WHY LEXI IS A DANGER TO SOCIETY ...
AN ESSAY BY RENOWNED SCIENTIST DR. MAXIMILLIAN E MUMFORD ....
The keys on the evil Doctor's keyboard stood silent as he had momentarily lost his train of thought. Of course he had published many such articles and essays to be read in the Enormo Press -- the companys internal newsletter ... a publication that seemed to spend a lot of time in trashcans.
But upon further contemplation the cantankerous Doctor decided that maybe it WAS time for a break. Maybe a quick game would get him in the right headspace.
"Computer ... Launch ShrinkGirl Simulator Version 1.2...."
From there, the mad Doctor watched as a digitized version of Minitropolis' Grove Park loaded in, an extremely realistic rendering featuring the usual gaggle of people passing by as the wind tranquilly blew by. At least until a model of Lexi spawned in and along with it, a few large mechanations of the Doctor's own design.
Lexi would peer around, seeing she was surrounded by three horrifically large metal monsters. One with a spinning orange blade that sparked red hot fire, another that was more brutish in appearance, featuring numerous stegosaurus like plates along its shoulder for protection and another smaller but faster model that resembled a condor with four sharp wings.
With haste, the robots would all charge at Lexi, starting with the fierce robot bird. Lexi jumped into the air and performed a near perfect backflip, shrinking as she did so and landing atop the robot birds chassis where she'd stick her tongue out at Max's other robotic minions. only fueling the already mad Doctors' growing rage.
Foolishly the second robot would charge forward, its strong mechanical blade pulsating as it swiped left and right in an erratic pattern as if chopping up a salad. In doing so, however the robot would errantly strike the incoming robot bird just as Lexi dismounted it and grew back to normal, sliding under the robots legs and falling victim to an attack from the third creation, Max's metal plated Destroyer robot.
She looked up in worry, dodging out of the way just as the robot struck the ground with a mighty force, causing the ground to shake and rumble violently, and leading to Lexi losing her balance.
"Yes!" Max shouted out loud, watching the scenario play out on his screen, "I've got you now!"
But what happened next could only be described as dumb luck as the robots tremor inducing punch also dislodged a nearby tree and its strong trunk came crashing down, nearly fracturing the Destroyer down the middle and rendering it useless as it collapsed onto its knee.
Filled with extra smugness now, Lexi turned to her final opponent, a robot she'd refer to as the Lumberjerk for its saw blades.
"Come and get me fool!" Lexi chuckled, seemingly unphased even as the robots shadow grew closer and closer and its flesh piercing blade threatened to saw her into a fine Lexi filet. She'd put her arms up as if yawning but it was really a ploy to expose her solid metal wrist gauntlets, causing the blades to just strike them and remain there, spinning quickly but ultimately doing more damage to themselves than the gauntlets that blocked them.
After the robot took a pause, Lexi chuckled and ducked down for a moment, vaulting up with some extra lift and power to strike the robot hard with the side of her gauntlet, sending it stumbling back.
Determined to try one more time, the Lumberjerk would lunge forward, blades spinning erratically and it would miss Lexi by a country mile as the confident ex-cheerleader simply somersaulted to her right, while the cumbersome robot found itself face down, having tripped on the remains of its fallen comrade. To make matters worse for Max and his million dollar machines, the saw-blade on the Lumberjerk would dislodge and fall right onto the robots back, spinning still and causing irreversible damage to its metallic armor.
Lexi would shrug and gloat, putting her foot atop one of the mechs as a message would flash on the screen.
"SIMULATION COMPLETED. SHRINKGIRL WINS"
"Gah!" Dr. Max yelled out in frustration, striking his keyboard and causing a loud sound just as a young lady knocked timidly on the glass pane seperating his office from the outer hallway. "Ugh ... you brought the cookies ... FINALLY... come in..."
"You ... okay Dr. Mumford?" the woman, known as Gloria Graff would ask, handing him the cookie bag.
"I am ... I am fine, yes" Dr. Max responded, a slight hesitance in his voice as he snapped up the bag with the green and gold KEKSE logo emblazened on it. As he took a bite into the first of the macadamia nut cookies he let out a content sigh, one of the few times the Doctor could be heard expressing any form of pleasure.
