“So? Where to, Lucy?” I asked curiously, turning to face my friend as I skipped down the street.
She giggled, raising a brow: “Uh, how should I know? I don’t exactly know how to hide a giant.”

“Don’t be silly,” I chuckled: “I said nothing about hiding. We can go wherever we want! Where would be the best place?”
“Maybe somewhere with some more space?” Lucy suggested, looking down at my feet as I tip-toed around cars: “Seems a bit cramped for you.”
“So? I like the crowds,” I replied with a shrug, giving the tiny staring faces below me cheerful waves and winks as I passed: “You don’t get stage fright, do you?” I teased.
“‘Course not!” Lucy blinked: “So, what? You just gonna show off to the crowds for a while? That your big plan?”
“Well, why not?” Pinky shrugged: “At least for now, anyway… I’ll think of something bigger soon I’m sure.”
“What, like construction work? Helping cats down from trees? Taking old men to work?” Lucy giggled.
“Pff, as if! Much more than that, I’m gonna be a star!” I scoffed: “I’ll travel the world, letting people marvel at me and my strength…” My steps slowed, and I looked down beside me. Those that met my eyes would stumble backward nervously, but lucky for them I wasn’t interested in them so much as the street light standing over them. Curiously I wrapped my hand around it before giving a tug - there was resistance, but I nevertheless managed to rip the metal pole right out of the ground with some cement still clutching onto its base. The little people around it cried out in fright and turned tail, making me giggle: “Hey, come on! I know what I’m doing!”
That wasn’t exactly true: I hadn’t the slightest of what I was capable of, but ripping the lamppost out of the ground made me blush - if this was just a taste of what was to come as I continued to grow, I couldn’t wait to see what my peak would be.

Lucy seemed just as shocked as I whirled the pole around in my grip playfully: “Holy shit, Pinky… be careful!”
“Whaaat? I’m always careful!” I responded, before letting it drop back down to the ground haphazardly. I heard the sound of glass shatter as it fell on top of a car and I winced, before picking up my pace and hurrying right on. My ears perked up as I heard the sound of sirens in the distance.
“Uh oh…” Lucy murmured: “We should get moving, before they catch up with us!”
“Relax! I’m sure we have plenty of…” I glanced behind me to see if I could spot themm, and seeing my trail of abandoned cars and uh, ‘minor’ destruction made me realise I was making this stupidly easy to follow my tracks, not to mention all the people who’d no doubt have seen me.
“... Time. Hm. Maybe not.”
“We should sneak somewhere we won’t be seen as easily!” Lucy suggested and I raised a brow.
“Uhh… where would that be, exactly?”
“I dunno! An alleyway, or something!”
“Okay, okay!” I rolled my eyes and looked for the nearest alley. At this point, I was getting pretty big: I was unsure if I could even fit in one of them, but Lucy insisted I at least try. With the sirens steadily growing louder, I found myself in a thin alleyway and turned my body to the side. I let Lucy sit on my shoulder, the small girl clutching onto my blonde hair so as not to fall off, before I cautiously began to worm my way into the alley. Much to my dismay, the place was filthy - rubbish tossed everywhere, shallow puddles that splashed beneath my feet and packed with dumpsters that I had to take care not to kick over. My butt, chest and knees scraped against the brick walls either side of me and I felt a pipe bend and snap behind me as I pulled myself deeper into the back street. There was a ten foot tall fence raised right in the middle of the alley - it wasn’t anything I’d have to worry about, as I was more than tall enough to just step over it. But suddenly there was a tug on my hair - my head spun round and Lucy reeled back as hair smacked her in the face.
“Oh!” I whispered, raising a hand to keep her balance and stop her from tumbling off: “Sorry…!”
“Quiet…!” Lucy brought a finger to her mouth as the sirens grew in their boisterousness. My eyes fixed on the alleyway’s entrance, watching carefully for the cars (as if they’d be hard to miss). Unfortunately, something else came around the corner first - a person, no doubt someone I’d passed earlier, looked down the alley nervously. The moment he saw me squeezed uncomfortably between the two buildings, he called out to someone and pointed. I heard the sound of car engines rumbling as they slowed.

