anything I can do for you?” Grace asked, fighting the urge to drop and cry in the fetal position on the floor.

“Enough with the ‘goddess’ talk,” she said. Grace could see Hailee smiling under the mask. “I was just curious what you guys were up to. I see you’re alone. Where’s Jay at?”

“He-he’s back at the apartment cooking din-dinner.”

“He’s cooking dinner for his future wife? Well, isn’t that nice of him? Hey, what’s with the Dramamine? Going somewhere?”

“Oh yes, me and Ja—Jay are going to the Bahamas on a va-vacation. I need the pi-pi-pills for the plane.”

“The Bahamas? That’s so, so him—just a huge romantic, always planning stuff like that. Imagine that... My ex-boyfriend taking his fiancée on a romantic getaway,” Hailee said. The fluorescent lights in the store hummed like a diesel generator and the lights shined bright like the sun. Just before it seemed like they were going to pop, they dropped back to normal. The customers and employees stopped what they were doing during the anomaly and returned to their business once the lights stabilized. “I’m so happy for you two.”

“Y-you are?”

“Are you scared, Grace?” Hailee asked, as she gently placed her hands on Grace’s shoulders. The petite Asian woman let out a barely audible gasp. “Why are you scared?”

“Because I’m marrying Jay.”

“And?”

“I-I think you st-st-still have feelings for Jay. And you d-don’t want him to ma-marry me.”

Hailee giggled, causing her to readjust her facemask. “You know I’m the G-word, right? I got powers that can bend reality. I can make you disappear, like that.” Hailee snapped her finger. Grace felt a tremor deep in the earth at that exact moment. “And poof, you and your family will be my next meal, and your souls would become my possession for all of eternity.”

Grace could not control her shaking. A stream of urine trickled down her thigh and pooled on the ground. “I know,” Grace said under a soft sob.

“But honey,” Hailee said in a warm tone. “You’re still standing. Alive and healthy. I’ve done nothing to you, have I?”

“No.” Grace shook her head.

Hailee ran her fingers through Grace’s black hair and adjusted a few stray strands. “I hope we could have a positive relationship, babe. I don’t enjoy seeing you so scared of me—it kinda breaks my heart, to be honest.”

Grace listened to Hailee’s tone and speech and didn’t find it disingenuous or sarcastic. It felt like Hailee meant her words, but there was no telling with the gods. They could be more manipulative than the most cunning human.

“Hey, this might sound like a silly little question,” Hailee said, her voice sounding like someone about to gossip. “But have you chosen a deity yet?”

Grace nodded and said, “yes.”

“Who is it?” Hailee asked with a smile, obscured by her mask.

“You.”

“Aww, you’re not just saying that?”

“I mean it. It’s you Godd—, I mean, Hailee.”

“Get out of here! You’re not just saying that because you think I want to hear that?”

“No, no, no. You’re the best god of them all. I, I can’t believe how cool you are about me and Jay.”

“Aww. Don’t mention it.” Hailee’s smile vanished. “You know, as my worshipper, your soul will be mine when you die.” The surrounding product shelves rattled and the overhead lights began swinging as a tremor reverberated throughout the store.

“Yes.”

“And you’ll be mine for eternity.” Hailee took a step forward, causing Grace to back into the shelf with more force. Her back and head digging into the metal shelving. “Be sure you send me an invitation to the wedding.”

“O-okay.”

“Thank you. Now, I gotta get out of here soon. You won’t believe how hard it is to stay this small.” Hailee smiled again and waved her fingers at Grace as she walked out of the store with a skip in her step.

-

Jay and Grace found themselves on a bustling commercial plane bound for the Caribbean Islands. The plane’s cabin was configured with three seats on either side of the aisle. Jay sat in a window seat, since his fiancée had a fear of flying over water and didn’t want to see dizzying views. She sat in the middle seat next to Jay, while a stranger occupied the aisle seat.

“You okay, babe?” Jay asked Grace. “You still look spooked.”

It had been three days since Hailee visited Grace, and the short woman had been a nervous wreck ever since. She drank a jack and coke, hoping it would calm her nerves. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw a wrathful Hailee, with a rage that could split the earth, taking out her frustrations on her for marrying Jay.

It had been almost a year since the gods ascended, and it was hard to forget how deadly those first few days were for the world. There was so much chaos in that first week, as the once humans learned how to command their powers and mortals around them. No one, including the gods, knew how to handle a new reality. Death. There was so much of it. Mostly accidental. Then purposeful as mortals tried to fight back against the self-proclaimed gods. The world has stabilized since those days, but no one dared forget how powerful the gods were. They demanded respect and nothing short of complete, unwavering fealty.

“Babe?” Jay asked, breaking her trance and causing her to jump in her seat. “Babe, it’s okay. Seriously, you shouldn’t worry about Hailee. It’s not like she Goddess Alexandra—if that were the case, none of us would be here.” He drank a ginger ale.

“Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” Grace said to him, her voice quivering. “We should call it off.”

“What? The wedding?”

Grace nodded, her face contorting as if she were about to cry.

“Nonsense. Don’t you see what Hailee’s doing? She’s trying to scare you and make you break up with me. Don’t let her win, babe.”

“She’s. A. Goddess.” She took a long sip of her drink. “If she wants me to call off the wedding, I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever she says!”

“Stop worrying,” he said with a smile. “It’s Hailee. Remember that. She’s never harmed a fly and was the nicest person I knew in college.”

“Babe,” Grace said, in a loud hush. “She’s killed people!”

“Oh, come on, babe. You know it’s not fair to say that. If she knew what was going on—”

“How are you so cool with all this? We’re both worshippers of hers. She owns our souls, and she’s going to torture us forever and ever, because I married the love of her life; and because you dumped her when she became a goddess. We’re doomed. Doomed.”

“Deep breaths, honey,” he said as he embraced her. “Deep—breaths.” He lead by example and took slow breaths for Grace to follow. “As insane as it sounds, out of all the gods to worship, my ex-girlfriend is still the best choice.”

The plane shook as it hit a bit of turbulence. He kept looking into Grace, her breathing finally returning to normal and relative peace. He used a napkin to wipe the tears from her eyes and then kissed her lips after words. A loud commotion from the front of the plane caught their attention. They couldn’t tell if people were cheering, gasping fearfully, or if it was a mixture of the two. Several people started clapping, and one person shouted, “hallelujah!”

“Oh shit,” Jay said.

Goddess Hailee walked down the aisle of the plane, standing at her divine height of seven and half feet tall. She wore a shimmering silver dress that gracefully reached the midpoint of her thighs. Her feet were adorned in a pair of matching silver heels, their metallic gleam catching the light. Her toes, perfectly pedicured and painted black, peeked out from the strappy design of her heels. The faint scent of her perfume lingered in the air. Her skin was flawless and had a luminescence to it, as if she were under bright stage lights. Her looks were complete with her sleek hair let down, resembling a cover-model for a magazine.

The passengers on the plane reacted in mix ways. Some were awestruck, some bowed and prayed a generic prayer, others reached out their trembling hands, only for the goddess to reach out and touch them back. Her warmth and love transcending onto them like thick molasses. Some cried in joy. A few cried in fear.

“Goddess Hailee,” a woman in her late sixties, got up into the aisle, in the goddess's path. “I want you to have this.” She took off a wedding ring and handed to the goddess. “My late husband and I were married for forty years. He passed before you became god. I know, sincerely, he would’ve devoted his life to you—as I do today.”

Hailee accepted the ring, touched by the woman's words, and smiled wholeheartedly. As the ring laid in the middle of her palm, it glowed, before turning to a ball of light. The love and commitment for which it stood, Hailee absorbed. The Goddess let out a breath that caused the plane to vibrate as it went through another rough patch of turbulence. Some passengers screeched and held on tightly to their seats.

“Thank you,” the goddess said. “I know that sacrificing your ring meant a lot to you; and it’s a gesture I will not soon forget. It may bring you comfort to know that your husband is with me. And he says he loves you.”

The woman nodded and sniffed, holding back her tears. “Bless you, Goddess Hailee.”

“I’ve noticed your back pain,” Hailee said.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said, waving her hand. “I’ve had back issues for the last fifteen years.”

“So, it’s probably time it goes away?” Hailee asked as she placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder. In a matter of seconds, her chronic pain was completely gone.

The woman couldn’t believe. A flurry of praise came out of her mouth as she dropped to her knees and worshiped Hailee. The other passengers also joined in and sang their love and devotion to the goddess.

As Hailee closed her eyes, each word of worship, spoken with genuine awe and admiration, seemed to weave through the air, transforming the environment. Their worship of her was intoxicating and contagious. The passengers, previously gripped by fear, found themselves caught in an inexplicable euphoria.

Hailee came down from the high of the worship and released a drawn-out exhale. She opened her eyes slowly, as if waking from a deep slumber. Almost forgetting what she was doing there, she gazed over and saw Jay and Grace sitting near the back.

“Thank you everyone,” Hailee said, “but I must speak to my friends now. Please clear a path.”

As Hailee walked down the aisle, locking eyes with Jay and with a smirk, objects around her levitated an inch off their surface. Cups and tissues on tray tables, passenger’s ties, and magazine floated as she walked by, the power of her presence casting an electric aura around her.

She stopped at Jay and Grace’s row. She looked at the stranger seated in the aisle seat next to Grace and asked if she could borrow his seat. He unbuckled and jumped out of his seat in less than a second.

Hailee smiled at him and prepared to fit her statuesque height into the economy seat. Her legs pressed up against the seat in front of her, her knee ramming into it violently, punching the back of the passenger seated there—who took the hit without a trace of a complaint.

“Fuck,” she said. Her left leg, she extended and let stretched out into the aisle. She moved her right knee over so it spilled in front of Grace. She shoved her foot over and got it under the seat in front of her. It was like an adult man trying to fit in a kindergartener’s chair. “Son of a bitch.” The armrest dug into her hips, but Hailee grabbed the plastic piece and bent it outwards so she could fit comfortably. “There we go.” She looked over at Grace. The Asian woman’s face was frozen, her mouth wide open, looking as if she were catatonic.

Jay was shaking his head slowly and said, “what are you doing here Hailee?”

“What? I can’t stop by and see how my ex-boyfriend and fiancée are doing?”

“I’d say no. See, it feels borderline stalker-ish.”

“Come on, Jay.” She said, talking over Grace who hadn’t moved, her mouth still gaped open. “I’m god. It might seem like I’m stalking you, but I’m just checking on my subjects.”

“Does that explain your behavior towards Grace the other day?” he asked, point at his frozen fiancée. “You scared her half to death at the store. She wants to call off the wedding now, because of how scared she is.”

“Really?” Hailee asked, perking up, causing the sun outside to burn brighter. “So, it’s over?”

“No, Hailee.”

The sun returned to its normal brightness. “Oh.”

“We know what you’re doing, and we think that’s really mean of you. Scaring Grace with your powers is so messed up. I love Grace. Love her so much, I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I want to raise a family and grow old with her. You get me?”

Hailee looked despondent, like someone losing at Mario Kart when they were so close to winning, only to get hit by a red shell right before the finish line. “I didn’t ask for this, Jay.”

“I know.”

“If I could trade spots with Grace, I would. I want to be with you.”

Jay reached over and took Hailee’s massive hands into his, resting on Grace’s lap. “Grace and I are—we worship you. You have my soul, Hailee. In a weird way, we’ll still be together.”

“I don’t want you that way. I want a family and to get old with you, too.”

“It won’t happen. Remember, I’m in love with Grace now. Not with you.”

That felt like a punch to the gut for Hailee. Storm clouds formed outside the plane windows as Hailee sat back in her tiny seat. She looked forward and saw that nearly all the passengers were looking back at her. Hailee gazed down at Grace, whose fearful eyes remained glued to hers.

“Please stop looking at me like that,” Hailee said. “I already told you, I’m not gonna hurt you, okay?”

Grace finally blinked and broke her hypnotic stare off the brown-skinned goddess.

“Here, have this,” Hailee said as a red rose materialized in her hand. She gave it to Grace, who hesitated for a moment before plucking the rose. It was a perfect specimen, with rich color and elegant petals.

“Thank you,” Grace mumbled.

“Don’t mention—it.” Hailee leaned in and gave Grace an intense stare accompanied with a smirk, with only one corner of her lips raised.

Grace swallowed a lump as she looked into the goddess’s eyes. There was something there. She looked closer. It was if her eyes became a telephoto lens. She kept zooming into Hailee’s eyes. Details unseen before became clearer as the brown iris took up her entire vision. There was something there. Behind the black pupil. It was moving. What is that? Grace moved her head closer and saw what it was.

Her breathing became short and rapid. Her heart thumped irregularly, and the color from her skin drained. An overwhelming horror caused the hair on the back of her neck to rise and goosebumps to rivet across her skin. She screamed. Behind Hailee’s pupils were tiny people, pounding on her eyes as if they were trying to escape from behind a window. Souls… many of them, trapped inside Hailee, tormented and wailing for release.

“Grace, Grace, what’s wrong?” Jay asked. “Hailee, what did you do?”

“Oops, maybe she saw something she wasn’t supposed to?”

“What does that mean?” Jay asked, holding his hysterical fiancée who was trying to back away from Hailee, kicking back and clamoring up on top of her seat, screaming, and falling on Jay’s lap. “Hailee, tell me!”

Hailee rolled her eyes and said, “Grace, chill. That’s just what happens to bad people, okay? You’re safe with me.” She gave the frightened woman a wink.

“The fuck does that mean, Hailee?” Jay asked.

“Okay, you don’t have to curse at me,” Hailee said.

“Leave us the fuck alone, please. We don’t want you here.”

“Careful, Jay.” The clouds got darker outside and rain pelted the outside of the windows.

“No, you be careful!” He shouted. Grace was still shaking in his arms. “We’ll change who we worship. We’ll praise Goddess Melissa instead and give our souls to her! At least she doesn’t tease us and scare us to death with every visit.”

“Enough!”

“No, Hailee, it’s never enough for you. Get it through your goddess head. I’m not in love with you! I love Grace.”

“Stop—”

Hailee vanished. Jay looked around the cabin and saw no trace of her.

Then the plane shook uncontrollably as it encountered violent turbulence. The seatbelt sign came as it dinged three times. Passengers shrieked and renewed their prayers to Goddess Hailee while tightening their belts.

“Babe, you got to sit.” Jay helped Grace into her seat and buckled her in. The plane felt like it suddenly dropped four hundred feet. Everyone’s lunch went up their throats as they experienced waves of positive and negative G-forces.

“Take back what you said, Jay,” Hailee said. Her voice was everywhere and nowhere. Everyone on the plane heard it, but its flat volume gave the illusion that it was in their head. But it also sounded like she was next to them. It was bizarre but explainable coming from a goddess. “You will only worship me and your soul will be mine.”

A bolt of lightning struck the plane, causing the lights and electronics to power off-and-on in the cabin. The thick clouds outside swirled away to reveal Hailee’s form.

She was immense.

Which was an understatement.

Jay looked out and saw the visage of ex-girlfriend, taking up his entire field of view. The plane was about the size of Hailee’s fingernail. It flew slowly in front of her face, her eyes locking on the pill-sized craft with over a hundred and seventy souls on board.

“You have to earn my worship, Hailee.” Jay said. “Please stop tormenting Grace and me.”

“Insolent, mortal!” The plane’s nose dove, losing lift and altitude fast. It fell below Hailee’s nose, past her slender neck, and nearly collided with her breast. “How dare you think you’re able to set conditions? You will worship me. You will hand me your soul. And you will call off the wedding.”

“Do what she says!” Grace yelled. “This isn’t worth it!”

The passengers held on their armrests, and some even assumed the crash position. They tearfully said their goodbyes to one another and prayed Hailee would spare them. Bags from overhead bins fell out, cups went flying, and flight attendants not seated strapped collided against walls and others. Some helped them and attempted to hold on as they lost thousands of feet in elevation. They looked outside and could see they were nearing Hailee’s hips.

“No, Grace, I want to marry you.” Jay yelled.

“But why me?” she asked. “You can be with a goddess. Why are you giving that up to be with me?”

“Because I love you.”

The plane was traveling past Hailee’s thighs when she heard Jay profess his love to Grace. Hailee focussed on Jay’s words and a wave of remorse overcame her. “Fuck.” And there it was. Despite being a goddess, despite her powers, and despite the plane nosediving back to earth, Jay loved Grace and not Hailee. A part of Hailee wanted the plane to crash, but that was unlike who she was. She wouldn’t let Grace or Jay perish, and definitely wouldn’t crash a plane because of her tift with the couple.

As the aircraft approached her shins, she waved her hands and halted the plane’s descent. She then leveled it and gently returned it to the sky. The storm clouds faded away and as Jay loosened his hug on Grace to look out the window, he saw they were going past Hailee’s stomach, then breasts, and then finally up to her face. She looked like she was coming down on her anger, brows furrowed slightly, while chewing on her inner lip.

“Behind you,” Hailee said.

Jay turned his head and Hailee materialized back in the aisles, at her goddess height of seven and a half feet tall. Jay turned his head back outside, and Hailee’s colossal form was no longer there. The sun was back out, and the winds were calm. The commercial plane returned to its cruising altitude of 30,000 feet and its normal cruising speed.

Hailee turned and faced the disheveled passengers, who stared back at her with fear. The love in the air was gone. “Sorry,” she said, her words laced with guilt. “I sort of lost it there, huh? I still love you all and I hope I can win your love back.” Hailee sensed some worshippers returning, but it wasn’t like before. Too far. You went too far.

She then turned to Jay and Grace: he looking up angrily, and she traumatized.

“Hey,” Hailee said, “let me repay you guys for everything. I’ll plan the wedding for you. I’ll take care of everything. Venue, cost—”

“Please, leave us alone, Hailee.” Jay said. “You’re not invited to the wedding. How could you be, after everything you done to us?”

Hailee didn’t respond. After several moments, she nodded in agreement with Jay’s words.

She walked to the rear of the plane, feeling all the passenger’s eyes on her. When she reached the last row, she asked for the man’s seat. He didn’t resist or ask questions and fled from the seat. Hailee sat down next to a stranger, getting comfortable in the tiny seat quicker than before. As she sat there, she looked over the heads of dozens of passengers and stared at Jay, watching him console his future wife.

Hailee looked down at the woman seated next to her and waved her fingers. The woman was gone, replaced by a man wearing a tux.

This mysterious man appeared out of thin air like an apparition. He seemed dazed, but maintained his composure. He lifted his hands up to about shoulder height with his index fingers pointed up. His eyes darted left and right until he caught sight of Hailee, changing his mood instantly.

“Goddess Hailee,” he said with a lilt. His smile was radiant and was genuinely happy to see her. “To what I owe this pleasure?”

“Professor, don’t call me ‘goddess,’ it sounds so weird when you say it.” She frowned mockingly.

“And don’t call me ‘professor.’ Makes me feel old. I’m only in my thirties.”

“Fine. Stanley. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” she asked, looking up and down at his outfit.

“Not really. I can always watch the Rolling Stones live at the Met, anytime.” He said, adjusting his cuff links.

“A tux to a rock concert?”

“It’s a long story, really. See, I got into this argument with my sister, where she accused me of dressing like a hobo. So, I’d thought I’d embarrass her by wearing this to the concert when we met up.”

“That wasn’t a long story.”

“Oh, shoot, you’re right.”

“Did it work? Was she uncomfortable being with you?” Hailee asked, her body melting into the seat as her friend took her mind off things.

“Not at all.” He slunk back into his seat. “This is going to sound weird. But I think I was the one embarrassed.” He shook his head and said, “oh, my sister is really crafty.”

Hailee smiled and brought her attention forward. She casually looked at the back of Jay’s head, as he was still helping his fiancée relax.

“What’s up, Hail? I’m sure you didn’t bring me on this…” he said, looking at his new setting. “Plane? …to talk about me. Where are we headin’?”

“I screwed up, Stanley. Like, royally fucked things up.” Hailee explained the events preceding his appearance.

Stan took a deep breath as he processed what she said. “So… you were… how big?”

“That doesn’t matter. I just—I don’t know, I got big to show off my powers. It backfired hard.”

“B-but, how big?”

“Huge.”

“And I missed it? Do it again, show me.”

Hailee smirked and let out a puff of air. “No, I won’t do it again.”

“Hail, you gotta understand. When you want to get big like that, you teleport me before, not after.”

Hailee tweaked his nose playfully. “Focus, Stanley. What can I do to fix this? Can’t I just make him stop loving Grace? Or, or, just shoot a cupid’s arrow in his butt and make him love me again?”

“We went over this, Hail. If you do any of that, you’ll be ending freewill. And no one wants that, including you, even if it means Jay comes crawling back to you.”

“I’m not talking about everyone’s freewill. Just his.”

“Let’s suppose that’s true—it’s not, by the way—but let’s say you remove only Jay’s freewill. You make him un-love Grace. You make him love you. Now, what do you got?”

“I have Jay back.” She said, placing her hand under her chin. Her attention was solely on Stan.

Stan smiled back at the goddess. It was like looking at a Photoshopped image: flawless skin, perfect hair, and captivating good looks. Even before her ascension, Hailee was an attractive woman with a promising future, and a heart of gold.

“Would you have Jay back? His actions and thoughts—would be completely controlled by you. Would he love you? You can make him love you. But do you think that’s really coming from him?” he asked and paused, allowing Hailee to digest his words. “Hail, it would be the equivalent of looking at the mirror and telling yourself how much you love yourself. It wouldn’t be Jay. It would be a robot repeating your commands.”

“I see,” she said, unwilling to accept reality. “So, I should just give up? Because he’ll never be with me again?”

“I don’t know. But I know the more you press him, the more he’s gonna resist you.”

“Why did you say, if I affect his freewill, it will affect everyone’s?”

“That’s the game. It’s why all gods before you, to include the original, never took away our freewill. We would no longer be autonomous creatures, carrying about life without someone else’s control. We’d be lifeless puppets, that the puppet master would have to control—and I mean all the puppets that ever existed. The trillions of life out there in the universe, every day, every second. A lot easier, and practical, if everyone had their own freewill, that allowed them to live their own unique lives and control their own destiny.”

“Jay doesn’t want me to be at the wedding,” she said in a whisper. “And he said he was going to stop worshipping me. He said he’s switching to team Melissa.”

“That, I cannot understand. Hey, did you sense me worshipping you this morning? I went extra hard.”

Hailee giggled. “You are up there.”

“Wait, I’m not your top worshipper? How?”

“There are some people that are—really dedicated, y’know?”

“I guess I didn’t know that.” He wiggled in his seat, feeling discomfort by her words. “I guess I have to up my game. I’ll be your top worshiper, Hails. You’ll see. Have you got a personal prayer yet?”

Hailee rolled her eyes. “No. Those things are so dumb. Besides, I still don’t know what kind of god I am.”

“You’re the best! Maybe that should be your prayer. ‘Hail, Hail, she’s the best; she’s godlier than the rest.’”

“Shut up,” Hailee said with a laugh, loud enough to make people turn their heads. There was a sense of relief washing through the cabin. The goddess was no longer in a sour mood and it probably meant no more near-death experiences. The plane was flying level and without issue. Outside, the weather was perfect, with a calm Atlantic ocean shimmering under the sun. “So, what should I do about Jay?”

“Give him space Hail. Let him know you're available to him when he’s ready to talk. But no more psycho ex-girlfriend antics, ‘kay? It’s really rough for men to deal with crazy ex’s—and I can’t imagine what it’s like for Jay, because his crazy ex is an all-powerful god.”

“Okay, new rule, don’t call me a ‘crazy ex’ anymore.”

Stan snapped his fingers. “That should be in the second part of your prayer.”

Hailee giggled. Her smile was contagious, and those who witnessed smiled back at the goddess.

“Thanks for the talk, Stanley. I really needed it.”

A gust of wind struck him as the goddess disappeared. Passengers glanced around to find that the towering goddess had vanished. A wave of sadness washed over them, as her absence meant they were no longer graced by her presence. Though she had her hangups, though she was terrifying when she lost her temper, when Hailee was in a good mood, then everyone was in an exceptional mood.

“Hail?” Stan asked, rising from his seat. “Hail, you forgot to send me back to the Met.” He sat back down with a sigh. “Well, shit.” He turned to the passenger next to him and asked, “where are we going?”

“Emma, I need you to run this down.” A manilla folder with a stack of 50 pages fell on top of Emma’s desk as she was typing on her computer. Her supervisor, interrupting her focus, said, “Alexandra hit Malibu pretty hard last night.”

Emma frowned as she took the folder off her keyboard and looked up at her boss with disdain. The folder had messed up her typing and added a jumble of characters to the article she was writing. She looked down at her lap and thumbed through the files. The documents were a mixture of 8x10 photos, witness testimonials, and cost estimates for the destruction. The photos were… graphic. In disgust, Emma closed the folder and tried shaking the images from her mind.

Goddess Alexandra could be described in two ways. Those who worshipped her would say she’s captivatingly beautiful with striking sea-blue eyes that could pierce through a soul. Her well-endowed natural breasts and slim waist were like a work of masterful art, containing more gracious curves than the track at Nürburgring. The contrast between her jet black hair and pale white skin made her seem like a heroine from a fairytale. Her worshipers devoted themselves, not only out of fear, but because she was the quintessential image of a goddess. Her confidence and the way she commanded her power were inspiring to those who lamented their confidence, and to those who just wanted to see a powerful woman kick ass.

Those who feared Alexandra, and this was most of the population, would simply say she was a bitch. Her stare alone could bring nations to their knees. Her aura and smugness made her unrelatable and unpopular. She was like that politician, or monarchy, that sat high on their throne-disconnected from the plight of the common man. She took what she wanted for self-indulgence without care of the lives around her. It didn’t matter who she destroyed or who suffered from her actions. Alexandra sought pleasure, often sexual, and if this meant people got hurt, so be it.

Alexandra rampaged through Malibu the previous night, at approximately 400 feet tall. Captured in the photos in the dossier were the aftermath of her foot stomps through homes that were nestled on the coast. Homes in the millions of dollars that overlooked the Pacific ocean now looked like a tornado and a boulder came rolling through at the same time. She crushed homes, vehicles… and people. Emergency personnel were still working on accounting for anyone in her path of destruction, but many victims had unknown statuses. City officials knew about Alexandra’s proclivities to eat people alive, and sadly, this would mean they wouldn’t be recovering all the victims’ remains.

“Don’t you have the entire news station working on this? What do you need me for?”

“Hey, what’s with the attitude?”

“It’s just—it’s Alexandra…” Emma tossed the hefty folder on her cluttered desk. “I’d rather work on anything that doesn’t involve gods. I especially want nothing to do with the worst god of the bunch.”

“Too bad. This is your job and current priority assignment. Take your butt over to Malibu and start covering all the post-attack recovery efforts. And you’ll have to do your own video recording. We tasked all the other cameramen, and one won’t be available to you.”

“But I’m currently working on my other story. The Silent Samaritan. I’m really close to tracking the—”

“Emma, Emma, no one gives a shit about the homeless,” he said, waving his hands in front of him. “A literal god just leveled Malibu. That’s your job right now. Not a story about someone handing out food to the homeless. Roger?”

Emma didn’t hide her sigh or her disheartened emotions with her supervisor. With a saddened strain in her voice, she said, “roger.”

-

Emma went straight to a freeway underpass in the heart of LA, ignoring her supervisor’s orders. There was a mysterious good samaritan providing food to the homeless in the area. Although this didn’t seem newsworthy, there was something off about this enigmatic individual that Emma wanted to uncover. But it would require finally catching up with this mystery person and having an interview. Emma sensed a tantalizing story somewhere there in her gut.

Emma stood by in her car until she spotted this mystery woman that she dubbed the Silent Samaritan for her upcoming news piece.

A blue boxcar drove past Emma and pulled into the homeless camp ahead. Emma saw the camp awaken with activity as a flurry of destitute people got out of their tents to greet the person driving the blue boxcar. A blonde woman wearing jean overalls came out and opened the back of the vehicle and revealed a full compartment of what looked like shoe boxes. The boxes contained food, water, toiletries, and other knick-knacks for the homeless.

Emma got out of her car, ready to meet this woman, who, at a glance, didn’t seem to be affiliated with any organizations.

“Excuse me, miss?” Emma asked as she jogged up to the woman, who was busy handing out boxes of food. “I’m Emma Green and I’m from—”

“Here, take these and hand them out,” the mystery woman said, handing Emma five boxes at once. The mystery woman looked frumpy, with large black-rimmed glasses and greasy blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was average looking and averaged height.

“Oh, I’m not here to hand out these. I’m here to ask you some questions.” Emma said.

“What? You don’t want to help the less fortunate?”

“Well… sure. I can help, I guess?”

“It’s not that much work. Grab these care packages and hand them out. It’ll only take a little bit of your time and effort to help these people who are forgotten by society. Or is that too much to ask from you?”

“No. I suppose not.” This woman’s gruffness took Emma aback.

They handed several dozen boxes out to the homeless, who lined up neatly into two queues. Upon seeing each person’s gratitude, after she handed them a box full of food and amenities, Emma couldn’t help but share in their heightened spirits.

Emma walked into the back of the vehicle, grabbed as many boxes as her arm could carry, and then handed out the stack. “So, could you tell me your name?” Emma asked.

“Molly.”

“Who do you work for, Molly?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, where does all this food come from?” Emma asked.

“Some rich dude. I know little about him. All I know is that I’m supposed to pick up this truck from a warehouse and hand it out to anyone in need.”

“So, this is your job?”

“Yup. Pretty easy, if you ask me. I’m glad I answered that ad.”

The crowd was thinning, but there were still plenty of boxes in the truck to hand out. Emma was sweating under the California sun, and could feel her pits staining her shirt. She rubbed her forehead with her forearm and continued handing out food.

“This is your entire job? Do you work anywhere else?”

“What the hell is this? Are you interviewing me?” Molly asked.

“Oh, sorry, I work for a local news station. I’m doing a story about… your organization? Or whoever it is, kind enough to donate all this to the people of LA.”

“Why?”

“It’s a good news story.” Emma said with a chirp. “It was my idea to focus on the good that’s happening around her. Instead of… you know…”

“The gods?”

“Right.”

“Well, let me save you time. The rich bastard I work for wants to remain anonymous, and I don’t think he’d appreciate me talking to the media.”

“Are you sure you don’t work anywhere else?” Emma pressed.

“No. We’re done here, by the way.”

“Wait, can I show you a picture on my phone?” Emma asked, and without waiting for a response, she pulled up her smartphone and loaded her gallery. A few swipes later, she pulled up a security camera screenshot and showed Molly. “Is this you?”

Molly looked closely and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“This was taken at the hospital a few miles from here. This is you, right?”

Molly shrugged.

Emma continued, “you entered this patient’s room. And when you left…”

“What?”

“I don’t know what happened exactly. But the patient there was no longer dying from their disease. They made a full recovery, in fact,” Emma said. “Actually, all the patients in this ward are now cured of their alignments. Doctors, nurses—scientists. No one can explain it.”

“Why are you telling me this? And why do you have my picture on your phone?”

Emma ignored her and went through her phone again. She brought the phone back to Molly and swiped through several images for Molly to see. In it, Molly saw screenshots of herself giving a red stack of envelopes to a school’s administration staff.

Molly shook her head. “What am I looking at now?” she asked.

“Those envelopes that you delivered contained scholarships. Complete tuition money to a four-year university. But they were only given to select students. I did some research, and the people who received this really generous gift were poor or struggling financially.”

Molly crossed her arms and looked at Emma with a tired expression. “And? I feel like I’m being accused of a crime here, when nothing criminal has happened.”

“I’m not making any accusations. But you seem to be involved in a lot of good deeds. I want to recognize you! Can I have your permission to do a story on you?”

“It’s not me, okay?” Molly asked, pointing at herself. Her mood turned sour as her voice was elevated. “It’s my boss, who I’ve never seen, that made all this happen. He told me to go here, do that, take this, deliver that. Okay? And he wants to remain anonymous. Not everyone needs a fucking pat on their back or their cock stroked for doing something humanly decent. He’s not Mr. Beast. Everyone has a responsibility to make the world better, without thinking they fucking deserve something in return.” Molly slammed shut the back of the boxcar with her last word.

“Oh.” Emma said, stepping back as Molly went off on her diatribe. “I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

“Promise me you’ll delete those pictures. That’s a huge invasion of privacy.”

“I will. And you’re right.” Emma said, dejected. She scrolled through her phone and deleted the images. “It’s his right to stay anonymous. But if you see him, can you tell him ‘thank you’? He may want to remain anonymous and his acts unseen. But I’ve seen them, and I think they’re wonderful. He’s making the world a brighter place, despite all the darkness in it.” Emma gave Molly an embarrassed smile, took a step back, and then turned to leave.

“Christ,” Molly said under her breath. She looked away, thought for a moment, and then looked back at Emma. “Wait, do you have a card?”

“Yes.” Emma nervously handed her personal business card to Molly. There was a slither of hope she may learn more about this mysterious benefactor.

“I’ll tell my boss about you. And what you’re doing. He may call you, but no promises, okay?”

-

A few days passed and Emma was still on the Malibu story, covering the aftermath of Goddess Alexandra’s rampage. City construction crews worked around the clock to repair the infrastructure damage around the community. Alexandra left craterous holes in the city streets with her footsteps, which forced the crews to fill them with dirt and rock and whatever available material to get the roads reopened.

Alexandra had also walked through the beach, leaving her massive footprints in the sand. Her footprints were as long as a semi-truck and trailer and had to be tilled and bulldozed to even out. There were enormous crowds of people on the beach watching the cleanup effort. Alexandra’s perfectly imprinted footprints became something of a fun sandbox for some people to play on.

Crews demolished the still-standing, but damaged homes and hauled away the debris. There were many victims recovered. The city morgue had the gruesome task of scraping off crushed bodies, pancaked within their homes, when Alexandra stepped on them.

Emma was in the middle of it all, recording what she saw on the news station’s camera. She felt nauseated throughout the ordeal, having to excuse herself to vomit several times. It was hard to comprehend the actions of the gods—but especially Alexandra. She was by far the most sadistic and sociopathic of the gods. That’s why Emma worshiped Goddess Hailee and devoted herself to the young and fun goddess. No way did she want to experience what the hell of an afterlife Alexandra created.

Her phone rang. Emma paused the recording on the camera, and said, “hi, this is Emma.”

“Still want to see my boss?” Molly asked on the other end of the line.

“Molly?”

“Well?”

“Yes, I would like to meet him,” Emma said.

“Downtown. I’ll text you the address. Get here as fast as you can, and he’ll tell you everything. But the offer won’t last.”

“Wait, downtown? Right now?”

“Yeah. Is that a problem?”

“I’m in Malibu, working on a story.”

“You have one hour.”

“But Molly, with traffic, I’ll barely have enough time to—”

“So, you better start driving now. Trust me, Em, you won’t want to pass this opportunity up. This will be the biggest story in your life. Call me when you get there.”

The phone call ended right after that.

-

Emma hit the road without regarding the consequences of abandoning her assignment. She encountered the typical LA traffic, but made decent time, and parked at the iconic Wealth Solutions Inc. (WSI) Tower that defined the city’s skyline.

Emma didn’t pay the meter or bother checking the parking regulations. She pulled out her phone with only a minute to spare and called Molly back.

“I’m here,” Emma said, almost shouting into the receiver.

“Good. Don’t hang up. Listen and do exactly as I say.” Molly said.

“Okay, umm, do I have time to pay for my parking?”

“No, I’ll take care of it later. Enter the lobby and tell me when you’re there.”

Emma locked her car, which was illegally parked, and jogged past the busy LA sidewalk to enter the towering skyscraper. “I’m inside,” she said. The lobby contained security similar to that of an airport.

“Walk through any of the turnstiles. They’ll open automatically for you.”

Emma did as she was told, and when she approached the waist-high gate, the little doors opened for her. One of the security guards looked at her suspiciously, causing Emma to look away with a snap.

“I’m not trespassing, am I?” Emma asked. “Like, I’m allowed in here.”

“Take the elevator to the 70th floor.”

Emma kept her phone glued to her ears as she rode the elevator. “Your boss must have a high status to work the top floor in a building like this.”

“My boss isn’t here.”

“What?” Emma asked. “Then what am I doing here?”

“He requires a favor from you. Obey his instructions, and you’ll be able to meet him face-to-face.”

“Is this a test?” Emma asked, passing the 50th floor.

“You can say that. A test to see if you’re worthy or not.”

“Hang on, he won’t make me do anything illegal, will he?”

“You’ll be setting things right.”

Emma stepped out onto the 70th floor. The ritzy floor was decorated with impeccably polished marble floors and rich oak panels against the walls. Expensive lamp fixtures cast a warm, luxurious glow, illuminating the lavish surroundings. A reception desk was in front of the elevators, but seemed unoccupied at the moment. Emma saw employees walking around in suits and business outfits. She felt incredibly underdressed with her jeans and shirt.

“The receptionist will be back in forty seconds,” Molly said over the phone, “so move fast. Go down the hallway on the left and keep walking.”

Emma felt anxiety as she walked the expensive hallway she had no business being in. Her heart was distressed and her blood pressure elevated.

“Stop. Enter the door on the left. I’ll open it.”

The security lock buzzed, and Emma entered the room. It was an empty office with the light shut off.

Molly said, “some workers just entered the hallway. You’ll have to wait for them to pass.”

“How do you know all this?” Emma asked.

“They’re gone. Get back in the hallway and keep going to the end. Enter the door on the right.”

Emma sighed, noticing the first time her irregular breaths. She found the door at the end and entered, shutting the door behind. When she turned, an old white man with glasses stood up from behind his desk and asked, “what is this? Who are you?”

“Listen to me,” Molly said through the phone. “Tell him exactly this—”

Emma repeated what Molly said. “It’s your wife, Mr. Roper. There’s been an accident, and she’s in the hospital. We’ve been trying to call you, but you weren’t answering.”

“What in the hell?” Mr. Roper asked as he checked his desk phone. It was offline. “Who are you? Which hospital?”

“She’s at St. Bartholomew. You have to hurry.”

The businessman grabbed his car key, told Emma to lock up his office, and scrambled out. It startled Emma how easy it was to trick him. She told Molly the man vacated the office.

“Good,” Molly said. “Open the top left drawer and you’ll find a stack of papers. Read them and tell me what they are.”

Emma grabbed the stack of papers and set them on the executive desk. “What is this?” Emma asked as her eyes scanned each piece of paper. “This looks like an agreement between the mayor and WSI. Is this some kind of conspiracy? I see environmental reports about polluted lands around Southern California. But wait, there’s this list of people killed by Goddess Alexandra. But these toxicology reports have the same names, but they died from illegally disposed chemicals. I don’t understand any of this.”

“Ah, the classic ‘let’s dump our chemicals here and if anyone dies from it, blame the god’ ploy. I don’t think Alexandra cares if she’s being blamed for all these people’s deaths… but this corp killing thousands from their illegal dumping and wiping their hands clean of any involvement. Then they give all these politicians kickbacks to look the other way. WSI and the government are in cahoots at the expense of innocent lives—that will not stand. Why don’t you take some pictures of these documents and email them to your work?”

“That’s a good idea.” Emma snapped a few dozen pictures on her phone and sent them to her journalist co-workers back at the station. “Done.”

“Good. Now, follow my directions to get out of here.”

Emma walked into the labyrinth halls and asked why Molly was taking her on a different route. Molly assured it was to stay out of sight of other employees and security, so she complied. Molly guided her down an extra ornate hall that led to two heavy oak doors.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Quick, get in before you get caught.”

Emma twisted the doorknob and leapt in as she heard someone walking behind. She shut the doors, then turned and felt her heart sink. She just walked into a board meeting of some sort. The room was expansive, with a windowed wall that stretched out like a panoramic screen. The view of Los Angeles from the 70th floor was breathtaking, and Emma could see out for miles.

In the center of the room was a round mahogany table where twenty executives sat. They all wore costly suits and stopped their meeting to look up at Emma. On the polished surface of the table were documents and clean glasses of water in front of each executive.

“Can we help you?”

“Tell them you caught them red-handed.” Molly said on the phone.

“I…” Emma said, but was at a loss for words. She hung up her phone and lifted her hands in front of her. “I got turned around. My mistake.”

She turned to open the door, but the doorknobs refused to rotate. There was a tremor that Emma thought she felt, but dismissed it as she heard an executive rise to his feet. He was calling security on a desk phone.

“You can’t have phones here. This is a secured room. Hand it over.”

There it was again. It was a distinct thud, like a motorcycle trying to turn over.

