Woods are a dangerous and disorientating place to run through when it’s dark outside. In movies you’ll usually see the main character running through a forest in pitch black night, while several people chace him, and he’ll somehow manage to sprint ahead of all of them. In real life, a forest at night is the worst place to even attempt such a thing. The footing changes constantly without any rhyme or reason. Pot holes, branches, roots, stumps, etc. The only reason he was able to move quickly through these woods was because he knew the path before him ran even. All the same he stepped with caution, preparing himself incase a sudden root should appear out of no where.

He vaulted over a fallen tree, the moon providing enough light to have seen it from a short distance, and pressed himself against it in an attempt to disappear. He wasn’t breathing heavy yet it would be unwise not to take advantage of any opportunity for rest. He’d been running for more than ten minutes. If he could just get to the edge of the woods, he’d be in the clear.

*****

The man sighed as he removed his reading glasses and rubbed at his eyes. It wasn’t late, barely a few minutes past eleven p.m., but he had been reading for hours, trying to ingrain the information deep into his memory. Taking a break from his reading he glanced out at the clouds below him. It was not often he got to ride first-class in an airplane and so he took the moment to appreciate having a row all to himself, complete with ample legroom, and a comfortable set of pillows and a blanket.

The moon was full this night, providing excellent light for appreciating the sky’s beauty. The clouds themselves moved like waves on the ocean. And the amount of stars that were visible, even in the moonlight, were awe inspiring. Among the clouds, with the lights of civilization far below, every star that could fit in the sky seemed to just burst into sight. All in all it was truly something to behold. If only the road ahead could be this peaceful, he thought.

Turning the light overhead back on, he returned his attention back to the files on his lap. They contained detailed instructions on what he was to do upon his arrival. He had been sent on this business trip by the company he worked for with an important goal in mind, a goal he strived to reach. It wouldn’t be easy, maybe even dangerous, but there was too much at stake to not try. Shifting papers aside he found the small slip of paper that could be the key to everything he needed to do. On it was just a list of three names.

Checking his watch, he realized the plane would be landing in a few hours, then he would head for Allentown. The man shuffled his papers back into a neat pile, slipped them back into their folder, and then placed the folder inside his briefcase before turning the light off and slipping off to sleep.

*****

His chest throbbed as his heart tried to beat its way through it. His breathing remained steady and quiet though, he had had plenty of experience keeping his cool under stressful situations. All the same, he knew he was in trouble. His body shook all over, yet it was not from fear, rather from the force of an impact. He had just one small chance, the clearing was just up ahead. Sparing only one quick glance over his shoulder he sprinted full speed for safety. The ground moved unevenly around him but he forced his feet to remain steady. Almost there. Almost there!

Without warning he was snatched up and lifted high above the tree tops.

Amy Jackson was perhaps the most beautiful young woman he had ever seen in his life. She had rich, blonde hair cascading past her shoulders. Blue eyes that sparkled like sapphires, a nice, light complection to her skin, and gorgeous, full lips. She wore a simple  T-shirt, that barely held back her voluptuous chest, with the sentence ‘Keep Calm And Get Me A Cookie’ printed on it, jeans, and her leather boots.

Oh and she was about 150 feet tall.

Her majestic eyes gazed down at the tiny man in her palm as she beamed with pride. “Ha-ha!” she exclaimed. “I finally caught you! How does it feel to know you’re no longer the master of stealth little man?”

Despite being held in the palm of a giant girl, the young man kept quite a straight face. He shrugged. “I never said I was a master of stealth. But if we were competing against each other then the score’s fourteen to one, in my favor.”

That certainly took the wind out of Amy’s sails. She looked visibly deflated as she pouted at him. “You couldn’t even let me enjoy one victory Ben?”

The young man allowed a grin to slowly spread across his face. Ben Lyons stood at a height of six feet and three inches, making him almost three inches tall in Amy’s perspective. He had a mop of sandy brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a lean figure. He wore a white T-shirt with a blue serpent wrapped around it, dark grey cargo shorts, and sneakers. He sat down cross legged on her palm as he patted it. “I’m actually impressed you saw me in time. I almost got away.”

That seemed to perk Amy up a bit as she shrugged. “I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. If you were wearing a black shirt I might have missed it.”

They have been playing this game for a while now, both seem to enjoy it very much. Amy’s house sits right on the edge of some very dense woods. What she does is carry Ben over to any spot in the woods she chooses, provided it’s no more than a quarter of a mile from her house, and then she leaves him there. Afterwards Ben has one minute to get as far as he can before Amy, who towers well above the 50 ft tall trees, comes looking for him. His objective is to make it to her backyard before she catches him. Ben enjoys it because it’s good parkour practice, while Amy enjoys it because she likes a good chase. The two of them had grown into great friends since their misadventure last year and have been spending a lot of time together.

“You definitely have improved. This means I’ve got to up my game if I want to compete.”

Amy groaned. “This doesn’t have to be the kind of video game where you get harder to beat every time I win. Couldn’t you stay at the same level of difficulty until I’m ready to move on?”

Ben seemed to ponder that for a moment. “No.”

“Hmph.” She paused for a moment before flashing Ben an innocent smile while pouting at the same time. “Pretty please, just do me this one favor? You wouldn’t want me to feel bad about myself, would you?”

“No, I wouldn’t want that.”

Her face brightened. “Then you’ll still go easy on me?”

“No.” he said flatly.

This time Amy’s eyes narrowed as the smile turned into something villainous. “Ok then. I suppose there are other ways of dealing with you.” As she spoke she allowed her tongue to slip out and slowly slide it’s way over her mouth, moistening her luscious, pink lips. These same lips then parted to reveal pearly white teeth, bigger than a man’s head. She brought Ben closer to her mouth so he could get a better view. “Mmmmmmm, what do you think?” she whispered slowly. “I could swallow you whole. Feel you as you slipped gently down my throat. You’d land right inside my stomach.” She patted her stomach for emphasis. “I’d carry you around with me wherever I go, as you nurture my giant body. What do you say?”

Ben had to make an effort in suppressing the thoughts that were beginning to form in his head. After a few moments he spoke. “I say that answers the question of whether you spit or swallow.”

Amy just looked at him with her mouth hanging open, trying to process what he had just said. Then she exhaled. “Sometimes Ben, I really hate you.”

He snorted. “Oh sure. You get to talk about eating me alive and it’s supposed to be a big turn on. But then I make one blowjob joke and suddenly that’s where we draw the line.”

Amy just muttered something that was too low for even Ben to make out the words. But, eventually, the two of them shared a smile. Ben took his phone out to check the time. “Getting pretty late,” he said. “I should be heading home.”

Amy gave him a wink. “I got you covered.”

Walking back to her yard, she picked up the car Ben had driven to her house in, and carried him home. Amy’s size never ceased to amaze Ben. She was able to fit both himself and his car on one hand, and still have  plenty of space left. And, despite being a ten minute drive across town, Amy was able to walk to Ben’s house in about one minute. She set Ben and his car gently in the driveway, waved goodnight, and walked away, her footsteps echoing as she left. As Ben stood there and watch her leave he thought not for the first time: Would it even be possible to have a giantess for a girlfriend?

Ben pulled out his phone for the seventh time and sighed when he saw that only four minutes had passed. Not knowing what else to do, he just looked around at the place. He sat in a booth in the back corner of Tommy’s Pie, a local pizzeria. As far as pizza restaurants go this place was nothing special. The boots and tables went around the room in a ‘U’ shape, with the counter/kitchen in the very center. The walls were lined with black and white pictures dating all the way back to the 1920’s. No one knows why, though, the place has only been around for barely thirty years. Around this time a decent number of people were there for lunch and the cooks toiled away at the ovens, trying to complete orders in good time. Just as Ben was about to check his phone again he looked up and grinned, putting his phone back in his pocket. Then he stood up to greet the friend he hadn’t seen in a year. 
   

Mark Fisher stood at about six feet tall, making him roughly three inches shorter than Ben. He had dark, ebony skin and dark eyes to match. His hair was neat but thick, with some beard stubble growing back in after having recently been shaved. He wore sweat pants, and a black T-shirt over top of a white long sleeve shirt. He strolled on up to Ben, neither one even bothering to hide their grins.
  

  “You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Ben remarked just as he approached him.

“Glad to see your eyes ain’t too sore from ogling Amy to notice,” Mark shot back.

    The two of them laughed as they clasped hands and hugged. It was one of those manly hugs, with plenty of back slapping. As they pulled away Ben looked around. “Now where’s that other pain in the ass at?” he asked.
   

 Mark shrugged. “I don’t know. He hasn’t answered any of my texts. Should be here any minute though.”
   

Sure enough, after only six minutes, Johnny Rice swaggered in through the doors. Standing at five feet and ten inches tall, Johnny was the shortest of the three, though not by much. He had dirty blonde hair he always gelled a bit in the front to make it stand up, green eyes, and a light complexion to his skin. He wore a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, bluish-grey jeans, Converse sneakers, and a pair of sunglasses. Unlike the last time he saw them in person, though, he now wore a full on beard. “Well aren’t you two a sight for sore-”
   

 “Already said it,” Ben interrupted.
   

Johnny stopped mid step, lowered his shades, and looked between the two of them. “Well fuck you then, I’m out.”
  

  Mark couldn’t keep his lips from twitching into a smile. “What’s with the dead animal on your face? You taking a job as lumber jack, or a truck driver?”
   

“What? You got a problem with it?” Johnny demanded.
   

“It’s not a problem Johnny, but it doesn’t compute either.” Ben explained.
   

Johnny rolled his eyes. “Why the hell did I even bother?”

“Just shut up and get over here,” Mark said.
   

Just as before the friends embraced each other. Ben, Mark, and Johnny have always been close friends, ever since elementary school. They learned parkour together just to help escape bullies. They survived middle school, high school, as well as the events that took place last year. After senior year, however, the three ended up finally splitting ways as they went off to college. Johnny and Mark both left town to go to two separate colleges. It wasn’t that they wanted to split up, it was just a matter of which college was better for the majors they had in mind. Only Ben decided to stay home and commute to college, studying environmental engineering. All in all neither of them have seen each other, in person, in a year and had a lot of catching up to do.

*****

“Wow,” Johnny breathed. “I almost forgot what it was like walking up to this place.”

    “Imposing, isn’t it?” Ben agreed.

    “Man, we got into some serious shit here. Remember?” Mark asked with a grin.

    Johnny snorted. “When the fucking national guard shows up, that’s an understatement.”

    “Hey. You guys coming or what?” Ben called out as he walked towards the elevator doors.

    Mark just shrugged. “Alright. Let’s go see the 150 ft woman.”

    Amy Jackson’s house was nothing short of unbelievable. From the outside it looked like a one story house, made of concrete, but scaled for someone as big as Amy. The roof was flat and covered in specially upgraded solar panels. Likewise there were wind turbines in the back of her house. Keeping a building as big as Amy’s house powered took a lot of energy, so current methods had to be upgraded heavily in order to accomodate. Now solar panels can absorb twice as much energy in half the amount of time. Next to the giant door was a set of smaller doors. It would be dangerous to allow doors that stayed on the ground where Amy walks. These doors lead to an elevator that would carry someone up to a platform, about 100 feet off the ground, putting them about level with Amy’s remarkable chest.

    Together the three of them stepped into the elevator and began their ascent up.

    Mark looked around confused as elevator music began to play. “Frank Sinatra?”

    Ben nodded. “Apparently Amy’s dad is a big Sinatra fan.”

    After a second of pondering that Mark just shrugged. “He’s pretty good, Sinatra.”

    The doors opened after a minute and they stepped out onto the platform and into Amy’s house. The inside of Amy’s house is actually very at odds with it’s outside appearance. While on the outside it looks like a plain concrete house, the inside is a typical girl’s room. The walls were painted a nice sky blue, a bed with purple blankets was on the side of the room exactly opposite the platform, and the carpet was of a light beige color. At the wall to the left of the platform was a giant dresser with a mirror, at the right wall were a few shelves lined with stuffed animals. To the right was also a kitchen and bathroom. Next to her bed was a desk with a giant laptop and lamp on it. Amy sat on a chair, taken from that desk. She sounded to be talking to herself but stopped mid sentence when she heard the elevator chime signal someone’s arrival. As soon as the three of them stepped out of the elevator she jumped to her feet.

    “Mark! Johnny!” she exclaimed. “Oh my God, you guys are back!”

    Without giving them a chance to recover from the shockwave of her voice, Amy scooped Johnny and Mark up in her hands and pressed them to her chest in a hug. She was gentle enough that they could still breath fine, yet she rocked back and forth fast enough to make their vision fade in and out.

    “Oh my God,” Amy spoke quickly as she continued her violent hug. “It’s been two months since we last Skyped, and about a year since we’ve hung out. You guys have to tell me everything about what a college university is like! Is it big? Is it like a mini city? What are the classes like? Are the teachers nice? What do college students do when they don’t have class? Have you been to any parties? Did you meet any girls?”

    Suddenly a throat cleared. “Amy, I think your friends are about to pass out.”

    Ben turned to see a woman sitting at one of the tables left for visitors. The first thing about her that struck Ben was her age, she was older than all of them. Probably somewhere around twenty three or twenty four if he had to guess. Another odd observation was that she was dressed in formal business attire, much like one would wear to a job interview. Still, she was quite pretty. Her reddish-blonde hair was kept back in a ponytail yet bangs framed both sides of her face. She held a folder in one hand and a pen in the other.

    Amy blushed deeply when she realized she was overdoing it. She gently set Mark and Johnny down and blushed a deeper red as they staggered and fell. “Sorry guys,” Amy whispered.

    “It’s . . . ok,” Johnny replied weakly. “I didn’t . . . feel like holding onto . . . that pizza I just ate anyway.”

    Amy giggled a bit before clearing her throat and gesturing to the woman sitting down. “Guys, this is Betty Collins. She’s studying Anatomy and Physiology at the University of California in San Diego. As part of her final she has to write a big research paper and she wants to write about me.” She turned to Betty. “These are the friends I was telling you about. Ben, Mark, and Johnny.”

    Ben quirked an eyebrow at that statement. “Researching you? Is that going to involve any experiments or something?”

    “No no, nothing like that.” Betty chuckled as she walked towards them. She had a very lush voice. “I’m merely here to observe and ask questions. From what I understand, Amy’s parents have gone to great lengths to prevent any testing from being done on her.”

    Amy nodded. “But, since she’s a college student just asking questions, they have no problem in her researching me.”

    Betty stopped right in front of the three of them and paused. Her eyes, as lovely as they were, seemed very off putting. They took in all three of them, gazing, studying, memorizing, and storing away every detail about them. It was unnerving, thinking she had just made a mental file on all three of them. “Amy told me a lot about you. How you three stood up for her when the town wanted to send her away. I was amazed to hear about what happened.”

    Mark shrugged. “Once she kidnapped us we didn’t have much of a choice.”

    “Kidnapped you?” Betty asked. The corners of her mouth quirking up in another smile as she turned her head towards Amy, who just blushed again.

    “It’s not what you think.”

    Betty nodded. “Well I’m definitely going to have to hear that story. But I’m out of time for today. It was nice meeting you three.” She turned to fully face Amy. “I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me and agreeing to help Amy. I’ll be back tomorrow around the time we discussed to begin.”

    “Anytime Betty. I look forward to it.” Amy replied.

    They waved their goodbyes as Betty stepped into the elevator and left. Once she was gone Mark turned to Amy. “She seems nice. She single?”

    At first Amy tried to scowl disapprovingly at him, but gave up as a smile spread across her lips. She shook her head with a sigh. “Honestly. I don’t even know why I’m happy to see you guys again.”

    “Awwww, you hear that?” Johnny asked. “The big, mean giantess actually missed us.”

    “This is coming from Mr Road Kill over there?” she shot back as she leaned back into her chair. “Seriously dude, what is on your face?”

    Johnny rubbed a hand over his new beard as he grumbled. “You’d honestly never believe me if I told you.”

    The four of them all shared a laugh together. The guys took a seat as Amy began asking them what life was like at each of their respective colleges. There wasn’t much to talk about on her end, since she went to college online. She did, however tell them about all the activities she’d been doing for the town. After it was announced that she would be doing community service as penance for her actions, the Mayor said he would collect requests from anyone who had a task for Amy to do. Considering how big of a town they lived in, it wasn’t a surprise that requests flooded in. Speaking of which, Amy made sure to invite them all  to the big Memorial Day Barbeque at the park in two weeks. She’d be helping to transport things like grills, tables, chairs, food, and fireworks.

    “Yeah, we’ll be there.” Ben said. “Consider it a promise.”