“Uh oh…” I murmured and began to move again, causing Lucy to gasp in surprise and tug on my hair to keep a good hold. Unfortunately by that time I’d totally forgotten about the fence to my left - my foot tried to push through it and managed to snap it, but the barbed wire lining the top caught onto my skin and I winced, causing me to flinch and step down abruptly, right on top of them. I let out a deep bellow of pain and my body twisted instinctively - Lucy cried out and was thrown against my neck as my hips and shoulders smashed into the bricks either side of me, dust cascading down my sides as the walls crunched.
“Ach– sorry!” I exclaimed, wincing as I pulled my foot off of the downed fence.
“Hey! Stop right there!” I heard a police officer order from behind me. I tried my best to turn round, my body grinding more against the walls and pulling down small chunks of brick with my twists against them. I smiled - an attempt to look confident, but it only made me look even more awkward.
“Catch me if you can!” I teased. I began pushing my way along with a lot more of a hurry in my step, pushing aside dumpsters and forcing my way through with little focus on the damage I was causing on everything around me.
“Hoooly… shit…” Lucy marvelled, staring down at my body rip its way through the tight space it found itself in until I finally burst out onto the other side, my feet stumbling and crashing against a parked car, slamming a deep indent into its roof and smashing the window.

I flinched and pulled my foot back instantly: “Shit– no one was in that, right?”
“I… don’t think so…” Lucy murmured: “... You should check.”
I gently gave the car a push with my foot.
“Pinky, that’s not checking.”
“Okay! Okay…” My muscles tensing as I prepared myself, I fell onto all fours and pushed my head against the ground and looked inside.
“Oh it’s empty thank God,” I sighed, rising back up.

“Hey, giant! Stop right there!” A voice shouted behind me, followed by the cocking of a gun. My head spun round and I stared down at the police man before me, noticing others rapidly making their way down the alleyway. I hoped the rubble would at least slow them down. But my focus was mostly on the one with the gun, who was pointing it right at my face. Lucy bit her lip.
“... You’re not gonna use that,” I scoffed, calling his bluff. The officer steadied himself: “You are under arrest for evading police custody and causing significant damage to property! I am more than willing to take you in through force.”

“Please,” I rolled my eyes and stomped intentionally close to the officer, making the small man flinch as it left small cracks in the pavement. I rose up off of my knees and to my full height, using one hand to make sure Lucy didn’t tumble off: “By force? Look at me! You can’t do anything.”
I glanced up - as I’d hoped, the other officers were having trouble navigating through the fallen bricks and mortar I’d left for them (even if unintentionally).
“You want to follow me? Go right ahead, I love the attention,” I teased, giving the officer a cheeky peace sign before turning and thundering off down the road, just as the other police began spilling from the tight alleyway. I heard some of them shouting for them to stop and just smirked - I let my foot fall on top of another empty car, giving a moment to let my weight crush the metal and glass like a tin can beneath me, just as an example of what I could do if they continued their chase. I glanced back at them - they weren’t running after me, just staring. I wondered what they were thinking for a moment, before turning away and continuing down the road towards where I hoped I’d find my crowd.

The city looked so different now at this height, but I was beginning to understand why they called it the urban jungle: I really felt like I was wading through foliage with how careful my footing had to be and how street lamps, power lines and such would brush against my hips and sides as I walked. As things got busier, I found myself moving slower and slower to give those before me time to scurry out the way before I took a step. I’d say it was annoying, but it totally wasn’t: the feeling was almost exhilarating with all their little eyes dead-set on me as I moved, it really made me feel like a superstar. I’d wave as I passed, not opposed to nudging cars out the way with my foot as I moved, whether they were empty or not. Lucy seemed just as enraptured as I, her eyes darting all about the place as we moved onwards. I heard some screams, but that was bound to happen with how I looked - I just decided to take them as screams of excitement. As I walked, I heard another sound but this time overhead - my head tipped back to see a helicopter - a news helicopter - fly right over me, a camera pointing out of its side and pointing down at me. I felt my heart swell with joy as I raised a hand and waved cheerfully at the camera.
“You see that, Lucy?” I asked: “I’m on TV!”
Lucy giggled: “So am I technically, though I don’t think they can see me from there.”
“Want me to lift you up?” I suggested, already raising a hand, but Lucy quickly tossed that idea aside: “No no, your shoulder is fine.”
“Suit yourself,” I shrugged. My eyes switched focus and I scanned my surrounding area, looking over the buildings around me in search of a more open place to sit. I soon found my target - there was a town square just a few blocks away. So I spun on my heels and began striding right toward it, my attention less on my surroundings. I flinched as I accidentally kicked over a truck, my head darting down to look at it sliding across the ground a little.
“Ah! Sorry!” I exclaimed. I waited for a moment to listen for any sound of someone who needed help but, hearing none, I just shrugged and stepped over it on my way.