“I just got mixed up where I was,” Emma said, backing into the door.

The executive walked up to Emma with his hand reaching out towards her. “Phone. Now!”

The rhythmic thudding was more pronounced this time, each pulse sending a shiver down Emma’s spine. Her mind raced, at first thinking it was an earthquake, but something about its cadence felt deliberate. “Do you all feel that?” Emma asked, her voice quivering as she spoke, her senses attuned to the deep, resonating booms that made the entire room sway.

A sudden hush fell over the boardroom as the executives turned their faces with a mixture of confusion and panic. But Emma’s attention was fixed beyond them, drawn to the expansive window that lined the room. Her heart hammered in her chest as her gaze locked onto the scene outside.

The sight that greeted her eyes was one of sheer, overwhelming magnitude. There, amidst the skyscrapers of the city, stood Goddess Alexandra, her colossal form casting a shadow over the streets below. Emma’s breath wheezed, her eyes widening, first in awe and later in terror. The goddess’s immense figure was a display of divine power, each thunderous step she took resonating through the very foundations of the building they were in.

“It’s Goddess Alexandra,” Emma whispered, her voice barely audible over the pounding of her heart. The words felt surreal on her tongue, a reminder that not only were deities real, but the cruelest god now dominated the LA skyline. In that moment, Emma felt an acute sense of her own mortality, dwarfed by the goddess’s presence, her mind wondering the fate of her soul.

-

The Goddess of Fear stood at a staggering height of a thousand feet and was walking amid downtown Los Angeles, her presence radiating outwards with each booming step. She wore a toga like what the ancient Greek Gods wore, but her version was black and tailored to end at her upper-thigh and hug her body in a slutty style. She wore strappy sandals like the ancient gods, with one little modification—hers had heels and the straps and heels were embellished with fine gold. Her black hair flowed behind her while a slender, golden tiara crowned her head. There was a mischievous glint in her eyes as she headed towards the WSI tower where Emma stood.

A wave of pandemonium swept through the streets. Her colossal footsteps sent quakes rippling across the city, each one echoing like thunder. Cars screeched to a halt, their drivers abandoning them as they desperately fled from the advancing goddess’s feet. Alexandra walked the streets like a runway model, placing one step in front of the other, as if walking a tightrope, because of how comparatively narrow the boulevards were.

The city’s typical vibrant background noise transformed into a cacophony of chaos: alarms blared, glass windows in shops rattled, and the relentless outcry of panicked voices filled the air. People poured out of office buildings and stores, streaming out like ants from a disturbed nest, and scattered every which way. Some stood frozen, mesmerized by the sight of a real-life, thousand-foot-tall goddess, while others retreated, seeking refuge wherever they could find it.

The once orderly cityscape, with organized traffic, was now in disarray. Street vendors abandoned their carts, spilling their wares onto the sidewalks. Cafe patrons left their meals untouched, chairs toppled in their haste. Tourists and locals alike pulled out their phones and recorded the spectacle, uploading shocking videos to TikTok and Instagram. Distracted people, too busy fiddling with their phones, never saw Alexandra’s soles coming down upon them, reducing them into mere atoms under her tremendous weight. 

Under the soles of the goddess’s sandals, abandoned vehicles compressed like cheap tin. Glass and tiny bits of metal shout out under her feet and pelted those nearby. The roads caved to her immense weight, as if she were walking on wet cement. Parts of the road around her feet jutted outwards as displaced mass came out of the earth like an emergent volcano. Traffic lights continued signaling, unaware their commands were being ignored, before Alexandra’s violent step knocked them over. Those whom Alexandra unknowingly spared crushing under her feet, but stood nearby, saw the details of her colossal toes and how her foot made subtle muscular corrections as she stepped and walked.

Goddess Alexandra fixed her eyes on the skyscraper ahead. Her approach was steady and deliberate, each step a measured assertion of her power. And those steps weren’t without consequence. Hapless citizens who couldn’t escape her Olympic swimming pool-sized feet found their demise under the weight of a god. Their souls instantly claimed by Alexandra as she crushed dozens with every footfall.

But it wasn’t all tragedy. A bus full of tourists came upon an intersection just as the goddess walked there. The driver knew Alexandra was in the city, but it was impossible to guess her trajectory and speed, and ended up coinciding with her feet while attempting to flee the city. The bus drove under her heel, narrowly missing the ball of her feet and the spikey heel. Passengers glued their faces to the window and looked out and saw the bottom of her heels, with the sides of her feet spilling out on either side of the sandal. Those were the moments that drove home that they were mere insects and Alexandra was god.

-

The executives in the boardroom stood at the window and looked out in silent horror. They couldn’t hear the cacophony of cries and screams happening on ground level, but they could hear her steps. Like witnessing lightning in a storm and then hearing the thunder seconds later; they would see her take a step and then, moments later, they would feel the shockwave rattle in the building. Her gigantic form was unrelatable to any human experience. She was taller than the WSI skyscraper, and she absolutely dwarfed every other building surrounding her legs.

“Is she looking right at us?” an executive asked, his voice dripping with unease.

Emma’s fingers feverishly dialed Molly back. Something in her guts told her she wouldn’t answer. The phone dialed out, but there was an instant operator message stating the number had been disconnected. Emma cried as she tried calling her sister on her phone, thinking it was going to be her last chance to speak to her. When Alexandra got that big–chances of survival was low.

“She’s looking at us, and walking right towards us!”

Emma was backed up to the door and fiddling with the knobs again. It was as if they were soldered shut. Some of the executive men retreated from the windows and attempted to exit past Emma, but they didn’t have luck either with the door. Now there were four men shoving into each other, trying to open the door, while they shoved Emma further away.

Emma looked out, and Alexandra was no longer walking towards them. She just stood there with her hands on her hips, giving them a devilish look, like she knew some juicy gossip she was dying to share. It was Emma’s first time seeing a celestial in the flesh. She never thought her first encounter would be with Alexandra! Give her that hot MILF, Melissa. That fun-loving, romantic that is Hailee. She’d even take that hedonistic God, Brad, for crying out loud. But not Alexandra—anyone but her. 

“Why won’t the door open?” a frustrated executive asked. Panic overcame them as they felt Alexandra’s piercing stare upon them.

Alexandra cleared her throat, emitting a powerful, thunderous roar that rattled everyone in the boardroom, causing them to turn and face her. This time, there was no doubt she was staring right back at them. The goddess then flexed her back in a quick gesture like she had an itch, but as she did so, two black wings like that of a raven and as regal as a bald eagle, flared out from behind her. Everyone in LA and those watching the live coverage fell back in shock. Alexandra’s wings spanned her body length and a half. An even grander shadow fell on the city of angels as Alexandra, with her shimmering black wings and feathers as long as buildings, blocked out the sun and shaded dozens of city blocks like a sudden solar eclipse.

Emma fell to her knees as she felt her heart play a frantic melody in her chest. She needed to pray, pray to either Melissa or Hailee to save her and stop Alexandra before she leveled LA. The building shook with greater force again, enough to threaten the structural integrity of the skyscraper, as the goddess took another step towards the WSI tower. Emma saw the details in Alexandra’s wings in greater detail; each intricate feather, how they flowed individually and how the wings were alive and moving and not some static feature on the goddess. The aliveness in the wings convinced Emma that Alexandra could fly and take off with her great wings if she wanted to.

-

Down at the streets, people made progress evacuating the roads, by running either opposite the direction of the goddess or jumping inside buildings. The evacuees gazed from storefronts as the Alexandra’s long foot stomped in front of them. Every one of her steps accompanied by dust and debris being blown out and bombarding the surrounding area.

It was one thing gazing at a goddess with mortal eyes, but to gaze at a thousand foot tall deity with wings crushing a city underfoot made the citizens believe they were witnessing the apocalypse. Alexandra was the literal angel of death. Her stroll through the city with grandiose wings impacted the immediate weather–shifting the Pacific winds and altering the temperatures throughout the downtown area. She fluttered her wings, causing new air currents to form. These currents would trigger the butterfly effect, leading to unforeseen weather changes in Nevada and Arizona days later.

Five vehicles, partially abandoned, vanished under her sandaled feet, their metal and structure not even attempting to resist the goddess’s pressure. The booms and shockwaves of her steps caused everyone in the city to bounce upwards and lose their footing. It was during those moments, some found it appropriate to worship Goddess Alexandra. Most would agree the worship was out of fear and awe of Alexandra’s presence and nothing more. It wasn’t out of respect and love—and Alexandra knew this.

Alexandra paused and took a breath, absorbing their fears. The worship of the people at her toes got her high, as with the other gods, elevating her mind and consciousness into an intangible plane that was beyond her godhood. 

“More,” she said in a hoarse, lust-filled voice. 

She took another step towards the tower, but this time stomped forcefully and with a deafening boom. It made every structure within miles sway and tremble, and caused weaker buildings to collapse under her show of force. People cried out in fear, thinking the goddess was ending the world, starting with LA. The fresh bout of fear rising from everyone was like a sweet drug to Alexandra. She inhaled once again and felt the euphoria hit the center of her mind; it was unlike any experience to date, eliciting a pleasurable moan that escaped her lips, threatening to crumble her regal appearance. She exhaled, her eyelids heavy, as if she was coming down from a climax. Her feathers ruffled as she relaxed.

-

The goddess was finally upon the WSI tower. As Emma looked up from the floor, having prayed to Hailee a dozen times, she saw Alexandra’s stark blue eyes and the bridge of her nose spanning the entire length of the panoramic window. Her irises alone were as large as a human. Her pupils narrowed as she focussed on the cowering executives and Emma, who were off to the side of the door. As Alexandra breathed out, her moist breath fogged the panoramic windows of the boardroom, partially obscuring her view of the terrified executives.

Alexandra pulled her face back from the windows, allowing her index finger to come into view. In one sweep, as if she were swiping on a tablet, her index finger dug a scar into three stories of the WSI tower, leaving a rectangular hole with the executive boardroom in the center of it all. She let out a puff of air, as the frailty of the building against the digit of her finger made her think of how mortals constructed the weakest structures that couldn’t even withstand her innocent swipe.

Emma felt the air pressure in the room change instantly, as the wind howled inside and blew papers and documents everywhere. The executives and Emma backed away from the destroyed wall as they felt hurricane-force winds zip around them. Emma positioned herself in the corner of the large boardroom near the executive bar. Bolted to the floor, the cabinets filled with whiskey and vodka provided Emma with a secure sanctuary amidst the chaos Alexandra created. Emma tucked herself so she was between the wall and the cabinets, a small area about 3 feet across. 

“Why so scared?” Alexandra boomed. “Afraid if I destroy your building, the shareholders might lose money?” As she smiled, her enormous set of pearly white teeth came into view, each tooth longer than they were tall.

Alexandra leaned in, so that her plump red lips were in front of the gaping hole she created. Now all 30 execs crowded against the exit doors. They shouted and cursed at one another, the door knobs refusing to budge. Alexandra’s lips pursed against the opening of the hole so that her slimy red tongue and dark mouth now replaced the view of the LA skyline. A low-frequency moan vibrated the room as Alexandra’s tongue thrusted into the building, slamming against the floor and walls as if she were giving the boardroom cunnilingus. 

Emma and the executives recoiled in fear from the sight of the wet, pink monster as it probed the room. They backed into the walls, trying desperately to avoid the drooling appendage that was attempting to snatch them. The goddess eventually pulled out and her face was visible once again. 

“You guys are no fun; gotta do this the hard way, I guess,” she said with a pout, like a spoiled child denied ice cream for breakfast. 

Emma wondered what Alexandra meant by her statement right before the goddess opened her mouth and planted her lips around the gaping hole of the boardroom. Alexandra inhaled, creating a vacuuming effect in the boardroom, sucking everything into her waiting mouth; loose items like the documents, pens, and glasses on the table were the first to go.

Alexandra paused her inhale to form a tighter seal on the building with her lips. Her nose smashed into the upper levels of the skyscraper as if she were making out with the building. She blew the air out of her nose, emptying her lungs, and then inhaled again with greater force. The terror in the room shot up exponentially as Alexandra inhaled her first executive. His scream hardly overcame the violent, tornado-like sounds.

Emma thought back to disaster movies taking place in space, where a crew of astronauts aboard a spaceship would have a door burst open. The violent decompression that ensued would cause loose objects and people to be blown out into the void of space. The effect Alexandra had on the boardroom was exactly like those scenes. Except for a broken hatch on a spaceship, it was a gashing hole that Alexandra ripped open with a swipe of her finger. The void of space was instead Alexandra’s pitch-black, cavernous mouth.

As the goddess inhaled the contents of the room, Emma’s arms strained to hold on to the cabinet. The other execs also tried grasping the heavier furniture in the room; however, they were unprepared like Emma, and their grips were unready to hold themselves as Alexandra vacuumed them into her mouth. During a quick respite, Alexandra stopped her inhalation to taste the contents on her tongue.

The goddess moaned as the explosive flavors of frightened execs mixed in her mouth with miscellaneous office supplies. Her tongue sifted through people and objects, her palate discovering new flavors, as her molars came down and munched on larger pieces of furniture.

Emma rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, unsure if she was seeing things correctly. Alexandra just ate office supplies and wooden tables as if they were potato chips. Alexandra swallowed and reopened her mouth to inhale again. This time, the suction was exponentially violent as anything not bolted down flew into the goddess’s mouth.

“Help me!” several executives shouted.

Like weather reporters covering hurricanes, who hold on to a lamppost as winds threatened to propel their bodies into the sky, so were the executives struggling to hold on to anything for dear life. Their bodies flew across the room like football, eventually touching down onto the Alexandra’s slimy tongue. One by one, executives in their fancy suits got sucked into her mouth, were swallowed, and immediately forgotten by Alexandra. She soon swallowed everyone in the room except for Emma. Alexandra moaned and playfully licked her lips after every swallow. When Alexandra pulled back for the last time, her blue eyes laser focused on Emma, with a lively expression. Emma scanned the room and noticed she was now alone, the only survivor.

Emma crawled on her knees out from under the bar, the counter half-torn and almost uprooted from the ground, but it held on long enough to save her life. The goddess was staring right at her with an impish smirk. Nothing in life prepared Emma for that situation, and the only action she could think of, that was appropriate, was to fall on her knees and worship Alexandra, giving her thanks for not eating her. 

“Goddess–” Emma said before a gust of hot, putrid air knocked her back. It caused her to roll backwards three times before she landed on her back.

Goddess Alexandra had belched a long, wet burp that shook the boardroom and nearly popped Emma’s ears.

“Oopsie.” Alexandra said like a shy girl. “Excuse me! Must’ve been something I ate.” She giggled.

Emma groaned and rolled herself back on her hands and knees. She resumed Alexandra’s prayer:

“In shadows deep, Alexandra reigns,

Her fearsome might, our terror sustains.

Souls she devours, in darkness she roams,

Tremble we must, in our hearts and our homes.”

“Good job, Emma,” the goddess said. “You know my prayer by heart and didn’t get the words mixed up. You wouldn’t believe how many people have been fucking it up here.”

Emma looked up, caught off-guard. She knows my name? She thought in her head. Well, of course she does. She’s a goddess. Unless…

“Thank you for your help in exposing this naughty little corporation.” Alexandra spoke. “I could’ve easily done it myself, but playing with a mortal proved too much fun.” 

Emma looked up from the partially torn carpeted floor and up at Goddess Alexandra. Her mouth opened slightly in hesitation. “Molly?”

Alexandra smirked and her visage swapped to a blonde Molly for a couple of seconds before returning to her normal self. “Ta-da! Don’t tell me you’re surprised.”

Emma tried to speak, but nothing came out. 

“Oh, you look surprised. Well, don’t be. I’ll explain it to you one day. Or not. Probably not. But I will. You can count on that. For now, it’s time for you to go, unless you want me to squash you in this building.”

Alexandra reached into the skyscraper with her index finger and thumb pinched, her large hands destroying multiple levels as she reached in for Emma. With deft skills that only a god could possess, she pinched Emma with a gentle squeeze. Emma yelped as she felt the massive digits pluck her from her kneeling position.

After being pulled out of the boardroom, Emma felt the California sun caress her cheeks and the winds from one thousand feet in elevation blow through her hair. Her heart palpitated as Alexandra held her high above the city in front of her face.

Alexandra, with her massive eyes larger than a hot tub, fixated on Emma. “We’ll keep in touch, okay? Now, get out of here.”

The goddess squatted and lowered Emma to the ground, her massive wings brushing up against nearby towers and her black feathers shattering windows. For Emma, it was like riding a roller coaster, dropping a thousand feet in a matter of seconds, causing her to scream the entire way down. The goddess dropped Emma in front of her toes and released her.

“Scamper,” Alexandra ordered. “It’s going to get a little dangerous around here.”

As Alexandra stood back up, Emma could only gaze in frozen awe with a tinge of vertigo. Alexandra was devastatingly beautiful, wings and all. She looked down at the goddess’s feet and felt compelled to drop her onto her knees and worship her all over again–recanting her devotion to Goddess Hailee. But her senses won through and she bolted into a sprint, running the length of her heeled feet, amazed at how many steps it took to travel the length of the goddess’s feet. She looked for her car, only to hear a weak beep under Alexandra’s toes. Her car was gone, currently the thickness of a pancake under Alexandra’s sandaled feet.

-

Emma raced from abandoned car to abandoned car. She desperately searched for one that still had the keys in it. She found a beat up sedan that was still running and slipped into the driver’s seat. Emma drove up on the sidewalk and stepped on the gas to leave the downtown area as quickly as possible. There were many abandoned cars and a few stragglers still running on foot, trying to evacuate. Emma had a few close-calls with striking people, but she raced out of LA without major incident; she looked in the rearview mirror and saw Alexandra stepping close to the WSI tower. 

-

Alexandra’s feet crushed an adjacent building to the WSI tower as she pressed her body to the equally tall structure. Her shapely legs straddled around the skyscraper as she wrapped her hands around it. At about hip-level, the goddess impaled the building with her slender fingers. She then thrust her hips forward, her crotch colliding with the building. Her laugh was a mixture of pleasure and joyfulness. Her black, vibrant wings tensed and fluttered upwards as she embraced the WSI tower.

Thousands of people still inside the building, thinking sheltering in place was a safer bet than evacuating into the city, were now racing down stairwells to make it out of the building. The violent shakes and the terrible sounds of bending steel and crackling concrete only added to the pandemonium. People shoved and knocked into each other as they fearfully tried escaping.

Those lucky enough to leave out the front doors and spill out to the streets had their victory cut short as Alexandra repeatedly adjusted her stance, crushing them under her feet without noticing them.

Goddess Alexandra hugged the building as if it was her lover. She was relentless with her embrace, squeezing the skyscraper between her arms and thighs. Her womanhood became excited and wet as she continued thrusting herself into the tower. She snapped the building in half between her arms and expertly enveloped the upper half of the tower against her chest and arms. She squeezed the decapitated portion tightly, her breasts demolishing the building under her strength, turning it into powder. Floor by floor collapsed against her body. A fine sheen of dust, debris, office furniture, and bits of people were all that remained against her black toga. She could feel herself absorbing souls by the hundreds every second as she razed the building. Her wings gently flapped in the wind during her play.

Her lust went up several notches. She lifted her toga, revealing her swollen womanhood to the world. She squatted until her pussy impacted the top remaining floor of the half still-standing WSI tower. Alexandra continued lowering herself, her pussy smashing through dozens of floors with no resistance.

The goddess moaned as her body leveled the building from the top down. Each floor collapsing on one another like a house of cards. This continued until Alexandra’s knees impacted with the ground. She then violently thrusted her hips further down, her body toppling over so now that she was on her hands and knees.

She crushed many city blocks under her hands and body, with the remains of the WSI tower under her crotch. Her pussy greedily destroyed all that remained of the once prominent building until it was a heap of powdered concrete and mangled steel.

Alexandra collapsed to the ground and felt another thousand souls get absorbed. She edged close to a climax, but it never came. She pounded her fist on the ground in frustration, popping the ear drums of survivors that were trapped in the nearby rubble. Alexandra squeezed her glutes and pressed her crotch into the basement levels of where the WSI once stood. She absorbed more souls as she crushed whatever scant survivors remained.

But their souls and the destruction of the capitalistic tower weren’t enough to make her orgasm. “Fuck!” She was going to need him if she were to orgasm. And she would need him now. There was no sense in shrinking back to size. He would have to come prepared and to hell with the rules. Melissa was already going to lecture her for destroying the tower. Why not add giant sex to the list of admonishments?

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Uh-oh, the following chapter contains giant male and giant couples’ action. I know a great deal of readers might find this icky, hence this upfront warning. But before you leave, if you enjoyed this story so far, this chapter contains a whole lot of important worldbuilding and appearances from all the goddesses. If you can’t stomach the giant couples’ stuff, skip to section 3 of this chapter. Thank you and good night.

1. Rendezvous with Alexandra

“You rang, madam?” Brad asked. As the fourth and final god, Brad was the only male in the Pantheon of new gods. He slipped into the role of god based on stereotypes and mythical stories of the ancient Greek Gods. He modeled his body off of marble statues depicting gods of legends with a tinge of Mr. Olympia winners from the golden age of bodybuilding. Large imposing chests, slim waist, telephone-pole sized legs, and a butt that can crack walnuts. “Some mess you made here.”

He was his normal, nine-foot tall height, standing on the rubble of downtown LA, only a few steps away from Alexandra’s immense face. She was still rocking her thousand foot tall stature, laying on the ground on her belly, panting, with a hand down at her crotch, keeping herself continuously stimulated.

“What the hells took you so long?” Alexandra asked.

“Glad you asked. See, I was at this party with—”

“I don’t care. I need your dick in me now.”

“You have the tongue of a poet, know that?” Brad asked with a grin as he shed his modern clothes and stripped naked. “You gonna shrink back down?”

“No. Grow to my size and get in. Be quick.” 

“Great idea.” He grabbed hold of his rising erection and gave it a tug while looking up at Alexandra’s beautiful features. “But don’t you think we’ll make Melissa upset if we fuck as giants this big?”

“Why are you still talking? Fuck me, already”

Brad gave a single nod before vanishing from where he stood. He re-appeared as an 1100 foot giant standing between Alexandra’s outstretched legs. Her skin was flawlessly white, contrasting starkly with the partially destroyed city. Her legs were shapely, with the right amount of muscles, and had just plowed through a dozen smaller buildings with ease. Brad’s erection was at full mast as he gazed at Alexandra’s supple ass. She lifted her butt in the air, presenting it to Brad, with her swollen pussy underneath, hungry and impatiently waiting.

Brad dropped to his knees and grabbed the goddess by the waist, before tracing his hands down her outer thighs. He yanked and pulled her hips close to his. A blowback of wind radiated outwards as the bodies of the two gods came together. A bottle of baby oil materialized in his hands. He squeezed a generous amount on his monstrous cock before setting the bottle back down on a road. He thrust himself into Alexandra without further hesitation. She was sopping wet, and her pussy was on fire, making Brad think she might melt his member off.

Alexandra moaned in relief. Her ravenous pussy was finally being satiated by the only thing in the universe capable of appeasing it. Only another god could fill her, stimulate her, and bring her to an ethereal climax that was unattainable from a mortal.

“Still doing the ‘wing’ thing, huh?” Brad asked as he admired the black, yet shimmering, wings on her back. They sprawled outwards, but as he thrust into Alexandra from behind, the wings tensed and retracted slightly. It was like a bird of prey on a perch, getting ready to launch itself during a hunt. While fucking the goddess, Brad’s right hand squeezed her ass cheeks before sliding upwards down the small of her back and riding up higher.

“Touch my wings; lose your hands,” Alexandra said with a groan as Brad’s cock swelled larger in her. It was painful for a second, but even more pleasurable with every hump.

“But I love your wings. Come on, lemme grab hold of them. Just this one time, yeah?” Brad asked while thrusting. 

Alexandra sighed. He was giving her a good fuck. She might as well throw him a bone, she figured. “Fine, just this one time.”

Alexandra was still laying belly down on the rubble where the WSI tower once stood. Her long legs and torso crushed adjacent city blocks and the thrusts from their sex caused weaker buildings in the area to collapse. Brad was behind her, straddling her, with his massive quads hugging and embracing her lithe limbs. Her round ass provided a springy cushion against his pelvic thrusts. He leaned over her long back and grabbed hold of the base of her wings with both hands. As if mounting over a motorcycle, he rode Alexandra while holding onto her, surprisingly, strong wings.

“Oh, fuck yes,” Alexandra wailed, as the feathers in her wings fluttered. 

Brad released his left hand from her wing and brought it back down to her hips. He pulled her ass upwards and positioned her so he could enter her deeper. He knew he did well when Alexandra cried out in unbridled pleasure, her entire body trembling as she climaxed for the first time.

All of Los Angeles County felt the gods making love. Not only were the rhythmic quakes a reminder of their ravenous love making, the skies over Southern California transformed by the power of the gods. It was a mixture of deep purple and bright yellow sun shining through patches of pink skies. It was reminiscent of a Hawaiian sunset. The rich, colorful skies with yellow sun rays made it appear as a little slice of heaven fell upon the ruined city.

But down at ground zero, it was anything but heaven. Whatever survivors that were still alive had to deal with the pounding quakes of God Brad’s fuck with an equally powerful deity. The survivors could not stand on their two feet for longer than a second as the ground beneath them sprang like a trampoline. If that weren’t bad enough, foundations across the downtown area cracked and splintered. Though engineers retrofitted structures in California to withstand earthquakes, they were unrated to withstand godly sex. One by one, buildings toppled within a one-mile radius of the giant couple.

Those trapped near the godly couple were stuck with riding out their lovemaking. Escaping by foot was near impossible, and vehicles were of no use since roads were littered with debris and impassable. Unfortunately, riding out the gods fucking didn’t guarantee survival. As Alexandra and Brad continued their coupling, they absorbed the souls of dozens every second.

“More,” Alexandra said with a whimper. She extended her wings and dug her fingers into the streets as Brad quickened his pace. She could feel the fear of thousands surrounding her. They had them trapped with no chance of escape.

Brad’s body also tingled as mortal souls streamed into his body based on his destructive fucking. The harder he pounded into Alexandra, the more souls he absorbed; and the more souls he absorbed, the greater was his celestial high. His chiseled body was perspiring; a sheen of sweat coated his Adonis-like body. Dust and debris clung to him as he pulverized downtown LA.

“More!” Alexandra shouted. She harvested many souls and experienced an intoxicating rush of fear that extended up to a radius of 50 miles. Brad leaned his hands over to her crotch and flicked her clit and then rubbed it expertly with two fingers. “Oh, yes, yes, yes!” Alexandra climaxed, releasing a shockwave of electrical power that caused all electronics in Southern California to flicker on and off. A blast of wind raced outwards as if an atomic bomb went off. The skies pulsed in radiant light as waves of pleasure pulsated through Goddess Alexandra.

Brad grunted and released what he’s been holding back since starting with Alexandra. He filled her womanhood with dozens of ropes of his boiling-hot seed. Nearby building windows shattered instantly because of both gods roaring with pleasure, which alone was a devastating disaster in itself.

He released his grip from her wings and hip and traced his hands up and down her curves. He nearly collapsed on top of her, from expending all his godly energy into her. Brad pulled out his softening member from her and sat back on his heel. His hands idly felt up her calves and hamstrings. He looked at the surrounding destruction and noted it was ten times worse than when he appeared.

“Melissa won’t like this,” he said, mostly to himself.

“Melissa doesn’t like a lot of things.” Alexandra neatly folded her arms and rested her head on top with closed eyes. She was ready for a well-deserved nap. “Leader or not, we’re gods too. She’ll just have to deal with it.”

“Right,” Brad said, as he rose to his feet. He stretched and flexed his muscles. “This was fun as usual, Lexi. Call me anytime. But now I gotta head out and get ready for my date.”

“Date? With who?” Alexandra asked, suppressing a laugh. 

“Two chicks I met.”

“Mortals? Weirdo.” Alexandra was closer to sleep as she adjusted her head.

“Nothing weird about having relationships with mortals, Lexi.” Brad lowered himself and moved his head close to Alexandra. “You should try it one day.” He leaned in to kiss Alexandra on the cheek.

“Don’t kiss me,” she said without opening her eyes.

Brad backed off. “Well, anyway, wish me luck on my date. I hope I get lucky.”

“Whatever.”

Brad vanished, leaving Alexandra where she lay. A mixture of her feminine cum and his ejaculation poured out of her and flooded the streets between her legs. The skies gradually returned to normal. During this seemingly peaceful moment, rescue workers and survivors evacuated the city, under the shadow of the sleeping goddess, her wings still splayed outwards.

2. Catfishing

For the past year, Brad had been living the life that any man in his position would’ve lived. Parties, women, alcohol, drugs, mansions, luxury clothes, jewelry, and a body so perfect it was only attainable in Photoshop.

In the evening, after his sexual escapade with Alexandra, he traveled to Las Vegas with two supermodels via a luxurious helicopter. Sure, as god, he could’ve teleported themselves to the city of sin, but where was the decadence in that? He wanted to show these ladies a night that the cheesiest romance movies couldn’t capture. A helicopter ride straight to their resort, where they’ll join in a rooftop party with the hottest people in Vegas.

Because of the size of the helicopter cabin, Brad shrunk himself into a compact six-foot, six-inches tall versus his comfortable nine foot stature. It was difficult for the gods to reduce their size to that of mortals. Typically, they could manage the smaller size for a couple of hours before having to return to their normal height. Their amazon height was good enough for everyday interactions with mortals, but their true godly height of 150 feet tall was the best. It was like comparing wearing pajamas to skinny jeans. 150 feet just felt right. This being the case, Goddess Melissa, the leader of the gods, created their Pantheon building headquarters to match their comfortable, towering heights. 

But for his date, an above-average mortal height was good enough for Brad. “Here you go, Candy and Roxxy,” Brad said, as he handed them a glass of champagne each. The helicopter ride was smooth, and there was minimal chance for drink spillage.

The girls wore glittery, glamorous dresses that adhered to their lithe bodies, the dresses ending high in the upper-thigh. Their open-toed, high-heels highlighted their long legs and made their calves pop. Brad drooled as he sipped on his bubbly drink. The girls tapped through their phones, taking selfies of themselves with their drinks from inside a half-billion dollar helicopter.

“Take a picture with us!” Candy asked Brad.

Brad obliged, and he sat between the girls as they snapped various pictures, and then immediately uploaded the set to social media. The intent was to make their friends and followers jealous they were on a romantic date with god. A god who, in an unabashed lewd display of hedonistic pleasure, had sex with a goddess at the expense of thousands of lives.

“You need to do that to me,” Roxxy said, holding up her phone for Brad to see. It was an aerial view of his backside while mounted on top of Alexandra. “I want you to fuck me on top of Vegas.”

Brad felt his cock twitch. “Oh. You wouldn’t mind the entire world watching your giant naked body get pounded by me?”

“Mind it?” Roxxy asked. She flipped off her phone and tossed it onto the seat beside her. “I demand it.” She leaned up and gave him a kiss.

Not wanting to be left out, Candy lowered her hands between Brad’s legs and felt him up as she kissed his neck. “Sex with a goddess is okay. But what about a gigantic threesome?”

“I think you’re unlocking a new fetish for me,” Brad said between laborious breaths. “Gigantic sex sounds peak fun.” His lips were busy going between both models, both eager for his attention.

They landed in the resort a short time later. Attendants opened the doors to the helicopter, revealing the three passengers inside with their clothes and hairs ruffled from their intense make-out session. Brad, Candy, and Roxxy gathered themselves and stepped out of the helicopter. A quick walk later, they joined up with the rooftop party, already in full-swing.

It was near midnight, and the desert air was still baking from the triple digit temperatures earlier in the day. There was a pool in the center, illuminated by LEDs that cycled through a spectrum of vibrant colors. A live DJ on stage played electro-party music, with several half-naked women dancing alongside him. The resort provided both caterers and bartenders, serving guests non-stop with delicious snacks and hard liquor.

“God is here!” one guest shouted as Brad entered the party. Everyone dropped to their knees, but Brad stopped them and told them to carry on with the party. They did as they were told.

The girls alongside Brad smiled smugly that they were god’s chosen mates for the night. The perks that came with sleeping with a god were endless. And they knew they were the envy of the world. Brad could sleep with anyone, goddesses included, yet he chose them. Their OnlyFans accounts were going to blow up overnight.

“Ladies,” Brad said. “Let’s get wild.”

Brad stopped holding his size back and allowed himself to swell to fifteen-feet tall, his fancy suit tattered, leaving him in a pair of tight boxer briefs he allowed to grow with him. The partygoers cheered as they saw their god towering overhead.

The next hour was a blur. They drank heavily. They danced. Both girls did lines of coke off his abs. At one point in the night, Brad found himself in the pool. Other girls attempted to grab Brad’s attention by feeling him up and trying to make small talk. Candy and Roxxy had to bat these girls off of him, like alley cats hissing at anyone that got close to their god.

“This isn’t fair,” Candy said into Brad’s ears. He sat in the pool, and Candy was topside out of the pool, leaning into him. “If we’re small, we look like them.” Candy loosely gestured at the other women in the pool, who were trying to get close to Brad. “Make me and Roxxy big,” Candy said, her breath reeking of alcohol and her speech slurred. “They need to know their place.”

She was so cute under the influence, Brad thought. Candy stripped out of her pricey dress and kicked off her heels. She told Roxxy to do the same. The crowd cheered as these supermodels stood naked amongst the party. It took little of Brad’s efforts to enlarge the women into mighty Amazons that matched his fifteen foot tall stature.

“There we go,” Roxxy said, swinging her arms and showing off her body. They jumped into the pool, creating a splash large enough to soak anyone near the pool. The Amazons shoved the little partygoers in the pool with their hips and legs, making their way to their god.

“This feels so right,” Candy said. “You should make this permanent.”

Brad drank straight from a bottle of tequila. “It ain’t permanent, so enjoy it while you can,” he said to her.

“Aww, don’t be such a spoilsport.”

Candy leaned into him and gave him a kiss. Roxxy saw this, so she, too, swam alongside him and pecked at his ears. Just like back in the helicopter, the three kissed and felt each other up. The girls shoved their breasts into his face. Brad responded by motorboating both their tits while feeling up and down their body. The pool water steamed as the threesome got hot and heavy. Brad’s cock was pitching a tent within his boxer briefs. The girls rubbed him and squeezed his shaft and played with his tip.

The crowd hollered and gave Brad words of encouragement. Some even dared to get close to the action and experience up close what it was like to be near a hot threesome, over twice their height in stature. 

“Piss off, bugs.” Candy said, at the relentless crowd getting close. The alcohol and drugs impairing the partygoers’ judgements in the face of an angry Amazonian.

Roxxy dove under the water and yanked Brad’s underwear off, his cock springing free. Candy shoved two women in the face who were too close for comfort. The women only had a fraction of Candy’s strength. She then mounted on top of Brad, guiding his monster into her snatch.

“Oh, god.”

“I’m right here,” he said with a smirk.

His member filled her insides and radiated with a pulsing pleasure. Candy couldn’t believe the moment. She was fucking a god. A god that made love with a goddess earlier in the day was giving her pleasure she’d never experienced before.

While Candy hopped up and down on Brad’s crotch, Brad was making out with Roxxy. Their tongues danced with one another and tasted each other. Her boobs felt magical in his hands, and he couldn’t help but playfully pinch her nipples.

“Touch me,” Roxxy said to the others in the pool, momentarily allowing them to get near under her command. “I want to feel your little hands on me.”

Men and women alike swam up to Roxxy’s imposing body. They obeyed her and started feeling her up. Her legs stretched to tomorrow and her hips were curvier than a rollercoaster and twice as fun. Roxxy’s ass was tight enough to bounce a quarter off of. Some daring people ran their naughty hands down her crack and along her inner-thighs. It elicited a moan from Roxxy as she felt dozens of tiny hands caress her perfect body.

“Is this what it’s like to be worshiped?” Roxxy asked. “I can get used to this.”

Brad laughed softly to himself, amused by the naivety from Roxxy. The feeling of being truly worshiped was something these mortals could never fully grasp. At 15 feet tall, they might feel elevated, but they remained mortals at heart, oblivious to the profound depth of genuine worship. He, along with his three fellow gods, was the only one to understand what it was like for a mortal to truly devote and worship them. This was a sensation he had recently relished alongside Alexandra, a memory that was still on his mind.

“They’re only ‘worshiping’ you because you told them to; and you’re scary big,” Brad said between kisses. While all this was happening, Candy was getting off on her second orgasm as she bounced on top of him.

“Mmmm,” Roxxy moaned. “Do what Candy said. Keep us this size forever. No, make us gigantic! I want to see what the world looks like from the point of view of a god.”

He laughed.

“You’re up Roxx,” Candy said as she got off Brad and sat back in the pool, barely catching her breath. “I need a break and a drink.”

Brad smiled at Roxxy as he stood up. Without caring about the little people around them, Brad brought Roxxy up on her feet and spun her around. He then shoved her upper back, so she bent over at the hips. Roxxy grabbed hold of the pool’s edge and leaned into it so her ass lifted high for Brad. The water hardly reached their knees as they positioned themselves for a remarkably public doggy-style fuck.

The surrounding guests hardly reached their hips. A smattering of people in the water treaded the waters under Roxxy, her giant breasts swinging right above their heads like pendulums. With drinks in one hand and phones in the other, some took photos and others livestreamed the lewd act unfolding. Flashes going off from people’s cell phones highlighted Roxxy and Brad’s body as he entered the fifteen foot tall supermodel from behind.

The crowd cheered as their god had sex with this unbelievably gorgeous woman. Because Roxxy never told them to stop, the crowd still in the pool continued to feel up Roxxy’s body; some women even dared touching Brad as his powerful legs stabilized himself as he thrust hard into Roxxy.

Candy, completely fulfilled, relaxed in the pool’s corner as caterers and bartenders continued serving her needs.

The music was loud, and the crowd was rowdy. More alcohol and drugs flowed through the hundred-strong partygoers. Brad’s public sex opened the doors for other party revelers to join in. They shed their clothes and tossed them in the air. Similar to the many parties Brad attends, it devolved into a highly participated orgy. Despite the many women moaning and men grunting, it didn’t compare to the wails coming out of Roxxy.

“Yes, god, please, fuck me, yes!”

Hands down the best she’s ever had. Brad hit the right spot, maintained the right cadence, and gave it to her with the right amount of force. Candy and Roxxy were good, but didn’t compare to Alexandra, he thought. But it wasn’t fair comparing mortals to the goddesses.

Brad decided he had enough and let himself cum. He pulled out and let his ejaculate get flung everywhere. A lot hit Roxxy, but several ropes struck the partygoers in the pool. Some took it as an honor and others were disgusted, god or not, and dove into the pool to avoid the celestial seed.

Brad let out his breath slowly and felt his heart return to a normal pace. “This was fun,” he said to Roxxy. Her legs were weak and she let herself collapse in the pool, colliding with several people not quick enough to get out of the way. “It was fun, right?” he asked openly, but received no response.

Candy had some strangers going down on her. They would hold their breaths, dive into the water, and give her oral with their tongues before running out of air. Candy welcomed the pleasure, as it required no energy on her part. She continued drinking as a stream of men and women pleased her.

Roxxy crawled out of the pool, not minding the tiny attendants that were roaming around, and laid across five lounge chairs, partially destroying them under her weight. She was out of breath and nearly passed out.

Brad also got out of the pool, since he ruined the pool water with his sexual juices. His member had softened, but his well-endowed manhood swung like an elephant’s trunk from between his legs. The party was winding down as more and more got too drunk or high to stand. Brad was sober. No amount of alcohol out there was enough to intoxicate a god. Unless he willed it. But at that moment, he didn’t want to be drunk.

“I’ll be in the penthouse,” he said to Roxxy and Candy individually.

-

“It was a fun party,” Brad said to himself, alone in the room. 

Out of practicality, he shrunk himself down to his normal nine-foot tall stature. He laid in bed watching TV, his feet hanging off the bed. Although he turned up the volume, the room felt quiet. “It was a fun party,” he said again. “They’re all fun. All the parties are fun. Chicks, booze, lots of fucking. Swish.” He made a gesture like he was throwing a basketball. “Living the dream.”

He was watching a romance movie. A man falling hard for a woman he had a connection with. In his head, Brad compared the actress on the screen with Roxxy and Candy. This actress was nowhere as pretty as those models. No contest.

He continued watching.

The movie was heartwarming, though; he had to admit. Two lovers that were so right for each other, but a comical set of errors kept preventing the female character from seeing the connection. Her character turned out to be pretty amazing. The warmth and connection her character had with the male character was beautiful. Attractive, even.

