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Chapter 8

 
Laura remained lying down for a few minutes, her bare back resting on the warm surface of the tarmac as her chest moved rhythmically up and down. This was probably the best come down she’d had in her entire life.
 
After a while, she sat down and looked at her surroundings. She realized that her ears had been filtering the chaos around her as she had been relaxing, but now it came back to her with full power. There were screams, there were sirens, there were hundreds of tiny ants teeming around, and there were the pretty battered remainders of a commercial plane resting between her legs.
 
"Wow, that was wild," she said to herself in a low tone
 
She knew she had got as carried away as any giantess could. A quick look at the severely twisted shape of the plane she had used as a dildo was enough to tell her that none of the unwilling lovers inside of it had survived the ride. She knew she should feel embarrassed, even ashamed about it. After all, she had gone well beyond one of the only red lines she had set for herself. However, this was not at all how she felt.
 
She felt… excited. She could not fool herself. There was no point in that. She made the rules, decided what was right or wrong. She would not get anything out of denying herself the truth.
 
She knew what she had done. She had taken a wholly packed plane and used it as a sex toy. And quite predictably, she had ended up killing what had to be at least a couple hundred people to pleasure herself. And she knew how she felt about it: great. A dark part of her mind was already looking forward to the next chance to repeat.       
 
There were two things she could do. The first one was to feel terrible about it. She opted for the second option.
 
“In the end, what is the difference between stepping on them and killing them in my cunt? They are dead all the same, aren’t they?” she rationalized
 
And there it was. In one single sentence, Laura had got rid of her latest taboo, and she had not had too many to start with.
 
It was such a simple mental association, and yet it represented the final breakthrough regarding goddess psychology. Laura had accepted very early on both that accidents would happen and that people would die so that she would be able to move freely as a giant woman. By now, there was no doubt in her mind that she was well within her rights to kill people with this purpose.    
 
She had soon enough added challenge to her authority or the need to prove authority as two new and perfectly good reasons to kill. Up to now, though, her mind had worked to find a justification for each of her actions resulting in deaths. And every time she was confronted with a new scenario, she had had to work to find a new justification.
 
This was over, once and of all. What Laura's mind had just done was to stop analyzing her actions based on the motives and to start analyzing them based on the consequences. The unit of measure was a human life, and as it had already become evident, a single human life was worth very little  to Laura. She could kill a hundred in one step, an apparently very simple act. So each life was worth a hundredth of that action.
 
So, in a simple mental association, Laura had dropped the entry price to killing to an almost negligible one. She had not realized about it yet, but the world was about to find out.
 
So, unconcerned about the consequences of her sex session, Laura could only focus on how good it had felt. There was only something almost as good as sex. Talking about it.
 
“Tell me Ken, Nancy… was this as good for you as it was for me?” she asked, mocking the two tiny people she was holding captive in her earrings
 
There was no response.
 
"Come on guys, there should be no come down for you, should there?" she insisted.
 
Still, no response
 
A couple of additional attempts were not more successful, so Laura decided to check what was going on. She removed Nancy's earring first. She frowned when she saw the results.
 
Nancy’s body was limp and there was… blood running down her face. Laura did not need to be a doctor to realize she was dead. But how? She had been rough when playing with the plane, but she would have sworn that the spot she had set Nancy and Ken at was the safest one in her anatomy.
 
It took her powerful brain only an instant to give her an answer. Nancy’s blood had an origin: her ears.
 
"Oh, God! Could my screams kill someone?"  Laura wondered. She realized that she was a little freaked out… but also somewhat impressed.
 
She reminded of something she thought she had seen. Looking over her shoulder, she focused on the terminal building in the distance and zoomed it. There was no doubt. Plenty of windows there had shattered. They had been in one piece when Laura had got there a few minutes ago, so she could only think one possible cause for that.
 
"Oh fuck! Even my voice is like ultra-powerful."
 
There it was. Amazement was quickly replacing any sorrow she could feel at the situation. She wondered how many more people could have been affected.
 
A siren in the distance told her that she could get the answer if she wanted to. She needed to take care of something else first, though. Unclasping Nancy's harness from the earring, she tossed the tiny dead woman over her shoulder and looped the earring back in place. She repeated the operation with an also very dead Ken. There was no point in carrying a corpse around, even when it was so tiny and weightless, was there?  
 
Laura then turned and got on her hands and knees. Slowly and quite sexily, she started walking on all-fours. She only needed a few steps to reach close to the spot where most of the emergency services were working.
 
Her presence had sent them fleeing, but it was really up to her to choose which of the tiny fuckers to pick up. It was as if none of them would be able to get out of her vast reach. Seeing a couple of paramedics get into a large ambulance she just reached out and picked it up between two fingers.
 
 
 
The freakiest day in Jorge’s life had just turned freakier. Working with the massive woman just a few hundred yards away had not been too appealing from the start, but Jorge knew his duty and was willing to do it under any circumstances. And Jorge knew he was more needed today than he had been needed in his previous ten years as a paramedic.
 
When the mountain-woman approached them, he could not take it anymore, though. She was on them in a matter of seconds and Kyle, and he did the only logical thing to do: get into the ambulance. 
 
He knew they had made a terrible mistake when they were lifted upwards with the speed that would make any rollercoaster ashamed. He got so dizzy that he needed a few seconds to recover once everything stabilized. When he did, all he could see through his windshield was an iris.
 
Kyle and he started screaming immediately. Their yells were soon overshadowed by a thunderous but still quite girly voice.
 
“Gotcha!" the voice said in an undoubtedly amused tone.
 
When it came back, shortly afterward, it stayed on for a longer time, making the glass and steel in the ambulance rattle with every syllable.
 
"I'll start by saying that I have no intention of hurting you since this seems to be the first thing all of you tinies care about. That being said, I did not pick you up just so that we could get acquainted. I want information, and you are going to give it to me." 
 
Jorge could feel the ambulance moving quite violently, only to stop a couple of seconds later. The iris returned, and the thundering voice did as well, shortly after.
 
"It's quite obvious that we cannot talk while you are in there, so the first thing you'll do is to get out. I just set you in my palm. Don't worry; there's room to spare. And don't worry, I've done this before. I'm becoming kind of an expert. Which leads me to the next point: I've been through this before, and I'm not in the mood of wasting my time, so let me be very clear about this: either you get out in five seconds, or I will crush your ambulance flat… with you in it. There are plenty more people to choose from where you came from. Now, your choice. I'd advise you to get out. I'd hate to have to repeat the speech with someone else."      
 
Jorge could see Kyle hesitating, but he understood what he only had an option. Quickly reaching for the handle, he opened the door and stepped out. The surface was soft and uneven, and it almost made him lose his footing. He managed to stay still, holding himself in the door. A quick look through it showed him that Kyle had seemed to realize about the situation and was getting out too.
 
Jorge finally dared to look up, at the woman’s face. It filled his field of vision with a warm smile.
 