The crowd quickly dispersed as I settled in a sitting position right in the middle of the square - I felt the rock tiles crack and separate beneath my butt and giggled softly, shifting about a little just to get a feel of it. I glanced around - some of the crowd had pushed themselves up against walls, but most had either ran into the surrounding shops or fled down the roads to their cars or wherever was out of sight for me. I shrugged: if they wanted to miss out, that was on them. I waved to the helicopter again, which was hovering overhead.
“Hey!” I called up to it: “It’s safe to come down, come on!”
Lucy grinned: “Okaaay… while you do that, I’m gonna have a look in some of these shops,” She then slid down my body, slipping off my chest and down into my lap with a soft thud. I playfully brushed her off my thigh and she giggled, giving my knee a shove before hurrying off into the nearest shop to explore.

I watched the helicopter hover for a few more minutes, fists balled in an eager hope that they’d take up my offer. I even scooted back toward the buildings to make room for it should they decide to land. And, thankfully, they did - slowly they’d come down to the ground among the now mostly empty town square and, before it had even properly set down, a news reporter had hopped out of the chopper and, calling for her cameraman to follow, hurried up toward me. My head tilted slightly - they were so small, them scurrying up to me like happy mice was just so adorable.

The reporter stopped at my feet, my shadow coating her as I leant forward curiously, and cleared her throat.

“Miss… Pinky, is it?” She asked: “That’s what I’ve heard you being called. online.”
“That’s me!” I exclaimed, and the reporter took a step back in surprise. I blinked - oh yeah, my voice must be really loud by now! I hadn’t even thought of that.
“Do you prefer any other name?”
I quickly shook my head: “Pinky is perfect.”
“Well, alright, Pinky! We’ve been following you around for a little while now, as you may have noticed,” She began: “My name is Minerva Montgomery, I work for Station 8 News. And I must say, you’ve caused quite a stir! Pictures of you are flooding Instagram and Facebook.”
“Oh, are they really…?” I asked, my cheeks glowing pink from the idea: “So I’m today’s star, am I?”
“You sure are!” Minerva exclaimed with a confident tone, though her taking another step back as I leant in closer suggested quite the opposite: “As you must imagine, Pinky, people are quite desperate for answers - what happened to you?”
“Honestly? I have no idea,” I replied casually: “I just woke up, and suddenly I was growing! Nothing was really all that different otherwise to my usual, it just kind of… happened.”
“Is that so?” Minerva asked: “And what does it feel like? Does it hurt?”
“Not at all! In fact, I feel better than ever! Like, look what I can do now!” I glanced to my side, at another empty car beside me. I threw my fist down, smashing the roof and causing the whole thing to bounce from the impact as the ground trembled around me. Minerva jumped back in surprise and I just giggled: “Pretty cool, huh?”

“Uh… well, of course!” Minerva replied: “But you really have no idea what happened to you? Not a clue? Do you plan to find out?”

I simply shrugged: “Eh, I don’t really care. It’s happened, and I’m not really interested in reversing it!”
Minerva glanced at my feet cautiously, before looking back up at me with an inquisitive expression: “... Even though you’re still growing?”
“I am?” I asked - honestly, I couldn’t really notice at this point, but I figured it’d be more noticeable to the little people than me anyway.
Heh, little people– I guess we were at that point now, huh?

“Yes, what if you never stop, Pinky? What will you do then?”

I bit my lip - honestly, given that sort of scenario, I wasn’t sure what I’d do. But that was something to worry about another time, so I simply waved that aside - I’d cross that bridge when I got to it.

“I guess we’ll have to find out!” With that I rose to my feet, giving a wave to those around me that still had the guts to stick around: “Come on out, guys, I won’t bite! I promise!”