When the film was done, he felt something stirring within. A realization he wasn’t sure if he was ready to admit, even though it was staring right back at him. He was god. In Vegas. Alone. 

-

The girls barged into the penthouse, back to their normal height, and stark naked. The height effect Brad placed on them wore off in the morning. Brad, still nine-feet tall, was in the kitchenette, brewing coffee.

“Hello, loves,” he said in a chipper tone.

“Ugh,” both women moaned.

“Can you do something about this hangover?” Candy asked, before even greeting Brad.

Brad felt tempted to let them suffer with their hangovers. In the end, Brad’s kindness won over, and he waved his hand to clear away both their hangovers.

“Holy shit, that’s amazing,” Roxxy said.

An hour later, both girls showered and dressed themselves in revealing outfits. They sat on the patio overlooking the Las Vegas strip, while enjoying coffee and room-service breakfast. It was late morning, and the desert heat was already ramping up.

“It’s so hot out.” Candy said.

“I know, right?” Roxxy asked, as Brad shrugged. Extreme temperatures were irreverent to him. He then noticed both girls smile and stare at him. 

“What’s up?”

“Make us big again,” Candy said, her excitement hardly caged.

“Why?” Brad asked, washing away his breakfast toast with his black coffee.

“Because it’s amazing. There is something satisfying about the power I feel when I stand over people and witness their expressions as they gaze up at me.”

“We felt like—well, not gods of course,” Roxxy said, with a nervous chuckle. “More like Demigods!”

After some thought, Brad asked, “doesn’t it bother you that other people aren’t seeing the real you?”

“Uh, no,” Candy said.

“Nope,” Roxxy agreed. 

Brad took another sip of his coffee as he enjoyed the view from the patio. He asked, “y’know it’s like an Instagram filter, right? I can make you big. But that’s not who you really are.”

“Don’t care,” both women said.

Brad was wondering if he cared. He looked at his arms that were bigger than a bodybuilder’s arms. Chest with pectoral muscles that threatened to tear his shirt apart. He ran his fingers across his face and felt his powerful jaw, defined cheekbones. This wasn’t him. None of it was. Post-ascension to godhood, Brad quickly discovered how to change his appearance. He modeled himself what he thought a god should look like; for the past year, the world knew God Brad by his façade only.

“So, is it okay for people to like the fake you? Instead of the real you?” Brad asked.

“How’s it fake if you make it happen for reals?” Candy asked.

Because it’s still fake no matter how real you think it is, Brad thought, not having the courage to say it aloud.

The girls soon started talking to each other, planning out their day in the Vegas strip. Shopping was on top of the list. Designer clothes, handbags, and priceless jewelry. They would then gamble with Brad’s money for fun—loss or win, it wouldn’t matter—since he was already an endless ATM. Then party at night, showing off their goods, and fucking a god for all to see. They insisted Brad turn them hundreds of feet tall. What marvelous advertising would it be for Louis Vuitton to have their handbags the size of buildings clutched by two giantesses? They’d probably get a sponsorship for life.

The conversation continued for the next half hour. Brad listened without speaking. The only mention they made of him was about his endless money, his powers that could enhance their bodies, and the pleasure he could provide them. As they spoke, their voices became an unintelligible mess as Brad recalled his past flings. The women, vapid and only speaking of materialistic accusation, never asked Brad how he was doing. Never asked what his life was like pre- and post-ascension. They just wanted things from him. Be it his money, power, or his dick.

Fun party last night, huh? He asked himself. His inner-monologue was dripping with sarcasm. It wasn’t fun. It was empty, like all the other parties. No longer was Brad able to ignore the fact that this lifestyle wasn’t him and it surely wasn’t fulfilling. Pre-ascension, he could never get a girlfriend. Now, as god, he’s had so many sexual relationships it would make Zeus blush. And he couldn’t remember any of their names. Nor could he remember any meaningful spark between them. This wasn’t the life he wanted.

“Girls,” he said, interrupting Roxxy and Candy’s incessant chatter. “I want to ask you something seriously…” Brad transformed himself. It started off as a yellow glow that enveloped his skin. Bright enough to cause the girls to shield their eyes with their hands. The transformation took about two seconds. When it was complete, there stood Brad: 5’9” tall, average build, average looks, and acne scars that were remnants from his youth. Brad didn’t look ugly, but his normal self—his true self—wasn’t the Adonis the world became accustomed to seeing.

“Why do you look like that?” Roxxy asked, eyebrows furrowed, unsure what she was looking at.

Brad ignored her and asked, “quick question, would you go out with someone that looks like this?” The girls, and nearly everyone in the world, didn’t know what Brad looked like in his past life. When the girls stared at Brad’s true appearance, they didn’t know it was him. As far as they knew, it was a stranger.

Both girls laughed so hard, their spittle struck Brad’s face. They covered their mouths and continued laughing at the unexpected visage, which Brad transformed himself into.

“Is this a joke?” Candy asked.

Brad felt his stomach twist into a knot. “I’m asking you to be serious. Would you date someone that looks like this?” he asked, waving his arms up and down his true appearance. “Would you even talk to someone that looked like this?” His last question lacked confidence as the girls were already shaking their heads.

“Fuck no,” was their general answer.

“Not even talk to?” Brad asked.

“Why’d you make yourself look like that?” Candy asked. “Change back. I can’t even take you seriously looking like such a nerd.” The girls’ laughter was so strong, they nearly fell out of their seats.

“I guess that answers my question.”

“Come on! Let’s get ready for some shopping. Brad, my god, please go back to normal before someone sees you like that. And get your credit card ready for some action.”

“Right,” Brad said, slapping his knees as he rose to his feet, refusing to transform back into his Adonis facade. “Wait right here. I’m gonna speak with the concierge.”

“Okay, sweetie, but please change your looks before you forget, nerd.” They laughed again.

Brad nodded with a smile and walked out of the suite and into the hotel’s hallway. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he sang, “bitches ain’t shit but hoes and tricks.” He left the hotel and never returned.

3. A Pantheon Meeting

“Yer gonna love this job like a duck in water. Did it myself about six months ago and, I swear, I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t just dreaming. Them gods, they’re somethin’ else, I tell ya, h’what. Goddess Melissa and Hailee, they’re as down-to-earth as they come, despite being all celestial and whatnot. I did everything they asked, put in some extra elbow grease, too. They sure did appreciate it, gave me a nod here and there, and a little somethin’, somethin’ for my efforts, if you catch my drift. But the real prize? Being right there with ‘em, serving ‘em up close and personal like.”

“You got me really excited. What kinda tasks they set you to?”

“Well now, I can’t spill the beans, I’m afraid. Signed myself a promise to keep tight-lipped—what happens at the Pantheon, stays at the Pantheon.”

“You can at least tell me if there were any gross tasks, right?”

“What’s ‘gross’ to you might be just another Tuesday to me. Didn’t do nothing that set my conscience squirming, I’ll tell ya that. But no more yammerin’ about it. Don’t wanna cross any lines, with ‘em gods.”

“I hope Goddess Hailee takes a shine on me. I’ve been worshiping her since day one.”

“Any of ‘em are aces in my book. Well, let’s just say I’d rather get assigned Brad before I got Alexandra.”

“Seriously? You’d rather work for a fella over any of the goddesses?”

“No more questions, ya hear?”

Erik and Allen were in an early 90s pickup truck, driving through the Texas countryside. They had seen no signs of civilization for miles, yet the road they were on was busy with other vehicles filled with worshipers from all over the world making their way to the Pantheon. Those without means of a personal vehicle rode in buses—and there were many bussing companies that sold trips to the Pantheon. 

The once seldom traveled two-lane road, in a deserted part of rural texas, now had a stream of traffic with hardcore devotees eager to catch a glimpse of the gods. 

There were two main types of pilgrims that made the journey to the Pantheon: those who wanted to worship and respect the gods in person, and those offering their bodies and services directly to the gods. Erik was a veteran servant, having made the journey half a year ago, when the Pantheon was relatively new. The gods were still trying to figure things out and how to use these hardcore devotees that begged to be their servants. Erik was a pioneer, showing Goddess Melissa personally that a hardcore servant was willing to do anything to appease their god. From pampering to cleaning, to sensual entertainment. 

“How big are they?” Allen asked from the passenger seat. The air conditioner in the truck was out. They had rolled down both windows and hot sand from the surrounding desert pelted them as they drove 70 miles-per-hour down the road behind a polluting coach bus. The blowing hot air from outside scantly cooled their skins.

“Big,” Erik replied. He had an elbow out the window and two fingers on the wheel. “I reckon about 150 feet tall. Woo-wee, I tell ya h’what, it’s a sight to see. I can’t wait to serve ‘em again.”

Of all places in the world, in the middle of nowhere, Texas may seem like an odd location for the Pantheon of the new gods; however, it served a practical purpose. Melissa and Hailee were in New York during their ascension—Alexandra and Brad were in Southern California for theirs. Not only was Texas the midpoint for their homes, the massive structure was away from major population centers. No city could claim the home of the gods. The rural area allowed for unlimited expansion, while its desert environment controlled the influx of people visiting their home. 

“My gods,” Allen said with his jaw dropping. Off on the horizon, the top of the Pantheon building came into view. All the descriptions and images he’d seen about the Pantheon hardly prepared him for the real thing. It was like witnessing the Grand Canyon for the first time. It was unbelievably monolithic and breathtaking.

Goddess Melissa modeled her Pantheon to match the timeless architecture of ancient Greece. The building looked like a lowercase “t” from above. The bottom of the “t” was the main hall and entrance to the Pantheon. Goddess Melissa’s private quarters were the wing at the top of the “t”. Hailee and Brad had rooms on the left and right wings, respectively. The three wings had massive domes that let in natural light and had masterful art painted on the inside. One impressive dome, that was twice as large as the others, was in the main throne room where all four gods sat—which was located where the three wings met.

As for Goddess Alexandra, her private quarters were deep underground, underneath the Pantheon. Goddess Melissa allowed Alexandra to carve out an underground lair that was both impressive and frightful. 

Each god made their quarters their own. Decorated and furnished with items that matched their personality.

Although the building seemed square and angular on the outside, intricate carvings infused it with a unique personality softened and invigorated its features, elevating it to a level of grandeur surpassing that of the Vatican or Salisbury Cathedral. Corinthian columns—with ornate carvings that made Michelangelo’s masterpieces look like a kindergartner’s art in comparison—adorned the Pantheon’s exterior. The roof was triangular, decked with stately spires and topped by four domes mentioned earlier. Goddess Melissa created an architectural marvel from her powers, which was resplendent in its design, and fittingly grand and sacred. It stood worthy to represent the four gods entrusted with the guardianship of humanity and the universe.

“Wait, why are we driving off the road here?” Allen asked, as all the traffic ahead did the same and drove into a field. The Pantheon was still a couple of miles away.

Erik turned the wheel hard in his truck as he followed a line of vehicles. They parked as orderly as possible in the desert field. “We here,” he said.

“Where’s here?” Allen asked. “Don’t tell me we walking to the Pantheon from here.”

“Welp, we ain’t gonna drive any closer than this. The gods, they don’t take kindly to vehicles near their home. Says it messes with the vibe and aesthetics of their sanctuary, or some shit like that.”

It wasn’t a true pilgrimage without an arduous hike under the desert sun towards a holy site. The other pilgrims were thoughtful and downright kind by offering food and water along the trail. Hundreds of worshippers crowded the paths as if they were in a packed theme park. There were worshipers heading towards the Pantheon and some others returning to their vehicles after their visit. Their collective spirits electrified the air.

Allen wiped the sweat off his forehead, which was already caking with the sand being kicked up by others. As they got closer to the building, the more and more he had to crane his neck back. No matter how close they got, the Pantheon seemed to still be out of reach. It only grew larger and more imposing. He gazed down the length of the structure—realizing, only then, he wasn’t looking at some marvelous wonder-of-the-world constructed by ancient humanity. He was looking at a goddess-made building that wasn’t even a year old. The Pantheon was so grand it stretched along the horizon, becoming and defining the landscape. Because of the sheer magnitude of the building and atmospheric haze, the architectural details of the Pantheon became blurred as it stretched so far away into the horizon.

When Erik and Allen reached the steps to the Pantheon, the details came in full bloom. There were custom carvings around the building. From the Corinthian columns to the walls, the stained glass windows, and the arches that connected each column. Allen was in a dazed wonder. He’s never witnessed something so beautiful. He could see influences from each god etched into the building’s facade. Scenes from New York, palm trees from California, and statues of the gods in various heroic poses lining the triangular roofs.

“Cat got your tongue?” Erik asked with a smirk on his face.

“It’s… unreal.”

“Ya ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.”

Before continuing, it was important to note that the Pantheon was scaled to mortals and gods. It was considered the gods’ second home, and a divine building where mortals can visit and pay respect to their gods. There were doors for the gods at their 150 foot stature, and doors for the tiny mortals. Stairs with steps large enough to accommodate the prodigious feet of the gods, and stairs for the rest.

The Pantheon sat on top of an elevated foundation. The stairs that connected the top entrance to the desert ground-floor were divided in three parts. At the center were steps scaled for the gods; the outer stairs were designed for mortals. A Hollywood-style red carpet lined the center steps for the gods. Mortals were–not–explicitly forbidden from walking the red carpet or exploring the enormous steps, but it was in their best interest to not traverse it, lest they want to risk getting crushed underfoot.

Erik patted Allen on the back and, with a cheer, motivated him to take the first step. Allen looked up the stairs for the mortals and guessed there were at least 500 steps to reach the top. He took a deep breath and began the climb.

About twenty minutes passed, and the friends were about halfway up the stairs. Other pilgrims stopped and rested at different levels throughout the stairs, but Erik and Allen wanted to reach the top without stopping.

“They couldn’t have put a gondola or somethin’?” Allen asked between labored breaths. “An escalator or elevator?”

“Elevator is for handicapped and elderly. Everyone else goes up this way.”

As Allen placed his hands on his knees and helped himself up, one step at a time, the ground trembled underneath him. Those around him looked up as the quakes were undoubtedly from an approaching god.

“Is that what I think it is?” Allen asked Erik.

“Yuppers,” Erik said. “Wonder who it is.”

Just about everyone stood still and stood by with gleeful anticipation. All eyes were now up at the Pantheon entrance. The earthquakes intensified as a shadow slowly emerged. Out from the shade and walking between two massive columns at the top of the Pantheon, was Goddess Hailee, standing as tall as the Statue of Liberty. She wore casual clothes that matched her streetwear style. Red flip-flops, jean shorts with suspenders and a tattered white shirt, expertly tailored to show off her midriff. 

“Oh my god,” Allen said, too distracted to realize that everyone within view dropped to their knees and bowed. He quickly did the same. “My god—goddess, Haile. I mean, my Hailee—Goddess. It’s Hailee! The Goddess. She’s here. She’s here!”

“Calm down, boy,” Erik said, placing his hand on Allen’s shoulder, feeling his body shaking, likely full of emotion. “Catch your breath and say a lil’ prayer to your god.”

Allen bowed his head to the ground and prayed. Because Hailee still didn’t have an official prayer, everyone just made up their personalized one for the goddess. “Goddess Hailee, I’m offering you all I got—my life and my service. I hope you take notice of me and let me be of use to you. My heart is yours.”

“Howdy, y’all,” Hailee said in a faux Texan accent. “Me and the others are so happy for y’all to make it out here.” She lifted her empty hand and a fruit smoothie materialized in an instant. She stuck the straw between her lips and sipped on her drink as she stepped down onto the center Pantheon steps. People, who appeared to be 2.5 inches tall in comparison, nervously looked as her sandal-clad feet came close to them as she walked down the steps.  

“Guys, you’re almost at the top.” She cheered the crowd with a wide smile. “Don’t give up now. I can’t wait for y’all to join us in our home away from home.”

Allen, along with the other pilgrims, felt some of their praise and worship of Hailee reciprocated. A magical, love-filled aura followed Hailee as she reached the bottom. She sipped on her drink and overlooked the streams of mortals making the rigorous trek to the Pantheon, only to serve and worship them in-person.

Although Hailee was not into the getting worshiped thing like the other gods, she couldn’t deny how intoxicating a mortal’s devotion was. Several times already, she nearly dropped her drink as the warmth and love from thousands in the area was a near-climactic experience for her. She sensed some worshipers were out here for the other gods, but they prayed to her out of respect. Others were—her—devotees, mortals that pledged their souls in this world and the next for all eternity. Those mortals got her off the most. Their praise and worship were way more radiant than others were. These particular devotees were like ten mortals put together. Enough to make Hailee’s legs feel weak, causing her to stomp on the ground harder than usual to keep her balance.

Soon after calming down from the celestial high of worship, she looked back down at the crowd and noticed how heat stricken they were: from fanning themselves, to pouring water over their heads, to sweating profusely. Hailee then looked up at the sky and towards the sun before looking back down.  

“Kinda hot out here, huh?” Hailee asked. Heat, cold, and weather didn’t affect the gods like it did mortals. But it seemed rather mean how everyone was suffering, their only crime being that they wanted to worship the gods up close. “Let’s fix that.”

Hailee twirled her free hand up above her, her eyes glowing bright white as she commanded the skies under her power. Thick, cumulus clouds formed out of the blue skies and hovered over to block the sun, casting a relieving shade across the land. Another flick of the wrist and a breeze formed from the East. The temperatures dropped from mid-100s down to low 80s with Hailee’s manipulations of the clouds and currents.

“Better?” she asked, her eyes returning to normal before noticing the wonder-struck worshipers at her feet. “Okay, see y’all inside!”

What a relief it was to have those clouds block out the sun, Allen thought. The heat from his sun-burnt skin just blew away with the cool breeze Hailee created. Hailee’s foot landed near him on the stairs designed for gods. The quake in the ground, the smell of her coconut lotion, his ears filling with the low-frequency boom, and the displaced air from her stomp blowing his jeans and shirt back—all experiences that overloaded his senses. He dropped lower to the ground and prayed harder. Not out of fear, but in complete devotion to the goddess. Tears formed in his eyes as Allen got high off his own supply of love.

The rhythmic quaking from Hailee’s steps faded as she returned to the Pantheon. Slowly, the worshipers outside began rising and continuing their trek, now filled with more vigor after being in the presence of a god, and because of the cooler weather.

“How ya feelin’, kid?” Erik asked, helping Allen to his feet.

Allen was out of breath, his legs were weak, and he felt dazed, as if waking suddenly from a deep slumber. “Holy shit. I’ve never felt anything like that.”

Erik had a wide grin. “I remember my first time. Pretty powerful stuff, huh?” Erik asked while playfully giving Allen a slap on the chest. “Come on, now. Let’s see which gods we got assigned to.”

-

The Pantheon was abuzz with a flurry of activity. Worshipers explored the main hall of the grand building and marveled at the glorious interior. It was an extravagant hall, lined with precious metals and polished stone. Gold and silver, marble and granite. Goddess Melissa expertly decorated the interior of the Pantheon to create a lavish home fit enough for gods living on earth—while avoiding her designs to appear gaudy. The interior surpassed the grandeur of the Sistine Cathedral and the opulence of Versailles. Each element, from the soaring ceiling to the intricately patterned floors, was a testament to Melissa’s divine tastes. Natural light filtered through stained glass windows, casting vibrant hues across the hall and illuminating the faces of the awestruck worshipers. This was truly a place where the gods and mortals met—a seamless blend of celestial and earthly craftsmanship, leaving every visitor in a state of wonder at the majesty of it all.

Aside from worshipers visiting the Pantheon, and people like Erik and Allen volunteering personal servitude to the gods, there were men in business suits. Government representation from around the world, gathering to address the gods and receive their orders.

Goddess Melissa ordered all nations to represent themselves at the Pantheon. And these representatives made the trek to the Pantheon like any other Pilgrim. A subtle reminder that they weren’t above any other mortal. Possessing no extra power or privileges from the common man. Tired and sweaty, these representatives rushed towards the throne room, readying themselves for their meeting with the gods.

After further walking and admiring, Erik and Allen made it to the administration section of the Pantheon. It looked like an upscale bank, with a counter made of polished mahogany and two dozen clerks working behind. The queue to see a clerk moved rather quickly. The clerks pulled up each person’s name on their laptop and reviewed their application. Each applicant created a ‘dream sheet’ of the gods they were volunteering their servitude to. They had to order the gods, all gods, they wanted to serve from the most desirable to the least. Alexandra was on the bottom of Allen’s list, with Hailee on top. It only made sense that he served the god he devoted himself to.

Erik was ahead and got his assignment fast. He cheered when he heard he got assigned to Goddess Melissa. He ran back to Allen, who was still in the queue, and showed him the piece of paper, which was his ticket to Melissa’s quarters. Allen congratulated him. Erik wished his friend good luck and waited off to the side.

“Next!” a free clerk shouted. Allen walked up to the counter and gave his name. “Let’s see here. You want Hailee, but she’s already filled up. Melissa’s is also packed, no shocker there. Here, you’re assigned to Goddess Alexandra.”

“What? No, there’s a mistake, I sent my application weeks—”

“Stop,” the clerk said. “Just stop. It’s for your own good. This isn’t the DMV or customer service at Costco. You’ll take your assignment and no amount of talking will get you out of it, got it?”

Allen’s trembling hand took the piece of paper from the clerk. His eyes quickly scanned the document and saw his name and next to it—a line stating he was assigned to the Goddess of Fear. He stood there with mouth agape and eyes in disbelief, unable to move away from the counter.

The clerk saw this and sighed. “Listen, sorry for sounding like a jerk. It’s been chaotic all morning. God Brad decided he won’t be taking in any servants this month. It royally screwed things on our end, because we had to re-assign all his servants to the three goddesses. You got the short end of the stick and got paired with Goddess Alexandra. It’s not all bad. Just do as you’re told and don’t stick out from the group.”

Allen nodded, unable to say anything, and left the counter. He met up with his friend and told him the news. Erik’s expression dropped when he heard Alexandra’s name. He tried to console his friend and placed an arm around his shoulder.

“I signed the non-disclosure agreement with my soul,” Allen said. “What happens at the Pantheon, stays at the Pantheon, right? Well, we’re here and I’ve agreed not to discuss anything that happens here with the outside world. Can you finally tell me what it means to be a servant to the gods?”

“We’re little slaves to them,” Erik said, noticing Allen tense up upon hearing those words. “Basically we do whatever they want. Whatever whims they may have. We oblige them. Can be simple things, like praying to them while they sleep. Other times, it’s fun things, for me at least, like massaging Melissa’s feet. But sometimes they want us to pleasure them, and boy, lemme tell ya...”Erik sighed as he reminisced about his past excursions with the goddess.

“Pleasure them, how?”

“Sexual like.” Erik winked. 

“Oh.”

“I’ve heard, don’t know it for sure, but Alexandra and Brad are real horn-dogs. Brad is always having orgies and Alexandra always usin’ her servants to satisfy her puss. Hopefully she’ll get ya a scuba suit before you get to work.”

“Oh, great,” Allen said, his shoulders slumping and his head dropping.

“It ain’t all bad, partner. Alexandra’s hot. Do a good job and you’ll be fine. Shoot, you might even devote yourself to her by the end of all this.”

“Doubt.”

A bell chimed, signaling all servants to report to their respective gods’ quarters. Erik and Allen split; Erik having to make the long journey to the other side of the Pantheon, while Allen looked for the stairs that led to the underground. There was shoulder-to-shoulder traffic as throngs of worshipers moved about the grand Pantheon. As he joined others lining up for the door that led to the underground stairs, Allen bumped into another man, causing Allen to drop his assignment paper on the ground.

“Sorry about that,” the stranger said. He quickly reached down and picked up the paper for Allen.

“Thanks,” Allen said to the shorter man.

“You excited about serving Alexandra?” The stranger asked. 

“I don’t think ‘excited’ is the right word.”

“Aww, why not?”

“She’s mean. She kills people for fun, destroys cities, masturbates everywhere. Her and God Brad use their godhood for fun. Not like Goddess Hailee.”

“And Goddess Melissa?”

“Yeah, that’s what I meant. Goddesses Melissa and Hailee treat their godhood the way I imagine gods would. Trying to make the world a better place to live. Not like Alexandra who seems sadistic with her powers.”

“And Brad?”

“Hedonism. Not a noble trait for someone who’s god.”

“I’ll try to do better,” the stranger said. “But don’t tell me any man who’s given godhood wouldn’t have done half the shit I’ve done.”

Allen shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

“Hi, I’m Brad,” he said, sticking out his hand for a shake.

Allen shook Brad’s hand and said, “my name is Allen.”

They released their shake and continued walking with the gaggle down the stairs. “Thank you for not dropping to your knees and praying to me. That shit is really disruptive, y’know? And I don’t get off on it like the girls do. I mean, it’s nice and all, but I don’t really have an addictive personality.”

Allen raised his brow and shook his head again. “Isn’t it blasphemous to pretend you’re a god?”

“I don’t think that’s a rule. You probably made that up.”

Allen gently grabbed the shorter man by the shoulder and pushed him up along a wall so that the other worshipers could walk around them. “Are you pretending you’re God Brad? You fucking with me? I’m not in the mood for this shit right now. I was supposed to serve Goddess Hailee, but now I’m walkin’ down, to what feels like hell, unsure how Alexandra is going to torture us, and now I have someone fucking with me—telling me they’re god.”

“Dude, chill out. Alexandra is not that bad. She’s got a bigger heart than you realize.”

Allen sighed. “Who are you?”

“I’m Brad. God.”

“No, you’re not. You look nothing like him.”

“I know, I know. This is the new Brad, or rather old Brad if you think about it. This is what I actually look like. No more Photoshopping myself to look like a roided out Greek God. What do you think?” Brad extended his arms to show off his average body. Now, Brad didn’t look a hundred percent like his pre-ascension self. He took some liberties in smoothing his skin and getting rid of stubborn fat. But Brad looked like Brad. His past life friends and family would instantly recognize him, versus the over-the-top Adonis body he adopted since becoming a god.

“If you are god, prove it,” Allen said.

“Ooh, are you really testing god, right now?” Brad asked with a smile. “Gods are in their right to punish mortals for questioning them. Hells, gods punish mortals for a lot less.”

“Stop acting like your god. I don’t believe ya.”

“Why did you want to get assigned to Hailee, anyway?”

“I’m devoted to her. I’ve gladly handed my soul to her. I’ve always been fascinated by her since I’ve learned she was a goddess. But what really made me a diehard worshiper, was when she came to my town. Little town far aways from Dallas. Out by nowhere, and without asking for it, she came and fixed our busted-ass roads. Rebuilt our schools after gettin’ hit by a tornado, and cured our sickest citizens. We didn’t even pray to her for it! I mean it when I say my town is in the middle of nowhere. Not even on the map. And she came and helped us in ways we couldn’t even imagine. She was, I don’t know, eight feet tall when she visited us? She seemed so holy. So godly. She ate meals with us at the diner. She talked with us and spent time hanging out, giving us fist bumps. And she wasn’t trying to get anything out of us. She was just this down-to-earth goddess that does good for the little guy. I still get chills thinking about that day. I admire her, man! This was going to be my chance to show my faithfulness to her, in-person. But because Brad ditched on all his servants, it messed up the assignments. I now have to serve someone I don’t want to.”

“Ah, shit, sorry about that. Fuck. I didn’t know they were just going to force everyone on the other goddesses like that. I mean, I guess I could’ve seen it coming, if I focused on it. Seriously, dude, I thought they would’ve just sent all my servants home. I didn’t know it would cause this adverse effect.”

Allen, still not convinced he was talking to god, rolled his eyes and turned away from Brad. He joined the others, walking the many steps down to Alexandra’s lair. Brad jogged up and caught up with the taller man.

“Hey,” Brad said, “I’m sorry. Just stick with me, and I’ll right this situation.”

“There’s nothing you can do. You and I are stuck with Alexandra now.”

“Oh, ye of little faith.” Brad smirked. 

Time passed, and the large group of servants to Alexandra were now in her personal quarters. It was mostly dark in the room. On either side of Alexandra’s room, were these four great pillars of slowly moving lava that flowed from the ceiling and down into two troughs at ground level. Like a really dangerous lava lamp, these pillars illuminated and warmed the underground lair.

The floor was polished stone, almost appearing as brushed steel, and incredibly flat and even. Along the walls were columns made of marble, red curtains that connected each column like arches, and nude statues of Alexandra in revealing poses against the walls. Back center of the room was a grand bed that matched Alexandra’s 150 foot tall stature. The bed was probably the size of two king-sized beds put together. Many pillows and cushions were strewn about. Silky black and red sheets draped over the long bed.

There were many other details and furniture, like a bedside table, a seat with an ottoman, and a table filled with exquisite food that was enlarged to match Alexandra’s scale.

Allen wasn’t in the mood to appreciate the scale of the room, nor how little it made him feel. He was dreading coming face-to-face with Alexandra. Out of the hundred servants in the room, only a fraction truly wanted to be there. The majority shared the same circumstances as Allen and drew the short straw when it came to assignments. 

The crowd of servants collectively gasped as the ground boomed under their feet. Allen’s heart thumped loudly in his chest as he felt Alexandra’s presence fill the room. From behind a pillar, Alexandra walked out, poised and regal. She wore black lingerie with a lacy skirt. Her towering legs and long midriff laid exposed. Her bare feet slapped against the polished floor of her room as she walked towards them. Alexandra’s trademark mischievous smile grew wide as she saw all her servants drop to their knees and start worshiping her.

“Mmm, you all look delicious,” Alexandra said seductively, her voice booming and echoing within her chamber. It was louder than a rock concert and more thundering than an explosion. “We’re all going to have so much fun together. Except, I’ll be having all the fun.”

The worshipers trembled under her decree. Their fear only fed to her celestial high. She stepped close to them. Her enormous toes were only inches from the first row of bowing bodies. As she looked over the mass of humanity in front of her, she fought back against the idea of trampling over them and feeling their bodies pop like grapes under her soles. They all worshiped her and they all feared. All except for…

In a loud whisper from his bowing position, Allen panicked and asked, “Brad, what are you doing? Get on the ground and start praying.”

He pointed a finger at Alexandra with a look of incredulous disbelief and said, “I ain’t praying to that.”

“Dude, you’re going to get us killed. Please get down and pray!”

Alexandra walked around the crowd and headed for the lone man standing in the back. Her bare feet slapping dangerously close to the faithful.

“When a god is in your presence,” Alexandra said, her voice booming in a demonic yet feminine voice, her eyes glowing red in anger, “you get on the fucking floor and pray, mortal insect.”

“Is this really how you talk to your worshipers?” Brad asked, unfazed.

Allen mumbled a curse under his breath and slowly inched himself away from Brad.

Goddess Alexandra flicked her shoulders back, her wings popping out and looming over everyone in the room. “I didn’t think I would have to make an example within seconds of meeting my new slaves.” She said with a smirk. “But I welcome it.”

“Damn, Lexi, you’re cold. I mean, this whole vibe is so cold. I mean, the way you address your worshipers is a little cartoonish. And your room looks like a Spirit Halloween dungeon. Then there’s your outfit—well, your outfit is sexy. Love the wings, as always.”

Upon hearing her nickname, she used her celestial powers to examine the man daring to speak back to her; her initial anger clouded her mind, masking the true nature of the man. “Brad? The fuck are you doing?” she asked.

Brad turned and looked down at Allen, who stared back in shock. “Believe me now?” Brad asked with his arms out and his head popping forward. He walked away from the worshipers, and when space allowed, Brad grew himself. The man swelled in size, a deep hum filling everyone’s ears as his body stretched upwards, his footsteps growing in intensity before finally matching Alexandra’s size.

If there wasn’t already enough trepidation in the room before with Alexandra, it only compounded what the tiny servants were feeling upon seeing Brad with Alexandra together. Some servants crawled away from the four colossal feet that stood before them. They all knew the stories. The constant flings between the giant gods. Los Angeles’ destruction was still fresh in everyone’s mind.

Alexandra crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one side, waiting for Brad to answer her original question.

Brad folded his lips inward, his confidence fading as he stood face-to-face with Alexandra in his true form. He readied himself for Alexandra’s inevitable laughter and mean comments that were sure to mimic that of Roxxy and Candy. Upon revealing to her, she was looking at his true self.

Brad wondered for days how this would go down, following the events in Vegas. He no longer wanted to lie to the world or himself with his fake body. Brad was not the Adonis that mortal women and Alexandra lusted after. He was an average dude, with an average body, that so was blessed with godhood. His horny mind took over his actions, and he lived a fast-paced, hedonistic life for the past year. Brad’s mind was entering a clarity for the first time since ascension; a revelation that his empty life manifested from his fake facade. 

How would Alexandra react? Was the only thing on his mind. They were celestial friends with benefits—Alexandra made that vehemently clear before. Not boyfriend or girlfriend. As a man, thinking with his penis and nothing more, Brad gladly accepted his position and wouldn’t have it any other way. Even now, Brad wanted to continue being Alexandra’s friend with benefit—or fuck buddy. 

But all that was ending when he promised himself he would stay true to himself. He was done being a fake Adonis. And there was no way Goddess Alexandra was going to be fuck-buddy with someone that looked like Brad. And Brad wouldn’t fault her for it. She deserved a hunky god—not him. 

So, the question was, was it more honorable to put the decision on her, or should he break off their fuck-buddy agreement himself? After weighing his options and potential outcome, Brad figured breaking things off himself would be the noble thing to do. It would save him some embarrassment from Alexandra, and it wouldn’t put her in the position of admitting that Adonis Brad—was better than average Brad.

“I guess this is the end,” Brad said. “I mean—y’know, our little agreement we had going on.” There was a momentary pause. “The hook ups and stuff. We don’t have to do it anymore.”

Alexandra raised a brow, the feathers on her wings ruffled. “You want to stop seeing me?” she asked while stepping towards him.

Brad took a step back. “Umm, Lexi, this is what I look like,” he said, pointing at his face. “This is what I really look like. Not that sexy god you’ve been fucking this whole time. I’m sorry.”

She continued walking towards him, a flame building in her eyes. “And because of that, you don’t want to fuck me anymore?”

The tiny servants immediately rose, tumbled, ran, or jumped out of the way as Alexandra’s bare feet came inches from them. It was as if she were ignoring their presence or had forgotten about them. 

“I—yes.” Brad’s back came into contact with a column in the room. Alexandra kept getting closer to him, looking more menacing even though they were the same height. The servants in the room looked on in stunned fear. “I lied and I’m sorry. If there was a way I could take back what I did, I would.”

“Yeah, yeah, shut the fuck up.” Alexandra poked his chest with her index finger. “Why don’t you want to fuck me anymore?”

“Well, y’know?”

“No, I don’t.” She shook her head.

“Because I look like this. I’m not that hunk anymore; I’m going to stop pretending I’m someone I’m not.”

Alexandra rubbed her temples with both her hands. “Wow. So, that’s it. You’re so fucked up, Brad.”

“Huh?”

“What do you take me as? Some shallow bimbo only interested in your fake muscles and ridiculous looking jaw? Huh? That why you think I was fucking you? Not the fact that you’re a god and that I like you. Never crossed your mind that I was spreading my legs for you Brad, and not that obviously fake body you had. I knew that wasn’t you. Fucking hell, not only do you think I’m shallow, you think I’m stupid.”

Brad ran his fingers as Alexandra’s words overwhelmed him. This was one outcome he never foresaw. Alexandra didn’t care about appearances like Candy and Roxxy. She was hooking up with him because of who he was—and that was not the Adonis body. Wait, did she say she liked me? Brad thought. He sighed as a stark realization overcame him. His big mouth just ruined the best relationship of his life—even if it was a friend-with-benefits relationship. He looked down at the servants on the floor; they were frozen, on their hands and knees, but had their necks craned upwards, watching the two gods squabble.

“Wait,” Brad said. “Alexandra, I swear, I said those things, because I thought I was making it easy for you. I didn’t know…”

“I know. You made the worst assumptions about me,” she said, looking down at the servants by her feet. “I should be used to it, right? Nobody thinks highly of me. Nobody wants to be around me. Look at my worshipers. Less than ten of them want to be here right now. They don’t want to be with me. Like you.” She shot him a look and turned to walk away.

Brad ducked quickly to avoid getting struck by one of Alexandra’s wings. Once in the clear, he stood back up and followed Alexandra. “Lexi, wait. He placed a hand on her shoulder that she shrugged off. He pulled back and said, “Lexi, I swear I said those things because I was thinking about you. I didn’t want to put you in an awkward spot. But I fucked up and made things way worse. I’m sorry.”

Alexandra turned back, this time her wing striking him. “Sorry for what? Because you thought I was a superficial airhead, or because I’m stupid and couldn’t tell you were wearing a mask?”

Brad had nothing to say. The worshipers were on edge, waiting for God’s next move. Some simply wanted to get out of there hoping they wouldn’t get caught, others were paying less attention to the squabble and more at the titanic feet that could kill them should they make the wrong move. “I am so sorry, Lexi. How can I make it up to you?” Brad asked.

“You tell me,” she said, cocking her head to the side.

Brad looked around the room. What could he give a goddess that could will whatever she wanted? He then looked down at her feet, at the hundreds of 2.5 inch mortals, ready to serve their goddess. He snapped his fingers and looked back at Alexandra, and said, “I’ll be your servant!”

Some worshipers gasped when they heard that.

Alexandra raised a brow. “Go on.”

“I’ll shrink myself and be like them. I’ll serve and worship you.”

“A god worshiping a goddess?” Alexandra asked with a smirk. “Kinda like the sound of that.”

“If I do that, will you accept my apology? Forget I even brought this shit up and just go back to the way things were? Please.”

“Hmm.” Alexandra thought for a moment. Her eyes darted from the mortals at her feet back up to Brad. “Sure. Be my servant for a month like these mortal insects, and I’ll forgive you for those mean thoughts you had about me.”

“Thank you, thank you Lexi! I’ll hundred percent make it up to you. You’re the best.”

“We’ll see how you feel about that after a month.”

Alexandra folded her wings, effectively making them disappear into her back. She then padded over to the center of the room so she was in front of her tiny servants again. The scheduled meeting in the main throne room was going to happen soon and Alexandra wouldn’t have time to play with her mortals beforehand because of Brad.

“Hey, so,” Brad said, “I kinda gave up my servants the other day, because I didn’t think I wanted them. That means you and the other goddesses got my share. I sorta changed my mind and want them back.” Some servants perked up upon hearing this.

“They’re mine now,” Alexandra said flatly. The servants’ hopes were dashed as soon as they were raised.

“Oh, right.” Brad looked in the back of the crowd and made eye-contact with Allen. “So, because I’m going to be your servant, that means you have one extra. Can I take one of your servants, at least?”

Alexandra shrugged her shoulders and gave Brad a bored expression.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Brad said and walked over to the back of the crowd, his booming steps frightening the worshipers as they were more powerful than Alexandra’s steps. Brad leaned into the crowd and swiped Allen into his hands. “See ya at the meeting!” Brad said to Alexandra.

Alexandra rolled her eyes as Brad took the gods’ exit out of her room.

She then looked down at the crowd of little frightened mortals at her feet. They stared at each other for several uncomfortable moments. The only other sound in the room was coming from the bubbling boil of the lava flowing down at either side of the room. Alexandra then waved her hands as if casting a spell, and a few things happened at once: bean bag chairs, sofas, and beds materialized between the worshipers; then tables loaded with food, from roast pork to fresh vegetables, appeared, along with drinks and fine wine. The worshipers were stunned by the sudden appearance of luxurious furniture and succulent foods appearing around them.

“So, this is how it usually goes down—before I was rudely interrupted,” Alexandra said. “I scare the fuck out of you, which is super fun for me to do, then I say, ‘I know it’s been a long day. Here, take a nap, relax, eat, and get to know each other. You’re going to have a great time with me, and I hope I bust any preconceived notion you had of me.’ But I feel like that moment is gone. Anyway, I have a boring-ass meeting to go to. We’ll catch up later.”

-

Brad walked up to the Pantheon and headed to Hailee’s chambers. He circled around the main throne room and took extra care with his steps, ensuring his path was clear of any tiny worshipers that may have strayed too far from the main hall. He came upon Hailee’s door, which was personalized to look like her bedroom door she had before her ascension. It was a cheap door, painted white, sticking out like a sore thumb compared to the splendor around the Pantheon.

Brad knocked on her door and stood by patiently. He could hear Hailee getting up from her bed and some stuff getting knocked over as she skipped to the door. Hailee answered the door and stood in front of Brad, wearing a silk pink bathrobe and nothing else. Her eyes locked with Brad, and then she looked up and down his body.