Allentown seemed to be quite the charming city. Well, it was somewhere between a large town, and a small city. But the sights were none the less enjoyable. As the taxi cab weaved it’s way through the streets, the driver pointed out all of the best places to get a bite to eat or a good hotel room. It was possible he could be spending a few weeks here, perhaps he would be able to get some sightseeing done. There was supposed to be a big cookout in two weeks. Maybe he would go to that and watch the fireworks.

The taxi stopped in front of it’s destination. The man stepped out and thanked his driver as he paid the fair. The man was a little below average height and somewhere in his early thirties, with black hair, glasses, and a goatee that covered his chin. He wore a serviceable suit, neat but not gaudy. With his briefcase in hand, he strode through the front doors of the building.

The doors lead to a waiting room. Leather seats were lined along the left and right hand walls. The tables separating some of the seats held an assortment of magazines, from fashion magazines to Time. Past the waiting room was a lobby, where two receptionists looked over computer monitors, typing every now and then. They sat on opposite ends of a very long desk, both seemingly absorbed in their work. The man walked up to the receptionist on his left, a stout woman with a young face.

“Excuse me,” he said politely. “I believe I’m expected here.”

The woman, whose name tag read CINDY, looked up from her monitor and gave a start at seeing who he was.

“Oh! Oh yes, of course sir. We’ve been told you were arriving this morning.” she said excitedly. Then she reached over and pushed a button on her telephone. “Ms Shepherd? Mr Davis has just arrived.”

A voice suddenly came on from the other end. “Send him back.”

“Yes ma’am.” Cindy answered. “Her office is at the very end of the hallway on the top floor. The elevator is just to your left.” She pointed to the set of doors on the far wall.

He smiled at her. “Thank you very much.” Then he walked towards the elevator. There were only seven floors to the building. Ms Shepherd’s office was at the end of the hallway, just as Cindy said, through a set of glass doors. The office itself was rather neat and well organized. The walls were rather plain, decorated with a few black and white pictures and two bookcases. A liquor case hung on the wall to the left, right next to Ms Shepherd’s desk. The wall behind her desk was just windows overlooking the street. The floor was made of black linoleum tiles that caused footsteps to echo. On Ms Shepherd’s desk, which was also glass, was a computer and a few scattered papers. Ms Shepherd herself stood up from her desk as he walked in. She wasn’t a very tall woman, yet in heels she was eye level with him. Ms Shepherd was thirty years old yet her complexion made her seem a bit younger. She had nice tan skin, and brown hair, that was almost black, held back from her face. She was dressed in a formal pinstriped suit, with a matching skirt, dark pantyhose, and high heels.

“Mr Davis, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” she said formally, yet enthusiastically, as she held out her hand to him.

“Please,” he replied as he shook her hand. “Call me Patrick. I mean, it’s not like I’m one of the big suits from way upstairs.”

Ms Shepherd smiled at that. “I’ll take you over anyone of those stiffs any day. Anyway, I’m Monica Shepherd. I suppose you’ll want to take a look around the place yourself. I’ll be happy to show you around.”

“I’d like that very much. But first I think we should get down to business. Discuss our agenda, and then you can show me where I’ll be working.”

Monica tilted her head. “Where you’ll be working?”

“Oh yes,” Patrick answered. “I know, I know. I’m supposed to be here as a representative and ambassador from the California division of the company. It’s just that I’m used to doing my work in a lab with other scientists. And, since I may be here for a little while I’d love to help in whatever pharmaceutical work you’re currently doing.”

“I appreciate the offer,” she said with a smile. “I’m sure we can find you plenty to do to fill your time. Of course your primary job is still top priority.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve been doing my homework.” he assured her.

Monica chuckled a bit. “Yes. Well, is there anything I can do to help you?”

Patrick nodded as he flipped open his briefcase. Taking out that manila folder, he opened it up and removed the first piece of paper inside. He handed the slip of paper to Monica, his voice became serious. “I need as much information as you can find. As well as any and all current information about her.”

Monica gave the slip of paper a quick glance before nodding and slipping it in her pocket.

“I’ll also need some personal lab space to begin a few early preparations,” he continued.

Monica nodded. “Anything else?”

Patrick shook his head, the smile returning as if it had never left. “You may show me to where I’ll be working.

*****

(Back at Amy’s house)

“As I recall,” Ben said. “Johnny and I actually tried to get away. You just ran under  the bed and gave up after five minutes.”

“It’s called being smart,” Mark shot back with a grin. “And as I recall, that got me to second base with Amy.”

Amy straightened up in her chair. “What! I’d never! . . .” Then it dawned on her as to what Mark was referring to. Her face turned a slight crimson. “Um . . . . . .”

Ben cleared his throat. “Yeah, but did she pop you in her mouth and suck on you? Cause I’m pretty sure that counts as third base, bro.”

All three of them broke into laughter while Amy strove to sink back into her chair, wrap her arms around her legs, and hide. Everyone has become so used to seeing Amy as a towering primadonna, making it easy to forget how little social interaction she’s had since growing so big. In fact, once the mask came off, the guys were surprised to learn she may be even more socially awkward than them. This was another reason why Amy valued their friendship. They saw her for who she was and loved it. As the laughter subsided Johnny held his hands up to form a T for time out.

“Ok. In all seriousness, I need to ask. The hell is going on between you and Ben?” he asked Amy.

Amy hesitated as she bit down on her lower lip. “Nothing’s going on between us.”

“Exactly.” Mark continued for him. “We both know you two like each other, even though you could do a hell of a lot better than him.”

“Hey!”

Mark went on as if Ben had said nothing. “It’s no secret you guys like each other. So why aren’t you doing anything about it?”

If Amy’s face was red before, it was absolutely scarlett now. Ben answered for her. “It’s not that we don’t want to. It’s just that . . . well . . . no one’s ever dated a giantess before. So, not only are we both inexperienced, but we’re in completely uncharted territory.”

Amy nodded. “If we want to go out, we need to make sure it can work between us despite our . . . obvious size differences.”

“Is his dick really that small?” Johnny asked.

Ben stared daggers right through Johnny’s head. “Where’s your girlfriend, smart-ass?”

Johnny opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it and began taking an interest in the floor.

“The point is,” Amy continued, folding her arms under her breasts. “If we’re going to do this we’re going to do it right.”

Ben pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the time. “It’s getting close to dinner time and I’ve got stuff to do at home.”

Mark stretched as he stood up from his seat. “Yeah, I suppose my mom will want me home, seeing as how I haven’t been home in a while.”

Amy smiled and waved. “Bye guys. Come and visit as often as you can while you’re still in town.”

Johnny put two fingers to his forehead and saluted Amy as he headed towards the elevator. “We’ll get together, don’t worry.” Then he grinned wide as he looked at Mark and Ben. “After all, she did technically let me get in her pants.”

With a look of outrage on her face, Amy tried to grab at Johnny, except the elevator doors had already shut on her. As she sat there pouting, the frustration subsided. She shook her head. “It’s good to have them all back.”

It was a slow day at the movie theater where Ben worked during the day. It was always slow earlier on in the days, especially week days. Usually, the only customers that came in around this time were older couples. They prefer seeing movies around this time, as it’s the time of day when no teenagers are running about the theater, disrupting their movie. Even so, there were barely enough people there to fill up one theater. Ben prefered it this way, he always savored his morning shifts, mostly since it was his job to sweep the floors after a movie is finished. Less people meant smaller messes to clean up. He’d been sitting in the main lobby for a little while, waiting for the next movie to end, all the while thinking about Amy. The guys were right, they did like each other, a lot. She was the single most amazing human being he had ever met, and yes, he still thought of her as a human being. She loved superheroes and fantasy genre books. Her favorite musicians ranged from Cage the Elephant and Adele, to The Beatles and Elton John. She was beautiful, intelligent, got along great with Mark and Johnny, and she was literally larger than life. All in all, Amy was a fantasy come to life.

The only problem was, this fantasy had to follow the rules of reality. Dating would be difficult. Difficult? That word barely covered it! The only places they could go would be outdoors, like drive in movie theaters, and God knows where they would find one. There had never been one in Allentown. That left the park, and there was only so much you could do in the park. What would happen when the relationship got serious? Instead of a condom, he’d need a diving suit whenever they have sex! It was at that point that he had to end his train of thought before it took him to places he didn’t feel like going while he was still on the clock.

Speaking of clock, the movie he was waiting for had just ended, and people were filling out. Grabbing his small cart, which consisted of a trash can, broom, and dust pan similar to what they use in barber shops, he headed into the theater. The credits were still rolling when he walked in, he had seen this movie before. Just when you think the latest Ghost Rider movie would be the one to end Nicolas Cage’s career, he comes out with another National Treasure movie to save it. Ben grabbed his cart that consisted of a trash can, a broom, and a dust pan with a handle as long as the broom’s. As he walked towards the crowd, he was surprised to notice someone standing in line at the snack bar.

“Johnny? What are you doing here?” he asked.

Johnny jumped in surprise while spinning around, making him look like a bearded ballerina. “Jesus man, don’t sneak up on me like that. What the hell are you doing here?”

Ben looked at him questioningly. “I’ve been working here since a few months before you left. Are you ok man? What are you even doing here this early?”

Johnny nodded as he looked around. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I just don’t want to be here. But my sister needed someone to take her daughter to see Frozen 2.”

“Ah!” he said with a grin. Johnny had an older sister who was already married with a three year old daughter. No wonder he seemed like he was dreading something. Most people will agree, even the guys, Frozen was a great movie. But when every little kid everywhere, even Ben’s little sister Katelyn, would not stop singing Let It Go, it became annoying pretty fast. “As much as I feel for your suffering, call it payback for the dick comment yesterday.”

Johnny replied with a laugh that was obviously forced, before looking around. “Don’t you have some bathrooms to clean?”

“It’s theaters for me today.” Ben said as he pat his friend on the shoulder. “But I’ll be praying for you the entire time. Good luck.”

Ben took his cart and left Johnny standing in line for over priced yet under stocked movie snacks. With the theater empty and the lights on, Ben was relieved to see that the mess didn’t look too big. Taking his time, he got out his broom and set his dust pan over to the side where he would sweep all of the trash to.

“Would you be Benjamin Lyons?”

Ben stiffened, and almost jumped, in surprise at the sound of a voice behind him. Standing at the entrance way to the room was a man in a suit. He wasn’t taller than average height and didn’t seem all that important outwardly. He reminded Ben of a teacher on the first day of school, simply just eager to meet somebody. Although, him being here raised the question as to what he was doing in a theater that wasn’t showing another movie for an hour at least.

“I think you have the wrong theater,” Ben told him. “There won’t be anything shown in here for a little while.”

The man grinned. “Oh I know. Except that I have about twenty minutes before I go into theater twelve to witness James Cameron's latest masterpiece. Besides, I’d like to talk with you.”

Now that certainly raised some red flags in Ben’s head. The guy, a stranger, wanted to talk with him personally? So many questions flooded into his head. Who was this guy? How did he know Ben worked here? How did this guy know who he was? Why did the guy drive all the way to where he worked just to talk with him? It was all very unsettling, however, Ben retained a calm outwards appearance.

“Talk? About what?” he asked.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said. “You and that girl Amy. The two of you were all over the internet, what with her kidnapping you and then you saving her. I’d like to know the story behind that.”

Ben relaxed a bit on the inside. He must have been a reporter, or maybe a blogger, or something like that. Just someone trying to find out the story by going to the source. All the same though, he remained a little cautious. You can never be too careful when dealing with nosey bloggers. “What makes you think there’s even a story to talk about?”

But the man just chuckled. “In a town that houses a 150 ft woman, there’s bound to be a story in some form or another. I just want to find it.”

“Mhm. Can I ask why you’re so interested in her?” he asked as he went back to sweeping.

The guy shrugged. “Who wouldn’t be interested in hearing about the exploits of a living giantess. Now, is it true you single handedly saved her from being arrested by the military?”

“Close but not quite like that,” Ben said with an amused grin. “First off, I wasn’t alone, I had the backup of my two best friends. Secondly, we didn’t rescue her from the military, we just talked the town into not sending her away. It wasn’t as heroic as it sounds online.”

The guy nodded with a grin of his own. “Don’t sell yourself short there, I’m willing to bet that it was a bigger deal than you’re making it out to be.”

Ben shrugged while he continued to sweep. “I guess you’ll never know then, everyone’s got their own version to tell.”

“Then I’d like to hear Amy’s version,” he replied. “If it isn’t too much trouble, could you ask your friend if I could speak with her in person? It’s very important.”

Ben considered the guy for a second as he dumped the swept up trash into his trash can. “I could try and ask her. Why so interested?”

“Because Amy holds the key to a future of miracles,” the man answered. “Discoveries that could literally mean the difference between life and death.”

Now this was something that gave Ben pause. This guy, whoever he was, was definitely no blogger. So now he was back to square one: who is this guy? Before he could say anything, though, the man stood up and extended a business card to him. “Call this number if you ever need to reach me.” Ben took the card but he still held his hand out. “My name is Patrick, by the way.”

Ben shook his hand. Once Patrick had left he read over the business card. It said: EtherealTech, making science out of science fiction.

**************************************************************************************

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

It was a good thing there were no cars parked on the sides of the street, because the vibrations from Amy’s footsteps surely would have set off a few alarms. The streets were mostly empty at this point in the day, as everyone had already left work for the day and made it home. Amy, on the other hand, still had one last job to complete for the day. In her cupped hands she held dozens upon dozens of crates, to be delivered to the local GIANT food store. When it came to her community service, GIANT was one of the first places to request her help. She thought the store manager must appreciate the irony of having a real life giantess make deliveries for them. It certainly made her giggle a little. Never the less, it was a job she enjoyed a little more than others. Transporting produce and other foods required for Amy to walk to the adjacent town and pick up deliveries from there. Before her community service, Amy rarely left Allentown. Now she had the chance to really stretch her legs and see the sights outside of her home town. For the first few months it took everyone in the next town some time to get used to seeing her, but now the shock had finally faded.

With the green and red supermarket in sight, Amy slowed down her pace and stepped a little lighter, so as not to disturb the people still shopping. She went around to the back of the store where Mac, the employee in charge of unloading goods, was waiting for her. Amy smiled at him as she knelt down and lowered her hands to the unloading platform.

“What’s up Amy?” Mac asked as he, and a few other co-workers, walked onto her fingers to grab a box off of her palm. “How was the walk this time?”

“I think they’re starting to get used to me over there,” she said.

“Is that so? How come?”

She sighed. “Because, this time, the only people that screamed were an old lady, and a stoned teenager.”

Seth, another unloader, waved a dismissive hand. “Ah they’re all a bunch of losers.”

“They’re the ones missing out on living in the same town as you,” said Harold.

“Awwwwww, thank you. You’re all sweet guys.” Amy said with a slight blush. “Here, allow me to repay you for that.” Now that they had taken care of the crates on her right hand, she was free to use it to scrape the crates on her left hand gently onto the loading dock.

“There you go.”

Mac shook his head with a smile and looked up. “You have no idea how much we needed a break. Thank you.”

Amy stood up and stretched. “Ah, it was nothing. Now I need to get home. Good night guys.”

“Night Amy,” they called after her as she walked away.

As she walked Amy allowed her mind to wander a bit, losing itself in thoughts of Ben. She’d been thinking about him a lot lately, ever since Mark and Johnny asked them the serious question: What were they going to do with each other. It was a question that sometimes would bring tears to her eyes. Finally, she had found a guy that she could be completely honest about herself with, and the only thing keeping them apart was herself. Times like these, Amy didn’t know whether to think of herself as the princess locked in a tower, or the dragon that guarded it. It was all so frustrating she had to stop her thoughts before she began to let loose some steam.

It was then that she heard some snickering. Amy stopped to get a look around at where the noise was coming from. To her left was an alleyway between a 7/11 store and an insurance office building, neither of the buildings were even tall enough to reach her calves. In the alleyway were two teenagers, a guy and a girl, and both were decked out in traditional goth wear. Each one had a can of spray paint in their hand, most likely about to write something on the 7/11. Which means I’ll probably have to scrub whatever they write off of the walls tomorrow.

So Amy loomed right over the alleyway, allowing her enormous shadow to fall over them. Needless to say, once the two of them saw her staring down at them, they dropped the paint cans immediately. Amy leaned in closer to them, smiling so that she could show off her teeth.

“Aren’t the two of you out past your bed times?” she asked in an overly sweet voice.

The two goths froze up in the face of the towering beauty. Neither of them could think of anything to say. The guy merely held the girls next to him, both to protect her and to comfort himself. For a moment his face reminded her of Ben, and the girl’s face became her own. She frowned for a moment as she thought about it. After a second or two, though, she smiled a genuine smile this time.