While this transpired, Gloria couldn't help but notice the chaotic spread of machinery in Max's lab. It seemed to get more and more clustered up each time she passed by. But something caught her eye this time that she hadn't noticed before.
A network of metallic tubes comprised a larger machine that snaked upwards into a sort of secure bracket or holder, and inside of that was none other than a purple and gold medallion bearing the "SG" logo. Gloria raised her eyebrow a bit and the observant Dr. Max was not unaware of her skepticism.
"I assure you ..." Dr. Max said, almost offering a dismissive laugh in the process, "it is NOT what you think ..."
"Isn't that ... ShrinkGirl's medal...?" Gloria asked, more than a bit confused
"Okay so THAT part you are right about ... but ... well, quite frankly, if I were to tell you what I'm using it for, it would likely just confuse you further..." Max shrugged, nibbling sloppily on another cookie, "All you need to know is that ShrinkGirl is a menace and I WILL find a way to stop her ..."
Gloria nodded, "Yeah... I ... I caught that ... also liked your article in last week's Enormo Press ... 'ShrinkGirl ... small person, huge menace...'"
The Doctor leaned back in his chair in a rare show of contentment.
"Yes yes ... I'm glad SOMEBODY listens to my wisdom ..." Dr Max gloated before watching a loading bar on his console just below the ShrinkGirl medallion light up, signifying that something had completed. "N-Now ... surely you must have somewhere to be ... what do I owe you for the cookies?"
"Don't worry about it, Doctor..." Gloria said, feeling a bit uneasy to be in the lab even if she did see eye to eye with Max on his views of ShrinkGirl, "I uh ... I'll see you tomorrow"
"Fair enough ... see you then" Dr. Max sighed, munching on the cookie in glee.
Damn, those cookies were good, even if the recipe was more than a tad bit familiar ...
________________
Lexi let out a deep sigh, only hearing the hum of her car as she drove pensively down the city streets, on her way to work at the Shrink Shack ... damn, she still couldn't believe they renamed the restaurant after her. She didn't know whether to be flattered or a little skeeved out.... or better yet, ask for more royalties.
As Lexi sighed, still feeling a bit on edge, she noticed an incoming call from Leah and pressed the button on her car's dashboard console to accept the call, hearing Leah's voice come through the car speakers.
"Lexi ... are you doing alright?" Leah asked, already knowing the answer
"I don't know, Lee..." Lexi sighed, "I think I just need to ... get back to work ... like actual work, and establish some normalcy in my life..."
Lexi was of course decked out in her white waitress dress with the slim purple candy stripes. Funny enough the restaurant used to have a white and blue color scheme but once again ShrinkGirl mania took its toll even on the long established family place.
"I definitely want to see you get that normalcy..." Leah said supportively, "I just ... I don't know if this is such a great idea... yknow? With ... what's been happening to you lately..."
"I'm fine" Lexi said resolutely, and she really did mean it at the time. She hadn't had more than a headache here and there since her incident the day prior. Maybe taking a break from using her size powers would stabilize things long term and this would all just be a bump in the road. Lexi liked to think positively after all, "...but ... I do appreciate your concern"
"Of course Lex ... I love you girl..." Leah whispered, looking over to see that her boss Sally was looking her away as Leah herself was also at work and ducking back to check on Lex, "I uh ... I gotta go... please be careful"
"You know it, hon" Lexi smiled, always happy to get the check in from Leah, "Be fabulous"
After the call ended, Lexi's smile continued, if not for just a bit longer. She's find a space up front and look at her place of employment, the plastic decal of herself adorning the window with a tacky speech bubble reading "Upgrade to a Super Shrink Shake for $2.99!"
Lexi got out of her car and took a couple steps towards the restaurant, as a couple of excitable young ones made their way around her, one of them turning back and waving, having recognized her. Lexi gave a sheepish smile but just as things seemed to be going her way again, Lexi's body would be struck with another brief moment of helplessness as she tingled, taking a deep breath as she gulped hard.
"...this may not have been a good idea..."
______________
The previous night, two shady figures entered a dark alley. One of them was extremely quiet, which wasn't hard to do when one is but a few inches tall. The other was Roxanne Wright, reckless criminal extraordinaire and she was slightly more quiet ... for her, even as the small chains on her leather pants jangled with each step while the duo drew closer to the back of a brick building that they had both visited before.