“It’s me, Hailee. It’s Brad,” he said.

“Brad?”

“Yeah,” he said with a shy sigh. “Listen, I need to apologize to you—and everyone for that matter. Ever since we became gods, I’ve been faking what I look like. With our powers, I didn’t want people to see the real me. I changed myself to look like, what I think people pictured a god looks like, and I—”

“Say no more,” she said with a smile, sensing his unease. “Brad, I went through the same thing. Hell, I think we all have. Four random humans given the power of god, who wouldn’t want to fool around with it at first? Just be who you feel comfortable being. There’s no need to apologize to me for anything.”

“You’re so cool, Hailee.” He nodded slowly with a smile. “I can see why many devote themselves to you.”

“I don’t know why.” She laughed, her cheeks blushing. “I can’t even get my ex to like me. But I’m not complaining.”

Brad glanced down at Hailee’s bare feet. Half her toenails were painted. “Having fun with your servants?”

“Who wants to know?” Hailee asked, full of giggles. “They insist on being my servants and they insist on serving me. I’m not gonna fight back on that.”

“Speaking of servants, I got another one for you.” Brad lifted his palm up to Hailee, revealing a frightened 2.5 inch tall man. “His name is Allen, and he says he’s your biggest devotee. There was a mixup, and he ended up with Alexandra by mistake. He said he wanted to serve your every whim and take care of your every need.”

Hailee reached out and plucked the tiny worshiper from Brad. “Allen? I remember you… I felt your presence earlier today when I went outside—and I could tell you were praying really hard to me. Well, welcome to team Hailee, little one,” she said with a wide smile.

Allen was awestruck. Goddess Hailee was holding him in her hands! His whole body shook as he got on his hands and knees and started worshiping his goddess from her large palm.

“And there he goes,” Brad said.

“Aww, look at him,” Hailee purred.

Brad’s booming voice almost knocked Allen over. Allen balanced himself and looked up at Hailee, who smiled adoringly at him as if he were a baby kitten. He then looked up at Brad behind him and mouthed ‘thank you’ to the giant god. Brad gave him a wink.

Allen stood in wonder, feeling overwhelmed as he gazed up at the titanic faces of the two gods looming above him. They peered down at him with amusement as they cooed at his tiny form, treating him like an adorable pet in their colossal presence. The surreal experience of being the focus of such gigantic beings, who found his mortal stature endearing, left Allen in a state of disbelief, caught feeling both insignificant and special under their gaze.

“Bad news everyone,” Goddess Melissa said, her thunderous voice filling the halls as she walked up from behind Brad. “Or good news depending on how you see it.” 

The leader of all gods joined the duo, wearing a business outfit: heels, skirt, shirt, and blouse. All tailored from expensive, artisan crafted wool and fine linen. Her buttoned blue shirt was free of wrinkles and tightly hugged her large breasts. “We’re canceling our meeting for today.” She then looked at Brad’s appearance and said, “I love the new look, Brad.” She rubbed his arm and gave it an affirming squeeze. 

Brad smiled back and thanked Melissa.

Allen swallowed the lump forming in his throat. Now, Goddess Melissa was right in front of him. The mature woman’s beauty took his breath away. He recited Melissa’s prayer out of fear and didn’t dare look up at her.

“May I ask why we’re canceling?” Hailee asked. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Family emergency.” Melissa said, “I have to head back home to Brooklyn.”

Alarmed, Brad asked, “home? What is it?”

“It’s the building where my family lives and all my stuff is at. But that’s not important right now. I almost forgot about the dinner I promised my son—and I have to be there, otherwise I won’t hear the end of it.”

“Must be an important dinner,” Brad said. “You never cancel our meetings. Not that I’m questioning you or anything in the slightest, Melissa.”

“I know, I know. My son is bringing his girlfriend over—not for the first time, but it’ll be the first time she’s not sneaking into my home.”

Hailee and Brad exchanged scandalous glances with one another.

“Oh, shut up,” Melissa said as she gently shoved Brad’s arm back with a smile. “I have to face the fact that my little boy is growing so fast and he’s got a girlfriend. And soon he’ll get married, move out of the house, and will forget about me.”

“He won’t forget about you,” Hailee said. “Nobody in the world could possibly ‘forget’ about you.”

“Yeah, I know I’m being a little melodramatic. Anyways, I should leave now, but first, I have to find Alexandra and tell her.”

“Tell me what?” Alexandra asked, joining the trio.

Allen lifted his head, almost having a stroke upon hearing Alexandra’s voice. He was shaking so hard his vision blurred. He turned and saw Alexandra walking up towards him. She went with a Greek God motif, and was wearing a red toga with a gold tiara in her black hair. Hailee was still holding Allen up in front of her, and with the other gods joining the conversation, he was in the center of it all. The chests of all four gods flanked him from all sides. Their powerful, booming voices came from every direction like a violently loud concert hall. Who did he pray to? Melissa, the leader; Hailee, his owner; or Alexandra, his original owner? Brad was the only neutral god in the bunch.

“Meeting is canceled,” Hailee said. Her clamorous voice made Allen jump in her palm.

“Enjoy the free day,” Melissa said. “We’ll meet up tomorrow, same time, okay?” Melissa asked, pointing at each god. Her eyes fell on Allen and could see the tiny thing about to pass out from fear. “Hey,” she said with a soothing, toned down voice. She extended a finger and ran it down the side of the man. “No need to be scared. There’s nothing to fear here. Also, thank you for your prayer. Didn’t think I’d notice you, huh?” 

Allen looked up and saw Goddess Melissa, not only talking directly at him, but she was comforting him with her finger. He felt his fear melt away and be replaced with complete admiration for Melissa. Allen didn’t see a giant woman in front of him—instead, he saw a benevolent goddess, in the literal sense of the word. There were conflicting emotions running through his soul. Did he, maybe, want to devote himself to Goddess Melissa instead?

“Aww, he’s cute, Hailee,” Melissa said. “I’m assuming he’s your worshiper.”

“Yup.”

“You’re lucky, I can sense a lot of love in him.”

Alexandra interrupted and said, “he should’ve been my worshiper.” She turned to Brad and asked, “is that the traitor you grabbed from my room?”

“Come on, Lexi,” Brad said. “I told you there was a mistake. He’s Hailee’s. Always was.”

Allen felt relieved he had Brad on his side, despite the shaky way they first met.

“Eh, whatever,” Alexandra said. “His loss.”

Still in the halls in front of Hailee’s room, the gods said a few more words, before Melissa insisted she had to leave at that moment. The entire time, Allen was turning his head a complete 360 degrees, trying to keep up with the gods speaking around him.

Melissa vanished, transporting herself back to New York. Hailee took Allen inside her room and gently closed her door, intending to give him an unforgettable night. 

That left Brad alone with Alexandra.

“I guess that means,” Brad said, “I’m worshiping you for the rest of the day, my goddess.” He bowed.

“We start tomorrow,” Alexandra said. “I’ll be giving my little slaves an orientation that you don’t need to be a part of.”

“Orientation? Gonna torture them with a PowerPoint presentation while you’re at it?”

“Keep talking, Braddy boy. We’ll see how your attitude changes when I stick your tiny body up my ass.”

“Lexi, please, please don’t threaten me with a good time.”

Alexandra kissed two of her fingers and then brought them up to Brad’s lip. She pressed her digits into his lip until they squished against his teeth. “Get some sleep, slave.”

Alexandra left Brad alone and walked back to her lair. Brad stood in the halls with an erection. “That was fucking hot,” he said. He scratched the back of his neck and wondered what to do for the rest of the day. There was nothing waiting for him in his room; no servants or worshipers to play with. Nothing back home in Cali. 

Brad then thought back to when he met Allen. The mortal had no clue who he was. Actually, no one in the Pantheon knew who he was. There was fun to be had there, right? He asked himself. He could mix into society with no one knowing he was god. Brad felt up his arms and looked at his chest. What would it be like to improve his body the old-fashioned, mortal way? Once he decided about how to spend the rest of the day, he vanished from the Pantheon in an instant.

4. Gym, Gains, & God

Brad wasn’t sure how the gym was going to work, but was determined to experiment and have a little fun. As a god, he had innate abilities he didn’t even control. If someone were to shoot him with a gun, the bullet would flatten against his body. If a freight train were to strike him, the train would split in half. He could swim underwater with no need for oxygen. Go without food for years, or drink a barrel of whiskey without getting alcohol poisoning. Point was, Brad was immortal. It didn’t matter if he was wearing the Adonis persona or not. Nor if he were 1000 feet or 5’9”. He was an all-powerful, immortal god.

And that also meant he had unlimited strength. The gods learned quickly that controlling their strengths was paramount. The gods destroyed many doors during their first week. Melissa tore the door to her SUV clean off, forgetting to temper her powers. Hailee had broken every door in her mom’s home in Florida, crushing door knobs in her fist or plowing through the wooden doors like they were curtains—all accidents.

Brad knew he could lift the roof off the gym if he didn’t tone down his strength. It would take some cunning to use his muscles, and only his muscles, to lift the weights, but that was part of the fun with his experiment.

Brad entered the 24 hour gym in his per-ascension height of 5’9” while wearing normal workout clothes. He checked his watch and ensured the timer was counting down for 2 hours. Once his watch goes off, he’d need to grow back up a minimum of nine feet tall.

It felt—strange using his natural muscles. It felt like his muscles were atrophied and that he was using them for the first time. Even opening the glass door to the gym felt like a chore.

“I hope this wasn’t a mistake,” he said to himself.

The gym was loud and bright. Fast tempo music blared, and the clamoring sounds of weights dropping assaulted his ears. He gazed across the gym and wondered what he should work out first. Was it an arms day? Legs? Maybe a full-body workout day? Then he saw an open area where a few people were stretching. Of course, he thought to himself. I can’t lift without stretching first.

Brad walked over to the mats and sat on his bottom and mimicked the stretches of the other gym patrons. He didn’t know what he was stretching or what purpose some moves served, but he kept going along with it. The others doing their stretches ignored Brad at first, but they caught on he was copying their every move. Two women, who were together, snickered and giggled amongst each other as they saw Brad trying hard to stretch his groin, but failing to position his legs correctly. They moved on and left Brad alone, not sure what to think of him.

“Okay, what’s first?” he asked.

He looked around the gym and saw the cable machines free in the center of the gym. They looked fun with all their pulleys and black cables going every which way. Brad started with the tricep extension. Another patron left the pin set near the bottom. Brad didn’t know what he was capable of, so he just tried the exercise. He pulled the rope down and extended his tricep. It felt light. Like super light.

“Am I doing this right?” he asked.

He looked at the graphic printed on the machine and confirmed he was doing the workout properly. He looked at the weight he was lifting: 180 pounds. That sounded heavy. He was lifting 18 plates and his arms were pretty tiny.

“Oops, that’s definitely not right.”

Without thinking, Brad was using his god strength to move the weights. He focussed on his triceps and had his flesh and blood muscles move the actual weight. He gripped the ropes tightly in his fist and pulled down. It didn’t budge in the slightest.

“Fuck yeah! I did it.”

Brad moved the pin to 50 pounds. He couldn’t get it to budge. It was still too heavy for him. He moved the pin to 20, but it was still too heavy. He grew concerned when he had to set the pin to 10 pounds, the lightest setting. Brad performed the movement, and this time pulled the rope down. But it was challenging, and his triceps were struggling with each rep. Brad got six reps in before he gave up.

“I can’t be that weak. The hell is wrong with me?”

This continued with several exercises. Brad didn’t cheat with his powers, and used his natural muscles to do the workouts. He had to lift at the lowest setting for each workout. Each exercise felt like the fight of his life. A pure physical challenge he hadn’t felt since his ascension. It wasn’t just his arms either, his legs were equally weak. His hamstrings knotted up after his first leg press, which had zero weights on them.

Every exercise, every rep, discouraged Brad. An hour had passed since he began working out and at that point, Brad noticed the stares. The other patrons looked on in wonder at this grown-ass man, struggling to lift light weights that were peanuts. Even children would breeze through the weights he was struggling to put up. People watching Brad wondered if he was for real, or was he was playing a game with everyone.

Then he heard the snickering. The all too familiar laughs that were at his expense. He recognized the tone, the infliction, the attempt to hush or conceal it. Are they recording me? Brad asked himself. He thought he saw a smartphone pointing at him. What was it going to be? TikTok or Instagram. It wasn’t enough to laugh at him at the gym. Were they going to share it on the internet, so a global audience could laugh at him?

Brad got up from the bench and slipped between two Smith machines. He mumbled and swore quietly while leaning his arm on the machine and resting his forehead on it. He wanted to leave the gym and end his stupid experiment. Or maybe just start using his godly powers and reverse everyone’s opinion about him. He could start lifting stacks of weights without breaking a sweat, and then he’ll impress everyone. He’ll just say he was warming up, or those previous sets were just a joke. Of course he’s strong. He’s actually super strong—and then he’d bench 405 with one arm.

He sighed as he forgot about that idea. If he used his godly powers to lift monster weight, wouldn’t he just be faking it for everyone at the gym? How would that differ from his Adonis persona? The experiment, the point of being at the gym, was to use his real muscles to workout like a mortal.

And the experiment was a failure.

He wanted to leave and go back to the Pantheon and forget this day. There was no point in working out as a god, especially if people were just going to laugh at him. And there was no point in using his super strength to lift weights, because that was just a major fake. He didn’t belong at the gym.

“Hey, you okay there?”

Brad turned and looked down at a short woman that was staring back at him. “Sorry,” he said. “Were you on this? I’ll get out of your way.”

“No, no, I was just checking on you.”

“Oh. Did I do something wrong?”

She smiled warmly. “Not at all, no—”

“Okay,” he said, interrupting her. “I’m done here anyway, I’ll be out of your way now.”

“Done with the machine, or done with the gym?”

Brad looked down, unable to keep eye contact with the short woman. “Both.”

“May I ask why?”

“I’ve decided the gym isn’t for me. Like, I don’t belong here and I feel so out of place. Fuck, I should’ve just stayed home and streamed a movie. Pardon my language.”

“This is your first time at the gym?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you do deserve to be here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your decision to be here is a gigantic step towards self-improvement. The real challenge isn’t just lifting weights; it’s the commitment to stay in the gym and keep coming back. That’s where true progress happens.”

“Yeah, but—” Brad said, but this time, the woman interrupted him.

“No ‘buts.’ Lemme help you out.”

“Thanks but—you gotta know, people are laughing at me here. If they see you help me, they’re gonna think—”

“Nobody is laughing at you.”

“Yeah they are.”

“You’re at the gym. Nobody laughs at another person for trying to improve themselves. I think you’re imagining things. And if people were laughing at you? Fuck ‘em.” She smiled up at him. “My name is Camila, by the way.” She extended her hand for a shake.

“My name is Brad,” he said, shaking her hand.

Camila took Brad on a quick tour of the gym. Explaining the difference between free weights, cables, and machines, and giving her opinion on each. She was rather short, probably five foot tall, even. She had a nice lower body and filled her leggings beautifully. Her workout clothes were tasteful and far from the over-the-top clothing Instagram influencers wore.

She took her time teaching Brad how to perform each lift. He sat at a bench and did shoulder presses with 5 pound dumbbells in each hand. At no time did Camila emasculate or tease Brad. She helped him with the weights by standing behind him and helping him through the motions. She was close enough for Brad to smell her sweet scent and feel her tender breath. They went through a series of arm and leg workouts. Camile patiently taught Brad the ins-and-outs of each workout and muscle building theories.

“Why are you helping me?” Brad asked between sets.

“Oh, because—I love the gym and I like helping people that share the same interest in me. I saw you, wondering from exercise to exercise. It almost looked like you were about to give up, and I wanted to help you. It’d be a shame if you quit after one day.”

“I was about to quit.”

“That makes me glad I came up to you,” Camila said. “So, what made you decide to come to the gym? Trying to look good for your girlfriend or wife?”

“Nah, I’m single. I just wanted to see what it’s like lifting and growing muscles,” he said. He then looked up at her, since he was seated on a leg extension machine and she was standing. “It’s hard work. I have a lot of respect for people that come in everyday and do this.”

Camila giggled. “So… are you coming in tomorrow?” she asked.

“Yeah, why not? You taught me a lot and I think I got this.”

“Are you planning on coming at the same time? Because I’ll be here, same time tomorrow.”

“I don’t know, I guess.”

She sighed. “Brad, maybe you can give me your number? And you can text me when you think you’ll be here tomorrow.”

Brad stopped exercising on the leg extension and looked up at Camila inquisitively. “My number?”

Camila gave a slow nod with a smirk, encouraging him to put the pieces together.

“Yeah, I have a number.” He didn’t have a number. Brad reached into the pockets of his shorts and materialized a cell phone in secret. It came complete with an unlimited data plan and, importantly, a number. Brad swiped through the phone quickly and gave Camila his brand new cell number. She typed it into her phone and sent Brad a text. “Whoa.”

“What?”

“You really wanted my number.”

“Don’t read too much into it. We’re just gym buddies, ‘kay?” Camila asked.

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Brad said. He was feeling a genuine high. His true looks didn’t repel a woman like he thought it did. Ever since Camila started talking to him, Brad didn’t think she’d be remotely interested in him because of his pre-ascension looks or weak muscles. But here he was, in the guise of a mortal collecting the number off a girl. “Thanks Camila. I can’t wait to do this again tomorrow.”

“Don’t mention it,” she said with a smile. “Hey, you got a nickname or something?”

“No, just Brad. Why?”

“Oh, you know. You share a name with that jerk.”

“Umm, what jerk?”

“That so-called god.”

“You—you think he’s a jerk?”

“Oops, I’m sorry, do you ‘worship’ him or something?”

“No, no.”

“Good. I can’t believe anyone would worship that assclown. He’s such an awful person. Fucking pig, sleeping with every woman in existence. And then, of course, there’s what happened in LA. Thousands dead just so he can fuck an equally disturbing, so-called god.”

“Oh,” Brad said after a pause, but trying hard to hide his disappointment. “Not a fan of Brad or Alexandra. I guess you worship Melissa or Hailee?”

“I don’t ‘worship’ anyone.”

“You’re a non-believer?” Brad asked, feeling his heart drop.

“I guess that’s what they call us,” Camila looked up from her phone and at the concern on Brad’s face. “Oh, shoot, is this a deal breaker?”

“What? No.” Brad said. He could sense her trying to determine his sincerity. “Of course not. I’m really happy to have met you Camila. Same time tomorrow?”

Camila smiled. “Yup!”

Brad’s watch beeped, signaling the end of his timer. “Oh shit.”

1. Prologue

Title on Screen: “Understanding Our Gods”

Second Title Appears: “On the Subject of Worship”

Disclaimer: First aired 2 months ago.

Narrator (Voice-Over): “In this segment of our ten-part documentary on the new gods, we delve into the enigmatic concept of worship. We join Professor Stanley; once an ostracized professional within the Theological community, since the ascension of the new gods, scientists and theologians now consider his, once outlandish, theories and books as the greatest source of understanding the gods and the universe. He is now a renowned and respected expert on divine phenomena. We join him in his office for an insightful discussion.”

Scene: Professor Stanley’s cluttered office, walls lined with books and artifacts related to the gods.

Interviewer: “Professor Stanley, thank you for joining us. Today, we’re exploring a crucial aspect of our new gods: their need for worship. Could you shed some light on this?”

Professor Stanley: “Thank you for having me. Worship, you say?” (He kicks up his feet on his desk and leans back in his chair.) “Ah, I love talking worship. Nothing has changed the world so much—changed everyone’s daily life so much—than the concept of worship. I mean, sure, there are visible gods walking among us and that’s shaken everyone to the core. But everyday now, each one of us prays to a god of our choosing. Who do you worship, by the way?”

Interviewer: “Oh, to remain impartial in this documentary, I’d rather not say. I’m sure you would like to remain impartial and not say—”

Professor Stanley: “Goddess Hailee, all the way. Y’know, she was a student of mine?”

Interviewer: “We … we know, Professor. You’ve stated that many times already.”

Professor Stanley: “I have?”

Interviewer: “So, why is worship so important to these gods?”

Professor Stanley: “Well, imagine suddenly finding out you’re a god. It’s not all about throwing thunderbolts or walking on clouds. It’s more like being the greatest rockstar ever to exist at a concert, and having the crowds go wild for who you are. Worship, in this context, is the applause, the cheers, the standing ovation they crave.”

Interviewer: “It sounds quite emotional.”

Professor Stanley: “Sure is. These gods they might be celestial beings now, but they still have their human origins. Worship to them is like water to a parched throat. It’s affirming, reassuring. Without it, they’d feel like that great rockstar, but at an empty concert that no one attended—standing tall, but terribly alone.”

Interviewer: “Is it fair to say, then, that worship is a source of power for them?”

Professor Stanley: “Eh … no.” (He removes his feet from his desk and leans forward.) “Hailee and I’ve worked a lot together. Y’know, trying to understand more of her godhood. And I’m ninety percent sure that worship does not equal power. From what we gathered through experiments, worship is like the bond between gods and mortals, the very thread that connects their divinity with our humanity.”

Interviewer: “But why do they feel this need so deeply?”

Professor Stanley: “Well, think of it like this—ever had a birthday where no one remembered? It’s that feeling of being forgotten, multiplied by a cosmic scale. They’ve ascended to these great heights, yet what good is it if there’s no one to acknowledge it? No one to share it with?”

Interviewer: “So, worship is their way of staying connected with humans?”

Professor Stanley: “Part of it, yes. It’s not just about being revered; it’s about feeling seen, feeling linked to the world they once walked as mortals. Worship is the proof that they matter, not just as gods, but as former humans who walked among us.”

Interviewer: “That’s a unique way to put it, Professor. It seems worship is more than just a ritual; it’s a lifeline.”

Professor Stanley: “Exactly! And without it, well, they might as well be shouting into the void. Worship is what keeps them tethered, not just to their powers, but to us, to life itself. You see, power can be cold, impersonal. But worship? That’s warm, it’s personal.”

Interviewer: “And if they don’t get their worship?”

Professor Stanley: “Every god treats non-believers differently, as it affects them differently. Some, more so than others.”

Narrator (Voice-Over): “A compelling insight from Professor Stanley, reminding us that even gods seek connection. Stay with us as we continue to explore the divine intricacies in ‘Understanding the New Gods.’”

Title on Screen: “Understanding Our Gods - A Documentary Series”

2. Dinner Party

“Ugh. Let’s try this again.”

Nine tourists, each hailing from different walks of life, enjoying a New York adventure, made their way to the Brooklyn Bridge where their camera clicked away as they photographed the brick and steel structure during sunset. Without warning, their reality shifted abruptly when Melissa transported them to an entirely different world. Suddenly, they were no longer the observers, but the observed—shrunken to a mere half-inch tall. They scurried across a vast expanse of bed, which now seemed like an endless white desert. Under their feet were pristine Egyptian white-cotton sheets, threads though magnified, still soft under their tiny forms.

At the onset, it didn’t seem like these nine unique individuals shared any commonality; however, they all shared a silent bond—each one was a skeptic of the new gods. They were unconvinced by that Melissa and her crew were the gods they claimed to be. Now, ironically, Melissa upended their lives through divine intervention.

Melissa perched herself on the edge of her bed, one leg elegantly extended atop the mattress, while the other dangled over the side, her bare foot firmly grounded on the floor. She wore a simple yet charming black dress with a floral pattern on it; the fabric draped gracefully over her form, her smooth legs laid bare and her cleavage popping out.

“My little darlings.” Goddess Melissa’s voice was like rolling thunder. It rattled their bodies as they ran from her titanic body. “You know it hurts me so much when you refuse to believe I’m god. All I’m asking—is for you to believe I’m god and to devote your souls to me willingly. Because if you don’t, I’ll be forced to take it myself here and now. You don’t want that. I don’t want that. Please, I’m giving you one last chance.”

Her leg on her bed created a barrier to the tiny non-believers, and her fingers toyed with them, herding them to the center of the bed. The tiny mortals ran with all their might, trying to navigate the luxurious sheets. Her leg and foot in the distance looked like a mountain range. Her fingers deftly and swiftly came down from above like unpredictable tornados emerging from the heavens. The miniature people could not stop and rest as her fingers kept them dashing around her bed alongside her legs. She was like a cat playing with her prey.

“I have a special dinner soon. And I won’t be able to enjoy my meal, y mi familia, if I have so many non-believers walking in my neighborhood. Worship me. Devote your souls to me, and I will forgive you and love you—unconditionally. You will return back where you came from, and will be free to enjoy your lives. I’ve given you plenty of chances. Make your last choice, now.”

Her last words were enough for three tourists to stop running and drop to their knees. Melissa convinced them successfully, and they were sure she was a goddess and not some maligned freak with powers. Right on her bed, in her presence, they prayed and devoted their souls to the goddess for all of eternity. They instantly vanished and returned to the Brooklyn Bridge, unhurt physically, but a little wiser about challenging the new gods. There, on the bridge, they bowed their heads and silently thanked Melissa for their second chance in life.

The other stubborn tourists had their reasons not to believe Melissa was a god. Be it a strong conviction for the old-world religions, the thought that Melissa and the others were actually Satan testing humanity, or that they were something like superheroes with egos so inflated they thought they were literal gods. Whatever their reasoning, they flat out refused to believe Melissa, or the others, were gods.

But their non-beliefs in the new gods weren’t benign. To Melissa and the other gods, a non-believer’s presence was like having an un-scratchable itch, a sneeze that would never come, or an eye twitch that would never cease. A malaise so annoying, it was the only thing on the minds of a god. And unless they dealt with the non-believers, it would never go away. This was especially true for Melissa compared to all the gods. She simply could not—would not tolerate non-believers in her over-arching proximity. But as compassionate as she was, she always gave them a chance to repent; sometimes multiple chances. Though the conversion rate from non-belief to belief was extremely slim—there was always that chance. Three out of nine was impressive for her latest batch.

Melissa plucked a woman from the crowd between her massive digits and flicked her into her mouth. “Mmm.” She toyed with her flailing body. The tip of her tongue pressed the woman against the roof of her mouth and ran her against the ridges there, causing the woman to wail in pain. Melissa swallowed her while she plucked two more. She daintily placed them on her tongue as if they were a decadent piece of chocolate. Melissa continued to moan as a burst of exquisite flavors came rushing out with their fears and anguish. One mortal slipped under her tongue, while the other rubbed against her taste buds. Her mouth flooded with saliva. She swished them around her mouth one last time and swallowed them with her saliva.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her bedroom door. “Honey?” Alejandro asked. He was about to twist open the doorknob when Melissa looked over, squinted her eyes, and telepathically locked the bedroom door. “Almost ready? Because Carlos says Vanessa is almost here.” He felt the locked door and resorted to simply speaking through the closed bedroom door.

“Almost done.” Melissa scooped the last three non-believers into her hand. “I’ll be right out. Need any help?”

“I got it, honey. Dinner’s almost done.”

“Sounds good.”

Alejandro walked away, his steps fading down the hallway. Melissa rose to her towering eight-foot tall stature and padded to the bathroom. After dipping her head in the doorframe, she dropped the last three non-believers on her bathroom counter as she looked herself over in the mirror. She ran her fingers through her hair and noticed one of the tiny mortals on his hands and knees.

“You know,” she said, “as god, I can tell if your worship is genuine or not. Trying to humor me with fake praise is more insulting than not accepting me as god.”

Melissa grabbed the man and tossed him in her mouth like popcorn. He landed in the back of her throat and tumbled underneath her giant uvula as he slipped down her throat; she swallowed. His puny form was barely a lump showing through her slender neck. Finished with her hair, Melissa adjusted the top of her dress and squeezed her breasts together to center her cleavage in the plunging neckline of her dress. Satisfied with her divine appearance, Melissa grabbed the last two non-believers from the counter and popped them in her mouth.

-

Melissa exited the bedroom, her head diving under the doorframe as she entered the hallway of their two-story apartment. She headed for the stairs and as she walked by her son’s room, she could hear him still getting ready for dinner. Melissa sensed Vanessa was exiting the elevator and only several paces away from the apartment’s front door. Goddess Melissa glided down the stairs, swallowed the two screaming non-believers in her mouth, and opened the front door before Vanessa could knock.

The goddess looked down at the tiny young woman with a cherishing smile and stood silently while she clasped her hands together in front of her hips. In that moment, the two non-believers landed in her stomach and wailed in pain as her divine stomach acid melted their bodies over the next excruciating minute.

Goddess Melissa’s presence never ceased to amaze Vanessa. Even putting Melissa’s beauty and stature aside, she had a divine quality that was hard to pinpoint. Like a glow or aura that followed her, making her sharply different from mortals. Her mind blanked as she stood star struck by the goddess. She stood still, taking in the goddess’s inviting smile and presence, allowing her soul to bond with the deity before her.

Melissa gave her a subtle, encouraging nod.

It was enough to break Vanessa’s trance. Protocols with deities came rushing back to Vanessa. In an instant, she dropped to the floor, bowed her head, and recited  Melissa’s prayer. Melissa took a deep breath as she absorbed the worship.

“Vanessa, thank you for coming,” Melissa said. “Levántate and give me a hug, honey.”

Vanessa obeyed Melissa and wrapped her arms around the eight-foot tall goddess. Her eyes were level with Melissa’s navel, prompting Melissa to bend significantly as if she were hugging a child. Melissa’s embrace felt loving and welcoming; Vanessa felt her legs grow weak and almost hoped that Melissa would lift her up so she could take a nap in her arms. The sound of Carlos running down the stairs and up behind Melissa broke Vanessa’s fixation on the goddess.

“What’s going on?” Carlos asked.

Melissa let go of Vanessa and turned to face her son. Vanessa adjusted the strap to her purse on her shoulder and hooked her hair behind her ear.

“Mom?” Carlos asked. “Don’t tell me you made Vanessa pray to you.”

“Carlito, what’s with that tone?”

“Did you seriously make her pray to you just now? Come on, mom. Vanessa is my girlfriend and your guest.”

“I didn’t make her, she chose to worship me.” Melissa turned and looked down at Vanessa and asked, “isn’t that right?”

“It’s okay, Carlos,” Vanessa said. “I like worshiping your mom.”

“Vanessa, please never say that again. And, Mom, please, my girlfriend doesn’t have to pray to you every time she visits. She should be free to come and go, without having to kiss the floor at your—why aren’t you wearing any shoes?”

Melissa placed one hand on her hip and scratched her head with the other. “M’hijo, why are you so upset? What did I do?”

Carlos ignored his tall mom and walked around her to join Vanessa. He grabbed his girlfriend’s hand and pulled her into the apartment after slamming the front door. He dragged Vanessa to the living room while she nervously looked up at Melissa behind her.

“Come on, Vanessa,” he said. “Let’s get this over with.”

They sat on the couch together. Vanessa felt tensions rise as Melissa followed and sat on the couch opposite of them. Her large posterior sitting across two couch cushions. Melissa crossed her legs, her barefoot with black painted nails visible to the couple. She used her hand to iron out the creases in her dress. Vanessa, feeling the eyes of both Carlos and Melissa on her, nervously took off her purse and jacket, setting it to her side on the couch.

“Thank you for coming, Vanessa,” Melissa said. “I’ve been looking forward to having you over.”

Vanessa was about to speak, but Carlos interrupted.

“Are you making dinner, mom?”

“Your dad is.”

“Dad’s cooking? You’re making dad cook?”

“I’m not making him cook. He wanted to cook.”

“But you’re a god. Can’t you just blink us some Michelin-star food instead of making dad slave in the kitchen?”

“M’hijo, your dad has been looking forward to cooking this meal. I won’t take that away from him.”

Carlos sat with his arms crossed, looking straight ahead and avoiding eye-contact with his mother. Vanessa’s eyes shifted from mother to son, surprised that Carlos could talk to his mother like that and not get turned into a pillar of salt.

“So, Vanessa,” Melissa said, “how long have you been dating my son?”

“Aaand here come the twenty questions.” Carlos said.

“M’hijo, is there anything I can do or say that won’t upset you?”

Carlos got up to his feet. “Yeah. You can start by changing your clothes. You’re my mom, and you’re showing way too much skin. Second, dad’s been cooking in the kitchen all day. You haven’t helped him with anything. Not even setting up the table. Third, come clean about this dinner, mom. Admit you just want to use this to interrogate Vanessa. To see if she’s worthy of dating god’s son.”

Melissa rose to her feet to match her son, though she loomed over him and everything in the living room. Vanessa sunk deeper into the couch and trembled at the sight of Melissa’s annoyed expression. The lights flickered on and off in the apartment as Melissa took a deep breath.

“I’ve had this dress since before I was a god, m’hijo. I used to wear it when your dad’s parents invited us over to dinner.” Melissa brushed the dress with her hands and returned to her seat on the couch. “It still fits after all these years. I wore this dress tonight, because of what it symbolizes to me. I think it’s cute watching Vanessa coming to dinner to meet the parents—the same way I did with your dad. That is all. Please, m’hijito, I just want to have a peaceful dinner as a family. Your dad loves to host and cook and I wanted to meet the new woman in my son’s life. That’s it.”

Carlos rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Let’s just get this stupid dinner over with.”

Vanessa tugged on Carlos’s arm and said, “Please don’t talk back to your mother; it’s disrespectful. And it hurts me hearing you talk like that.”

Carlos looked at his mother and squinted his eyes. “Mom, did you make her say that?”

Melissa lifted her arms and gave him an expression like, what did I do?

“She didn’t, Carlos,” Vanessa said. And then in a whisper she said, “Please say sorry to your mom.”

Carlos shook his head and grunted. Without saying a word, he headed to the kitchen in a huff. That left Melissa alone with Vanessa. Melissa’s cool attitude and tender smile she gave Vanessa, shocked her. The goddess remained seated with her legs crossed and her hands folded neatly on her knees. How could the most powerful, important being in the universe be so calm after that episode with her son?

“Goddess?”

“Yes, Vanessa?”

“I was wondering …” Vanessa rubbed her hands together as she fidgeted on the couch. “I can’t explain it. But I really want to get on the floor and worship you.”

“Oh, honey.” Melissa’s smile never faded. She looked over her shoulders and towards the kitchen before looking down at Vanessa. “I would love that, but if Carlos saw you—he’d blame me for making you worship me.”

Vanessa nodded silently and her eyes shifted down to the bottom corner.

In a whisper, Melissa said, “Oh, honey, I can tell you really want to. How can I deny a mortal a chance to pray to their god? Okay, quickly, before anyone sees. Crawl on the floor here. In front of my feet. That’s it. Okay, good. You may worship me.” Melissa leaned back on the couch. She grabbed a glass of red wine floating in the air next to her and drank, as she felt Vanessa’s intoxicating devotion envelop her.

-

Carlos burst into the kitchen as his dad was pulling out the roast chicken from the oven. He wore an apron and had oven mitts on. His tablet played music while he zipped around the kitchen, preparing each dish.

“Dad, what did mom tell you about this dinner?”

“Hello to you too, m’hijo.”

“Come on, dad. What’s mom up to?”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re just having dinner together. Finally. As a familia.”

“That’s right! We never have family dinners together, but now she conveniently has time for her family? It’s because my girlfriend is here. That’s the only reason she’s here.”

“I guess your girlfriend should come around more, huh?” Alejandro pulled out two chickens out of the roasting pan and placed them on a plate to rest. He then checked on the Spanish rice and corn he was boiling. An emergency notification popped on his tablet. Once he was temporarily free of cooking, he checked the message. “Oh, boy. Look at that.”

“Something wrong?” Carlos asked, growing concerned as his dad looked at his tablet despondently.

“Looks like Alex and Brad. Los Angeles this time.”

“Los Angeles? What is it?”

“It’s a city in California, but that’s not important right now. Looks like Alex and Brad made a little mess downtown. Promise me you won’t google it later. These pictures are a little graphic.”

“Goddamn … gods.” Carlos shook his head. “Will mom ever do anything about those two?”

“I’ll talk to her about it. Do everyone a favor and don’t bring them up at dinner, okay?”

-

The only sounds coming from the dinner table were the clinking and clattering of cutlery on plates. The absence of conversation spoke to the tension hanging heavily in the air. Melissa, still eight-feet tall, sat at one end of the table. Alejandro sat across from her. Carlos to her left and Vanessa to her right. The table was decorated with a white cloth, candles, and two small vases with flowers from the Netherlands.

Melissa had a large serving plate in front of her. She had one of the roasted chickens—the whole chicken on her plate, surrounded by rice and two ears of corn and several slices of toast. Already forgetting about the non-believers she ate earlier, her new meal piled on top of their tiny remains in her stomach.

“This is great, sir,” Vanessa said to Alejandro.

“Delicious as always, honey.” Melissa used a ladle to scoop a generous amount of rice into her mouth.

Carlos played with his food and didn’t look up to either of his parents.

Melissa drank from a liter-sized wine glass, making it look tiny in her hands, and washed down her dinner with the red liquid. “Vanessa, I sense you have some burning questions for me.”

Vanessa set her fork down and patted her lips with her white napkin. “Umm, yeah. if it’s okay.”

“What are they, honey? Don’t be shy.”

“Just wondering about—the afterlife?”

“What about it?”

“Is there a hell?”

“Yup.” Melissa bit into a drumstick and ripped the meat off with her pristine teeth. “Four of ‘em, actually.”

“Four?”

“Hmm. Yeah. Each god has a heaven and hell realm they rule over. My heaven is primo heaven.” Melissa made an okay gesture with her fingers. “Fluffy clouds, beautiful landscapes. Everyone lives in their dream homes and spends time on their favorite hobbies. Babe,” she said to Alejandro, “I have a special mansion saved for you on top of a mountain overseeing a waterfall and jungle. It is breathtaking.”

“Well, I can’t wait to die.” Alejandro smirked.

“What’s hell like?” Vanessa asked with deep concern.

“Oh, honey, don’t worry about it. You’re not going to hell. My standards are pretty low for heaven. At least if you compare me to all those wacky mythical gods humans made up.” She lifted a finger with every point she made. “One, be a devout worshiper to me. Two, live a just life on earth. That means no murdering, no violent crimes, don’t make life harder for others. You know, common sense stuff.”

“Devote worshiper?”

“Absolutely. I don’t care how ‘good’ of a person you think you are, if you don’t worship me or the other gods—straight to hell you go.”

Carlos spoke up and said, “You guys are pretty full of yourselves, huh?”

“We are gods, m’hijo. Us creating and running the afterlife doesn’t mean we’re full of ourselves, it just means we serve a role that can be difficult for humans to comprehend.”

“But why do people have to worship you, huh?” Carlos asked. “You’re willing to send a good person to hell, just ‘cause they don’t pray to you? Sounds pretty fucking narcissistic to me.”

“Watch your language, Carlos,” Alejandro said, his dad-voice making Vanessa bounce in her seat. “Do not speak to your mother that way.”

“How can you defend her, dad? She sends people to hell just ‘cause they don’t worship her? How mentally insane is that? How do you let your fucking powers get to your head and—”

Carlos vanished from the dinner table mid-sentence. Alejandro and Vanessa’s neck snapped towards Melissa. The goddess appeared calm and content. She grabbed a bottle of her favorite Costco wine and poured it into her oversized wine glass, but the bottle was empty. With that, she grabbed the pitcher of water and poured it into her glass, the liquid transforming to wine as she did so.

“Honey, you’ve outdone yourself with dinner. It was so good.” Melissa left nothing but bones on her plate. She let out a burp she tried to conceal in her napkin.

“What did you do with Carlos?” Alejandro asked.

“Don’t worry about him. He’s safe. He’s obviously upset about something and has been taking it out on me all night. Once he’s cooled off, I’ll bring him back.”

“But honey, what did you do with him?”

Melissa shot her husband an icy stare.

“Sorry, honey,” Alejandro said as he drank from his own glass of wine.

“Honey, can you go wait in the kitchen? I want to speak to Vanessa in private.”

Alejandro nodded in agreement. Before excusing himself, he grabbed Carlos’s unfinished plate and his own. He took the dishes to the kitchen, letting the swinging kitchen door close behind him. Vanessa couldn’t look up at Melissa. There was something so uneasy about Melissa’s calm demeanor that it made Vanessa squirm in her seat.

“Spill it,” Melissa said.

“Excuse me, goddess?”

Melissa cocked her head and looked down at the petrified girl. She leaned over and placed her enormous hand on top of hers. Melissa’s thumb gently stroked her tiny fingers. Vanessa looked up into Melissa’s probing eyes and felt naked under her gaze.

“No need to be afraid, honey,” Melissa said. “I’m still waiting for you to ask that burning question you have.”