Unfortunately, the sound of police sirens quickly cut off the idea of me sticking around. I grumbled before looking down at Minerva who was backing away from me as I towered over her.
“Haha,” I giggled, before gasping: “Oh! Hey, Minerva! If you get back in your chopper, I can totally carry you round with me! Then we can continue the interview!”
“Oh, that sure is tempting, but–” Minerva began, while I looked over the roofs around me and could see the flashing of police lights steadily approaching: “--I’ll have to pass. And sounds like you should get going!”
“Aw, fine,” I grumbled, stepping over her casually: “Well, suit yourself,” I fell onto my knees once I’d stepped toward the shop Lucy was in and pushed myself down to the floor to see inside. Lucy was happily looking about the shoes section, while those inside were just staring at me in awe and horror. I tried not to pay them too much mind.
“Lucy!” I shouted, making the glass around me shiver: “It’s time to go, come on!”
“Oh! Okay!” Lucy called, grabbing some shoes and running toward me - the others were too astounded by me to do much about that. I smirked and extended a hand which Lucy hopped up onto as quickly as she could, scrambling across my fingers and into my palm. Once I was sure she was safe, I lifted my body back up off the ground. Just in time, too - they police whirled round one of the corners, the cars skidding to a halt at each of the exits to the square in an attempt to block me in. I just smirked.

“Puella!” The Captain shouted, his head poking out from one of the cars. The other police stayed in their cars, too: it seemed they were all ready to chase me should I run: “This is your final warning. We’re going to take you somewhere where we can fix this, this is not negotiable!”
“I know!” I giggled - his voice sounded quieter than it was last time I heard it, I noticed. I glanced at the cars, then back at the Captain. I stepped forward, taking a moment to feel the ground softly quake as my foot touched the ground. I balled my free hand into a fists and tensed my muscles - I was always quite a slim, small girl, so I wasn’t used to being strong, but… wow, I felt so powerful. Like I could do anything!

“I’m going to step over you little guys, and leave,” I said before shrugging: “Feel free to stop me! If you can.”
“Puella, this isn’t a game…!” The Captain warned one last time. I decided not to pay him any heed.
“I told you not to call me that,” I growled in return. I stepped forward, just a few feet from the cars at this point. The Captain reached for something in his belt and I frowned, assuming the worst, and kicked the car aside in reaction. I couldn’t help but wince as the car flew backwards, rolling across the ground before knocking into the side of the building and smashing the windows, before the dented vehicle came to a stop on its side, steaming gently with a notable crater in its side where my foot had connected with it. I had not meant to hit it that hard, but the other officers didn’t see it that way. Neither did the onlookers with some of them screaming and bolting, while Minerva continued to record behind me. I gulped - that’s what I got for getting over my head.
“Ah, shit!” I exclaimed. I reached down toward the crashed car to check on the Captain inside, but as I bent down the officers around me suddenly pulled out all their guns, pointing them right up at my face. I gasped and pulled back: “Hey…! Come on, it was an accident!”

“Bullshit!” One of them shouted back up at me, and I bit my lip. Fuck, this wasn’t good. I could hear Minerva rambling on behind me in her reporter-voice, though I couldn’t hear the specifics of what she was saying.
“Wait, wait–” I pleaded, taking a step back from the cars, but I’d riled them up enough - they were at their limit.

Not wanting to wait around to be shot at, I spun on my heel and strode right over Minerva, bolting down the closest street to me. I jumped right over the police cars with ease, slamming down on the other side with enough force to knock many cars around me into the air, making their alarms blare in a panic. It only took a few seconds for the sound of sirens to begin following me down the road and, looking over my shoulder, I saw the squad of cars hot on my tail as I ran and held Lucy close to my chest for her safety. I found myself approaching the streets that were still running with cars and trucks, this one in particular a four-lane main road, but I didn’t slow down - I knew that traffic was my best chance at losing them.
“Woohoo! Our first proper police chase!” Lucy cheered, and my eyes flicked down toward her.
“You really think we should be so happy right now?” I asked. Lucy giggled, looking up at me with a beaming smile on her face: “Well, you can’t tell me this isn’t exhilarating!” She exclaimed.
“Well…” I bit my lip. As wrong as it felt, she was right. My heart was thumping hard in my chest, blood pumping, breath quick - it wasn’t something I’d felt in a long time! I couldn’t help but laugh, “You got a good way at looking at things, Lucy.”
“I know,” Lucy replied snarkily with a flick of her hair.

Cars swerved and bucked as I ran down the road, their drivers having to make violent turns to avoid my stomping feet. Not like I was trying to step on them - I was keeping track of my surroundings, at least, but I couldn’t spare much time planning my every step with the police coming after me. What I did want though was to cause a little chaos, and that was exactly what I was doing - the astonished and panicked drivers would smack and ram their cars into one another, too enraptured by my towering beauty, I thought to myself. Before I knew it, there was a well-enforced pile up in my wake, the crashed cars blocking up the whole road and forcing the police cars to halt. I let out a rumbling laugh and gave them a wave before picking up my pace, sprinting down the road and far away from my pursuers.