The tiny girl, now known as Sugar Rush extended out her new shiny metallic wings with a small but still overstated clank and ch-tunk sound, resembling a tiny Doctor Octopus with 4 bladed protrusions stretching from her jetpack.
"Not too shabby, huh?" Roxie gloated, down one knee to watch her tiny cohort hovering a tad off the ground, taking in the sight of her "gift" in action, "huh... kinda fills me with pride, almost ... now I know what it must be like to have a daughter"
Sugar Rush took exception to that, shooting the pompous Roxie a heated stare
"I am NOT your daughter" Rush said, turning to the side in defiance
"Hey hey ... you know what I meant" Roxie sighed, slowly getting up off the sandy concrete, "geez, you try to have a moment and they shoot you down ... typical rebellious teen"
"I'm not a teenager" Rush huffed, "I'm probably older than you!"
"What? No 'thank you for breaking me out of prison and giving me an upgraded suit'?" Roxie scoffed, walking gingerly past Rush as she surveyed their surroundings.
"Ugh ... fine ... thank you ..." Sugar Rush sighed reluctantly, activating her jets to fly up to Roxie's level, "I guess I'm still not ... thrilled to be ... you know, ... this way"
"I get it ..." Roxie said, half listening to Sugar while also making sure they weren't being watched. "Okay I mean, maybe I don't COMPLETELY get it but ... oh shoot"
Roxie's exclamation startled Sugar a bit as she floated back to get a better view, glancing up and seeing what Roxie saw, a blinking red light on the front of a security camera that had a clear shot of both of them, even in the dark.
Roxie raised a pistol, ready to shoot the incriminating video camera down before Sugar shook her head
"Let me..." Sugar Rush sneered, raising an arm and blasting a thick wad of bubble gum that covered the entire casing of the camera, obscuring the video and eventually causing the camera to spark and short out.
"Hmm... not bad..." Roxie shrugged, slipping her gun back into the holster on her waist, "but you still left some evidence by leaving the camera intact"
"Yeah but I didn't want to wake the neighborhood and alert any nearby cops by blasting the thing ... and I doubt you have a silencer on that ..." Sugar commented
"...good point. I actually have something called a 'loudener' on it" Roxie chuckled "but good thinking, I've taught you well, my daughter..."
"...this is never gonna end, is it?" a disgruntled Sugar Rush bemoaned.
"Oh shush..." Roxie sighed, rolling her eyes as she took a look around. The girls were surrounded on 3 sides by brick walls but one of the walls had a vent that likely led to the inside of the building. "I'm trying to help you out here after all ... that crazy doctor may have something in here that can help you grow back ... or at the very least some cool new weapons"
"I just don't know how smart it is to hit the same place twice..." Sugar warned, peering into the vent, able to see further down due to her small size.
"That's what makes it perfect" Roxie beamed with confidence, shrugging her shoulders, "Nobody ever expects it ... it's the perfect crime"
"Is there really such a thing as the perfect crime?" Sugar asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sugar Rush wasn't exactly your traditional villain. Physically, and in some ways mentally transformed by her dealings with ShrinkGirl and an unfortunate set of circumstances, Sugar was technically still a good person at heart, even if that heart was riddled with turmoil and her body was fused with more additives than a double stuffed Oreo.
Roxie flashed a small flashlight down the vent, not able to see too much further as it appeared the vent dipped and turned in another direction.
"Okay, well ... you're on" Roxie said to Sugar after turning off the flashlight.
"Ugh ... of course I am" Sugar Rush sighed, already accepting her role as the one to slip into super tight spaces.
"I'd do it but ... I gotta lay off the bon bons" Roxie chuckled, slapping her own ass.
Rush reluctantly squeezed through the grates in the vent and flew into the dark steel tunnel, flipping a small switch on her wrist that caused the tips of her propeller blades to light up, giving her sufficient visibility as she descended deeper.
Meanwhile, an impatient Roxie waited outside, leaned up against the brick building playing Candy Crush on her phone as if it was just a normal Tuesday evening. She heard a little clanging arise from inside the grate and peeked through the vent for a moment.