No matter how soothing the goddess’s voice was, no matter how comforting her words, Melissa’s presence terrified Vanessa. The goddess had the power to smite her, claim her soul, and choose a myriad of ways to torture her for all eternity. How could that not be terrifying to everyone?

“My parents.” There was a long pause as Vanessa’s bottom lips quivered.

“Go on.”

“They’re non-believers.”

Melissa pulled her hand back and sat back in her chair. She grabbed her wineglass and downed the rest. “That’s a shame.”

“I was wondering, Goddess Melissa, if they’re destined to hell because of their beliefs?”

“You already know the answer to that.” Melissa sipped on her wine.

“Yes, but—”

“But what? They either devote themselves to a god or they’re damned for eternity.” Melissa saw Vanessa wince and tear up. “Honey, I don’t mean to sound so harsh, but that’s the honest truth.”

“Is there anything I can do? Can you make an exception for them? Just this one time?”

“No exceptions. And all you can do is try to convince them before it’s too late.”

“Too late? Please, Goddess? I beg you!” Vanessa pushed her seat back and dove to the floor. She crawled on her hands and knees over to Melissa’s feet under the table. “Please, Goddess, please! Don’t send my parents to hell.”

Melissa allowed the young woman to kiss and grovel at her feet for several moments as she enjoyed her wine. “Vanessa, get up.”

Though Vanessa stood up, and Melissa was still in her seat, Melissa still towered over her.

“It’s my turn to ask you a burning question. Is that okay?”

“Yes, Goddess.”

“Why are you dating my son?”

Vanessa’s eyes snapped shut, her face had an expression of someone caught red-handed. Her knees gave way, trembling under the weight of her nervousness. As she twisted at the hips, attempting to turn away from the goddess, Melissa grasped her hands and anchored her in place. Caught up in the moment, Vanessa’s breath hitched, causing her to gasp awkwardly.

“Vanessa, Vanessa, I think I already know the answer. I hope I’m wrong, but I know I’m not. Please come clean with me. Why are you dating my son?”

Vanessa’s lips moved, but no words came out.

“Because his mother is a goddess, right? You’re dating him because of who he is, in relation to me.”

Vanessa nodded.

“And you thought if you got close to him, you’d get close to me? Which is true. You got pretty close to me.” Melissa pulled Vanessa delicately close to her for emphasis. “You thought, maybe if I liked you, I’d make an exception for your parents? Is that how you planned things in your head?”

Vanessa nodded. Streams of tears traced down both cheeks.

“You might think I’m in your head, honey; crawling in your mind and using my powers to know what you’re going to say before you say it. But I’m not. I don’t use my powers to read other people’s minds. So, I need you to talk right now. Come clean with me. Do you even want to be my son’s girlfriend?”

“No.” Vanessa’s admittance felt like a heavy weight off her shoulder. To finally admit something she’s been holding back all these months. “I like him as a friend. Just not that way.”

“You slept with my boy, though, right?”

“Yes.”

“That means you slept with someone you don’t like, so that you can come close to me—close to me, just to ask if I can permit your non-believing parents a pardon. My number one law. A law I’ve never left go unpunished.” Lightning struck outside. “And what did this cost, Vanessa? Was betraying my son worth it?” Melissa’s eyes glowed white with anger. The audacity of this mortal. The incredible favors she was asking after betraying her sweet little boy. Vanessa was only a snap-of-the-fingers away from disintegrating into nothingness.

“Please, Goddess Melissa, don’t kill me.”

Melissa, still gripping Vanessa’s hands, gave her another tug so that the girl could face her. “Look at me.” Tears flooded Vanessa’s eyes, blurring her vision. “Think about the position you placed me in, Vanessa. He hates that I’m a god. I’m always getting blamed for every little thing that goes wrong in his life. And when he finds out about you, and how you used him—he’ll probably never talk to me again!” Melissa released her grip from Vanessa.

The young woman dropped to the floor and resumed praying at Melissa’s feet. She kissed her toes as she asked for forgiveness.

“What do you even expect me to do, Vanessa?”

“Please don’t smite me.”

“Well, first things first, you’re going to tell my son the truth. Ugh, I won’t hear the end of this. Second, I’m going to meet your parents. I would love to shake hands with the people that raised a manipulative daughter.”

“You won’t kill them, will you?”

“They’re non-believers, honey. Of course I will.”

“Please, Goddess, please, please! I’ll do anything! Please spare them. I’m sorry for everything I’ve done. I’m sorry they don’t believe. But. But. But you’re the benevolent goddess, right? You can forgive them. You can forgive me!”

“Ugh, you had to pull that ‘benevolent goddess’ card, didn’t you?”

Melissa leaned back in her seat and drank her wine. She splayed out her toes and motioned for Vanessa to continue kissing and worshiping. Despite her heavy meal, her stomach was empty, and she was looking forward to consuming Vanessa’s parents as dessert, but what Vanessa said was really bothering her. Melissa did a lot for the world. She reduced crime in New York; she helped the needy, cured blindness, and removed diseases. All she asked for in return was devout worship and  commitment of one’s soul for eternity. Was that too much?

“I cannot allow your parents to continue living as non-believers,” Melissa said. “They have to decide themselves to repent. As for you, you betrayed my son. Slept with him and pretended to be his girlfriend just to ask me a favor. On top of all this, you want me to be benevolent.”

“Please, Goddess Melissa.” Vanessa quaked uncontrollably on the floor before the goddess’s feet.

Melissa grappled with her options in her mind. Could she show leniency? Show compassion? But what message would that send to the world? Betrayal of her family is ‘okay’ because she’ll just forgive them in the end? There were so many other sins Melissa could turn the other cheek on. But non-belief? She never forgave that sin, and she wouldn’t start with Vanessa’s parents. Especially after using her son like that.

Melissa used her toe to lift Vanessa’s chin. “Here’s what I’ll do. I give everyone a chance, but I’ll give your parents something I’ve never given before. 24 hours to start worshiping a god, preferably me, or I’ll end their lives and doom them to hell forever. I’ve never—ever—given anyone that kind of leniency before. As for you, you will tell my son the truth about how you used him. I hope you understand how great of a deal this is for you, Vanessa. Now tell me, what are your plans after graduation?”

“Thank you. Goddess, thank you so much! I … I’m going to university. I got accepted to—”

“Oh, honey. You won’t be going anywhere.” Melissa had an expression that was a mix of faux anguish and playful teasing.

“Huh?”

“You’re going to be my personal servant for the rest of your life. Does that sound good? I mean, you said you’ll do anything for your parents, right?” Melissa asked with puppy dog eyes.

Vanessa stopped crying and looked up at the goddess in disbelief.

“Like you said, I’m benevolent, right? So, I’ll give you 24 hours with your parents. Try to convince them to worship me. Regardless of the outcome, I’ll come to collect you. That sounds fair, right? After all the terrible things you’ve done to me and my son. And the incredible leniency I’m giving your parents—that’s only fair, right?”

Vanessa hesitated, but nodded in agreement. Her tears smeared the makeup across her face.

“Good.” Melissa took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Thank you, Vanessa. You really helped me control my emotions. I was pretty close to snapping, but your worshiping and words really put things into perspective. Okay, off you go to Carlos.”

With Melissa’s last words, Vanessa vanished.

-

Vanessa fell into a darkened room. The air was musty and thick with the odor of worn leather and oils. The room felt expansive, like an airport hanger, and the ground felt fibrous, like thick papyrus. There was something looming beside her, soaring high overhead and extending off into the distance.

“Carlos? You in here?” she asked while repeatedly shouting Carlos’s name.

Over time, her eyes adjusted to the dark and details surrounding her came into focus.

“Oh, this is fine.”

She was in Melissa’s shoe box. A shoe box that was also occupied with the goddess’s black high-heels. She guessed she was probably less than a quarter inch. Just the soles of Melissa’s shoes loomed over her. Vanessa remembered back in school when Carlos used to complain about being shrunk and sent to the shoe box as punishment. He used to call it his celestial prison.

“Carlos!”

Over the next ten minutes, Vanessa walked around the shoe box without finding Carlos. Did the goddess send her to the wrong shoe box? Did Carlos find a way out? He’s spent time in the shoe box before. Maybe he had a way out. Vanessa sat on the toe section of Melissa’s high-heels. The surrounding odor didn’t bother her, but it wasn’t exactly the most pleasant thing either. She buried her head in her knees and wondered where Carlos went, or if this was a huge tease from the goddess. How was she going to come clean with Carlos if he wasn’t there?

3. Melissa’s Duel

“They’re just like the other beings we’ve dealt with. Cretins unworthy to wield god’s powers. Their minds never exploring or peering at life outside their planet. They are so self-absorbed, so myopic, they play with mortals like toys, no different from a child in a sandbox. Their minds, unable to punch through the upper-levels of their atmosphere. All they care about is playing with their civilization.”

“They’re the most pitiful race we’ve met so far,” the second demon said. “These humans think they’re the only life in the universe. They do not know what’s coming, haha.”

The demons took on human male appearances. They wore pinstripe suits with raincoats; their collars popping up to shield the scales running down the back of their necks. Glasses hid their yellow eyes and gloves covered their blackened, pointy nails. They stood in Manhattan, in Times Square, far away enough for Goddess Melissa to not sense them.

The first demon said, “the humans they’ve chosen to be gods are deeply flawed, consumed by their own human weaknesses. It’s almost laughable how easy it’s been to manipulate the male and that female with wings. Just the slightest push, the tiniest suggestion, and they copulate as giants on top of their grand cities. They’ll extinguish their civilization for us, without us lifting a finger. Vanity and ignorance are our greatest allies. Imagine these mortals, who barely understand their own world, now playing with forces they can’t control. It’s a recipe for self-destruction.”

“Should we alert the Worldeater?”

“We needn’t rush the Worldeater. I think we can unravel each of these supposed gods with the simple pull of the string. In their downfall, they’ll hand us god’s power on a silver platter,” the first demon said.

“So what are we doing here?”

“Alexandra and Brad are the easiest gods to manipulate. Let their lust for each other destroy humanity. Hailee, we’ll use her lover and the one they call Grace. I guarantee she’ll hand us her godly powers if we give her a lover. Melissa … she’ll be a tough nut to crack.”

“She’s obsessed with her family? We should kill them.”

“She’s not obsessed with her family.”

“Then what?”

“She’s obsessed with mortals worshiping her. And that’s my plan.”

-

“Hey honey, anything the matter?” Alejandro asked. He was sitting on the kitchen counter, his tablet in his hands. His eight foot tall wife ducked into the kitchen and padded over to him. She leaned in and gave him an oversized kiss.

“Do you think I’m a ‘benevolent’ goddess?”

“Ooh, do I ever.” Alejandro set his tablet down beside him, spread his legs, grabbed either side of Melissa’s waist, and pulled her close to him for a tight embrace. Her well-endowed chest squeezing into his tiny form. Her warmth, her scent, as intoxicating as the day they first kissed. “You are the most powerful person in the world. You can literally have anyone you want; any life you want. And yet, here you are with me. I’m not even worthy to share the same space with you. Not tall enough or handsome enough to share a selfie with you. I’m a nobody with barely any courage to look you in the eyes. And that’s how I felt on our wedding day. And look at you now. Beautiful and kind as ever. Still married to this nobody. Benevolent doesn’t even begin to describe you, honey.”

“Aww, honey. You’re not just saying that?”

Alejandro took her massive hand and placed it on his chest, over his heart. “You tell me.”

Melissa took in a long breath and felt the love overflowing her husband’s heart and pouring over her hand. She leaned in again and gave him a wet kiss. They both embraced, their arms exploring each other’s bodies. Melissa pulled Alejandro close to her and squeezed the air out of his lungs. He didn’t mind it in the slightest. His hands gracefully played with her breast and failed to reach over her buxom ass.

After several moments of passionate kissing, it smoothly transitioned to pecking and nibbling of each other’s ears and necks. Between breaths, Melissa said, “you’re not lucky to be with me.”

“Eh?”

“I’m lucky to be with you.”

Their kissing ramped up tenfold. Melissa man-handled Alejandro and slid him across the kitchen counter. They knocked over dishes, pots, and pans. Melissa’s enormous hand slipped between his legs, finding his erection fighting through his jeans. Her hands grabbed the waist of the jeans and pulled them apart. His fly and button, tearing as if they were made of wet napkins. She pulled down his boxer briefs, revealing his throbbing member.

With no sign other than a hungry, lust-filled expression, Melissa lowered her massive head and took his member into her mouth.

“Holy shit,” he said, before moaning uncontrollably. His legs twitching from the divine feeling. “It’s not even my birthday.”

The tip of Melissa’s tongue played with his balls while the rest of his cock was inside her mouth. The tip of his penis ran along the ribbed ceiling of her mouth, giving Alejandro sensations he didn’t know existed. His hands were on the back of her head, which was about the size of a pillow, and he pulled her into her. He could feel her breaths on his waist, and his bones vibrating as she moaned. Her tongue, longer than his member, explored his sensitive areas and found pleasurable nerve endings he didn’t know existed.

Melissa would then tightly purse her lips around his member and suck him like a popsicle. Alejandro cried out, thinking for a second that she’d blow his cock off. She sensed when he came close to blowing his loads and manipulated her mouth to make him last longer. Melissa edged him for several minutes. He was sweating with a heart beating a mile a minute. His member was swollen red and ready for release. Melissa gave him one more popsicle suck, and that was enough to set him off like a geyser into her mouth. Melissa gobbled his seed and licked up and down his cock like an ice cream cone.

“Mi amor,” Alejandro said. His wife had completely sucked his energy and his balls dry. He fought to stay balanced on the kitchen counter and keep his head up. He spoke in short bursts between his heavy breaths. “I love you so much.”

“My turn, mi amor.”

-

“Worshipers, what an asinine concept. For one, only a human with no imagination could come up with such a concept,” one demon said.

“No shortage of Melissa’s worshipers here, boss.”

The demons were wreaking havoc in Times Square. There was a lot of commotion between people, crowds gathering and fleeing, and many asking what was happening. There were no gunshots, loud bangs, or anything that would suggest an attack. But the large throngs of people with panic on their faces only panicked others.

“Are you a Melissa worshiper?” the demon asked.

“No,” a random citizen said.

The demon would then point his clawed hand at the human, causing the human to inexplicably internally combust into flames. They would scream until their internal organs melted. Then their bodies would liquify into a smoldering pile of tissue and fat; congealing into a mass about the size of a manhole cover on the ground, flames eating away at whatever was left.

If the demons encountered someone claiming to be a Melissa-worshiper, they’d handcuff them and add them to the chain of humans they had on a leash. Soon, the two demons had twenty humans they were tugging on a leash. Many stood clear of the demons and looked on with morbid curiosity. Few people actually left and evacuated Times Square. Police and other authority figures that attempted to intervene turned into a pile of smoldering goo under their touch.

If these were pre-ascension days, people would’ve lost their minds witnessing these physics-breaking powers. But in the days where a jilted lover could grow herself to 30,000 feet to terrorize a commercial plane, or monolithic Pantheon standing in rural Texas—this spectacle in Times Square seemed rather tame.

The demons—still unknown as demons to the populace—took their captured humans to the dead center of the square. They kicked the walls of a wooden crate with playbills plastered all over it, and revealed a white, oval, metallic object. The demons then got to work, strapping metallic collars to each human and then tying them to the white object.

“Do not reveal who we are to the goddess,” the first demon said to the other. “Or you’ll ruin the plan. Follow my lead.”

The demon pulled out a cell phone and called Goddess Melissa.

-

Goddess Melissa sat back on her couch, her head leaning so far back that she was looking up at the ceiling. She was taking quick, raspy breaths. A moan escaped between her lips and her eyelids fluttered as another climax exploded deep in her, radiating outwards. As her husband’s love for her engulfed her, her skin blazed, radiating a fiery glow.

Her phone rang. “What the fuck?” It was on the coffee table next to her feet. Her toes curled with every orgasm she experienced. She reached for her phone and pressed the ‘end call’ button and resumed relaxing on the couch.

The phone rang again.

“How the h—” Melissa picked up the phone and looked at it closely. It said it was from an unknown number. It was rather odd to receive a call from an unknown number since only the other gods, Alejandro, and her son, had the number. A celestial whitelist on her phone should’ve prevented any unapproved phonecalls.

“Who is this?” Melissa asked. She had one hand on her phone to her ear, and the other hand between her legs.

“Goddess… Melissa.” The voice was coarse, deep and sounded like it came from a dark wizard from a fantasy film. “Are you enjoying your momentary stay as a god?”

Melissa looked back at her phone, brought it back to her ear, and asked, “What are you talking about? Who are you?”

“You can say I’m a bit of a truth-seeker. I have a fun game for us to play, Melissa.”

“I don’t have time for games with mortals—”

“I am no mortal, Melissa.” The way the demon said her name was like a snake. The S sound hissing over the phone as he drew out the pronunciation. “And you’ve known I’m no mortal since I spoke my first words.”

“Get to the point. Why are you calling me?”

“Play a little game, Melissa. That is all. A little test of your divinity to prove you’re unworthy, unfit, unsuitable, irredeemably irresponsible for wielding such great power! You are no god. And I will prove it to all humans. And expose what you really are. An unremarkable mother from a shithole neighborhood, who lacked confidence to even drive a car, let alone drive an entire civilization. Now, granted the power of the universe, you let it go to waste on pitting, meaningless mortal issues. You—”

“Okay, I get it, Jesus fuck. I’ll play your stupid game, if it’ll just make you shut up.”

“Good. Come to Times Square. No funny stuff, Melissa. One wrong move from you, and I’ll level Manhattan and destroy all of New York City. Understand?”

The demon didn’t wait for an answer and hung up.

Melissa tossed the phone on the other side of the couch and fished for her husband out of her pussy. Alejandro was doll-sized and saturated in her sexual juices.

“Honey, something came up.” Melissa placed him on the floor and returned him to normal-size. She walked over to the front door and slipped on her Chuck Taylors. Alejandro wiped his wife’s viscous fluids from his eyes, which ended up re-sizing with him. “There’s something funny going on in Manhattan.”

“Is it serious?” he asked. As he walked, her juices dried and stiffened his clothes.

“I don’t know. Probably just a prank from one of the gods. I’ll be back soon. Oh, before I forget.” Melissa took a deep breath before she said, “I shrunk Carlos and his girlfriend. They’re both in my shoebox with the black heels you like. Vanessa lied about liking Carlos, and only faked a relationship with him, so she could ask a favor from me, sparing her parents that are committing a sin against me every day. She slept with Carlos, but that was only to gain his trust. I told Vanessa to come clean with Carlos. They’ve been in the shoebox for the last half-hour, so I can only imagine how mad they are at me. Let them out when you can. Bye!”

“The fuck?”

-

Melissa teleported herself to Times Square in her Pantheon height of 150-feet tall. She floated over the square and looked for an empty area to land. The crowds in the square quickly made space for the gigantic goddess, allowing her to step onto the road, crushing no one. The sea of people parted before Melissa, creating a path leading towards the center of the square where a duo of mysterious figures held the city hostage.

Melissa walked over to them, careful not to tread on anyone under her black and white Converse.

It was a peculiar scene. 30 humans with metallic collars around their necks were hooked up to a white sphere that was reminiscent of those 1950s style atomic bombs. Two men in pinstripe suits and sunglasses stepped forward in front of the hostages to greet the goddess.

Melissa planted her feet next to each other and looked down at the creatures that didn’t feel human to her. “You the one that called?”

“Yes.”

“What is this? What are you doing?”

“Why, this is the game, Melissa.”

Almost every news media outlet was in Times Square. Dozens of tripods with cameras littered the square. Reporters spoke frantically into their microphones as they covered the unfolding events. News vans with their antennas sticking out were far in the rear. Police were trying to push the crowds back. Worshipers, including those chained up at the neck, fell to their knees to worship Melissa.

“Is that what I think it is?” Melissa pointed at the sphere.

“If you thought, 50-megaton atomic bomb, you’d be partially correct. For this is a tamper-proof—or should I say, deity-proof, 50-megaton atomic bomb. It can glass all of Manhattan, destroying New York City, and devastating Northeast America. Millions will die in a split second. Millions over the next few weeks. And millions more over decades. Marvelous invention, really.”

“Okay, and?”

“Not compassionate, are you? Don’t care that the lives of millions are at risk?”

“I can easily protect everyone from an a-bomb, a-hole. What weak game are you trying to play?”

“I guess the deity-proof part didn’t click in your head, Melissa.” The demon in disguise waved his arm out and did a pirouette as he hopped towards Melissa’s sneaker-clad feet. “Even your powers are incapable of disarming, teleporting, shielding, moving, vanishing, or tampering this bomb in any way. And as an added safeguard, I hold a dead-man switch.” He lifted his gloved hand to reveal something that looked like a pen, with his thumb over the cap. “If I let go of this button, the bomb goes off.”

Times Square was silent. Even the ads that ran incessantly on billboards and buildings were muted. Only the howl of the winds going through buildings was audible. Melissa had her arms crossed as she took in what this thing said. She only considered it a thing, because it was definitely not mortal. If it were celestial, it was something beyond her comprehension. Where these two things stood, all she could sense was a void. No soul. No presence. It reminded her of that encounter she had on the cruise days ago. An entity that eluded her godly senses.

“Why would you do this?” Melissa asked, fear absent in her voice. “Why threaten millions of innocent lives?”

“Because I want something.” His fingers twirled.

Melissa looked over at the bomb. Just like the two men, there was a void where the object stood. Like a celestial blackhole. There was no way her powers could reach out and interact with the object. For the first time, traces of apprehension seeped into her.

“What do you want?” Melissa asked.

“To play my game!”

Melissa bit her lips and shut her eyes as her patience waned. “What is this game?”

“Thought you’d never asked.” The man skipped to the bomb with 30 people tied to it. “These mortals claim they are your devout worshipers. If they all publically recant their devotion to you and the other gods—making them non-believers as you put it—and you harvest each of their souls in your trademark fashion, I’ll disarm the bomb. If not, the bomb will explode.”

“My options are, kill 30 people, or kill an entire city?”

“No, no, they have to choose to stop worshiping you. And then you eat them. That is what you do with non-believers, right?” The man looked at a nearby news camera. “Oh, did I spill some awful secret about the goddess? Not everyone knows you eat non-believers, Melissa? Are you ashamed, maybe?”

“This is your pinche game? Make 30 people stop worshiping me, so I can punish them and save the city?”

“What makes you so sure they’ll stop worshiping you? If they die now, they go to heaven. If they recant their devotion to you … they go to hell for all eternity. Your rules, not mine. Do you think all 30 will recant their love for the benevolent goddess? Go to hell for eternity so that others may live? Or let everyone die, to guarantee their entry to heaven?”

A text message came in on Melissa’s phone. She pulled it out of her dress and quickly glanced at it. It was from Alejandro and said, “can’t find Carlito anywhere.”

“I think I know what that message says.” The man skipped to the crowd chained to the atomic bomb. Out he pulled Carlos. He had a metal collar like the others. “The game will last for ten minutes. If they ALL don’t agree to go recant their worship to you, and you eating them all in public, the bomb will go off.”

The other man pressed a button, and a counter popped up on every billboard in Times Square. Ten minutes was counted down in bold red print. The first man lifted his hand up with the dead-man switch and gave it a jiggle.

-

Melissa felt an unfamiliar sensation since her ascension to godhood—her heart dropping to the pit of her stomach. Below her, amidst the vast crowd of Times Square, her son’s eyes met hers, filled with terror and silent pleas for help. She took a moment, slowly blinking, eyes shifting around the square, trying to fully grasp the situation unfolding before her.

The creatures orchestrating this crisis were unknown to her, their motives not entirely clear, and their willingness to carry out their morbid threats a mystery. However, their non-mortal nature, coupled with the bomb’s celestial-lead shielding, left no room for doubt. This threat seemed too real, and it demanded her full attention.

People filled Times Square as if it was New Year’s Eve. Countless cameras continued broadcasting her every move live across the globe. The world was watching, waiting for her response; everyone at home wondering how the goddess would handle the situation.

Melissa’s mind raced back to her days as a police officer. She had been in tense situations before, but nothing like this. Could she teleport the bomb away? No, it was impossible—the bomb was immune to her powers, as a ghost to human touch. What about a protective bubble, strong enough to contain a 50-megaton blast? The creatures had claimed it wouldn’t work. Siding with caution, she quickly dismissed that option.

The more she considered the bomb’s resistance to her powers, the more it seemed she had been skillfully backed into a corner. The choices were unthinkable: allow the bomb to detonate, killing millions including her family, or force the hostages to renounce their faith, condemning their souls to hell. Neither was acceptable. Her son, her husband, and innocent lives were at stake. There had to be another way out.

Doubts crept into her mind. Were the creatures right in their scathing assessment of her? Was she truly not worthy of her divine status, or was she just a pretender about to be unmasked before the entire world?

Her gaze shifted quickly between the key elements of this dire situation—her son, the bomb, the malevolent creatures. Did they really think of everything? They were awfully confident in their plans. Perhaps …

“M’hijito!” Melissa said. “Why aren’t you in timeout? I sent you to your room like thirty minutes ago.”

All eyes in Times Square, including the demons, shifted to Carlos.

Carlos’s head popped back, not expecting his mother’s words. He looked around and saw that the news cameras and the entire crowd were all focusing on him. He looked up at his towering mother, accustomed to seeing her in her gargantuan height, and groaned, “mom,” with a wavering voice.

“Don’t ‘mom’ me. I sent you to timeout, and you got yourself kidnapped. Haven’t I taught you better?”

“I just showed up here. Those dudes grabbed me out of nowhere. I was at the dinner table one second, and the next, I was chained up.”

Melissa shifted her gaze to the creatures. “Is this true?”

The demon looked at his companion and let out a laugh with the shake of the head. “Nine minutes left, and this is how you intend to use it. We took your son, imprisoned him under your nose, and you didn’t notice him until we brought him up. Hear that humans? The one you worship—the one you call god—can’t even detect when her son goes missing. Some goddess. I await your next move, Melissa. I know you sense it, as do I. Your worshipers are abandoning you. They recant their devotion to you. Eat them, Melissa. Eat the non-believers and save the city!”

“Don’t anybody dare stop worshiping me. You might think you’re saving the city, but you must maintain your faith in me.” She looked at Carlos with her last words.

“Amazing,” the demon said. “Marvelous creatures, humans are. So, self-absorbed. You’d rather level a city than lose a worshiper?”

“I’d rather them maintain their faith in me. Faith that I, as their god, will protect them.”

The demon laughed. “That is rich. Of all the gods I’ve tested … Never have I met such an arrogant species. Even for a god, you are irreparably egotistic.”

“What makes you—or anyone here—think I can’t bring everyone’s life back after the bomb goes off?”

“Can you? Have you ever brought the dead back to life? You haven’t. You don’t know if you can do it. And you especially don’t know if you can bring back millions. Nice try, Melissa. The only way our game ends is by our rules.”

Melissa shook her head with a smirk. “You got me. You tiny, little pendejos thought of everything, haven’t you?”

“We have.” The demon smiled widely and adjusted his tie. He looked at his partner and gave him a wink. The timer dropped below five minutes. Those chained to the bomb recanted their beliefs in hopes the goddess would save the city. “Feel that Goddess Melissa? More and more have given up on you. They know you’re no true goddess.”

“They haven’t given up on me. They think sacrificing themselves is the noble option here.” She then faced the hostages with collars and said, “It isn’t the right choice. You don’t want to go to hell for an eternity. Don’t lose faith in me, children.”

The demon shrugged. “Looks like we’re seeing this all the way through.”

“Not afraid to die?” Melissa asked.

“No. We won’t be affected, nor would you.”

“Mom!” Carlos said. “You have to save the city. Just sacrifice us already.”

“M’hijo, I will not. And none of you better stop worshiping me.”

“Mom! What the fuck? That’s what you care about? Worshiping? They’re just doing the ‘trolley problem’ on you. We all know the answer. It’s better to kill a few to save the many.”

“Carlito, you have to stop using curse words with me.”

“Seriously? Who gives a fuck about that right now? New York is about to get vaporized. You have to save it. Sacrifice us to save millions.”

“I will not tolerate any mortals, and that goes for you, too, m’hijo, in losing faith in me.”

Carlos broke down, despair and disappointment filling his heart. Was his mother willing to kill millions because of her obsession with worshiping? Was this how all gods acted? Were her actions driven by the fact she was a god? Or was this the behavior of a narcistic human corrupted with absolute power?

His mother was no longer the mother he knew. She had gone off in the deep-end and shed any semblance of humanity she once held. As he looked up at her dark eyes, he couldn’t find traces of her humanity. She stared back at him, eyes as dark as night. No humanity. No soul. And the warmth she once had—the loving eyes that looked over him all his life were gone.

Carlos lowered himself and sat on the ground on his bottom. He was doomed from the start. Either his mother took his soul and saved the city, or the bomb take his life along with millions. Was it worth worshiping someone like his mother? Someone so self-absorbed that she would rather have millions die than risk a single apostate.

It wasn’t worth worshiping his mother, even if that meant hell. Under the gaze of who he considered his former mother, Carlos became an un-believer.

“Oh, Carlito.” Melissa slumped her shoulder as she exhaled dejectedly, as she felt his wavering belief in her flicker away.

“Wonderful, isn’t it?” the demon said. “Even your own son doesn’t believe you’re a god.”

The crowds murmured, and the cameras hummed as they recorded the silence. Melissa stood proud and tall, unwilling to move where she stood. It remained like this as the timer went down to two minutes. Then less than a minute.

As the timer dropped to 20 seconds, every citizen in Times Square still clutched to hopes that Melissa would sacrifice the 30 hostages and save the city. But the goddess stood still with her arms crossed—refusing to doom 30 to hell for eternity to appease these twisted creatures. She looked down at them defiantly.

The creature faced the camera, and therefore the world, and announced, “this is who you worship? A false god? You are right with your opinions of her. She. Is. No. God.” With those last words, he looked at Carlos. “End your worship of the false-gods. Reject them, as her son rejected his very own mother.”

People cried and others ran with less than five seconds left. Melissa looked on, unphased as the counter dropped to zero and the bomb exploded.

-

Immediately following the nuclear blast, there was a flash of light ten times brighter than the sun that lasted half a minute. Once the bright white light subsided, in the blast’s wake, was a vast wasteland where New York City once stood. Those two creatures, still unknown to Melissa that they were demons, still stood in place in their undamaged suits. Melissa, alive and unscathed, shrunk herself to eight-feet and approached the creatures, her black dress and Converse shoes untouched by the blast.

“What is the matter with you?” she asked. “You just killed millions!”

“We did not, Melissa. You had the choice to stop it. You deemed killing millions was better than accepting and reaping the souls of the non-believers. This pitiful planet and yourself will have to live on—knowing what a colossal fraud you are. Or, you can abdicate your role right now. Give up your godly powers.”

“Never!”

“So be it. We’ll be on our way now. Pleasure to have met you.”

“Wait! Wait, wait, just wait. This can’t be happening. This just … can’t be happening. You can’t have this power of destruction. I … I should’ve been able to stop this. I know there’s a way. The bomb wasn’t guarded. I could’ve stopped it. You couldn’t have possibly thought of everything.”

The creatures laughed. “God powers or not—your human-origins are your greatest limitations. A brain woefully incapable of handling a simple moral test. I expected nothing from you, Melissa, and I am still disappointed by your inaction.”

“You pendejos can’t possibly be smarter than me. The bomb had a weakness. I just know it.”

The creatures looked at one another and let out another round of hearty laughs. “They never look, do they? I see no harm in telling you now, Melissa, but had you looked on top of the bomb, you would’ve seen three switches and a button. A plain mechanism to render the bomb nothing more than a static prop. A child would’ve been able to defuse the bomb with or without celestial powers.”

“You’re kidding me? If I just—”

“You would’ve never gotten close. After all, I have the dead-man switch. Which I don’t need anymore.” The demon let go of the pen device and tossed it at Melissa’s feet.

Melissa bent over and picked it up, examining it. “If only I knew this from the start. I guess you did outsmart me.”

“We always do.” The creature faced his companion and said, “let us waste no more time. Our work here is done. For now.”

“Not from around here, are you?” Melissa asked.

“We are done speaking with you, Melissa. You are of no good to us—anymore!”

“Because if you were from earth—you would’ve known ten minutes haven’t passed since you started the timer.”

Both creatures stopped in their tracks and looked over their shoulders at the eight-foot woman with a grin on her face. The bomb had destroyed New York as far as the eye could see. No structure, tree, or rock stood. They had devastated or extinguished life within a 50-mile radius. There was no bringing the dead back or reversing time. What was done, was done.

What was Melissa going on about? Why was she suddenly confident with a smirk that said she knew something they did not? The demons accomplished their set-out goal. No matter which choice Melissa made, she would always be deemed unworthy to be a god by her civilization. There was no way out of their fool-proof game.

The demon turned, his posture uneasy. “What do you mean ten minutes hadn’t passed? You don’t possess the ability to manipulate time. Nor could you change the timer on the bomb.”

“Sure.” Melissa wiggled the dead-man switch in her fingers. “But I still had the power to change the screens and billboards around Times Square, to show a fake countdown.”

“You didn’t.”

“When I spoke to my son, and everyone turned to him, I sped the countdown with no one realizing. That goes for you two. Ten minutes haven’t passed.”

“Nice little trick, but the bomb has clearly gone off.”

“Has it?”

The demons were no longer holding their composure. They slouched their shoulders slightly and felt a noxious unease course through their black veins. “Of course it has! You failed to save lives, Melissa. They’re dead. All dead. Your son is gone and so was this pathetic excuse for a city.” He extended his arms out, showcasing the surrounding wasteland.

“Aww, you nervous?”

“Delusional! Either that, or you’re trying to make me give away something. It won’t work.” The demon walked out to the side. “Accept it, Melissa. It is all gone. All—” He bumped into something. Like an invisible barrier. Where there should’ve been nothing but wasteland was—something. The demon lifted his hands up and touched it. There was a wall. A wall he couldn’t perceive with his vision. He looked over his shoulders at Melissa—her grin only growing wider. He looked back at the invisible wall and pushed. It budged a little. He pushed harder.

The walls came tumbling down. Surrounding the demons and Melissa were walls projecting a false reality. They weren’t actually in the wastelands of New York. They were still in Times Square. Nobody had died in a nuclear explosion; they were still alive and standing around, watching the goddess play the creatures for fools. The timer on the bomb still had 60 seconds to go before it exploded.

Though the bomb was impervious to her goddess powers, the world around her was not. She sped the timer displayed around the square and encased the creatures in an illusion, making them think they saw the bomb explode. They were living in a virtual reality dome that the goddess conjured without the demons sensing it.

She fooled them.

“It can’t be.” The demons, the crowds in Times Square, and everyone at home watching TV watched Melissa calmly walk over to the atomic bomb. Less than 15 seconds on the real timer. Her eight-foot stature overshadowed the hostages that were chained up by the neck to the bomb. “But the dead-man switch!” he said. “It should’ve exploded when I released it.”

“Too bad you didn’t think of putting a goddess-blocker on it, too.” When the demon released the switch in his hand and tossed it at Melissa’s feet, he didn’t notice the button hadn’t depressed. Melissa used telekinetic powers to keep the button from releasing and thus prevented the bomb from exploding.

Melissa fiddled with the controls at the top of the bomb and defused it with only a second left. Once its celestial blockers were down, Melissa teleported the entire thing out of the planet and deep into space. She then started helping the hostages out of their neck harnesses.

“This can’t be!” The demon lifted both his hands. Red orbs of power forming in both hands. Without looking, Melissa pointed back at them with a finger. A force-field materialized between both creatures. The shield effectively blocking his powers from harming anyone. “How?”

Once finished releasing all the hostages, Melissa returned to her colossal 150 foot tall stature, her gargantuan feet causing some people from the crowd to run. Everyone else in Times Square fell to their knees in awe. The goddess bested these creatures and saved the city without losing a hostage.

Melissa looked down at the creatures before her feet with arms crossed. “Now that that’s over, I got some questions.”

“We failed. We failed our master.”

“Let’s start with that. Who’s your master? Where are you from?”

The demons ignored Melissa. They pulled daggers from inside their coats. Without further explanation, they jammed the knives upwards through their jaw, the sharp end of the knives piercing their brains, killing them. They dropped to a heap on the ground.

“Ay, chingada. I should’ve seen that coming.” Melissa turned to face the crowds. “Crisis averted, everyone!” Cheers broke out at Melissa’s proclamation. The goddess had saved them from an unknown, powerful threat. And she’d done so in such ingenious ways. It only proved that Melissa was a genuine goddess, worthy of her powers—the complete opposite of what the creatures were trying to prove. For the first time, the people viewed Melissa, not only as a goddess, but as a protector.

But the hostages weren’t feeling as lively as the rest. They had doubted the goddess could save the city and abandoned their faith to her. Even after she told them not to. They had become the thing she hates most: non-believers.

Her son, included.

“It’s okay, everyone. I’m not angry in the slightest,” Melissa began, her gaze softening as she looked down at the hostages who had lost faith in her. “I understand the crazy choice you all’ve faced. Your willingness to sacrifice your spot in heaven, to save the lives of others, speaks volumes to your humanity. To choose an eternity in hell to save countless lives—that’s courage I can’t help but respect and honor.”

Her eyes then drifted to her son, a deeper reflection in her voice. “However, I sense that many of you lost faith not just to save others, but because you doubted I could’ve saved you. Faced with danger, you questioned whether I truly was a god capable of protecting you from harm. I’m not—I’m not angry about this. Please don’t be afraid; rather, it’s made me think … If your faith in me is so fragile, so easily shattered under pressure—that means I’ve failed you as your god. You don’t trust in me. And I don’t blame you. I’m sorry everyone. I promise to try harder—to be the god you all deserve.”

People looked at each other and were ashamed to admit the truths Melissa spoke. More importantly, Melissa’s speech revealed a seldom seen side of the gods: humility. If not already on the ground, the crowds got on their hands and knees and worshiped Melissa from the bottom of their hearts.

“Let’s go home, Carlito.”

4. No More Lies

They transported back to the hallway outside their apartment door. Melissa was back to eight-feet stature and Carlos stood beside her. Melissa clasped her hands and waited for her son to make the first move. But he just stood still with his eyes looking straight ahead at their closed front door.

“Mom?”

Melissa looked down at her son with a hopeful expression, eager to hear him open up to her. “Yes, m’hijito?”

“Can you unlock the door?”

“Oh.” Melissa waved her hand, and the door swung open. She followed him into the apartment and immediately kicked off her shoes. Over in the dining room, Alejandro sat alone and perked up when he saw his son and wife enter.

“Is Vanessa still here?” Carlos asked.

“Yup, right here.” Alejandro pointed at a plate on the table where a single slice of bread stood. Vanessa, hardly a quarter of an inch tall, sat on the untoasted bread as if it were an expansive bed.

Melissa’s steps boomed over to the shrunken girl. Her appearance was grander that a mountain to the frightened young woman. “That’s right. Let me fix that.” Melissa returned Vanessa to her normal-height, re-sizing the girl on top of the dining table.

Vanessa apologized as she kicked over dishes as she climbed down from the table.

Carlos rolled his eyes. “Why did you shrink Vanessa, mom?”

“It’s probably best that she explains. Vanessa, do you have something to say to my son?”

Vanessa was a wreck. Aside from the traumatization of being insignificantly tiny, she was terrified of confessing. “Carlos, I’ve been lying about being your girlfriend.”

Carlos put his hands in his pocket. He looked up at his mother, ready to accuse her, but then turned back to Vanessa. “What?”

“I don’t want to be your girlfriend. I never was.” Vanessa’s breathing quickened as she saw the heartbreak in Carlos’s face. “I only got close to you, so I can talk to your mom. My parents, see, they’re non—”

“Stop.” Carlos shook his head. He fought back tears as he tried to look Vanessa in the eyes. “You only dated me … because who my mom is?”

The silence between their words was deafening. “Yes. But I swear, Carlos, I didn’t mean for it to get carried away like this. I was just going to be your friend. I didn’t mean for us to—”

“Fuck?”

Vanessa looked up at Melissa and then at Alejandro. The cat was definitely out of the bag. “Yes.”

Carlos then rubbed his hands on his face. He looked up at his mother, who remained silent and had a look of concern for her son. “See? This is because of you. It’s always about you. Nobody cares about me, other than I’m related to you.”