"I'm happy to see that you are as reasonable as I am" the thundering voice came back.
 
Without warning, a shadow approached them, and Jorge had to jump out of the way as their ambulance was crushed by what had felt like a falling meteor. Peeking over his shoulder as he tried to recover he realized that it had been far from that. Rested on top of the now two-dimensional remainders of their ambulance was a thick pinkish pillar that he had a hard time to understand that it was her finger.
 
"This could have been you in there. Not good" the voice repeated.
 
Jorge's mind was mostly dominated by fear. It was easy for him to realize, however, that the giant young woman was playing with them at the same time she held their lives at stake and cheerfully threatened them with exercising the vast power she had over them. It made him feel somewhat mad. There was nothing he could do about it, though. 
 
 
Being the size of a tall skyscraper had plenty of perks. Being able to use the real-life contents of a city like toys was one of them, and it was both empowering and exciting. Her recent experience with the plane was proof enough of that. Still, nothing could compare to holding tiny people in her hand. Nothing.
 
Easily picking the remainders of the ambulance and tossing them away, Laura focused her attention on the two centimeter-tall men in her palm. They could not even fill a significant portion of it. Laura knew because she had tried it, that she could hold dozens of the ant-sized people in her hand. And still, she loved being able to focus on individual ones. 
 
In the end, there was nothing that could prove to Laura just how massive and powerful she had become than comparing herself with a "regular person." She could not prevent thinking that she had been just as tiny merely a few hours ago. She relished those moments of realization. Nothing else could convey just how much she had progressed in such a short time. The scenario showed her how feeble, how powerless she had been during her entire life. She had been just one tiny ant among billions. And now she felt that she had the power to take over the world.     
 
It was somehow ironic that all it had taken her to reach that status was an increase in size. True, it had been a massive increase in size, but it still was kind of simple. Size and raw strength. Nothing more than brute force, in the end. Grant enough of that to a single person and the world's balance of power changed forever.
 
"Whoever said that size did not matter did not know what he was talking about,"  Laura thought, amused.
 
Laura could not be happier that the recipient of all that raw power had been her. She had dreamed about this during her entire adult life, but the reality far surpassed her wildest wishes.
 
She felt so euphoric that she could not prevent her next words, now aloud and addressed to the two tiny creatures in her palm.
 
“It must suck to be you, right?”
 
She was amused by the tinies' reaction. While the one with paler skin could just cower at the power of her voice, the one with darker features reacted with what looked like a mix of pride and resentment. It was lovely. Laura could not prevent a giggle.     
 
"Oh, it seems that someone doesn't like the situation," she said
 
The target of her words reacted differently now. He seemed to realize that his previous reaction had been foolish and his face show uncertainty as if he was expecting the worst.   
 
"Oh, don't worry. I understand you. I would hate being in your spot too. I mean, who wouldn't? Thank God I'm not" she added in a cheerful tone
 
She had unconsciously forgotten about the paler man. The darker-skinned one was much more interesting.
 
"I guess that we all need to accept what is given to us. I mean, it's quite easy for me, but I hope that you can man up and rise to the occasion. What do you say? Are you up to the task?" she asked, probing while still keeping the same mocking tone
 
"What do you want?" the man finally yelled. There was even some defiance in his voice, making Laura giggle again.
 
"That's the attitude," Laura said, giggling once more
 
Through the corner of her eye, she could see that the paler man looked worried at the fact that his colleague had stood up to her. She let out another giggle. 
 
"Oh, don't worry whitey," she said. "I've never punished someone for being brave. I kind of like it. I mean, being so tiny and such, I guess it must take guts to talk to me. And I like men with guts" she added
 
Seeing that none of the two tinies would fill the silence, Laura went on.
 
"I only had a question for you. I've reached the conclusion that some people might have got hurt because of my voice… but I'd like some second opinion. Is there any light you can shed on this?" she asked 
 
Quite predictably, it was the man with the darker skin who replied.
 
"Half the people in the airport is deaf. A few passed out. Plenty was injured because of the glass shattering. It all happened when you screamed" 
 
"Cool!" Laura said, excited to receive yet another confirmation of the power embedded into her new size. After having been able to blow a storm front away, she should have imagined that her lungs had enough power to do what the tiny guy had just described and more. She had just not thought about it upfront. And finding out about it after the fact had felt exciting.
 
The tiny man was not so excited. His tone was annoyed when he asked: 
 
“How can you be so happy about hurting people?”
 
Laura frowned, making him suddenly react with fear, but she quickly softened her expression and addressed him in a quite soft voice.
 
"I'm not happy about hurting people. I'm just impressed with myself, that's all" she said truthfully.
 
"But you've killed and hurt a lot of people already" the man protested.
 
Laura smiled and said:
 
"I'm not happy about hurting anyone. But I don't mind it either."
 
“But… how?” the man asked, puzzled
 
"Look, tiny, there's no way you can understand it without being like me. I know it. I've imagined being like this most of my life, and I did not understand what it meant until it happened. But try to understand this: I'm way too big. I mean, I love it, but it has its consequences. One of them is that there are very few things I can do without at least some people getting hurt. Once you understand this, there are only two options: stop doing stuff or accepting that people will get hurt. And there's no way I will stop doing stuff."      
 
The man was about to protest when Laura’s sensitive ears caught a noise she was used to but sounded a little different anyway. Moving her eyes from the tiny man, she looked around, trying to find its source. It was easy enough.
 
She had been chased by choppers before. This time it was different. The fleet of helicopters flying in her direction did not fashion the multiple colors of the different TV stations in Emerald. They were all painted alike, in the dark blue of the Police Department.
 
Laura frowned once more. She realized what that meant. It had to happen, sooner or later, of course. She was about to be faced with authority. 
 
"I think that we'll need to put this conversation on hold," Laura said
 
"What happens?" the tiny man replied. Of course, he had not heard or seen the choppers flying in their direction. She was too puny for that.
 
"It would seem that the cops want a word," Laura said
 
"What are you going to do?" the tiny man asked.
 
"It will all depend on them. If they're smart and they understand how things are going to work from now on, it's going to be OK" Laura said
 
"And if they don't?" the man asked.
 
"Then, it's not going to be OK," Laura said
 
Without further ceremony, she moved her hand to the tarmac and dropped the two tinies with as much care as she could. It was still not enough, judging from how battered they looked after she did so. She did not care too much. Her 7,000 tons brain was now fully focused on a new situation.
 
"Stay out of trouble," she said vaguely as she stood up and took a few steps towards an emptier section of the airport and in the direction the choppers were coming.
 
 
 
No matter how much footage of the woman he had seen, Captain Kowalski could still not believe what his eyes were showing him.
 
He was flying over the bay, along five other helicopters, half of the Emerald Police Department’s fleet. It was not the first time he flew in the direction of the airport. It was the first time that a woman the size of the terminal building was waiting for him.
 