"Everything okay in there?" Roxie asked, hearing the sound of Sugar Rush speeding up the tunnel to meet her
"We've gotta get out of here!" Sugar exclaimed, quickly bursting through the vent, leaving some dent marks to prove she was there was she sped ahead of Roxie who made a run for her bike.
"Geez, what happened in there?" Roxie scoffed.
"I accidentally tripped the laser grid ... there should be an alarm any moment..." Sugar grunted, shaking her head
"Oh dear daughter... I thought I taught you better than that..." Roxie teased, straddling her bike and revving it up.
"Just shut up and go!" Sugar groaned, landing on Roxie's shoulder as the couple departed the site of none other than "Aztek Parts and More"
_______________
Lexi walked into the Shrink Shack, passing the brightly painted purple door and gave a wave to their host, Will. It was the same Will who made some cute Dungeons and Dragons figurines, which wasn't too surprising since his father Jerry owned Jerry's Joyworld, a popular toy store in the area. In fact, even the toy store had recently gotten into the "ShrinkGirl" business, selling mini mockups of Minitropolis' new favorite crime fighter.
"Heya Lexi, how are things going?" Will asked, as the restaurant was a bit slow to start, it being about an hour before the lunch rush.
"Good. Good" Lexi asked calmly but confidently as she smiled at her friendly co-worker. So far so good. "And with you?"
"Oh you know..." Will shrugged, "Waiting until the last minute to get this college paperwork in, but I should be all set for the next semester ... you go to Miniborough U as well, right?"
"Yeah. Yeah." Lexi replied, noticing out of the corner of her eye a young girl, no more than 6 with dark pigtails and a toothy smile approaching her. She paused her conversation with Will to show her some attention, glancing down at a piece of paper the girl was proudly displaying, "Yes, sweetie?"
"It's you!" the little girl cooed, holding up the paper which was actually a kids menu for the Shrink Shack, and there was a "color in the ShrinkGirl" activity on the back. The girl had used the plethora of crayons at her disposal to great effect, giving Lexi pink and purple shoes, a neon green skirt and rainbow colored wrist gauntlets. "You're SHWINKGIRL!!"
Lexi blushed deep red, never knowing how to feel when this kind of thing happened. She simply nodded and smiled.
"I ... I sure am..." Lexi smiled, as she reached for a purple crayon that was atop Will's counter. "You mind if I sign it?"
"You would do that?!" the girl exlclaimed, her eyes lighting up even further as she bounced with joy.
"Of course ..." Lexi nodded, "I really like what you did with my gauntlets..."
"Your what?" the girl asked, a bit perplexed
"My uh ... wrist thingies..." Lexi chuckled sheepishly, gesturing to her own wrist as she used her other hand to write her name, "and what's your name, little sweetheart?"
"Melissa!" the girl replied with an even bigger smile. The sight was almost too much for Lexi to take without melting.
"Okay... Melissa..." Lexi grinned, doing her best to sign legibly with a dulled purple crayon as she wrote "To Melissa, from your smallest but biggest fan, ShrinkGirl"
The young girl looked at the paper a bit sideways at first, perhaps not understanding Lexi's subtle size joke but she smiled all the same and gave Lexi a quick hug before going back to her table to show off her prize, an autograph from the one and only ShrinkGirl.
"Now that was cute" Will said with a nod, noticing a family coming in to order. "I kinda needed that ... was a nice moment..."
"Heh ... thanks, Will" Lexi said, smiling shyly.
It truly felt good for Lexi to be able to share smiles with people for something she did that she really didn't feel was so remarkable. Sure, it had never been done before, but it wasn't like she chose to do it or even practiced it. Her entire existence as "ShrinkGirl" was nothing but a series of accidents, right down to the fact that she drove an interdimensional car that had to be modified to run on traditional fuel sources.
Lexi gracefully bid Will adieu so that he could tend to his customers, unaware of the static she was slowly gathering up as she made her way across the restaurants thin teal carpets and turned the bend into the kitchen.
Will had just shown a family to their seats after directing them to their waiter Mark, when another of Lexi's co-workers named Kimberly came over, looking a little woozy as she groaned, with her hand to her head.
