Gina burst into her room, Veronica close behind her heels. She held the shrunken gymnasium sideways with her fingers covering the exits, making sure none of the hapless inhabitants could fall out or get to their phones. The wiggling in Veronica’s hand had died down as her captives either accepted their fate or simply ran out of energy. There was still the occasional twitch against her fingers while they fought for the most comfortable spots, but with her constantly changing grip those were always shifting. It was more than Gina had to deal with. Her victims’ tiny screams barely even pierced the aluminum, let alone made it up to her ears.
Much to Gina’s satisfaction Akane was sitting on the bed, reading one of the books she kept on the shelves for show. Not only had she not made a break for freedom during her absence, but she had been reduced to reading, of all things, and not even from something that would make her more powerful. It was some book about a French count that Gina couldn’t even remember where it came from, let alone the last time she contemplated reading it. Her feet didn’t even dangle below the sideboard, which Gina found hilarious. She was so small now that she was basically a toddler compared to her.
Gina moved to the terrarium, not even a full step from the doorway anymore, and practically tore off the lid. She slapped the tiny gym onto the floor so hard that it crumpled under the force, and her fingers dented the side when she squeezed the tiny structure. Walls popped out of their joints when she tightened her grip, further deforming the pale yellow structure. The tiny people inside must have been terrified, a thought which gave her an immense amount of satisfaction.
With the slightest bit of effort Gina wrenched the wall free from the structure, exposing its tiny inhabitants to the big world outside. She clenched her fist, balling up the wall into scrap before tossing it to the side while her victims looked up at her in awe. Casually she tossed it to the side then turned her attention back to them, cupping a hand around the shell they clung to for safety. A single flip of her wrist turned it upside down, spilling the shrunken people onto the floor. Gina set it back down with the gaping hole pointing toward her, making sure none of them could get back inside until she allowed it.
Veronica followed close behind and dumped her handful of a dozen tiny people beside the gym. They landed in a pile, some of them wounded from their comrades falling atop them, but Veronica could not have possibly cared less. Using her index finger she broke the pile up, spreading the tiny people around. Some of them were completely still while others fought impotently against her tremendous finger, but after a couple of seconds they were all spread out on the floor for Veronica’s choosing.
Gina considered the lid tossed so carelessly onto the ground. For years she had been adamant it remain on top of the terrarium, and for what? The walls were smooth as physically possible, and the tiny people imprisoned by it weren’t strong enough to ascend the sides, even if they were healthy enough. The only thing she had done was make it harder for herself to reach into the enclosure, and at her new size it would be impossible. It was a tight squeeze before, and now it was doubtful she could get more than a couple of her fingers through the gap.
The pair stood beside the terrarium, looking down, while its rim barely even reached their waists. Its inhabitants looked even punier than before, like ants when they had previously been beetles. It took them a second to realize that, while they and the house had grown to twice their previous dimensions, the terrarium and its inhabitants were stuck at their old sizes. Growing all of them back would take too much time, obviously, so they decided to make the most of what little they had.
“So,” Gina began, her deep, powerful voice grabbing the attention of every miniscule person below her, “Who do you think you’ll start with, Veronica, Goddess of justice and punishment?”
The blond giantess’s blue eyes scanned her recent additions until she found the mite dressed slightly differently from the rest. “I think I’ll go with the one who was best equipped to help me over the past three years,” Veronica said. “Coach Robbins, you’re still here, right?” An involuntary twitch confirmed her suspicions, and one bug began trying to scoot away from the rest of the circle. That was enough for her, and she smirked while it tried to squirm away from her view.
Veronica reached into the glass enclosure, and no matter how quickly her quarry scuttled away her fingers easily found him. Carefully she pinched her fingers around the puny body between them, making sure to apply just enough pressure short of popping him before he could endure the proper torments. She raised the clenched digits to her face, and the only evidence something was amiss was a tiny, squirming thing between her thumb and forefinger.
“Well, coach,” Veronica began, making the insignificant man in her grip cringe, “how many other stars disappeared without a trace in the fifteen years you’ve been in charge here?” Some pathetic squeaks filled the air, but they were too insignificant for her to understand. Veronica knew they were nothing more than excuses, anyway. “Just me, right? And yet I never heard a thing about anyone trying to find out what happened to me after all these years.”
A flurry of high-pitched squeals answered her, though they died off when she drew the coach closer to her lips. “I can only hope you’ll get the same amount of attention I did.” Veronica’s lips parted, giving rise to another uproar of wailing. This time it was cut short when she shot her tongue out, striking the puny morsel with the enormous pink tentacle. Her tongue snapped back into her mouth and she closed her lips behind it, sealing her victim inside. He struggled for a moment while she dragged him along her palate, but he gave up quickly enough, and she flicked his limp body onto her gullet. She waited a bit for him to do anything to try and escape, but it was like he was already dead. Eager to get the show on the road, Veronica opened her throat and sucked the coach down her esophagus to perish in her stomach.