She was young, naked and gigantic. And she could not look more confident, standing in the middle of the runway with her legs spread apart and hands on her hips, in a commanding pose. Her attention was focused on them, as he had suspected from the moment she had started standing up and moving.
 
Were it not for her size and for the reports that she had already killed thousands of people in all sorts of manners; the young woman would have looked even cute. There was nothing warm in the way she was looking at them, though. Her building-sized face was locked on an expression that showed an almost perfect mix of anticipation, disdain, and curiosity.  
 
Kowalski’s instructions were crystal clear. As he flew in the woman’s direction, he could not prevent thinking that they were also utterly stupid.
 
 
 
Laura waited for the choppers to cut the distance to her with her hands on her hips. She was far from concerned about the danger the tiny aircraft represented, but this was likely to become the first real challenge she had to deal with, and she wanted to make sure that she set the grounds for what was to come.
 
A quick look to her right showed her that the other group of choppers, the ones belonging to the news stations that had been following her since she had set foot in the city, was still around. They had taken some more distance, probably pushed by the cops that were flying towards her, but they would still be in a vantage position to show the world whatever happened in the airport.
 
Authority. That was the key word. The cops in the choppers probably still thought that they had it. Humans were stubborn creatures, after all. She had to prove them, and the world, wrong. In a way, this was to become her first real step to taking over the world.
 
The helicopters slowed down and then stopped at a respectable distance.
 
"So, they want to talk,"  Laura thought. “Good!”
 
She waited for them to make the first move, remaining idle with her hands on her hips, keeping the commanding pose.
 
A distorted metallic voice soon came from the group. Her sensitive ears guided her enhanced sight, and she zoomed into the leading chopper. She marveled as she discovered that she could  see the guy that was talking to her through the windshield. He did not look too confident. Good.
 
"Miss, this is Captain Samuel Kowalski, from Emerald's Police Department."
 
Laura decided to add to the little man’s visible stress.
 
"My name is Laura Anderson," she said, her voice overshadowing any other sound in the vicinity
 
"Ok… Miss Anderson…" the cop continued.
 
"Laura. If you want to be formal, you can call me Goddess Laura. But just Laura is fine" she said with a smirk in her face and without changing her pose.
 
“Ok… Laura… you are commanded to stop” the cop finally said
 
Oh, he had got into meat soon enough. Well, it served Laura right. She was not in the mood of wasting time. She decided to play a little bit, in any case.
 
"I'm sorry. If you came here to issue any commands to me, I believe that you are missing an army at your back. Not that it would do you any good, but at least if would give you some believability" she said
 
She enjoyed the reaction from the cop in his chopper seat. He seemed to be about to have a nervous breakdown. Still, he managed to regain his composure and address her once more.
 
"If you do not cooperate, we are authorized to use force," the cop said
 
“Ok, use force then!” Laura let out.
 
Her unexpected response left everyone in silence. She decided to fill it.
 
"I want to get going, and I'm wasting my time already. Either leave or cut the crap and do what you came here to do. The sooner everyone realizes how futile resistance is, the better." 
 
The choppers kept hovering in the same spot.
 
“Do I need to spell it out for you? Attack. Me. Unless you want to chicken out, which works well for me too” Laura said
 
 
 
"What do we do, Cap?" his pilot asked.
 
"We don't have any option," Kowalski said just before issuing the command.
 
Of course, the fleet of helicopters at the disposal of Emerald’s Police Department had never been meant for attack operations. The six helicopters combined were far from the firepower of a single army’s gunship. Still, they had brought the closest thing they had to an attack helicopter and fitted the other five with machine gun posts and one even with the same rockets as its attack sibling.
 
The giant woman was still at a respectful distance, too far away to use any of the weaponry they had available. So, they had no other option but to fly in. Three of his choppers moved forward. The woman did not move an inch.
 
Machine guns roared, and rockets were fired as his men got close enough to the giantess. And still, she did not move. Explosions erupted in her chest and stomach, and she did not even flinch. The first group of choppers flew past her and Kowalski commanded the second group of aircraft, including his, to fly in. They were as ineffective as their comrades. Up to a point, it felt like shooting a mountain. They could not even get an expression out of her that told them that she was noticing the attacks! 
 
 
Laura let them break against her. She had not been at all concerned about the weapons of the micro-cops, and the results had proved her right. She did notice the impacts, but they were anything but harmful. They were not even annoying.
 
Laura tried to imagine how it must feel for the policemen, seeing that she was impervious to anything they could throw at her, and smirked. Through the corner of her eye, she could see that the news choppers were not missing a detail of the "battle." 
 
The police choppers were getting ready for a second pass. She welcomed it.
 
"Let them see that I'm impregnable first."
 
She let them make several passes on her, observing them with feigned nonchalance while she was actually studying them with curiosity. After several unsuccessful attempts, she had already identified all the pilots and all the gunners in all the choppers, and her massive brain had already processed their patterns and behaviors.
 
After a few minutes, Laura decided it was time to move to the next phase. Her right hand left her hip for the first time in a long while.
 
 
Kowalski was frustrated, like the rest of his men. He had not expected to bring such a massive woman down with the weapons at his disposal, but he would have expected to at least do some harm. He was far from it. As far as he could see, they had not even been able to put a red spot into the giant’s skin. And judging from her expression, she was not even tickled by the attacks.
 
When her hand moved, Kowalski realized that they had made a mistake. They had been making passes at Laura Anderson ever since the attack had begun, and she was yet to move. Now that she was doing it, Captain Kowalski saw that they had been flying much closer to the woman than would have been advisable.
 
When the shadow of her hand covered his view, Captain Kowalski realized that this mistake would cost him his life. Although it didn't. At least, not immediately. The world turned upside down for an instant, and his harness cut against his skin as the helicopter was violently rocked. But nothing exploded, and nothing collapsed. The interior of the cabin was completely dark, and Samuel Kowalski wondered what the hell was going on. 
 
 
Laura knew which chopper she wanted. So, she patiently waited until one of its passes brought it close enough. She had observed that the pilots had grown bolder as a result of her inaction, so it was just a matter of waiting for them to make a mistake.
 
Once the helicopter with the lead cop was within her reach, she simply reached for it. She could have swatted it out of the sky with ease. However, this is not what she wanted to do. She was not done yet.
 
Capturing such a teeny aircraft without destroying it or killing the people inside was harder than just bringing it down. It required Laura a finesse that she knew she possessed but still impressed her every time she had to use it. So, instead of reaching for the chopper from the front, she just let it fly past her and then reached out, matching the helicopter's speed with her hand and finally closing her fingers loosely around it. Of course, the fuselage suffered as it crashed against her much more resistant skin, but there had been no explosion and no crushing. 
 
She instinctively wanted to open her hand and see her catch, but she knew that it was not the right moment for that yet. Two other choppers had made the same mistake than the one she had captured and were flying too close to her left. She did not need them, though, so instead of trying a delicate capture, Laura just backhanded them, the aircraft exploding with her skin as she did so.
 