“Tell you two what. You are going to walk your lady friend home right now, like the gentleman that you are. After you two kiss good night you’ll both go inside your own houses, you’ll finish up whatever homework you chose to ignore, you’ll tell your parents that you love and appreciate them, and then you’ll be in bed no later than 11pm.” She took the opportunity to show off her pearly whites again. “Understood?”

The two of them nodded so vigorously that Amy thought there heads would fly off of their necks. Then they took off running down the other end of the alley. As Amy stood back up she watched them go for a moment as she sighed. Eventually she turned away and kept on walking back to her house, all the while humming Somebody to Love by Jefferson Airplane.

“So he was just sitting there waiting for you?” Amy asked. “Don’t you think that’s kind of weird, how he knew where you’d be at the time and everything?”

“Of course it was weird,” Ben replied. “Down right creepy actually. He pretty much stalked me just to ask about you. I don’t know which one of us should be more afraid.”

“Thanks for the comfort. I knew I could count on you for that.”

Ben shrugged. “You brought this conversation to a weird place when you addressed the weirdness of the situation.”

Amy considered that for a moment. “Touche.”

Amy lay stomach down on her bed with her legs up in the air. She flipped through a magazine on her tablet as she spoke to Ben. Speaking of Ben, he was lying on his back, on the sole of Amy’s right foot. To him it was like reclining on a bed 40ft in the air. Ben had quite the attraction to Amy’s feet, a fetish she shared and was more than happy to indulge in. The two of them had been hanging out like this for almost an hour.

“In all seriousness, what was your reading on the guy?” she asked him.

“He didn’t seem too off putting, actually. He at least acted polite and sane while I spoke with him.” Ben explained. “The only thing that really made me keep my guard up was the fact that he was waiting for me inside the theater. And, of course, there’s that last part he just happened to mention to me.”

Amy nodded, even though she couldn’t see Ben, and therefore couldn’t tell if he was watching her. “So should I speak with him?”

“That’s up to you. In my opinion, though, I don’t trust the fact that he said you contain medical secrets inside of you. That just screams nefarious.”

“Nefarious?”

“Good word, isn’t it?” Ben asked.

“I like it,” Amy said. “Vocabulary aside, I have to admit I’m curious.”

Ben sat up and rested his arms on his knees. “Curious? Of what”

Amy shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I’ve just always been curious about my body, for obvious reasons. I mean, I’m grateful my dad’s kept people from taking me away to study like a science experiment, but still. There’s so much about myself that I don’t know and would like to.”

Ben was silent for a moment. “You were hoping for a way to shrink back to normal. Am I wrong?”

Amy sighed as she rested her head on her hands. “I’ve dreamt about a cure that would shrink me to a normal height of five foot six, or something. I’ve fantasized about it for years. But I forced myself to give up on the idea a long time ago.”

“Why?”

“Because I was torturing myself with false hope,” she explained. “Scientifically speaking, it should be impossible for me to exist right now. I doubt modern science could explain why I’m so big, so how would they be able to shrink me? Hell, even shrink ray technology is still considered science fiction.” Amy shrugged again. “It was better that I come to grips with myself, which was far from easy. At least, until I became friends with you, Johnny, and Mark.”

Ben snorted. “Three high school guys helped you with your body issues. If that isn’t the textbook definition of irony.”

“How many women can identify with me?” Amy asked. “Or anyone, for that matter?”

“Good point.”

Very slowly, Amy brought her leg as close to her as she could, while simultaneously keeping her foot as level as it could. She gently plucked Ben off of her sole and then swung her legs around so that she was sitting up with her feet against the floor.

“You guys have done a lot for me, in ways you can’t even imagine.” Amy said to Ben as he sat in her palm. “For that, I trust your judgment. If you think this guy is too ‘nefarious’ to be trusted, then I won’t talk with him.”

“Well keep in mind that the choice is still entirely up to you. I’m just throwing in my two cents for consideration.” Ben said. “If you want you can give him a shot.”

Amy looked off in the distance as she considered her decision. “Are you really afraid of Patrick?” she asked.

“Well . . . I wouldn’t say afraid. More like cautious of him.” Ben explained. “You would be too if he just showed up out of no where.”

Amy smiled. “Please. What do I have to be afraid of while you’re here?”

“Um . . . . everything?”

She snorted. “Well you’re no help. And here I was thinking you’re supposed to be my knight in shining armor.”

Ben blinked. “And what gave you that idea?”

Amy shrugged. “Isn’t that what potential boyfriends are supposed to be? I mean, I don’t have much experience in this kind of thing, but movies and video games can’t all be wrong.”

“Do I at least get a cool knight sword?” he asked.

“I’m sure I can find a sewing needle for you to use.” Amy answered.

Ben just sighed. “Actually that sounds pretty cool. So if I’m the knight, am I to assume you’re the princess I must protect?”

“Oh hell no,” Amy replied. “I’m the fucking queen.”

“What’s the difference?”

She grinned mischievously. “Princesses have to be rescued. Queens have to be obeyed.”

“That . . . . yeah, I should have expected no less from you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I should have expected no less from you . . . your majesty.” Ben amended along with a theatrical, albeit half hearted, bow.

“Damn straight.” Amy placed Ben on the floor at her feet. Then she ran her hands through her hair to comb it, and sat up straighter, peering down at the tiny man on her floor. “Kneel before your queen Sir Knight and kiss her feet.”

Ben gazed up at the towering angel in awe. Sure, when she was bullying others it wasn’t hard to ignore Amy’s looks, and see her for nothing but a bully. But now that the bullying was all over, Ben could appreciate her power in a whole other light. To see her standing, hell even sitting before you, 150ft of Godsent beauty struck you speechless in admiration. She continued to gaze down on him as a true queen would at a subject. Slowly Ben approached her right foot, dropped to his knees, and kissed her big toe. Amy put her hands on her hips as she smiled.

“Well well. It seems someone likes powerful women.” she said with a slight chuckle in her voice.

“It’s just . . .” Ben shook his head.

“Just what?”

“Just . . . Most of the time when we hang out, it’s easy for me to feel so relaxed and at ease around you. Hell, Mark and Johnny feel the same way, and they aren’t even crushing on you. But some times . . . sometimes it’s just . . . seeing you like this . . . it’s . . .”

Amy frowned. “Frightening?”

Ben shook his head. “Awe inspiring.”

Amy put a hand to her mouth in surprise. “Awwwww.” she whispered.

Ben blew out a long held breath, not sure of what to say now. Neither did Amy for that matter, no one had ever said anything like that to her before. Just as Ben was about to apologize to her for making things awkward, Amy’s tablet bleeped. Silently thanking the universe for the distraction, Amy went over to check it out. It was a call from her mother. Since Amy already had a giant tablet and computer, having a phone was redundant when her tablet could suffice. Pressing the touch screen, Amy’s mother appeared on screen.

“What’s up mom?” Amy asked. Ever since last year Amy has been much more open with her parents, after having kept her distance for so many years. This, of course, put Ben, Johnny, and Mark on great terms with her parents.

“Hey sweetie,” her mother said. “I just wanted to give you a heads up, you have a visitor. His name is Patrick Davis, and he wants to interview you.”

Amy and Ben both froze. “Um . . . . . what was his name?”

“Mr Patrick Davis,” Mrs. Jackson replied. “He’s on his way over right now. Remember to be polite while speaking to him.”

“Uh . . . ok mom, thanks.” Amy said as she ended the call. Then she looked over at Ben.

“You’ve got to hide me.” he said quickly.

“What! I don’t want to be left alone to talk to this guy. I haven’t even met him yet.” she exclaimed.

“I don’t trust him. Maybe he’ll act differently if he thinks I’m not around.” Ben answered.

Amy shook her head. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting?”

“The guy just shows up out of no where to talk to you, right after stalking me at work. I think we’d be stupid not to watch this guy.”

It only took a second of consideration to decide that he had a point. “Ok, what’s your plan?”

“Set your tablet somewhere where I can see the platform, but turn the volume off, and make sure he can’t see the screen. That way I can hide from anywhere in the house and still spy on him from my phone.” Ben elaborated.

Amy nodded and set her tablet up just as he described. She turned back to him when she was finished. “Now where should I hide you?”

Ben paused. “Um . . . let me think.”

“There’s no time!” Amy urged. “He’s on his way right now. He could be here in-”

Suddenly the elevator doors behind Amy dinged, and she panicked. “Sorry!” she whispered.

Before Ben could so much as make a sound, Amy thrust his tiny body deep into the valley between her glorious breasts. Quick as she could, Amy then turned to face the newcomer as he stepped out of the elevator. He was dressed in a simple business suite, professional but not gaudy.

Patrick smiled at the giantess. “Afternoon Ms Jackson. I was hoping we could chat for a few minutes.”

This was a pretty good day to take the car out, Mark thought. He stood outside in a small parking lot, leaning against a fence as a cool breeze drifted from across the street. Today was as good a day as any to be outside. To his right Mark could hear the water hoses turn on as buckets began filling up. His dad had asked him to take his 1978 Mustang to a car wash today, and he specifically requested it be hand washed. After the wash, the employees would hand dry it and apply an even coat of polish. Although Mark had earned the privilege to take the car out, with his dad’s permission of course, his dad only trusted professionals to wash it when he couldn’t. This meant that Mark had some time on his hands to kill.

Looking across the parking lot, Mark noticed a small Dairy Queen. Ice cream sounded pretty good on a day like today. So after a little waiting, he was sitting on a bench, eating a Butterfinger Blizzard, as he watched his dad’s car being washed. The whole thing was so relaxing Mark just about lost himself in thought.

“It’s Mark, right?”

Mark snapped out of his daydream slowly and turned to see Betty Collins, the college student studying Amy, standing there looking at him.

“Mark . . . Fisher? Is it? Did I get that right?” she asked.

Mark nodded. “It is.”

Betty smiled warmly at him. Today she wore a blue and white tank top, jean shorts that showed off her legs nicely, and converse sneakers. Her hair was kept in a ponytail, like last time he saw her. Over her right shoulder was a grey purse, and in her left hand looked to be a Cookies and Cream Blizzard. “Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all,” Mark said as he slid to his left, giving Betty room to sit down.

“Who’s car is that?” she asked, pointing to the red mustang. “I noticed you watching it. Is it yours?”

Mark contemplated telling her it was his, maybe she’d be willing to go for a ride with him. It didn’t take him long, though, to decide against it. He was a college freshmen, and she was a senior all the way from California. “It’s my dad’s car. He lets me drive it occasionally.”

“That’s pretty cool. What year was it made?”

“78,” he answered.

“Nice.” They both took a minute to have some of their Blizzards. “So, I’m actually glad I caught up with you. Are you busy?”

“Right now?” he shook his head. “Not really. Why?”

“Well . . .” Betty trailed off as she rifled through her purse. “I was wondering if you could tell me all about how you came to be friends with Amy.” She withdrew a small notebook and a pencil from her purse. She looked questioningly into his eyes. “Would that be alright?”

Mark leaned back against the bench with a sigh. He looked back at her. “We’re going to be here for awhile.”

“I’m not going anywhere if you aren’t,” Betty replied.

Mark took another spoonful of ice cream and grinned. “Where do I even start?”

*********************************************************************************************************

Amy faced her new visitor with an outward sense of friendliness. On the inside, however, she was a mess of paranoia and nervousness. This man had now tracked down both her and Ben, all for a simple conversion. What was it he could be after so badly that he would come unannounced into her own home?

Amy cleared her throat and composed herself as completely as she could. It wasn’t easy. Ben was still struggling fiercely in her cleavage. It was both distracting and arousing, not a great combination at a time like this. She kept a smile on her face as she approached the platform that Patrick stood on, her bare feet on the carpet made an astoundingly small amount of noise for one of her size.

“It’s nice to meet you Mr Davis.” she said as she slowly extended her index finger towards him. As expected Patrick flinched backwards a step. It was understandable when a finger the size of a tree trunk moved towards you. But he smiled and extended an arm of his own, sort of shaking her finger as a greeting.

“A pleasure to meet you as well Ms Jackson. Forgive me for being a bit jumpy I just . . . it’s my first time meeting you in person and I, well . . .” he chuckled a bit.

Amy giggled a bit herself. “It’s no big deal, I get that it can’t be helped. I am pretty scary at first.”

“No no. Not at all Ms Jackson,” Patrick said quickly. “Mind blowing would be a better choice of words.”

This time Amy’s smile was genuine. “Thank you for that. And please, just call me Amy.”

“Then by all means please, call me Patrick.”

“Very well then Patrick, what did you wish to talk about?”

“Well,” Patrick began as he took a seat by one of the tables on the platform. “I assume you’ve heard that I met with your friend Ben Lyons already?”

Amy nodded as she pulled up the chair from her desk. “Mhm. He said you had a few questions for me?”

“Yes. But, if anything, I’d like to know what exactly happened to you last year.” Patrick explained. “The big incident that was all over the internet.”

“Well . . .” Amy suppressed an urge to wiggle as Ben continued to move about violently. “Um, I’m very flattered you came all this way just to speak with me, but you didn’t have to. I mean, you said the story was all over the internet.”

“Very true, however I think you’ll find that the internet has a tendency to ‘improvise’ on the details,” he said dryly. “Nobody outside of Allentown has the full story. And, since I’ve come all this way just to find it, I thought I might as well go straight to the source.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Amy said thoughtfully. “I appreciate the effort you went through. Alright then, I guess I should start at the beginning. I hope you don’t mind that it’s a long story.”

Patrick spread his hands. “A long story is just what I’m looking for. Don’t skimp on the details.”

Amy smiled. “You got it.”

She fought another desire to squirm in her seat as Ben continued to flail in between her gigantic boobs. They’re not a bounce house Ben! What the hell are you doing in there?

*********************************************************************************************************

Ben was fighting just to remain alive at this point.

His entire world right now was nothing but soft blackness. Each sudden movement, each breath, threatened to smother him in flesh. After only a minute inside of Amy’s boobs, Ben was so discombobulated he couldn’t tell whether he was right side up or not. Darkness encompassed him, rendering each of his senses almost useless. If she had just put me behind a pillow, or something, maybe this would have worked.

Eventually most of the jostling had subsided, Amy had just taken a seat and was talking. Ben used this opportunity to finally right himself, as it turns out he had been upside down the whole time. No sooner had he done this than the walls of flesh began to close around him. Amy, unaware of what was happening to Ben, was trying to stop his squirms. The compression was only momentary, but it left Ben feeling out of breath. Ok, message received: stop moving so much.

Now that he was right side up, though, Ben really didn’t need to move. He took his phone out of his pocket and saw that he was still on call with Amy’s tablet, he could hear everything they were saying.

They were laughing.

He heard Patrick speak. “So, you really had nothing to say? After all of that?”

“Well, what could I have said? No one had ever really spoken to me in anger before. I didn’t know what to say.” Amy answered.

Yeah, and I actually let you off easy, considering the circumstances, Ben thought to himself. Which reminds me. We’re going to have words after this is done.

“So what did you do?” Patrick asked.

“What else?” Amy said. “I stomped my foot like a spoiled little girl and walked out in a huff.” Her voice became thoughtful for a moment. “I guess, looking back, it was the slap upside the head that I needed. I just didn’t know it at the time.”

Ben blinked in surprise. Well, you’re welcome your majesty. You’re still going to have to answer for sticking me in here and then throwing me around. Was this what it was like for Mark?

*********************************************************************************************************

Betty sat there, looking utterly stunned at Mark. “So . . . she just . . . grabbed you . . .”

Mark nodded as he ate another spoonful of ice cream.

“A-and . . . she just . . . in there?”

“Swear to God, that’s how it happened. Ben and Johnny’ll confirm that if you ask.” Mark replied.

“No no, I believe you.” Betty said with a blush. “So uh . . . what was it uh . . . like? If you don’t mind me asking,” she added quickly.

Mark took in another spoonful as he thought back to that time between Amy’s twin planets. The all encompassing darkness, the constant sensation that you are stuck in between two pillows, the tremors all around. All in all it was something he would never be honest about with any man. When speaking to a guy, Mark would always recount it as the greatest moment of his life.

But to a woman . . .

Mark sighed. “Actually it was a little painful.”

*********************************************************************************************************

Amy closed the video she had pulled up on her computer to show Patrick.

“That was quite a speech,” he said.

Amy nodded absently. She had just shown him the video Mark had sent her a year ago, Ben speaking before the entire town for her.

“You’re very lucky to have someone who cares so much about you in your life.” Patrick said.

“You know at first I never figured out why he did it,” Amy said, mostly to herself. “Why anyone would go through all of that trouble for the biggest bully in Allentown. Before him, I never thought anyone would want to keep someone like me around.”