With Veronica’s first target gone, Gina bent in half at the waist so her torso loomed over the tiny people gathered in her aura. She continued slowly bending forward, lowering her chest and head into the tank. Directly below her were the pathetic remnants of the school’s basketball team, just as confused as if they’d actually had to play a game. None of the ones here had received a boost to their height from Gina, so they would normally be average height at best. Now they were all an inch high. Though Gina imagined how funny it would be to release them onto the court for a game, she knew she could have much more fun with them herself.
“Hey there,” Gina began, her lips dominating the quintet of shrunken women at her mercy. “How’s the season going without me? Probably not great, huh?” Her confident, mocking laugh robbed them of any possible response. “Yeah, you might as well be this size to the other teams. Kind of feel like I might as well save you from any future humiliation of having to play right now.” She grinned while the other basketball players cowered in fear, and she knew she had won.
Gina leaned over at the waist so that she could loom over the tiny village she had assembled in the terrarium. She stretched over the whole opening and ended up bumping her forehead against the wall. Being this tall would take some getting used to. Quickly she adjusted, curving her back sharply so her head plunged into the tank. It was easy for her to find the yellow aluminum building again, and the basketball team was still huddled in front, unable to move out of shock and fear. For a moment she drank in their terror with her eyes, relishing the effect she had on what you could charitably call people.
“I bet you’re all wondering why this is happening to you,” Gina postulated, and the tiny people flinched from the tremendous power of her voice. Their tiny yelps and screams encouraged her, and she continued, “I’ve been held prisoner in my own room for five months, and not a single one of you thought to come and check up on me? I’d be disappointed in you all if I weren’t so angry, and I never had any expectations of you to begin with!”
“But we did!” the boldest one protested. Her puny voice barely reached Gina’s ears, but her pathetic pleas were clear. “As soon as we noticed you were gone, we talked about having someone go see how you were doing! Shelby volunteered, and she just said you were sick with something but didn’t want everyone to know.”
“And over the next several months it didn’t occur to you once to send someone else?” Gina asked. “That maybe Shelby was lying and I needed your help?”
“No!” the spokesperson answered, her voice somehow even more shrill. “I thought you were, like, best friends! Why would she lie about you being in trouble if you’re besties?”
“Because,” Gina began, “it turns out that Shelby’s a huge bitch. Well, not so huge anymore, just like you’re not really huge fuck-ups anymore even though I still wouldn’t trust you to cover a little league team.” The high-pitched squeals of a retort started, but Gina cut them off. “I bet you were glad when I disappeared, weren’t you? The spotlight was finally yours with me out of the picture, and even if the team sucked out loud you could still say you were captain. The truth is, you were more than happy to let me languish as long as it helped you. Can’t say I’ll give you the same courtesy, though.”
Before they could react, Gina’s tongue shot out, catching the bulk of the team on the long, pink appendage and ensnaring them in her saliva. Gina let them futilely writhe around on her tongue, knowing they couldn’t free themselves but loving the feeling of their infinitesimal movements on her supple skin. They were entirely at her mercy, and she wanted to let that sink in. No one was going to save them, just like no one saved her.
Gina slid her tongue back into her mouth, and she was careful to make sure none of them got scraped off by her lip. Their squirming intensified in the dark, saliva-filled environment, although they had nowhere to go. She let them struggle for a few seconds before slamming her tongue against the roof of her mouth. No doubt some of them were killed by the impact and even more stunned, but she didn’t see that as a negative. Slowly she dragged her tongue back against her palate, scraping the tiny would-be basketball players off so they would float freely.
The tiny particles drifted around Gina’s mouth, occasionally buffeted by her tongue while she played with them. Before too long, either out of sheer exhaustion or admitting defeat, the shrunken women of the basketball team sank into the depths of Gina’s frenulum where they came to rest. She flattened her tongue over them, then with a thick stream of saliva swished them back and forth inside her teeth. Gina concluded by depositing them back onto the tip of her tongue and let them come to an unsteady rest amid her taste buds. Then, with a simple flick, she tossed them onto her gullet, and with the least bit of effort dropped them into her throat. They were beyond all detection inside her stomach, and it would not be too long until Gina forgot she even ate them.
She and Veronica looked over the other tiny inhabitants of the terrarium, but they were appropriately afraid of them now and any further efforts would be wasted. Besides, they had gotten their revenge, and that was what mattered most to them. They exchanged a look of mutual satisfaction, then turned away from the prison they had constructed. There was a lot left for them to do, and they could come back to the tank later.
A squeaky, nagging voice came from the floor and grabbed Gina’s attention. “Didn’t you learn anything from your time at that size?” Akane asked. “Just because they’re smaller than you doesn’t mean they’re less worthy of respect. You had no reason to kill them, and you still did!”
Gina brushed the small Asian out of the way with her shin, throwing her into the wall. “I guess I didn’t,” she replied, “or I just don’t care. Anyway, if you’re done with your mewling, Roni and I have a lot of work to do.” Akane rubbed the back of her head where it hit the wall but said nothing, knowing that she was powerless to stop Gina, let alone her along with Veronica.