“M’hijito, I—”

“Stop. Just …” Carlos shooed his mother away as she came to him with a hug. “Just stop. I hate this family. I hate this family and I hate you.” Carlos turned away and came to pass Vanessa as he headed for the stairs. As he walked by his ex-girlfriend, he said “bitch.” Carlos stormed to his room and slammed the door.

Vanessa was sobbing. She looked up at Melissa, who appeared to be on the verge of tears. “Goddess, I—”

“Leave Vanessa. Just go, before I do something I regret.”

Vanessa didn’t need to be told twice. She grabbed her things from the living room and bolted out of the apartment, feeling Melissa’s wrathful eyes on her the entire time. Alejandro remained seated at the table, unsure what to say to his wife.

“What am I supposed to do?” Melissa asked her husband.

“Right now? Nothing. He needs time and space.”

Melissa sat at the dining table with her husband and chewed on her nails, lost in thought. Vanessa got off too easy, she thought. Her kindness was taken advantage of. But if it wasn’t Vanessa, it would’ve been someone else. Carlos was in for a lifetime as the son of the Benevolent Goddess. People would seek him to get close to her.

“I don’t get it, honey,” Melissa said. “I can cure illness, manipulate the weather to my desire,  defuse an atomic bomb that is impervious to god-powers in the middle of New York and save millions of lives against all odds, but I can’t help our son.”

“That’s an oddly specific metaphor.”

“He’ll always hate me for being a god.”

“He doesn’t hate you. His heart just got broken, and he’s taking it out on you. Lemme talk to him.”

“Are you sure? You won’t make it worse?”

“Hey, look at who you’re talking to.”

-

“Son? M’hijo?” Alejandro stood outside Carlos’s room and rapped on his door. “Can I come in and talk to you?”

“Go away.”

“I’m coming in.” Alejandro walked into his son’s bedroom and discovered him lying on his stomach on the bed. “Hey, bud. I’m sorry about everything that happened.”

Carlos grunted. He planted his face flat on his bed, unwilling to look up at his father.

“It’s terrible what Vanessa did to you. But I had a talk with her before you and your mother showed up. Vanessa did what she did, because she loves her mom and dad. They’re non-believers, Carlos. She’s terrified that they’re going to hell.”

Carlos turned over in his bed and faced his father. His eyes were heavy and his face drooped.

“Vanessa thought, if she talked to your mom, maybe she could convince her to spare her parents from hell. I’m not trying to excuse what she did to you—but you can understand how desperate she was, can’t you? That love for her parents. She was willing to ask your mom to her face, to spare her parents. I don’t even have the courage to ask your mom to get me a beer, let alone to bend the rules of the afterlife.”

Carlos got up in his bed and swung his legs over the side. “Did you know mom eats non-believers?”

Alejandro burst into laughter. “Eat non-believers?” He asked, expecting his son to also laugh. “Can you imagine? Especially considering how much she eats nowadays?”

Carlos lifted a brow as he looked at his dad. “That’s what those people said. Those terrorists. They said mom eats non-believers, and they wanted to prove it on TV.”

Alejandro wiped the last tears from his eyes and noted how serious his son was. He sat on the bed beside his son and asked, “Wait, what are you talking about?”

Carlos explained what happened in Times Square. It surprised him that his father was oblivious to the near annihilation of New York. But Alejandro was busy taking care of Vanessa when those events went down.

“Well, that can’t be true. Your mother doesn’t eat people.”

-

Alejandro and Carlos switched topics and spoke more about Vanessa, relationships, and heartbreaks. When Carlos felt better, Alejandro told him to take all the time he needed before speaking to his mother. He left his son’s room and gently closed the bedroom door.

Alejandro was about to rejoin his wife in the dining room when a nagging feeling pulled him back from the stairs. She eats people? Alejandro asked himself. Has she been doing it under my nose? It was in the realm of possibilities. His wife had plenty of private time, between the Pantheon and even when she was home.

Like when she had the bedroom locked and to herself.

He turned on his heels and walked into his bedroom. He closed the door behind him and looked around for—he wasn’t sure what to look for. What was she doing in the bedroom for so long? She was a god; she didn’t have to dress up or prep her hair or do anything. Why the privacy?

His eyes fell on the bed. The sheets were disturbed. The sheets were white as snow and shimmered under the warm glow of the bedroom lights.

He spotted a tiny crumb, standing out sharply against the pristine sheets, like a single ant crawling along a white countertop. Alejandro plucked the crumb between his thumb and index finger and brought it to his eyes. It took a moment for his eyes to focus, but when they did, what he saw only confused him. It was a camera.

Alejandro scoured the bed for any more objects. In the next minute, he found a purse, a solitary sandal, and a baseball cap. None were his nor his wife. And these objects were hardly visible. He sat on his bed and went through the objects in his palm, trying to make sense of what he was looking at.

Melissa came through the door, causing him to snap his neck up. “There you are. How long have you been up here? Still in the mood to be my little dildo?”

“Honey … ?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you eat non-believers?”

Melissa closed the bedroom door and raised a brow. “Why would you ask that?”

“Honey, please don’t lie. I found these.” He lifted his hands to show the microscopic objects he was sure his goddess wife would see with her inhuman eyes. In fact, those very eyes bulged widely upon noticing them. “Did you eat the people these things belonged to?”

“Oh, shit.”

-

Emma burst through the front door of her apartment, keys left dangling from in the front door, hands straining to hold multiple grocery bags. She dashed through her small apartment and set the groceries on the kitchen counter and fumbled to light up her stove and boil a large pot of water. She pulled out a box of artisan spaghetti, Italian sausage, olives, sea salt, and baguette from a hasty shopping trip. Laid out on the counter were the ingredients for an elegant dinner.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Emma scrambled around her cramped kitchen, her nerves shot and her stress levels through the roof. She boiled the pasta and cooked the sausage simultaneously. She chopped up veggies for a salad while keeping a keen eye on the stovetop.

Beads of sweat dotted her forehead from a combination of the heat from the cooking food and her elevated heart rate. She wiped the sweat with her forearm and contemplated making the marinara sauce from scratch or not. She would have to settle with store-bought sauce and pray to the gods it was good enough.

-

Isabel had just arrived home from work and saw the front door to her apartment open. Already dealing with the aftermath of a stressful day, seeing her apartment unsecured made her blood boil.

“Goddamnit, Emma!” Isabel shouted from across the apartment, marching into the kitchen while holding up her younger sister’s keys. “Not only did you leave the damn door wide-open, you left your keys dangling there.” She tossed them on the counter. “What the hell is the matter with you? What if someone other than me came by and saw that? Emma, are you listening? What were you thinking? You could’ve been robbed or murdered.”

“Belle … I don’t have time to explain—someone’s coming over for dinner tonight in like 30 minutes. You need to help me get ready for it.”

“What?” Isabel squinted her eyes and shook her head. “I just had a shitty-ass day. I’m not in the mood to entertain your friend. Count me out.”

“You don’t understand—you can’t skip this. She wants to meet you.”

“I don’t give a shit. I’m not in the mood, ‘kay? You can’t just spring a surprise dinner date on me like this and expect me to be onboard.”

“I didn’t set this dinner—my friend did.” Emma hopped in-place as her stress-levels were close to inducing a panic attack. “Belle, I don’t ask for much. Just do me this one solid, please.”

Isabel scoffed as she rolled her eyes. “What has gotten into you? You’re freaking out.”

“Please, sis,” Emma whined. “Just do this itty-bitty favor for me and sit through this dinner with my … friend.”

“Jesus, who the fuck has you so worked up?”

“Her name is Molly. That’s all I can say.”

“Emma, are you—are you dating women now? I mean, that’s cool and all, I just … I didn’t know.”

Emma sensed a slight tone change in her older sister. If this was the path of least resistance, she was going to seize it. There was no harm in a little white lie. “Uh, yes. Belle, umm, I think she’s the one—and I can’t lose her. Please help me make a great impression? Please, please, please, Belle.”

“Okay, sheesh. Stop begging.” Isabel pinched the bridge of her nose. “But I’m not cooking or cleaning.”

“Deal! All I ask is that you come with a positive attitude.”

“You’re asking for too much already.” Isabel grabbed her purse and walked to her bedroom. “I think your sausage is burning.”

“Shit” Emma went back to preparing dinner alone.

-

Emma got ready faster than a recruit in boot camp. She showered and clothed herself in a summer dress and sandals. She returned to the kitchen, her hair still damp, and put the finishing touches on the pasta. That’s when the doorbell rang, causing Emma to yelp.

Emma rushed across the cramped apartment, ironed out her dress with her hands, and answered the door to Molly, which was Goddess Alexandra’s mortal facade. Molly, a purposefully frumpy character the goddess created, wore blue jean overalls with a white shirt. She pulled back her greasy blonde hair into a loose pony, with strands of hair going over her face. Her black-rimmed glasses sat at the tip of her nose and didn’t appear to have any magnification to them. Despite this facade, Emma could see the Goddess’s true self through her vibrant blue eyes.

“Hey, girl,” she said with a lilt in her voice. “I brought something special for dinner.” She handed Emma a bottle of red wine with a deteriorated label on it. “It’s the same wine Napoleon used to drink.”

Emma was shell-shocked. This was the first time meeting up with Alexandra after she ate those executives in front of her eyes, before she fucked Brad and destroyed most of downtown LA. The Goddess of Fear was in her humble apartment for a small dinner party and just handed her priceless bottle of wine.

“Goddess …” Emma squeaked in a loud whisper.

“No, no. Molly, remember?” Molly rested a hand on Emma’s shoulder. “You didn’t tell your sister about me, did you?”

“No, I swear to—”

“Me?”

Emma nodded.

“Good. We’re gonna have so much fun tonight. A night to remember!” Molly walked past Emma, but paused and turned around on her heels. “Oh, before I forget, I got you a gift.”

Emma closed the front door. “A gift? Besides the wine?”

“The wine is for dinner, not a gift. No, you helped me bring justice to those corporate fucks—I thought I’d give you something special for helping me.” Molly handed Emma a jewelry box.

Emma reached for the box, half-expecting it to be a bomb or a trick, and opened it with as much caution as a scientist handling uranium. Inside the jewelry box was a beautiful golden bracelet with intricate markings and cuts. Along the bracelet were additional chains that hung like icicles and had a tear-shaped purple gem that contrasted wonderfully with the gold.

“It’s gorgeous,” Emma said, running her fingers across the length of the bracelet.

“It’s an anklet,” Molly said with a relieved smile after seeing Emma genuinely happy with her gift. “But it’s a special anklet. Wanna know why?”

Emma thought the anklet was reminiscent of something the wife of an Egyptian pharaoh must’ve worn. It looked strangely ancient, with contemporary influences mixed all in one. “Why?” Emma pried her eyes away from the brilliant gold and up to Molly’s equally brilliant blue eyes.

“Those aren’t ordinary purple sapphires.” Molly pointed at the tear-shaped gems. They were flawless and sparkled under the lighting in the apartment. “See? Look closer.”

Emma brought her eyes back down on the gems. There was something alive about them. Something swimming inside each of the 12 stones. Almost like an apparition that was confined to a cell that was far too small. It unnerved Emma to where the hair on the back of her neck raised. In a whisper, Emma said, “What are those?”

“It’s those corporate fucks.” Molly took the anklet out of the box and held it up between their eyes. “After I ate them and consumed their souls, I thought—eh, what the fuck? I imprisoned their souls in each gem and made an anklet for my new bestie.”

Molly dropped to her knees and shimmied up to Emma’s feet, clad in simple sandals. Molly delicately wrapped the gold jewelry around Emma’s left ankle.

Emma hyperventilated under the realization that the Goddess was gifting her with … souls. What was a mortal to do with that? And what exactly were souls, and why were they confined to a piece of jewelry around her ankle? Emma didn’t understand any of it. But she understood the grand gesture. Goddess Alexandra just parted with souls from her custody and gifted them to a mortal. Not only that, but the Goddess was on her hands and knees, adorning her like a servant.

“Look at that,” Molly said, sitting back on her heels. “Perfect fit. It looks great on you, by the way. Those greedy corporate douchebags will spend an eternity looking at the world from your feet.” Molly stood back up and in front of Emma. “What do you think?”

“T-thank you …” Emma trembled.

Molly closed her eyes and absorbed Emma’s fear. “Mmm, I should thank you.” She took a step forward, which caused Emma to shiver.

Imprisoning souls for eternity? Could I be next?

Molly moaned. “Oh shit, Emma … You’re so scared of me, huh?” Molly breathed heavily as she kept getting closer to Emma. Emma backed into the door and turned her head away from Molly. “Are you afraid I’m going to eat you? And torture your soul until the end of time?”

Emma whimpered. Molly moaned.

“Oh, fuck,” Molly said. She then stuck out her tongue and ran it up Emma’s cheek, tasting the single tear running down. “Mmm, Emma. I’m famished and you taste so wonderful.” She gave another long lick that extended from Emma’s jawline to eyes. “Did you cook a decent dinner?”

She nodded.

“What about dessert?”

“I have ice cream.”

“Cherries? Do you have any cherries?”

Emma whimpered and felt her shoulders slump. “I don’t have cherries. Please, Goddess—I mean, Molly. Please don’t be mad.”

“Mmm, how about I shrink you down so that you can be the cherry on top of my ice cream?”

Emma reluctantly nodded. “Whatever you want.”

Molly giggled and then gave Emma a warm hug. “Okay, I’ll stop. I don’t want you to have a heart attack.”

“Huh?”

“I was just messing with you, babydoll. I won’t eat you unless you really, really want me to.”

“Oh, you were just trying to scare me,” Emma said, relieved. There was a reason Alexandra held the title she held. “So, there aren’t really souls trapped in this anklet.”

“No, that part is real. You’re the only mortal that owns souls, by the way—so you’re welcome.”

Molly was still hugging Emma when Isabel walked out of her room. From Isabel’s point of view, it looked like an intense make-out session that had her sister in tears.

“Should I come back later or …?” Isabel asked.

Molly looked over her shoulder and stared down at Isabel like a predator. She turned back to Emma and in a whisper said, “I hope her fear is as delicious as yours.”

“Please, goddess, she’s my sister. Please don’t harm her.”

Molly rolled her eyes and then broke off the hug to meet Emma’s older sister. “You must be Isabel.” Molly extended a hand.

“Yeah. Molly, right? You’re Em’s girlfriend?”

Girlfriend? Molly turned to face Emma for her reaction and saw Emma give her a nervous, encouraging nod. Molly turned back to Isabel with a mischievous smile painted on her face. “That’s right. We’re lovers.”

Emma cringed.

“Cool,” Isabel said. “Dinner ready, Em?”

=====

Dinner Party

=====

Emma prepared the dining table with a white cloth, candles, and her fancy plates, which were simple glossed white plates. She served everyone spaghetti with diced Italian sausage, garlic bread, and a side salad. She set condiments in the middle of the table like parmesan cheese, Spanish stuffed olives, and slices of baguette. The savory aroma from Emma’s hastily prepared dinner permeated through the apartment complex.

Isabel, while sipping on her wine, found herself impressed by the complex flavors coming from the deep red drink. Unaware she was drinking a bottle that was hand-selected and reserved for the 19th century French Emperor. She grabbed the bottle and attempted to read the old French written on the label, but promptly gave up.

“I’m impressed, Emma,” Molly said, swallowing a mouthful. “I barely gave you time to prep for dinner, and look at what a great job you did.”

Emma stood perfectly still. She had her hand around the base of her wineglass and sat frozen, staring back at Molly with unease. Molly, that’s to say, Goddess Alexandra, was responsible for so much death and destruction. And here she was, complimenting Emma’s cooking abilities. The Goddess savored her powers, often manifesting them to grand sizes, transforming herself into a giantess that destroys property and people under foot. Then there was the eating …

“So, Isabel,” Molly said, turning her attention to the older sister, who looked bored, slouched in her chair, drinking more than eating. “Which god do you worship?”

Isabel had enough of Molly. She thought the greasy blonde was such a weirdo with her looks, mannerisms, and the way she spoke to her sister. Isabel wanted to end the dinner much earlier, but she knew her younger sister would’ve thrown a fit and talked her ear off, and Isabel didn’t want to deal with her overactive younger sister. Instead, Isabel wanted to get started with her evening plans, which consisted of getting drunk and streaming Netflix.

“I’d rather worship dirt than any of them.” Isabel kicked up her feet on an empty chair and leaned back in her seat. “But since I want to avoid hell and all … I chose Melissa.”

Molly giggled with one raised brow. “Goddess Melissa? Really? Why would you choose her?”

“She’s the only level-headed one of the bunch—even if she’s obsessed with herself.”

“But why not choose a god closer to your age? One you can relate to?”

“Who, Hailee?”

“No. Not that mopey chick!”

“Well, you can’t mean Brad. He’s such a douche.”

“No, Alexandra!”

Isabel scoffed, nearly spitting her wine out. “No way; fuck her.” Isabel noted the slight mood change in Molly. “Do you worship her?”

Molly forced a smile. “No. You’re right. I’m on team Melissa. I think Alexandra is the worst of the lot. Most—” Molly was really close to saying ‘mortals’ but stopped herself. “Most people pray to the other three, don’t you think?”

Emma’s heart skipped a beat. She looked pleadingly at her sister, hoping some familial connection would hint to her sister to shut the fuck up.

“It’s fucking stupid if you ask me; all this worshiping and praying,” Isabel said. “They were humans only a year ago. Now I have to worship someone who clearly doesn’t deserve it? Fucking hell, enjoy your powers and create a heaven you can live in. Why fuck around with mortals, y’know? What’s with Alexandra’s obsession with being a giant and stomping through cities like she’s a Kaiju?”

“I bet it’s a lot of fun for her,” Molly said with a grin and giving Emma a wink. “But I know what you mean.”

“Just for that, she’s the worst.” Isabel drank the rest of her wine and filled up with more. “Brad’s a piece of shit—going all Zeus-mode and screwing every woman he comes across. Hailee is worthless. Melissa at least acts like a god. Though she could do more and get rid of her stupid worship laws.”

“The gods work in—”

“Don’t say it. Don’t say they work in mysterious ways. That’s such a fucking cope out.”

“I wasn’t,” Molly said, a little peeved from getting interrupted by a mortal. “The gods only seem mysterious to mortals that can’t comprehend cosmic forces that they’re unaware exist. Melissa demands worship because she’s a classical goddess, and she finds purpose in mortals devoting their lives to her. Hailee operates under love, and is undergoing a monumental dilemma because her mortal boyfriend would rather marry a mortal than a goddess. Brad—well, he’s simple. Lust gets him going. Typical man.” Molly adjusted herself in her seat, as if something were poking at her bottom.

“You got them figured out.” Isabel slightly slurred her words. “What about Alexandra?”

“Well, everyone knows what gets her going, right?” Molly shot a look at Emma, who hadn’t moved an inch since dinner started. Her eyes were wide with mouth slightly agape.

“What? Being a bitch?”

Molly sighed and rolled her eyes. “No.”

“Destruction?”

“Huh? No, that’s not an emotion.”

“You mean fear? I thought that was just a dumb nickname for her.” Isabel drank more, her lips sufficiently stained red.

“That’s right. Fear. The others get high with their worship, love, and lust—but for Alexandra—it’s fear. When mortals tremble just from uttering her name … it’s like an aphrodisiac. An immense, gratifying feeling of grandiose pleasure.”

“How do you know all this?” Isabel asked with heavy eyes.

Emma shook her head subtly. She prayed Alexandra wouldn’t smite her sister.

“I’m obsessed with the gods. I love learning everything I can about them, even stuff that mortals shouldn’t know. Wanna know a secret?” Molly leaned in, and in a hushed tone, said, “I’ve learned the gods are vulnerable and they all have weak spots. Something attacked Melissa two days ago. Have you heard of that? Whatever it was, it had a real chance of doing damage and Melissa barely got away. I don’t think Alexandra is as cunning as Melissa. There might be a means of taking her down.”

Isabel sat up and leaned close to Molly. “Really?”

“Yes.”

Isabel took in a breath. “Alexandra almost killed me.” Upon hearing that from her sister, Emma stared at her with concern. How come she didn’t know about this? “When she fucked that douchebag god, I was downtown, delivering case files with a lawyer at the courthouse. Her black wings were over us … I don’t know how we survived. Dumb luck, I guess, but we had so many close calls. If she rolled over and moved to her left, I would be dead. I was so scared …”

Molly stared, her hand between her legs, playing with herself as she felt Isabel’s primal fear rise as she recounted her traumatic story.

Isabel said, “I met some people ... Before I say anything else, you gotta promise to keep this a secret! I can’t have anyone—especially the gods learning about this.”

Emma closed eyes and cringed. She tried to scream, but Alexandra must’ve stolen her voice.

Molly made the ‘zipping her lips’ gesture and encouraged Isabel to continue.

“It’s a group. People that have had enough of the gods, but especially Alexandra. The leader, Syaara, thinks she knows how to stop Alexandra. If you’re serious about what you said, join us.”

“Absolutely.” Molly nodded. “When can I meet them?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“That’s perfect! I’m spending the night over, anyway.”

“You are?” Isabel asked. Emma tried objecting, but her voice was still absent.

“Yeah, hasn’t Emma told you? We sleep together.”

Isabel laughed so hard she nearly fell out of her seat. “Em! How long have you been keeping this a secret?”

Emma looked petrified. She forced an unconvincing grin and shrugged.

=====

Cuddles

=====

They spoke for a little more, making idle small talk. Over time, Isabel warmed up to Molly. Emma sat silently, sweat dripping down her forehead as she contemplated how to bail out her sister from her oblivious predicament. But the damage was done. Her only best bet was pleading with Alexandra for her sister’s forgiveness.

Molly helped walk Isabel to her room from the dining table. After one too many drinks from a seemingly bottomless bottle of wine, Isabel was too drunk to walk straight. Once safely snoring in her bed, Molly gently closed her bedroom door and met up with Emma.

Emma dropped to her knees as Molly approached, but Molly promptly grabbed her arm and lifted her up to her feet.

“Enough of that,” Molly said. “Come on, take me to bed and fuck me raw, like the good little girlfriend you are.”

Molly tugged on Emma’s hand and guided her to her bedroom. They entered Emma’s room and closed the door behind them. Molly transformed into Goddess Alexandra, standing nine feet tall, her head touching the ceiling of the apartment. Along with her physical transformation, Alexandra was clad in black lingerie that contrasted against her milky white skin. Her dark hair flowed freely, going past her shoulders, her icy blue eyes staring down at Emma with anticipation.

Emma dropped back down on her knees.

“Get up. I swear, if you do that shit again, I’ll swallow you up and digest you before your puny mind can comprehend what happened. I’m not into that worship shit, remember?” Alexandra lifted her and shoved her back into a wall. She bent down at the hips and ran her fingers through Emma’s hair, cupping the back of her head in her massive hand.

“Please, Goddess, my sister—”

Alexandra closed her eyes and moaned. Her angel wings sprouted out from behind her, their raven-like qualities shimmering in the light. Alexandra brought her lips to Emma’s and forced her sopping wet tongue inside the smaller woman. Emma’s eyes bulged as she opened her jaw wide to accommodate the enormous tongue. It was like having an oversized cucumber shoved in her mouth. As Alexandra forced herself into Emma’s mouth, Emma’s eyes watered and she whimpered as the Goddess had her way with her.

Alexandra pulled out her tongue, allowing Emma to speak again.

“Isabel’s traumatized. That’s the root of her poor choices. If she knew who you really are—”

“She’s a grown adult, and you’re not responsible for her decisions.”

“What will you do?” Emma cried.

“Her consequences are her own. You needn’t fret.”

“Goddess, please.”

Alexandra’s wings fluttered as she moaned loudly. “Tell me, Emma. Have you already forgotten about the souls around your ankle? They are guilty of harming other mortals and I punished them for all eternity to be your property. What do you think I’ll do with your sister? A mortal that dares harm a goddess?”

“No!” Emma cried out in anguish. “What will you do? Goddess—it’s my sister! What are you going to do to her?”

Alexandra crouched and took shallow breaths as waves of pleasure overcame her. “Oh, fuck,” she gasped. Alexandra had one hand behind Emma’s head, and the other between her legs. “You know what I’ve decided? Your sister’s sins are now yours too. I’ll punish both of you for conspiring against me. Your souls are so fucked.”

Emma whimpered as she felt her situation turn hopeless. Was Alexandra really going to torture her for the rest of her life? She certainly was capable of it. The proof was around her ankle. What could Alexandra’s creative mind come up with for her? She looked up at the Goddess who was in the middle of throes of pleasure. What did Emma even do to make Alexandra dive into a pool of bliss? Then it hit her.

“You’re getting off because of me,” Emma said, sounding more like a question than a statement. “My fear for my sister …” Emma focussed on changing her emotions and attitude. But how? She looked up and down Alexandra’s body and thought about admiring the goddess instead of fearing her. She lusted after Alexandra’s perfect body with well-endowed breasts. Despite wanting to fear Alexandra, Emma forced herself to become jealous of Alexandra’s height, her fierce confidence, and her powers. If Alexandra came back down for a kiss again, Emma would welcome it and even throw herself into it. She would display all emotions for Alexandra, except fear.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Alexandra asked, frustrated.

“Huh?”

“What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing? What changed?” Alexandra retracted her black wings.

“I—I don’t know what you mean.” Emma shook her head and looked up at the fierce goddess with puppy-dog eyes.

Alexandra slammed the wall behind Emma’s head, her face turning red. But then she formed a smile. “You sly dog, you figured it out.”

“Sure?”

“Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.”

“All that talk … About punishing my sister and me—it was just that. Talk. You’re trying to scare me because you love how it makes you feel.”

“Yes, Sigmund Freud, that must be it. Now, tell me, do you think I manifested this desire to be feared, or was it inherent in my ascension?” Alexandra leaned in and sniffed Emma’s hair, before peppering her with kisses that started on her forehead and moved down to her cheeks.

“You knew all along Isabel was part of that group.”

“Yeah.” Alexandra started kissing her neck.

“That means you knew the group existed. A conspiracy to undermine you—to hurt you.” Emma’s mind was going a mile a second. “I may just be a mortal, but if a god learned there was a group of humans working to hurt god—wouldn’t that god just outright destroy that group? Why didn’t you, Goddess?”

“There’s a lot you don’t know.”

“Wait, is it because Isabel is in the group? And you know she’s my sister? That would explain why you just didn’t turn all of them into a pillar of salt, right?”

Alexandra giggled. “My little detective. Too bad you suck at this and have it all wrong. You think I’m sparing a bunch of heathens that are working on removing my divinity, because a simple mortal that I had a run-in with, has a sister in that group, and that somehow, I, the Goddess of Fear, would spare an outright judgement of this group by my fists, because of said sister, of a mortal I was playing with?”

Emma hesitated. “Yes?”

Alexandra’s expression dropped into a bored one. “Okay, you’re right.”

“What?”

Alexandra stood up, head barely clearing the ceiling. “Goddess Melissa encountered some strange beings in New York a few days ago. I know you heard about the bomb that threatened to vaporize the entire city, and our gallant protector, the queen of the gods, heroically stopped them. Anyway, she thinks there’s more of these beings. She calls the demons.” Alexandra laughed. “Bullshit, there’s no such thing. But that didn’t stop Melissa from calling a meeting at the Pantheon and told us to keep an eye out for more of these creatures. I tracked one down to that fanatical group your sister joined. I told Melissa about it. She wanted me to go all scorched-earth on the mortals for daring to defy the gods.”

“But you didn’t … because of Isabel?”

“Yup. Also, if this thing is a demon, or whatever, it’s not their fault.” Alexandra played with Emma’s hair as if she were a child. Emma’s head hardly reached her belly. “I’m going to use your sister to learn more about what this thing is. Don’t worry, honey, your sister is safe. Gods just like having fun with their toys.”

Emma rubbed her face with her hands and took a deep breath. “Goddess Alexandra?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t get it.” She shook her head. Everything she knew about Alexandra was coming to question. “I thought you’d—”

“You don’t know me, Emma.”

“I would like to …”

Alexandra smiled widely, showing off her perfect white teeth. “Good. Because I feel like something special is going to happen between us. Historic even.” Alexandra bent down and resumed kissing Emma. Her hands rested on the smaller woman’s shoulders and went around her back. Her lips rendezvoused with Emma’s, and soon after, her giant tongue found itself inside the tiny woman’s mouth again. This time, Emma welcomed her powerful tongue and sucked on it like a phallus. Emma reached and tried to wrap her arms over the frame of the goddess. Alexandra broke off the kiss and looked down at the awestruck mortal. “Y’know, I plan on fucking you hard tonight, right?”

Emma nodded at first, but then she shook her head. Unsure what to think.

Alexandra giggled and turned to Emma’s small room. With a flourish of her hand, Emma’s bed transformed into a sprawling mattress on the floor of the bedroom that extended most of the room. Silky sheets and plump pillows adorned the bed, making it look like something a royal Egyptian chamber might’ve looked like in its heyday.

“Emma, before we get to fucking, be a dear and pull out my plug from my ass.”

Emma raised a brow with bulging eyes. Alexandra bent over all the way until she was grabbing her ankles, and her ass was in Emma’s face. She swayed her hips invitingly at the mortal woman. Emma played along and slid the strip of black lingerie that was covering the Goddess’s asshole. She spread the plump cheeks and saw a flawless diamond, about the size of a golf ball, sticking out. Emma grabbed it and pulled out at a slow, even speed. She expected an ornate butt plug, but found a tiny man bound in chains with his wrists tied to the diamond. He was crying and wailing in pain, his eyes unable to open. He was probably four inches tall and had chains wrapped around his body, from his feet to his neck.

Emma’s jaw dropped as she held up the tiny man up to her eyes. Just when she thought she was coming around to Alexandra, she discovered she was torturing a man in her rectum.

“Ah, thank you, Emma.” Alexandra stood back up, towering over the shocked mortal. “Those chains on him felt great on the way out. Ribbed, for my pleasure.”

“Who is he?”

“Brad.”

“You mean—this is god?”

“What the fuck, Alex?” Brad squeaked, still dangling from the diamond that Emma held. “Tell me we’re even!”

“Not by a long-shot, bub,” Alexandra said. “What are you complaining about, anyway? I thought you liked my ass.”

“I do! But fuck … you know I can’t stay this small for so long. It fucking hurts. I need to grow back to normal.”

“Okay, you big baby. Clean yourself up and stay in this room. And don’t you dare get in bed!”

God Brad obeyed Alexandra’s command. He vanished from the diamond butt plug and reappeared on the floor beside the mattress. He had a white towel around his waist and was lying on his back, panting as if he just finished an intense CrossFit workout. Brad was also over ten feet tall.

“Fuck.” He moaned in pain. “Gods are not meant to be that small. Holy shit, I forgot what pain feels like.”

Emma’s breathing became labored as her tiny room felt even tinier. There were two Amazonian-sized gods in her room carrying on with discussions that were beyond her reasoning. Also, Brad looked completely different from how she remembered him. He was no Adonis, but an average-looking male, aside from his tremendous height.

Alexandra ignored Brad’s complaining, stripped her clothing, and crawled on the mattress. She adjusted the soft pillows and plopped on her back, legs spread, fingers rubbing her womanhood. She gasped as she locked eyes with Emma, who remained frozen on the other end of the room.

“You a top or bottom?” Alexandra asked.

“I—umm.”

“Doesn’t matter. Get naked and get over here.”

Emma just couldn’t accept the situation she was in. Alexandra was drop dead gorgeous and looked exquisite laying in bed against the backdrop of deep red and purple silk sheets. Her defined legs were like a racehorse, her toenails shined like emeralds, and firm breasts were a perfect roundness uninhibited by gravity. Emma slipped out of her dress and hesitated, taking off her underwear. She didn’t want to insult Alexandra by showing her boring body to a goddess with a lovely body no masterful artist could ever capture. She let her panties and bra drop to the ground and looked up, ashamed of herself.

“That’s more like it,” Alexandra said. “Come here.”

Emma walked towards Alexandra’s outstretched arms. When she was close enough, Alexandra snatched her wrists and pulled her on top of her body. Emma’s little legs straddled Alexandra’s powerful torso, and before she could adjust, the nine-foot-tall goddess placed a hand behind Emma’s back and pushed her body into hers. Emma’s own tiny breasts squished against Alexandra’s mammoth tits.

Alexandra’s hands ran up and down Emma’s curves, feeling the mortal’s fragile frame against her celestial body. Because of their size difference, Alexandra felt up every inch of Emma. She squeezed the young woman’s hamstrings, cupped her small ass, and shoved the back of her head into her face so she could the inside of Emma’s mouth. Emma worked feverishly, sucking on Alexandra’s tongue, and licking up and down on the appendage like a popsicle stick. Alexandra had a hand wander down Emma’s ass crack, and slide over until she felt her womanhood. Emma was sopping wet.

Alexandra shoved her middle finger all the way inside Emma, causing her to yelp. Her finger pumped into the smaller woman like a jackhammer. Unlike a cock, the Goddess’s finger bent at each knuckle, giving Emma never felt before pleasures. After fucking Emma for a minute, Alexandra brought her finger up between them. It was lathered in Emma’s feminine cum. Alexandra stuck her entire finger in her mouth and pulled it out clean, licking her lips in the end.

“Eat me out, little one,” Alexandra said in a husky tone.

Emma didn’t have time to acknowledge, as Alexandra shoved her head down between her legs. Alexandra grunted as she felt the woman’s tiny tongue swirl around her labia. Emma had her nose digging into Alexandra’s clitoral hood, her eyes staring into the Goddess’s manicured bush.

Alexandra shoved Emma’s face harder into her pussy. “I said, fuck me!” Alexandra grunted, the windows in the room vibrating with her voice. “Bite me. Bite down on my clit. I said bite! Harder! As hard as you can—” Alexandra’s voice went up an octave, her toes curling, her back arching. “Almost there—almost. I fucking said hard, Emma! Like you’re biting into a walnut.”

Emma had her fingers peeling back Alexandra’s pussy lips and exposing her clit, which she used as her incisors to bite down on. But with the Goddess’s demands, she switched to using her molars. Emma didn’t hold back. She chomped down hard.

“Fuck yes—yes, Emma! Right there! Chew on it as hard as you can.” Alexandra grabbed the sheets and clenched them into her fists. A mild earthquake rattled through southern California as the Goddess of Fear almost reached an orgasm. “Come on, come on.” Alexandra whimpered, but she felt the moment slipping away from between her fingers. “No, no, no, what the fuck? Come on!” She collapsed back on the bed. “Fuck.”

Emma kept working Alexandra by biting down on her clit and even shoving her fist into her. Alexandra relaxed her body and placed a hand on her forehead in frustration.

“You can stop, Emma,” she sighed. “Why can’t I cum?” she nearly screamed.

Emma rose from between the giant legs and said, “Goddess, I’m sorry.” Emma looked on, distressed that she couldn’t satisfy the Goddess. “I’ll try harder! Please, I want to—”

“It’s not you,” Alexandra snapped. She saw Emma recoil and immediately felt guilty. “Come here, honey.” She extended her arms.

Emma reluctantly crawled across the statuesque body until the moment Alexandra got a hold of her. The Goddess cradled her in her arms and held her tightly against her body, her breast mashing against Emma’s smaller frame. Alexandra kissed Emma’s forehead and used both arms to cuddle Emma.

“This has been going on for months now,” Alexandra said. “I can’t cum unless I have Brad’s dick in me.”

Upon hearing his name, Brad used his arms to raise his upper body. “Did you say something?”

Alexandra rolled her eyes. She turned and looked back down at Emma and said, “You were the first mortal that almost got me to cum.”

=====

Revelation

=====

“Sorry, Emma, but I need Brad to fuck me right now. You don’t mind, do you?”

“You’re a goddess. Do whatever you’d like.”

Alexandra smiled. “You’re upset, aren’t you? I told ya, it’s not you. You shouldn’t feel ashamed that you couldn’t give a goddess unbridled pleasure.”

“But I do feel ashamed,” Emma said. “I know I can do it.”

Alexandra laughed, her boob flesh jiggling on the smaller woman. “You want another chance? Fine. Have another go. Make me cum, Emma. But if you can’t—I’ll have Brad bring over his god dick and give me a hard fuck. Only another god can satisfy me.”

“Hmm,” a thought popped into Emma’s mind.

“What?”

“Maybe it’s not the fact that Brad is a god that’s giving you pleasure. Maybe it’s the power he has over you?”

Alexandra scoffed at the idea with a hearty chuckle. “Power? Over me? Brad is pathetically weak and has no power over me.”

“Hey, Alex?” Brad asked, raising an arm. “You might’ve forgotten, with all the excitement and all, but I’m sitting right here in earshot.”

“And?” Alexandra shot back. “We might be gods and equal to the eyes of mortals, but between the two of us, we know I’m more powerful.”

“Bullshit,” he said with a smile.

Alexandra formed a ball of lightning in her hands and threw it at Brad. It exploded like a water balloon on his face, sparks flying everywhere like a grinder on steel.

“Ow, what the fuck?”

“Need another example?”

“Okay, you win, damn.”

Alexandra turned to Emma, who looked on with wide eyes. “You think that,” she pointed at Brad, “is overpowering me?”

“I think it’s more nuanced than that, Goddess,” Emma said, rising to her knees and turning to face Alexandra. Though the Goddess was laying back on a stack of pillows, and Emma was on her knees, leaning over, they were eye-level. “I read this article about male gigolos—that were essentially male sex workers for women.”

Alexandra rolled her eyes. “I don’t like where this is going.”

“No, hear me out.” Emma scooted closer and grabbed Alexandra’s hand, idly kneading it as she spoke. “Their clients are mostly women in positions of power. Regional managers, CEOs, company owners—positions where they have many subordinates. Well, the thinking goes like this: sometimes, women that have this power over others, sometimes have this innate craving to be overpowered themselves. Call it instinctual, genetic, or just wanting to feel feminine. Goddess, the entire world fears you and bows to the mere mention of your name. You take pleasure walking over our cities and watching us scurry away from your feet. You’ve been doing this for a year. When’s the last time you had someone put a check on your power?”

Alexandra squinted. She chewed on her inner lips as she absorbed what her little psycho-analyst was saying. “Go on.”

“It’s not ‘god dick’ that’s making you orgasm. Brad is a god who penetrates your body while you guys … copulate. I think he’s reminding you of your femininity or maybe a position you have forgotten since ascending.”

Alexandra gave Emma a wry smile with furrowed brows. “The fuck. You’re saying I have to be a sub—to cum?”

“Have you tried?”

“Fuck no, she hasn’t,” Brad interrupted.

“Shut the fuck up or I’ll shove you up my ass again.”

Brad flourished his hands upon making his point. “See what I mean.”

“Wait, wait—Emma, what are you suggesting I do?”

Emma gave a nervous smile and braced herself for potentially getting struck down. “I suggest you let me dominate and humiliate you … Goddess.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Brad said with a wide smile. “That’s fucking hot, actually. A mortal dominating the most feared goddess in human history.”

Emma trembled, not knowing if she crossed a line with Alexandra and doomed her soul. Alexandra was stoic, her expression hard to read as her mind swam with various thoughts.

“I don’t hate it,” Alexandra finally said. “But I have some conditions …” She stood up to her full height and pulled out her blackened wings. She grabbed Emma by the neck in one hand, lifted her, and shoved her against the wall. Emma yelped and supported herself by holding herself up by Alexandra’s wrist. Alexandra was holding her as if she weighed as much as a bird. Alexandra’s eyes glowed bright red and her wings extended the entire length of the room. “First off, you will tell no one what happens here tonight. Got it? Second, you better go fucking hard, Emma. Do not hold back, no matter what. If you go soft on me, even for a second, I’ll gobble you up and digest you over a year, so you can live in the hell that is my stomach and—”

“Alex!” Brad shouted. “You’re pretty awful at setting the mood, holy shit. It’s like watching a virgin try to take a bra off a chick. Get off your goddess high-horse and let Emma lead.”

Alexandra glowered at him, even though he was right. She couldn’t have her dominant mortal fear her before the fun even started.

She retracted her wings and dropped Emma to her feet. The Goddess took in a deep breath and shrunk herself to an uncomfortable 5’0” while growing Emma to 9’2”. While a confused Emma towered over her.

“Remember what I said, mortal bug. I want you to convince me, otherwise you’ll be begging me for death after I get through with you.”

The reasoning and critical thinking portion of Emma’s mind worked out the situation in a flash. One chance. That’s what the Goddess gave her. Make the Goddess cum, and she could guarantee herself a life under the good graces of the deadliest goddess known to man. Emma could picture it: Goddess Alexandra’s right-hand woman, forever protected and a true confidant that could possibly influence her decision-making. It also meant she could save Isabel’s soul. Maybe she could even convince Alexandra to stop her rampages throughout cities. Save millions of lives.

