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It was a sunny June day at Arroyo Lucia High School, the kind of lazy day that tells you summer is almost here. The kids were in that state of mind that indicated they weren't in the zone for studying any more; all the tests and major projects were over for the year. All that was left was the kind of stuff the teachers reserved for passive learning, the things they didn't have to concentrate too hard on.

During the break after second period a 15-year-old kid named Jerome holding a cinnamon roll and a chocolate milk was in a grassy area, where there weren't too many other kids. He was the first to see them. They materialized right in front of him, slowly at first, then they began to solidify. He could still see the chain-link fence on the other side of the campus through their still-transparent bodies a couple of seconds before they were completely solid. There was no noise; no sound to indicate this was a high-tech teleportation device they were using, like the kind in most science-fiction movies.

When the two girls were solidified and looking around, the boy looked them over. They were both blondes, with blue eyes, and very beautiful. They were about 15 or 16 years old, and they were both wearing red, black, and white cheerleader uniforms with a black swastika in a white circle on their chests. They both wore red and black pleated mini-skirts, with belts that had a weapon holstered. They both wore black-leather mid-calve boots, and they both had small purses.

Jerome, feeling brave, walked up and introduced himself, still chewing on his cinnamon roll. "Hi! I'm Jerome."

"Hi," the skinny girl said, "I'm Hannah, and this is my friend Ursula. We're cheerleaders at this high school in Dimension Zero."

"Dimension Zero?" Jerome asked. "Where's that?"

Ursula smiled, and picked it up from there: "Dimension Zero is the code name for the parallel universe we are from. Since our universe is the primal reality, we call it Dimension Zero. Your universe is just a branch off of our own universe. Therefore, it is okay for us to do whatever we want to the people of your world, including shrinking them."

"You can shrink people?" Jerome asked.

"Yes," Hannah replied, "but we only shrink non-white people. What race are you?"

"I'm half-Mexican," Jerome responded, "and half-white."

"Let's shrink him!" Hannah said.

"No," Ursula replied, "He's half-white, so it wouldn't be right!"

"I still say we should shrink him!" Hannah said as she pointed her shrink ray-gun at Jerome.

"I said no, Hannah! You've got nothing to worry about, Jerome," said Ursula. "Since you're really cute, and you're half-white, we won't shrink you. Can we go to class with you?"

"Sure," Jerome replied, "come with me!"

The two girls followed him to his classroom. Break was just about over, so once they got to the classroom, some of the kids were already sitting in their seats. Ursula and Hannah took a couple of empty seats in the back, and Jerome sat next to them. A blonde-haired girl in front of them looked at the swastikas on their chests and said, "You know, it's not Halloween. Why are you dressed up like Nazis?"

Jerome answered for them. "They're from a parallel universe where the Nazis won World War Two. On their world, everyone dresses like that."

"We're also from 20,000 years in the future!" Ursula declared.

"If that's true," the girl said, "then prove it! Use some of your technology!"

Ursula pulled out her shrink-ray pistol and aimed it at a black kid two seats over. She zapped him, and in an instant, he was less than an inch tall. He stood up in his chair, trying to figure out his situation. Hannah and Ursula giggled.

"Wow," the girl said, "I'm Brandy, it's nice to meet you. I'm one of the popular girls at this school. You know, I've always agreed with the Nazi philosophy, but I never mentioned it to anyone because it's not politically correct. Can I hang out with you?"

"I'm Ursula, and this is my friend Hannah. You can hang out with us. We were just getting to know Jerome."

"Oh, Jerome," Brandy said, "He's one of the cool kids, so it's okay for you guys to hang out with him."

"He was all by himself when we materialized," Hannah said. "I would've pegged him as a loner."

"What were you doing by yourself at break?" Brandy asked.

"My two best friends got called into the office for pulling a prank on my teacher in second period. I was just hanging out by myself because I usually hang out with them, and they weren't there."

Some of the students were looking at the miniaturized kid. Ursula walked over and picked him up, and brought him to Hannah.

"What're you going to do with him?" Brandy asked.

"He's going to be eaten," Ursula answered, "but right now I'm not sure whether me or Hannah will eat him."

"You can't eat me!" the tiny kid yelled out, "That isn't human! You can't do that to me!"

"I can do whatever I want to you!" Ursula answered, "and you should consider it a privilege to be swallowed by one of us!"

"Why?" the miniaturized boy asked.

"Because we're beautiful, and you should strive to appease us! Don't you know how much it will satisfy me to know that you're struggling in the depths of my belly? You should consider it an honor!"

With that, Taylor lifted the boy into her mouth, and after a moment, swallowed him. "You'll get the next one, Hannah!"

The rest of the students piled into the classroom, and the teacher called roll. "Reggie Byers?" the teacher asked, not realizing that Ursula had swallowed him. He called the name again, and a few students giggled, because they knew what really happened. The teacher noticed Hannah and Ursula.

"Can I help you girls?" the teacher asked, "You're not in my class."

Ursula smiled and said, "We're just visiting for the day. We're here with Jerome."

"In that case," the teacher said, "you're going to have to go get permission from the office to be here."

Ursula raised her shrink ray-gun in the air, and said, "This is all the permission I need!" She aimed it at a Mexican girl, and zapped her. She shrunk down to the same size as Reggie. Ursula aimed again, this time at a Mexican boy, then at another black kid. When it was all over, three more people in total were miniaturized.

The teacher walked over to the Mexican boy, and looked at him. The boy was shocked at what happened to him. All he could do was stand around and look at everyone in awe. Ursula walked up and grabbed the Mexican boy, and Hannah grabbed the second black boy. They raised them over their mouths, and Ursula said: "If you make us leave, these kids get swallowed!"

"Okay, okay!" the teacher said. "You two can stay! Can you please un-shrink these kids, please?"

"We can't remember the combination to the lock on Ursula's neutrino transfer device!" said Hannah. "As soon as we remember the combination, we can un-shrink them!"

"Will you please excuse me?" the teacher asked, and walked out the door.

Hannah got up and went to the front of the classroom. "We are from a parallel universe, for those of you who haven't been informed. Our technology far exceeds your own, so while we're here, you'll live by our rules. Here is a sample of our power."

Hannah aimed her shrink-ray at a desk, and it shrunk down to a size proportionate to the size of the miniaturized students. While Hannah was busy doing that, Ursula walked over and collected the miniaturized students. She opened a plastic jar from her purse, and dropped them in. Then she sealed the jar, put it back in her purse, and sat down.

"How close are the people of your world to developing neutrino dissimilators?" Hannah asked Jerome.

"Neutrino what?" Jerome asked.

"Neutrino dissimilators," said Ursula, "that's what our guns are. Neutrino dissimilation is the theory behind miniaturization."

"I don't know," Jerome answered, "we have particle accelerators, but I haven't read anything about shrinking atoms."

"Then you must be about a hundred years away from developing miniaturization technology!" Ursula said.

The teacher returned without the principal, and warned them the principal was on his way. He asked them again where and when they were from.

"We're from a parallel universe known as Dimension Zero," Hannah answered, "and we're also from 20,000 years in the future." "We go to the counterpart of this high school in our own reality," said Ursula. "We came to your world to spend the day here collecting captives," continued Hannah. "On our world, there are no more minorities left, because they've all been shrunk and eaten."

To Be Continued!

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