"Still feeling kind of out of it?" Will asked, to which she nodded "You should be able to go home... just ask Mark... Lexi just got here so she can cover you..."
"You sure?" Kimberly asked, her brown eyes showing concern as she shook her head, trying to stand up straight, "I don't want us to be down a girl"
"Hey, your health's more important..." Will said, "But again, just check with Mark or Stacy ... I'm sure they'll be okay with it since Lexi's here"
"Okay ... okay thanks ... where IS Lex anyway?" Kim asked
"She just stepped into the kitchen I think" Will replied.
Kimberly nodded, trying to keep it together while her stomach started giving her fits. She put a hand on the threshold to the kitchen, which wasn't a very big one at that. She noticed their chef Peter but didn't see anybody else, and it was kind of hard to miss somebody like Lexi who was usually quite talkative when she'd walk in.
"Lexi? Hon?" Kim asked curiously, then looked to Peter, "Did you see her?"
Peter had his earbuds on and seemed to be in a state of zen watching beef patties fry on the grill. Finally, he looked up to see Kimberly looking a bit irritated. He pulled out an ear bud and looked over confused.
"Was Lexi in here?" Kim asked again
"Uh ... yeah..." the distracted Peter answered, his eyes fluttering between Kimberly and the sizzling burger patties, "She was just in here ... I think ... maybe she went to the bathroom or something... or the break room"
Kimberly just sighed, but nodded, not feeling frustrated with Peter but just ill and in a hurry to get out. So she'd continue on her way to Mark and Stacy's office instead to ask for the time off.
But where WAS Lexi?
Not even a few minutes earlier is when Lexi had walked into the kitchen to say hi to Peter, the well meaning but often hyper focused main chef of the Shrink Shack. Her body unknowingly charged with static electricity proved a dangerous thing when she'd tap the metal countertop in the kitchen with her hand.
"Hi Pete --" is all that would be heard before Lexi again unintentionally reduced herself, looking up in shock at the now giant kitchen, its pots and pans laid out like some kind of ginormous factory. "...oh shit, not again..."
It would be the same tiny Alexis who would be hiding underneath the counter when Kimberly's giant black shoe hit the ground and that's all the tiny woman could see at her current size.
"Kim! Kim!" Lexi squeaked, figuring even though people knew of her powers, they'd never think to look for her there, "I'm here! I'm down here!! Please!"
Lexi simply let out a whimper as Kimberly walked on by, not even acknowledging the tiny Lexi's existence as she remained cowered under the counter, surrounded by the ambience of burger sizzling noises and other chatter going on around her.
"Ugh ... I can't really work like this ..." Lexi squeaked, feeling ridiculous to be in this predicament. "...right?"
As would sometimes be the case, Lexi would find her mind wandering into a daydream....
In that daydream, she'd see a white paper bag with purple letters being plunked on a table with the words "The Shrink Shack Kids Meal" on it. An excited young girl named Melissa would go for the food before noticing something else inside, shaking the bag up a little bit before pulling out a "toy"
"Mommy! Daddy! Look!" Melissa would say, holding the shrunken Lexi in hand as she squeaked and flailed about, "I got a toy!"
"Oh wow..." Melissa's mom would shrug, looking at the poor Lexi, "They make them so realistic now..."
Lexi shook her head and shuddered.
"No... no... not gonna happen ..." Lexi gulped at the thought. "I just gotta ... unshrink ... tell Mark or Stacy about this ... and uh ... yeah ... I don't know..."
Of course at that moment, an already troubled Kimberly would be talking to her boss Mark to let her out early on account of a stomach bug.
"Of course... of course ... I appreciate you hanging in this long..." Mark said, leading Kimberly out of the office and towards the kicthen, "Just make sure Lexi's here and all set... say, she should be here now, right?"
As confused as Kimberly was to attempt explaining that, it would be even more confusing that Lexi seemed to pop up out of thin air, now in the break room and coming out, looking a bit woozy herself but at least she had regained her size again.
"Oh, there she is!" Mark said, "Hey Lexi, do you mind if Kimberly takes off? She seems to have caught that stomach bug that's been going around"
Lexi hesitated for a moment. Of course she didn't want anyone to have to suffer through that kind of thing ... especially a coworker who she really liked. She had opened her mouth, all too ready to have to be the "bad guy" and tell them about her own condition ... but instead....
