NEW YORK CITY,
EARTH-MRG
AUG. 11, 2009
* * * * *
Edgar Allen Crow emerged from the crosstime warp over Central Park. Ray, still clinging to the bird's neck, pressed his imitation Rolex watch a second time. Thereby deactivating the warp.
"Best innovation Cross Time Gifts has ever marketed," he muttered with a grin. He then looked around, spotting 5th Avenue roughly to their northeast. Edgar banked accordingly. And, five minutes later, Ray had re-enlarged himself on the roof of 485 Madison Avenue.
The fish crow was telepathically instructed to fly down to the ledge outside Ray's office window, and see how Vorexia was doing. As for Ray, himself? One temporary shrinkage of a certain trap door, and he was descending a certain maintenance ladder to a janitorial supply closet on the top floor of the building. From there, it was just a prosaic elevator ride to the lobby, and a sixty-second walk to the Wishbone's Restaurant franchise next door.
"Hey, Ray!" exclaimed Valerie Zoftigova, as he came in.
"Hi, Val. I'd like a Wishbone Special, plus a bacon cheeseburg and two coffees. All to go."
"Sure thing, honey. If you asked really nice, though, you could even have ME to go. When I...'get off,' later tonight."
The buxon blonde headwaitress winked as she said this.
Ray smiled and gave a countering wink: "That might be...'premature,' Val. I'm in the middle of a case, right now."
"Your loss, honey."
"Of that, I have no doubt. By the way; give my congratulations to Stan."
"For what?"
"I read on the Internet that he just opened a new branch in L.A. Near Hollywood and Vine."
"Heh! First I've heard of it."
By this means did Ray confirm what J-Rog had told him in their on-line chat, prior to the latter's train trip down from Plattsburgh. So, that was where he would start his interrogation of Vorexia.
Ten minutes later, he re-entered the lobby of 485 Madison. Waiting until he was inside the elevator before shrinking one of the coffees and the bacon cheeseburg.
"Hope your hungry, Vorexia. Because, unless your very co-operative, this could quite literally be your last meal."
He had no sooner finished uttering this, as he entered through his office door, when he heard Edgar begin cawing in alarm!
Ray dropped the food as he saw the stagnatanium chain unwrap itself from around the inch-high sizechanger and shapeshift into an equally tiny bald man. And, in the time it took him to withdraw his 9mm Smith & Wesson Model 39, Vorexia shattered the mayonnaise jaw with the re-enlargement of herself and the Morpher.
The latter withdrew what looked like a pipe bomb from his blue blazer, so Ray fired at him first.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM-BLAM! BLAM!
The bullets, however, merely splashed into him, as if Ray had been firing into quicksand. Giving Vorexia time to jump off the desk, her right hand grasping a letter opener enlarged to the size of a machete!
"Yahhhhhhhhhh!" she screamed, with a wild-eyed expression worthy of a medieval Viking berserker.
Ray, with no time to readjust his aim at normal size, hurriedly shrank himself down to an inch tall. Causing Vorexia to miss him entirely, when she landed. He then re-enlarged, just as swiftly, and lashed out with his left leg. Kicking her in the butt!
She fell and landed, face-first. Allowing Ray to return his attention to the armed Morpher. But, the latter had jumped down behind Ray's desk, and was aiming the "pipe bomb" while kneeling on one knee. Forcing Ray to shrink out of the line of fire, again.
KA-ZAP! KA-ZAP! KA-ZAP!
Three ruby-red streaks of light passed overhead. Leaving charred marks on the left-hand wall of the hallway outside the office. This left Ray no choice. He dropped to his stomach, re-enlarging himself at the same time.
Upon reaching normal size, he shot out the office window, allowing Edgar to fly inside. The Morpher, suitably distracted, turned to aim his weapon at the bird. Only to have it, and his ersatz middle finger, shot away by yet another round from Ray's Model 39!
Yet, while the sizehu detective was preoccupied with the Morpher, Vorexia had regained her second wind...and her senses. She changed her tactics and shrank down to six inches tall. While keeping the letter opener proportionately machete-sized!
In this way, she planned to sneak up on Ray from behind, shrink him down to half her size,...and amputate his left foot.
But, quoth the fish crow: "Uh-uh-uh!"
He dive-bomed the Sitmobtian hit woman. Knocking her flat on her shrunken back, and impaling her through her head with his beak. Once; twice; thrice!!
The Morpher, seeing he was out-numbered and out-classed, chose the better part of valor and beat a hasty retreat. Resuming a gelatinous form, flowing out the broken window, and landing in the gutter outside the office building. Whereupon, he flowed through the nearest sewer building.
Ray did not even bother attempting to follow all that with his eyes. His gaze was centered on the laser beam-emitting "pipe bomb" the Morpher had left behind.
"A Sizeloan molecular disruptor," he mused, half-aloud: "Now, how the heck did a Morpher get hold of one of these? And, what's a Morpher doing, working for the Sitmobtia, at all?"
Edgar gave two "uh's" in reply.
"You're right, Ed. This does call for a little psychometry."
tbc
Giantess World
Author's Chapter Notes:
Ray Venn reveals more of his hidden talents.