Patrick wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It almost seemed like she had forgotten he was there. Amy was just staring off into space at the moment, no doubt lost in thought. Patrick gave her a minute before he audibly cleared his throat. Amy shook her head clear as she sheepishly turned to look back at her guest. Patrick smiled knowingly at her.

“If I could give you a small pearl, Amy. Life’s too short to waste time figuring out what people mean to you. It’s obvious this young man cares for you. All you need to do is sit him down and get him to tell you that himself. The rest will be so much simpler once you’re both on the same page.”

Amy blushed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get so . . . distracted.”

He waved a dismissive hand. “It’s nothing. So tell me, what are your plans now for the future?”

“Well, since I’m going to be staying here at least another four years, I decided to go to college online. I’m mostly taking mathematics and general education courses right now.”

Patrick nodded. “What’s your big plan for when school is done with?”

“I actually really want to become an architect,” Amy answered.

Patrick raised an eyebrow as he considered this. Amazing. She’s 150 ft tall, but would rather create buildings than tear them down.

He listened on as Amy continued to tell him about her hopes for a career in designing, and maybe even constructing, buildings herself.

*********************************************************************************************************

“I really appreciate this Mark.” Betty said as she stood up and offered her hand to him.

Mark’s car was done being washed, and he had to take it home before his dad panicked. He stood up from the bench, tossed out his empty cup, and shook her hand. “You’re welcome. I actually enjoyed the conversation. No one outside of Allentown will believe me when I tell them I know Amy.”

Betty grinned. “Well after I get back to San Diego, you’ll be known all over for the part you played in everything.”

Mark laughed. “I’ll be a celebrity in California. Wait’ll my parents hear about that.”

Betty laughed too. “Yeah. I hope to see you around Mark. Thanks again for the interview.”

Mark waved after her as she walked off. “Any time.”

When she was back inside of her car, out of sight of everyone else, Betty took out her notebook and flipped through it.She had to make sure she got down every word he said. Mark didn't seem to have any idea of what she really wanted to know about. That was alright, Betty still had two more guys to interrogate.

After what felt like a long time, Amy concluded her story. She leaned back in her chair and observed Patrick, who had said little while she ranted on about her future plans. Patrick likewise leaned back in his chair as he took all that he learned about Amy Jackson. Then he stood and clapped.

Amy wasn’t sure what to make of it, she certainly didn’t expect applause. The giantess smiled sheepishly.

“By God,” Patrick said. “That’s the single most amazing story I’ve ever heard. And I used to be a teacher. I’ve heard every kind of story someone your age could tell.”

Amy shrugged. “I owe it all to Ben, Mark, and Johnny. They kept me going, even after I had already given up.”

Patrick sat back down. “That’s very true, those boys did an amazing thing in earning support for you. But, I’m referring to the other part of that story. The part about you bouncing back from almost being kicked out your own town. Even though it’s only been one year, you’ve stuck to your community service, and you’ve worked hard at it. If you ask me, it sounds like you’re working to prove to the people here that you are anything but a monster. And that, makes for one hell of a story.”

Amy was struck speechless. This whole time she had gladly taken up the community service as a way to make amends for her past behavior. On some level she had always hoped that, within the four years she had to serve, people would begin to see her differently. What she hadn’t considered was someone who understood her already. “Thank you Patrick.”

He nodded. “You’re welcome.” He took a second to look at his wrist watch. “I supposed I’ve taken up enough of your time for today. Thank you again for seeing me Amy.” he said as he stood up and collected his case.

“It was my pleasure,” she replied.

“If you’re not too busy in the near future, I’d like to see you again before I leave town.” Patrick said.

“Um . . . I’ll have to see about that. I mean, I’m also being interviewed by a college student, Betty Collins.”

Patrick nodded at that. “Ok then, I wouldn’t want to intrude on that. If you ever do have another chance to chat, just let me know.” The elevator doors opened and Patrick stepped inside. “Good-bye Amy.”

“Good-bye Pat,” she called just as the doors closed.

Now that she had a moment alone, Amy thought over everything that had just occurred. Patrick was not what she had expected. She honestly had expected some obsessive creep who would ask her all types of personal questions. Instead, he was just a really chill and polite guy. He even made a point to avoid questions that were too personal. At some point Amy even found herself feeling relaxed while she spoke. It made her forget for a while that the guy had showed up out of no where to talk in the first place.

A tingling sensation in her cleavage told Amy she had forgotten something else. Reaching gingerly inside, she extracted Ben, who looked as if he had just walked out of a sauna.

“Goddamn!” he exclaimed as he gasped for air. “I was getting so sweaty I thought I’d just slide right out.”

“Sorry about that Ben,” Amy replied in an embarrassed tone. “I just kind of panicked and I wasn’t sure where to hide you.”

“It’s all right just . . . just warn me next time. That was the roughest foreplay I’ve ever had.”

Amy choked on her own laughter. “Oh my God. Why is it you still manage to say anything that’ll catch me off guard?”

“It’d be boring if I didn’t,” Ben said with a grin.

Amy giggled for a bit as she held Ben in her palm. “So, how much did you hear?”

“Pretty much all of it,” he said.

“And what did you think of Patrick?” sh asked.

Ben took a moment to consider that. “From what I heard, he sounded ok. Not pushy or anything.”

Amy nodded. “I thought so too. All in all I’m glad he stopped over. It was a nice chat.”

“That still doesn’t answer what he wants with you, though.” Ben said.

“How do you know he wants something with me?”

“When I first met him, he gave me a business card for Ethereal Tech, then called you a miracle.” Ben explained. “He wants something from you.”

“Are you sure you aren’t being a little paranoid?” she asked. “He probably does work for Ethereal Tech, but maybe that business card was the only way for him to give you his number. And that miracle comment may have . . . well, just been a compliment. I don’t know.”

Ben considered that for a moment. He shook his head slowly. “I don’t know.”

Amy rolled her eyes. “You think you’d be in a better mood after just snuggling between my own boobs. Which, by the way, you would not stop irritating with your movements.”

Ben blinked. “Me? You’re the one who wouldn’t stop shaking me around. It was like being in a bounce house during an earthquake.”

“Yeah, because I was trying to stop you. All of that moving around was very . . . . distracting, during the interview.” Amy had almost said arousing instead of distracting. “Just be grateful you got to spend a few minutes between my boobs in the first place. How many other girls can do that for you?”

“None,” he answered. “And now I know why.”

Amy gave Ben a stern look, before smirking. “Well then, maybe you just don’t like my boobs. Maybe you’d prefer something else instead.” Amy set Ben down on her bed. Then she unbuttoned her jeans, and gently slid them down far enough to reveal the enormous pink panties underneath. Ben’s mind raced with the thoughts of what could possibly happen next.

Right up until Amy turned her back to him.

Ben sat on the bed, staring up at Amy’s giant ass. Without saying a word Amy ran her hand over her soft, yet firm butt, and gave it a good slap for show. Then she began to sit down. As her butt slowly began to descend on him, Ben considered running, but couldn’t make his body move fast enough. Within moments Amy’s firm butt had touched down lightly on the bed, trapping Ben underneath. He had air, as Amy had made sure to only sit on the lower half of his body. But for all of his strength, Ben couldn’t pull himself out from under Amy’s luscious booty. If anything, his squirms began to excite Amy, just as they had when he was trapped in her breasts.

“Mmmmmm, keep squirming for me Ben. Show your queen some love.” Amy whispered as she rubbed a hand over her booty.

Ben, on the other hand, needed no encouragement. He lay pinned on his back, struggling for all he was worth. It wasn’t that he was being crushed or anything, but he wasn’t exactly keen on being sat on. He continued to try and crawl free from his firm prison. This only sent more shivers up Amy’s spine as she continued to feel him move.

“Wow Ben, you certainly know how to treat a girl.”

He stopped moving for a moment to catch his breath. “If that’s true then why am I being punished?”

Amy smiled. “Your place is not to ask your queen why she does anything. Your place is simply to please your queen and make her happy.” she said in a seductively playful voice.

He considered that for a moment. When she put it like that then . . . well . . .

Ben went right back to struggling, making sure to move as much of his body as he could. Amy kept on rolling her butt back and forth gently, enjoying the sensations for as long as she could.

************************************************************************

Later that evening Ben was sitting downstairs, just watching TV as he waited for his mom to finish preparing dinner. Once she announced that dinner was finished he’d have to rush in there and set the table as everyone else gathered around. Until then, though, he was sitting alone with his thoughts. Patrick, whoever he was, had his head spinning in all directions. When Ben had first met the man, he seemed sane and well behaved. Hell, he acted downright pleasant when they spoke. It wasn’t until that remark about Amy being a miracle that Ben became suspicious of him. After that it was nothing but questions. Who was he? Why did he come all the way over here just to talk to Amy? What did he mean by calling Amy a miracle? What did a company like Ethereal Tech want with her?

Ethereal Tech was a company dedicated to the advancement of technology in a bunch of different areas. Medicine, TVs, video games, construction equipment, mechanics, etc. They have a hand in the improvement of many fields. They’re pretty much the Stark Industries of the real world. And now, they seem to have taken an interest in Amy. But why? Did they want to use her for research? Or did they really believe that they could cure her? As Amy had said earlier, the technology for shrinking her down might not even exist in their lifetime. However, if anyone is to discover shrinking technology, it would be Ethereal Tech.

Is it possible they want to try and shrink Amy to a normal size?

Before his mind could further follow that train of thought, Ben’s mom called out from the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready!”

As if on cue, a living ball of energy came bounding down the stairs. Katelyn Lyons was nine years old, and the incarnation of adorableness. She was quickly approaching that height where it would be hard for Ben to scoop her up and carry around, as he always does. She was still a tiny thing, with a cute round face, brownish blonde hair, a full smile, and eyes that seemed alight with life. She slid across the hardwood floor on socked feet, and stopped to look over at Ben.

“Come on lazy bones,” she said. “You gotta set the table.”

Ben smiled. “Hold your horses, munchkin.”

“I don’t got any horses. I got dinosaur nuggets.” she said with a giggle.

“Well then,” Ben said as he stood up. “I better hurry and set the table so you can eat your dinosaurs, before they eat you.”

Katelyn laughed. “Yeah! Cause I’m the biggest dinosaur of all.” Then she ran off into the kitchen, roaring like a dinosaur. Katelyn had a slight learning disability from a childhood illness, which made her act a little more childish than most kids her age.

Just as Ben was about to walk into the kitchen, there was a knock on his door. It was Patrick Davis, dressed in the same suit from this morning.

“Evening Ben,” he said. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

It took Ben a few seconds to recover from his surprise. “Well . . . I- uh, we were just about to have dinner.”

Patrick grimaced slightly, he seemed to be bothered by something. “I suppose it’s just as well. I didn’t come here for a long chat. I actually came to warn you.”

Ben quirked an eyebrow, though he kept a straight face. “Warn me?” he asked.

Patrick nodded. “Amy’s in danger.”

Ben’s grip on the door tightened. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder and then stepped outside to speak with Patrick. A blue mercedes was parked outside of his house, with a professional driver at the wheel. “What kind of danger?” Ben asked.

“That student that’s interviewing Amy? Betty Collins?” he shook his head. “She isn’t a college student writing a report.”

“Then who is she?”

“She works for an organization that has become especially interested in Amy over the past few years.” Patrick explained.

“What organization?” he asked.

“They’re a foreign company called Yosen International. I honestly don’t know much about them, except that they’ve suddenly taken a special interest in Amy.” Patrick said.

“What would they want with her?” Ben wondered. “And why does that mean she’s in danger?”

“I don’t know what they want with her,” he admitted. “But we’ve been told by people in the US government that they may possibly be a cover up for a terrorist organization.”

“What!” Ben exclaimed.

Patrick nodded. “I’ll be honest with you, Ethereal Tech has been interested in approaching Amy for some time now. We’ve always wanted to learn what it is that keeps her from getting sick. Either her cells are too big to infect or something else, we’ve been dying to find out. But then we were approached by some officials from the CIA and asked to help them. They asked us to approach Amy and ask her to agree to work with Ethereal Tech, contract and everything. The plan is to keep her out of Yosen’s hands. I was sent here personally to intercept any representatives that Yosen International sends out. If necessary, I’m to stop any attempt at harming Amy that they might make.”

“What do you mean harm?” Ben was beginning to become seriously worried.

“You don’t know the lengths some people are willing to go to achieve their goals.” Patrick said. “If they really do have some big scheme for Amy, they might try anything to convince her to come with them.”

Ben shook his head. All of this was so much to take in, he wasn’t sure how to even react to it. It sounded like an internet conspiracy come right to his front door.

“You don’t believe me,” Patrick said flatly. “Or, at least, you don’t trust me. That’s good. You shouldn’t trust me. And you especially shouldn’t trust this Betty Collins.” He sighed. “I know it’s a lot to believe, and I’m sorry for bringing this right to your front door like this. Just think over what I’ve said. At the very least, believe what I said about not trusting either of us. Good night Ben.”

Patrick walked back to his car, got in the back seat, and drove off, leaving behind a very conflicted Ben.

************************************************************************

Betty sat in her car, comparing notes from her earlier talks. Both discussions had been exactly the same, unfortunately. That Johnny guy didn’t have anything to say that Mark hadn’t already, it was almost frustrating. And that other person with him had barely anything to say at all.

Her phone rang and she answered it. “Hello? . . . . . I just finished talking with Johnny Rice . . . . . No he didn’t seem to know, and neither did Mark . . . . . I realize what I need to do, I’m doing the best that I can . . . . . Don’t worry, I said I’d find out and I will. I still have one more person to talk to . . . . .

This morning, Amy’s day of community service began with an early shipment of food to GIANT again. By the time she made it to the store, her usual friends were there waiting to unload the crates from her hands.

“Good morning guys,” she called down to them.

“Morning Amy,” they called back, more or less at the same time. Without wasting any time, the five men began wheeling crates off of Amy’s hands, and into the back of the store. Just as Mac was about to climb onto her hand, and go for the last crate, Amy moved her hands away.

“Ah ah ah,” Amy said playfully. “What’s the magic words Mac?”

Mac smiled. “Can I have the fucking crate back so I fucking return to my fucking shit hole of a job, and my motherfucking asshole kissing, douche bag of a fucking employer?”

Amy rolled her eyes with a sigh. “Not quite.”

The other loaders chuckled. They always thought it was amusing that Amy would try to get Mac to swear less. Mac, who was a little more stubborn than most, was only to happy to go head to head with Amy in a battle of stubbornness. Today, though, he was willing to let her off easy. “Ms. Jackson. If you would be so kind as to deliver that crate to me, I will be off happily to return to my job.”

Amy’s eyebrows raised in surprise, but she smiled none the less. “Very good Mac.”

Amy placed the crate in front of Mac, while he turned his head to grin at the guys behind his back. Unfortunately, because he wasn’t watching Amy, Mac forgot to take a step back as she placed the crate in front of him. The heavy wood landed right on Mac’s left foot.

Mac’s sudden cry of pain pierced the morning air. Amy was so horrified, that it took her a full second before she thought to move the crate away. Mac dropped to the ground and was quickly surrounded on all sides by his coworkers.

“Oh my God,” Amy breathed. “Oh my God. Mac! Mac I’m so sorry!”

Seth, one of the older workers, looked down at Mac’s left foot. “There’s no telling if it’s broken or not. He needs to be taken to a hospital right now.”

“I’ll do it,” Amy said, drying tears from her eyes as she did. “I can get him there faster than an ambulance.”

Seth nodded, and everyone stepped away from Mac. Mac, however, reached a hand out and grabbed Seth by the shirt before he could stand. He struggled to speak through the pain“Don’t tell the managers . . . it was Amy. . . . tell them . . . .I dropped it . . . . it was my fault . . . .”

Seth put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It’s alright Mac, we’ll take care of it. You’ll be fine.”

He stepped away and signalled for Amy to pick him up. Amy, though her hand was hesitant and shaky, was able to pick Mac up, and place him in her hand without hurting him. “I’m sorry Mac,” she whispered over and over again. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault Amy,” Seth called to her. “You didn’t mean for it to happen.”

Amy nodded, though she didn’t really believe it at the moment. Without wasting a second, Amy took of for the hospital. She still had to watch her feet the whole time, making sure she didn’t step on anything or anyone. Despite this, she was still able to get Mac to the hospital in little more than two minutes. When she got there, there were already two paramedics on standby, passing the time before they’re called into action. They showed only mild surprise when Amy knelt down in front of them, and placed her hands on the ground. Once they saw that there was an injured man in her hands, the two female paramedics rushed onto her palms.

“His foot’s been hurt,” Amy managed to say. “Please help him.”

“How did this happen?” one of the paramedics asked as she knelt beside Mac.