The three remaining helicopters soon saw that they were in great danger, so they tried to break their attack as they were getting ready for a new pass.
 
"I gave you a fair chance," Laura said.
 
Then, without further ceremony, she pushed her lips out and started blowing. She knew without a doubt that the helicopters were doomed. How could they not be, when she had blown a storm front away?
 
She was not harsh. Instead, she almost made it a game of capturing the offending aircraft in her soft air stream and pushing them down with an invisible force. She toyed with them for a while like that, making sure that the news choppers got a good view of what she was doing. When she finally got tired of it all, she just blew a little harder, sending the choppers spiraling down and crashing into the bay.
 
Turing towards the news helicopters, she winked and smiled.
 
Then, she opened her hand and observed the battered remainders of the aircraft she had previously captured.
 
 
 
 
For a long while, there was only darkness, and a few sparks coming from the several broken systems in his chopper. He was about to lose track of time when the light came back and flooded the aircraft, forcing Captain Kowalski to protect his eyes. 
 
When he opened them again, his entire field of vision was filled by the massive face of the massive young woman that had just mocked them all.
 
“I took care of your men” her thundering voice filled his entire world, making his bones rattle. Its shock was such that he needed a couple of seconds to realize that his entire squad was dead. The thought filled him with a mix of coldness and anger.
 
The voice came back:
 
“It’s hard to have a conversation with you in there, don’t you think?”
 
He could not even think on answering. Metal groaned violently around him, and before he could realize, half of the helicopter's fuselage was gone. He was now staring at the titanic woman with nothing to interfere his view.
 
She smirked at him, and suddenly, twin columns of flesh approached him. He thought this time it would finally be the end, but to his surprise, the woman's humongous fingers maneuvered with unbelievable delicacy and "just" ripped his seat from the floor and lifted it.
 
There was nothing delicate in her next action when she just tossed what remained of the helicopter, along with three of his very battered comrades, over her shoulder.
 
“Nooooo!” Kowalski screamed
 
"They shot rockets at me, you know?" the voice, now with some girlish tones, came back.
 
Samuel Kowalski realized that he was the last survivor of the attack group he had led. It made him feel mad.
 
"I also attacked you! Why don't you kill me?" he shouted.
 
He only got a giggle back, which made his blood boil.
 
"I'm not done with you yet" the voice, which sounded as if the clouds had parted and a Goddess was speaking to him from the sky, came back. 
 
"What do you want from me?" he yelled, desperate.
 
He thought he had seen one of her massive eyebrows raise.
 
“Oh, not much. I only want to know who ordered the attack” she said
 
“I did!” Samuel yelled
 
"No" her voice came back. "You sent your mean to die, but I want to know who ordered you to come here and attack me in the first place."
 
Samuel Kowalski's first impulse was not to answer her. Then, something inside him urged him to reconsider that initial reaction. He and his men had been sent to die. He had protested, but it had been to no avail. Why should he protect those that had so eagerly decided the fate of his comrades from the comfort of a luxury office?
 
“Mayor Strauss” he finally said
 
The giant eyes in front of him narrowed, and her voice came back. It was sharper than it had been before.
 
“I should have suspected that. I guess it’s my fault, for having postponed my duty longer than I should have. I should get back on track” she said
 
“What… what are you going to do?” he dared to ask
 
"I'm going to take care of him, of course. And I guess I will finally take over this city. It should have already been obvious to everyone that I call the shots now, but it seems that some people do not get the memo until you do things formally."
 
For some dark reason, Samuel was not so upset about the idea of Laura Anderson looking for the mayor. Suddenly, a more selfish concern took over him.
 
“Are you going to… kill me?” he asked
 
He could see her thinking about it. When her lips parted his sentence was finally passed.
 
"Nah. You pose no threat to me anymore. I want you to live with the memories of what just happened. Tell people how powerless you were. Tell them what happens to those that challenge me. And make sure our paths do not cross ever again."
 
 
 
She felt happy with her resolution of the conflict. Not only had she proven the world that she was in charge, but she had also shown that resistance was futile and had dealt with the leader of the pathetic attempt in a way that was quite more humiliating than simple death. 
 
Without further word, Laura crouched down and set the diminutive man in his diminutive seat in the middle of the tarmac.
 
Then she turned towards the news helicopters, took two steps in their direction and beckoned them with a finger:
 
"Come closer. I'm going to address the city."
 
They complied, of course. She did not think it was the fear they had at what she could do to them should they not. There was something else as if she was projecting some primal power that could not be resisted. 
 
In any case, Laura waited for the choppers to be in place and then cleared her throat. She was not going to deliver a long speech.
 
"Fellow citizens of Emerald… tiny subjects… because you are my subjects, whether you like it or not. I tried to tell you how things were going to work from now on, but it's clear that some of you did not want to listen. I guess it's my fault as much as yours. I let myself get de-railed too easily. I came here to take over this city and judging from the pathetic attempt at attacking me that just happened, at least some of you did not get the message. Well, I'll make sure that there are no misunderstandings now. Mayor Strauss, I'll be there soon."
 
 
 
 
"Wow, things are escalating fast," Laya said.  
 
"They had to, sooner or later" Quo replied.
 
"I believe we will need to re-run what happened over the last few minutes. So many changes!" Laya added, excited.
 
"I see you are enjoying them," Quo said.  
 
"Well, in a way, I do. You know I had more doubts than you about the chosen subject. I respect your opinion on the matter more than mine, so I had faith that things would finally fit, but seeing it happening is rewarding, anyway" Laya let go.
 
"I see you are not only referring to the fact that she has announced that she will now be serious about seizing power," Quo said, his face twitching into a gesture that conveyed the same expression as a human smirk. 
 
"No, doctor. This was meant to happen no matter what, as you've been saying. The truly remarkable thing is that Laura Anderson just lets go of every single one of her inhibitions. I was worried that she was doing everything we expected her to do but always for the wrong reasons. Or rather than the wrong reasons, because of some convoluted theories, she made up as she went. But in a matter of minutes, Laura Anderson has moved from saying that she is the most powerful being in the world to acting like it. She has finally embraced the power we gave to her completely and decided that she can use it as she pleases without the need for justification. Once that happened, her reaction to her attackers was quite predictable" Laya said.    
 
"That was a really good analysis; Laya" Quo let out with a warm smile.  
 
"I've had good teachers," Laya said. 
 
"So tell me, then: what do you think Laura Anderson is going to do?" Quo asked.
 
"She will do what she said she would do. She needs the world to see that she means business. I believe that she will try to find the chance to make another show of power as soon as possible" Laya replied.
 
"This shall be interesting to watch," Quo said as he turned her chair towards the holopit. 
 
 
 
 

CHAPTER 8

 

Laura remained lying down for a few minutes, her bare back resting on the warm surface of the tarmac as her chest moved rhythmically up and down. This was probably the best come down she’d had in her entire life.