"Yeah, of course" Lexi said with a nod, "Get some rest, Kim"
"Thank you so much, Lexi ... you're a lifesaver" Kimberly said, holding her head again as she dipped out of the corridor that seperated the office from the break room and kitchen. Lexi gave a supportive nod.
"Just ... doing my job..." Lexi said weakly, feeling as if the phrase had multiple meanings at that moment.
"Are you sure YOU'RE okay, Lexi?" Mark asked, a bit concerned to see her knees had a bit of wobbliness to them, "don't tell me you're getting sick too"
"Me? No... nope, I'm fine..." Lexi said, lying through her teeth even as she presented a kindhearted smile.
Lexi would carry that smile out into the restaurant with her as she observed it filling up with more customers. One in particular, who was impatiently waiting to be seated by the front counter struck her as both familiar and unique.
The woman had long blue flowing hair and ice cold cobalt eyes. She didn't appear malicious but also didn't give off the feeling of warm and friendly. She was wearing a dark blue suit jacket with white button up shirt underneath and the logo on her jacket was a circle currounded by a large C and a T, the logo of CyberTek.
Lexi continued her early shift duties even as she noticed the young woman seemingly locking eyes with her briefly. Did she recognize Lexi? It wasn't too uncommon these days with the posters being out and about but the woman seemed to focus on Lexi for an unusually long time even as Lexi was trying to listen to another couples order.
"Sounds great, you guys, I'll be right back with those drinks!" Lexi said with a smile, taking a few steps to her right before tripping and becoming obscured by a set of booths.
The curious Aeris raised an eyebrow as she saw the young woman who she already knew to be ShrinkGirl take an unusually long time to get back up but slowly and surely she did, scampered into the kitchen with an odd spark still emanating from her right index finger.
It was the kind of detail 99% of people wouldn't even think to notice, but Aeris wasn't like those other 99% and if she didn't know any better, she'd say Lexi shrank and then unshrank within a matter of seconds.
Meanwhile Lexi herself took a breather in the kitchen, safe from the gaze of Peter who was too enthralled in flipping burgers and making sure they were all topped with the same ratio of ingredients. As her breath slowed down, she noticed her sparking finger symptoms did as well until finally she felt more at ease.
Still, she let out a low sigh.
"...this is going to be a long day..."
Aeris, the young CyberTek employee is now seated, her mind racing with thoughts as she rudely waves off her waiter while locked in a phone conversation.
"...I thought I told you not to keep calling me on this number..." the gentleman on the other end of the call said in detest.
"I wouldn't have to keep calling you if your contractor provided what we discussed..." Aeris said, finally flagging down the very waiter that had tried to help her, "Yeah, could I get a water and lemon, please? Thanks."
"I know for a fact she's secured the package" the heavy set man said, letting out a sigh, "this is not a good time... can we discuss this later? Things have been ... well, chaotic to say the least"
"That should be the norm in your business, no? Or should i say ... OUR business?" Aeris replied with a cheeky wink, even if the man on the phone couldn't see it.
"Okay okay ... I'll ... find her... and ... get what you need, just... chill, okay?"
"How much 'chilling' I do will be completely up to you, sir" Aeris shrugged non-chalantly, accepting her water with lemon and continuing to otherwise ignore her waiter as she kept on talking, "Scott won't be happy if he doesn't get what he needs soon... he's been counting on this as a potential step forward in his project ..."
"...the less I know about this project, the better" the disgruntled older man said, cutting Aeris off mid-speech, "I'm on the way there now, okay? I was just trying to spend some time with my daughter..."
"Oh how sweet..." Aeris said indifferently, toying with her straw in the water, "...well, do what you gotta do ... oh, and say hi to Roxie for me, okay?"
The man, known only as Byron Biggs sighed and hung up the phone as his daughter Chrissy climbed into the backseat of the car.
"Who was that, dad?" Chrissy asked
"That was ... an associate..." Byron sighed, "I'm afraid we're going to need to make a little detour..."
"Uh... okay..." Chrissy responded, seemingly not concerned or thrilled about the prospect.
In many ways she was used to the secrecy...
Giantess World