“He uh . . . I mean . . . I-”

“I was dicking around, and dropped a fucking crate on my foot,” Mac cut in.

“Lie still, it’s most likely broken.” One of the paramedics turned to her partner. “We can’t get a stretcher on here. We’ll have to carry him off of her hand.”

“I can walk with my right foot.” Mac said.

The two women nodded. They each slipped one of Mac’s arms over their shoulders, and slowly hauled him onto his one foot, taking as much of his weight off of it as they could. It was a slow process, but they managed to carry Mac off of Amy’s hand, and onto a stretcher without hurting him. As they wheeled him inside, Mac gave Amy a weak thumb’s up. “Don’t worry about me. Thank’s for getting me here so fast.”

Amy watched him go in stunned silence. She’d hurt people before, but never as bad as this. And it had never been a friend either. The knowledge that she’d hurt Mac, the sheer guilt, felt like a literal mountain on her shoulders. Mac had always been good to her, as had all of the loaders at GIANT. They’d been nice to her and treated her as an equal human being. Amy would rather be shot by a tank than hurt one of those guys. And now she had.

What could be worse than what I’ve just done?

*****************************************************************************************************************

“ . . . . . Ok, say that again?” Mark asked.

“Betty might possibly be working for a terrorist group that’s got its sights set on Amy,” Ben repeated.

Mark and Johnny took a moment to wrap their minds fully around what their friend had just told them. The day after Patrick came to his house, Ben immediately asked Mark and Johnny to meet with him in person. So they sat in a remote corner of the food court of the local mall. That way, in the event they there is a terrorist organization after them, they’ll be safer in public, surrounded by a plethora of witnesses (That’s right, Ben’s watched those kind of movies before, he wasn’t taking any chances). Once they had arrived Ben told them everything Patrick had said to him.

For a split second Mark smiled. “Ok, you got our attention. Now what is it you really needed to tell us?”

Ben sighed. “I’m telling you the truth, and I have no idea if that means we’re in danger or not.”

“Danger?” Johnny piped up.

Mark cast a questioning glance at Ben. “Ben, you sound too freaking ridiculous to take seriously right now. So, what’s this really all about?”

Instead of answering, Ben merely held his friend’s gaze. Unwavering, unblinking, and fully serious.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Johnny swore.

Mark shook his head. “Dude this . . . this is shit you see in action movies, Mission Impossible shit.”

“Mark, Amy is impossible.” Ben said. “Does it really surprise you that there would be people out there who want to use her for something?”

Mark remained silent for a moment. “What do they want with her?”

“Patrick didn’t know. Or, at least, he didn’t tell me if he did.” he answered. “I know it sounds crazy but . . . I don’t know. I just got a weird feeling the first time we met Betty and Patrick’s words just freaked me out and . . .” Ben shrugged at a loss for words. “I don’t know. I just think something serious is happening behind our backs, and that scares me.”

An unbearable silence stretched out between the three friends. After, what felt like a really long time, Johnny spoke up. “Betty actually came to me, and asked me to tell her about my experience with Amy.”

Both heads turned sharply to stare at Johnny, who only gazed down at his hands in front of him. “She caught up with me when I was just out walking.” he continued. “She asked me if I could tell her about what it was like to get to know Amy personally. We talked for about an hour before she had to go.”

“Betty did the same thing with me when I took my dad’s car to the wash,” Mark exclaimed. “She even took notes on me while I was talking.”

Ben looked between the two of them, utterly confused. “So, is this proof of anything?”

Johnny shook his head. “Remember, you said Patrick did the same thing to you when you were at work. He could be lying too.” He shook his head in exasperation. “I don’t like any of this. Thing’s were have supposed to have gone back to normal around here. Now, I come home, and organizations and terrorists show up and want to talk to us.”

“Alright, let’s just take a timeout, and think through this slowly.” Mark said. “All we have are a bunch of half assed assumptions, that could easily be made up.”

Suddenly Johnny sucked in a breath, then began nudging Ben’s arm with his own.

“What?” Ben asked.

“Betty.” Johnny breathed. “Other side of the food court, right by the PF Chang’s.”

Ben followed Johnny’s line of sight. Sure enough, making her way through the crowd, was the same college student he’d first met at Amy’s house barely a week ago. She walked about slowly, as if she was trying to decide which fast food restaurant in the food court to choose from. Or, Ben thought, she’s looking for a certain group of guys and hasn’t found them yet.

“We have to get out of here, now.” Ben muttered.

The three friends silently stood up, hunching over a little in an attempt to blend into the crowd a little easier. They moved quickly, yet inconspicuously, along the very edge of the vast court of people. Good thing too, by the time they were halfway towards the edge of the room, Betty had made her way over to the area where they had been sitting. Now she was moving towards them again. Fortunately, she still hadn’t noticed them. Or so they thought.

Just as they turned a corner, Ben saw Betty out of the corner of his eye. She was still too far away to notice who they were, however, she was heading in their direction. Just as Ben was about to tell the other guys to pick up the pace, he felt himself slam right into a solid wall of flesh and muscle. Ben recoiled from the impact, as well as the guy he bumped into. Of all of the people in Allentown, Ben had to have walked right into Kurt Miller. Back in high school, Kurt Miller was a varsity linebacker for the football team, along with being the third baseman for the baseball team. Kurt stood at an inch or two above six feet tall, had a face full of strong features, brown hair that reached past his ears, and a body of solid muscle. He was a good student as far as grades went, and an amazing athlete. The only problem was that Kurt was responsible for most of the bullying that Ben, Mark, and Johnny have had to endure throughout middle and high school.

And Ben had just spilled the man’s starbucks all over him.

It took Kurt a moment to recognize who it was that had just bumped into him. Once he noticed that it was Ben, his face contorted into disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” he said. “It’s not enough that I had to put up with you in high school Lyons. Now you’ve got to start trouble when I’m out trying to enjoy myself. You just can’t leave well enough alone.”

“Look Kurt I’m sorry.” Ben said as quickly as he could, casting a gaze over his shoulder. “I’ll buy you a new shirt later. Right now I’ve got to get out of here!”

In response, Kurt put a hand on Ben’s chest, and shoved him backwards. Ben was forced back two steps, but remained on his feet. “Not this time Lyons. You’ve run away all of high school. Now, you’re finally going to stand there and face me like a man.”

Ben clenched his teeth. He didn’t want to shy away from a fight, especially against the guy who’d treated him like shit for years. But he wasn’t sure he could take him, though. Even if he could, there was no way he could take down Kurt before Betty caught up to him. It didn’t look like he had much of a choice though, as Kurt didn’t look ready to let him run past him. Ben had no choice but to fight his former bully.

Kurt seemed to sense Ben’s resolve, as he grinned in anticipation. He started towards Ben, while simultaneously drawing back his right fist. Likewise, Ben clenched his own fists, ready for a hell of a brawl. Just as Kurt threw his punch, Johnny of all people, stepped in between him and Ben. Without saying a word, Johnny used his left hand to deflect Kurt’s punch by pushing his forearm away. Then in one, almost instantaneous movement, Johnny threw a straight jab at Kurt’s throat. The blow connected and Kurt suddenly found himself unable to take in air. He clutched at his neck as he sagged against a wall, trying hard to breath in.

Ben and Mark turned wide eyes at Johnny, the one member of the group that always tried his hardest to avoid any kind of confrontation. He just stood staring at Kurt as he rubbed at his knuckles. “Always wanted to do that,” he said evenly.

Ben started to speak. “Where the f-”

“Guys!”

The three guys turned to see Betty waving them from the other side of the mall. It seemed as though she’d finally noticed them. Without finishing his earlier sentence, Ben turned around and shouted “Run!”

Together they sprinted for the nearest exit in the mall, using their parkour skills to dodge shoppers and obstacles alike. The guys burst through the doors, and Ben lead them straight to his car. It wasn’t until they were pulling away from the mall, that they all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“So what now?” Mark asked.

“Only one place we can go to now,” Ben said as he drew something out of his pocket. It was a white business card, small enough to fit in the average wallet slot. Printed on the card was some information, as well as the sentence: EtherealTech. Making science out of science fiction.

Betty was beginning to think that’d she’d missed out on seeing Ben. She’d called his house earlier to try and meet up with him, only his mother had said that Ben was hanging out at the mall. So Betty drove on over to look for him. The only problem was that she hadn’t anticipated on the mall being this busy today. Lot’s of people made it hard to pinpoint any specific person in a crowd. After almost two hours of searching, and maybe a little browsing through JC Penney, Betty was beginning to think that she’d missed out on them. Before she gave up, though, Betty thought she’d take a walk through the food court, just in case he happened to be there. It wasn’t until she was about halfway through the court, that something caught her eye. Three guys were leaving out of the opposite end of the court. Betty wasn’t able to see their faces, but that had to have been Ben, Mark, and Johnny. She hadn’t missed them after all. Without wasting a second, Betty began making her way to the other side of the food court, and then towards where the guys were heading. It took a minute, but, as she rounded a corner, she saw the three of them standing there, along with some guy who looked to be having a coughing fit. This fourth person barely went noticed by Betty, as she strove to get their attention.

“Guys!” she called out to them, while waving.

The three young men turned around and confirmed her suspicions, they were indeed the guys she was looking for. Unfortunately, just when it seemed that Betty had finally caught a break, Ben did the unexpected.

“Run!” he shouted to his friends.

And just like that, the three of them bolted away in the opposite direction. Betty had only one second to comprehend what had happened, before she began chasing after them. She’d done track throughout middle and high school, so she thought it wouldn’t be too much trouble to catch up with them. But dammit those guys were fast! Not only that, but they clearly knew how to move, the way they vaulted over anything that got in their way, suggested that these guys knew parkour. Betty tried her best to keep up, but it was an exercise in futility (no pun intended). By the time she reached the exit, the guys had already disappeared into the parking lot, and had probably driven away.

Betty took a minute to catch her breath, it had been a while since she’d run all out like that. Then she pulled her phone out of her pocket, dialed a quick number, and waited for the call to connect. When it did, she spoke.

“It’s me. I found the three of them together at the mall. Only, when I went to talk with Ben, they ran. Like, all out ran away.” she explained. “I think I may not have been able to get to all of them fast enough. . . . . . . . . Tonight? The town’s having a Memorial Day cookout, or something like that. Why? . . . . . . . . What exactly do you mean ‘bad’, how are things going to get bad? . . . . . You’re coming here now? . . . . . . . . . Ok sir, I’ll see you in a few hours.

*******************************************************************************************************************

No one said a word as the three friends headed for EtherealTech, not one of them was certain of what they would learn. Ben, Johnny, and Mark each sat still in the car and tried to process everything that might possibly be happening to them. Two mysterious people come out of no where, showing up conveniently at the same time that Johnny and Mark are home from school, and they both have an almost obsessive interest with Amy. Betty and Patrick could both be who they say they are, and Patrick could be telling a lie. Maybe Betty is a reporter and Patrick wants to keep Betty away from Amy so that he could interview her himself. Maybe Betty was working for some evil corporation, she seemed pretty determined to track all three of them down. Maybe Patrick was just inventing this whole story so that he could convince Amy to come be studied at EtherealTech, while her only friends are too distracted by a fake terrorist threat to talk her out of it. So many possibilities flew threw their minds. The guys each tried to look at it from every conceivable angle, but only succeeded in raising more questions than answers. Finally, Ben became too worried. At the next red light they hit, he pulled out his phone.

“What are you doing?” Johnny asked.

“Making sure Amy’s alright.” he said.

“Look man, do you think we maybe overreacting to this?” Mark suggested. “I mean, we’re talking about a plot between terrorists and the government. This sounds too exaggerated to be real.”

Ben took a slow, deep breath. “Yeah I thought about that too. Numerous times. But then I remembered that the military sent over a certifiable army to Amy’s house last year, just to keep her grounded.”

To that, Mark had no retort. As Ben’s speaker phone started ringing, Mark looked over at Johnny in the back seat. “Where’d you learn to do that?”

“Do what?” Johnny asked.

“Beat up football players.” he answered. “You’ve never taken a karate, or any martial arts, class in your life. So how did you take Kurt out in one shot?”

Johnny looked away, not saying anything. Before Mark could press him any further, Amy’s voice came on the speaker.

“Ben? What’s up?”

“Hey Amy,” he said half heartedly. “Did Patrick pay you any visits today? Or Betty?”

“Um . . . . Not really. I’ve been kind of busy lately. Haven’t seen any of them. Why?” she asked.

“No reason,” Ben said, brushing the question aside. “Busy doing what?”

“Don’t you remember? Tonight’s the big barbeque at the park.” Amy explained. “You guys said you’d be there.”

“We will, I promise.” he said. “What about yesterday? Did you meet with Betty or Patrick at all yesterday?”

“No, I had to cancel on Betty. I hurt someone real bad and I didn’t feel like meeting with her.” Amy said with hints of sadness creeping into her voice. “Ben, why are you asking all of these questions? You’re starting to worry me.”

“Listen carefully,” Ben replied, trying to keep his voice calm and even. “I’m sorry about whatever happened yesterday and I’ll talk with you about as soon as I can. Right now, though, I have to go get some answers for myself, before I can explain anything. We’ll all meet up with you at the barbeque tonight.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment. “Ok,” Amy said at last. “Whatever you’re doing Ben just . . . . just be careful. You know I- . . . . just be careful.”

“I will.” was all he said before he hung up the phone. There was more silence in the car for an unbearable minute.

“I think she was trying to tell you something else at the end,” Johnny spoke at last.

Ben said nothing.

They spent the rest of the drive in ominous silence, until finally arriving at EtherealTech minutes later. It wasn’t a daunting, or even impressive, looking place. It looked like a typical office building one would find on any street corner. Inside, it looked quite nice, with a reception desk, waiting room, and everything else. The three friends walked straight to the receptionist behind the desk, with a name tag that read CINDY, who greeted them with a smile.

“Good afternoon, how many I help you young gentlemen?” she asked in a pleasant voice.

Ben cleared his throat. “We’d like to speak with Patrick Davis.”

“Oh well Mr. Davis is probably in the middle of something right now.” Cindy explained. “Do you have an appointment scheduled?”

“No but he’ll want to see us. Tell him Ben Lyons has some questions for him.” Ben insisted.

Cindy considered this for a second, before shrugging. “One moment, please.” She dialed a quick number up on her desk phone, waited a few seconds for it to be answered, and then spoke. “Hello, Mr. Davis? I have a Ben Lyons here who wishes to ask you a few questions in person. He says you’d want to see him. . . . . . Uh-huh, ok sir. You’re welcome.” Cindy hung up the phone. “Alright then, Mr. Davis is currently working in one of our labs, but he says you can go on up. The lab’s on the third floor, straight ahead. Elevator’s to your left.”

“Thank you,” Ben told her.

“You’re welcome,” Cindy answered, before turning her attention to another call.

They took the elevator up, and headed straight to the room Cindy directed them to. The lab was not much bigger than one you’d find on a college campus. Cabinets a drawers lined every wall, no doubt housing equipment of all sorts. Around the counters and tables were empty beakers and test tubes, like one would expect to find in a laboratory. Any containers that actually had something inside were all labeled clearly. Patrick stood at one table, holding a petri dish of what looked to be pills. Today he wore a blue buttoned shirt, tan khakis, a white lab coat, and protective glasses. He looked up from his work when he heard the door open.

“Ben,” he said with a smile. “I was wondering when you’d drop by. And you must be the other friends Amy’s told me about. Mark Fisher and Johnny Rice.”

“That’s us,” Johnny said.

Patrick held the petri dish out to them. “Can I offer you boys a joint relief? It’s the only snack I have at the moment.”

“Uh, no thanks.” Mark said with a slight grin. “Is that what you do here? I mean, work in labs and stuff?”

“Well, technically I’m supposed to be here on official business. But I much prefer to do actual work. Right now I’m working on a new kind of join relief medicine that takes less time to kick in.” Patrick explained. “But, from the look of you guys, I don’t think you came here to talk pharmaceuticals.”

Ben nodded. “We almost had a run in with Betty Collins.”

“Almost?” Patrick asked.

“We slipped away before she could talk with us.” Ben said.

He nodded. “So then, does that mean you believe what I told you.”

“I actually don’t know what to believe right now,” Ben admitted. “But, if we we’re to believe what you said about Betty working for terrorists, what would be in store for us?”

Patrick openly studied the three young men in silence for a few moments. Finally, he removed his safety glasses and spoke. “The honest truth? Danger. For the three of you, and anyone you care about.”

From beside him Ben could hear Johnny suck in a breath.

“You mean they would target us?” Ben asked.

“Yes, either to use you, or eliminate you.” Patrick answered.

“Why?” Mark asked.