 

After a while, she sat down and looked at her surroundings. She realized that her ears had been filtering the chaos around her as she had been relaxing, but now it came back to her with full power. There were screams, there were sirens, there were hundreds of tiny ants teeming around, and there were the pretty battered remainders of a commercial plane resting between her legs.

 

"Wow, that was wild," she said to herself in a low tone

 

She knew she had got as carried away as any giantess could. A quick look at the severely twisted shape of the plane she had used as a dildo was enough to tell her that none of the unwilling lovers inside of it had survived the ride. She knew she should feel embarrassed, even ashamed about it. After all, she had gone well beyond one of the only red lines she had set for herself. However, this was not at all how she felt.

 

She felt… excited. She could not fool herself. There was no point in that. She made the rules, decided what was right or wrong. She would not get anything out of denying herself the truth.

 

She knew what she had done. She had taken a wholly packed plane and used it as a sex toy. And quite predictably, she had ended up killing what had to be at least a couple hundred people to pleasure herself. And she knew how she felt about it: great. A dark part of her mind was already looking forward to the next chance to repeat.       

 

There were two things she could do. The first one was to feel terrible about it. She opted for the second option.

 

“In the end, what is the difference between stepping on them and killing them in my cunt? They are dead all the same, aren’t they?” she rationalized

 

And there it was. In one single sentence, Laura had got rid of her latest taboo, and she had not had too many to start with.

 

It was such a simple mental association, and yet it represented the final breakthrough regarding goddess psychology. Laura had accepted very early on both that accidents would happen and that people would die so that she would be able to move freely as a giant woman. By now, there was no doubt in her mind that she was well within her rights to kill people with this purpose.    

 

She had soon enough added challenge to her authority or the need to prove authority as two new and perfectly good reasons to kill. Up to now, though, her mind had worked to find a justification for each of her actions resulting in deaths. And every time she was confronted with a new scenario, she had had to work to find a new justification.

 

This was over, once and of all. What Laura's mind had just done was to stop analyzing her actions based on the motives and to start analyzing them based on the consequences. The unit of measure was a human life, and as it had already become evident, a single human life was worth very little  to Laura. She could kill a hundred in one step, an apparently very simple act. So each life was worth a hundredth of that action.

 

So, in a simple mental association, Laura had dropped the entry price to killing to an almost negligible one. She had not realized about it yet, but the world was about to find out.

 

So, unconcerned about the consequences of her sex session, Laura could only focus on how good it had felt. There was only something almost as good as sex. Talking about it.

 

“Tell me Ken, Nancy… was this as good for you as it was for me?” she asked, mocking the two tiny people she was holding captive in her earrings

 

There was no response.

 

"Come on guys, there should be no come down for you, should there?" she insisted.

 

Still, no response

 

A couple of additional attempts were not more successful, so Laura decided to check what was going on. She removed Nancy's earring first. She frowned when she saw the results.

 

Nancy’s body was limp and there was… blood running down her face. Laura did not need to be a doctor to realize she was dead. But how? She had been rough when playing with the plane, but she would have sworn that the spot she had set Nancy and Ken at was the safest one in her anatomy.

 

It took her powerful brain only an instant to give her an answer. Nancy’s blood had an origin: her ears.

 

"Oh, God! Could my screams kill someone?"  Laura wondered. She realized that she was a little freaked out… but also somewhat impressed.

 

She reminded of something she thought she had seen. Looking over her shoulder, she focused on the terminal building in the distance and zoomed it. There was no doubt. Plenty of windows there had shattered. They had been in one piece when Laura had got there a few minutes ago, so she could only think one possible cause for that.

 

"Oh fuck! Even my voice is like ultra-powerful."

 

There it was. Amazement was quickly replacing any sorrow she could feel at the situation. She wondered how many more people could have been affected.

 

A siren in the distance told her that she could get the answer if she wanted to. She needed to take care of something else first, though. Unclasping Nancy's harness from the earring, she tossed the tiny dead woman over her shoulder and looped the earring back in place. She repeated the operation with an also very dead Ken. There was no point in carrying a corpse around, even when it was so tiny and weightless, was there?  

 

Laura then turned and got on her hands and knees. Slowly and quite sexily, she started walking on all-fours. She only needed a few steps to reach close to the spot where most of the emergency services were working.

 

Her presence had sent them fleeing, but it was really up to her to choose which of the tiny fuckers to pick up. It was as if none of them would be able to get out of her vast reach. Seeing a couple of paramedics get into a large ambulance she just reached out and picked it up between two fingers.

 

 

 

The freakiest day in Jorge’s life had just turned freakier. Working with the massive woman just a few hundred yards away had not been too appealing from the start, but Jorge knew his duty and was willing to do it under any circumstances. And Jorge knew he was more needed today than he had been needed in his previous ten years as a paramedic.

 

When the mountain-woman approached them, he could not take it anymore, though. She was on them in a matter of seconds and Kyle, and he did the only logical thing to do: get into the ambulance. 

 

He knew they had made a terrible mistake when they were lifted upwards with the speed that would make any rollercoaster ashamed. He got so dizzy that he needed a few seconds to recover once everything stabilized. When he did, all he could see through his windshield was an iris.

 

Kyle and he started screaming immediately. Their yells were soon overshadowed by a thunderous but still quite girly voice.

 

“Gotcha!" the voice said in an undoubtedly amused tone.

 

When it came back, shortly afterward, it stayed on for a longer time, making the glass and steel in the ambulance rattle with every syllable.

 

"I'll start by saying that I have no intention of hurting you since this seems to be the first thing all of you tinies care about. That being said, I did not pick you up just so that we could get acquainted. I want information, and you are going to give it to me." 

 

Jorge could feel the ambulance moving quite violently, only to stop a couple of seconds later. The iris returned, and the thundering voice did as well, shortly after.

 

"It's quite obvious that we cannot talk while you are in there, so the first thing you'll do is to get out. I just set you in my palm. Don't worry; there's room to spare. And don't worry, I've done this before. I'm becoming kind of an expert. Which leads me to the next point: I've been through this before, and I'm not in the mood of wasting my time, so let me be very clear about this: either you get out in five seconds, or I will crush your ambulance flat… with you in it. There are plenty more people to choose from where you came from. Now, your choice. I'd advise you to get out. I'd hate to have to repeat the speech with someone else."      

 

Jorge could see Kyle hesitating, but he understood what he only had an option. Quickly reaching for the handle, he opened the door and stepped out. The surface was soft and uneven, and it almost made him lose his footing. He managed to stay still, holding himself in the door. A quick look through it showed him that Kyle had seemed to realize about the situation and was getting out too.

 

Jorge finally dared to look up, at the woman’s face. It filled his field of vision with a warm smile.

 

"I'm happy to see that you are as reasonable as I am" the thundering voice came back.