Emma trusted her gut instinct that Alexandra secretly needed someone to dominate her, rather than dominating the world at her feet through fear. Emma was going to give Alexandra an unexpected night, and this would snowball into a better world for mankind. She settled her mind. She was going to roleplay a character that would throw Alexandra off her goddess feet and yearn for more after her Oscar-worthy performance.

Emma pounced on Alexandra while her guard was down. The nine-foot-tall mortal throttled the goddess by the neck, knocked her off her feet, and shoved her into the mattress. Alexandra’s eyes bulged and her heart raced for the first time since ascension. Emma snarled, but Alexandra could see faint apprehension in her eyes. Alexandra gave Emma a subtle nod to continue.

=====

Turn Tables

=====

Emma used both her hands to pull back on Alexandra’s tousled hair, revealing her beautiful face and alluring blue eyes. She went with a forceful kiss; this time, her gigantic tongue probed, tasted, and danced with the Goddess’s much smaller tongue. While she French’d Alexandra, Emma traced the contour of her compact frame, taking time to feel, cup, and squeeze her breasts, which even at her diminished height were still sizeable and filled her palms.

Emma planted her forehead against Alexandra’s and looked her straight in the eyes, as two of her fingers plunged into Alexandra’s pussy. The Goddess squealed in delight, causing the entire apartment complex to tremor at its foundation. Emma then grabbed a fistful of Alexandra’s hair and yanked it back, causing her to arch her body, allowing Emma’s enormous fingers to enter her deeper until her knuckles were against the wet pussy lips.

“You’re my bitch tonight,” Emma said in a hoarse voice. “Shrink down by half—now.”

Alexandra had a desperate look on her face as the stimulations coming from the mortals fingers and the words Emma chose were uncharacteristic. Alexandra shrank down to approximately two and a half feet tall, her new diminutive stature shadowed by Emma’s looming body. The stark contrast of a tiny goddess with a giant mortal embracing her sent chills down Alexandra’s body. Emma’s perfume mixing with her furnace-hot skin permeated the room and filled Alexandra’s nose with Emma’s unique scent that sparked a fire in her loins.

“Service me,” Emma said, without an ounce of hesitation or fear. Emma was fully into the swing of her new role and was loving the reversal in power dynamics. “Eat me out, bitch. And don’t you dare go lazy on me.”

Emma threw her back into the plush mattress, sinking into the sea of soft pillows that conformed to her statuesque figure. She had her legs bent at the knees and spread wide before the shrunken goddess. Her pussy salivated hungrily, eager to be indulged by an all-powerful being. Alexandra crawled on all fours between Emma’s long legs, her thighs thicker than Alexandra’s body. The smell of the over-excited sex overwhelmed Alexandra, making her think back to all the times she’s had even smaller servants service her cunt and wondered about their experiences.

“Brad, suck my tits,” Emma commanded.

“Umm, excuse me?” He asked. He had one hand under the towel, stroking his cock as he watched the mortal subjugate the bitchiest goddess he knew. “Don’t forget who you’re talking to. This is for Alex, not—”

“I won’t say it again,” Emma interrupted. “Get on your knees and suck my tits, like the pathetic god Alexandra said you are.”

Brad’s cock throbbed. He couldn’t decide if she was role-playing or if Emma was fearless enough to attempt dominating two gods. Whatever it was, it was working. “Yes, miss.” He crawled over to Emma, who was proportionately tall as he was, and lowered his mouth to her small breasts. He took a mouthful of her tit and sucked on the flesh, pulling out until only her erect nipple remained between his lips. Brad repeated the motion and used his tongue to explore her hardened nipple. He felt Emma run her fingers through his hair and even pull his head harder into her tits.

Like Alexandra, new sensations were running through Brad that excited him in ways he’d long forgotten. Though he was back to his pre-ascension looks, and didn’t look the perfect 10, Greek God, that the world would recognize, Emma desired him, and that was enough to make him puddy in her hands.

Alexandra dove her face into Emma’s folds. Her fingers spread Emma’s swollen lips, revealing the slick, pink inner sex, dripping in delectable juices. Alexandra lapped it up, running her tongue inside Emma’s nether insides, ending at her clit. Emma’s fingers squeezed her comparably small ass and shoved her hips into her. Alexandra gasped as she felt a small ripple of pleasure course through her body. Emma handled her roughly and was using her tiny body to pleasure herself. That little bitch, Alexandra thought with a smile as Emma pummeled into her sex.

If this wasn’t heaven, Emma didn’t know what is. She had two—two!—gods servicing her and obeying her commands. She took a calculated risk, and it was paying off in spades. Emma knew it could’ve backfired spectacularly if Alexandra wasn’t receptive. She knew Alexandra could end this fun at any moment and claim Emma’s soul for punishment, daring to manipulate gods, and then transform her soul into jewelry for the next mortal she found interesting. But Emma went with her intuitions, and it was working! Alexandra was getting what she wanted, and the gods rewarded Emma with ethereal pleasures. Emma wondered how far she could go with this. Alexandra did say not to hold back …

“You’re not doing it for me,” Emma said, shoving Alexandra off her pussy.

The tiny goddess fell on her butt, astonished by the mortal’s abrupt action. She thought everything was going swimmingly and Emma’s personality change was getting her uniquely aroused and eager to see more.

“The fuck?” Alexandra asked.

“You’re not good at this,” Emma said. “I need an experienced tongue down there that knows how to please a woman. Brad, show her how to do it.”

Brad opened his mouth. “What—”

“Get down there already.” Emma planted her hand on top of his head and shoved him down the length of her nine-foot body. Brad repositioned himself between Emma’s legs, shrugged at Alexandra, and lowered his mouth to her dripping pussy. “Oh God, you’re so much better.”

“Okay, Emma, this has gone far enough.” Alexandra stomped her feet. “You forget you’re just a mortal ant and—”

Emma shoved Alexandra by the face, over her legs. She then pulled Brad’s face into her pussy and started grinding herself on his face. “That’s right baby,” she said to Brad. “Finally, someone who knows what they’re doing.”

“Emma, stop this shit. I—wanted to fuck you. This wasn’t supposed to be about Brad,” Alexandra yelled.

“Why are you still here?” Emma asked.

“Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. I don’t need you. I got a real god now.” Emma shoved her hips hard into Brad.

“If you don’t stop, I’m about to destroy this whole fucking city under my toe,” Alexandra threatened. “I’ll absorb every soul in LA, chew on it, and then spit it into the fucking void if—”

“You want to fuck me so bad?” Emma giggled, not swayed by her outburst. “Hmm, let’s see. If you get smaller—like, really small—maybe I’ll have sex with you.”

“Smaller? You know how much that hurts for a god?”

“Mmph, mmmph.” Brad mumbled from between Emma’s pussy lips.

“Shut up, Brad.” Alexandra said. “Fine. If that’ll get you to play with me.” The walls rattled, and the air felt electric as Alexandra shrunk herself once more until she was about four inches tall. Uncomfortable didn’t begin to describe the distress her body felt. It was like she ate a Thanksgiving meal all to herself and then drank a five-gallon jug of water. She felt stuff. Her celestial powers packed into a tiny compact package caused ripples of disturbance throughout the cosmos. “There! Happy?”

Emma’s lips quivered. Why the hell is Alexandra obeying me? She was a goddess and didn’t have to heed anything Emma commanded—far from it. It could only mean that Alexandra was allowing this to happen. If only the world could see them now: a nobody mortal, Emma, dominating Goddess Alexandra.

“Let’s see what we got,” Emma said, plucking Alexandra and holding her up to her eyes. “Hmm, you’re not as cute as I thought you’d be.”

“Yes, I am cute!”

“You expect me to fuck you? Look how small and sorry you look.”

“You wanted me to shrink!” Alexandra shouted. “This was your idea, so you better not throw me to the side—”

Emma threw Alexandra to the side.

“Aieee!” Alexandra screamed as she flew the length of the mattress and nearly fell over the edge. As soon as she stopped tumbling over, she righted herself and looked back at the mortal, laying in the bed with god.

The titaness guided Brad up so that they could kiss, giving Emma a chance to taste her own flavors on his tongue. She reached down and guided his godly cock into her hungry pussy. Brad went in slowly, coating his cock with the gusher of feminine juices flooding out of her hole. Emma whimpered as god’s cock brought her profound ecstasy she didn’t know existed.

“Slow down,” Emma gasped, unable to contain herself. Every inch of him was pure euphoria for her cunt. A celestial rod that shot out tendrils of electric pleasure. Like having individual orgasms radiated outwards where skin met skin. “Oh, god!” she heard herself cry out, but shook her head, disappointed she broke character. “This is okay, I guess.” Emma’s unimpressed tone came out. “The way women talked about you, I thought it’d be … I don’t know … better?”

Brad raised a brow. That was a first. He moved his hips with the cadence of an oil rig pumping the earth. It was steady, methodical, and allowed Emma to feel every inch of him. Emma tried to look bored, but couldn’t help clamping her legs around his hips, and her nails clawing into his back as his movements intensified.

While they copulated, Alexandra looked on from the sidelines, alone and forgotten. It seemed like the goddess was losing control of the situation, and maybe Alexandra let herself believe that … Something stirred inside Alexandra. Since ascending into a veritable goddess, her presence always commanded eyes and ears. Her every whim, desire, and wants, carried out my mortals that were one decree away from a heart attack from sheer terror. Mortals surrounded her like ‘yes men,’ giving her responses that she wanted to hear, and never acting out in self-interest.

Even when she gave her private servants the freedom to roam her chambers and indulge in foods and drinks she manifested from the finest restaurants in every corner of the earth, they would tremble and remain on their knees—awaiting a command as if she were a despot. Even after coaxing and reassuring them, her servants were robotic and tip-toed around the Goddess of Fear, not daring to upset her in the slightest.

So, when this mortal—Emma—tossed her to the side like a used tissue …

She’ll never admit how much she enjoyed being ignored and talked down to by a mortal—especially a little timid thing like Emma. She stood there, waiting to be acknowledged, but it never came. The mortal was having sex with a lesser god like Brad, instead of a powerful one such as herself. “Emma?” Alexandra asked like a schoolgirl in trouble with her teacher. “Emma?” She asked a little louder. The titaness mortal turned her head, mouth wide open as she gasped, while Brad gave her a memorable fuck. “Can I join, please?”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Join? What makes you think I want you?” She flicked the goddess with her middle finger. “Brad is fucking better than you could ever fuck me—yet, he’s far from the best I’ve had. Imagine how I feel: a mortal with two gods unable to sexually satisfy her. I should substitute you two with my vibrator so that I can finally get off.”

“Now, I know you’re playing,” Brad said. “You can’t be serious that I’m not the best you’ve had.”

“You’re a distant second to my vibrator,” Emma said, looking straight into his eyes. “My vibrator doesn’t have misplaced confidence and talk back, after all.”

“Damnit Emma,” Alexandra said. “Stop acting. Fuck me already. Hell, stick me in your pussy, at least.”

“Will you shut up and leave me alone already?”

“Emma!”

“That’s it!” Emma grabbed in Alexandra in a rough grasp of her fist. “You want to be inside me so bad?”

“Yes!”

“Fine. In you go.” Emma opened her mouth and dropped Alexandra inside.

“The fuck are you doing?” Alexandra asked.

Emma snapped her jaw closed and tasted the goddess with her tongue, moaning from the intense flavors exuding from her celestial skin. Brad had stopped drilling the mortal and looked on with rapt anticipation. He’s seen nothing like this since knowing Alexandra. Was Emma really going to …

The mortal closed her eyes as she tossed the goddess under and over her tongue, shoving into the pouch of her cheek and then sucking down on the excess saliva. The goddess-flavored candy never ceased in its intense flavors; instead, more pops of savory, salty, sweetness exploded along the taste buds of her salivating pink tongue. She slapped Brad’s hips, reminding him of his duties of sexually pleasing her.

Emma had a look of total bliss, her brows in the middle furrowed and turned upwards, and her mouth slightly agape. She was close to another orgasm and she could see Brad holding back, his eyes keen and watching Alexandra’s tiny form wrestling with the mortal’s tongue. Emma shoved her hips into the godly dick, arching her back and tilting her neck back until her esophagus had an unobstructed straight shot downwards. Emma swallowed the goddess in one gulp.

Alexandra yelled as she felt Emma’s esophageal muscles grip and guide her on a trip to her stomach. As she went down with her arms to her side, she felt the rhythmic sloshing of Emma’s body as Brad fucked her, and heard the mad thumping sounds of her heartbeat. Alexandra entered the stomach cavity and fell into a pool of disgusting stomach acid.

“That bitch really ate me.” Alexandra said.

-

“You ate her?” Brad asked.

“Did I say you can stop?”

“She let you eat her?”

“Alexandra didn’t let me. I chose to eat her. And you’re next if you can’t make me cum again.”

Brad loved this mortal that he barely met an hour ago. He ejaculated inside Emma while thinking about Alexandra sloshing inside the stomach of a mortal. Without pulling out, he felt renewed vigor and continued fucking Emma as if he didn’t orgasm. Only mortal men had to relax and recharge after cumming before they could fuck again. Not a god. He was close to cumming again when Emma said, “Stop!”

“What now?”

“Shrink for me.”

“What? No. I told you that shit hurts, and I’ve already been tiny for Alex for hours, I’m not—”

Emma slapped him. “Don’t disobey me.”

Brad glared down at the mortal. Was he imagining things, or did she really …? He never smited a mortal before, but Emma was really tempting him. If it weren’t for his diamond-hard cock getting even harder from being slapped by a mortal, he would’ve considered it more. Lucky for Emma, his cock decided his next move.

Brad shrunk himself to four inches, landing on a tuft of Emma’s pubic hair. She grabbed him by the forefinger and thumb, bringing him to her eyes. Silly gods, she thought. “Maybe now you’re worthy of me.” Emma licked his body with her wet tongue from head-to-toe and then rolled over onto her belly. She then lowered Brad towards her ass.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Brad blurted.

“What’s wrong? I thought you like ass?”

“C’mon, I was trapped in Alexandra’s all day.”

“So? Consider this an upgrade.” She inserted him head-first while using a free hand to pull her cheek apart. Emma never experimented with butt-play in the past, but Alexandra’s treatment of Brad inspired her to try it out. It might’ve been because she secretly loved having things up her ass, or because Brad was a god, but him getting shoved into her rectum was heavenly. Emma whimpered, as she forcefully shoved the shrunken god into her, with total disregard to his well being. He’s a god, he’ll be fine.

Emma momentarily felt alone in her room, but reminded herself that there were two gods with her—in her. She bit down on a pillow as waves of pleasure kept pulsating through her veins. Her mind was in a near state of total euphoria. She could feel Alexandra inside her stomach, masturbating. She could feel Brad struggling within the confines of her rectum.

“Finally,” she said between labored breaths. “You’re finally satisfying me. And it only took two pathetic gods submitting to my body to do it. Hear that? Of course you can. This mortal needs two lousy gods to get off. Because on your own, you’re so useless—worthless.” Emma wailed, getting off on her own words.

Alexandra howled in long-absent fulfillment. She felt up the stomach lining and reduced the protection of her skin, so she could feel the pleasant tingles of Emma’s stomach acid attempting to digest her. A mortal digesting a goddess? No mere mortal, but Emma. Lovely Emma. Whose smile touched my heart and fear brought pleasure. I love this mortal. My lovely Emma. Alexandra mewled as she felt her body crest over an imaginary apex that would lead to her first orgasm with a mortal in a year, culminating when Emma spoke next.

“You may be gods,” Emma said. “But you’re mere sex toys to me.” Her otherworldly pleasures brought tears to her eyes. It was too much. Too much for one mortal to withstand. Complete and everlasting pleasure. An orgasm compounded exponentially, causing her pussy to feel like white fiery flame, more powerful than the sun. Her mind was flying high in the clouds and looking down at all of humanity with pity that they would never reach a fraction of the pleasure she received from the gods, even if all humanity’s pleasures were lumped into one, it would not match what she felt.

Brad already had twice, since being trapped in his pink prison, cummed inside Emma’s ass, his semen lost forever in her hole. This was too hot. He bucked his hips and felt the top of cock play with the walls from deep within her ass. He wanted to give more to Emma. Brad wanted Emma to feel him, to give him praise for doing a good job. He bucked and wiggled. And listened to her words.

“Submit to me,” Emma said, lost in her domineering character.

Alexandra and Brad obeyed the mortal.

“Submit to me, damnit.” Emma wailed, nearly losing consciousness. “I’m no mortal to you! Hear that. I. Am. Your. Goddess. Submit to me and give me everything you have. Submit to me. I am your everything and nothing else matters. Make me your undeniable goddess with the power to rule over you for eternity. Give yourselves to me, you pathetic little shits. Submit. To. Me!” Emma thrashed in the bed, bucking her hips as if on a raging bull. “I am god!”

Emma climaxed one last time and then blacked out.

There was a 4.2 earthquake in Southern California that evening.

=====

Goddess Melissa

=====

Goddess Melissa sat on her favorite chair inside her private chamber at the Pantheon, with a look of anxious melancholy. She was her true god-height of 150 feet tall, which was both natural for the gods and scaled to the Pantheon that she constructed. Melissa wore a black summer dress with a floral pattern on it, the length of the dress barely stopping mid-thigh. She propped up her bare feet on a red pillow, while thirty of her devout worshipers tended to her feet. Some manicured her nails, some rubbed oils on her arches. Others were on their hands and knees, repeating her prayer and worshiping her.

Melissa didn’t pay attention to her worshipers as more pressing things weighed on her mind. She just kept thinking about Carlos and Alejandro. The look on her husband’s face when he discovered she’s been eating mortals devastated her. No amount of explanation could convince her husband that her actions were in line with her position of goddess of the universe. Mortals simply had to bend to her will or face her judgment. Those mortals broke her laws and when she gave them the chance to repent, they flat out refused. How could she not eat them? It was a simple concept that she couldn’t get through her husband’s thick skull.

They’ve been living separately for the past few days. She gave her family space and allowed them to live undisturbed in New York, while she lived at the Pantheon.

Melissa contemplated begging her husband for forgiveness, but she pushed that thought aside. She would not beg. She did nothing wrong. He needed to request forgiveness and pray she wouldn’t punish him. Yes, this was her husband she was thinking of. A mortal. Who should know his place and be ecstatic he was married to the most powerful being in the universe. Ask any mortal and they would say they’d trade places with Alejandro in a heartbeat. Mortals could see no wrong in Melissa, except her family.

As to prove a point, Melissa looked down at a servant woman tending to her big toe. The servant woman made a long pilgrimage to the Pantheon, went through all the hoops to apply to be her personal servant, and was lucky enough to be selected. Her choice was her own, and she was elated to polish and clean the goddess’s toes. Melissa flicked her off with her big toe. The woman went tumbling ten feet across the polished marble floor. All the eyes of the servants shot up to Melissa, terrified that they did something wrong. The servant woman that was flicked, got down on her hands and knees and prayed hard. She asked for forgiveness and reaffirmed her devotion and love to the goddess.

Melissa gave the woman a nod, and she happily scrambled back on her feet, running over to Melissa’s feet, this time putting more effort into her work in hopes she could please the goddess.

Melissa sighed. Why couldn’t her son and husband show that same devotion to her? A random bug appreciated her more than her family. Melissa could eat half of them at that moment, and the survivors would still worship her like the just goddess she was. So why were Alejandro and Carlos so different?

A sudden headache filled Melissa’s head. She hunched over and exclaimed, “Ow,” her groan echoing in the chamber. “The hell?”

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. The natural order of things changed, causing a cosmic ripple that only celestial beings could sense. The mortal servants paused cautiously, awaiting Melissa’s commands. But she gave none. Instead, she brought her hand to her temples and rubbed them as she tried to make sense of what happened.

-

Emma’s eyes fluttered open as sunlight streaked through her grimy bedroom window. Emma groaned as she massaged her throbbing forehead, the pulsating pain making her feel like her brain had swollen to twice its normal size, threatening to burst through her skull. It was a strange hangover, unlike any she had experienced before. She didn’t remember drinking the previous night. Okay, maybe a glass or two, but nowhere near what was required to get her drunk.

“Belle? Isabel?” She called out to her sister in a guttural voice. Memories of the previous night came flooding into her mind, causing her to freeze and fill with dread. “Oh, shit.” Emma looked around her tiny bedroom. “Goddess? God?”

Her room answered back with a deafening silence. She looked down at her body and noted she was naked, her feet dangling over the side of the oversized mattress that Alexandra materialized.

“Em?” Isabel asked through the bedroom door. “You awake?”

“I am.” Emma jumped up to her feet, her head punching through the ceiling, leaving a dome-shaped hole. “Ouch!” She ducked down from her nine-foot tall ceiling and was bending over deeply at the hips. “Shit.” Emma rubbed her head, surprised to find no pain or tenderness, and carefully brushed the fine, white plaster dust from her hair, watching as the powdery substance drifted lazily to the floor.

“What was that?” Isabel asked. “Em? Are you okay?”

“Hang on, I’ll be right out.” Shit, shit, shit. In a whisper, Emma said, “Alexandra. Where are you? Goddess, I need you to make me normal again—I can’t let my older sister see me like this.” She held out her hands, gesturing to her statuesque body. There was no response after several moments. “Goddess, where are you?”

Did Alexandra abandon her? Did she go too far, even though the Goddess told her not to hold back? Emma dropped to her knees, feeling hopeless. Where did it go wrong? I was good. The last thing Emma remembered was feeling the Goddess in her stomach. I didn’t kill you, did I? Emma poked her belly with her index finger, testing if she could feel anything. You’re immortal—a goddess. You can’t die from a mortal stomach. Are you just sleeping in there? Or are you mad? Did you give up on me and leave me freakishly tall as punishment?

Emma bent over until her face was on the floor. She said a prayer to Alexandra. “Goddess, please return me to normal. I’m sorry—sorry for everything. I didn’t mean to offend you. My actions were to serve you—to please you. Goddess, please.”

Nothing was happening. Emma felt her eyes welling up with tears. She made a fist and was about to punch through the floor when she made a stern whisper, “Make me small, goddamnit!”

Unseen powers enveloped Emma, and in a flash, she returned to her normal 5’3” stature. Her perspective changed in such a rush, it caused her head to spin and her stomach to lurch similar to the feeling of dropping 10-stories from a rickety carnival ride.

“I’m coming,” Emma yelled out to her sister. She silently thanked Goddess Alexandra for returning her height and looked around for something to cover her nudity. As she wrapped a silken bed sheet around her frame, Emma had to pause and get her bearings. She didn’t feel good. Her muscles ached—but not really. Her head was spinning, but it wasn’t really a headache. Emma’s skin felt icy, but was warm to the touch. “The fuck?” She couldn’t pinpoint her discomfort, but it was incessantly infuriating.

Emma answered her door to her sister, who had her fist up in the air, ready to knock again. She wore nothing more than an oversized shirt. A large mug of coffee in her other hand, with steam rising from the black liquid.

“You look like shit,” Isabel said.

“So do you?”

“Are you alone? Where’s your girlfriend?”

“I don’t know. I think she snuck out last night after we—”

“Wait,” Isabel said, shutting her eyes and shaking her head. “So you really fucked her? Holy shit, Em, you really are into girls, huh? How come you never told me before, bitch?”

Emma’s fingers clenched the bedsheet, her knuckles turning white as she recalled her sister’s shocking revelation from the previous night. “You never told me you joined a conspiratorial group against the gods. What the hell were you thinking, Belle?” Emma’s voice rose, mixed with anger and concern. “What if the gods found out this? You could be dooming your soul for eternity.”

As she spoke, Emma’s mind raced, wondering how much she could reveal to Isabel without incurring Alexandra’s wrath. She knew the Goddess had plans to toy with Isabel, and while Alexandra had promised not to hurt her sister, it did little to quell Emma’s anger towards Isabel’s reckless actions. In every myth Emma could recall, mortals who dared to defy the gods met with tragic, inescapable fates. And these modern gods were no different.

“It’s best you forget all that, Em,” Isabel said, booping her sister’s nose with her index finger. “If your girlfriend isn’t here, and doesn’t want to hang with me this morning, then well … see ya.” Isabel turned to head back to her room.

“Wait, stop. Listen, can you—not go? I can’t let you risk your soul like this.”

“Hey, I’m the big sister here, remember? You can’t tell a grown-ass woman what to do.”

“Isabel! Listen to yourself. How the hell do you think this is going to end? Gods are real! The afterlife is real! Souls—” Emma bent over and undid the anklet and dropped it onto Isabel’s hand. “Souls are real.”

“What is this?”

“They’re souls. Twelve of them.” Her words punctuated as she pointed towards each gem. “Isabel, these were wicked men, but their sins are nowhere near as bad as subverting the gods. Now they’re trapped here forever. Reduced to nothing but an anklet that I’ll wear—for special occasions.”

Isabel laughed. “Are you high or something?” Isabel looked closer at the jewelry, her enormous eyes focusing on the swirling white phantasms bouncing within the purple sapphires. “This looks really fucking expensive. How could you afford this?”

Emma wanted to scream the truth in Isabel’s face, but didn’t want to cross that line with Alexandra. She yanked the anklet back and held it tight in her fist. “If I can’t stop you from going, then I’m going with you.”

“What a great idea,” Isabel said in a mocking tone. “A journalist coming to my secret meeting. Hey, why don’t we save the gods the trouble and just livestream the whole thing? I’m sure they’ll ‘like and subscribe’ to our blasphemy.”

They argued some more. Isabel went back to her room to change, while Emma followed her every step, attempting to convince her to cancel her meeting. Isabel ignored her younger sister and slipped into jeans and shirt, unbothered if her sister watched.

“Don’t wait up,” Isabel said. She grabbed her purse and walked out of the apartment while Emma yammered on and on about her soul.

Emma had the door slammed in her face. “Fuck this,” Emma said, dropping the bedsheet to her feet and running to her room to dress. Like her sister, she dressed in jeans and a shirt. She slipped her bare feet into a dirty pair of pink Converse shoes, but forewent with the anklet, tossing it onto her bathroom counter, unconcerned with the souls. She was about to head out of the apartment, but couldn’t find her car keys in the kitchen junk drawer. “Where the fuck …?” She pulled half the junk out, but couldn’t find her keys anywhere. “Did Isabel take my keys?”

Thirty seconds had passed since Isabel left the apartment, and she was already sliding into her car while Emma cursed her name for stealing her car keys. Emma realized that her snake-of-a-sister must’ve swiped her keys. Of course, she thought, a wry smile tugging at her lips despite the situation. Sisters know each other too well. It was a given that Emma would chase after Isabel, and equally predictable that Isabel would steal her keys to prevent that very scenario from unfolding.

“Fuck!” Emma shouted. She slammed both her fists on the kitchen counter. “I need my goddamn keys, now!” Emma shut her eyes and calmed herself by steadying her breathing. Losing her cool would not help. When she re-opened her eyes and found her car keys on the counter between her fists. She had many questions … She shook her head. It didn’t matter. She had to catch up with her sister and learn more about this secret group. 

If Emma could learn more about it, she could hand over that intel to Alexandra, and further put herself in the goddess’s good graces. “Right-hand woman to the Goddess of Fear,” Emma thought. Not a catchy title. Maybe I can come up with something better. “The assistant to the Goddess.” Nah. What about “Assistant Goddess”? Emma giggled at her own little joke. The show The Office was her favorite, and she decided she would re-watch that show in the evening.

Emma bolted down the concrete stairs on the outside of her apartment complex, her feet barely touching the steps as she flew towards her sedan. In one fluid motion, she yanked open the door and practically hurled herself into the driver’s seat. As Emma fired up her car, she hunched over and groaned as a nasty wave of achiness attacked her muscles. Her clothes felt itchy, as if they were made of raw wool with lice on them, threatening to tear her skin apart.

She ignored her discomfort and drove out of the parking lot and headed west on the street. Emma made a right, left, right, and then onto the freeway. She sped through traffic, making quick lane changes, and dodged slower vehicles. In no time, she caught up with her sister’s red beater of a car cruising in the left lane. It was only then that Emma realized this was the first time she spotted her sister’s car since making chase. Was it? What the hell was I following then? It must’ve been highway hypnosis, she figured. She was definitely following her sister from the start, and just forgot about it. That damn discomfort surrounding her body was throwing her off.

=====

The Divine Defiance Club (No Gods Allowed!)

=====

Emma wasn’t sure what she was expecting from this secretive anti-god club. Maybe something dark, like a room with stained candles, people wearing black cloaks, and pentagrams painted on walls with blood. But instead of a dungeon at an abandoned medieval church, her sister entered a brightly lit community center, with buzzing from fluorescent lights, rundown furniture from the 90s, and burned coffee smell lingering through the halls.

Emma walked around the corners and kept out of sight from her sister, who made a beeline to a multi-purpose room in the back of the building. With the coast clear, she tiptoed down the hall, unable to shake off the malaise that overcame her. Was she confusing that with intuition? Was Isabel, and therefore herself, walking into a trap set by Alexandra? Maybe Melissa was taking matters into her own hands?

There was no way of peering into the room, but Emma wondered if she could eavesdrop. She placed her ear against the door when it suddenly opened, revealing Isabel on the other side.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Isabel asked.

Emma’s mouth was open, searching for the words to say.

“Oh ...?” a man asked, walking from the hall and heading to the secret meeting room. He paused, looking Emma up and down with a curious expression. “Who’s this? A new member?”

Emma nodded, a nervous smile on her face. “I am. She’s my older sister.” She pointed at a furious Isabel, who stood with her arms crossed, glaring daggers at Emma.

The man’s eyes widened, and a grin spread across his face. “Well, I’ll be damned! Two sisters joining the fight? Now that’s what I call commitment.” He chuckled, clapping his hands together. “The more the merrier, I always say. We could use all the help we can get, going against dem heathens that call dem selves, gods.” He stretched out that last word.

He stepped closer to Emma to whisper in her ear. “You’ve made the right choice, joining us. Together, we’ll show those bastards what real power looks like.” With a conspiratorial wink, he turned and walked past the girls, heading into the room. “Come on in, ladies,” he called over his shoulder. “We’ve got work to do.”

“Is he the leader?” Emma asked her sister.

“Fuck no!” Isabel spat. “Em, get out of here! You’re not welcomed.”

“I think I am.” Emma shoved her way past her sister and turned on her heel. “You can’t have enough mortals going against the gods, now can you?”

-

Emma’s concern for her sister dwindled as she spent time with the Divine Defiance club. Once again, her expectations did not match reality. She pictured military-like men, or a cultish team with face tattoos and piercings, all highly motivated to start a celestial war against the gods. But the room, configured loosely to resemble a classroom, could’ve been mistaken for the lobby at the DMV. Almost every demographic was there, from old to young, skinny to fat, well-off and the poor. They ate snacks and mingled, talking about how much they detested the gods freely and without consequence. They believed in the gods, as to not catch the ire of Melissa and to satisfy her law, but that didn’t mean they had to like them.

“Seriously, Isabel?” she asked, drinking fruit punch from a red Solo cup. “You expect these people to do what, exactly? I’ve been in book-clubs more militarized than this. Seriously. They used to hide their nines in hollowed out bibles.”

Isabel looked at her shorter sister with heavy, unamused eyes. “They’re not the reason I’m here. Syaara is.”

“Who?”

Isabel sighed. “You better keep this a secret, Em.” She shoved a finger into Emma’s chest. “Syaara is why I think we can stop the gods. She’s the real deal because she knows things about the gods and their power no one else does.”

“Like what?”

“Their powers aren’t constant. They became gods, remember? They inherited those powers as opposed to being born with it. Humans into gods. But it can go the other way. Gods to humans.”

“So, that’s the plan? Take away their powers?”

“In a nutshell.”

“None of that sounds plausible. Sounds too easy—and if that were the case, why hasn’t anyone stolen their powers already?”

“Because it’s not easy. But I believe in Syaara. We all do. She’ll make the world right again and strip god’s power from those megalomaniac psychos.”

-

After some time of mingling, Syaara entered the room, carrying a folded canvas, about the size of a bedroll, under her arms. She laid it on a table and unraveled it like the red carpet. On the canvas material were an assortment of knives and daggers.

“These are no ordinary weapons,” Syaara said with an accent Emma couldn’t pinpoint. Syaara looked older, possibly in her 50s or 60s, but maintained an impressive figure under her red leather jacket and black jeans. She held up one of the knives, its blade glinting under the fluorescent lights. “Each of these blades was forged with materials unknown to this world, in a far-off realm.”

Syaara ran her finger along the edge of the blade, a wicked smile playing on her lips. “With these knives, we have a chance to level the playing field. They will harm the gods, weaken them, and leave them vulnerable.” She turned to face the group, her eyes blazing with determination.

“I will arm each and every one of you with these powerful weapons. When the time comes, we will strike as one. If you have the opportunity, slice into the gods’ flesh, and you will see their divine powers rupture and bleed out like the ichor of ancient myths.”

Syaara’s gaze swept over the room, her voice dropping to a whisper. “With their powers diminished, I alone will know how to seize control of it. We will no longer live under the tyranny of the so-called gods. Are you with me?”

The club members clapped, hardly above the volume of a golf-clap, and chattered with each other. Nodding in approval of their leader. Syaara turned back to the canvas and resumed her speech.

“I will track the gods and text you when it’s time to strike. In fact, I’ll—” 

Syaara whirled around, her eyes wide with alarm as she scanned the room. Her gaze swept over the ragtag members, dismissing them one by one until her eyes locked with Emma’s. In that moment, Syaara’s words died on her lips, her train of thought derailing as she stared into Emma’s eyes. There was an intensity there, a depth that far surpassed the gaze of a mere mortal.

Unnerved, Syaara moved with deliberate steps, closing the distance between herself and Emma. The room seemed to hold its breath as she approached, the air thick with tension. 

“Who are you?” Syaara asked, just above a whisper.

“Emma …?”

Syaara shook her head. “Not your name. What are you?”

“I’m …” She shrugged. “I’m Emma.”

Syaara turned abruptly and dove for her knives, grabbing two daggers from the table. The knives spun in her palm, coming to a stop as she clenched them in her fist, an odd red shimmer traveling from hilt to blade. She turned to Emma, and in a growl, said, “I know a goddess when I see one.”

Emma’s eyes bulged. She turned to look behind her, expecting to see Goddess Alexandra, but was meant by the bewildered stares of the anti-god club. She looked back at Syaara, whose eyes glowed red, and was marching towards her, her steps punctuated by the clacking sound of her black leather boots.

“Wait, are you talking about me?” Emma asked with an elevated pitch in her voice, stepping back haphazardly as the demented woman seemed to loom over her. “I’m not a goddess.” Emma placed a hand on her stomach. Was she confusing her with Alexandra? Was Alexandra still inside her? That made some sense. What better way to infiltrate this club than using Emma as a Trojan horse? Goddess hiding within a mortal. You can come out now! Emma shouted in her head to Alexandra.

Syaara swiped her knives in the air, missing Emma as she leaped backwards.

“Syaara, what the fuck?” Isabel screamed. “That’s my sister. She’s far—and I can’t emphasize this enough—far from being a goddess. Leave her the fuck alone.”

“What game is this?” Syaara bellowed. “I sense great power in you, little one.” She pointed at Emma with the end of the dagger. “When did you ascend?”

“Huh?” Emma arched her back until it was parallel with the ground as Syaara thrusted the dagger towards her face. Emma bent back to a standing position with the dexterity of a ballet dancer. She placed the back of her hands on Syaara’s forearm and swept them back, trying to put distance between her and the shiny knives. This caused Syaara’s arms to flare outwards violently as if a blast of hurricane speed air struck her. Emma’s jaw dropped, feeling Syaara’s weakness as if she were a newborn.

Syaara spun around, arms flailing outwards in a controlled, almost choreographed manner, and then faced Emma again, sharp points of the dagger aimed at her head. By this time, everyone in the club had moved to the walls and those close to the door bolted out.

“Stop!” Emma yelled. “You got it wrong. I’m not a goddess. It’s Alexandra you’re sensing because she’s inside me.”

Isabel raised a brow, taking a step back from her sister.

Syaara shook her head. “I don’t sense Alexandra in this plane.” She jumped high in the air, pulling the daggers high above her head and coming down towards the ground where Emma stood. Emma rolled out of the way at the last moment, Syaara’s daggers tearing into the ground like wet paper, her knees shattering and cratering the carpeted floor. “All I sense are powers within you—powers beyond your feeble comprehension. You don’t even know you have them. That is how undeserving you are.” She snarled. “What right do you have with god’s powers!” Everyone in the room covered their ears from Syaara’s loud scream—except for Emma.

“Just stop. Let’s talk about this,” Emma said, gasping.

Syaara brought her blades together in an ‘X’ formation and grinded them apart, white sparks flying out. Syaara let out a war cry and sprinted towards Emma, her arms pulling back so that she could spear the little woman like a knight in a joust.

Emma’s mind analyzed the situation in a split-second and dodged to the left of Syaara, but also grabbed her arms. She spun around while holding Syaara’s wrist, blades unable to strike her, and shot putted Syaara across the room with enough force that Syaara flew parallel to the ground like a low-flying missile and burst through the wall of the classroom, sending splinters of drywall and furniture blasting outwards.

Emma stood still, shocked by what she did. She looked down at her trembling hands, disbelieving her action and still thinking Alexandra was working through her. She turned to face Isabel, who looked just as incredulous, yet cautiously took several steps back, away from her little sister.

Syaara created a new hole in the wall as she jumped back into the room. Her clothes ripped, her skin scarred. Her face contorted into vengeful hatred as she spun the knives in her hand, her green blood dripping around the hilt of the weapon. Horns protruded from her skull, curling like a ram. Syaara grunted, but not at Emma. Instead, she turned to face Isabel, who joined the group of frightened onlookers. Emma traced her eyes, but before she could put herself between Syaara and her sister, the demon was already charging with her daggers out front, screaming in a foreign language.

“No!” Emma leaped, and everything went black.

=====

The Pantheon

=====

Melissa paced before her throne in the grand hall of the Pantheon, chewing on her thumbnail as her mind raced. Colossal braziers, as large as ceremonial bonfires, burned brightly, hardly illuminating the grand chamber. Outside, ominous clouds, black as pitch, hung low over the Texas prairie. The earthy scent of petrichor permeated the air, seeping into every corner of the Pantheon. It was a primal fragrance, one that alerted mortals and gods alike, of impending rain that would soon sweep across the land. 

“Melissa, what was that?” Hailee asked, wearing a sleeping gown, her bare feet slapping against the marble floor. “Tell me you felt that, too.”

Melissa nodded. She ran her fingers through her hair as she thought hard. “I haven’t been able to reach Alexandra or Brad. Do you sense them?”

Hailee pondered for a few seconds before her eyes widened, shaking her head. “I don’t feel them anymore.” Hailee swallowed a lump before walking towards Melissa. “That has never happened before, right? I mean, we’ve always felt each other’s presence since we ascended. Do you think this is one of their games, or, or, did something ...?” She took a few rapid breaths. “Nothing’s out of their control, right? Melissa? When was the last time you saw them?”

Melissa’s expression was a mixture of concern and guilt. She sighed as she dropped into her throne, causing the red velvety cushion to compress under titanic weight. “After what those two did in LA,” she said, she sounded like someone giving a confession. “We had a heated discussion about their actions. I … expressed how disappointed I was with them.”

Hailee sat on her own throne and leaned over to take Melissa’s hand. “What do you mean by that? What did you say to them?”

“It’s none of your concern, Hailee.” The goddess looked away. 

“Did you threaten them or something?”

Melissa shot a glare at Hailee, her eyes glowing white. “I just said it was none of your concern, Hailee. Do not forget who you’re talking to.” A howling breeze ripped through the Pantheon, extinguishing the braziers, casting the throne room into a deep purple darkness.

Hailee let go of Melissa’s hand and recoiled in her seat, bowing her head towards the God Queen. Her hands trembling from the acidity in Melissa’s voice.

Melissa let out a long, drawn-out breath in regret, her eyes returning to normal. “Hailee, I’m sorry. “I didn’t mean that,” she said as she got up from her throne and kneeled down in front of Hailee. She gently took the young goddess’s hands and squeezed her fingers reassuringly. “I’m battling a lot in my head right now. My family doesn’t want to see me. My fellow gods are fornicating as giants on top of cities. Demons are making a presence on earth and attacking us. And now I think something terrible happened to Brad and Alex. Of all the shit that’s been going on,  I’m happy to have you as a goddess by my side. Remember that.”