“You three are Amy’s closest friends,” he explained. “Therefore you have a lot of influence over an individual it would otherwise be difficult to control.”

Ben shook his head, this was getting crazier and crazier by the moment. He held his hands up in a T for time-out. “You’re going to have to explain this from the beginning.”

“Of course,” Patrick said with a nod. “As I told you before Ben, Betty is working for a foreign company called Yosen International. This same company has been suspected by the CIA of being a cover for a terrorist organization, one that is very eager to get its hands on new technologies and resources. Now, we believe they are targeting Amy. We don’t know why, or if they have any specific plan in mind for her. What we do know, is what they are willing to do in order to get what they want. Including and especially assassination.”

Johnny swallowed. “Y-you really think they’d kill us.”

Patrick nodded, completely straight faced. “As of right now, none of you have anything to worry about. The people at Yosen probably see you as potential allies. People who are close to Amy and can sway her into going along with whatever they want. So they’ll try and win you over to their side first. If that doesn’t work then they’ll use force.”

Ben’s face became pale at the thought of what a terrorist organization considered ‘force’. “What about Amy?”

“Yosen will probably want to contract her into working for them so that everything appears legal and unsuspicious on the outside. That’s why EtherealTech was brought in. We’re to get her to sign on with us before Yosen can do the same thing. This is actually where Amy’s size allows us an advantage. Yosen needs a public contract between themselves and Amy, since working with a 150ft tall young woman is nearly impossible to do in secret. If they do form a public partnership with Amy, though, there’s no telling what plans they might have for her.”

Ben swallowed a nervous lump that had begun forming in his throat. This was all so unreal, so farfetched, he couldn’t believe it. He didn’t want to believe it. It scared him. Despite his fears, he forced himself to maintain a calm appearance. Even if he was scared half to death over what kind of trouble he might be involved in, he could at least pretend to take it all in stride. “Ok,” he said after a while. “Let’s say that we believe you. What can we do?”

“You’re going to have to restrict your contact with Amy.” Patrick said at once. “I know that that might be asking a lot of you, considering how close you all are. But if Yosen thinks you’re too close to her, suddenly you become leverage. Or a target.”

Ben nodded. “What else?”

“Be careful of what you say to Amy when talking with her over the phone, or video chats.”

“They can listen in on our video chats!” Ben exclaimed.

“Honestly, I’m not sure.” Patrick replied. “But at this point we can’t take too many chances. We have no idea what kind of resources Yosen has at their disposal.”

Mark took a deep breath. “Anything else?”

“Avoid Betty Collins as best you can. Other than that . . .”

Before Patrick could finish, someone else entered the lab. The labcoat and ID card he wore identified him as an employee. He looked around the same age as Patrick, with a shaved head, and a light beard around his upper lip and chin.

“Sorry to interrupt Pat.” he said. “I just thought you’d want to know that the shipment of lysergic acid is here. We’re ready to get to work any time you want.”

“Thanks Bill,” Patrick answered as he stepped away from the table. “I’m sorry to cut you short boys but this is highly important.”

“It’s alright. We appreciate what you’re doing for us Patrick.” Ben said.

Patrick smiled. “It’s my job. Don’t worry, I’ll keep out of the wrong people’s hands.” He shook hands with the three friends. Then he paused for a moment. “Are you three going to the big cookout they’re having tonight?”

Johnny nodded. “Amy asked us to come.”

Patrick frowned. “I’d be stay away from her tonight. I’m sorry, but something tells me that people will be watching her. The less you’re seen with her, the safer you and your families are.”

Ben grimaced. Amy would be pissed if he avoided her tonight of all times. “We’ll do our best.”

“Good man,” Patrick said. “Best of luck to you guys.”

And with that, Patrick and Bill made their exit. Ben, Mark, and Johnny likewise left the building.

“So what do you guys think of this?” Ben asked as they walked out.

“I think I want no part in this.” Johnny said without hesitation.

“You’d just quit on Amy? Like that?” Mark asked, a little surprised.

“I fucking hate the idea,” Johnny replied venomously. “But what can we do?”

To that, no one had any answers.

**********************************************************************************************************************

Later that evening, Ben stood in front of his mirror, making sure he looked good for tonight, but not good enough that it seemed he was making too much of an effort. Patrick said to avoid Amy for the night, but he couldn’t entirely do that. The cookout is being held in the park, where hundreds of people will be there with picnic quilts. He’d discreetly make his way over to where Amy and her parents are sitting, chat a few minutes, and then walk away. Simple as that.

Once he decided that standing in front of a mirror wasn’t going to make him any better or worse looking, Ben grabbed his keys and headed for the door. His family had already left to set up their spot ahead of time, and he was going to meet them there. Just as he was making his way down the stairs, there was a knock on his front door. When Ben went to answer it, he found a man standing at his door, with a blue van parked out in front of his house. The man was equal in height to Ben. He had neatly cut brown hair, a clean shaven face, and sunglasses. He wore a white collar shirt, black pants, a black jacket he kept unbuttoned, and no tie.

“Ben Lyons?” he asked with a smile that never touched his eyes, hidden as they were.

Ben’s grip tightened on the door he still held. He quickly looked passed the man, to the van in front of his house. He couldn’t tell how many people were inside, or if they were pointing guns at him or something.

“I’m going to need you to follow me,” the stranger continued in that easy going voice of his. “And don’t make any sudden movements or I will take you down.”

Ben held onto his poker face as best he could, nodded, and walked with the guy over to the van. Once there the stranger opened up the back doors. “Get in,” he said.

Ben did as he was told. The back of the van itself was almost completely empty. Almost. There was one passenger in the back.

“We need to talk,” said Betty Collins.

This was the last of the tables and benches Amy had to set up for the night. She put her head close to the ground to admire her work. She’d been assigned the task of set up for tonight. placing things like tables, benches, and grills all over the open space of the park. It was actually kind of cute, like setting up a huge playset in her backyard. In fact, the park in Allentown was roughly the same size as her backyard. It wasn’t quite as big as, say Central Park in New York City, but it was still very expansive. Once she made sure that the table and benches were placed properly, Amy stood up and dusted off her hands. Today she wore a white top with The Rolling Stones logo on it, a pair of jeans with rolled up cuffs that ended right at her calves, and sandals.

Amy walked across the park, and over to Mike, a construction worker who was supervising the set up. “Tables and benches are all set up, Mike.” she told him. “Anything else.”

Mike looked over his check list. “Just one last thing. See those crates over there? They’ve got all the fireworks in ‘em. I need you to carry them over to the control booth and the guys in charge will take care of the set up.” he instructed. “Oh, and see that big metal container? It’s full of water in case you get thirsty.”

“Thanks Mike,” Amy said.

The giant “water bottle” was a huge metal cylinder, not unlike something you’d expect to see on a petroleum truck. At the very tip it had a screw that, when twisted, would open up the top of the container. The container itself was about forty feet long, making it look like a Smart Water bottle, very long and very thin, especially in Amy’s hand. She unscrewed the cap and took a few sips. It was cold, and tasted refreshing. Mmmmmm, I was getting pretty thirsty anyway.

Then she put the lid back on her bottle, and picked up the crates containing the fireworks. People were already starting to show up and set up their picnic blankets, and grab seats, so Amy had to step carefully. Just as she was maneuvering around a couple of kids playing, Amy noticed a family she’d been keeping an eye out for. Two steps was all it took to bring Amy in front of the Lyons family.

Daniel Lyons was a tall, lean, and tough looking man, much like his son. His features, weathered as they were, were still sharp and strong. He still looked every bit the soldier he used to be, aside from the slight limp in his leg. This evening he wore a plaid button shirt with the sleeves rolled up, good jeans, and sneakers. Next to him, his wife Jennifer was unrolling the picnic blanket, while their daughter Katelyn helped. When Amy approached, they each stopped what they were doing to look up and wave. Amy made sure it was all clear behind her, before kneeling down in front of them. She’d grown quite close to the whole family, ever since Ben spoke out for her sake last year.

“Hey guys, I’m so glad you could make it.” she said with a smile.

“We couldn’t miss out on this. Especially not after we heard that you were supervising the whole thing.” Jennifer Lyons told her.

Amy snorted softly. “Please. I’m only doing set up.”

Dan waved a dismissive hand. “Bah, that’s just what they’re telling you. They’d rather you don’t know you’re in charge of the whole thing.”

“What? Are they afraid I’d demand that all of the fireworks be in the shape of hearts?” she asked with a grin.

“I like that idea!” little Katelyn said. “There should be giant hearts all over the sky for everyone to see.”

Amy giggled. “Ok Katelyn, I’ll see if I can do anything about that.”

“Yay! Thank you Amy,” Katelyn exclaimed as she ran up and hugged Amy’s knee as best as her tiny arms could.

Amy laughed at the sight, then looked around. “Is Ben coming?”

Jennifer chuckled. “Oh he’s on his way. He just wanted to arrive separately.”

“He’s trying to look all nice for you,” Katelyn whispered as loudly as she could. Amy smiled at her again.

“What’s that you got there anyway, Amy?” Dan Lyons asked.

Amy looked at her hand confused for a second, before she recalled what she had been doing a few moments ago. “Oh that’s right, I’ve got to deliver these. It was great getting to see you guys again. I’ll stop by later before the fireworks go off.”

The family waved again as Amy stood up. “It was nice seeing you too Amy. Please, stop by anytime you want.” Jennifer told her as she walked away.

Amy gave them one last wave good bye, then turned her attention back to watching her steps. Man, she thought as she took another sip of her water. I can’t wait to see these things go off.

*****************************************************************************************************************************

Every instinct in Ben’s body was screaming at him to jump out of the van. But he knew that, if he did try to run, he’d be taken down and thrown back inside. On top of that, he had no idea how to properly jump out of a moving vehicle without breaking any part of his body. Most likely he’d just hurt himself and then be thrown back inside. So, if escape wasn’t an option, yet, then he might as well learn what he could from Betty.

“So,” he spoke as calmly as he could manage, which was a freaking miracle. “Who are you really?”

Betty raised an eyebrow as his question, though her face remained equally calm. “Who do you think I am?”

“I asked you first,” he shot back.

“True,” she answered. “But you’re not really in a position to take charge of the conversation, are you?”

“Also true.” Ben agreed.

Betty smiled at him. It wasn’t an evil or condescending smile. Actually, it looked genuine. “Just tell me what Patrick has told you about me. Then I’ll tell you the actual truth.” She said actual as if Patrick had been lying about what he had told Ben and his friends. So many more questions were popping back up. But, maybe this was his chance to gain a few more answers. Then he could finally look at both sides and make his choice on who to trust.

“He told me that you work for an international corporation called Yosen International. He said that you’re trying to recruit Amy for plans that may be illegal.” Ben confessed. “And he told me you’re a terrorist.”

Betty’s smile grew wider with every sentence. By the time Ben came to the part about her being a terrorist, she was practically suffocating with laughter. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “I knew he’d make up some kind of weird story but this? Seriously Pat?”

Ben just watched her suspiciously, not quit sure what to make of her reaction. “That’s what he told me. Now what are you going to tell me to believe?”

“Fair enough,” Betty told him as her laughter subsided. “You do have reasons to be suspicious, both Patrick and I have only told you half truths. I don’t work for any corporation called- What was it? Yosen International? In fact I’m pretty sure he made that one up entirely.”

Ben said nothing.

“Anyway,” she continued. “I really am a college student at UC, only I’m not here to write a paper on Amy.”

“So what are you here for?” Bn asked.

“I was asked to come here to keep tabs on Pat Davis since, before going to work for EtherealTech, he used to be my favorite high school teacher.”

Ben thought about that, he seemed to recall Patrick making a comment when he spoke with Amy about having once been a teacher. So that was one truth confirmed by both sides, a small truth, but it was a start.

“I don’t suppose you have any proof that you’re who you say you are?” Ben asked.

“As a matter of fact,” Betty countered, reaching into the bag at her side. “I brought my student records with me. Take a look.” She handed the folder to Ben, who looked through it. Sure enough, there were enrollment papers inside and records of every class she’s taken. Betty was a science major, having taken mostly chemistry and biology related classes. Turns out, she wasn’t a senior either, according to her file, she had only just finished her first year. That means she wasn’t any older than Ben himself was.

“Ok,” Ben said when he was satisfied. “I believe you. But why did you have to be brought here to keep tabs on your old teacher? What does Patrick want?”

Betty sighed. “Patrick is . . . ambitious to say the least, and he’s had a troubled past. The FBI believe that he may have been involved in drug trafficking. The only problem is, if he ever was, he got out before they could find any tangible evidence against him. Some time around my junior year of high school he quit being a teacher and went to work for EtherealTech.”

“So EtherealTech really is interested in Amy? What do they want from her? And why were you brought in to stop him?” he asked.

“EtherealTech does want to study Amy, maybe even have her work for them. As far as I know that could be true. Patrick, on the other hand, has his own goals. And they are very illegal.” Betty told him seriously.

“How do you know?”

“Because the FBI never stopped tracking the people Patrick used to make drugs for.” she answered. “About a few months ago, they got reports from men on the inside that Patrick had been calling up some old contacts of his. He never said much, but he did mention a planned visit to Allentown, as well as Amy Jackson’s name.”

“So . . . the people driving this van right now are FBI?” Ben asked, a little wide eyed.

Betty grinned slightly. “Well, not all of them.”

Then, from the passengers seat at the front of the van, a figure stood up, and walked towards them. He had to keep his head down because of his height, he was a few inches taller than Ben himself was. His dark hair showed only the slightest touches of grey at the roots, and his skin was evenly tan. He wore jeans, a T-shirt with a tiger like design printed on it, and boots. The last time Ben had seen him, however, he’d been wearing a military uniform.

“Captain Thompson!” Ben exclaimed.

“I thought I told you the last time we met that you can call me Howard,” The Captain said with a smile, as he extended his hand. “It’s good to see you again Ben. How’s college treating you?”

Ben shook hands with the man. His hands were strong and calloused from years of hard work and training. “Uh . . . It’s been great. What are you doing here?”

Howard sat down on the bench next to Betty, directly across from Ben. “I’m not technically here on any official military business. But the FBI called me in when they learned about my history with you and your dad. Thought it might help you decide who’s really telling the truth.”

Betty looked back to Ben. “Believe me now?”

Ben nodded without hesitation. Ben’s father, Daniel, used to serve in the military with Howard, before he rose to the rank of Captain. When they were stationed overseas sixteen years ago, Dan saved Howard’s life by pushing him out of the way of a grenade, badly injuring his left leg in the process. Ever since then Howard and Dan have been eternal friends. If Ben’s own dad thought that Howard was a solid guy and a friend, then Ben didn’t even need to consider whether or not to trust him.

“Alright, I believe you. Now what can I do to help?” he asked.

Howard chuckled. “That’s twice now you’ve been willing to throw yourself into an unknown situation, for this girl. Dan did right by you.”

Ben smiled a little. “I like to think of it as he didn’t teach me any smarter methods.”

Betty smiled as well. “Well I think it’s sweet of you. And you can help us by first telling us everything Pat’s said to you since you first met him.”

So, starting from the very beginning, Ben told Betty and Howard everything he knew about Patrick. He told them about how Patrick tracked him down at his own job at the movies, to the conversation Ben listened into between him and Amy, to Patrick showing up at his house with his fabricated story, to finally Ben’s earlier visit to him that day.

Howard considered everything Ben told him. “Hmmm, it sounds like he’s gone through a lot of effort to convince you to stay away from Amy.”

“He said that, since the three of us are so close to her, we have a lot of influence with Amy.” Ben explained, finally starting to understand. “He made it seem like that would be bad for you guys. Patrick was probably telling the truth, only instead of it being bad for you, it would have made his job harder. So he created this whole story, not only to get me, Mark, and Johnny on his side, but to scare us.”

Howard nodded as he came to the same conclusion. “He’s creative, I’ll give him that.”

Betty, who’d been sitting quietly as she pondered something, finally perked up. “Wait, you said that your talk was interrupted when some lab guy told Pat about a shipment of something that arrived. What did you say it was again?”

Ben racked his brain for a second, he’d just said what it was two seconds ago. Finally it came to him. “Lysergic acid,” Ben told her.

Betty’s eyes grew wide. “Where’s Amy right now? Is she still at the park?”

He nodded. “Yeah, she’s there to help set up. And then we were all supposed to meet up and hang out.”

“Oh my God,” she breathed. Then Betty walked up to the driver of the van as quickly as she could. “You need to get us to the park as fast as you possibly can! Don’t even stop for red lights!”

“What’s going on?” Howard asked as the van picked up speed.

Betty turned back to look at both men. “I figured out what Patrick’s plan is. He’s going to have Amy cause some kind of catastrophe, and then get the town to hand custody of her over to EtherealTech.”