 

Without warning, a shadow approached them, and Jorge had to jump out of the way as their ambulance was crushed by what had felt like a falling meteor. Peeking over his shoulder as he tried to recover he realized that it had been far from that. Rested on top of the now two-dimensional remainders of their ambulance was a thick pinkish pillar that he had a hard time to understand that it was her finger.

 

"This could have been you in there. Not good" the voice repeated.

 

Jorge's mind was mostly dominated by fear. It was easy for him to realize, however, that the giant young woman was playing with them at the same time she held their lives at stake and cheerfully threatened them with exercising the vast power she had over them. It made him feel somewhat mad. There was nothing he could do about it, though. 

 

 

Being the size of a tall skyscraper had plenty of perks. Being able to use the real-life contents of a city like toys was one of them, and it was both empowering and exciting. Her recent experience with the plane was proof enough of that. Still, nothing could compare to holding tiny people in her hand. Nothing.

 

Easily picking the remainders of the ambulance and tossing them away, Laura focused her attention on the two centimeter-tall men in her palm. They could not even fill a significant portion of it. Laura knew because she had tried it, that she could hold dozens of the ant-sized people in her hand. And still, she loved being able to focus on individual ones. 

 

In the end, there was nothing that could prove to Laura just how massive and powerful she had become than comparing herself with a "regular person." She could not prevent thinking that she had been just as tiny merely a few hours ago. She relished those moments of realization. Nothing else could convey just how much she had progressed in such a short time. The scenario showed her how feeble, how powerless she had been during her entire life. She had been just one tiny ant among billions. And now she felt that she had the power to take over the world.     

 

It was somehow ironic that all it had taken her to reach that status was an increase in size. True, it had been a massive increase in size, but it still was kind of simple. Size and raw strength. Nothing more than brute force, in the end. Grant enough of that to a single person and the world's balance of power changed forever.

 

"Whoever said that size did not matter did not know what he was talking about,"  Laura thought, amused.

 

Laura could not be happier that the recipient of all that raw power had been her. She had dreamed about this during her entire adult life, but the reality far surpassed her wildest wishes.

 

She felt so euphoric that she could not prevent her next words, now aloud and addressed to the two tiny creatures in her palm.

 

“It must suck to be you, right?”

 

She was amused by the tinies' reaction. While the one with paler skin could just cower at the power of her voice, the one with darker features reacted with what looked like a mix of pride and resentment. It was lovely. Laura could not prevent a giggle.     

 

"Oh, it seems that someone doesn't like the situation," she said

 

The target of her words reacted differently now. He seemed to realize that his previous reaction had been foolish and his face show uncertainty as if he was expecting the worst.   

 

"Oh, don't worry. I understand you. I would hate being in your spot too. I mean, who wouldn't? Thank God I'm not" she added in a cheerful tone

 

She had unconsciously forgotten about the paler man. The darker-skinned one was much more interesting.

 

"I guess that we all need to accept what is given to us. I mean, it's quite easy for me, but I hope that you can man up and rise to the occasion. What do you say? Are you up to the task?" she asked, probing while still keeping the same mocking tone

 

"What do you want?" the man finally yelled. There was even some defiance in his voice, making Laura giggle again.

 

"That's the attitude," Laura said, giggling once more

 

Through the corner of her eye, she could see that the paler man looked worried at the fact that his colleague had stood up to her. She let out another giggle. 

 

"Oh, don't worry whitey," she said. "I've never punished someone for being brave. I kind of like it. I mean, being so tiny and such, I guess it must take guts to talk to me. And I like men with guts" she added

 

Seeing that none of the two tinies would fill the silence, Laura went on.

 

"I only had a question for you. I've reached the conclusion that some people might have got hurt because of my voice… but I'd like some second opinion. Is there any light you can shed on this?" she asked 

 

Quite predictably, it was the man with the darker skin who replied.

 

"Half the people in the airport is deaf. A few passed out. Plenty was injured because of the glass shattering. It all happened when you screamed" 

 

"Cool!" Laura said, excited to receive yet another confirmation of the power embedded into her new size. After having been able to blow a storm front away, she should have imagined that her lungs had enough power to do what the tiny guy had just described and more. She had just not thought about it upfront. And finding out about it after the fact had felt exciting.

 

The tiny man was not so excited. His tone was annoyed when he asked: 

 

“How can you be so happy about hurting people?”

 

Laura frowned, making him suddenly react with fear, but she quickly softened her expression and addressed him in a quite soft voice.

 

"I'm not happy about hurting people. I'm just impressed with myself, that's all" she said truthfully.

 

"But you've killed and hurt a lot of people already" the man protested.

 

Laura smiled and said:

 

"I'm not happy about hurting anyone. But I don't mind it either."

 

“But… how?” the man asked, puzzled

 

"Look, tiny, there's no way you can understand it without being like me. I know it. I've imagined being like this most of my life, and I did not understand what it meant until it happened. But try to understand this: I'm way too big. I mean, I love it, but it has its consequences. One of them is that there are very few things I can do without at least some people getting hurt. Once you understand this, there are only two options: stop doing stuff or accepting that people will get hurt. And there's no way I will stop doing stuff."      

 

The man was about to protest when Laura’s sensitive ears caught a noise she was used to but sounded a little different anyway. Moving her eyes from the tiny man, she looked around, trying to find its source. It was easy enough.

 

She had been chased by choppers before. This time it was different. The fleet of helicopters flying in her direction did not fashion the multiple colors of the different TV stations in Emerald. They were all painted alike, in the dark blue of the Police Department.

 

Laura frowned once more. She realized what that meant. It had to happen, sooner or later, of course. She was about to be faced with authority. 

 

"I think that we'll need to put this conversation on hold," Laura said

 

"What happens?" the tiny man replied. Of course, he had not heard or seen the choppers flying in their direction. She was too puny for that.

 

"It would seem that the cops want a word," Laura said

 

"What are you going to do?" the tiny man asked.

 

"It will all depend on them. If they're smart and they understand how things are going to work from now on, it's going to be OK" Laura said

 

"And if they don't?" the man asked.

 

"Then, it's not going to be OK," Laura said

 

Without further ceremony, she moved her hand to the tarmac and dropped the two tinies with as much care as she could. It was still not enough, judging from how battered they looked after she did so. She did not care too much. Her 7,000 tons brain was now fully focused on a new situation.

 

"Stay out of trouble," she said vaguely as she stood up and took a few steps towards an emptier section of the airport and in the direction the choppers were coming.

 

 

 

No matter how much footage of the woman he had seen, Captain Kowalski could still not believe what his eyes were showing him.

 

He was flying over the bay, along five other helicopters, half of the Emerald Police Department’s fleet. It was not the first time he flew in the direction of the airport. It was the first time that a woman the size of the terminal building was waiting for him.

 

She was young, naked and gigantic. And she could not look more confident, standing in the middle of the runway with her legs spread apart and hands on her hips, in a commanding pose. Her attention was focused on them, as he had suspected from the moment she had started standing up and moving.