Hailee nodded and smiled with glassy eyes.

Melissa was about to speak, but then stopped herself. She searched for the right words before continuing. “I grew up reading about Zeus and the Pantheon like most kids. I’ve always had a specific vision of what that looked like. Mount Olympus, towering gods, fantastical powers … I never—in my wildest dreams—thought I’d be like Zeus. Not only am I a goddess—but I’m the ruler of all gods just like Zeus. I wanted my vision to come to life. This building and you guys are the realization of my dreams as a little girl growing up reading those stories about the gods. I rule over mortals, gods, the earth, and the universe—”

“So why are things so fucked up?” she asked with a tender laugh, heavy with emotions from what Melissa was saying.

Melissa joined Hailee’s laugh and wiped a tear from her eye. “You’re right to criticize. This position doesn’t come with an instruction book and I don’t have a mentor to reach out to.” Melissa started patting Hailee’s legs. “But despite my powers and position in the universe, I live and let live. I have my rules, but I don’t dictate every aspect of a mortal life or the lives of my gods. You do your thing. Alexandra and Brad do their own things. But when those two destroyed downtown LA the way they did.” Melissa’s tone turned sour as fingers dug into Hailee’s legs. “I wanted my pantheon of gods to be like the gods of ancient Greece. Not some lewd display of power that could only be dreamt up by the deranged and sociopathic.”

Hailee pried Melissa’s fingers off her quads. “But Melissa, Alex and Brad are acting like Greek Gods. I’d say they’re way more tame, in fact. Zeus fucked half the women of Greece with and without their consent. And then Hera punished all of Zeus’s victims in awfully creative ways. Then there’s the patriarchy, women being second-citizens, mortals getting constantly fucked over, monsters, riddles, pointless quests, gruesome deaths—if anything, I’d say Alex and Brad are saints compared to them.”

Melissa sighed. She moved back to her seat and rested her head on the cushioned back..

“Maybe I’m biased,” Hailee said, “but aside from some hiccups—and my little incident with Jay—I don’t think our reign as gods this past year have been all that bad. It could’ve been way worse, all things considered. I think you have a romanticized version of the Greek Gods in your head, Melissa.”

“And is that so wrong?”

Hailee shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s like you said. We each have our way of doing things. So what did you say to Alex and Brad?”

Melissa sighed, closing her eyes before explaining herself. “I knew I couldn’t physically punish them, as it wouldn’t faze them. I can’t ground them like I do with my son. So, I got a little creative. If they couldn’t behave and act like well-mannered gods, I threatened to take away something they cared about deeply. Or I should say someones.”

“Melissa?” Hailee worried. “You threatened to kidnap mortals they care about? Who?”

“A woman named Camilla, and another named Emma. They mean a lot to Brad and Alex, so I threatened to take their souls for my own. Send them to hell and torture them for eternity.”

“Melissa!”

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. It was an idle threat and nothing more. I always tell Carlito I’m going to take away his Playstation, but I never do. Well, I do … but I give it back. Eventually.”

“Damn. Well, I can’t say much I guess. I’m guilty of messing with Jay’s dumb fiance. Some gods we are, huh?”

The two goddesses looked down simultaneously towards a team of 20 mortal servants approaching them, their near silent footsteps picked up by the heightened senses of gods. They were pulling and pushing two large wooden carts, each filled with a dozen giant grapes, one cart for each goddess. The ropes they pulled strained and the wooded wheels squeaked, as their sandaled feet attempted to find purchase on the polished floor. They were dressed in something the ancient Greek peasants would have worn: cloth wrapped around the hips and togas for the women. They managed to transport the snacks between the bare feet of the giant gods.

“Did you order them?” Melissa asked with an infliction in her voice.

Hailee smiled bashfully towards the 2.5 inch tall servants. “Hey, you aren’t the only one that thinks of the Greek goddess treatment now and then.” She reached down and grabbed one cart and handed it to Melissa. She grabbed the other for herself, a servant almost going along with it, as his legs got caught on the ropes, but he pulled himself free in time. The servants then went to the feet of their respective goddesses and began worshiping them.

Melissa popped a green grape in her mouth and made a mhmm sound as she chewed. “Delicious.” She created the Pantheon gardens, growing fruits suitable and large enough for her gods. Each large grape was about a third the size of a mortal. She reached for another grape, revealing a servant stuck underneath the boulder-sized fruit. “Ooh, is that a yummy mortal to go along with my grapes?” Melissa teased as her fingers shoved the grapes out of the way and plucked the mortal woman stuck underneath.

The woman clung to Melissa’s fingers as she was brought to her face. She let out a string of excuses why she was there: like how she got stuck without the other servants realizing; how she tried freeing herself; how she respected Melissa, and this was all a misunderstanding.

“Mortals are my favorite snack,” Melissa said with a hiss, opening her mouth wide, revealing webs of translucent saliva. The mortal woman squealed and begged harder to Melissa for forgiveness as her enormous tongue extended and flicked the air just inches away from her, Melissa’s lips and saliva smacking wetly enough to echo within the chamber. And then, before it went any further, Melissa chuckled, “I’m sorry tiny, that was a poor joke.” She lowered the mortal down on her lap, and dropped her off with enough care that the mortal woman didn’t even feel the differences in G-forces from the rollercoaster ride that was Melissa’s arm movement. “There’s no reason to be scared around me, little mortal. Far from it. In fact, I’m thanking you, and everyone here, for making it all this way to my home, just to worship and serve me. You all bring me so much joy.”

The woman’s heart was still racing as she tried balancing herself on Melissa’s thigh. She didn’t know what to do or what was going on. She dropped to her knees and worshiped the goddess. The goddess may be in a good mood now, but she’s seen the fiery Latina’s emotions turn on a dime and make mortal lives a veritable hell.

“You don’t have to worship me right now,” Melissa said. “You’re officially on a break, I declare.” Melissa then looked down at the servants near her feet and said, “That goes for you all, too. Everyone, take ten.” 

Hailee’s worshipers looked up to their respective goddess, to which she smiled and nodded. “You heard the God Queen. Enjoy your time off.”

“Here—” Melissa took a grape and split it in twain with her incisor teeth. One half went into her mouth, the other, gripped between her fingers, she gave to the mortal woman. “Eat this. I bet you’ve never tasted the fruit of the gods before.”

The woman took half the grape, which was the size of a Thanksgiving turkey to her, and thanked the goddess. She took a hesitant bite of the grape and nearly kneeled over by the total ambrosiac taste.

Hailee felt Melissa’s warmth radiate throughout the throne. It relaxed her seeing Melissa loosen up with her mortals. 

“This was a good idea,” Melissa said to Hailee, as she popped another grape into her mouth while stroking the back of the mortal on her leg.

“Your welcome, my goddess.” Hailee beamed.

“Alright, enough chit-chat. We have to search for Alexandra and Brad in California.”

=====

Emma

=====

Isabel sat in the middle of her younger sister’s palm, the warmth of Emma’s skin enveloping her like a living, breathing mattress. Her weight hardly caused an indentation to the thick skin underneath her. Her sister’s palm was the size of a midsize sedan, and was cupped with her fingers soaring past her head like massive, fleshy obelisks. Isabel took shallow breaths as she absorbed her surroundings, the air around her thick with the scent of her sister’s favorite coconut lotion and sweat. While continuing to stare up at her sister, Isabel’s fingers traced the lines that made up the prints on Emma’s palm, feeling every ridge, bump, and imperfection.

Isabel never feared her sister before, but sitting in her giant palm as if she were a toy, some three hundred feet up in the air, caused some alarm. The wind whipped around her, carrying with it the distant sounds of the city below that seemed insignificant from this height. Isabel focussed on her sister’s eyes, which were larger than a fridge with pupils bigger than serving plates, the iris a familiar shade of blue that seemed to stretch out like a pond. She swallowed a cold lump, her mouth dry and her heart pounding in her chest. “Em?”

Emma sighed in relief seeing her sister safe, cradled gently within her palm where she’d let no harm befall her sister. It took a few moments for her mind to catch up with the realities of the surrounding world. She was a giant—towering over the suburbs like Godzilla. Emma wasn’t sure how big she was. She was nothing like Alexandra when she attacked LA. But looking at her sister, she estimated tiny Isabel to be around an inch tall compared to her.

The last thing she remembered was the demon lunging forward, aiming those deadly daggers at her sister; the image burned into Emma’s memory. Emma jumped in front and gripped her sister at the last possible moment. 

Things got hazy there.

Emma’s vision blurred, and her mind was sent reeling. Subconsciously, her mind must’ve acted on its own, choosing to grow into a mega giantess as a defense from the dual-wielding Syaara. 

As Emma peered past her sister and palm, a wave of vertigo washed over her, making her feel as though she were teetering on the edge of a skyscraper. The suburb below stretched out like a miniature world seen at Legoland, a sprawling diorama of toy-like houses and cars scattered across a seemingly endless cityscape. The intricate details of the landscape faded into the hazy California smog, which reminded Emma she was not looking at mere toys, but the world from a different perspective.

The community center, its structure half-shattered and crumbling from Emma’s explosive growth, stood as ground-zero between a nondescript strip mall and a green, sprawling park. Emma stood on both landscapes, legs spread, standing tall in a strikingly similar pose to the Colossus of Rhodes.

Beneath her left foot, three empty cars lay crushed, their metal frames pancaked into a two-inch plate of compressed steel. The vehicles had crumpled like flimsy aluminum foil under the immense pressure of Emma’s weight under her cute pink Converse shoe. The giantess hardly noticed the destruction beneath her sole, the sensation of the cars’ collapse barely registering as a faint tickle under the sole of the shoe.

“Oops, sorry!”

As Emma lifted her foot from the mangled vehicles, screeching metal filled the air as the twisted remains of the cars tumbled from her sole and crashed onto the fractured asphalt of the parking lot where she once stood.

Disoriented by the unfamiliar scale of her surroundings, Emma took an awkward step backward, her other foot coming down on a grand pine tree that was as tall as her knees. The tree stood no chance against the immense force of her heel. The trunk splintered and snapped like matchsticks, the wood cracking as the tree catapulted towards the ground, sending pine needles blowing out like brown glitter.

The vehicles and trees were so fragile to her normal body movements, Emma grew concerned for her sister’s safety. Obviously, Isabel’s little body stood no chance against Emma’s newfound size and superstrength. “Are you okay?” she asked Isabel.

“What happened to you?” Isabel asked, almost lost in a trance.

“I—I’m not sure.”

Syaara burst through the damaged front entrance of the community center, her daggers spinning in hand. With a warrior’s stance and unrelenting determination, she charged fearlessly towards the towering giantess, unfazed by Emma’s new size.

“I wonder if Goddess Alexandra had anything to do with this?” Emma asked, mostly to herself as she looked at the demoness.

“Alexandra? What the fuck are you talking about?” Isabel asked.

Syaara cried out a demonic chant and charged towards the giantess’s feet, diving at the toe-end of the shoe, her daggers hardly penetrating the thick rubber hide of the shoe. She cried out again and stabbed the shoe, but her stabbing was mostly inconsequential against the white toe-section of the well-constructed Converse sneakers.

“There’s something I haven’t told you,” Emma said. “Molly wasn’t actually Molly. That was Goddess Alexandra in disguise. I ran into her while I was working on a story and—long story short—she knew you were in this cult.”

“Oh my god,” Isabel covered her mouth. “Alexandra knew …?”

“Yeah, kinda why I wanted you to leave this stupid club.” Emma plucked the demon Syaara from her shoe. “But Alexandra promised me she wouldn’t punish you, because she understood your anger to the gods. She wanted to infiltrate this group and figure out what was really going on. Looks like you had a real bad apple in the bunch.” Emma held up the demoness upside down by the legs while she tried stabbing Emma’s finger. But Emma flicked Syaara by the legs any time she got close, throwing her attack off each time.

Isabel’s mind felt like it was going to explode. “Goddess Alexandra! Really? I was seriously talking to her? And you didn’t stop me from saying all that shit about the gods last night!”

“She told me not to say a thing to you.” Emma wiggled the demon, trying to free the daggers. When that failed, she ran the demon into the tarmac of the parking lot, creating a canal through the lot using the demon’s body. Emma then whacked the demon a few times on a van until finally her daggers fell from her hand.

“Oh my god, oh my god. I’m so fucking dead. Molly was Goddess Alexandra. Wait!” Isabel planted her face into her hands. “Did you sleep with her? Did you sleep with Alexandra?”

“Uh, yeah—sort of. I guess. I slept with Brad, too.”

Isabel’s jaw dropped.

Emma took Syaara between her fingers and showed no mercy to the thing that threatened to kill her and her sister. Emma squeezed her index finger and thumb together until the demon squished under Emma’s godly strength. Like killing a flea, Emma rubbed her fingers back and forth until Syaara became nothing more than green sludge between her fingertips, forever ceasing its demonic shouting.

“Alexandra, Brad, and I, sorta had—” Emma cleared her throat. “We sorta had a threesome.” She wiped her hand of green demon blood on the grass.

“Threesome? You fucked two gods last night in our shitty apartment?” Isabel was about to stand, but stayed seated in the giant palm.

“Yeah, no big deal,” Emma said, the corner of her lips rising just a smidge.

“Uh, yeah, it fucking is. Em, Syaara called you a goddess. She said you had the god powers, and this comes after you fucked those two! Holy shit,” Isabel said, rubbing the temples of her head. “You knew how much I hated Alexandra, and you fucked her! You knew she was tracking me, and let me come here—not knowing she was … You two tricked me into this fucking game. Emma! How could you?”

“How could I? I’ve been doing everything I can to protect you.” A breeze picked up, and clouds came swirling in from the Pacific. “You should thank me for making a deal with Alexandra, not torment your soul for eternity after joining this stupid club.” Emma looked down at the community center and saw the rag-tag group evacuating through the destroyed walls. She said to the awe-struck crowd, “Goddess Alexandra knows about you all and what you’re planning. You’re lucky she’s giving you a second chance. Now get out of here and worship the gods like you should’ve been doing all along.” Emma’s voice bellowed.

They scattered like insects in the light.

“Em?”

“Yes, Belle?”

“Where’s Alexandra and Brad?”

“I don’t know.” Emma tilted her head, her mood changing, and the weather returning to a typical Southern California day.

Isabel gazed at her sister’s palm once again and recognized it as her little sister’s palm, but now it was a vast expanse of skin and creases. She couldn’t get over the staggering size, the palm alone larger than their sofa. As she tilted her head back to look up at Emma’s face, the sun disappeared behind her sister’s head, creating a radiant halo that outlined her hair in a soft, heavenly glow. Emma’s blue eyes seemed to look through Isabel’s soul, holding her transfixed with her sister’s stare. Despite being her little sister, there was something profoundly different, a divine aura that made Emma feel both family and foreign at the same time.

“Are you a goddess?” Isabel asked.

Emma giggled, mimicking the sound of rolling thunder. “Don’t be silly,” she said, her eyes scanning the surrounding area as she tried to process her new reality. The suburban sprawl surrounded her, save for the park. Emma decided she couldn’t risk causing more harm to people or buildings by wondering just anywhere. The park, with its wide expanse and few people, seemed like the safest option. Cradling her sister gently in her palm, Emma held Isabel close to her chest, just below her breasts, as she walked into the park.

As she entered the park, Emma marveled at how the towering pine trees now barely reached her knees. She tried making careful steps, but the ground trembled with every footfall, alerting squirrels and people from miles away that something huge was lumbering around.

At the far end of the park, Emma spotted a baseball field where a minor league game was in full swing. Emma’s face lit up with a wide, warm smile as she neared the field, her eyes sparkling with childlike wonder.

“Don’t mind me, everyone,” she called out, her voice gently rumbled through the players and spectators. “I’m just going to sit here and watch.”

With that, Emma carefully lowered herself to the ground beside the baseball field closest to second base. Her movements were slow and deliberate as she sought to minimize any further disruption by causing any earthquakes. She sat just beyond the play boundary.

In a world of goddesses and miracles, pantheons and giants, the mortals of earth were not unaccustomed to bearing witness to scenes that would’ve caused widespread pandemonium only 13 months ago. Alexandra had made dozens of appearances as a giantess in Southern California in the past month alone. So seeing Emma as a giantess wasn’t the strangest thing in the world, but peculiar. Who was this woman? She wasn’t any of the gods they knew. But she was a seemingly gentle giantess, which was a breath of fresh air.

Emma, for her part, simply smiled down at them. Her excitement at watching a baseball game with tiny young athletes from her new perspective outweighed any concerns about the impact of her presence. The baseball pitch was adorable, Emma thought. The distance between each base was probably as long as her shin.

The players and spectators watched with gaped mouths. Some ditched the field and ran straight for their cars. But most players stood frozen in their positions watching this mysterious giantess, looking back at them like a patient student seated cross-legged in the middle of a class. 

“I didn’t mean to scare you all,” Emma said with the sweetest face she could muster. “Please don’t let me interrupt your game. Keep playing, please. I’m just watching, I swear to the gods.” She held her right hand up.

“Emma!” Isabel whined from her sister’s palm that she rested on her lap. “I think you have to face the fact that you’re somehow a god now.”

Emma laughed, covering her mouth with her free hand, her chest rising and falling with each hearty chuckle. The outburst startled the baseball players, but she gave them a reassuring smile and waved her hand so they could continue to play. The pitcher nodded and turned back to the batter. He wound up the pitch and got the second strike. No fault to the batter, as the giantess casting a shadow across the field was slightly distracting.

“Stop saying that,” Emma said to her sister. “I guarantee you this is just Goddess Alexandra messing around. You know she can be a trickster.”

“She can be a bitch.”

“Shh. Don’t say that. I bet she’s hiding behind a tree, waiting to spring out and tell me I got pranked. I just have to wait-her-out and show her that being a giant has no effect on me.”

“What does that mean?”

“Look what I’m doing! I’m sitting in this beautiful park, enjoying the sunny weather, watching a tiny game of baseball. I bet anyone else becoming a giant like me would be a lot more mischievous. Not me, sister. I’m perfectly fine sitting here not messing with anybody or harming the city, and you know why? Because none of this is getting to my head.”

Isabel threw out her hands. “Are you seriously just going to sit around doing nothing?”

“I’m watching a game.” Her eyes focussed on the players and ignored her tiny sister. “Alexandra will come around and shrink me. Probably tease me and you for a bit. But she’ll come around.”

“Damnit Em! Shrink yourself. You’re a goddess now!” Isabel shouted.

A couple of players in the outfield called timeout and jogged over to the giantess upon hearing Isabel’s shrill exclamation. The young players stood in front of Emma’s folded legs and nervously played with their gloves.

The boy wearing a number 17 jersey asked, “Excuse me, Mrs. Giant Lady?”

Emma smiled with a cocked head. “Yes?”

“Is it true what we heard? Are you a goddess? Because if you are, we didn’t mean any disrespect, honest. We’ll stop playing so we can pray and worship you. Right away, we promise!”

Emma sighed and looked at her sister with annoyance. “See what you did?” she asked Isabel. “You got them worked up for no reason.” Emma looked at the trio of young players and noticed that the rest of the players were shivering in place. “I’m not a goddess. Please, for the love of—please don’t even think about worshiping me. The gods are playing a trick on me. I swear, I come in peace and you guys don’t owe me anything. Please don’t fear me.” Emma straightened up and in a cheerful tone said, “Now I came to watch a game! I wanna see some hustle out there.” She giggled.

The trio jogged back into the field and resumed play, comforted that the mysterious giantess wouldn’t smite them.

“Barely a goddess for a day, and you’re already lying to humanity,” Isabel said. “You’re just like the other gods.”

“Holy shit, Belle. Enough of the goddess stuff. I’m the same sister you’ve known and loved all your life.” Emma returned her attention to the game and saw the batter hit a triple. She let out a quiet cheer, loud as a megaphone to the players, and watched eagerly as the player slid to third base. “Besides,” she said to Isabel, “if I became a goddess—and that’s mighty big if—don’t you think something, I don’t know, big would’ve happened? Wouldn’t Goddess Melissa, I don’t know, knighted me or something?”

=====

The Goddesses

=====

On what had been a pristine, cloudless day, a sudden bolt of lightning split the sky, striking an empty field within the park. As the thunderous boom echoed through the neighborhood, two figures emerged from the wake of the electrical discharge: Goddess Melissa and Goddess Hailee, standing tall at their natural divine height of 150 feet.

The goddesses wore an attire inspired by the classic elegance of ancient Greek deities that Melissa loved so much. She was draped in a white toga, its gold-trimmed fabric hugging her voluptuous figure and emphasizing her ample breasts. The toga ended just above her knees, leaving her toned arms and a tantalizing view of her cleavage bare. Hailee, embracing a more daring interpretation of the divine dress code, wore a toga that left little to the imagination. The garment showcased her taut abs, an expanse of smooth dark-brown skin that drew the eye to her long, shapely legs. Her top, more of a bikini top than anything, seemed to defy gravity as it clung to her curves.

Both goddesses were adorned with an array of exquisite accessories that left no question of their godly status. Golden bracelets encircled their wrist and arms. Jewel-encrusted earrings dangled from their ears. Their feet were clad in lacy sandals, created with enough gold to make a nation rich.

The goddesses were hunting for Alexandra and Brad, teleporting themselves close to a celestial disturbance of interest. What they found was a giantess with wide-eyes and mouth agape, sitting next to an active minor league baseball game.

“Goddess Melissa,” Emma said, shivering. “Goddess Hailee.” She quickly and carefully set her sister on the ground, and then shifted her tremendous body into a kneeling position with her arms extended and her forehead planted on the grassy park.

Taking the cue from the giantess, the players and spectators on the field also dropped and began praying and worshiping the two goddesses.

Melissa walked straight towards the giantess, Hailee in tow and trying to keep up with the God Queen’s purposeful strides to the mystery woman. Hailee was half-expecting Melissa to excuse the mortals on the baseball field from worshiping, but that order never came. She was then bombarded by worship that was directed towards her by the little people in the baseball field that brought her warmth that never seemed to get old. Meanwhile, the mysterious giantess was whispering Melissa’s prayer on repeat, sensing the goddess staring at her head.

“Who are you?” Melissa asked, placing her hands on her hips.

“Goddess Melissa. A pleasure to meet you.” Emma’s voice quivered. “My name is Emma Sinclair, and this is my sister Isabel Sinclair.” She pointed at her one-inch sister, who was also praying.

“I didn’t ask for her name, mortal,” Melissa’s voice cut through the still air. Hailee tugged on Melissa’s arm, causing her to turn back. Hailee gave Melissa a pleading look, which Melissa nodded. Melissa cleared her throat and said, “Why are you so big, Emma?”

“I’m—I’m not sure, goddess. I don’t know for certain, but I think Goddess Alexandra might’ve done this.”

Both Melissa and Hailee stirred when they heard this.

“Alexandra?” Hailee asked. “What makes you say this?”

“I was with Alexandra and Brad last night.” Emma was still in a prayer position, with her speaking into the ground, not daring to move unless given permission.

“You must be the ‘Emma’ that Alexandra told me about,” Melissa said. “Look up at me. What did you do to Alexandra and Brad?”

Emma shook her head. “Nothing, goddess. I swear. We were together last night, but when I awoke this morning, they were gone.”

Melissa turned and spoke privately with Hailee. The two goddesses had more questions than answers. Despite being in the city where Alexandra and Brad were last spotted, they sensed no trace of them. But there was something highly peculiar about Emma. She gave off a bright radiance only they could sense. Moreover, their godly intuition told them that Emma was speaking the truth. Hailee confirmed all the feelings Melissa was having. They didn’t fear Emma, but they felt they needed to keep their defenses up when speaking to her.

“Who made you this big?” Melissa asked, walking back to face Emma. Given their difference in height, Emma being 400 feet and Melissa being 150, even on her knees Emma towered over the God Queen.

“I think Alexandra, but I’m not sure. I was hoping she could return me to normal.” Emma shrugged. “Goddess Melissa, can you shrink me down? I’m not sure I enjoy being this large.”

“That would be best.” Melissa lifted a hand and focussed her powers to shrink Emma. Unseen powers left her hand and intertwined with Emma, but nothing happened. Melissa tried again, with more force, her eyes glowing as she clenched her teeth in frustration as she gave it her all, but her size didn’t budge. Emma remained a towering giantess, unaware of the godly powers blasted at her. “Odd.” She turned to Hailee and gave her a confused look.

“Let me try.” Hailee stepped forward and repeated Melissa’s actions. But after a minute of trying, her divine powers had no effect on Emma. “I can’t—she won’t shrink. What does this mean, Melissa?” she looked over her shoulder at the goddess who looked both annoyed and lost.

“I’d rather not have anyone—no matter who they are—talking down to me. If she won’t shrink, we grow.”

-

Both the baseball players and spectators looked up at the gigantic gods with rapt attention as their thundering voices discussed topics that made no sense to them. Their game proceeded with abrupt pauses: first from Emma’s appearance; then from Melissa and Hailee’s rock star appearance through a blinding bolt of lightning. 

They tossed their bats and gloves to the ground and worshiped their gods, fearing Melissa’s wrath, should they transgress in the slightest from her laws. As they bowed and sang praises to the goddesses, they felt an electrical charge in the atmosphere as the goddesses enlarged themselves to match the size of the larger giantess that was on her knees praying. Their sandaled feet expanded and plowed through the grassy field, churning the lush park, creating a crater of upturned dirt around their golden soles. 

Hailee placed a hand on Emma’s shoulder and guided her to rise. Emma plucked her sister, who was bowing near Hailee’s feet, and cupped her gently in her palm. “How’s the game?” Hailee asked, pointing at the baseball pitch with her hand.

Emma answered, and then all three gigantic women moved to sit in a line in the outfield, just as Emma had before. Isabel hyperventilated. She was back in Emma’s palm with both goddesses flanking her on either side. The three, 400-feet tall giantesses, sat with crossed legs in the park, sticking out like sore thumbs with the suburban neighborhood surrounded by homes and apartments. Hailee was close to first base and Melissa near third. Crowds gathered in the park to worship the goddesses as they spotted them from the streets. Some bolder worshipers prayed to Melissa, asking her to move Alexandra to a different part of the world, because of all the havoc she’s caused in their home city.

Melissa ordered the baseball game to continue. The young players felt completely frazzled, playing in front of such an unbelievable audience. But they did their best.

Isabel yanked on Emma’s finger and pulled her middle finger over her body like a blanket, trying to hide herself from Melissa’s view. What if she finds out I was working to overthrow the gods? What if she already knows? Isabel didn’t think she’d have to face the consequences of her actions so soon. If there was any hope, it was that her hunch that Emma turned into a goddess was true. This way, Emma could protect her from Melissa’s wrath, should it come.

“I can’t believe you’re both here and watching a game with me,” Emma said with a grin. “This is so wild.”

Melissa nodded and gently grabbed Emma’s free hand, her fingers interlacing with Emma’s. “I wish we were here in better circumstances. But the thing is, my gods, Alexandra and Brad, are missing. And for some reason, you seem to be immune to my, and Hailee’s, power.” Melissa idly played with Emma’s fingers. “You wouldn’t be hiding something from me—would you, Emma?”

“Goddess, of course not. I want to find Goddess Alexandra as much as you do,” Emma pleaded.

Melissa squinted her eyes and searched through Emma’s words, seeking malice or anything that would imply deception. But she found none. Emma was a squeaky clean girl—and further, Melissa could tell she was a genuinely good person. But something kept bothering her about Emma. There was power within this mysterious woman. She could feel it through their hand holding. And what was more disturbing was that it wasn’t like holding the hands of the other gods. There was something far stronger and more concentrated within Emma. Melissa pulled back suddenly, feeling an odd sense of dread as she looked into Emma’s eyes.

“Who are you?” Melissa whispered.

“I told you Goddess. I’m Emma.” Cheery as ever.

Melissa shook her head. “What are you?”

“A goddess!” Isabel said through Emma’s finger. “My sister is a goddess, and she’ll protect me from you two!” Isabel quickly ducked under Emma’s finger again.

“Sorry,” Emma said with a nervous smile. “My sister has a wild thought that I’m a goddess. She’s just shook up by my sudden growth spurt. Don’t mind her.”

Melissa and Hailee stared back at Emma with alarming realization. “Goddess …” they both said under their breaths.

“Oh, come on.” Emma shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t be a goddess just because …” Emma had a flashback of the previous night. She remembered what she said during the throes of passion. She forced Brad and Alexandra to submit to her. They didn’t take that seriously … Did they?

“What?” Melissa asked. “What are you realizing right now?”

“Umm.”

“Emma, you have to tell me.” Melissa said.

“Don’t do it, Em!” Isabel squeaked. “They’ll destroy you if they know!”

Melissa and Hailee shot a look at the tiny mortal, slightly annoyed that she dared to interrupt a goddess’s request.

“Emma,” Melissa sounded frantic, but tried to tone herself down. “Emma … What happened to Alexandra and Brad?”

“I …”

“Yes …?”

“I just realized I left the oven on,” Emma said. “If I don’t get back home, it might start a fire.” She rose to her feet, her gigantic stature alarming the players in the field. Emma turned and let out a whoa with what she saw. Worshipers filled every inch of the park. They prayed, played music, and danced in the presence of the goddesses. Emma—her senses being actualized for the first time, realized that a few in the park were praying—to her. “Oh, fuck.”

“Emma,” Melissa said calmly. “Emma, sit down. Talk to me.”

Emma looked down in her palm at her sister, who was gesturing her to run. Emma panted heavily as the gravity of the situation pressed down on her. “I have to go.”

“Emma, stay put.” Melissa tried her hardest to stay calm.

“Sorry, Melissa.” Emma vanished in a split second. Air crashed into the temporary void she left when teleporting, causing a terrific crashing sound that caused the mortals in the park to yelp out in surprise.

“What the hell was that about?” Hailee felt her adrenaline rising. “Should we be worried?”

Melissa looked around and noted all the mortals staring back at her. This was no time to show weakness. “Of course not, Goddess Hailee. Just one of Alexandra’s tricks.” She said aloud, but communicated something else to Hailee through their divine link. “We have a game to watch. Let us enjoy the last inning and then comfort Emma.”

Hailee nodded, playing along with the facade they needed to create to avoid panic. She looked down at the crowds of worshipers and cheered. “Why did you guys stop? Goddesses love a good game of baseball!” She lied.

=====

Goddess Emma

=====

Emma teleported to the parking lot of her apartment, standing nine feet tall while holding her 5’6” sister like an infant in her arms. She had a blank look on her face as she came to terms with her massive disrespect to Goddess Melissa—and, of course, her teleporting and re-sizing herself as if by intuition.

“Put me down!” Isabel shouted while flailing her arms.

Emma, still as a statue, obeyed her sister by dropping her arms. Isabel fell hard on the ground and grunted in pain.

“What the fuck, Em!”

“This is bad. This is so wrong.” Emma’s heart raced as her mind when 100 miles a minute. What did I do to Alex and Brad? Emma ignored her sister and ran up the concrete stairs to her apartment. She didn’t bother with the keys and just smashed through the front door as if it were made of cardboard. She went to the kitchen and opened the top cupboards, looking for Isabel’s vodka stash.

Isabel walked through the smashed front door and said, “Well, there goes our security deposit.”

Emma pulled the cork from the vodka bottle and drank straight from it, chugging the entire bottle.

“Hey, that’s mine!”

Emma lifted a finger to her sister, signaling her to wait while she chugged the entire bottle. Once Emma was done, she let out a 5-second burp, causing 30 mile per hour winds that almost knocked back Isabel. Emma grabbed another bottle of vodka, flicked off the cork, and started drinking.

“Em, I think we both know you’re a goddess now. And I highly doubt that’s gonna get you drunk, let alone buzzed.”

Emma stopped drinking straight from the bottle and let out another burp that rattled the glassware in the cupboards. The nine-foot woman turned to her sister and said, “It’s like drinking water.” She brought the bottle back to her lips and polished off the rest of the vodka.

“What are you so upset about? You’re a goddess now!”

Emma walked past her sister, her heavy footsteps echoing throughout the small apartment, the floor groaning and sinking under her feet as she walked. Emma dropped her ass on the couch, breaking some of the wood framing and squeezing the cushions flat under her butt. She then placed her legs on top of the coffee table and tried to steady her breathing.

“Belle, what the hell am I going to do now?”

Isabel chuckled. “Rule the world, I guess?” She sat next to her giant sister.

“Not funny. Melissa is the ruler of the universe. I respect her and worship her—I devoted my soul to her for fuck’s sake. Now … I don’t know what she thinks of me; especially after running away from her like that. What if she thinks I’m her enemy? What if she thinks I stole Alex’s and Brad’s powers?”

“So, you think you did now?”

Emma divulged every salacious detail of her encounter with the former gods to Isabel, revealing her theory that Alexandra and Brad had unwittingly transferred their divine powers to her. They submitted to her, as she asked, but they probably didn’t understand those ramifications coming from a god.

Emma’s bizarre day made sense now. While she hadn’t yet mastered the intricacies of her powers, she found her desires manifested effortlessly, like when she made her car keys appear, growing into a giant to save Isabel, and her quick thinking teleportation. She even shared the feeling of worship she sensed at the park.

“Holy shit!” Isabel said. “You know what this means? You have the power of two gods in you.”

“Oh, no.” Emma buried her face in her hands.

“Why does that upset you?” Isabel shook her sister by the shoulders. “You’re more powerful than Melissa! That’s why she couldn’t do jack squat to you! Oh shit, Emma, that means you rule the universe.” Isabel smiled widely.

“Rule the universe? But that’s Melissa’s job. I’m just a journalist.”

“Wait, so you don’t want to be a god?”

“No!”

“I got an idea.” Isabel stood up and looked down at her sister. “Give me your powers. Make me god. I’m the older sister, anyway. It only makes sense that I should be the ruler.”

“You want to be a goddess?”

“Fuck yes, I do!”

“But you hate the gods. Why would you want to be one?”

“Because I’d be better at it. Better than you, that’s for sure.”

Emma scrunched her face. “That’s kinda insulting.”

“You know what I mean.”

Emma shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

“You’re a pushover Emma. You don’t have the traits to be a goddess. I do. I’ll fix everything that’s wrong in this world. Melissa and Hailee? I’ll put them in their place. Oh, and that Pantheon building? Who the fuck builds something important like that in fucking Texas? My Pantheon would be here in Cali. Next to the Hollywood sign. And it would be big and modern. None of that Greek shit. Oh, man. The possibilities of having so much power. First thing I’d do is stomp on my law firm and crush all those deadbeat lawyers. Actually, I wouldn’t just crush the law firm I work at—I’d crush all the law firms. Let’s see, what else …? I’ll date all the celebrities. No, not date. I’ll make them my little sex slaves. You got to shove a god up your ass. I’ll settle with Ryan Gosling, I guess. Oh, how can I forget about those stupid worship laws? Actually, I think I’ll keep those. Every hour, on the hour, I demand worship. No! Tribute.”

Emma had one brow raised as her sister’s list became longer with all the depraved things she would do. “Wait, Belle,” Emma interrupted. “I thought you hated Alex and Brad for abusing their powers. How would you be any different?”

“Because my shit makes sense. I won’t go around sticking skyscrapers in my vagina.”

“But you would crush them,” Emma said, tilting her head accusingly.

“Eh, that’s different. I’ll only do it to people who deserve it.”

“That’s exactly what Alexandra told me. And mortals hated her for it.”

“Don’t compare me to her. I’d be different.” Isabel pointed to her chest.

Emma shook her head and sunk back into the couch. “You sound a lot like her. But worse.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Wait, Em, are you or aren’t you giving me your powers?”

“I’m not. Not anymore.”

“Em! You said you don’t want to be a goddess.”

“I changed my mind.”

“Em!” Isabel whined. She settled back beside her towering sister, taking her large hand with both of hers. Isabel took a breath. “Okay, if I promise not to do those things … would you give me your powers, then?”

“Nope.” Emma closed her eyes as she rested her head on their mangled couch which, to Emma, looked like a couch designed for a child.

Isabel internally screamed. “Okay, okay. Maybe you don’t want to give up your godhood. That must be it. Well, newsflash, you have the power of two gods in you. So, what I propose is that you give me half your powers. You’ll stay a goddess and your older sister will also be a goddess. Win-win. What do you think?”

Emma opened her eyes and thought about this. “Hmm. It would make things like they were before. Four gods instead of three.”

“Right!” Isabel felt her excitement rise as she saw her sister contemplating this idea. She gripped Emma’s fingers tightly, feeling her warmth and smoothness against her comparatively small hands. “Both Sinclair sisters as goddesses. And if it makes you feel better, you can keep me in check—not that I would need it.”

Emma nodded.

“Think about it, Em! We can create our own Pantheon and rule half the world. What do you say? Please do this. Please think of me and what this could mean for everyone on earth. I know we can do a significantly better job than Alexandra and Brad.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Emma scooted up in her seat. “It’s way too much pressure having all this power to myself. I don’t want to upset Melissa, after all.” Emma placed her hands on an overly excited Isabel’s shoulder. “I have to will myself to submit to you. Give you half my powers and make you a goddess.”

Isabel licked her lips. That anticipation was killing her. She would make a fantastical goddess that would put Alexandra and Brad to shame.

“After I do this,” Emma said. “We’ll be equal with the other gods. I guess. Well, Melissa will still be the ruler, at least. And not me.”

“Yeah, yeah, do it.”

“Which means—”

“Don’t overthink it, just do it.”

“Which means I won’t be the most powerful.”

“No, this would be better. Two gods instead of one. Right?”

Emma lowered her hands from Isabel’s shoulder, and then slowly pulled her hands away.

“What? What the fuck are you doing? Don’t tell me you’re second-guessing this again.”

“I’m sorry, Isabel.”

“Emma! Turn me into a fucking goddess, right now!”

“No.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because if I do, I won’t be the ruler of the universe.”

“Emma?”

“I’ve changed my mind, sis. I kinda like the idea of being the most powerful being in the universe.”

“Oh, my god.”

“Yes?”

“You’re already corrupted with power?”

Emma laughed. “You were corrupted with power—and didn’t even have any. And you’ll never have any.”

“Damnit, Em! Make me a goddess, or I’ll tell mom.”

Emma pulled Isabel into a tight embrace, effortlessly lifting her smaller body onto her lap. Despite Isabel’s valiant struggles, she couldn’t break free from her sister’s godly grasp. Emma giggled, amused by Isabel’s futile attempts to resist.

“I don’t think it’s wise to spread these powers to just anyone,” Emma mused, her tone growing more serious. “I’m glad you showed me this, Belle, but I’m afraid things have changed. Your little sister is a goddess now, and that’s something you’ll need to accept.”

Emma paused, collecting her thoughts before continuing. “Being the ruler of the universe doesn’t interest me. If Melissa wants to keep that title and responsibility, she’s welcome to it. However, I’ve come to understand that the power I possess is too great for just anyone to have—like you. For everyone’s safety, I’ll keep it all to myself.”

She looked down at Isabel, her eyes softening with affection. “I know you want to be a goddess bad, but it’s not gonna happen. But think about it—you have the next best thing. Your little sister is probably the most powerful being in the universe, and if you play nice, I promise to treat you well. What do you say, Belle? Can you accept this new reality?”

“You’ve gone mad,” Isabel said with a snarl.

Emma rolled her eyes and pushed Isabel off her lap.

“Damnit, Em! You’ll abuse your powers like anyone else.”

“No, I won’t.” Her voice rose. “Now, be a good sister and take off my shoes.”

“What?”

Emma laughed. “I get it now! I know why the gods love to tease. This is so much fun.”

“You need to make me a goddess or else you’ll get power hungry and go after Melissa and Hailee.” Isabel was searching for any excuse to claim some of the power swirling within Emma. “You can’t be greedy and keep the power of two gods in you.”

“Belle, remember who you’re talking to? I don’t give a shit about all this. I don’t want people to treat me differently, and I certainly don’t want to dominate the world.”

“You dominated two gods as a mortal last night.” Isabel threw her arms in the air. “Now that you’re a supreme being, what the fuck are you going to do now? You are way too dangerous like this, Em.”

“That was all an act last night. I was acting.”

“I hate you.”

“Belle, don’t say that.”

“Quit calling me that.” Isabel rolled her eyes. “I’m so fucking done with you.”

“Isabel, c’mon.”

Isabel stormed out of the apartment, making her way down the corridor.

“Fucking Emma … why is she so stubborn? I could’ve been an awesome god unlike that—“

Just as she was talking to herself, she looked up and gasped as she ran into a nine-foot tall Melissa. “Hello Isabel. We need to talk.”

-