“How!?” Ben exclaimed.

“Lysergic acid is one of the main ingredients of the hallucinogenic LSD,” Betty told him. “He’s going to drug Amy!”

********************************************************************************************************************************

The driver got them all to the park in under three minutes. So many people were already at the cookout that the streets were mostly empty. Once they made it, none of them even wasted a second over parking. Ben, Betty, and Howard all just ran straight out of the van, while the driver parked, and headed towards the entrance of the park. Johnny and Mark were waiting there as Ben had called them during the drive there. As soon as they saw Ben running besides Betty, they both jumped to their feet.

“What’s going on?” Johnny asked.

“Where’s Amy? Have you seen her?” Ben asked.

“She’s over on the other side of the park. We just showed up so we haven’t talked to her yet.” Mark explained. “Why?”

“Patrick lied to us,” Ben said as quickly as he could. “We need to get to Amy now!”

Before Johnny or Mark could ask another question Ben took off at a run towards where he saw Amy sitting. He couldn’t sprint all out, as there were too many people in his way. Ben quickly found himself having to dodge picnickers left and right. He barely managed to stop himself from running headlong into a group of children playing on the ground. But, before he could move around them, a hand grabbed his shoulder in an iron like grip. Ben turned around to see his father looking at him like he was a bat out of hell.

“Ben where’s the fire?” he asked.

“I can’t explain, I have to go save Amy. He’ll explain everything.” Ben said, pointing in another direction.

Daniel looked over and his eyes grew wide. “Howard?”

Daniel’s old military buddy ran up to him, a grim look in his eye. “We’ve got another situation Dan. I’ll explain, Ben you keep going.”

Ben nodded once, then took off running once again, with Johnny, Mark, and Betty right by his side. Amy for her part didn’t seem to notice any of them approaching, she seemed to be thinking something over as she gazed at her giant water bottle.

“Amy!” Ben called out as they finally made it to where she was sitting. “Amy!”

Amy looked up from the metal water bottle, then turned her head to see who it was that called her. Amy’s gaze passed over them several times before she finally remembered to look down for her friends. She giggled. “Sorry. Sometimes I forget how tiny you all are.”

Ben swallowed a lump that formed in his throat as soon as Amy faced them.

“Ben?” Mark whispered. “What’s wrong with Amy?”

Amy’s pupils, were noticeably dilated, which could only mean one thing. They were too late.

(Ben’s point of view)

The giantess tilted her head to the side as she regarded her tiny friends. Then she quickly tilted her head the other way, giggling at the sensation of moving her head from side to side. Amy entertained herself with moving her head back and forth as her friends looked on in horror.

“She looks like she just dropped acid,” Mark muttered.

“Actually, that’s exactly what happened,” Betty said, stepping up beside him.

“What!” he exclaimed. “Ben, the hell’s going on?”

“I’ll explain later,” Ben answered in a whisper. “For now all you have to know is that Patrick’s the bad guy in this, and he just drugged Amy.”

Amy, having heard her name with her exceptional hearing, looked back down at her friends and smiled. “Ben!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been waiting for you to get here! Come here.”

Slowly, Amy reached her massive hand out towards the little group. To say that it was terrifying to have a drugged giantess’s hand reach out for you, would be a grave understatement. Before she was within grabbing distance of everyone, however, her hand veered away and closed down on empty air. Amy looked down in confusion.

“How did you do that?” she muttered as she tried to grab them again and missed. “You guys keep shifting so fast. Hold still.”

“This is nuts.” Ben said.

Mark looked to Betty. “Why don’t we just explain to her that she’s dru-”

Johnny cut him off with a fierce whisper. “You never tell someone they’re under the influence when they don’t know it. You want her to have a panic attack in the middle of this park?”

“Amy,” Ben called out to her. “Why don’t you just put your hand on the ground and we’ll all step on.”

Amy giggled. “Oh ok. I guess I wore you down. That’s ok, we can play chase later.” Then she lowered her hand to the ground

Betty stepped up close to Ben. “Are you crazy? She can’t hold us when she’s like this. She could kill us and not even notice.”

“We have no choice,” he insisted. “We can’t let her stay here, especially when the fireworks go off. Our best option is to guide her home and let her wait this thing out.” Betty looked like she wanted to argue, but relented when she couldn’t think of a better solution. Ben nodded, and turned back to Amy. “Ok, Amy? We’re going to climb on your hand now, then we’re all going to go home to your house.”

Amy blinked several times in confusion. “Home? But . . . but we just got here . . . at least, I think you did . . .” She yawned audibly.

“Ben,” Betty whispered. “One of the effects of LSD is sleepiness.”

He nodded. “No, don’t you remember? We’ve been here for hours. You were just telling us how you were getting tired and want to go to bed.”

Amy yawned again. “I do feel sleepy, that sounds really nice.”

One by one, they each climbed onto Amy’s enormous, soft palm. It was like standing in a giant, fleshy baseball diamond. She laughed as they all got on. “You’re all so tiny and you move so fast. It tickles.”

“Oh my God, she’s going to kill us. She’s going to kill us and I’m going to die” Johnny said breathlessly.

Ben pat him on the shoulder. “That only happens if this doesn’t work.”

Amy continued to smile down lazily at her friends. “Ok, you guys ready to float up?”

Betty shot a panicked look at Ben. “Wait, what does she mean flo-”

Without a second warning Amy’s hand suddenly lurched upwards and to the left. Everyone on her hand who was standing was suddenly thrown from their feet from the velocity. Fortunately, Amy’s palm was big enough that they weren’t thrown off completely. At first, everyone tried to stand up again. Right up until Amy repeated the motion in the opposite direction, rocking her hand back and forth like a piece of paper falling from the sky, only in reverse. As the giantess rocked her passengers like a ship on rough seas, she slowly stood up to her full height. Once standing, Amy ceased moving the hand that held her friends. Instead she turned her attention to  waving her empty, left hand through the air, as if she were feeling something out.

“Wow,” she breathed.

**********************************************************************************

(Amy’s point of view)

Amy had never been underwater before. She’d always wanted to in the past, always dreamt of it. The water was so fresh and clear that, for a moment it looked like thin air. But then the scenery would waver again and she would be back under the shifting currents of the ocean. Fish of all kinds floated in the area above her head. Sometimes they would move so close that Amy could almost reach out and touch them. Then they’d swim away from her, they must be scared.

“It’s ok,” she whispered to the pretty sky fishies. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

They kept on flying, flying after the sun. The sun was going away now, but the sky fishies had to swim after it.

“Time to move along, to catch the Memphis sun,” Amy quoted. The line was from a song she loved to listen to. Music. Music sounded so beautiful right now. All of the tiny little people at her feet, they made such amazing music. Every sound, every voice, every conversation became like a piece of a great orchestra. It blended together so well Amy wanted to just lie down and soak it all in.

Not here though. There was something she had to do, somewhere she had to be. Where was it again? The thought was right in front of her, but as out of reach as the sky fishies. Maybe they knew where she was going. Of course! Amy was supposed to follow the sky fishies, they would take her to where she needed to be. Amy started to walk in the direction of the sky fishies, very careful. Always careful. The instinct to watch her steps was so powerful, so ingrained into her, that even while drugged, Amy made sure to not step on a single person.

“Ashes down below, the tide is turning slow.” she sung softly to herself. “I travel all day long, to catch the Memphis sun.”

It was such a beautiful night out here in outer space. Walking on the moon felt so surreal, Amy’s steps felt so light she almost thought that she was walking on air. That’s what she had to do, after all. She was walking from the moon, through space, so she could make it to the sun. With the sky fishies to lead her there, she would have a great adventure.

**********************************************************************************

(Ben’s point of view)

“What’s going on?” Johnny asked. “Where’s she taking us?”

“And what’s she singing?” Betty asked.

Mark looked over at her. “Memphis Sun by Rival Sons. It’s got a kind of modern psychedelic rock sound so I guess it makes sense she’d be thinking of it now.”

“Hehe, how appropriate,” Betty laughed nervously.

Mark took a second glance at Betty and could read the terror on her face. This was probably the first time she’d been carried in Amy’s hand. Ordinarily that would be a frightening experience all on it’s own. But with Amy drugged, it was downright heart stopping. So he gently laid a hand on her shoulder and put on his most reassuring smile. “Once we’ve made it back to Amy’s house, I’ll show you all of Rival Sons’ best songs. You like rock music?”

Betty looked into Mark’s eyes and figured out what it was he was trying to do for her sake. So she likewise put on a convincing smile, which was made genuine by the fact that he wasn’t bad looking at all. “Y-yeah, I love rock music.”

Meanwhile Johnny, who’d been watching the exchange, leaned towards Ben and whispered, “He does remember that she’s a college senior, right? As in, out of his league?”

“Actually she’s a freshman,” Ben muttered back. “She showed me her records and everything.”

Johnny quirked an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“Why? Thinking of asking her out yourself?” Ben asked.

Johnny pursed his lips as he thought that over. Then shook his head. “She’s not really my type.”

Ben snorted. “As if you can afford to be picky.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“Nothing, look we’ve got a bigger problem.” Ben asserted. “Amy’s going in the wrong direction. What the hell did she say she was following?”

“She said something about fish in the sky. Does she mean the clouds?” Johnny suggested.

“I don’t know, but we’ve got to turn her around.” Ben raised his voice slightly. “Amy, you’re going the wrong way. You have to walk in the other direction.”

Amy looked down at her tiny companions with a frown on her lips. “But that isn’t the way the sky fishies are swimming.”

Ben could vaguely hear Johnny whisper in pure dread, “Oh my God.”

“Amy, do you trust me?” he softly asked.

“With all of my heart,” she beamed.

Ben nodded, a tender smile forming on his face. “Then turn around, and take us home.”

“You got it,” Amy assured him. Then she immediately turned around, all the while watching the ground for people, and started off towards her house.

It seemed that he had found a way to cut through the effects of the drug, at least for a few seconds. Some of Amy’s more baser instincts were too ingrained into her head to be blanked out by the LDS. Just as she was so fully committed to watching her steps, Amy was equally committed to believing and trusting Ben, the person who had saved her life a year ago.

Hsssssssssssss. BOOM!

Out of nowhere, a ball of red fire blossomed right in front of Amy, followed immediately by the sound of thunder. She squealed in surprise and terror at the sudden explosion, trying her hardest to reel away from the sparks. The friends in her hand were thrown from their feet as Amy flinched and ducked away.

“What the fuck was that!” Johnny cried.

Amy had instinctively used her free hand to try and shield her tiny passengers, but Ben had managed to catch a glimpse of the trailing sparks. “Fireworks!” he yelled back. “Someone set off a firework!”

Another firework exploded, this time on Amy’s right hand side. The sky flashed green for a second as another loud BOOM filled the air. Fireworks can be a frightening spectacle even when viewed from the ground. But up close and personal, the colorful flashes became bombs in the open air, their deafening sounds and blinding light permeated every sense. Even the shockwaves of their detonations could be felt through the body. For Amy, who’s mind was still racing with minor hallucinations, the experience was downright horrifying. She cried out again in distress while trying her hardest to escape the blasts. It was a miracle that she had already walked past the area of the park where the picnickers were sitting, otherwise she might have done something truly mortifying.

“Ben!” she called out in fear. “What’s going on! I’m scared!”

Amy was completely caught off guard by the third firework, that exploded closer to her than the previous two. She tried so hard to lunge away that she lost her balance and felt to one knee. Amy managed to keep her right hand, the one that held her friends, level and close to her chest to shield them. Her left hand sought support from anything it could grab as she dropped to her knee. By sheer chance her hand came down on top of a mighty tree, standing tall and dominant at the very edge of the park. The 65ft tall tree, that had endured over a century of storms and snow, didn’t last a second against Amy’s strength. The sound of the tree’s thick trunk snapping echoed over the entire park, and beyond. Wood splinter, some more than a foot long, flew into the air as the tree crashed to the ground. From their position in Amy’s hand, our group of friends stood with their hands clasped firmly over their ears. The snap of the immense trunk was like listening to a whip crack played through amplifiers the size of refrigerators. But it didn’t stop there.

Just as Amy was about to stand up, two more fireworks actually exploded against her back. This time the bursts didn’t force her to her knees, they brought the drugged giantess down. When Amy fell the ground itself shook under her sheer mass and the force of her impact. A line of trees that separate the park from the street were completely flattened by her chest. The crunch of several cars could each be distinctly heard across the park. When Ben looked up from where he lay sprawled on Amy’s cushioning palm, he saw the gigantic form of his unofficial girlfriend lying with her cheek to the ground. Even as she fell, the instinct to protect her friends was so strong that Amy refused the support of her right hand, just so she could keep them safe.

“Amy!” he cried out. “Amy! Open your eyes! Tell me you’re ok!”

The big girl stirred with a slight moan but kept her eyes closed. “Ben?” she muttered vaguely. “I think I tripped. I’m just gonna lay here for a little bit.”

Ben sagged in relief when he saw that she was completely unharmed. Then again, they were just fireworks, not bombs or anything. Loud and scary as hell, especially to a drugged individual, but not enough to actually hurt Amy.

“Is anyone here hurt at all?” he asked his friends that had landed with him.

Johnny stood up with a groan. “Scarred for life, but not physically. So I guess that’s a positive.”

Ben nodded. “Mark? Betty?”

Both were standing up themselves, no damage visible on them. “Just shaken,” Mark answered.

“But not stirred,” Betty added.

“Alright Amy, we’re all ok over here. Time to get up, we have to take you home.” Ben told her.

But Amy, it seemed, wasn’t willing to deter from her nap. “Later,” she cooed. “It’s so comfy here.”

“Amy!” Ben protested, but to no avail. He racked his brain for an idea, any idea that would get her to move. She seemed to keep going back and forth from playful to sleepy. If that’s what the LSD was doing to her, then they’d need to find a way to instigate her playful side if they wanted to get her to move. Which meant . . . . .

“Guys,” he said out loud. “I’ve got an idea, but I think it’s bad.”

“Should I even ask how bad?” Mark redundantly asked.

“She might step on us.” he answered.

Betty, who had impressively been taking this all in stride, nodded. “What’s the plan?”

Ben told them his idea for provoking Amy into moving. When they couldn’t think of a better idea, they all agreed.

“Amy,” Ben called out. “Aren’t you ready to play yet?”

Amy managed to open one of her eyes and vaguely focus on the people on her hand. “Huh? Play? What are we playing?”

“Don’t you remember? You said you wanted to chase us around. Well, we’re ready to go now.”

Now that seemed to snap her out of her sleepy daze. “Chase!” Amy exclaimed as she lifted her head a bit. “You guys wanna play chase?”

Mark nodded, forcing a smile. “Yeah Amy, that’s your favorite game, right?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “I love it because you’re all so tiny, it’s so adorable to watch you run around.”

Johnny snorted as he stepped down from her hand. “Yeah well we won’t be running. You’ll have to follow our car.”

From the park it would be a twelve minute drive to Amy’s house. And with the whole town currently in the park for the picnic and barbeque, the streets would be practically empty. All the had to do was keep heading directly west as fast as they could and they might just make it out of this alive. Together they all stepped down from Amy’s palm and gathered together while Amy stood up and stretch, the drug still making her waver and slightly.

“You guys ready?” she asked.

“Yeah Amy, almost ready.” Betty answered. “Ok, so where did you two park your car again?”

“One.” Amy said aloud.

They all looked up at Amy, who had her eyes closed, with pure horror etched across each of their faces. “What’s she doing?” Johnny hoarsely whispered.

“Two.” she continued.

“No Amy! We’re not ready!” Mark yelled. “Fuck! I don’t think we parked anywhere close to here!”

“Three.”

“Move people! MOVE!” Ben jeered as he took off at a sprint into the streets.

“. . . Four . . .”

No matter how far they seemed to run, Amy’s voice was always at their heels, encouraging them to run faster. Asphalt raced by with every step, but it never seemed to carry them away from her voice.

“. . . Five . . .”

Have to split up, Ben thought. Confusing her is our only chance of not getting caught and stepped on. He cast a quick glance over his left shoulder at Betty, who was doing a pretty good job of keeping the pace with all of them.

“Betty!” he called out. “you much of a runner?”

“. . . Six . . .”

“JV track in middle school,” she answered back. “Varsity in high school. I can keep up.”

Ben flashed a wicked grin that might have been a side effect of the adrenaline coursing through his veins. “Ok everyone!” he shouted at the whole group. “We split up! Mark keep with Betty, guide her through town! Keep heading to Amy’s house!”

“. . . Seven . . .”