 

Were it not for her size and for the reports that she had already killed thousands of people in all sorts of manners; the young woman would have looked even cute. There was nothing warm in the way she was looking at them, though. Her building-sized face was locked on an expression that showed an almost perfect mix of anticipation, disdain, and curiosity.  

 

Kowalski’s instructions were crystal clear. As he flew in the woman’s direction, he could not prevent thinking that they were also utterly stupid.

 

 

 

Laura waited for the choppers to cut the distance to her with her hands on her hips. She was far from concerned about the danger the tiny aircraft represented, but this was likely to become the first real challenge she had to deal with, and she wanted to make sure that she set the grounds for what was to come.

 

A quick look to her right showed her that the other group of choppers, the ones belonging to the news stations that had been following her since she had set foot in the city, was still around. They had taken some more distance, probably pushed by the cops that were flying towards her, but they would still be in a vantage position to show the world whatever happened in the airport.

 

Authority. That was the key word. The cops in the choppers probably still thought that they had it. Humans were stubborn creatures, after all. She had to prove them, and the world, wrong. In a way, this was to become her first real step to taking over the world.

 

The helicopters slowed down and then stopped at a respectable distance.

 

"So, they want to talk,"  Laura thought. “Good!”

 

She waited for them to make the first move, remaining idle with her hands on her hips, keeping the commanding pose.

 

A distorted metallic voice soon came from the group. Her sensitive ears guided her enhanced sight, and she zoomed into the leading chopper. She marveled as she discovered that she could  see the guy that was talking to her through the windshield. He did not look too confident. Good.

 

"Miss, this is Captain Samuel Kowalski, from Emerald's Police Department."

 

Laura decided to add to the little man’s visible stress.

 

"My name is Laura Anderson," she said, her voice overshadowing any other sound in the vicinity

 

"Ok… Miss Anderson…" the cop continued.

 

"Laura. If you want to be formal, you can call me Goddess Laura. But just Laura is fine" she said with a smirk in her face and without changing her pose.

 

“Ok… Laura… you are commanded to stop” the cop finally said

 

Oh, he had got into meat soon enough. Well, it served Laura right. She was not in the mood of wasting time. She decided to play a little bit, in any case.

 

"I'm sorry. If you came here to issue any commands to me, I believe that you are missing an army at your back. Not that it would do you any good, but at least if would give you some believability" she said

 

She enjoyed the reaction from the cop in his chopper seat. He seemed to be about to have a nervous breakdown. Still, he managed to regain his composure and address her once more.

 

"If you do not cooperate, we are authorized to use force," the cop said

 

“Ok, use force then!” Laura let out.

 

Her unexpected response left everyone in silence. She decided to fill it.

 

"I want to get going, and I'm wasting my time already. Either leave or cut the crap and do what you came here to do. The sooner everyone realizes how futile resistance is, the better." 

 

The choppers kept hovering in the same spot.

 

“Do I need to spell it out for you? Attack. Me. Unless you want to chicken out, which works well for me too” Laura said

 

 

 

"What do we do, Cap?" his pilot asked.

 

"We don't have any option," Kowalski said just before issuing the command.

 

Of course, the fleet of helicopters at the disposal of Emerald’s Police Department had never been meant for attack operations. The six helicopters combined were far from the firepower of a single army’s gunship. Still, they had brought the closest thing they had to an attack helicopter and fitted the other five with machine gun posts and one even with the same rockets as its attack sibling.

 

The giant woman was still at a respectful distance, too far away to use any of the weaponry they had available. So, they had no other option but to fly in. Three of his choppers moved forward. The woman did not move an inch.

 

Machine guns roared, and rockets were fired as his men got close enough to the giantess. And still, she did not move. Explosions erupted in her chest and stomach, and she did not even flinch. The first group of choppers flew past her and Kowalski commanded the second group of aircraft, including his, to fly in. They were as ineffective as their comrades. Up to a point, it felt like shooting a mountain. They could not even get an expression out of her that told them that she was noticing the attacks! 

 

 

Laura let them break against her. She had not been at all concerned about the weapons of the micro-cops, and the results had proved her right. She did notice the impacts, but they were anything but harmful. They were not even annoying.

 

Laura tried to imagine how it must feel for the policemen, seeing that she was impervious to anything they could throw at her, and smirked. Through the corner of her eye, she could see that the news choppers were not missing a detail of the "battle." 

 

The police choppers were getting ready for a second pass. She welcomed it.

 

"Let them see that I'm impregnable first."

 

She let them make several passes on her, observing them with feigned nonchalance while she was actually studying them with curiosity. After several unsuccessful attempts, she had already identified all the pilots and all the gunners in all the choppers, and her massive brain had already processed their patterns and behaviors.

 

After a few minutes, Laura decided it was time to move to the next phase. Her right hand left her hip for the first time in a long while.

 

 

Kowalski was frustrated, like the rest of his men. He had not expected to bring such a massive woman down with the weapons at his disposal, but he would have expected to at least do some harm. He was far from it. As far as he could see, they had not even been able to put a red spot into the giant’s skin. And judging from her expression, she was not even tickled by the attacks.

 

When her hand moved, Kowalski realized that they had made a mistake. They had been making passes at Laura Anderson ever since the attack had begun, and she was yet to move. Now that she was doing it, Captain Kowalski saw that they had been flying much closer to the woman than would have been advisable.

 

When the shadow of her hand covered his view, Captain Kowalski realized that this mistake would cost him his life. Although it didn't. At least, not immediately. The world turned upside down for an instant, and his harness cut against his skin as the helicopter was violently rocked. But nothing exploded, and nothing collapsed. The interior of the cabin was completely dark, and Samuel Kowalski wondered what the hell was going on. 

 

 

Laura knew which chopper she wanted. So, she patiently waited until one of its passes brought it close enough. She had observed that the pilots had grown bolder as a result of her inaction, so it was just a matter of waiting for them to make a mistake.

 

Once the helicopter with the lead cop was within her reach, she simply reached for it. She could have swatted it out of the sky with ease. However, this is not what she wanted to do. She was not done yet.

 

Capturing such a teeny aircraft without destroying it or killing the people inside was harder than just bringing it down. It required Laura a finesse that she knew she possessed but still impressed her every time she had to use it. So, instead of reaching for the chopper from the front, she just let it fly past her and then reached out, matching the helicopter's speed with her hand and finally closing her fingers loosely around it. Of course, the fuselage suffered as it crashed against her much more resistant skin, but there had been no explosion and no crushing. 

 

She instinctively wanted to open her hand and see her catch, but she knew that it was not the right moment for that yet. Two other choppers had made the same mistake than the one she had captured and were flying too close to her left. She did not need them, though, so instead of trying a delicate capture, Laura just backhanded them, the aircraft exploding with her skin as she did so.