After a minute I let myself slow down, my chest heaving: it was a lot harder to run at this size, I had quickly realised. I stumbled to a halt and let myself lay my back against a building to give my legs a rest as I caught my breath. I lifted Lucy to my face and smiled as I saw her giggling maniacally.
“Hahaha, that was awesome!” She cheered, leaning forward to meet my gaze: “I still can’t believe this is happening! With you– and them– and– well, everything! Like, holy shit!”
I giggled back, just giving a modest shrug: “I mean… yeah, I guess it is pretty weird,” I said before sticking my tongue out at Lucy playfully. My attention turned to my surroundings, and the first thing I noticed were all the eyes on me: in the street, behind the glass of windows, in the shadows of alleys and other hiding spots… Everyone had their focus on me. My heart thumped in my chest, but not from exertion this time - from exhilaration. I felt my cheeks flushed and I couldn’t help but let out a giggle as I stepped forward. I spread out my arms and slowly spun round, letting everyone get a good look at me. I glanced at the ground and an idea swirled about in my mind - if I was going to show off, I might as well show off my best traits. So I rose my foot before slamming it down on a car, popping its carapace and digging its wrecked remains into the ground with my heel, leaving a ditch ground into the road.
“Lucy, am I still growing?” I asked, giving her a glance as I watched the little people around me back off in fright, some recording and taking photos.
“‘Course!” She returned: “Why?”
“Good,” I grinned, sauntering down the road and letting everyone else make room for me: “I think it fits me - I’d like to see the world ignore me then, ha!”

“Still on about that, huh…?” Lucy asked, her smile fading a little bit: “Hey, Pinky, I mean - it’s obvious you’re awesome! You don’t have to keep considering what everyone else thinks of you.”
I just rolled my eyes: “You don’t get it, Lucy. You’re content being a nobody, so you don’t really get what it means to leave a mark, you know? But I do – that’s what I want more than anything.”

“Yeah, I don’t get it,” Lucy replied, shaking her head. I frowned at her reaction, but just shrugged it off. I picked up my pace slightly, wanting to find a proper crowd to show myself off to.

I eventually found a town square, it was still bustling with people. I was primed to begin a little show of my own, but I quickly noticed their attention wasn’t on me. I blinked, expecting them to have turned to stare at me the moment I showed up, but they all had their backs to me. Curiosity had me glance at what had had their attention - they were all watching one of the large screens in the square, this one showing the news. To my glee, I saw myself on the screen! From the perspective of some rando at the side of the road, recording me thumping right past them as I ran from what I imagined was the police earlier. I leant forward and stared in shock - I hadn’t realised just how big I looked from that perspective! I let out a happy little giggle and that caught the attention of some of the crowd - their cries and gasps of shock as I loomed over them quickly caught the attention of others, and soon enough the whole square was back to staring at the real deal. But I didn’t return their gaze - my eyes were glued to the screen, my cheeks burning brightly and a big smile plastered on my face as I stared at all the footage that had been captured of me. I thought I heard them calling me ‘dangerous’ or ‘a threat’ or something, but I was too enraptured in the videos to care.
“Hah… I look good from all angles, huh?” I murmured to myself. I indulged for a while, trying to copy the poses I saw in the videos that I liked, all while the crowd dispersed around me, backing off and giving me space. But then I heard something that grabbed me by the collar and ripped me right out of my ecstasy.

“We have Puella’s father, Kristian Velasquez, to comment on these bizarre circumstances.”

Then he appeared on screen and every muscle in my body tensed. Lucy gasped and pushed at my fingers as I clenched her in my fist: “Ach– P-Pinky…!”

I didn’t really hear her back then, though - my focus was on the screen, and the man filling it up with his vile face.
“This is Puella? Are you serious?” He exclaimed, his grating tone echoing through my ears: “Six years, and this is what becomes of her?” I watched him stifle a snicker beneath his cold grimace: “I’d say I’d be disappointed but, really, I didn’t expect much better. Alright, she’s a freak now, but other than that… what, she’s some hoodlum that goes round causing a ruckus? Is that really newsworthy these days? Please.”

My lips curled back into a snarl and I stepped forward, glaring right into the eyes of my father: “Bastard…”

“Surely, the appearance of a giant woman is worth looking into, don’t you think, Mr. Velasquez?” The reporter enquired, sounding puzzled at his indifference toward the situation.