“GO! GO! GO!” Ben roared in his baritone of a voice. Without another word the group split up, Johnny and Ben taking turns down different streets and alleyways, while Betty followed close behind Mark. Each in a race against a clock that couldn’t be outrun.

“. . . Eight . . .”

Mark and Betty sped down the alley way that they had chosen as their escape route. The path was littered with fallen trash cans and debris, having been tossed around by the impact of Amy’s fall. Mark smoothly vaulted over each and every one of them while Betty jumped and cleared the cans like track hurdles.

“. . . Nine . . .”

Johnny’s direction of choice led him right into a small parking lot. The only problem was that the parking was almost entirely fenced in, and the only exit was in the exact opposite way he was supposed to be going. Good thing then that he had already seen it coming and knew exactly how to get out. Launching off of his stronger leg, Johnny landed right on the hood of the first parked car in front of him. He didn’t care if he left behind scratches or dents, so long as he got away. With each step Johnny moved from one car to the other, his strides never slowing. He touched down lightly onto the hood of the last car and continued to run straight up the windshield, over the roof, and jump straight over the chainlink fence. Johnny made sure the first thing that hit the ground were his hands so that he continue to roll forward, and come right back up on his feet.

“. . . Ten! Ready or not, here I come!” the giantess gleefully announced. Amy uncovered her eyes and took a moment to pick out her prey among the buildings. But the town looked empty to her eyes. Even from a vantage point of 150ft, Amy couldn’t spot where her friends had run off to. With steps less careful than she normally takes, Amy began her search through town. In only two steps she heard a distinctive CRUNCH far below her. It took her a moment to figure out that she’d stepped on a car, and completely flattened it beneath her sandel.

“Whoops.” she sheepishly expressed. Just as she looked around to make sure that no one had seen what she’d done, her eyes locked onto Johnny, running across a baseball diamond.

“I see you Johnny,” Amy giggled. “You better run faster than that.”

Amy stalked towards Johnny, purposefully stepping down harder to make the ground shake. Johnny had a lead of about 300 meters, pure child’s play for Amy Jackson and he knew that. There was a short line of trees up ahead of him, but he couldn’t hide in there for very long, he knew that too. So it was lucky for Johnny then that he wasn’t in this alone.

Ben might not have been able to see where his friends were, but he knew that Amy had spotted one of them. With two quick steps against the wall he was running parallel to, Ben managed to jump onto a low hanging wall, and then from there jump and grab onto the higher wall of a GameStop store.

He took a few quick seconds to catch his breath, and then threw his arms into the air. “Over here Amy! Betcha can’t catch me!” he jeered

He didn’t even wait to see if she’d noticed him before taking off down the line of stores and buildings connecting to the GameStop he had climbed. It turns out that that was the right decision because Amy did hear him, the fact that she was a few blocks away meant nothing to her. In seconds she spotted her tiny friend sprinting across rooftops. Amy squealed in delight and excitement as her drugged mind became caught up in the chase.

“Betcha I can,” she retorted. At her feet was a BP gas station, devoid of cars or pedestrians to fill them up. They would have had very little to worry about in any case, because Amy stepped over the entire building as easily as if it had never been there. Her foot touched down on the other side of the building with an audible BOOM! With another step Amy cleared an office building more than twice as tall as the gas station. All the while she entertained herself with the sight of Ben running, vaulting, and jumping from roof to roof. The LSD actually made it look like waves of air were traveling behind him as he ran. All it took was one more step to bring Amy to the buildings Ben was running on, the buildings themselves were almost knee height.

“Told you I could do it, little man.” the blonde beauty taunted with an outstretched hand.

But Ben wasn’t about to be caught so easily, especially after he’d evaded Amy multiple times before in the woods. Once the shadow of her hand fell over him, Ben launched himself off of the roof of the Chipotle restaurant he’d been running on, and latched his whole body to the street light he’d aimed for. His long sleeved shirt and jeans cut out almost all friction and Ben slid down the steel pole like a fireman. Even better was that the street light was on the opposite side of the buildings as Amy, putting at least one line of buildings between himself and the giantess, however short they might be compared to her. Ben kept running, but with Amy so close he knew he was only delaying the inevitable. He needed to lose her, but how-

“Amy!” someone shouted from far off. “Come and get us!”

That was all the distraction Ben needed. As soon as Amy’s head turned, even though it was only for a few seconds, Ben managed to dive roll and come to a halt underneath a table outside of a cafe. It hid him from Amy’s overhead view, and allowed Ben to catch his breath. Whoever had gotten her attention was a real lifesaver.

*****************************************************************************************

“Why the fuck did you do that?” Mark asked, never taking his eyes off of his giant friend.

“Because he was going to be caught and we can’t let that happen.” Betty answered from slightly beneath and to the left of him. They both stood crouched behind a dumpster, keeping a close eye on their pursuer. “If she catches us she may not choose to go home, and we need to get her out of here as soon as possible.”

“Ok, but do you have a plan to keep us from being caught?” he asked.

She sighed. “Not really. You?”

“Always.” he put simply. Mark stood up and stepped out from behind the dumpster. “Amy! We’re over here!”

Amy laughed when she finally caught sight of them. “Cool! I’ll catch two of you at the same time.”

“Follow me!” Mark exclaimed.

The two started for a building at the end of the street that was undergoing some serious reconstruction. Because of this there was a lot of scaffolding all along the outside and on the sidewalks. They both hopped over the blockers the construction crew had set up and, at his direction, Betty took a ramp that lead straight up to the second level of scaffolding. Mark chose to grab the first level of bars and swing between them like monkey bars on a playground. It took a few swings before he built up enough momentum to swing himself up and inside the first level of scaffolding. From there he stepped from metal bar to metal bar as he continued to hide from Amy, who was crouched down and looking in from the outside.

“Hehehehe, you guys are so adorable in there.” she giggled. “You’re like teeny tiny mice running around.” Then Amy held up a tentative finger. “You better watch out.”

Very slowly and carefully Amy inserted her finger between some of the bars of scaffolding, directly in front of where Mark was stepping. The sudden appearance of Amy’s massive digit startled Mark so much, for a moment he almost lost his footing on the steel bars. He let out a short cry of surprise.

“Poke,” Amy snickered.

Once she removed her finger Mark picked up the pace of his stepping. All the while Amy continued to tease and taunt him by poking through at the areas behind him, urging him to move faster. He could only move so fast, though, while maintaining his precarious balance atop the smooth beams. Once more Mark came within millimeters of slipping and losing his balance. He wasn’t high up, barely a story above the ground, but not a height he wanted to drop from, especially when over concrete. Then Mark looked down at the ground below him and adopted a look of terror.

“Betty!” he projected. “Keep moving! You can’t let her catch you!”

Amy followed his line of sight, disillusioned as her own might be, and looked for Betty Collins on the ground outside of the building. Even crouched down, Amy’s height made it hard to see too far beneath her. She had to adjust her position and bring her face down to street level in order to get a better view inside the scaffolding at the very bottom. However, try as she might, Amy couldn’t see Betty running anywhere. Bewildered, Amy cast her eyes questioningly back up to Mark, only to find that he had scurried up two more floors worth of scaffolding.

“Made you look!” Mark scoffed as he abandoned the openness of the scaffolding for the safety of the actual building. The addled look on Amy’s face turned cross when she realized that she’d been had, even though it took a few moments for her drugged brain to reach that conclusion.

“Why you . . .” she muttered. Amy wanted to reach in and pull Mark straight out, and she could have. There were no walls in place yet, only support beams to hold the floors up. The problem was that the LSD made it seems as if there were more beams than were really there, and aligned closer together. Despite being perfectly capable of fitting her hand inside, Amy truly believed that she couldn’t reach Mark, who was making his way to the other side of the building.

“You think you’re funny?” Amy challenged. “Well how about I lift the roof off of this place? Then I’ll get you.”

Betty, who’d really been waiting for Mark on the third story, froze next to him. “There’s gotta be like, five other stories above us. S-she can’t really lift all of that, can she?”

Mark hesitated as he considered the possibility. “Truthfully, I’ve never seen the limit of what she can lift. And I’ve seen her lift a school bus full of kids like it was a toy.”

Betty gulped. “Oh my God, she wouldn’t . . . .”

*****************************************************************************************

Johnny sighed. “Of-fucking-course she would.”

Even from his crouched position on the ground he could easily see Amy’s form kneeling besides the construction zone. They had all been running more or less in the same direction for a few minutes, and were less than ten minutes away from the woods on the outskirts of town. Those woods were where they really needed to reach because they would lead the group straight to Amy’s house. From there they would be able to run to Amy’s house more or less in the open, as the trees would provide enough cover to make spotting them difficult. Gazing down the street Johnny could see the tops of those very trees, jutting out above the buildings in the distance. Even as he stood crouched behind the parked BMW he knew that at this time, Ben was making his way towards those very same trees. The smart thing to do would be to high tail it after him as fast as his legs could carry him. Mark and Betty were probably already outthinking and escaping Amy. They were fine, the two of them could take care of themselves.

With another sigh, Johnny stood up from behind the car, and kicked the front bumper as hard as he could. After several hard, practiced kicks the car alarm sounded with a cacophony of beeps and sirens.

“Just once,” he muttered to himself. “Just fucking once I’d like to just choose the smart fucking option and run away quietly.”

The car alarm caught Amy’s attention almost instantly. She turned so suddenly to discover the source of the noise, for a moment she completely lost her balance and had to brace a hand to the ground to steady herself. When the vertigo ended Amy was able to get a look at the source of the noise, a BMW that Johnny was running away from as fast as he could.

“Ok Johnny, round two.” she called after him.

That was his cue to disappear. Johnny turned into the first alleyway on his left, and then turned back right, continuing on his way towards the woods of safety. The adrenaline in his system set his heart pounding to the point that he could feel it all throughout his body. At least, that’s what he thought to himself. Johnny didn’t want to acknowledge the real source of the jarring vibrations, Amy’s feet. As the giantess demonstrated earlier, buildings were no obstacle to her. But he was not without hope. At the very end of the long alley way was a Peco truck, parked right at the mouth of the alley. Up above that area, suspended between the apartment buildings were canopies that could potentially obstruct Amy’s birds-eye view. He just had to time it right, it could work.

“Fe fi fo fum!” she proclaimed with every step. “I still see you, you better run!”

“That doesn’t even rhyme!” Johnny shouted back, just before running under the shelter of the canopies. The second he reached the mouth of the alleyway, he dropped to the pavement and rolled until he was hidden underneath the Peco truck. It was an effort not to begin gasping for breath, but Johnny forced himself to breath slowly and quietly. He needed to be able to hear Amy, now that he could no longer keep an eye on her activities. The first thing he heard was a befuddled “Huh?”, followed the vibrations of more steps. Amy must be wondering where Johnny had disappeared to. He could imagine the sight of Amy crouching as low as she could to get a view of the alley underneath the canopies. With enough luck, maybe she’ll give up and go back to looking for someone else. Luck, however, was not on Johnny Rice’s side.

If it wasn’t for the sight of her fingertips along the truck, he would have had no warning whatsoever. Johnny reached out and grabbed onto whatever metal he could hold onto, likewise using his feet to brace his lower body against the underside of the truck. Then the several ton Peco truck began to defy gravity and rise. After what felt like an hour of being lifted, the truck stopped it assent somewhere around fifty feet in the air. Johnny was not normally afraid of heights, countless days spent with Amy had cured him of that. But this was completely different, there was no palm between him and the ground. The only thing keeping him from falling was the strength of his own arms and legs. So he kept his eyes shut tight and focused every fiber of his being on holding on to the truck. He couldn’t tell how long he stayed up there, mere moments probably, though it felt far longer than that. When the truck finally touched back down to the ground, Johnny’s body dropped with it in relief. Only then did he start breathing heavy.

His breath, and his heart, caught right in his throat when the truck was once again lifted straight into the air, leaving Johnny completely exposed on the bare street.

“Aha! Caught you!” Amy roared triumphantly, until for some reason, her smile turned into a frown. Johnny mustered up the courage to uncover his eyes and stare up at his towering friend. Amy wasn’t look to the ground where he lay on his back. Rather, she was frowning at the underside of the truck, right where Johnny had been hanging from just moments before. For a moment he almost made a dash for the alley he’d just run out of, but decided against it. Maybe her drugged mind would over look him if he stayed as still as a main character in Jurassic Park. Amy turned the truck over several times in her hands, looking all over and inside of it for her tiny companion.

“How the hell . . .” she pondered, never once looking down at the street. “Son of a bitch.”

Without any real thought to the action, Amy clenched her hand into a fist, and the Peco truck screamed and twisted like an aluminum can in her mighty grasp. In fact, an aluminum can might be a poor comparison, Johnny thought. He’d never once crushed an aluminum can with as little effort as Amy had with the several ton truck, in only one hand. The demolished remains of the vehicle fell to the Earth with a thunderous crash of warped metal, about a dozen meters from where Johnny lay still. Amy stood up without a word and proceeded back towards the construction zone to look for Mark and Betty. It took Johnny a full two minutes to recover from the shock of the ordeal, and continue running away as fast as he could.

*****************************************************************************************

“Wait!” Betty quietly urged. “She’s going back. What’s she doing?”

“I don’t know,” Mark replied. “She probably thinks we’re still in there.”

While Johnny had so graciously offered himself up as the next distraction, Mark and Betty had made their escape from the construction zone and were now more than a block away in an alley. The alley followed in a straight path directly opposite of the building they had previously hidden in, so that it still remained in their line of sight. Now they stood still, watching to see what Amy would do, while catching up with their breath.

“Ok guys,” she announced to the empty building. “I’m giving you till the count of three to come out, or I’m coming in after you.”

“She’ll what!” Betty squeaked.

The eight story structure of concrete and support beams barely stood at hip level with Amy. When she bent over it, her body completely eclipsed the soon to be building. Very carefully Amy slipped her fingers between the support beams on either side of the structure along the fourth floor, more or less the middle floor.

“One . . . .” she counted. “Two . . . . .”

“Amy!” Betty screamed. “We’re not inside, we’re over here!” But her protests went unheard.

“Three!” Amy cried. With that, she grasped the concrete ceiling and drywall ceiling, and lifted with all of her awesome strength.

Rocks shattered.

Metal screamed.

And the entire building, from the fourth floor to the top, was ripped away by the unfathomable might of Amy Jackson. The sight could be seen throughout the town by all four of her separated friends. They all stood frozen in place, wherever they happened to be, all watching Amy accomplish the impossible. The building itself felt like nothing more than a moderately heavy box in the hands of the giantess. As quickly as it happened, though, the moment ended. Without a proper support system, and its structural integrity compromised, the building caved in on itself and collapsed. Over three hundred tons of raw materials fell from Amy’ fingers like sand, only to crash down upon the other half of the building still remaining on the ground. The impact was breathtaking. Ben, Johnny, Mark, and Betty all gaped in utter silence as a dust cloud larger than any explosion they had ever seen, rose high above the desolated construction zone.

Amy herself could do nothing more than stand in place and admire the scene, the LSD in her brain painting a vivid picture of color and beauty from the carnage. She stood there for almost two minutes before she remembered the game she was playing with her friends.

“Guys?” she asked, looking around. “Guys? Where’d you go?”

“We have to run, now!” Mark hissed at Betty.

The two of them continued along their way, making a solid sprint for the tree line at the edge of town. By the time they had reached it, Amy had once again spotted them, and the chase was on again. Once in the woods, as predicted earlier, the group had a much easier time of eluding Amy. The cover from the trees would clash against her hallucinating eyes, all but obscuring them from her detection. Five minutes later Mark and Betty emerged from the woods in front of Amy’s house, and found Ben and Johnny there catching their breath.

“Are we safe?” Betty called out.

“Almost!” Ben answered. “Get to the door now!”

Just as they made it to the gigantic door of her house, Amy herself stomped up to them, her footsteps almost knocking them from their feet.

“I’ve got you now!” she grinned mischievously. “That was a fun chase, you guys were great. But no one can beat me.”  Amy stood triumphantly over her friends, before slowly reaching a menacing hand towards them. On weak knees that wanted nothing more than to collapse, Ben stepped up in front of his friends and confronted Amy himself.

“Amy, don’t you remember?” he questioned. “Your house is home base. We won.”

Just like that, Amy’s descending hand froze as she considered the words spoken. She clenched her hand into a fist and gave a rueful chuckle.”Oh yeah, I forgot. Then I guess I have to give this one to you guys. Congrats.”

Ben smiled with approval. “Thanks. Now what do you say we all go inside?”

“That sounds great,” she answered. “I’ll see you inside then. We can have even more fun togther!”

Amy used the door to enter while her friends took the elevator up to the platform in her room. By the time the doors opened and they stepped inside, Amy was already sound asleep on her bed.