 

The three remaining helicopters soon saw that they were in great danger, so they tried to break their attack as they were getting ready for a new pass.

 

"I gave you a fair chance," Laura said.

 

Then, without further ceremony, she pushed her lips out and started blowing. She knew without a doubt that the helicopters were doomed. How could they not be, when she had blown a storm front away?

 

She was not harsh. Instead, she almost made it a game of capturing the offending aircraft in her soft air stream and pushing them down with an invisible force. She toyed with them for a while like that, making sure that the news choppers got a good view of what she was doing. When she finally got tired of it all, she just blew a little harder, sending the choppers spiraling down and crashing into the bay.

 

Turing towards the news helicopters, she winked and smiled.

 

Then, she opened her hand and observed the battered remainders of the aircraft she had previously captured.

 

 

 

 

For a long while, there was only darkness, and a few sparks coming from the several broken systems in his chopper. He was about to lose track of time when the light came back and flooded the aircraft, forcing Captain Kowalski to protect his eyes. 

 

When he opened them again, his entire field of vision was filled by the massive face of the massive young woman that had just mocked them all.

 

“I took care of your men” her thundering voice filled his entire world, making his bones rattle. Its shock was such that he needed a couple of seconds to realize that his entire squad was dead. The thought filled him with a mix of coldness and anger.

 

The voice came back:

 

“It’s hard to have a conversation with you in there, don’t you think?”

 

He could not even think on answering. Metal groaned violently around him, and before he could realize, half of the helicopter's fuselage was gone. He was now staring at the titanic woman with nothing to interfere his view.

 

She smirked at him, and suddenly, twin columns of flesh approached him. He thought this time it would finally be the end, but to his surprise, the woman's humongous fingers maneuvered with unbelievable delicacy and "just" ripped his seat from the floor and lifted it.

 

There was nothing delicate in her next action when she just tossed what remained of the helicopter, along with three of his very battered comrades, over her shoulder.

 

“Nooooo!” Kowalski screamed

 

"They shot rockets at me, you know?" the voice, now with some girlish tones, came back.

 

Samuel Kowalski realized that he was the last survivor of the attack group he had led. It made him feel mad.

 

"I also attacked you! Why don't you kill me?" he shouted.

 

He only got a giggle back, which made his blood boil.

 

"I'm not done with you yet" the voice, which sounded as if the clouds had parted and a Goddess was speaking to him from the sky, came back. 

 

"What do you want from me?" he yelled, desperate.

 

He thought he had seen one of her massive eyebrows raise.

 

“Oh, not much. I only want to know who ordered the attack” she said

 

“I did!” Samuel yelled

 

"No" her voice came back. "You sent your mean to die, but I want to know who ordered you to come here and attack me in the first place."

 

Samuel Kowalski's first impulse was not to answer her. Then, something inside him urged him to reconsider that initial reaction. He and his men had been sent to die. He had protested, but it had been to no avail. Why should he protect those that had so eagerly decided the fate of his comrades from the comfort of a luxury office?

 

“Mayor Strauss” he finally said

 

The giant eyes in front of him narrowed, and her voice came back. It was sharper than it had been before.

 

“I should have suspected that. I guess it’s my fault, for having postponed my duty longer than I should have. I should get back on track” she said

 

“What… what are you going to do?” he dared to ask

 

"I'm going to take care of him, of course. And I guess I will finally take over this city. It should have already been obvious to everyone that I call the shots now, but it seems that some people do not get the memo until you do things formally."

 

For some dark reason, Samuel was not so upset about the idea of Laura Anderson looking for the mayor. Suddenly, a more selfish concern took over him.

 

“Are you going to… kill me?” he asked

 

He could see her thinking about it. When her lips parted his sentence was finally passed.

 

"Nah. You pose no threat to me anymore. I want you to live with the memories of what just happened. Tell people how powerless you were. Tell them what happens to those that challenge me. And make sure our paths do not cross ever again."

 

 

 

She felt happy with her resolution of the conflict. Not only had she proven the world that she was in charge, but she had also shown that resistance was futile and had dealt with the leader of the pathetic attempt in a way that was quite more humiliating than simple death. 

 

Without further word, Laura crouched down and set the diminutive man in his diminutive seat in the middle of the tarmac.

 

Then she turned towards the news helicopters, took two steps in their direction and beckoned them with a finger:

 

"Come closer. I'm going to address the city."

 

They complied, of course. She did not think it was the fear they had at what she could do to them should they not. There was something else as if she was projecting some primal power that could not be resisted. 

 

In any case, Laura waited for the choppers to be in place and then cleared her throat. She was not going to deliver a long speech.

 

"Fellow citizens of Emerald… tiny subjects… because you are my subjects, whether you like it or not. I tried to tell you how things were going to work from now on, but it's clear that some of you did not want to listen. I guess it's my fault as much as yours. I let myself get de-railed too easily. I came here to take over this city and judging from the pathetic attempt at attacking me that just happened, at least some of you did not get the message. Well, I'll make sure that there are no misunderstandings now. Mayor Strauss, I'll be there soon."

 

 

 

 

"Wow, things are escalating fast," Laya said.  

 

"They had to, sooner or later" Quo replied.

 

"I believe we will need to re-run what happened over the last few minutes. So many changes!" Laya added, excited.

 

"I see you are enjoying them," Quo said.  

 

"Well, in a way, I do. You know I had more doubts than you about the chosen subject. I respect your opinion on the matter more than mine, so I had faith that things would finally fit, but seeing it happening is rewarding, anyway" Laya let go.

 

"I see you are not only referring to the fact that she has announced that she will now be serious about seizing power," Quo said, his face twitching into a gesture that conveyed the same expression as a human smirk. 

 

"No, doctor. This was meant to happen no matter what, as you've been saying. The truly remarkable thing is that Laura Anderson just lets go of every single one of her inhibitions. I was worried that she was doing everything we expected her to do but always for the wrong reasons. Or rather than the wrong reasons, because of some convoluted theories, she made up as she went. But in a matter of minutes, Laura Anderson has moved from saying that she is the most powerful being in the world to acting like it. She has finally embraced the power we gave to her completely and decided that she can use it as she pleases without the need for justification. Once that happened, her reaction to her attackers was quite predictable" Laya said.    

 

"That was a really good analysis; Laya" Quo let out with a warm smile.  

 

"I've had good teachers," Laya said. 

 

"So tell me, then: what do you think Laura Anderson is going to do?" Quo asked.

 

"She will do what she said she would do. She needs the world to see that she means business. I believe that she will try to find the chance to make another show of power as soon as possible" Laya replied.

 

"This shall be interesting to watch," Quo said as he turned her chair towards the holopit. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter End Notes:

 

Please review! Getting your feedback is both encouraging and important to improve. Please, let me know what you thought, whether you loved it or there were things you would have done differently. Thanks in advance! :)

 

You can see more about Laura, including some art about her, in my DeviantArt profile:

https://papayoya.deviantart.com

 

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